A New Favorite: Tasting Menus

It's early in the morning here in Moscow.  The sun is already peeking through the sky with some golds and reds and it is just 4:30.  I woke up thinking about food, a common occurrence.

Within the last few months, I saw a television show on Netflix called Chef's Table.  This show looks at some famous chefs around the world, their restaurants, and what it is they are doing in them.  This became my favorite show in record time.  I love the music, the backdrop, the variety... and it is about people making good food for humans to enjoy.

One of those people was Gaggan Anand, a chef working in Bangkok at a restaurant called Gaggan.  The theme of his restaurant is progressive Indian, and he takes the flavors of India and the produce of Bangkok to make amazing dishes.

In February, Peter and I went to Gaggan, and it was absolutely stunning.  The menu was all emojis, one after the other, and the courses came out so quickly.  And, we have photos of every single dish, but I'll spare you the 28 different pictures, knowing that some highlights will suffice.  I'll admit that it is a trial to restrain myself, but this would be a mighty long post otherwise.

This is the emoji menu, with the different pieces.  The entertaining part of the menu was trying to guess which things would be coming based on the menu.  

This is Yogurt Explosion, one dish that Gaggan is famous for.  He took the yogurt of Indian cuisine and found a way to keep it in this egg shape, so when you eat it, it breaks into your mouth and the texture is incredible. 

This black dot was a highlight of mine.  I can't be certain what all is in it, but it tasted like charcoal bread, deep and rich and full, and it was almost crunchy in the texture.  At Gaggan, the textures were nearly superior to the tastes. 

This was the ice cream emoji.  

It is uni, in a crepe cone, and the presentation is enough to make you smile.

It was difficult to photograph this, but this would have been my favorite moment and close to my favorite dish.   It was the tomato emoji, and it was a tomato matcha that the chef had to prepare at our table.  He scooped in the powder for the tea, poured some water from the teapot.  Whipped it up with a special bamboo tool, shook it around to release the aromas.  The whole moment had this ceremony and this ritual to it that was simply wonderful, and when you put the bowl to your lips, the smell enveloped you in this incredible smell. 

And then, the chef himself.  We had such a great time at Gaggan, and I realized that I enjoy the lingering over dinner, the food that keeps coming and never makes you full.  We were seated around 6:30 and left around 9:30, so our meal was long and glorious.  A dish would come out, you could enjoy it, and then it would vanish and another one would take its place.  Plus, having the bite-sized food gives the opportunity to taste all these different meals and enjoy them all, taste them all, with a stomach that can manage.

In fact, I liked this Prix Fixe idea so much that I found another restaurant for it in Bangkok, for the next trip.

Sidebar: The food in Bangkok might be my favorite food.  There are so many restaurants there, of all kinds and calibers, and it might be my favorite place to eat.  I display as evidence this photo of me at a steakhouse called El Guacho.  Even coming from steak country, I've never tasted anything so delicious.

But that's neither here nor there.

In April, we went to a restaurant called Sra Bua, at the Kempinski Hotel.  There was a menu there, called The Journey, which was heralded in some of the local news as a fantastic modern Thai cuisine, and we wanted to give it a try.  I'm sad to say that we didn't get photos, because of Songkran.

The service at Sra Bua was some of the best I have ever encountered.  In fact, when I think back to dinner, the service was the tipping point to make it one of the fanciest meals I've ever had.  Every person on staff knew what was happening, knew service in this fancy restaurant, and made the effort, and it was just incredible.

Online photo. This was soup you drank from the straw. 

They started us with a special dish, for Songkran, a tasting of traditional Thai snacks.  In fact, I think we tasted at least 5 different dishes that were gifts from the chef, starters not on the menu, and Songkran specials, because we kept wondering if this was the first dish, or this, or this.  There was a little pouch of cashew nuts in basil, a typical Thai street food, and a small skewer that was flash grilled at the table.

Online photo. DIY Noodles.

