Golden Sand

Two weeks ago I made my way to Bahn Sai Tong meaning 'golden sand,' my new district in Surat Thani. Finally, a place to leave my bags and a bed to call my own for the next 11 months.  I haven't spent many nights here yet, as I have been doing some island crossing and border hopping - more on that later.

I am living in a 2 story, 2 bedroom house with a nice outdoor patio. Thinking the patio would be a nice place to start out my Thai gardening. All of my neighbors have beautiful gardens with flowering trees, orchids, palms, herbs, etc.  It's a quiet area. My neighbors seem friendly. Among my neighbors are a handful of dogs, some roosters, and a few cats.  Through my window I can see a fog of colors with the sunsets, overlooking a football field (ahem, soccer) field.

Over the course of the past week, I hear thunder in the distance around 7pm or so at night. Around 7:30 in the morning I hear music coming from the Thai school next door. 

I know some of you would like to see my place. You are in luck, you are just in time for my tour. It's not the greatest video, I should have filmed horizontally and talked louder - lesson learned. Cheers!

P.S. Just met my Canadian roommate on Sunday, I think we are a good match.

Floating Market

I recently experienced my first Sunday night, Surat Thani floating market a couple Sundays ago. So fun.  Chanphen and her nephew accompanied me for the evening. We set out for some local Thai food.  The market takes place along the river, just to the west of the big bridge, along a boardwalk.  Across the river is Lamphu Island, just to the north, a river-width's distance.  We set into the market scene just as the sun was beginning to set. I have seen many gorgeous sunsets, boy was this a unique site for me.  The sun was a neon hot pink round sphere with three giant swirly waves running horizontally through it.  Chanphen told me that she has never seen anything like it.  I tried getting a picture, but failed to do the sight any justice. The sunset was huge.  I don't think I will forget it. Looking forward to more.  Next time I hit the Sunday Floating Market, I will try to get there by 5:30 to see it all.

As we perused the food vendors, Chanphen filled me in on the food and set up.  First we stopped for some bubble tea.  This is a creamy coconut drink served throughout Thailand, day to night, from vending carts.  The beverage is rather sweet and served warm.  Often times the dessert-like drink is contained in a plastic bag.  The colorful beads or bubbles are actually tapioca (starch).  The milky liquid is combination of coconut milk with sugar.  Are those artificial colors you are seeing? Nope! All natural.  The coloration is due to a combination of herbs, flower, leaves, and vegetables. Some of the coloring agents include: the pea flower (pictured above), Thai sweet potato, pandan leaf, and taro. If you are in the mood for some interesting texture and some sweet colorful fun, you might appreciate this Thai treat. Cost, ~25 baht per bag.

As we carried on  through the market, Chanphen found an open spot near the river for us to sit and eat. A table even. So, she laid her newspapers down on the mats and on the table (she brought newspapers to sit on because she said the mats weren't clean enough for eating and sitting).  We then carried on and purchased some food.  She suggested the local Pad Thai.  I stood in line while she gathered a few other items. I have tried various pad Thais and this was my favorite thus far.  She said that it was the best place to get it in Surat Thani (at least from street vending).  The dish was complete with noodles, stir-fried shrimp, bits of pork, fish, bamboo shoots, spring onions, peanuts, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, fish sauce, and garlic.  Leafy herbs, greens, a basil were served on the side. There we sat sharing the dish with our chopsticks at hand, sitting on our Thai newspaper. Cost, 40 baht for the two of us to share.  Her nephew found eventually and brought some food to our tables, for us to share.  His choices, barbequed chicken on stick and some fermented sticky rice in banana leaves.  The chicken was good, with an interesting red sauce.  The rice was fermented in all its glory, not striking much appeal to my palate, but worth a taste. The rice is fermented overnight in a banana leaf envelope with an herb that he couldn't recall the name of.

