Apart from the military coup in Thailand, here’s the new buzz – the soldiers have become the new tourist attractions. Amusing, right? Tourists are posing with them and it’s all around social media. The place seems to be danger-free but be cautious if you are in the area. Better safe than sorry.
Going back to a Bangkok trip I had last December with Janna and D. Our main purpose was to shop (business thingy) and naturally, we were in malls and open markets only squeezing half a day to visit Wat Arun and Wat Pho.
There was the civil unrest and situation seemed terrible in the news. It almost made me decide not to go. But we are Pinoys, we survived our own demonstrations in Manila and we apparently set this worldwide trend of ousting the head of the state. Let’s see if we will survive Bangkok too!
A government building barricaded by steel and barbed wires.
As usual, luck was on our side, the King’s birthday fell on the 5th of December, all this civil unrest was temporarily put to a halt, and it made it safe for us to roam around.
Touchdown. To the immigration.
LANGUAGE
We arrived at the airport and this was an advisory we saw at the taxi bay : SERVICE STAFF ARE NOT POLITE
Language was indeed a concern, but we got through it anyway. I still remember a stall in the open market selling fried stuff that looked like croquettes, when we asked if it was chicken inside, the smiling vendor answered, “meow-meow”!!!! That expression was like, whaaat??? We looked at each other wide-eyed and flabbergasted thinking it was cat meat!!! Then we found out after that what he meant with the word that sounded like “meow” was “NO”.
FOOD
Going to the food stuff, of course, Bangkok has its own authentic cuisine. We had these dishes and desserts that quickly disappeared to our stomachs.
Phad se ew gai - Stir fried ribbon noodles with seafood, Khao phad gai - Fried rice with crab meat, Phad thai - Thai style stir fried noodles with prawns, Gang keaw wan gai – Yellow curry with chicken, Peek gai tod kaer – Deep fried chicken wing with salt, Gong chub pang tod – Deep fried prawn with breadcrumbs
A scrumptious feast! Having Thai cuisine prepared from its source? Incomparable! Vegetables were sweetly fresh (and the fruits too), the spices made the dishes more flavourful and the noodles were nicely cooked. The Thai soup was distinctly spicy and so with the curry cooked in rich coconut milk. The fried chicken wings with salt and the fried prawns were simply tasty. Even the rice was good. I noticed that in this country, they always serve rice with fish sauce and sliced hot chili – mouthburning!
Apart from the fancy meals, here goes some interesting ones we found on the streets. I do not know all their names but I can remember the taste of those we tried, like the small barbecue marinated with Thai spices that were really good but I was not able to take a photo of it.
Sweet fruity Thai desserts
Ice cream!
Pomegrenate juice
Fresh fruits.
As we were in Chatuchak weekend market for the whole day, it was not only the shopping that was huge here. They had food stalls in one central area where all kinds of food and Thai cuisine were available.
Exotic? Try these. :D
On the menu are fried worms, grasshoppers, bugs, etc. I have a feeling that they may be good because they sold out fast and those whom I saw eating seemed to enjoy the crispy insects and their cracking sounds.
Are these cockroaches?
The following day, as we moved around, I noticed the flowery landscapes on the streets.
These flowers reminded me of the garden back home when we were children. Our mom used to have these plants and I was very fond of them.
Its not only the colourful petals, Bangkok also have its colourful taxi cabs adorning its highways. And TUKTUK is also one of the main forms of transportation. Tuktuk is to Thailand as tricycles are to the Philippines. We always haggled on the fare price before riding as we were warned that the drivers can make them expensive for tourists.
We were not able to see much of the city because almost everything were close due to the political condition. There were no museums, no galleries, no floating market experiences in this trip. But I’m glad I decided to go. Being on this trip with my jolly travel buddies did help me move out from that brief stage of melancholy we all go through sometimes.
12.2013 Trip / 25052014
