Wild Week Day Two: "Eating Out" In Thailand

A row of roasted duck and chunks of pork and chicken ready to be served!

Welcome to Wild Week Day Two:  "Eating out!"  If you missed reading Day One about my trip to the market to survey some wildly-awesome and wildly-odd things, click here to read that post!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, don't expect this to be an exhaustive list of everything awesome or different you can find in a regular Thai restaurant.  I just grabbed by camera and snapped some shots when we went out to eat a few nights ago after meeting with our church.  But, this should give you a quick peek into the every-day of restaurant goers here in our country.  You could, basically, split the options in two vague groups of rice or noodles.  Yes, there are soups and vegetable sides...but everything is either served with sticky rice, yellow rice, Jasmine rice, etc...or rice noodles, egg noodles, etc.  You get the idea!  But, what about meat?  Well, here, why chop off the head or skin when you save time and cook it all together!?  

Roasted Duck (head)...they almost look sad!

A very basic dish - chicken (skin on) over rice.  A spicy sauce and curled blood cake (left) is on the side.  

Here's what Treavor had for dinner.  It is basically the same thing as above, but with fried chicken instead (and, a chicken broth soup up top).  No animal heads to be found here!  Too bad we didn't get the duck.  Or...maybe I'm OK with that!

Fermented, salty fish head.  Not the most appetizing thing to put over my rice...but I hear it is a common dish!

If heads aren't your thing...or you just want some curry or vegetables...there is almost always a set-up like this on every block in town:

Platters of prepared foods to go over rice are displayed in the front of this restaurant.  You can either order it to go or choose it to be poured over a plate of rice for just a dollar.

Eggs are a staple here just like everywhere else in the world.  These scrambled Thai omelette's look awesome!

This is another really common soup dish.  You choose the kind of meat (raw) or meat balls (everything from fish to beef to pork to mystery meat!)...then the cook dips it into a boiling broth with a mesh ladle...adds noodles and veggies...and you have a delicious, quick, made-to-order soup.

Then, you add any of the above (peanuts, dried chili's, sugar, fish sauce with peppers, you name it!) and the taste is how you want it. 

I ordered something similar...egg noodles with veggies, broth, sliced red pork and won tons.  It was on my table in less than a minute!  

This is on just about every table in Thailand and in just about every dish there is.  There is no escaping the fish sauce!

If you are thirsty, the wildest thing about drinks in Thailand is that they are so so cheap.  There aren't shrimp shakes or anything crazy like that...but there is Thai iced tea, coffee, thick and creamy...and if you can put it in the blender...just about any fruit shake you like.

Everything you see listed is unbelievably cheap - 10 baht is 33 cents, 15 baht is 50 cents and 30 baht is a dollar.   A fifty cent iced coffee with dinner? Don't mind if I do!

Variety is the spice of life!

Thai drinks would be lacking without this surprising ingredient...sweetened condensed milk!  It is a staple for iced tea, coffees and even some fruit drinks are enhanced with it.  I bet you'll never look at Carnation the same if you sample drinks made with this.

Need a quick bite because you can't sit at a restaurant?  Meat on a stick!  This is one of the thousands of street carts that make and sell food right on the sidewalk or the side of the street.  No health codes here!  :)

...or, seafood meat on a stick!

Yep...that is a raw squid that you see!  It is only 66 cents...but I think I'll pass...

The seafood grill...right on the side of this portable street cart/mini-restaurant.

I have to end this post with dessert (getting picture-heavy already...right?  your Internet browser probably hates me right now!).  Here is one popular option that I passed on the way home:

Rotee, or roti, is most every foreigner's friend and enemy.  Friend?  Because it is awesome!  Enemy?  Because your waistline will soon expand with your addiction.  Moderation is recommended.

First, the cook pulls out a lump of dough (like crepe dough) and she spreads it thin on her metal prep area.

Then, she flips it around like a roti artist.  I have tried this technique once...it is hard to pick up!

Next, she puts the dough on a heated, oiled surface, tops it with my desired filling (I chose egg and banana)...

...and as it cooks, folds it into a neat little pocket of goodness.

It cooks for a minute or two and browns the outside.  So hungry!

She chops it up like a super-roti ninja...