After completing the meal, we set out for some entertainment.  Chanphen suggested we head to the staging area.  She pulled me to the front several Thais crowded around two performing men. It was more than interesting and entertaining.  To top the night, an older Thai man launched homemade coconut ice cream over his back to selected Thais. Note, I was the only farang there.  Chanphen was adamant that I partake.  I really felt like I shouldn't (lots of Thais and children) and fought her hand tugging at me.  Finally, all 80 lbs of her pushed me though the front of the crowd and a Thai man cheered for me.  Soon, all eyes were on me and I was standing there.  I looked back and Chanphen was looking at me telling me too go on.  So there I went. Unlike the Thai's that volunteered* to go up front, the ice cream launching man came up to me and wanted to know where I was from and shook my hand.  He handed me a glass and there he went. Launched the ice cream wod into my cup from 30 feet away.  Everyone cheered, several people took my picture and/or video'd me. Fun nonetheless. An exciting Sunday night in the books. Eager for my next Surat Sunday night.

Walking Coconut

There's nothing like a nice stroll down the street on a hot day and finding a fresh coconut. A gentlemen has a cart along the river, where he cuts the coconuts into a handy little drink and treat.  As the coconut is slit open, the coconut water flows out. In with the straw and out with a tasty, lightly sweetened tropical drink. After finishing the beverage, the vendor can hacked the fruit open for me to enjoy the inner coconut flesh, complete with a shaved coconut spoon made from the husk. A nice, subtle treat for a walk along the river. Total cost, 15 baht. Loaded with electrolytes, great for a say full of heat and sun.

A few evenings back, Chanphen and I stopped for some food near the river, in a small shop.  This was a unique experience.  I practiced Thai with Chanphen and later put the learned language to use in my speaking skill with the waitress (they don't use the term waitress here - the person that takes your order is typically the one that prepares your food in the small street eateries).  As we waited for our food, there were a few distractions, Chanphen's favorite soap opera on the tube and the occasional rat loafing through boxes and such in the adjoining room. After about 12 minutes, the food arrived, about 7 minutes apart - typical.   I ordered spicy vegetables with rice (pictured bottom left), but we each tried a bit of each others' dishes.  Chanphen ordered a spicy seafood dish with rice.  Chanphen tells me that Thai's have to have their rice, everyday! I am working on my appreciation for shrimp, it wasn't awful by no means - the spice was nice.  Funny thing though, native Thai Chanphen found her dish to be too spicy and couldn't finish hers (pictured bottom right).  Her plate was garnished with pickled vegetables that she disliked and I rather enjoyed.  The dishes were 35 baht (vegetables) and 50 baht (seafood).

coffee is my HAPPY

Over the past weeks I have been having all sorts of adventure.  From summer camps to Surat Thani (ST) exploration, I have been enjoying time.  Several of my mornings have started with 3-4 year olds.  They keep my energy up and have me smiling often.  There are 17-20 of them depending on the day.  I work with their English speaking and motor development, but also creating fun activities for them.  Mostly I take advantage of playing with gooey, messy, colorful things.  My best discoveries so far, playing with color, duck-duck-goose (they say duck-duck-goot or gooth - ha makes me laugh).  I just showed them the game two days ago and they are in love with it.  It's the simple things.

Everyday, I walk around the ST, looking for new and interesting things to see and do.  Depending on the day and time of day, there seems to be a variety of new happenings.  I came across a local fair on the east central area of ST a couple of weeks ago. It was neat to see.  It was different that the fair by the river.  It was small but with different foods and venders.  Everyone seemed like they were having a good time.  Kids were just getting out of their summer classes, walking towards the fair, enjoying games and rides.  In one of the clothing stalls, I saw some skirts for 100 baht each.  I decided it was a good price and that they were good quality, I purchased three.  I know I will get some good use out of them working with a more strict dresscode, black skirts and pants.  Interestingly, there are always 40-50 year old working at all-female clothing stalls.  I had to laugh as the man assisting me (in his button-down shirt and boxer shorts) was telling me what size I needed. 
 
I have tried different foods after school or during the lunch hours.  I have had some good luck finding some new and interesting food.

 Khao paht - chicken fried rice 

I am not a big fan of fried rice, you see a lot of it in Asia. This however was probably the best I have had.

 

One day after class I stopped and order an item in the window mostly because I had no idea what it was.  I found out later, from Chanphen that it was beet root with egg. The flavor was good, it was a sweet/salty-tangy taste. It doesn't look like much, but it was worth a try.  With it, each table receives the long beans (shown above) and the table condiment is the soy/fish sauce with minced chilies to add flavor and heat to nearly any dish.  Overall it was good, but there was more rice than the actual dish. I have a feeling I was suppose to add another entree to the rice. Next time I shall get it figured out, cost 25 baht. Some free ice water included, much appreciated on 90+degree days.

