Outside our studio apartment and across the street there is a man with a whistle. My days end and begin with that man and his whistle. It is so incessant it has now become the background noise of my day in day out.
This whistle man is not alone in his endeavor to control pedestrian, car, and motorbike traffic. There are men like him with whistles everywhere I go.
I have, in fact, had the whistle blown on me. Once for attempting to take a short cut through some bushes (I was not amused by the whistle blower and marched away in a huff) . And twice now, two different men have blown their whistles at me until I looked at them- just so they could salute me. (I was very amused by that.)
I have wondered who these men are and who their employers might be. If I so desired and bought my own whistle, I could probably blow away down their on the streets-saluting and disciplining and annoying busy girls working on their report writing during their work from home days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you were to come over and sit on our bed (which isn't really so far-fetched an idea as we do live in a studio), you would notice that every time a bigger car-maybe a truck or some such thing-drives by, the whole apartment shakes as if it is an earthquake. Just an interesting observation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes when I walk down the street my stomach rumbles at all the yummy things I can smell. Specifically when I walk by the waffle sandwich booth at the Victory Monument BTS station. Those puppies smell like heaven! One day I will cave and buy one...one day.
Sometimes when I walk down the street my stomach rumbles...in a most concerning way, at the many unappetizing odors that affront my olfactory receptors.
Sometimes when I walk down the street....I begin to cough uncontrollably, my eyes water and I feel a burning in my throat. Don't worry-just someone across the street cooking ridiculously spicy peppers. They are like a super weapon. My goodness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Often...no, not even just often. Typically, mostly, Usually....I have no idea what it is I am actually consuming. The fact that most food has MSG in it is a fact I am overly aware of, but not really sure what to do about. So I just eat it up.
Even when I do order my food (horribly and occasionally) in Thai....just because I say I want "chicken" does not guarantee that I get anything close to what I am hoping for. (ie a plate of chicken liver and hearts. Delicious....)
My go to method for ordering is usually to point. I might say a few other meaningless words to try and hope my dinner will be somewhat satisfactory, but typically it is all up to the poor Thai people to decide what it is they think I would like to eat. At the very least, this is entertaining.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What you may not know about Thai people, or at least BKKers...they LOVE their sweets. This is something I can definitely get on board with. I, too, love a little sweet treat. But here, things are a little extreme. Sweetened condensed milk is in everything. Everything. I'm not saying this is a bad thing....I myself love a little sweetened condensed milk in my iced latte's....but it sure can't be good for you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My number one Bangkok living annoyance?
Well, glad you asked. =)
Any and every time I walk anywhere, if a taxi driver sees me he incessantly honks his horn at me until I acknowledge that I do in fact see him, and I don't in fact need a ride. It is maddening. As if I am incapable of catching a cab when there are 1000 right in front, behind, and alongside me. I suppose it is not the norm for a farang to walk anywhere-but I never was very normal anyways. =)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's easy to forget that we live in Bangkok. Life is busy and I'm not constantly out of my comfort zone. But every once awhile I'll see something that is so quintessential "Asia" that I have to stop for a second and smile-just realize that we live here, that we're doing it and we love it. The other day I was huffing along with a mattress and a Costco size bag of rice (don't ask), and saw this guy on a motorbike holding an outdoor lamp. He had both arms completely extended with this outdoor lamp post, and the little light pendant was hovering up above he and the motorbike driver's heads. It was hilarious and definitely made me feel less sorry for myself.
This whistle man is not alone in his endeavor to control pedestrian, car, and motorbike traffic. There are men like him with whistles everywhere I go.
I have, in fact, had the whistle blown on me. Once for attempting to take a short cut through some bushes (I was not amused by the whistle blower and marched away in a huff) . And twice now, two different men have blown their whistles at me until I looked at them- just so they could salute me. (I was very amused by that.)
I have wondered who these men are and who their employers might be. If I so desired and bought my own whistle, I could probably blow away down their on the streets-saluting and disciplining and annoying busy girls working on their report writing during their work from home days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you were to come over and sit on our bed (which isn't really so far-fetched an idea as we do live in a studio), you would notice that every time a bigger car-maybe a truck or some such thing-drives by, the whole apartment shakes as if it is an earthquake. Just an interesting observation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes when I walk down the street my stomach rumbles at all the yummy things I can smell. Specifically when I walk by the waffle sandwich booth at the Victory Monument BTS station. Those puppies smell like heaven! One day I will cave and buy one...one day.
Sometimes when I walk down the street my stomach rumbles...in a most concerning way, at the many unappetizing odors that affront my olfactory receptors.
Sometimes when I walk down the street....I begin to cough uncontrollably, my eyes water and I feel a burning in my throat. Don't worry-just someone across the street cooking ridiculously spicy peppers. They are like a super weapon. My goodness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Often...no, not even just often. Typically, mostly, Usually....I have no idea what it is I am actually consuming. The fact that most food has MSG in it is a fact I am overly aware of, but not really sure what to do about. So I just eat it up.
Even when I do order my food (horribly and occasionally) in Thai....just because I say I want "chicken" does not guarantee that I get anything close to what I am hoping for. (ie a plate of chicken liver and hearts. Delicious....)
My go to method for ordering is usually to point. I might say a few other meaningless words to try and hope my dinner will be somewhat satisfactory, but typically it is all up to the poor Thai people to decide what it is they think I would like to eat. At the very least, this is entertaining.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What you may not know about Thai people, or at least BKKers...they LOVE their sweets. This is something I can definitely get on board with. I, too, love a little sweet treat. But here, things are a little extreme. Sweetened condensed milk is in everything. Everything. I'm not saying this is a bad thing....I myself love a little sweetened condensed milk in my iced latte's....but it sure can't be good for you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My number one Bangkok living annoyance?
Well, glad you asked. =)
Any and every time I walk anywhere, if a taxi driver sees me he incessantly honks his horn at me until I acknowledge that I do in fact see him, and I don't in fact need a ride. It is maddening. As if I am incapable of catching a cab when there are 1000 right in front, behind, and alongside me. I suppose it is not the norm for a farang to walk anywhere-but I never was very normal anyways. =)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's easy to forget that we live in Bangkok. Life is busy and I'm not constantly out of my comfort zone. But every once awhile I'll see something that is so quintessential "Asia" that I have to stop for a second and smile-just realize that we live here, that we're doing it and we love it. The other day I was huffing along with a mattress and a Costco size bag of rice (don't ask), and saw this guy on a motorbike holding an outdoor lamp. He had both arms completely extended with this outdoor lamp post, and the little light pendant was hovering up above he and the motorbike driver's heads. It was hilarious and definitely made me feel less sorry for myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment