"Modesty" revisited...

I’ve been able to eat more different kinds of fruit over the last few days. As a kid, I remember my mom getting really excited about guava juice, but I’d never actually tasted one until yesterday. I really like them. We’ve also had rose apples (a kind of mix between tasting like an watery apple, but with the texture of a watermelon), durian (texture like an avacado, but not sure what to compare for taste), Sala (spiky-strawberry looking things, also not sure for taste), and papaya. I’ve liked everything I’ve had, but I really like trying all the fruit. 

This morning we went to Vimanmek Teak Mansion Museum. It was the palace for the King during 1901-1906 (yes only 5 years). The kind was Rama V, who is the kind that we Americans know from the King and I or Anna and the King. As we walked up I was told again that I wasn’t wearing modest enough clothing, so I had to put a wrap on again (which they made me buy this time, so for 100 bhat (or $3), I now have a Thai wrap, which probably will not be the last I buy).  It’s become a bit of a group joke that the Mormon girl is the one who keeps getting chastised for modesty. Mormons are called a lot of things, but usually immodest isn’t one of them. It makes me laugh so much.  This one was a little more breathable though, so I didn’t mind as much. Before we went through the mansion we went through a textile museum and got to see some of the royal family’s different wraps and fine cloth. There were also lots of pictures of the royal family. 

Me in front of Bimanmek Teak Mansion, and again with my "modesty" wrap. Clearly I my mother didn't teach me very well, (or I never listened. Let's be honest, it was probably the later).

 We got to the mansion in time to take an English tour, and our tour guide was so cute. She kept bobbing her head and as she spoke and liked to laugh a lot. She took us through, explaining what each room was meant for and the different types of dishes. There was a lot of décor using elephant tusks and some stuff that I would pick out as Thai, but it definitely had an English influence to it.  They wouldn’t let us take pictures outside, but it was pretty fun to see everything.

After that, we went to Cathy’s sister-in-law’s house for lunch where we ate Hmong-bean noodles with stir-fry and this is where we got to taste some of the fruits. They chatted in Thai for a while and every once and a while we’d hear our names and some laughter. They were really nice and thought we were really funny.  We also got to meet another sister-in-law and grand-nephew who was about 2. He took a while to warm up to us, but by the end he was protesting and not wanting to go home.  

Her kitchen, notice the huge amounts of garlic hanging up by the towels (above and to the right of her elbow).

We took a few hours off and rested. I caught up writing (which I’m now starting the next night and I’m behind again). For dinner we found a Tuk-tuk again, which was a challenge in rush-hour traffic (we walked a ways before we found one that would take us). We decided to eat in Chinatown because Cathy mentioned it was an experience. It lived up to it. It was much more intense than any Chinatown I’ve been in, in the States.  There were bright neon lights flashing Chinese symbols, tons of people milling about. I know Bangkok is a big city,  (it may even be the biggest I’ve ever been in), but it is pretty quite compared to the hustle and bustle of Chinatown. We saw ducks hanging up and pigs heads. There were a lot of street vendors selling all kinds of foods. And many had set up tables and chairs as make shift restaurants. We ate dinner at the only actual restaurant we could find, and it was pretty good.  They had a couple of signs where the English got lost in translation which was funny. (My favorite: Baked Spiced Goose’s Webs with Egg Noodle. I think they meant Goose’s feet). 

Chinatown street. A motorcycle rushes past, and the Tuk-tuk in the foreground. 

An example of the crazy streets.