There are days when I can't take another bite of rice. I would just assume chew on scented air rather than pick at another plate of boiled seeds. There's something about biting into a thick steak or triple-decker sandwich that tells your stomach real food is on the way. On days like this, rice, which doesn't even need to be chewed, completely misses the spot.
So today, instead of joining the factory staff for the usual rice and curry, I headed downtown for some finger lickin' good Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Unfortunately, I forgot that today was the first day of Buddhist Lent and at 1pm the annual Candle Parade was set to begin in the city center - where the KFC also happens to be. Roads were closed and traffic was rerouted until I ended up several long blocks from where I had planned to park. But nothing was going to stop me on this day, not closed roads and detours, not sweltering heat, and certainly not a parade of life-sized Bodhisattvas made out of orange candle wax.
What did stop me was a line of people standing out the door of KFC. Apparently, giving up fast food for Lent was not a priority for Thai Buddhists this year.
It would have taken me 30 minutes to get my spicy chicken sandwich, so I opted for Pizza Company. I walked in and the waitress told me I would have to wait 10 minutes to get a seat. No thanks. I wanted fast food - instant gratification and I knew there was a Swenson's next door.
Sure it's an ice cream shop, but they usually have hot dogs or french fries. Not on this day - sold out. Unbelievable.
By this point, I had given up. My stomach growling at me, I settled for a quick sugar fix and bought a bag of Pepsi from a street vendor. By the way, you're reading that correctly - a bag of Pepsi.
Only slightly satisfied, I decided to make the most of the situation and take in the parade.
I have heard of these candle floats before. The most famous parade of this kind is held in a province called Ubol and until today, I didn't even know Korat had the same kind of thing.
Overall, I'd have to say it's pretty impressive - the amount of detail that goes into the designs is maddening, and I assume it all gets melted down in the end.
I thought this was odd - speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil.
They make the floats out of candle wax because it's tradition to give candles to the monks who will spend the entire 3 months of Lent at the temple. However, it's probably not the best material to be used for floats, considering the high temperatures. Each of the floats had a guy walking around spraying it down with water to try to keep it from melting.
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