Night market...

Three hundred sixty five days a year a street near the guesthouse closes to traffic at 3:30pm. A crew of muscled, young Thai men move in to set up a night market on the four blocks that are closed. First comes a framework of steel pipes, then plywood for a table top, metal mesh on which to hang things, and electrical wiring for the lighting and fans. Over this tarps are stretched to provide a covering for all the displays. Next they haul out huge metal lockers that store the merchandise for the sellers and place them next to the correct stall. Each stall is about 6 feet wide. Their work is done until after midnight when they tear it all down and store it for the next day. I once made the mistake of trying to walk on the street during set up and had to jump out of the way of a fork lift to escape being run over.
When the set up is complete the sellers move in to display their merchandise. They string lights, hang fans and put out the merchandise that was stored in the metal lockers. They sell watches(including Rolex of course), jewelry, silk, other fabric, clothing, belts, purses, luggage, keepsakes, souvenirs, etc. As people walk by they say "have a look".
At midnight it's about over and things are stored again for the next day. Someday I may stay up late enough to watch the tear down, but, then again I may not.

When the swallows come home to roost.

The Bangkok Christian Guesthouse is about two blocks from Silom Road which in one of Bkk's major streets. Some trees remain from the wooded area that it once was. It is the traditional roosting area for Bkk's large population of swallows. During the day the swallows disperse throughout the city chasing the insects on which they live.
Sun sets about 6pm year around and about 7pm the swallows come home to roost. However, they do not fly directly to their chosen tree but swoop and fly around for about an half hour. With thousands of swallows swooping overhead you can guess why many of the women walking on the sidewalk choose to hold their purse on their head. By the time the swallows settle in for the night the sidewalk is splashed white. In the morning the swallows fly off for the day and the street washers go to work.
Think Bkk's dirty? The streets and sidewalks are washed every morning!

Funny fruit.

Western foreigners in Thailand (like me) are called farang which they pronounce falang. Guava fruit is quite popular here. It has a crunchy texture and a taste that's like a cross between an apple (which Thai call apple) and a green pear. They call guava farang (falang). So they think it is funny when they see a falang(westerner) eating a falang(guava)

In a Thai grocery store.

In a good sized Thai grocery store the bread shelves are no more than six feet long, they sell eggs in plastic bags and the largest peanut butter jar is about 5oz. There is also peanut butter laced with chocolate (Not so good.). The dairy case is minuscule but there are many shelves of soy milk which contains 20% hydrogenated oil. Thai love 'Twinkie like' sweets to there are many shelves of similar goodies. Rice and noodles are abundant.
Observed from my front step: A motorcycle passenger holding a bowl of liquid without spilling.

It's Friday and I'm back in Bkk for a long weekend...not school Monday for a Buddhist holiday.

Mystery answered.......

Traveling and teaching in Thailand I've been curious why some of the school uniforms are Scouting...green dresses for girls and brown shorts with white shirts for boys complete with scouting insignia. At lunch today with the teachers I asked about. The answer is that Scouting is included in the uniform Thai national curriculum and is encouraged by the king, who, incidentally is hospitalized. My guess is that scouting's emphasis on character building is the key. Last year the English teacher at Wat Salapoon, dressed in a scout leader's uniform told me she was taking grade 6, camping.
The students wear different uniforms on different days. One day a week, at least, it is the scout uniform. Occasionally a student will wear a uniform out of step with the day. Perhaps he/she only has one, or??? I think uniforms are a good idea.
There are never any students in the computer lab at Wat Klong. I use it to check my email. At Wat Salapoon students are ofter there, with their grade. However, they mostly play computer games.
The food we had at lunch with the teachers today was great. I need to get the English names of the food written down for future reference. So often in a Thai restaurant in America I look for the food I've eaten here but can't remember the name.
Correction to yesterday's post: She asked me if I wanted "khow pat" not "cow pie". Khow pat is fried rice.

Exaust sounds!

When I was growing up in the 50's it was popular among us to modify the muffler and exhaust system of our cars. We'd take the muffler off, and if we could afford it, replace the muffler with "Hollywoods" or "glass packs" that gave the car a mellow roar. If we couldn't afford the commercial applications we'd just put in a "straight pipe" with no muffler. It would be louder but not as mellow.
Perhaps you have come behind a car that has a huge canister below the back bumper. That's a resonator that fulfills the same mission of enhancing the cars sound. Bangkok is full of Honda Civics and similar cars so outfitted. It gives the traffic a certain resonant roar.
But it's not only the cars that have been so modified. Most of the huge tour buses have also been given exhaust treatment that gives them a distinct sound. It's a sound that I like.

Four on a..

A motorcycle with four: son in front, dad driving, daughter standing on the seat behind dad and mom behind daughter...no helmets. Child protection?