Living in Bangkok

On Friday, I took the BTS to Silom to pick up some foodstuffs for the house. On the walk from the BTS station to Soi Silom, just around the corner from the Myanmar embassy, I saw a parked van offering photocopies, passport copies, and printing services: There was a guy in the van on a laptop: And an umbrella provided shade at the open back of the van, where a woman helped customers: I walked to Soi Prachum Market (the wet market we'd visited ages ago, when we took that cooking class), stopping to take a picture of the Indian temple, Sri Mahamariamman, that's across the street from the market. I wandered around the stalls searching (in vain, as always) for fresh pandan and fresh coconut milk (no luck on that front either). I eyed the starfruit and dragonfruit but didn't feel like carrying them the long walk to the Silom BTS, so I left empty-handed. I walked to a fancy bakery in Chong Nonsi to pick up a brioche with nutella frosting. When I met with Darren a...

Life goes on in Bangkok... Black cat posing in the most picturesque spot I was supposed to go back to work this week (starting June 14) but apparently one of the cleaning people at the school got Covid, so they had us work from home. Except they never sent us any assignments, so I really just kind of had a paid holiday. Lucky me! The hot weather has also broken here as the rainy season begins. The skies are often dark but it hasn't rained all that much. But in general, at the hottest point of the day, the temperature might be 90F and “feel like 100F” and that is actually...a big improvement. So I am able to walk around quite a bit more, and don't feel like I have to either be home or in an air-conditioned mall between the hours of 10am and 5pm (being out at those hours during the hot season is unbearable partly because I still do things like walk from the BTS station to the house—and even take the longer route—whereas if I were smart like the Thais I'd...

And...some photos from the weekend... Fancy meal along the river, with a view of Wat Arun: Pigeons in Ari: Eating a salted egg doughnut from Kinu: Roman checking out lights at Khlong Thom Market, aka The Flashlight Market: Eating duck at Khlong Thom Market: Chinatown cats: Chinatown street corner: Rows of vendors in Chinatown, all frying up guay tiew kua gai nai hong (rice noodles fried with chicken and egg or ก๋วยเตี๋ยวคั่วไก่นายฮ้ง): Chinatown elevator:

I went in to school on Monday, where I met all the Thai teachers who work in Pre-K and Kindergarten, then spent the rest of the day lesson planning. After that, I had the rest of the week off, to go to Immigration with Roman, buy a few more things for the house out at Chatuchak, wander around in Chinatown, take my phone in to the Apple store to get it repaired, and eat plenty of street food. Here are some photos I took! Roman eating pandan-filled mini pancakes: An iguana at the garden store: A little frog hopping around on Soi Sukhumvit 4 (our street) A view of Khlong Saen Saep: Larb moo with khao neow and raw vegetables & basil: I got this from a street cart in one of the only places nearby that has a strictly local/non-commercial vibe. This is the third time I've had larb from a cart or stall that doesn't specialize in Northern food and, unfortunately, has led me to conclude I should only get larb from an Isaan establishment. It was ok...

Even though I've only been working for a few days (and I've been working from home, making videos on my own schedule, at that), the weekend really felt like that—a couple days off to do whatever we wanted. On Friday, we headed down to Chinatown, and wandered a few blocks north of the metro stop. I was looking for a recommended street food-style restaurant, but as we circled the block, looking for where it was supposed to be, we ended up in a hidden back alley, where a couple men sat around on lawn chairs, drinking beers and playing with their phones, and two women fired up steaming stir fries on a couple hot woks. It seemed the restaurant I was looking for was shuttered, but the little street food stall was busy with people picking up to-go orders, so we decided to eat there, and had a seat amongst the trees in the alley. And it was so good! They made dishes we'd never had nor heard of—cooked wide rice noodles that were shallow-fried with oi...

We've been busy setting up our place. We brought pretty vintage-style pink and green and gold bowls and plates and glasses, a rice pot, and a wok. We bought pantry supplies for morning cereal, sliced bread, and soda waters. We bought five new house plants, which we carried in plastic bags from a scorching hot Chatuchak market to a waiting taxi. After several days of failed attempts at fixing our fridge, the building manager had one brought in from another apartment--and it is bigger, newer, and nicer. I've officially started teaching, which means--this week--that I am recording videos of me singing songs and telling stories for what seem like imaginary kindergartners. Next week I will go into school, though there won't be any kids there yet. We are getting to know Nana, our new neighborhood. There is a reasonably-priced grocery store nearby called Foodland, and there are several street vendors selling cut fruit. On our street, there is a food s...