The food was very Thai, and it honored the Thai traditions while still being new and fun and unusual.  There was a traditional soup in a bowl of sand with a straw, and diy noodles in a syringe, which you put into miso soup.

Online photo. Seabass with Apple and Celery. 

My favorite was the apple and celery salad, a nod to papaya salad, with the seabass and spicy sauce.  The textures and the tastes just converged into this delicious moment.  It was fresh, spicy, textured.  This place gave a menu that was more than a few bites.  Unlike Gaggan, where it was usually one mouthful, Sra Bua was a full, dish that you could get into, over and over again.  If a dish was enjoyed (and so many of them were), you could enjoy a few bites of it as opposed to just one.

But, back to Chef's Table.

One of the restaurants featured was White Rabbit, here in Moscow.  I have been to White Rabbit, and went back in the fall when I first arrived with some of the other new people.  But, this time, I went back to enjoy the full tasting menu.

This restaurant has a story of going down the rabbit hole into a whole new cuisine.  From the television program, the Russian style of food was taken back a few eras during the communism reign.  From a diverse set of foods into something more streamlined, Russian food has been undergoing a change back into the old style, and the chef (Vladimir Murkhin) has been facilitating that change.

I went to the tasting menu just a few weeks back, and I really enjoyed myself.  It was a bit absurd, and I've never had a meal like it.  I couldn't decide if I liked the food or if I didn't.  The tastes were so unusual, so different, so strong.

Here are a few of the dishes with a few descriptions for you.

Caviar, pear, and mead. And it was strong mead too.  Caviar is an unusual texture, with this burst in your mouth of flavor and intense taste. 

I loved this little drink, the raspberry/carrot with some vodka.  The bite tasted like farmland, with a strong cheese and dried salmon.

This bread with the fresh butter made me want to cry, it was so good.  The knife was strange, but that presentation and the smell and tenderness of the bread... Oh man.

A common Russian dish, schi, which was so bright and delicious.  The little sandwich is similar to a crabcake, but it was light, and airy, and beautiful like spring.

There's a whole section in the television program about this dish... Moose Lip dumplings.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about those, because they look so unusual on the screen.  However, this dish was quite nice.  I thought the dumplings overpowered the taste of the meat inside, but the sauces were out of this world.

A palate cleanser... Medlar.  This is a new favorite fruit, because we ate the ones that they brought us in addition to the sorbet.

As a non-sugar eater, this was my absolute favorite dish.  This is technically a dessert, a cake, a mousse, and an ice cream.  And, in the last restaurants that I enjoyed, the ends were too sweet.  At both of the other restaurants, I left the restaurant thirsty from excess sugar.  This dessert, though, was perfect in its savoriness.  The base was a black bread of some sort, slightly sweet, then a chocolate mousse, and the top was sour cream ice cream.  The black bits on top were some sort of garlic, leading you into a dessert mindset without killing you with sugar. 

During lovely dessert, they also brought us these noses.  Why?  It was unclear at the time, but each of them had a smell on the inside and a name on the outside.  I chose one that smelled like gingerbread, one of the more common sweets for fall and Christmas here.  Another one smelled like church incense.  We made our choices, and as we finished our meal, they gave us little bottles of perfume.  Why?  It is still somewhat unclear to me.

This ending had to be the finest ending of any menu I've seen so far.  This is a very light willow tea, and whipped honey.  The waiter was stirring this honey in the bowl, and eventually gave us each a spoonful of it.  And it was the best dessert.  It was light, and fresh, and so incredibly delicious.  I can still taste it, and still think about it. 

I leave you with an excited K at a table.  I believe that I will be searching for tasting menus wherever I go now.  

Cooking, a Second Post

I have made so much progress with my goal to learn how to cook.  In fact, I’m to the stage of cooking where I am giving food away proudly, without any fear that it is not delicious.  I started with soups, and I’ve been making all varieties of soups, mainly because they are easy to freeze and reheat and because it is a light dinner filled with vegetables.  This week, I gave away a few portions of lemon, ginger, and carrot soup, because it is a great healer of the sickness that seems to come with school in the cold.

