Lights, Camera, Action!
We are, at times, embarrassingly American.
Last night, we took Kiddo to the Street Fair near us and it was lacking. In food. In shopping. In the Kid’s Area. In having all the lighting up.
We forget, still being new here, that people come for the CLOSE of events, not the Open. For the Open, vendors still need to get into place. The kinks need to be ironed out. Everyone is kind of getting a feel for the way of it and finalizing set up and dialing everything in. So, today in walking past, it looked fuller. More booths and stalls in place for food or games or goods. Tomorrow there will be even more and everything will finalize filling out. Then, by about Wednesday, the food vendors will know how to cook, move, shuck and jive in their area. Where’s water? Trash? Clean up? Extra space for blah need. Can you borrow or play off of the vendor next to you? A million little things get worked out, so by day 4/5 they will be in full swing.
So, we can go back. Give everyone time to get a feel for the event and then tweak it and crank it up to full. We’re excited and it’s so close, we can just wonder over and grab food midweek and have street food, or a soup, or anything.
Tony Bourdain was right about one thing. Something about SEA People and sitting at a little plastic table on a tiny plastic stool. It’s just what they do. But… They also do damned good food. One of the best things you will ever eat is a bowl of soup or a plate of chicken and egg from a dude with a cart on a street and three little tables and some stools. YUP!
Because one of the best things I’ve eaten, in my life, was a little beef noodle soup from up the street from us. It costs me 90 baht with a soda. Cost me 80 baht with a Coke. The soda is syrup and soda water mixed. The coke is just a bottle of coke. Costs about $2.50. And I say this without hyperbole. Literally one of the top three things in life. And J and I have eaten at about 5 different Michelin star restaurants. And at another 65-70 that are on the Michelin up and coming list the year previous to our eating there or that same year. So, we’ve eaten some really really well done and recognized food. Beef Noodle Soup Place is STILL top three.
And now, I’m going to do something I’ve not done before in this blog. I’m going to stop it and not post it. You see, we went out this morning to get Songkran outfits. Men wear bright flower patterned shirts. Women were these wrap things and a shirt. Kids… We’re gonna ask nanny Beer and see if she could take Kiddo out to get a Songkran outfit. We also got water guns. And some new shoes for the Kiddo. Then J and I had a talk. There is a kid’s cartoon called, The Bad Guys, that is playing here. It’s above 75% on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. So, it’s not awful. Wanna take Kiddo to her first movie at the theater later? So, we got tickets…. And we leave to walk to the mall to see the movie in about an hour. And again, I will, until my last breathe, look at Kiddo and see a little live version of Calvin and Hobbes.
I’ll be leaving this and picking it back up tomorrow with movie pics and reactions. So, I’ll see you tomorrow, but for you, it will be the next paragraph. I’m sure style and tone will change, but that’s the fun; isn’t it! Cheers for now.
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And I’m back.
It’s rainy and cool here today. Like, our AC is off and the windows are open. It’s lovely, actually. I’m walking around in long sleeves. If I had jeans, I’d be wearing them. 72 degrees with an 11 mph wind and rain.
Also, as noted, we took Kiddo to see a movie last night. The movie is based on a book series for kids and new readers. So, J was familiar with it and thought it was good based on the books. It came off very Ocean’s 11 meets Mission Impossible mixed with some James Bond and then toss in a smattering of Generic Action Movie and you’ll get the idea. But, it was a caper. The movie makers even gave a nod by having the main character “pull a Clooney”.
Besides that, Sam Rockwell was the main character’s voice actor. So, we got that as well. Sam Rockwell is great as an actor (see him in The Way Way Back if you can, he’s amazing, but it’s also a cute movie), but he’s also someone who knows how to use his voice. I’ve seen him in a bunch and it’s always Sam. Just uniquely him. He brought that to the character. A swag. A charm. A chuckle. Not taking himself or the movie too serious.
The cast was huge. Awkwafina. Craig Robinson. Marc Maron. Zazie Beetz. Alex Borstein. So, there are some names in this bad boy. And it sounded like they had fun making this. Not that I’d know anything about it, but just from the voice acting and timing of some of the jokes… It comes off like they all recorded together and had fun doing it. I’d love to see and hear outtakes. Especially with Craig Robinson, Sam Rockwell, and Awkwafina. From what I hear, they are pranksters and like to try lines and takes. So, I’m sure there is some SUPER Adult stuff that got cut.
Also, I took a video when we got near the Street Fair. So, you can see how busy it was, but as it goes on, those bikes parked and going to quadruple. But, that LONG Street is what we walk down to get to the Fair. It’s about 1/3rd of the walk to the Mall. Just to give a rough idea. J went to the roof at 9:30pm last night. She wanted to get some air and see the street and fair. I wanted to play some Baseball on the PS4 and listen to a new Podcast I found about gaming. She got the vid where you can just see the whole of it. Pretty cool.
We got Songkran clothing yesterday. And Ramen for lunch. Kiddo, of course, needed to model them. Kiddo, though, got new shoes. Bangkok shoes. Big girl shoes. She’s growing so so much. And looking back, I have bought this lil girl so many pairs of shoes. From her little Robeez that she started with to her Ikikis which she always wanted to wear mishmashed, to her shoes now.
It was a full day. It was a fun day. It was great to just watch her watching a movie. It was great to share that with J. The whole day, really. To just have the girls. All the kisses and loves and hugs…. From both. With both, since Lil Miss can’t let us hug without needing to be picked up and in the middle. Such a lil love!
Comments
Is it better in Thailand? Or are you just brave?
When we first moved we were cautious. Now... If we see it often and it always has a line.... Ya know.
Besides, hygienic or not??? In America, if I were in CA and at a cafe and I steamed milk I could use that on a drink or drinks order, as long as I don't resteam and use. In WI, same milk, same drink, I can only use that on ONE DRINK and if the Health Dept sees me using it on two drinks, its in violation. Literally, I can't make two lattes from the same steamed milk according to WI, but in CA it's ok. Who and why are those two different rules both safe, but a random street vendor or market vendor isn't?
Common sense and a slight risk? Trust me, it's no different that eating at a restaurant, truth be told. Because the untrained 20something cooking and serving you food at an American restaurant is (in my opinion) at least as unhygienic if not more than any street/market vendor I've ever seen.
Heck, they all still wear masks and gloves. And hair nets. I'd say, in my time in BKK, the market and street vendors here are at least two steps ahead of America and my experiences with any big game, event, fair, or farmer's market there. Even when we did go to Farmer's Markets before leaving CA, gloves and masks were NOT the norm. IT's STILL the norm here.
So.... Hygienic or not? I'd put more faith in Indian, S East Asian, Korean, and Japanese street vendors than I would American Farmer's Markets. Take that as you will.