Stuff Thai People Love #5

#5 MAMA

MAMA (pronounced with an emphases on the second MA) is nothing but the Thai version of Ramon instant noodles, but Thai people seriously can't get enough of this stuff. The flavors of the seasoning packets are obviously geared towards typical Thai dishes, but aside from that it looks and tastes exactly the same to me. My personal favorite flavor of MAMA is Tom Yum Khung which is a very popular sour and spicy Thai soup dish.

MAMA is also probably one of the cheapest foods you can buy here, around 15 US cents a package. However, my friends tell me they think MAMA is more of a snack than a meal. There is literally an ENTIRE aisle of the grocery store and supermarkets dedicated to MAMA packages. What I find most funny is that many Thai people will often order MAMA when they go out to eat in a restaurant and they'll essentially receive the same instant noodles they could have made at home but with more oil. Image going to say, The Olive Garden, and ordering Ramon noodles.

Bon Appetit! 

Stuff Thai People Love #4

#4 Straws 

In Thailand, every time you purchase something which comes in liquid form, you will also receive a straw. It does not matter what the liquid is, or what the size or shape of the container is, you WILL receive a straw. In fact, 7-Eleven has about 10 different sized straws that coordinate with different bottles they sell. Each and every liquid item gets a straw. It's like an unwritten law here. Yes, even beer gets a straw.

The straw craze is one of the Thai-isms that I thought was extremely strange the first few months I lived here. I used to be very anti-straws. I remember one time I told the cashier (in Thai) that I didn't want a straw with my liter sized bottle of water and she looked at me like I had three heads.

However, I have to admit I've converted to the straws. In fact, in feels quite weird to me to NOT use a straw now. While Coley was visiting, she made an interesting observation that using a straw does appear much cuter than tilting your head back to drink out of the bottle. Is the cute factor the real reason behind the straw craze? Nobody knows.

Coley Does Thailand: Take 2

Once again, this post is quite late but better late than never, right?

As many of you know, my best friend Coley came to visit me back in June and stayed for the entire month. I can't even express how nice to was to have a piece of home with me at my home away from home. Coley is the same friend that I came to Thailand with the first time I visited back in 2011. Therefore, it was fun to experience Thailand with her again for a second time. However, this visit was much different than the last. Last time, we were backpacking and moving around to a different city every night. It was fun but also felt very rushed. This time it was much for relaxing since we were settled at my condo and had an entire month to explore, eat, and shop.

Anyway, here are some of the highlights from our time together.

Coley's pickup from the airport.

Coley takes a Thai cooking course. The instructor told her she was in charge of getting the chilis at the market because she's "red hot!"

Our sampling of Thai desserts. Some of them were tasty and others...well not so much.

A rainy afternoon at Wat Arun in Bangkok.

A visit to Bangkok's famous Skybar. You can actually see my apartment in this picture! If you've seen the movie The Hangover (Bangkok) you might recognize this place.

Night view of Bangkok from the top of Skybar.

Me, Coley, Mean, Pik, and Beam

Of course, what's a visit to Thailand without a few elephants?

Temple hopping in Ayutthaya

Coley's iPhone case purchase at the night market. Now is this cute or is this cute?

View from our hotel in Krabi, Thailand.

Alright, so who's coming to visit next? ;)

Totally Thai Moment

Back when I lived in Ayutthaya, my life was filled with plenty of weird sightings and experiences. The ones where I just chuckled to myself and thought “Yep...I’m in Thailand.” I like to call these "Totally Thai Moments."

For example, I’ve seen a grown woman casually ride open air public transportation with a GIGANTIC teddy bear bigger than her own body, motorbikes trying to balance 3 tanks of gasoline on the back (safe, right?), monks with weedwackers taking care of the landscaping at the temple, elephants following me while I’m running, and 7-Eleven employees escorting me up 6 flights of stairs to use their private employee bathroom because I told them in Thai that I had to pee REAL bad. And that's just to name a few.

I have to admit that since I’ve moved to Bangkok life has been quite normal for me (well…relatively speaking). While it’s quite nice to have a pretty normal lifestyle, sometimes I do kind of miss those weird and wacky Thai moments that remind me why I love Thailand so much.

However, last week I had an unexpected Totally Thai Moment. I was walking along the Skywalk, which is like an elevated footpath above the street for easy access to public transportation and other places such as shopping malls. Often times, vendors will set up a large blanket on the ground, display and sell items on the busy walkway such as t-shirts, wallets, scarves, shoes, etc. Selling on the Skywalk is not legal in Bangkok and comes with a hefty fine if you're caught. But as with many illegal things in Thailand, this doesn't seem to stop people from doing them. 

So anyway, I was walking along the Skywalk which was lined on both sides with many vendors. I spotted a guy selling women's v-neck t-shirts. I recognized that he was selling the same shirt that I already owned. I really like that shirt so I decided I would buy another in a different color. I chose my color, we negotiated the price, I payed the money, he handed me a (plastic) bag with my new shirt, and at the exact moment that he's reaching into his pocket for my change...

