Lesson from the street: Don't assume

I promise I won't blog about every mundane thing that happens each day. Really, I won't. But this one is worth it... okay?

Today I was really moved by one of the hawkers on a pedestrian bridge. A young kid, maybe 12 years old or so, down on his knees and carefully arranging three rows of some old packages. I was overcome with pity for this poor kid, thinking that here he was, just trying to make some kind of money by selling whatever he can get his hands on - a cheap brand of super glue in this case.  I felt so bad for him - he wasn't begging - he was just trying to earn an honest living.

So I went ahead and bought one of his little packets. In fact, I paid him double - about 50 cents total - and told him to keep it.  He had a weird, almost sad look in his eye as I left.

But as I turned the corner, I nearly stepped right on an older guy, sprawled out on the sidewalk, his eyes, glazed, clearly whacked out of his mind. I looked down to see that he was sniffing a tube of the same super glue that the kid had just sold me. 

I could almost imagine what that kid was thinking as I bought the package from him:  "Poor foreigner. His life is so bad that he is strung out, sniffing glue just like the rest of us."

Hey, I'm just assuming ... but that's what got me into that in the first place, no?

Assorted snapshots

Bangkok's notorious traffic. Thank goodness for the the Skytrain and subway!!!

 Looking down from the 7th floor of Mahboonkrong (MBK).

Ummm... "Cabbages?" Really?

This made me smile. He's too good to lie on the ground, apparently?

Vegetarian Chicken

I heart Thai Food

... especially street food.  But sometimes the menu choice gets lost in translation, as happened today. I ordered a common dish that I have memorized from repeated ordering:  "Lat na, gai." (Noodles with gravy and chicken.) But the woman answered back with something I didn't understand.  I just agreed with her and prepared myself to enjoy whatever she served.

As I waited, I noticed a sign with only one word in English:  "Vegetarian."  So no wonder I found it difficult to get chicken! 

I enjoyed  it just as much with mushrooms and tofu, however.

(Photo from last year's visit)

A Walk In The Park: Lizards, Chants and More

Other than the nearly-24 hour travel time to get here, the hardest part of my trips to Asia is getting over the jet lag. After sleeping 12 hours, I woke up at 4am, ready to go!  Lucky for me, one of my favorite things to do in Bangkok is to go for an early-morning walk in Lumphini Park.  (Named after Buddha's birthplace in Nepal, in case you didn't know.)

Just a few hundred yards from the traffic chaos... lies this peaceful urban oasis:

 

And I immediately headed back to the spot where I last saw an old friend - and he was still there!

He seems to have put on a few pounds since we last saw each other (who hasn't?). I also noticed fewer stray dogs in the park. Coincidence?

The Chinese Chorus

As I was walking thru the park, I found a chorus rehearsing Chinese music. I stopped, sat on a rock and listened for many minutes. It was lovely and relaxing, and I was ready to applaud and thank them. But their song never ended. 
 

Then it occurred to me that it might not be a song, but a chant. Then I thought maybe they are a cult? Maybe it was their way of luring in new members before the mother ship comes? I decided to run before they passed out the Kool Aid.

Some other shots from the park:

Back in Bangkok: 20 year aniversary

It's good to be back in Bangkok. The irony is that I am arriving almost exactly 20 years after I first lived here (August 1989 to 1991).  In those days, Thailand was still a "developing country. Now it looks like it should maybe slow down and let other countries catch up!

A few "establishing shots" to share with you:

 

The view from my apartment

In the Silom area