Produce at my local grocery store. 

I find myself cooking quite frequently.  I make a batch of something on Wednesday and sometime on the weekend, after I visit the best grocery store in the area (Azbuka: Alphabet of Taste) and purchase produce for the week.  A few weeks ago, I made two kinds of vegetable broth and have been trying them this week with my soups.  I’ve made vegetarian lasagna with eggplant, and some zucchini eggplant round dish that took ages, a tomato sauce that was pretty nice, and a ratatouille that I’m quite proud of.  I’ve roasted things, and pan-fried, and blanched.

The take of veggies one week.

I’m quite proud of yesterday, though.  Yesterday, I took a variety of ingredients that I had in my fridge from other soups and leftovers of things, and put it all together in a new soup.  I didn’t have to follow a recipe, and just judged portions based on what I thought might be right.  Turns out, my soup is pretty darned good.  Best of all, I know exactly how healthy it all is because I made it on my own. 

More often, I just stir fry some spinach or broccoli with some chilis and have it with my food.  I’m eating amazingly healthy with this food that I make in my own home, powering up my body for all the dance and exercise that I do.

Artistically taken photo of chopped veg.

This time was the right time to finally make it happen.  Finally, after all this time, I think I have finally figured out how to make food for myself and how to enjoy it as well.  It doesn’t hurt that I have a cleaner who takes care of the majority of the dishes for me and helps me keep my kitchen clean despite my working so hard to destroy it.

Figure 1. Soup.

This goal of cooking is never accomplished fully, but I do feel the confidence that comes along with being able to stir a bunch of random things together to create a decent meal.  And, I subscribe to the America’s Test Kitchen approach, trying something 15 different ways before determining which way is the best way.  In fact, with my vegetable broth and stock, I did just that.  I’ve found the better alternative to a bullion cube with super saltiness and the processed taste. 

Figure 2. A typical meal.

I’m happy to have a new hobby, and there are more on the way, I think. 

The Military Tattoo

Rapidly losing sunshine.

Allow me to set the scene.

Friday afternoon, after school.  It's a beautiful day, with the sun shining bright.  It's brisk, fall weather, a perfect temperature even for those of us who feel such comfort in the tropical heat.  My friends and I took the metro underground to the stop that is right behind the Bolshoi Theatre.  It's full of people milling about, because of a couple big things happening, one of which is a large science themed exhibition.  We kept seeing these science themed kiosks, with chemistry themed pictures on them.  Of course, the insides of the kiosks were moderately tame: coffee, souvenirs, fur hats, food, food, kebabs.  There was even a band playing some sort of music, though it was a bit far away.

He's the happy one.

We were very close to the center of Moscow.  This isn't just a saying, in fact.  Right outside of the gates to Red Square, there is a brass circle laid into the bricks.  It is the very center of Moscow, and all of the city is built around it.  The area is open, large, sprawling, and easily filled with people on a busy day.

Right before this center of Moscow, though, and the gates to Red Square, there was a line of metal detectors and police guards, and the inside of Red Square was nearly empty.  As one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city, you can imagine how rare this is.  We also heard bagpipes, and saw a few gals dressed up like belles, selling pictures with themselves and fighting off oglers. We decided to go into the Square quite early, so we gave our tickets to the men standing guard, got searched and metal-detected, and walked into an empty Red Square.

There were a few people milling about, eating the kebobs and street food on offer.  Some bleachers had been set up looking over a horse field, where people from Central Asia (perhaps Kazakhstan, but unsure) were riding back and forth in beautiful traditional garb, holding people above their shoulders as they rode.  I'm sure there were more tricks, but we became distracted by savory crepes and military men with hawks.  This non-smiling face you see is, in fact, the face we saw the whole time.  There was another one who smiled even less, which I'm sure you find hard to believe.  They were showing off their animals, and that was all.

