Shabu shabu

We went out with Ben and Megan the other night to eat shabu shabu at a Japanese restaurant.  It was excellent - if you're ever in Bangkok, check it out - Yura An.  It had all you can eat shabu shabu, great (fresh!) sashimi, and some fabulous sake.

We also found out Ben and Megan are getting married shortly - it was happy news.  Note Megan keeping her pimp hand strong in case Ben falls out of line.

Ben and Megan check out the swanky digs

We had Ben and Megan over for dinner, and Sam cooked up a storm.  They checked out our swanky digs, and much eating happened.  We were very thankful to have such wonderful guests.

Oh - and apparently, as far as photo composition goes, Lays seaweed flavor potato chips are as important as both Ben and Megan combined.  Sorry about that, Ben and Megan.  No judgment of your relative worth to fried potatoes intended.

Cheap Charlie's

We brought Matt and Michelle to Cheap Charlie's on Soi 11 (read: Sukhumvit Road soi 11 - Sukhumvit road is one of the main drags in downtown Bangkok, and is pretty long - it's said to extend all the way to Cambodia).  It's a bar, that's completely outdoors, and has only recently roped off a formal seating area.  Before that, instead of being a bar on an alley, it was a bar on an alley.  And it's still relatively cheap, but there are those who say it's not as cheap as it once was.  I wasn't there then, so now, I'd say, it's still cheap as far as bars go, and it has decent atmosphere, depending on what you're looking for in atmosphere.

If you're looking for heat, street bustle, crowds, the slight smell of sewage, and one of the most unique bars in Bangkok and anywhere, then Cheap Charlie's is for you.

Flesh eating fish

So in Chatuchak market there is a shop wherein you find a concrete fish tank.  It is open at the top, and has some seats next to it.  In it there are some fish of Turkish origin, that will happily eat the dead skin from your feet.  So they don't eat your flesh - technically.  But it's wicked cool to watch them swarming (someone else's) feet, merrily pecking away.  Apparently it is also quite the foot massage.

Our neighbors tried it out.  They loved it.  We watched.  And yes, my camera phone comes in blurry sometimes - sorry about that.  They have happy expressions on their faces.

Oh, and the owner spoke fluent Thai, fluent Mandarin Chinese, and fluent English.  The sign on his door also claimed he spoke fluent Japanese as well.  Color me impressed.

Our neighbors at the beer garden

We brought our neighbors to the beer garden while they were here.  Here's Michelle posing with the tower of Chang that we got, and the proprietor pouring out some beer for us.  There is an ice core in the tower to keep things cold - you want to drink your Chang cold!

Derailed by a peanut

So we were all ready to go to Chiang Mai by train with our neighbors, and our friend Matt, who has a peanut allergy, had an allergic reaction right across from the train station.  We ditched the trip and took him to the ER.  We skipped the train - so you could say we were derailed by a peanut.  Fie on the, foul legume!  

Here's a picture of what we think was the offending restaurant.  I'm not saying don't ever go there to eat, but - don't ever go there to eat.  Peanut-servers.

Thankfully our friend made a full recovery, and he was able to make it up to Chiang Mai with his wife to see some elephants (he loves elephants).   We couldn't join them, but the most important thing is that he's all right.  

Oh, and never eat at the Hong Kong Noodle shop across from the Bangkok train station.

Our old neighbors stopped by to visit

But they had to travel a little further than they used to.  Matt and Michelle lived next door when we lived in Madison, and they were the best neighbors anyone could ever hope for.  We used to go out together for dinner once a month.

Here are our neighbors Matt and Michelle eating dinner with us their first day in Bangkok.  The little leaf top hats cover rice.

We've had a great time with them during their visit!

Eat Like an Egyptian

We went to an Egyptian restaurant the other day with our new friends Ben and Megan.  The whole restaurant looked like it was made of mirrors - all polished metal and reflected lights.  The menu was enormous, and the food delicious.

See if you can figure out which of the meats pictured are the lamb testicles (which were also delicious).

Speaking of lamb - the two skinned animals hanging in the display case on the street - yup, those are Mary's friend too.  It was a good night for us, and a bad night to be a sheep.

Chinatown New Year's part 6

Megan and Ben took this picture of us in front of Wat Traimit - it was right at the start of our walk through Chinatown on Monday night, and we were fresh and shiny.  A great mood to start the new year in Asia - Happy Year of the Ox to everyone reading!

Chinatown New Year's part 4

We ventured down to Chinatown Monday night with our new Australian friends Ben and Megan to check out the festivities.  A couple other people had the same idea.  It was worth braving the crowds, however - we saw dragon dancers (Ben tried to feed one a fish ball), and lots of decorations.  We ate pepper crab and coconut ice cream.  And Ben got a light-up toy (he says it's for his work).  

What an excellent evening!