Super-soakers and Tentacles

Bali Hai!

 This past weekend, in a spur of the moment decision (literally, from the time I initially thought about it until I was on the plane, four hours had passed) I decided to forego Nakhon’s Songkran celebration and take a weekend excursion out of the country. A friend from college who works in Singapore was taking a holiday to Tioman Island, and I decided to hop on board at the last possible minute. I debated whether or not is was worth it- I would have to fly up to Bangkok, then down to Kuala Lumpur, then take a bus for 5 hours and then a ferry for two, all to spend  the remainder of my long weekend on this tiny little island. But, I really wanted to go. However, I also felt like I shouldn’t. I was being incredibly indecisive (big surprise). Tony and Maureen Wheeler, the founders and original authors of the Lonely Planet guides (aka, the world travelers' bible that I shunned at first but now love), say, “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. ” SO TRUE! The stress of decision making is the hardest part, but once you’ve made your choice,  you just kind of ride it out, either weathering the storm or basking in the sunlight. Luckily, this was a trip where I would definitely be basking.

As I packed hurriedly to catch my flight to Bangkok, I thought about how I’d be missing out on the Songkran celebration in Nakhon, but my urge to leave was so much stronger than my urge to stay. At least I had one day to participate in the festivities- I would be spending the night in Bangkok and flying to Kuala Lumpur the next day, so I made plans to meet up with some friends who were staying there and already heavily involved in the holiday.

Songkran is the three-day festival of the Thai New Year. It begins on the 13^th of April and goes until the 15^th. Some cities will celebrate for five or even nine days, and it is easily the biggest holiday in Thailand. Thailand has adopted the Western/Gregorian calendar for many purposes, the Thai Lunar Calendar is their primary system. According to this calendar, it's not even year 2011, it's 2554!! Because Thailand has a mix of many different cultures and customs, they also celebrate January 1st as the New Year as well as Chinese New Year in February. But this is their BIG one. 

Water symbolizes cleansing, and thus is a key component of Songkran- people anoint each other with water to signify a fresh beginning. Misfortune, bad luck, and hardship from the previous year are washed away as friends, family, and neighbors gently douse each other with the symbolic liquid. Young people humbly pour scented water into their elders’ cupped hands to ask for their blessing and families join together to give alms to the Buddhist monks. One of the oldest Songkran traditions is dabbing a white paste on others as a sign of protection and to ward off evil. It is applied mostly to the face. This is the religious and deeply-rooted tradition of Songkran.

If you asked any one of my students what Songkran was, however, and I did, you would not hear any of the above traditions repeated. Unmistakably, what you would hear is, “WATERFIGHT!!!” Songkran has since evolved into a three-day long, no holds barred soak-fest. Gently anointing friends and neighbors now involves a high powered water gun and barrels of water in backs of trucks, with buckets for scooping it and flinging it onto pedestrians, motorists, and anyone else within reach.  The paste is often dyed with food coloring and is no longer dabbed or smeared gently, but slathered with the same tenacity as the water, although it is not as abundant.

Crowded Streets

When I asked my students why they did it and what it was about, they got very excited and everyone began shouting things out. One boy hushed everyone else and told me, expertly, that it was something they did because the weather was hot. I liken this generation’s lack of knowledge about their native Songkran and its roots to that of some American children and Easter or Christmas. It has nothing to do with the Christian belief system, and everything to do with candy, presents, and awkward men dressed up in suits passing out these coveted things.

My Arrival in BKK-
already soaked and pasted!

Regardless, Songkran is definitely an experience. Before I left my apartment, I put my waterproof cover over my backpack- if the screams and shouts and horns permeating through my building were any indication, I would be in for a treat. Complete mayhem on the streets. I wish that I had thought to have my waterproof camera out- the streets were packed with drenched Thais in the backs of pick-ups, lined along the side of the road, and running through the streets, stopping traffic. Within minutes, I was soaked and had pink paste smeared on my cheeks and chin. And this was only a prelude of what was to come once I got to Bangkok. The moment I stepped off the bus that took me downtown, I was soaked and caked with paste once again.
Although I had a lot of fun, I could not imagine celebrating this way for more than one day- it's pure chaos! So I was perfectly content to leave for Pulau Tioman the next morning, a sleepy little island that was Bali Hai in the musical film South Pacific (1958). Here, I met up with two friends and snorkeled in beautifully clear water through vibrant coral reefs, hiked through the lush, viny jungle, ate delicious pizza, and moved at a much slower pace. It was also here that I received my first jellyfish sting.