View from the seat.

As we went forward, we found a gingerbread gun (which Rorey bought, which wasn't very delicious), the Scottish marching band that marched straight through this walkway with their bagpipes, and the giant stadium where the tattoo was taking place.

And so, we went to find our seats in the still empty stadium.  We were quite early, having been warned that security and the number of people sometimes become overwhelming.  We had this gorgeous view of St. Basil's Cathedral, and of a completely empty space in the middle.  Now, I came into this Tattoo without a full comprehension of its purpose.  I knew that there were Military Bands.  I knew that it was highly recommended for all the people.  I knew that it was fun.  I didn't have many expectations, but, they were shattered in the face of what I saw.

There was an announcer, speaking like the start of a boxing match in guttural Russian.  The first band emerges from the St. Basil's side, slowly marching towards the center.  They get into formation as the church bells toll.  The arena lights up red, and loud marching music fills the air.  I was thrilled from this moment forwards.

But wait, there's more.

Apparently, Military Tattoos also showcase their soldiers, and the gun twirling tricks that they have somehow picked up.  So, this particular band (Slovakia perhaps?) also had a long line of men acting as one with their gun movements.

Now, this was one of the more... traditional... Military Tattoo bands of the evening.  Things got a little ridiculous throughout the evening.

For example.

Scotland was there, with all the bagpipes.  Their set included a handful of pretty lady dancers with the coolest argyle socks and matching sweaters you've ever seen.  They were, of course, driven into the arena in fancy cars.

Hello Scotland.

During one set, a band played the Game of Thrones intro theme followed by an 80s song with a lady singer (who I believe also played clarinet?)

Mongolia had the most amazing outfits, with golden, tall, pointed helmets and a rainbow of colors.  Their set included the trumpet making horse-like sounds, and three traditionally dressed dancers who whirled around as the music picked up speed.

Mongolia, you win the beauty contest.

One band had a point where baton twirlers and the majority of the band surrounded a tuba player, then as he played one long, low, sound, they all fell to the ground as if collapsing from the power of the note.

Singapore had an identity crisis on the stage.  They had bagpipes in their band.  They had an Indonesian/Malaysian dressed drumline that jammed out on the stage.  Their dancers were dressed in a Chinese style, with long flowing costumes that had scarves at the hands.  And, they ended up playing both Bollywood and popular modern songs.

Belarus was among the favorites.  Hip music, fantastic formations, and all in all amazing work.

At some point, there was a featured singer (two even).  They were, in all honesty, my least favorite part of the evening.  But, the crowd went insane for them.  The famous lady was French, and she has a cult like following here.  It messed up my Tattoo groove, but the rest of the stadium was very excited.

All through the night, the Cathedral was lit up to match the colors of the performances.  It was neon, it was blue, it was white as snow....

And, at the end of this remarkable event, the Moscow University Marching corps came out, playing national favorites which the whole stadium sang.  They also wove in "Happy" by Pharrell, somehow.  They were the last set before the grand finale... which was...

Every band coming out onto the stage and performing a couple of songs as one giant mega band.

And then, in true Moscow fashion... fireworks.

The First Few Days: Shopping/Restaurants

I have been using Duolingo to learn Russian for the last couple of months.

My lessons have not prepared me to shop at the grocery store.

At all.

Or to eat at a restaurant.

At all.

My first free evening, I went to the small grocery store around the corner to look around and see what was available.  I picked out a few green apples, a card, and a cup of yogurt, a pretty cheap order.  I went to the cashier to check out, and was asked a series of questions that I responded to with the blank stare of confusion.  There was a woman behind me in line who giggled at this, and at the ineptitude that comes with a new culture.  In fact, she paid for her bottle of water with just coins, while I utilized the money in my special envelope from the school to pay, which appeared to upset the woman behind the counter.

Then, I learned.