Chanphen (pronounced Shawn-Penn) met up me several times in the past two weeks, we went for several city strolls.  One days I decided I'd treat her to a coffee outing.  She suggested the spot.  Chanphen LOVES coffee. She always tells me, "coffee is my happy." She says she drinks 3 cups a day, when she would rather drink 5. She cuts back because she believes it's healthier. She enjoyed her hot coffee and I tried my first Thai ice-coffee.  Mine was a bit too sweet, but not awful.  Thais' like to add sugar and condensed milk to their ice-coffees.  Custard breads are available all over, typically at the street side or in mobile street carts. She encouraged me to try it.  The color is natural, comes from the pandan leaf.  The sauce or custard is coconut milk, sugar, and a pandan leaf.  The bread is also colored by the pandan leaf, steamed.  The leaf is used in many dishes, favored for its aromatic properties.  The bread is very soft and has a sweet chewy feel.  To concluded the afternoon stop, we enjoyed some hot tea.

Chanphen and I have had several dates lately.  She was remodeling a bathroom so she asked if I wanted to got to Tesco Lotus.  I was picturing the small grocery store (more like a grocery/convenience store) that I see all over Thailand.  I met her at her place. He nephew then drove us to the outer limits of the city, where we ended up at, I would describe as a mall.  There was a 'home center', called Home Pro on the upper level.  It was similar to a Home Depot.  It wasn't exciting but it was a worthwhile experience seeing more of the region by vehicle versus foot (somewhat limiting). In addition, I think the workers hadn't seen such white skin walk through their doors.  Interesting culture piece for you, if Thai's aren't working they sit and talk, and sometimes sleep. So it's really obvious that I am not a typical sight, when I walk by a group of workers sitting in an aisle talking, they all stop talking to watch me.  The funniest thing I experienced was waiting for Chanphen at the checkout.  The man holding her bags was lifting the bags in one hand as if they were dumbbells, staring at his biceps - all 80 lbs of him. He would casually look over at me, I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud.

On the way back we stopped along the river and went to a Vietnamese restaurant.  Her nephew joined us, not saying much of anything the whole trip. I tried talking with him, and eventually ruled out him knowing any English.  I would say he was in his early thirties.  At the restaurant were given a list of menu items on a tablet, all in Thai.  We then checked off what we wanted, I had no idea what any of the food was aside from a few menu pictures. Kind of exciting.  Chanphen encouraged me to order a few items so that we could all share them together, common practice in Vietnamese and even some Thai restaurants (family style).  As we waited for food, I began to ask Chanphen several questions about different foods.

My interest was spurred by a large dish of herbs and greens placed before us on the table.  I tried some new herbs, the Thai basil is still one of my favorites.  The others were still quite good. Slowly her nephew began to contribute to the conversation. After about 2 hours of knowing him he started to talk to me after he heard me say that I grew up on a farm.  He spoke English after all.  I soon learned that he was going to school for nuclear engineering, hoping to start his own sustainable farm through natural energy.

Soon enough the food came.  This was such a fun way to try some new cuisine.  Between the two of them I was able to get some good translation and food info from them. And so the course went.  As a customary welcome, her nephew paid for the meal.  He was very happy to do it and wanted me to feel welcome in ST. Check out some of our dishes..

 

 Spicy Tuna Salad - tomatoes, lemongrass, chilies, green papaya, red onions, chilies, herbs, sauces.

  Vietnamese fish and vegetable rolls with a spicy peanut and vegetable sauce.

  Steamed pork in leaves, rice noodles with crisp onion, and spicy peanut/chili sauce.  The pork was really good, looks interesting in the leaves but was really tender and flavorful.

 Fried tofu with a sweet honey/toasted peanut sauce.

Each dish was really good.  The sauces were all different.  I look forward to revisiting this restaurant, nice location along the river. Sadly I had all the Thai names of these foods, but my papers got rained on and now I don't know where I put them to keep them 'safe.'

PS I am a little behind on my posts with my moving and Malaysian visa run. Stay tuned for more fun.