Parting Thoughts on Thailand

This week has been pretty slow around these parts. Matt and I finished up our last final on Tuesday, and are getting ready to head out for 5 weeks of travel starting tomorrow (Friday) morning. In between, we have just been doing a lot of lazing around, getting ready to leave.

Yesterday we went to see Zero Dark Thirty, which was both an interesting movie and also just an interesting experience overall... Thai movie theaters are deluxe. You start by picking your seat in advance, similar to an airplane. Each seat is a large comfy recliner chair, with a blanket and a table for your snacks. Pretty cushy. In the beginning of the film everyone has to stand and sing the King's anthem. Oh, and randomly the only movies they seem to play over here are all absurdly violent... where are the rom coms and Pixar flicks??? They seem to play only a combo of the most violent/gruesome/scary American films and equally violent/gruesome/scary Thai films. I don't get it.

Sorry I can't get this to sit vertically... but please see
Pizza Hut advertisement for hot-dog embedded pizza. 

In other news - remember how I mentioned Thai people seem to love American fast food? Check this out. They are definitely one-upping us with this innovative morsel. A pizza hut pizza, in which there is an entire hot dog wrapped in the crust of each piece. Weird.




As we get ready to leave tomorrow, I've been thinking about things I will miss most about Thailand... and the things I will be more than happy to do without.

Thai things I love and will miss dearly: 

Massaman Curry with tofu.  Yum.

1) Curry. In particular, massaman curry, panang curry and pineapple curry. It is so delicious, and somehow never gets old (even though we eat it for lunch just about every day, and sometimes for dinner too.)

2) Mango Sticky Rice. This might be the best dessert ever. Have you ever had this? It is just like it sounds. A plate of sticky rice, a full ripe mango on top, and then all of it covered in coconut cream. Aaaahh so good!

3) The kindness of Thai people. They always seem to be so helpful, polite, and happy.

4) The price of everything in this country. No need to elaborate on this one, I'm pretty sure we already have. (Gist is: We like getting stuff for cheap.)

Things I will NOT miss about Thailand:

this is a weird picture, and I can't
get it to go vertical.... but basically
I was trying to illustrate the half-dollar
sized welts left by mosquito bites

1) Mosquitoes! I HATE them. Their bites turn into giant welts all over my legs... feet... hands.. pretty much anywhere they can find. I've never been more appreciative of Chicago winters (and their ability to kill off mosquitoes), than I have been here.

2) Thai traffic. One time we spend 1 hour going 5 kilometers. True story. It's basically a parking lot on the highway at almost all hours of the day.

3) Smog + humidity + grime in the air... probably due to point #2 above. Needless to say, after walking around for a couple of hours in this city you feel like you need to take about 15 showers.