They were asking me if I wanted to buy a bag, because free bags at the grocery only exist at the fanciest store.  They were also probably asking me for some smaller money because the bill I paid with was considerably too large.  In fact, our orientation team told us that they get fussy, which... sounded pretty accurate.

At the restaurant, there are many water options that are not available in the America (or in Thailand).  You ask for water, and they ask if you want "gas or no gas".  Now, the first couple of times I heard this, I giggled like a middle schooler.  But it is actually part of the Russian description for sparkling water, or still water, which in fact is what they are asking.  There are also varieties of questions about wanting cold or normal water.  This is quite a boon for me; I dislike ice in my water, and I've finally found a place where this is typical and easy.

We've also noticed that there is wonderful service here, that your table gets cleared as soon as you are finished, and that you can sit and drink coffee as long as you wish.  However, this often also means that once your plate is gone, your server is also.  This has presented a curious change from the States.

I remind you that none of this was on Duolingo (and I'm a quarter of the way through the lessons).

Next up, I think I need to learn numbers and how to ask about price.

Yesterday, I went to buy some fruit from a local seller that sells out of the back of his car near the train station.  They've had these beautiful raspberries, peaches, apples, as well as a new fruit... a white melon.

So, I went up to him, and pretended to know all the Russian, utilizing the few words that I knew in a masterful way. Please allow me to sum up the conversation in a dramatic fashion:

Me: Hello.

Him: Hello. [па-русски and much more that I didn't grasp]

Me: (points at apricots with a smile).

Him: Yes! [price that I can't understand plus something about how the nectarines are also delicious]

Me: Yes! Good! Two, please. (with my fingers up). (points at apricots and puts three fingers up)

Him: Yes! [something about how I should choose them?]

I choose them, with his help.  Then he chooses some, and shows them to me.

Him: ... Apples ... (Duolingo had this word).

Me: Good?

Him: (takes an apple, cuts a piece out of it, and offers it to me).

Me: Good! (swooning from the delicious apple, puts 5 fingers up).

Him: (fills a bag with apples for me, weighs it). Three hundred and [unclear]

Me: (counts out 300 from the wallet, and gives it over)

Him: and [unclear]

Me: (gives another 50)

Him: [unclear]

Me: (gives another 50)

Him: (gives me a few coins of change)

Me: Thank you! I don't understand! (with laughter)

Him: You do understand!

Me: Thank you!

Him: Merci!

Apparently, I look Russian and French.  Someone also asked me for directions (a Russian) on the way home.  This is some home I have acquired.  But, look at my yummy delicious fruit purchases! Note: This was a previous fruit purchase.  I've already destroyed the current one for an evening staff picnic on the front lawn.

The Small Surprises

I must admit, I have many things to write and less time than I need to write them.  However, I was asked a question today at a girls' evening that I must write more on.

The question: What has surprised you about Moscow?

This place is full of endless surprises, if I'm honest.  There will be many in my years here, for certain.  For right now, at the end of this long and lovely day, here are my answers.

- The people are friendly, smiling, helpful, and forgiving of the stupid mistakes that my next blog will explore.
- My house has a towel warmer, a dish rack in the cupboard above the sink, and windows that open two ways.
- There is sun, and it makes a beautiful city.
- The city is safe, super safe, and alive at all hours.
- It can rain for more than 15 hours in a row (and not flood).
- The school community is amazingly diverse.
- I look Russian (yet to be determined).
- The sidewalks are made for walking: wide, pedestrian friendly, and everywhere.
- The metro (every metro line) comes every 2 minutes.  Without fail.  And the system is easy.
- Things are easy here, so easy.
- There are fruits and vegetables.
- (Once more for mom) This city is safe, so safe. Walking around, there are zero threats.

I'm thrilled to be here.  I know it won't always be easy, but I love it.

My New Home

Moscow is fantastic.  Simply wonderful.