Last, she tops it with an obscene amount of sweetened condensed milk (see?  i told you!  secret ingredient!)...

...and she adds chocolate sauce because I asked "pretty please."  All of that for $1.20!  That was more than I paid for noodles that night.  It was worth it.

I haven't even mentioned other Thai restaurant (and home-cooked) staples...Coconut Chicken Soup, Pad Thai, Chicken with Thai Basil, and the obvious, Fried Rice!  Click on those dish names for links to recipes/pictures of those or go here for a page of several different famous dishes.  

The kids are hungry for dinner and I think I have given you enough already to make you call your nearest Thai take-out - so, thanks for reading and experiencing more of the wild territory of Thai living (or, should I say, eating?).

See you tomorrow for Day Three of Wild Week!

After reading the last two posts, what is the most appetizing or unappetizing thing you've seen so far?  Share in the comments below:

Wild Week Day One: To Market To Market To Buy A Fat Pig (Head)

For those of you viewing on your iPhone...no, that isn't rotini pasta - those are worm larvae for sale!

Welcome to Wild Week!  It is day one of introducing you to some of the wilder things about living here in Thailand.  Don't be expecting an exhaustive list of everything wild here.  Hey, I am a stay-at-home mom who doesn't get paid to blog...so expect a view of real-life rather than a travel guide to all of the Land of Smiles.

What's more real-life than a trip to my local market?  (Warning...you might either want to punch me in the face for rubbing it in about the perks we get here - OR your stomach might turn instead at the more...interesting options we have available)  

The fresh/prepared/cooked food side of the market

A salad bar in the market?  Why, sure!  But, I think I'll pass up the barley, taro, and candied fruits as toppings.  I bought my dinner here last night...

Lettuce leaves, tomatoes, carrots, apple slices and pumpkin...all for 80 cents!

This lady sells Som Tam, papaya salad...a family favorite (as long as it isn't too spicy)!

She uses a mortar and pestle to mix up the shredded papaya, tomatoes, peanuts, dried shrimp, shrimp paste, fish sauce, lime juice, chili peppers and other seasonings.  Awesome!

Steam buns (with black bean, cream, meat and other types of fillings)!

Here's where you might punch me in the face...Thailand grows some of the most delicious fruit on the planet!  Recognize any of this?  Mangoes, apples, grapes...and, what else?

Some fruits (in the front row) you might not recognize...mangosteen (my absolute favorite fruit to eat here), dragon fruit, and rambutan.

Rambutan gets my vote for the oddest looking fruit.  But, our family loves it!  You should look for it at the Asian market in your town.

The mango sticky rice I bought last night - you top it with a sweet, coconut sauce and eat till you're fat.  Amazing!  This cost me a dollar!

Here, almost on every street and definitely at every market, you can find fresh cut fruit in convenient to-go bags for cheap!  These are about 60 cents.  Seriously?  Don't mind if I do!

If you can grill it, you can sell it.  Here are whole fish, banana leaf-wrapped fish, entrails (from what?), and bar-b-q'ed pork on a stick!

All sorts of snacks for sale...popcorn, cakes, cookies, chips - you name it!

Because the market is open-air, all sorts of flying bugs are attracted to the food - so people rig plastic bags onto fans swirling above the food and save their energy from swatting away food-spoilers.  Genius!

One of our favorite dishes, steamed fish with a sour lime, chili and garlic sauce.  Seriously awesome!  

Vegetables here are cheap and plentiful.

These are conveniently-wrapped packs of cilantro and chive onions selling for about 16 cents.

Fish, anyone?

All the curry and chili sauces you need to make anything Thai - sold in bulk.

Another family fav - fried fish with garlic.  The kids are currently having a fish-eye eating contest.  No surprise; Jeshurun is winning.  I actually tried fish-tail the other night and it wasn't too bad.  You don't waste anything here!  ;)

Tables and tables full of pork rinds.  The pig on the sticker looks unbelievably happy to become a snack food.

Onto the raw meat section...a pregnant, apron-clad woman was cutting up slices of cow as I entered.  Yum.

Various entrails.

Pig head or leg, anyone?

Fermented vegetables!  Surprisingly really awesome-tasting with curry.  

