Toots and Tiger balm

 South East Asia and the region is trapped in a heat wave right now and it’s been brutally hot.  Record breaking temps in the last week.  There is some good news in sight as rain is in the forecast for the next three days and temps are expected to go from 42/43C daily (107-112F) to a more livable and reasonable 36ishC (97F) and we are hearing that it could get as low as 33C.  We’re gonna be frickin’ freezing.  LOL

Being Thai, or at least next door and adopted, we put on light and flowing clothing, grabbed the biggest water bottles we had and filled them with ice and water and we headed out to the Chatuchak Market.  It’s the largest market in BKK and with 1500 vendors, it is just WOW.  Something you need to see at least once.

We had a game plan, however.  We got to the market early and browsed around.  Got some smoothies.  Kiddo got Tangmo (Watermelon), J got Saparot (Pineapple) and I went with Manaw (lime) and they were a delight.  Besides delicious, they are also cold!  The really cool thing is, for J and Kiddo, the woman took some fruit, added some ice and blended… With the tangmo and saparot you don’t need more than that.  The fruit is juicy enough.  With the manaw, she added 1.5oz simple syrup and 1.5oz lime juice before adding a few peeled limes and ice to blend.  All were very simple and delightful.

We spent about an hour just wandering and putzing around.  We saw a few things, but they were all things we have seen at Green Day or Indy Market near us, only 1/3rd more expensive.  I get it, you are the largest market in BKK and a tourist attraction.  You gotta get yours when you can and rent and all are pricier than a little nothing night market in Rama 2.  So, things will be pricier.  We went with hopes of maybe finding something for our folks in LA, SF, GB etc, but also to just see Chatuchak.  It was a cool experience.

Coffee was probably the highlight as we found Talen Drip Coffee.  Again, famous for their coffee.  J and I got one to split and WOW.  It was good coffee.  J got some good pics and I took a vid.  They hand grind coffee to order and then pour over.  The smell was next to god good and just watching the folks make their coffee and the pride and time they took with each cup was awesome.  Certainly made me miss my folks at Wilson’s Coffee and Tea in Racine.  If any of them are reading… Hello and I might see you in July.

We found food for lunch and then, about a 5 min walk away is a children’s discovery and play museum and so we took Kiddo there.  She had a blast and I’ll put more of the pics at the bottom of this post.  Kiddo just went Kiddo on the place.  Bounding around, climbing, sand, play, building, making a town, etc etc etc.  

We then headed home to chill for a bit.  We all jumped in showers after and J got some Gatorade to go around so we could replenish.  Since we’d been out most of the day, we just headed to Shabu that is up the street for dinner.  Kiddo ate and enjoyed, J and I crushed it.  There was, maybe, a bit of broken off noodle, half a baby corn, and a scrap of cabbage left.

By the time we were home and full and done and all that, it was about 19:15 and Kiddo and J took some time to wind down and I caught up with a bit of dishes and little things like that from a day at home, but mostly away.  Coffee cups, Kiddo bowl and Gatorade glass, a random spoon, things like that.  

Then it was bedtime.

About 20 minutes after that, about 20:25/20:30ish, Kiddo pops out.  She can’t sleep.  Her legs hurt.  

Of course your legs hurt, Kiddo.  You climbs, jumped, bounced, leapt, careened, boinged, and galloped about 10 miles around the children’s museum.  Add in being 7 and growing.  Yeah, your legs will hurt. 

She had complained about that before bed and I did help stretch her legs a bit, but she was still aching.  Mostly, she was complaining about her hamstrings and quads.  I grabbed our little jar of tiger balm and I put a bit of that on her legs.  She’s good about the heat and cool sensation that comes with Tiger Balm, so she was rolling with it.  We did, however, discover a new sensation.

One of the things Kiddo is best at, especially after Shabu, air fried chicken wings, or pizza is tooting.  Let’s be honest, all kids under about 10 are masters of toots.  So, we are tiger blaming her legs and J is getting her stories restarted and set back up and suddenly we discover a smell.  Not toots.  Not tiger balm.  Toots and tiger balm.  It’s… Well, an experience.  Not one I’d care to repeat daily, but one that I think we might.  Because, Lil Miss Toot Cannon is growing and will certainly need more tiger balm in her life.  

That brings us to today.  It was a lazy morning and I got rolling at about 09:30.  Popped to the market not expecting much, as it’s a holiday, but it was fuller than I thought it would be.  Nice!  After that, I needed to get to Tops to get a protein for tonight and just a few little things for the week.  I was home by 10:30.  J and Kiddo had started doing some clay and playdoo fun and I put all the groceries up and then just sat and listened and chatted and loved as they did their thing.  After that, they took off on a short adventure to the park that’s not a park and then to the market for lunch food.  Now, Kiddo is with Beer and they are having a blast and I am doing this.  J is doing some lesson planning and work.

Let’s go, Kiddo… Tomorrow is the start of a short week and then you only have about 6 more left.  Time grows nigh.  It’s not leaving, it’s starting a new adventure.  Only, that adventure is the intermediate adventure before the bigger adventure in Shanghai.  We only wonder, after so long in BKK and Thailand, what kinds of toots and tiger balm smells await us this summer as you charge, full speed, around whatever city or place we are in, filling you with cheese, beans, rice, tacos, and everything else we find to enjoy.