I got into the SVO airport last week, on Wednesday, and was met at the airport by a new colleague, who was shocked at how fast I got through and that I had my luggage.  In fact, when I went down from Passport Control (in the diplomatic line), my bags were already there on the carousel, and I chased them with my cart.  Even going through customs, I likely should have been stopped with the cat, but I forgot, and we sailed through without incident.

It's a massive airport, overwhelming.  All of the Russian was washing over me, with a family in front of me in line and behind me in line speaking to one another.  As I exited, the taxi drivers were speaking to me fully in Russian, and I had no clue what anyone was talking about.

We found the school car that was to take us back to the apartment, and I somehow managed to make small talk despite the long travel time and the weariness in my bones.  My colleague had brought her son, a tenth (or eleventh) grader as a helper as well.

I was brought to my complex, and we sorted out the keys to find out which door and apartment I was in, and squeezed as much of my 50 pound luggage, two carry-ons, cat, and humans that we could manage before the beeps indicated that that was enough.  Up we went, to the place.  I walked in not knowing what to expect, not knowing what would be in front of me.  There is an outdated video online about the apartments, but with the multitude of complexes and the variety of setups, there is no way to know what you will come into.

According to the others (and me), this place is pretty incredible.  I spent more than a few minutes just blown away, thinking I had won the life lottery.  In fact, with every passing day, I believe more and more that I have completely won.  Disclaimer for family and friends: This place requires a personalized key card to get into the gate, a code/fob for the door to the building, and a key for the apartment.  I feel utterly secure in every way.

The first thing you see as you walk in, an entry way. 

Other side of the entryway. Note the freestanding heater.

Living Room (the most empty)

Living Room 2 (with the balcony)

Kitchen!

Fruit purchased from a street vendor. So, so good.

View out the window (to the school bus stop)

More view out the window.

Bathroom, obviously.

Laundry room off bathroom with storage.
Fun fact: The washer is in French, the dryer in Swedish.

Office, with cat model included.

Bedroom, with east facing window.

View from the office and bedroom, as they are on the same wall.

It Wasn't Dengue!

It's a beautiful day.

Let me set the soundtrack for this day, the first song that came on my shuffle this morning when I walked out of the house in search of coffee and noodles.

Allow me also to set the tone for this post... It is Saturday today, and I am finally feeling myself.  On Tuesday, however, I thought I had dengue fever.  A coworker had told me that I was looking quite tired on Tuesday, and sure enough, I was.  After work, I went into my strange borrowed apartment and settled in to watch Mr Holland's Opus, an old favorite that happened to be on cable.

About half way through the movie (when he starts teaching driving school and the big parade reveals that his son is deaf), I started getting the chills that felt like a big fever was coming round.  It was not pleasant.  It reminded me of when I realized I had dengue back in Cambodia.  Shivering, teary-eyed, I went and had the doorman call me a taxi so I could get a blood test at the hospital.  I'm not prone to believing I have illnesses, but it is rainy season, and I had seen a tiger mosquito in my house the week prior, so I was mighty nervous.

The taxi man didn't quite know how to handle my unkempt appearance, or the fact that I didn't have the comfort clothes that I may usually have had.  In fact, I was wearing my school dress still, a brown frock, with my bright sarong pants beneath it, and a blanket on top to handle my feverishness.  However, we made it to the hospital, and the staff anxiously tried to understand my limited Thai amidst my chattering lips.

The blood test told me that I didn't have dengue (thank the Lord), and they prescribed me some medicine to take that would ease the pain and kill any other flu symptoms that I may have had.  I managed to make it through the week, thanks in great part to my coworkers who kept me in Reese's cups and distracting chatter, and even made it to a staff BBQ at a friend's house on Friday.

I had never really believed in the 24 hour flu, until this week, when I had it.

Fast forward to this morning.

Sheaf of mail, all bills and important things.

I had a ton of errands to run this morning, because when I got back to my apartment, I found a stack of mail from bill time.  There's things to do to get ready for summer, for my month back in the US.  I've got to get to packing up, and doing laundry, and setting up my home for my absence.

