|
So it's our first night out in Bangkok and we happen to stumble into this real classy joint for dinner, per a suggestion made by some guy George met at the pool side. I mean this place has gone all out to impress its customers, it has two boxes of cockroach poison under each table and nifty flashing Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling to distract your eyes from the smashed bugs and peeling paint.
We ordered our dinner by randomly pointing at things on the menu, and when our food finally made its way to our table the overhead lights mysteriously shut off, so that we couldn't see what we were about to ingest. The waitress placed the dishes on the table as well as four small metal bowls of sauces. Before we had time to pull out our trusty Mag-Lite to aid in our examination of the meal set before us, Cassidy grabbed a heaping spoonful of something dark from one of the metal bowls and tossed it back into her mouth.
Immediately the chilies came spewing back and went flying across the table. She tried to pant out her Last Will and Testament, knowing for sure that this was IT. She gasped and clawed at the sugar bowl in an effort to ease her burning mouth. She missed out on the rest of our meal due to her pain.
And oh, what a meal to miss! It consisted of a soup that was too spicy for any of us, some really tough chicken and some rice. And to add to our inedible meal, it appeared that our random pointing had also ordered us frogs. Not just the legs or some other lone body part, but the entire critter, fried until all that was left was the bones that crunched and splintered in your mouth. We had eaten the bee larva in Japan, but these were more than any of us could stomach.
And then, to complete the evening, the entertainment started. A bunch of Thai women dressed in skimpy cocktail dresses paraded around on stage, pretending to sing. A kind of "free advertising" for other services, it appeared.
All in all, our first introduction to Bangkok and Thailand was not the most favorable of encounters. Thankfully, our first impression didn't reflect at all on the rest of stay in Thailand, as long as we were sure to steer clear of the fried frogs!
|