Getting Better With My Underwater Camera
(except I think Kevin took this photo!)

We were snorkeling at the most beautiful exclusive little beach we had come to during our hike. We were the only people there for a majority of the time- it was AMAZING.
While snorkeling, I was heading closer to the big rocks at one end of the cove, hoping to see some crazy and mysterious marine life, when I began to feel something that I at first thought was sea lice on my leg. Then, it grew more intense and I knew right away something was attacking me. I panicked and kicked my legs furiously, keeping them as straight as possible. Once I felt that I had successfully kicked whatever it was off of me, I checked out my thighs and couldn't see any marks. So I carefully and quickly did a scan around me for the perpetrator. At first I didn't see anything, and then floating about a foot down below the surface, I saw it- a bulbous top with what looked like endtrails hanging below it, seeming so peaceful as it was being pushed around ever so slightly by the soft current. I am pretty sure, after conducting extensive research via Googling the words "pink jellyfish Malaysia", that it was a juvenile lion's mane jelly. It stung with the same intensity as a bee sting, although instead of centralized in just one tiny pinprick, it looked like I had been lashed across the front and side of my thighs and stung the length of it.  It honestly was not as bad as I had imagined a jellyfish sting would be, which, being someone who yearns for a little dramatic flair every once in a while, was a little disappointing.

Under the Sea

But, I still retreated from the water, just in case my legs decided to become paralyzed (they didn't) or I had some other adverse reaction (I didn't) and took the advice of my friends, which was to go to  pee on my stings (I really did). This seemed to help the stinging, however according to my extensive Google research, it is only a myth and is in actuality ineffective. Thanks a lot for the advice, friends. ;) Regardless, I say it helped. I guess you will never know unless you try it yourself. (Please, let me know how this goes, if you do. Thanks!) Whether peeing on yourself is an actual remedy for a jellyfish sting or not, I suppose it was better to be safe than sorry, and we got some hearty laughs from it. And, I now have yet another story worth sharing.

Beautiful Pulau
Tioman
(photo credit: Kevin McQuaid)

A Week in Foods

I LOVE FOOD. This blog entry shows some of the delights I have been consuming here in Southeast Asia, specifically Thailand. You won't find the fried crispy bugs or crazy food in these photos. Aside from the ants I accidentally ate when I bit into an Oreo cookie about a month ago, I have not been consuming any arthropods.*** (As far as I know, anyway!) These, instead, are just a few of my favorite things....

SUNDAY

I had this on my way to the airport coming home in KL. Pastry stuffed with chicken, potato, 

and a medium-spicy curry seasoning- you could definitely taste the cumin. Delicious.

Most places I've been to in Malaysia were Indian-Muslim style, which is a real treat for me, 

being able to get out of the Thai curry style for a bit more variety. Because I hardly ever get it,

I think Indian is my favorite type of cuisine right now. Look at the flaky, buttery goodness wrapped around
more goodness...

Chicken Curry Puff from Kafe 15
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

MONDAY

This is probably my favorite Thai dish. Scratch that. Hands down, it IS my favorite. 

The first time I ate it, it was basically two tablespoons of it over a bowl of rice, 

because it was so spicy. But I think I may be gradually building up a tolerance, because now the ratio 

is virtually reversed. It's this flavor explosion of hot and sour with a twinge of coconut milk sweetness, 

containing copious amounts of both green and red little hot chiles, lemongrass, ginger, 

prawns, sometimes tomatoes get tossed in, galangal, lime leaves, and mushrooms, straw and/or oyster mushrooms. The soup is always a little different every time, but I am never disappointed!

Tom Yum Goong from THE Issan Restaurant
Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

TUESDAY

Bacon is a relatively new addition to my favorite breakfast at our school. It's like my comfort food because it's familiar. I can count on it, you know? My favorite 

thing to do is make a sandwich, piling on the egg, bacon, and tomato between the two slices of 

toast. The "sausage", as they like to call it, stays on my plate- not so into it. I love, love love the eggs here- They're brown eggs, and the yolks are so rich. I've never seen them like that anywhere else.

The OJ is so good- sweet and delicious! This is how the OJ is all over Thailand. I have it every school morning. I had to include this because while it's not Thai, it's a staple. And, the egg's heart shaped. 

