One Night in BKK

Dragon fruit split open, golden pears and an ordinary apple in the background
this was the table where I had lunch. You get a steaming bowl of soup (kinda like pho) and then you have all this stuff in front of you to put into it - there was sprouts, basil, onion, cucumber and some sort of wierd green veggie.
pre-sliced fruit. saw this at a whole-foods type store in a mall. these were amazing...carrots, pineapples, mangos...delish!
My mouth still waters when I look at this juice picture. I drank at least 50 glasses of street juice in my time in BKK. I never once got sick even though I thought about the quality of the ice each time. These are all fresh squeezed and mixed with water - no sweetener - this is added by the customer from a giant vat of simple syrup...the lemon/lime was far and away the best tasting.

OK...so maybe its really 9 nights but still, I can't stop humming that song and the really sad thing is that I only know one line of the song. I am in Bangkok for work. It's my annual work conference and so far it's pretty good. Surprising to write that but it's true. This is a great chance to meet my colleagues from all over the world and "compare" notes. Not only do I get to hear how life is in places I have never heard of, like Conikrey, Guinea, but I also get to be continually surprised by how similar our stories are.

Bangkok has been a feast for the senses. I have never really been keen on exploring Thailand but this has changed in the past few days and I think we will have to come back for a proper vacation. Keeping in mind that we have been living in Kigali my top favorites have been:


1. street food and drinks - this is illegal in Rwanda and ohh how I miss it. There is something so magical about seeing people prepare tasty, spicy, authentic food right there on the street. The best I have tasted was yesterday, chicken kebabs with amazing peanut sauce.
Heavenly! I am also in love with this lime-type juice. It is made with lime juice and water and NO sweetener. Then when you get the juice it comes with a little pack of simple syrup to sweeten as you desire. I have also had fresh pineapple juice with mint and ginger, coconut water and a rose iced tea.

2. The city never sleeps. For anyone with younger kids at home this is a biggie. There is nothing more frustrating then putting your kid to bed and trying to go out and having everything close within the hour. Here, every mall is open to at least 10pm and I dont think the bars close till the sun comes up. I was at dinner last night until midnight.

3. The hot humid weather. I know I know...I would probably hate to live with it but a piece of me LOVES this type of weather. It reminds me of my time in Guyana and there is just something sexy about a sweat-stache!

4. The local drugstore. I am still a drugstore whore and I love checking out cosmetics, medicines, snacks...all the stuff that they sell. I bought some face cream here and every single type of cream touted its whitening capabilities. Just different standards of beauty.

I have some great pictures that will get uploaded soon!