The Journey Home: Life in the City, part 2: Food

For those of you who know me, you know I am one of the pickiest eaters ever. I cannot stand eggs. Or mushy foods. Or soggy bread. Or so many other things. I think it would be an understatement if I said Hayley and I knew that I wasn't going to be a huge fan of Thai food. And I wasn't. The first week the smells that overwhelmed and over-powered me actually made me physically ill. After a week I became accustomed to the many smells. I don't believe it is because the food itself smelled bad, but there are so many vendors out on the streets or side by side in stores with no front walls, that every few feet I was bombarded by a different smell. The second week I was much better. I even found a few things that I liked.

I took pics of most of the meals that I ate there, whether it was chips and a coke, Thai food, or farang (i.e. American) food. I am not posting all of them, as some are just chips or crackers and a coke.

I will tell you I ate the best spring rolls I have ever eaten while visiting the Sunday night market. And the best Thai food I ate the whole time I was there was cooked by Dreammy and I did not get a picture! I thought I did, but can't find them.

I also took pics of chips (I have a fascination with the different flavors also...London had some strange ones too) and food stands and a fruit I ate on Thanksgiving that I had never had before. Let's not forget McDs. They are everywhere!

bottom row: extra barbecue, nori seaweed, Mexican barbecue, not sure, but he is grilling, salmon, and sushi roll flavored.

top row: caramel popcorn, prawn, not sure (blue one), jalapeno cheese

corn cheese and original flavor

several different flavors - original, cheese, BBQ, etc

Yep, hot chilli squid

Lobster

Yes. Teriyaki fish flavored chips.

Street market. We stopped here to buy fruit for H's "mom" on our way to her house.

One of my meals. The broth is a soup/broth they use to cleanse their palate. The chicken and veggies and the rice is pretty good. I didn't eat the broth because I am not a broth kinda girl. It isn't a Thai food thing - it is an any kind of food thing. I just don't dig broth.

Chicken fried rice - pretty good. Notice above and below, the fork and spoon. They eat with both at the same time. I never did quite get the hang of it, but H still prefers to eat that way, even back in the states. Also you will see a lot of cucumbers in our meals as they clean the palate as well.

I took a pic of this box at the grocery store just because to me it didn't make sense. Ha.

Oh!! Pretty pink eggs!!!!!! Then I realized what the inside looked like...

To this day I still have ZERO idea what that is. But I can promise you I did not put that in my mouth.

I just thought the fruit was pretty.

Chicken with a spicy sauce over the top.

Dragon fruit. I had never eaten it before. Forgive its appearance here, it had been in a fruit salad.

MCDONALD'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and yes, that IS a corn pie. and a pineapple one.

Ronald greeting us: "สวัสดี"

The menu. A lot of it looks just like it was in the Midwest of the good ole US of A. Except the rice.

BUT they have WAY MORE BETTER (ha ha ha...) dipping options. Yes please!! cheesy dip, classic mayo dip, Italian dip, and sour cream and onion dip.

And even more ~ ketchup and chilli sauce.

Menu continued

cooler toys

They didn't have a bathroom close, but they do provide a sink near the ordering counter so you can wash your hands. That is a mirror, not a see thru

The Thai option on the McD's menu.

Breakfast - basically the same as home except some super delish chilli sauce to dip in.

THE BEST SPRING ROLLS EVER!!

Barbecued or grilled or something like that chicken. The little stringy looking things on the right was garlic. YUM

Farang food! YUM. This was at a restaurant that sold American food. These look big, but were actually small garlic bread pieces and oh my goodness it was so good. I was really ready for American/Italian food by this point. So good.

The salad at the same American restaurant.

An "indoor" market

The lovely meal H's "mom" fixed us on the day of our road trip. It was fantastic! I must say though, rice in Thailand can not be the same rice we have here. I would start to eat the rice and feel like it expanded immediately. I was so full so quickly every time I had rice there.