Thai "American" Breakfast from NICS Cafeteria
 Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

WEDNESDAY

I love, love, love, love getting these heavenly little morsels when we are on our way to Khanom. They

sell them everywhere, but so far, the little stand off to the right of the bus station is the best. The lady

who makes them uses the little bananas, the ones with fuzzy peels. She just dips them in 

a batter containing shredded coconut- so simple, so fried, so GOOD! The other item in the bag

are fried pineapple/potato balls and/or...something? Haven't quite figured it out yet. They're

good, but nothing compared to the fried 'nanners!

Coconut-Breaded Fried Banana from  The Stand by the Bus Station to Khanom
Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

THURSDAY

Okay, I have to admit, this is from the same meal as the Tom Yum Goong. It's my favorite restaurant!! 

These two dishes plus the soup are staples every time we go. It's just SO good- 

it's where I take all my visiting friends. You sit in little thatch booths outdoors

and eat the best food ever. All around, it's amazing! So, the Thai-style cashew chicken is different

than the familiar Chinese version. First, the sauce the chicken is slathered in is thicker- I am pretty sure it's the oyster sauce that does the trick. Anyhow, the chicken is smothered in it, the cashews are toasty and delicious, and I think it's stir-fried with green onions, little pearl onions, garlic, bell peppers, and red chiles for a little kick.

Yam Plah Duk Foo and Cashew Chicken from THE Issan Restaurant
Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand

FRIDAY
Yam Plah Duk Foo (photo is above) is fried shredded catfish. When I heard this,
I was a bit scared. This dish actually ends up being the crowd favorite almost every time.
They bring out a plate with the fish on it, topped with, yes, more chiles, onions, and peanuts.
Accompanying it is the little bowl you see to the right- this is basically a som tom, which is a kind of shredded papaya salsa of sorts. The papaya is unripe- served green, so it is tart and crunchy rather than soft and sweet. Fresh lime juice, chiles, something sweet (probably sugar), fish sauce, and little dried shrimp (which I pick out, thank you). When the dish comes out, you break up the catfish a little
with the spoon, and then turn the bowl with the papaya salad over it. The juices soak into
the fried goodness that is the catfish. I like to mix it with sticky rice.

SATURDAY

I couldn't not include my favorite treat I get when I am traveling to the islands- Roti! Roti is actually 

made all over Thailand, but it is generally sweet rather than savory. Roti generally describes Indian

flatbread- much like a tortilla- thinner than naan but similar in taste. They have

that here, but that's not what this is. This roti, also known as pancake (although it's not like the pancakes

we know and love at home either), resembles a crepe. The dough is slapped onto a flat surface and

is flattened as thin as paper. It is then thrown onto an oiled, hot plate, fillings of your choice stuffed in, and then it is folded over itself. Oh, my mouth waters at the thought! Meaghan introduced them to me my first week. I like mine to be stuffed with tomato, onion, and "cheese",which is either a processed cheese spread or American slices. That's what you see below. But, when I do opt for sweet over savory, I get a banana roti, with Nutella, peanut butter, and then they drizzle a little condensed milk over the top.

Tomato, Onion, and Cheese Roti from The Roti Lady
Railay Beach, Thailand

SUNDAY

Everywhere I go, I have to taste the Tom Kha Gai, or Coconut Soup, at least once. Made with chicken,

 lemongrass, galang, ginger, some chiles, cilantro, sometimes lime leaf, and mushrooms, it's been my favorite Thai dish since my very first Thai culinary experience with my grandfather so long ago. Alas, I have been disappointed. I think this is one Thai dish I prefer from home. It's still really flavorful, but, believe it or not, it's just not spicy enough! This one was special, however, because one of the lime leaveswas shaped like a heart. Perfectly depicting my mood at the time...

Remnants of Tom Kha Gai
Th. Rombutri, Bangkok, Thailand

BONUS GOODIES

In case you're wondering, the following are a part of my regular diet...

An Import. Thanks, Mom!!

Who would have believed it?

"Shakes"- fruit drinks blended with just the fruit and ice. Particularly banana, watermelon, and pineapple.

Fruits and Veggies: Pineapple! Guava- but not the fruit Americans think of. Here, they're more like the color and consistency of pears, but not as sweet. And just last week, I found V-8 at a grocery store! Apples, oranges, onions, peppers, carrots, papaya, guava, weird greens that look like spinach (I choke it down because I know I need it), green beans, broccoli...

Snacks: Peanut Butter, Peanuts, Wasabi Peas... and Cornetto Double Chocolate Ice Cream Cones. Really, my diet is not so incredibly different from home. And the fried rice here is delicious. Here, it's my second favorite breakfast, topped with a fried egg. Noodles, on the other hand, even pad thai, have not been my favorite. 

  

A couple of awkward/interesting things I've learned about diet/food while here:

Pizza, anyone?

• Thais eat most meals with either a fork and spoon or just a spoon- no knives, no chopsticks, which many people think Thais use, for whatever reason.
• Thais like to serve Western-style dishes, but beware- your expectations will not likely be met. For example, if you see pizza on the menu, unless you are in a touristy area, you will most likely be getting something that looks like flat bread with cubes of processed meat, corn, etc. with mayo and ketchup (the "tomato sauce", obviously!) slathered over it. 
• Some things about meat: Sausage- If you see this on a menu, don't be surprised if something that looks like a Foster Farms chicken frank is what is brought out on your plate. And they're EVERYWHERE. Beef is not common in any dish, really. Chicken- all parts of it, including beaks, knuckles, feet, legs, etc.- is common. So is pork. And dried squid. And when it comes to fish, it is served completely whole. I have seen turtles and large larvae being sold on the street here in my city as well. They love grinding up fish and making it into fish balls.
• Restaurants like to put pictures of the food on their menus. However, these are generally cut-and-pasted from Google images. One restaurant in town has french fries on their menu with a picture of McDonald's fries in the cardboard container as the accompanying image- copyrights are clearly not an issue here.
• You would be amazed by what DOESN'T need refrigeration. We Westerners like to refrigerate everything. Thais, not so much. Meat, dairy like milk and eggs, mayonnaise, etc. generally does not get refrigerated. This could be because many more preservatives are packed into the food here. I doubt it, though, unless you are eating organic/free-range at home. Makes you stop and think...

***Editor's Note: Shrimp are apparently in the arthropod phylum. Therefore, I have consumed some arthropods. They are the only ones, however- can't even bring myself to eat the horseshoe crab because they eat it with the eggs in it....

Worst-case scenario is... Well, I'll be fine.

Leaving Nakhon for Bangkok to begin an adventure with my dear friend Alina was an adventure all on its own. With endless downpour and flooded streets, I was unsure about whether or not I would even be able to get out of the city. The airport was underwater, and so was the bus station.

I knew these two things, yet I still asked the motorcycle taxi driver (decided NOT to drive my bike anywhere with all the flooding and such) to take me to the bus station. He shook his head at me, then lifted his arm to about the bottom of his rib cage, signaling to me that the water level was much too high. I immediately deflated. There was a Thai woman sitting on a bench at an outdoor table next to where the taxi driver was stationed, and she got his attention and shook her head at him. "Mai, mai," she said, "No, no." And she went on to explain something to him in Thai while I looked on. He finished his conversation with her, asked her a couple of questions, then looked at me and said, "Okay." And we were off on his bike, the rain pelting my face and my new pink poncho (to match my pink helmet, of course!), headed in the direction of the train station. Although I really had no idea what was going on, my hopes were lifted once again.

The street was only mildly flooded in this particular area of the city. It was the same area where I took pictures a few days before as we came back into town from our vacation on Koh Tao, and comparatively, it was much better. However, the sois- the little side streets off the main avenues- were still completely submerged. Under normal circumstances, this is a heavy market area filled with streetside vendors, produce stands, and the like. At this point, the street was relatively deserted of people save the auto traffic and littered with all kinds of food products. Little red and green chiles, squash, green onions, and cabbages dotted the wet pavement in the un-flooded parts and bobbed about in the watered-down areas of the road. My adept taxi driver expertly dodged these edibles while simultaneously weaving between cars, trucks and slower motorbikes AND avoiding deep pockets of water. He dropped me off at the new "bus station"- a tarp-covered area of the sidewalk just off the central region of the city.

The rain was still coming down, and the area was packed full of people who were all trying to get out of the city before the second, ominous storm we had all been hearing about became full-fledged. I waited my turn, which was made apparent when a lady pointed at me and said, “YOU! Where you go?” and was so excited when she told me the night bus left at six in the evening. “You want VIP?” she asked me, nodding her head as if it wasn’t really a question at all. She was so persuasive I also nodded my head, and upgraded to the VIP ticket.

