The Incredibly True Adventures Of Sticky Rice

I just added a friend from Peace Corps, Larry Stone, to my facebook. He's an artist who did all the covers for our bi-monthly Peace Corps magazine called Sticky Rice.

Since leaving the Peace Corps, I've often thought about these covers because compared to everything I've read or letters I've written, they best capture the ridiculously sad, funny existence of a volunteer in Thailand. Thanks to the miracle of Facebook, he's posted a few that I can pass on.

Welcome to Thailand. "I want to be alone", says the Peace Corps trainee. 3 months later, "I'm so lonely." A Peace Corps volunteer soon discovers there are two kinds of 'lonely' in the world. 'Lonely' where you are alone, but just a phone call away, and 'Lonely' where you are alone with no phone and 100 miles away from the nearest person that speaks your language.

This one is a a little too true. Before I read the shampoo bottle, I would go back and re-read all the letters to the editor in old editions of the Newsweek magazine we received, then, the introductions and forewords in my non-fiction books, and finally, the user's manual for all my electronic appliances.

With the students in uniform and everyone with the same haircuts (girls with a bob and boys with a high and tight), you could easily feel overwhelmed, and even though they were only 4 feet tall, there was always a sense that at any moment they could turn against you. "Greeting, you" was simply a guise to get you to let your guard down.



"Hey you, where you go?" The more appropriate, yet never asked question is "Hey you, where the hell are you?" with "What the hell are you doing here?" coming in a close second.


A depressingly large proportion of my free time (with other people) was spent singing super soft hits of the 60's and 70's. I know the words to way too many songs that I simply should not know - Beautiful Sunday, I Don't Like to Sleep Alone, Rivers of Babylon, and 500 Miles...

Bucket Of Joy

The new thing on Kao San Rd is a "Bucket of Joy" - a sand bucket filled with Thai whiskey, Red Bull, and Coke.

At 199 baht or around 6 USD, it's the best deal in town.

It would be even better, if they threw in a few aspirin for the hangover you're going to have the next day.

Eat With The Wind, Look At The Bridge

Another food blog, but at least it's one with a view.

The restaurant is Kin Lom Chom Saphan, which translates directly as eat, wind, look, bridge. Make of that what you want, but you go there to eat, enjoy the breeze off the river, and look at the bridge.


Great view, but food is the highlight - muscels, soft shell crab, spicy soup, and some little orange shrimp in leaves.


It's a first class place, so I was surprised to find this in the bathroom. Apparently, in case you have some bad seafood (or drink too much), there's a special vomit basin. I suppose it could also be a vomitorium for people who are full, but want to eat more.

Sh*t On A String

The other day, I came across these sausage balls hanging out to dry on the side of the road just down from Nuch's house. They reminded me of popcorn string.

After they have absorbed all the necessary natural herbs and spices (dust and exhaust from the Bangkok roads), they are properly fried, sealing in the flavor and killing (hopefully) any unwanted microorganisms.



Actually, it's good stuff. Just wish I didn't see it being prepared like this.

Cobra Gold Survival Guide

Cobra Gold is the joint Thai - US military exercise that takes place in Thailand every year.

Although the most obvious benefits of Cobra Gold are the much anticipated R&R for US soldiers, and the Everest-like spike in monthly income seen by Thailand's bargirls, I suppose the primary purpose of Cobra Gold is to maintain strong relations between the Thai and US governments - going back to the Vietnam War and the "Domino Effect".

Beaches and babes aside, it's also an opportunity for US soldiers to hone their survival skills, in case they're ever called to fight in Southeast Asia again.

Rule #1 - the forest is your friend. Know the forest well and it will feed you well. Below is a picture of a Thai army trainer showing the different kind of fruits and vegetables found in the Thai jungle.


Rule #2 The cobra is not your friend. But know the cobra well, and...


it can feed you well. Nothing like a Cobra Gold cocktail - snake blood and rice whiskey.


Rule #3 - When rice whiskey is not available, you can always take it straight.

Don't Make Them Like They Used To

I was visiting a friend the other day and saw this stylish building across the street. At first, I thought the wavy lines that covered the outer walls were some sort of modern design, but turns out they're sealant where the concrete has begun to crack.

Scary stuff, considering my friend was showing me the plot of land where he is going to build his new house. Hopefully, he has a different contractor.

Class of 1990

The beauty (or curse) of the Internet. These pictures were posted on Facebook recently.

My physics class - 1990. It must have been a Friday before a football game. I'm in the back left (I had hair back then). You can barely see the top of Brennan's head next to me.



This must have been Freshman or JV football - either summer 2 a days or a pre-game meal. I think I weighed 150 pounds back then.

More to come...

Sea Of Love

For a not-so-typical Valentine's Day celebration, Nuch and I joined some of her co-workers for a Seafood cook out.

Beam, in the blue shirt, got up early and went to the fresh market outside of Bangkok. She came back with a trunk full of prawns, muscles, crab legs, shells, squid, and salted fish.


Here's a before picture.



and the after picture.



Finished off with some seaweed (actually, rice noodles) and coconut milk.

Belated Anniversary At Jim Thompson

During my trip to Cambodia, I became an Eggs Benedict addict, so this weekend, Nuch and I stopped by the Marriott to get my fix.


After breakfast, we took the Marriott ferry across the river to do some shopping.

This little girl shared the ride with us.

After our shopping (I got a new watch), we visited Jim Thompson's house - where Nuch and I had our Thai wedding ceremony. With the holidays and Nuch being overseas, we didn't do anything special for our anniversary, so thought this was as good as time as any to celebrate.

It was just a simple lunch, but we sat by the fish pond and enjoyed the afternoon while we reminisced about the past 2 years.

Whenever I got close to the water the fish came right up to me. I thought they were hamming it up for the camera, but I think they were expecting me to give them food.

Puppies In The Window

A friend of mine recently became the proud father of 8 mutts. His home is already overcrowded with 2 retrievers (one being the mother), so he's desperately trying to get rid of the little ones. Over lunch, he kept taking phone calls and making others to potential owners, as the puppies (now 7 weeks old) are sucking the life out of their mother.



Here's his list.


I would love to give one to Nuch's mother as a gift, but no such luck - thanks to Nuch's objections. Instead, I took some pictures for my blog. I guess, this way they'll always be puppies to me.


Lingering in the background is Uncle Leo, Tess's brother. He's not a big fan of the new additions.

Here's a quick video.

Quick Trip To Ko Samet

Here are some quick holiday pics from a recent trip to Ko Samet - first trip like this in 3 years.

It's just a 2.5 hour drive to the pier and a short ferry ride to the island. Here's a fishing boat catching fresh fish for our dinner.



It was a budget trip, so we stayed at a small guest house on the beach. Behind the guest house, they set up some chairs for deep thinking.



Ahhh... sun and sand.


I didn't waste any time and settled into a beach chair - from which I never moved.

Some views of Ko Samet from my beach chair pole position.

Fear of getting dark keeps the Thais fully-clothed while playing in the water.

Beach vendors kept us full all day. This lady was selling grilled chicken.

The life of a beach dog. These guys kept us company for the small price of some chicken bones.

Bar BQ dinner on the beach.

Dessert

Sunset....

and fire show.