First of all, this stunning little book was in my mailbox yesterday and I can't wait to take it out for its first walk in my world. I've been eating Bangkok's street food since 1995, but the neighborhoods explored in Bangkok's Top 50 aren't ones I've had meals in very often--and Chinatown is one where the sensory overload is so huge that I simply drop in my tracks when I'm there and eat whatever happens to be closest to me. But not now...thanks to Chawadee Nualkhair (who also reveals her favorite street food spots quite regularly at BangkokGlutton.com) I'm already gluttonously dying for a sequel to this--maybe one that concentrates exclusively on Chinatown???
It's already quite clear to me that Chawadee is a better woman than I--she classifies hoy taud as a snack but I have never been able to manage to follow up a mussel pancake with anything else for at least eight hours. But meal or snack, I'm eager to find the stalls that she recommends for one of my favorite street suppers. And her pages on beverages are wonderful--my quest for nam dok anjan (butterfly pea juice) starts today.
But the best part of Bangkok's Top 50 as far as I'm concerned is it gives the hours that these stalls are open--no longer will I wistfully roam around Soi Convent wondering where the Thai-Muslim chicken biryani (khao moke gai) stall disappeared to. In fact that's where I will be today at noon--they are open for lunch.
This book also gives a brief demystification of a Chinese apothecary, complete with address, a spot on a map, and the name in Thai in case I still can't find it. I am in a state of bliss--thank you, Chawadee! (Further feedback to come...for others who want to have this book, it will soon be in Asia Books and B2S--now available through Amazon and www.bangkokglutton.com)
The American Embassy is presided over by a new ambassador, blonde, smiling, charming. Her Excellency Kristie Anne Kenney has been receiving lots of attention in the English-language papers for breaking out of the usual diplomatic insulation and enjoying her new city. It is undoubtedly no coincidence that for the first time since I first arrived in this city, there is information about the U.S. Embassy's Information Resource Center--Open to the Public with a comfortable reading room with books, magazines, ebooks, CDs, DVDs and, the Bangkok Post reports, a few iPads too. It's on the 9th floor of the GPF Building at 93/1 Wireless Road, open from Monday through Friday 7 am to 4 pm. Who knew??? (When I first arrived here I asked the Embassy about any sort of library that they might have and was told to go to AUA.) Thank you, Your Excellency Ms. Kenney!
At the end of my last visit to Hong Kong, I learned that travelers are allowed to use any of the public libraries in that city if they pay a deposit of 130 HK dollars per book that they wish to borrow. Even the small library I visited in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, had a good selection of books in English and the much larger library across the water in Central I was told has a stunning collection that can be borrowed from after paying the deposit. How civilized and how I wish every city would adopt this policy.
Happy Reading to all--
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