I was just so happy to have the ticket in my hands, to know that I was actually going to be getting out of this ill-begotten, drenched city, that it was only just before boarding did I realize that this was the VIP bus- the one I’ve heard horror stories about. Friends falling asleep and waking to find they have been robbed- their bags ransacked and pillaged down below in the luggage compartment and in the cabin. And then there’s the urban legend-like tale about friends who knew friends who were gassed!! as they dozed off to ensure a heavy sleep, and things were taken off of their actual person! So now, not only was I terrified of a flash flood sweeping my big VIP bus off the road in the middle of the night while I slumbered with my travel pillow and sarong on the top deck, I was now also worried about everything I had being stolen from me (except my iPod, which to my frustration, I forgot at a friend’s house the night before.)

I thought quickly about this. I didn’t want to get to Bangkok having been robbed blind. So, once I got on the bus, I did what any other sane person would do who did not have a money belt, which I wouldn’t use anyway because clever robbers are probably experts on robbing from those anyway: I stuffed my Blackberry, my camera, my money, ID, and debit and credit cards down my pants for safekeeping. As I did so, I snickered at my cleverness, and then pulled out my pillow and hunkered down for what would end up being a very cozy, comfortable, robber-free, flash-flood-free, and all-around uneventful ride up to Bangkok.

I watched the darkening scenery out my window until I began to feel drowsy- lush greens of every hue, tall skinny trees with big leaves. It was all very reminiscent of some parts of the U.S., like the swampy areas in and around New Orleans, and it was very comforting in its own way for that reason.

The distance covered from my city to Bangkok (about the same distance as the drive from SF to LA for you Californians, but takes twice as long) was not bad at all. They passed out waters, snack boxes, coffee, and fruit juice. There was an amazing-looking Thai movie on the big flat screens located throughout the bus. All my fears were non-existent in reality. In fact, once I left Nakhon, the nightmarish rains seemed only that- a nightmare.

Once I got to the city in the very early morning, I bought myself my very first Lonely Planet guide (after 3 months in Thailand!), got some daal and naan for breakfast at a cute little restaurant, and began to brainstorm for our adventure. My goal was to find someplace beachy and beautiful that wasn’t rain soaked to spend a couple of days. I found this in researching Ko Samet- a little island southeast of Bangkok by about two and a half hours. Alina and I met up, after just a little difficulty because her phone didn't work, and our adventure together was on!

For the first couple of days, we would be in the city of Bangkok itself. I have to admit, I have never really had any desire to spend time in this city because I thought of it as being very dirty in many ways. After talking with various friends and looking through the LP guide, I changed my mind, and I am glad I did- we were able to walk around the city that is actually pretty good-looking, take  the (in)famous tuk-tuk around (and we weren’t scammed, you just have to be wise about it- it was only 20 baht, he took us to many temples and monuments and NO gem/tourist shops at all), visited the Emerald Buddha and two other wats/temples (Beautiful- I loved the murals the most!), ate delicious food, shopped on Khaosan Road, and stayed cheaply at a place off the cute cobblestone street of Rombutri that had HOT WATER! AIR-CON! TV! (luxuries, let me tell you!) The only complaint I do have about Bangkok, however, is with the taxi drivers. I felt like they were constantly trying to take advantage and it was very frustrating dealing with them.

After our time in Bangkok, we took a mini-bus to Ban Phe pier and then caught the ferry to the tiny island of Samet. Of all the islands I have visited thus far, Samet is the least built-up and modern and has the whitest sand- fine and powdery. It carries its own charm, and our time there was expensive compared to other beach resort areas, but relaxing and well-spent. We happened to get there just as the clouds were clearing up, and on the day we left, the clouds began to come back in.

We arrived back in Nakhon this morning, after taking another night bus (valuables down the pants again!) By about 6am, we were just outside of Surat Thani, and I woke Alina so she could see outside the window- it was astounding. Whole roads completely washed away, many areas still flooded. While Nakhon was apparently hit the hardest, it was these less-developed areas that seemed to have suffered the most. I was glad to be home, until we finally walked into the door and I was met with that musty familiar smell- MOLD! I spent the first hours home scouring the closet, my drawers and other parts of my apartment, seeking out mold and moldy items to be cleaned.

Tomorrow I finally begin teaching again- I can’t wait! And I also get to drop off my clothes/sheets/other mold-damaged fabric items with a laundry lady. This will be my first experience with that- up until now I have been washing all my own clothes and drying them on the rack I bought (that my friend who visited last week so kindly helped tighten J)

Sigh, living here is definitely an experience. I’m starting to get little pangs of homesickness every now and again for various reasons, but 95% of the time, I am loving it. It's all part and parcel, I suppose. Now, to begin my "Week in Food"...!!!