The International Life

Kwatta is a not so sweet chocolate spread that tastes
delightful on bread.  Belgian fare with coffee in the back.

Sunday was a wonderful day.

On Saturday night, these two lovely Italian women showed up to Kim's place.  They are working on shooting a documentary as a pilot for Italian television, all about travelling and moving around different areas of the world.  They are starting with Cambodia, and know Kim and Dani from Italy and travel.  We sat together for hours talking, and did the same thing the next morning.  We sat, and drank coffee (US coffee nonetheless, because they prefer it to Italian espresso!) and talked.

Fare collector on the water taxi.

I am starting to remember why I enjoyed the international life.  It isn't because I'm immersed in a foreign culture and learning how to survive in this new place, but because I meet so many interesting people along the way.  Kim is Belgian, and we ended Sunday by listening to Belgian and Italian music and talking about the meanings.  I learned a few new Italian phrases that are gloriously inappropriate, as well as the gestures to accompany them.  Gestures are crucial in the Italian language.

Indian sweets.  The brown one by the spoon.... delic.

The four of us went on a bit of a tour through Bangkok, seeing all sorts of cultures.  We started with lunch in Sammakorn, where Kim and I live.  It was a cool little Thai restaurant right on the river, so we sat outside and enjoyed the air and the view of the water while we ate rice and cashew chicken.  We all got the same thing, because the menu was all in Thai and we didn't really know the other options.  Kim mentioned that this was quite the issue here.  I reckon I'm going to have to study up and learn a few words and phrases.

We finished our afternoon meal and decided to take the water taxi into the city.  It's very peaceful, and I saw a whole new part of Bangkok.  There were at least five mosques on the way, and a large amount of Muslim women riding up and down the river.  I saw a whole culture on that river, full of people who live a different life than I do.

This Chinese temple we just stumbled into.

Once we got off, we started looking about at the city.  We saw a bit of Chinatown, though most of the shops were closed; it's a four day weekend because of the Queen's birthday on Tuesday and the Monday before was declared a holiday as well.  We also stopped in Little India, which is right next door.

In this little sweet shop in Little India, we ended up tasting all these sugary delights and washed them down with some hot Chai tea with milk.  It was really interesting to just sit and try a bunch of brand new foods.  I have taken my time getting acclimated to Indian foods, and this was a nice foray into the cuisine.  There was one that I really enjoyed; it tasted like a donut hole with some spice on it.  More talking, more sharing, more drinks.  People in the States don't relax like this, I think.

Seeing the sights.

We were walking about and even stumbled into this beautiful little Chinese temple.  In the middle of the city, it was massive, and must have had hundreds of thousands of baht between the Buddhas and the furniture and the antiques.  It looked like this odd mix between cultures too.  It had Buddha, but also Chinese imagery, and some things I didn't recognize.  Gorgeous.

And then, the coup de grace.  We found our way to the river and climbed the stairs of a small bar until we found.... this.  An overlook to one of the most beautiful spots in the city.  We sat and watched the sun go down, just talking and sharing again.

I live such a blessed life.

Francesca and I posing for the camera. 

Isn't this gorgeous?