Chinatown

Saturday, December 4th.
We had breakfast this morning at one of two Nepali/Burmese places nearby. The owners of both were born and grew up in Myanmar, but are ancestrally Nepali. Then, after checking emails at the cafe, we met back up with Matthew and took the BTS to the train station, from where he showed us the way to Chinatown. Chinatown was wild. At first, we walked through streets with interesting shops and stalls -- stands selling every kind of raw seafood, Chinese medicine shops with stuffed alligators on display, selling snake heads, tiger balm, and ginger, among other things -- and I had Thai iced tea, papaya, and cantaloupe, while Lacey and Austin had a mystery lunch at a street kitchen where the only sign, containing two items, was written in either Chinese or Thai--I can't remember. They ordered one of each, only to find out that one consisted of two of the mystery rolls and the other of three. I don't know if a single thing in them was clearly identifiable, but they definitely weren't vegetarian. After lunch, we got ice cream bars from a vendor and then ventured into the different world of dark side lanes, so narrow that we had to step into shops to let people pass, and some so uneven that a brave motorcyclist who tried to tow his goods through one fell over in much embarrassment. Every such alley we walked through was packed with nameless shop after nameless shop of cheap merchandise -- from hair clips and hats to toys and dishware. We walked into one of these deep, narrow stores that, much to our surprise, had five or six flors, each selling something different. One sold toys, one sold stationary, one sold lamps, clocks, and snow globes, etc. Lacey found out the hard way that photography wasn't allowed (I wonder why...). It's unlike any American Chinatown I've been to. For one thing, the food is actually Chinese...

After leaving Chinatown, we stopped by Wat Traimit to see the 3-meter-tall sitting Buddha, apparently solid gold. It was certainly very shiny. After getting off the BTS at Phra Khanong, we noticed a sign and stopped by, only to find out that this was the other Nepali place: Rays. Sweet! I got some kind of green bean dish with garlic. It was so good, I might just go back for more. The food was more Burmese than Nepali, but at least our waiter, Chai, could understand the Nepali we spoke to him.