One piece of mail that I got, I couldn't read.  At all.  However, a little detective work, and I realized that there was a package at the post office for my house.  My detective work consisted of me looking at the little logo, and realizing that the map on the back was for this far off errand.

Detective work required. I do see that I owe 120 baht.

In order for me to go to the post office, where all the packages arrive, I typically take the songtaew down Ramkanghaeng, this big long road in the city, then take a moto to my destination.  It's usually an adventure, because it feels like it is in the middle of nowhere.  You drive down all these mixed up roads, and all of a sudden, this post office appears as if by magic.  Since the place is actually two buildings, you can't even go in the main entrance.  You have to go back around the corner, and enter this secreted away building with a sliding door to retrieve your package.

Post office logo. Importante.

I was enjoying my new musical playlists though, as I took this journey today.  I ate my noodles with my favorite noodle ladies, and a local even mentioned as I was paying that she sees me here every week.  "You must really like these noodles," she said.  I do.  They are the most garlicky noodles in the city.

I walked up to the bank on the way towards the bus stop where I catch the songtaew, determined to take in the collection of .25 baht and .50 baht coins that I had collected, things that I get as change from 7/11 when I pay my bills but cannot actually spend anywhere.  No one will take them, and I had a years' worth collected from various forays into the city.  The clerk, who recognized me, of course, asked me how much I had, picked out the Hong Kong cent and the Singapore cent from the mix, and gave me a 20 baht bill for my trouble, after she counted the whole mess.

I caught the songtaew, and even attempted to grab a taxi, wanting a brief respite from the heat.  He told me to grab a moto because the mess of roads wasn't something he wanted to deal with.  It wasn't a big deal, because he only took 20 baht instead of the 40 that the meter said I owed.

I walked across the bridge to the moto stand by the pagoda, and was lucky enough to land a female moto driver.  The moto stands here are amazingly well-organized, and they take turns for fares.  Whenever I am lucky enough to have a female driver, I always tip.  I try to support them in this male-dominated business whenever possible.  Khun Ann, the school staff's favorite taxi driver, is the same woman who brought me home from the eye surgery, and I trust her with my safety.

So, this very petite woman and I go flying through the city, all the way to the post office.  I step in, put my paper on the counter, and wait for my turn.  The woman behind the counter calls my house number, and I step up.  However, she keeps asking for another person.  I begin to fear that I have come to collect something that isn't mine.  Luckily, the man next to me can speak both languages far better than myself, and I let him know that I'm a renter, and that this is the owner of the home.  There's some conversation that I don't really understand, and he thinks about a translation for me.  I say, "She has to come get it herself." And he says, "Yes!"  No problem.  I grab the paper, get back on my moto, and get back to my village.  As I leave, another customer gives me a paper I dropped, very nice of them, and exit with several "Ka pun kas" on the way.

On the way home in the songtaew, I was standing on the back (where I quite like to be, since I can see everything), and yet another nice person tries to stand up and give me his seat.  It is a beautiful day in Bangkok today.  I politely decline, trying to explain with my remedial Thai and a bright smile that I like this place on the transit, and he sat back down with another smile.

Just then, this song came on, and I was unable to help myself from bobbing back and forth to the rhythm while riding through the city.  Fair warning: the video is a bit more risque than the song itself.

I was really feeling that burst of post-illness energy, and was able to make it to the other post office, where I mailed some letters, and the market, for some Rizza foods for summer, before I came on back home.  I even tried to pick up a dress at the tailor's, but she told me she had to go get some extra fabric to fix the momentous tear in the back.  So, another week before that is ready!

The rainy season has begun, bringing a more pleasant temperature to Thailand.  I don't have dengue and I finally feel myself again, and this day was too beautiful to not share.  I think I may need to see my favorite massage ladies today to celebrate the loveliness of the day, and the fact that I'll be setting food in my homeland in less than two weeks.