I suddenly hear the female scarf vendor next to him cry out, "ADFSKJHJHFSHEUEFNJH@$*&!!" Actually, I have no idea what she shouted but I'm assuming it was something along the lines of, "POLICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

My t-shirt guy quickly said to me, "pop nueng, pom ja glap" which means, "wait a moment, I will return." Then, right in front of my eyes, I witnessed every single vendor on the Skywalk scramble for their belongings and run for their lives. They all obviously had a system to this madness because I watched my t-shirt guy grab the four corners of his blanket, pick it up in one quick movement, stuff it and all the t-shirts which were neatly displayed on it into a big duffle bag, then he literally BOOKED it out of there. I swear, he did this in a flat 8 seconds. These vendors were scurrying away like a bunch of teenagers who just broke their neighbor's window. The Skywalk went from small market to normal walking path in the blink of an eye. 

I watched my t-shirt guy run quite far and hide his duffle bag behind a pillar so it was out of site. He only owed me 20 baht (about 70 cents) change so I wasn't going to be too upset if he never came back, considering the situation. However, I waited around for a few minutes watching the situation unfold. About 20 seconds later, a guy dressed in a police uniform came walking down the Skywalk with his eyes scanning like a hawk and tickets in hand. I waited around for another minute and sure enough my trusty t-shirt guy returned with my 20 baht change and a big smile. 

Only in Thailand. 

Stuff Thai People Love #3

#3. Ya Dom 

To be honest, I'm not even sure what I would call these in English, but in Thai they're called Ya Dom which literally translates to smelling medicine.

Thailand is endowed with plenty of unusual sites (to a foreigner) such as movable stalls selling edible pig's body parts and intestines, thousands of motorbikes on the road, deep fried insects, and even elephants and monkeys strolling the streets. And with these strange sites also comes...well....strange smells. So how does a local cope? Two words: Ya Dom.

Ya Dom is a stick-type inhaler that is used to clear nasal congestion and help with nausea, fatigue, or dizziness caused by smells. It's made from menthol, camphor, and eucalyptus oil as base ingredients. It works by stimulating nerve endings which allow for improved blood flow which therefore counters conditions such as nausea, figure, and dizziness. To use it, you simply open the cap, stick it up your nose, and sniff.

Ya Dom is used by millions of people in Thailand; in fact, it's hard to find a Thai person who doesn't carry one of these babies with them 24/7. But not only do they carry them, they use them. Often. Despite the current Ya Dom craze in Thailand, its use actually reflects the Thai age-old habit of using aromatic herbal remedies.

So if your're curious - go ahead and give Ya Dom a try next time you're in Thailand. They're only about 15 baht (50 cents) and are conveniently sold at each and every (yep, you guessed it) 7-Eleven in Thailand.

Stuff Thai People Love #2

#2. Plastic Bags

I have never seen such a bewildering profusion of plastic bags in my life. They appear to be an integral part of Thai culture. I'm honestly not sure if life would continue to function if they were abolished here.  In America, I feel like it's becoming quite socially unacceptable to ask for a plastic bag at some stores instead of bringing your own reusable bag. Here, they will give you as many plastic bags as your little heart desires.

In grocery stores in Thailand, plastic bags are used in pretty standard fashion, as a means for you to carry your purchased goods home. However, the main difference I found is with the street vendors and convenience stores. For example, if you buy a single packet of gum or a single juice box at 7-Eleven, I 100% guarantee they will put it in a bag. The street vendors really take the plastic bag love affair to a new level. For example, if I want a mango they will cut it up for me, then dump the pieces into a bag which is then inserted into another plastic bag with a handle. They also throw in a tiny prepackaged bag of sugar/spice to dip it in. My trick is try to get away before they bag the bag containing my bag of fruit and bag of sugar. Even your morning coffee is placed in a plastic cup and then in a plastic bag. Even the salad I often buy for dinner at the night market consists of a salad in a bag with a smaller bag of salad dressing which is then placed inside another bag with a handle. Again, a bag inside a bag inside a bag. Same scenario if you buy say...curry. You'll walk away with a bag of curry and a bag of rice placed inside a bag with a handle.

I have to admit, one of my favorite plastic bag trends in Thailand is the pop in a bag. They open up a bag, dump in a mountain of ice, followed by a bottle of pop. I know this seems very strange, but I urge you not to judge until you give the "bag-o-pop"a try.

Since I usually do recycle and try be environmentally friendly, witnessing this love for the plastic bag in Thailand is hard to watch. I feel a certain amount of ethical responsibility combined with a bit of social awkwardness about it. While I try to refuse the bag (or at least the last bag with the handle), I haven't done as good of a job as I should, mostly because I'm trying to do as the locals do and don't want to stand out/look like even more of a freak than I already am here.