Asian hospitality

Remember when I met a man on the streets of Bangkok who had a daughter named Aom, and they invited me to go somewhere with them on Sunday? Well it actually happened! They picked me and Josh up around 10:50am at the mansion. Mom, Dad, Ti, and Aom were all in the car. They said we were going to 'floating market' about 50 km outside of Bangkok.

Riding the way there was an experience. Many times we would be trying to communicate and just have to give up, because we didnt know the right words to use from the other language. I posted a picture of the sign above, just in case you were interested in visiting the market one day. Not a single english word. There was also not a single white person at the market besides me and Josh. Haha, they were looking at the family like... you guys adopted two Americans? What is this world coming to....

First person we see at the market is a man making candy suckers from straight up melted, thick sugar. Ive linked a video if you would like to view!

Monkey fishing!

Aom's dad bought it for me. He bought me anything I looked at... everything I glanced toward. seriously. Then they would feed us as soon as they bought it, which made me almost full by the time we were done shopping. We bought all of this food, then we rented a table on a river boat and went cruising while we ate. Asian hospitality is absolutely awesome! You can see the boat we cruised on to the left.


Duck anyone? Yes, even I ate some! First duck Ive ever eaten :]



There are several different typed of mangoes in Thailand. The ones on the bottom left can only be eaten in Thailand, cause they go bad quickly. You can see two other different types of mangoes in the picture. There were absolutely delicious!

To the left is fish. I found it to be a bit too spicy for me, but it was good. I normally dont eat fish, but I tried to eat anything and everything they put in front of me on Sunday.

Above is the duck we ate. A whole duck, that was really boney...

MMMMMM.... these are like sweet little cornbread cakes wrapped in banana leaves. these were soooo good, and I probably ate 50% of the bag of these things. Just melt in your mouth amazingness! The shavings at the bottom are coconut, but I really didnt think they enhanced the flavor at all. Coconut shavings are put on A LOT of different foods here.




To the left you can see crab balls. Yes, balls of crab meat. They were actually very good, I was expecting some type of sausage ball (about every street vendor sells some type of sausage ball here), but I was pleasantly surprised at the crab meat. It was tender and had a bit of spice. Overall, a check plus for the crab balls. I probably had 3 or 4.

Another item with coconut topping, but Im not exactly sure what it is. I believe the inside was coconut too... but the outer layer was some type of sticky substance. It was sweet and gooey, but quite delicious. Thats my spoon that is holding the coconut item (I only had a spoon to eat with on this day), and you can see my sticky rice in the background of the photo. Yes, asians do have rice or noodles with every meal! Im kind of exhausted from eating it all the time.

This is a cute little marshmellow like substance, with the resemblance of a coconut ball in the middle (like above). Except the ball in the middle is just the outside sticky gooey purple stuff on the coconut ball above. They let me fumble with this in my fingers and then eat it before they showed me how to eat it. It was quite comical, and I ended up very messy!







Now you can see this jello substance, with coconut topping (didnt expect that to happen, did you?) Up until now, I felt like we were just eating candy and sweets for like the ENTIRE meal. And it was all served family style, so we all ate a LOT. This jello substance actually has a purpose though, you are supposed to eat it when you have just eaten something really spicy, and your mouth is on fire. I wish I had a spoonful of this on the streets of BKK, cause I run into that problem all the time.




There's Aom with her dad. Aom is spooning out a corn mixture... it was very sweet corn. like candy. everything at this meal was like candy. She is spooning it into this TINY little (looks like a coffee filter) sugar cone thing. Its literally bite size, even for me!












Josh and I are eating the wonderful mango in this picture. It was so delicious, thinking about it makes me want another one. Im sad to say that a lot of street vendors in Bangkok dont have mangoes. I get really excited when I see a mango slushie or mango anything, but most of the time the answer is 'no have.' Its one of the few let downs I have received due to street vendors. I still eat a lot of pineapple, though... and I always think of Mom and her cookout pineapple milkshake... and then I start thinking about cookout milkshakes, MAN! Id give anything to have half a CO milkshake.

In America, we have Ice Cream trucks. In Thailand, they have Ice Cream Boats... with only one flavor. Coconut. You wouldnt have guessed, right? The boat just pulled up to our boat, latched on, and rode down the river with us, serving ice cream to the guests.

















By this time, I know how it works... so I express an interest in the ice cream and BAM! there it is. Peanuts on top and a cute spoon complete the snack. MMM, it was great, so great that they were laughing at me cause I ate all of it, even the melted part at the bottom. I thought they would think I was a crazy lady if I tipped the cup up to finish, so I didnt.





Hong Nahm is how you say toilet in Thai. My friends and I have gotten very used to asking for it. I never realized how much I took for granted free, working bathrooms open to the general public. They dont have those here. No public bathrooms (unless you are in a train station or the university). I just never realized that bathrooms were a luxury, but they definitely are. 3 baht to use the restroom normally, and you have to buy paper (unless you have a handy pack already with you) for 5 baht. The bathroom on the boat was free, and it wasnt what I was expecting. Definitely not a western toilet. Luckily, I actually havent had to use one of these yet, as a lot of places have the seated apparatus, but this is the definition of pop a squat. I also would not suggest squanding, but you could try. Notice the water bucket in the background? Ive come to realize that you turn on the water bucket, lets say, if you need some background noise while youre in the restroom. Then you pick up the cup from the bucket (its red in this picture) and pour a cup of water to flush down your business. There was no spray hose or paper in this room, so I guess you were just supposed to wing it and hope for the best.

Ill post a few pictures from the boat. The river was very calm and relaxing, and I believe it is the same river that runs through Bangkok (that I cross over via ferry for school every day).

One of the more upscale Thai houses we saw along the river is pictured below. Lots of very poor houses were along our route.

All in all, the experience at the market was dumbfounding. I could not believe the hospitality of this wonderful Thai family. We joked and laughed throughout the meal, and we ate an enormous amount of food. So much that Josh and I both didnt want to eat again for a long time. The trip totaled about 3 hours, and I enjoyed every minute. It made me think about how different a home stay experience would be in Thailand (rather than an apartment) and about how much I wished that was an option.

 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! ... Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace.

Taken from Hebrews 13.