The infamous Durian fruit.  This fruit is so smelly (almost like something rotten), that it is not allowed to be consumed in some hotels and malls (because it would offend other customers)?  I have had it once, and that is enough for me!  Some say it is an acquired taste. 

I finished my market tour by purchasing half a rotisserie chicken for dinner last night.  A whole one costs just over 3 dollars, and they are delicious.  This place also sells fried chicken, chicken nuggets and other meat-on-a-stick.  

That's it for today!  I hope your eyes have feasted on some of the wonderful (and some, arguably, not so wonderful) wild things for sale at the market here in Thailand.  To each his own, right?

Tomorrow - I will post part two of wild (but ordinary for here!) food here in the restaurants and street vendors of Thailand.

(If you have a strong stomach and want to brave even wilder market foods, check out this article about an episode of Bizarre Foods from rural northeastern Thailand.  Just don't read it right before a meal - you'll thank me!)

Wild Week Starts Next Monday - Right Here!

"Honey, have you seen my keys?  Did you steal them again?"

"Mom, I have no clean underwear!"  

"What's the answer to this math problem?"

"More milk!"  (via 2-year-old-still-addicted-to-her-morning-cup)

"What's for lunch?"

"But I don't want to take a nap!  Oh, when am I ever going to be 5?"  (at 5, Huy gets to stay up in the afternoons...maybe I should keep his birthday top secret?)

"Mooooom...tell him to stop playing 'Repeating Robot'!"

(Younger brother repeats in a robot-y voice)..."Mooooom...tell him to stop playing 'Repeating Robot'!"

Sigh...

There's a whole lot of "ordinary" going on here at my home AND here at the blog.  

So!  Because this is called Ordinary Life In The WILD, I thought I'd throw a little more "wild" in the mix and make a whole week of posts out of what is truly un-ordinary (at least for those of you who don't live here!) about living here in Thailand.  

But, if you stop in to read, I must warn you that you might get a little squeamish, or sad, or even a little confused.  Although, "wild" doesn't necessarily equate to bad...and sometimes, "wild" is even better than what we've always known...

...except for maybe living with cobras and eating rat-on-a-stick.  That kind of wild I can definitely live without!

Stay tuned!  I will be posting my first "Wild Week" entry on Monday.

I've got several themes settling in my thoughts about what I will post about - but is there anything you are interested in knowing about living here?  I'd love to know your thoughts!  Feel free to comment below:

Say Jurisdiction Five Times Fast

Eight years ago, I met a woman who introduced me to child training, discipling your kids, homeschooling and the like.  She has influenced the "why" of what I do in my home every single day.  I am so grateful for her!

One thing Lori taught me was about giving my kids (soon-to-be kids...I was a newlywed with no bun in the oven yet!) ownership in our home.  I wasn't a great house-keeper then when it was just Treavor and me, so how in the world was I going to manage all the work that being a mommy requires as well as keep us from living in a pigsty?  I definitely have NOT arrived yet, but I am working on it.  Enough about me...

So, giving my kids ownership in my home can be seen in a million different ways, but there is one thing I have started this week: Jurisdictions.  Say what?

ju·ris·dic·tion

   [joor-is-dik-shuhn] 

noun - the territory over which authority is exercised

Or, in my dictionary, the territory over which one child is responsible for.  It is different than a chore...it is more like a responsibility.

So, in the practical sense, every day except the Sabbath, in the morning and at nighttime, they are to inspect their "jurisdictions" and see if they are in right order.  If there is a need to, they might even have to teach someone in our family about how to help keep that place in order.  That's where the small ounce of authority comes in.

For instance: 

Jeshurun (the 6-year old) is in charge of sweeping off the front porch, throwing away any wayward trash that has collected there, and arranging the shoes outside the door.  In the morning, he will organize...and in the evening, he will shake out the rug, sweep, and puts things in a general order.  If someone is habitually leaving their shoes right on the welcome mat (ahem...me), then he has the authority to remind me (politely!) about where to put my shoes.

The front porch - completed!  So much more welcoming than how it usually is.

Huy (the 4-year old) is in charge of putting all the shoes in pairs on the inside shoe rack, and is also in charge of sweeping the area around it with a small hand brush and dustpan.  When I told him about it this morning, he literally jumped to the job.  For some reason, he got the "orderly" gene that skipped me.  Bummer.

