Bonjour Readers,
The past two weeks have been chilled as. As you might have seen I survived the last post with an impromptu fortnight in the north eastern province of Udon Thani, 2 hours from the Lao border. There wasn’t much to do in Udon so the fact I stayed was in very large part due to the unparalleled hospitality of Mel –(my cousins’ best mate from our home town of Wem-ber-ley) and her housemate/fellow bar owner, Som. Their Nano Bar was a chilled out little joint and one of few in the area –if not only- where there are no bar girls hankering for your attention in the short term, nor for your visa in the long term. It was nice to lie on a beanbag, kick back with a beer, and shoot the breeze with the regular patrons. It was as Mel said, the Twilight Zone. If this was in Kao Tao, (where their bar was originally), I would still be there with Alfie (the best cat in the history of Forever), on my lap sleeping as I ordered another Singha. Cheers Mel and Som.
Udon is a town with little character to identify it as a traveler friendly place. It had little by the way of activities or character, but what Udon did have was food. It takes a lot for me to shy either side of my short slim nine stone frame, but in two weeks I managed to put away the better half of two kilos. And this is how it has been in my past seven months abroad, the appreciation of the local and national culinary delights. From the array of Thali’s in India to the nondescript mutton curries in Nepal; the ‘Fush ‘n Chups’ of New Zealand to Tim Tam Slamming in Australia, and the market stalls in Hong Kong to the BBQ Issan sausages in Thailands north east, they’ve all been a discovery on par with the all those new sights and experiences.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel to places where food has been revered as part of the cultural fabric as well as it being affordable to the point of decadence. It has also been intriguing to witness the etiquette of eating displayed right in front of you. Like in India and Nepal you eat only with your right hand and not your left as that’s the one you wipe your mouth’s opposite with. Or the furor of activity that accompanies the arrival of the bill that would have Larry David with enough material to write another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Or at its most heartwarming, having the comfort of receiving a great attempt at a Western dish because the Nepali chef is sympathetic to the fact that you might not want to eat rice and lentil soup twice a day. The list goes on. These are the reasons I have a notepad full of phonetic translations for Thai dishes more than I do directions to get to the train station, and why I would rather have a Khao Mok Gai than know how much I’m getting charged for it. You put yourself out there, just like attempting the local language or practices, to try something new so that it becomes the something given. The smells, the colours, the sounds, the textures and all these things that are a constant reminder that you are somewhere different. So grab a plate, order more dishes than there are people, and get stuck in. Just don’t reach over, under or across someone’s arm to get that to that dish on the other side of the table.
Much Love,
Michael xx
My Top 5..ahem…In no particular order whatsoever.
1)Tim Tam Slamming on the East Coast.
2)Devouring half a roast duck with my old man in Hong Kong.
3)$4 Pizza’s @Bimbo’s, Melbourne
4)Fush ‘n Chups in Russell Island, New Zealand
5)Udon. All of it.
6)3 Pesto dip (The best dip ever) in Victoria Market, Melbourne
7)Milo/Ovaltine Ice, Mayalsya/Thailand
8)Hot Egg Custard Tarts in Hong Kong
9)Grand Thali’s for 20 Rupees in Dehli
