BANGKOK STREET FOODS

Next to Taipei the 'street eats' in this Land of Smiles are something to behold. My first evening here was greeted by a classic Bangkok rainstorm, pouring crazy for an hour, and suddenly clear skies again. I spent that leisurely hour puffing my most poetic Cohiba yet, leaning against a cool marble pillar of the ITF Palace Building, where I stay. Kalid Razack .... Andrea's Godfather, my Squardron Leader at the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Airforce, current CEO of an airline the Hong Kong Express, but most noteworthy, the man who introduced me to Thailand back 34 years ago in 1976 .... owns a nice studio apartment in the building which he kindly let me use for the Wandee sojourn. Kap Kun Kap, Uncle Kalid!

My dinner was a parade of night market fare. Entree was skewered baby squids in chili gravy; main was spicy fried chicken sprinkled generously with tasty salt flakes, as shown; washed down with a bowl of heavily 'parsleyed' pork & fish ball consomme; dessert was green mangoes plus a bottle of pandan jelly juice, of course. The damage was Baht 150 or HK$40+ and I was elated. I am not sure if this warrants a family outing, especially for Dora, but to me dinner last night made me 'whole' again. I relished not only in the fabulous menu, but in the totality of my new found sense of freedom. I can do this, because I can!