Huy's jurisdiction - completed!  Ah...mental stress freedom!  (At least at the front door)

Now, I realize that even my four-year old probably can't even say jurisdiction...let alone my little toddler (who is, conveniently, exempt from jurisdictions).  Hey, for fun, you should even ask your own kids (if ya got 'em!) to say jurisdiction five times fast.  That would be funny.  But, even though my four-year old might not be able to even repeat it properly, I was so surprised to find out how quickly he would "own" it.

As I have read and observed in my home and in others, kids really love to help out!  If the job is do-able for their age, and if we parents can encourage them and point out when they complete it well, it is so motivating to them to have ownership over certain areas of the home.  And, frankly, it crosses off a few more things on my list of things to clean every day.  As my kids get older, their jurisdictions will change as their abilities change, too.  And, I just might get to prop my feet up a little more instead of wear myself out every day like I already do.  

Score one for mom.

Score one for my kids' future homes.

And, amen for a light at the end of the tunnel to having a more prepared, hospitable home.  One day!  

This definitely needs some sort of ownership.  Yikes!  One day at a time...

Do you have anything to elaborate on the subject of ownership, chores, or keeping your own space in order?  I would love to hear it!  My closest friends know I need all the help I can get.  Share your thoughts in the comments below:

10 Things I Like Today

Our view today on our way out to get dinner.  We saw God's promises splashed all over the sky!

1. Promises written in the sky...over my neighborhood...over my adopted country...over my life!

2. Brand spankin' new crayons.

How I love thee, Crayola, let me count the ways...

3. We broke out #2 because the kids and I have returned back to home school.  These past few weeks have been awesome.  I am finally feeling like I am in a groove with three.  Now if I can just get Kyla to keep still...

4. Potty-training Kyla.  It has actually been a joy.  Seeing her wear Hello Kitty undies, wash her hands by herself, and eat Starbursts (her treat for a dry diaper at nap time) has been fun.  It is Day Three.  Ask me on Day Ten if it is still a joy.  ;)

Bird of Paradise plant in the front yard.  I love these!

5. My garden blooming even after not being around to tend to it for four months.  Bird of paradise flowers, purple, white and yellow orchids, and twenty plus papayas.  Wow.  God is awesome.  Oh yeah, and my Christmas grass didn't die.  Treavor bought me grass last Christmas and and it made it through the hot season without me.  Oh, the joy!

6. Breaking out the bread machine for the first time since being back.  If being addicted to carbs is wrong, I don't wanna be right. 

7. Movie Night tonight; Finding Nemo for the billionth time (it's still good!).  To-go Thai dinner.  Freshly baked cinnamon raisin bread (see #6) for dessert.  

8. Earlier today I finally talked with my neighbor and gave him the souvenir from the States that I bought for him and his wife.  How lame is it that we've been here three weeks and I'm just now doing this?  Lame.  But, now I have finally broken the ice (again) with them (the first time was a year ago when we moved in!).  Maybe they'll finally talk to us now that we brought them sweets!  :)

9. Treavor's at a meeting tonight.  I don't like being away from him in the evening, but the reason he's gone is why I'm loving it; there is a group of new leaders that have come to know Jesus and are wanting to know how to disciple others in His love.  What a great reason for me to fly solo tonight!  We have the best job in the world.

If we were still in the States, would we get family photo ops like this?  Maybe if we were snake handlers...or in the circus?  

10.  When I am lonely, bored, confused, at a loss of what to do next, or when the silence in the house feels stifling rather than refreshing...I am so thankful to have the comfort of the Holy Spirit near to me.  In fact, He never leaves me.  My needs can be met and I am more content when He's the one that fills them, rather than a Facebook fix or even a phone call with a close friend.  It is in the silence that I can quiet my heart to hear Him better and better.

What's on your "like" list today?  I'd love to hear it!  Share in the comments below:

The iPod (i.e.: The Way I Gladly Cheat To Help My Son Love Quiet Time)

One thing I have learned through my journey of parenting is that I have to be willing to give in, yield, succumb, to change, evolve. Evolve sounds more palatable than other things, I guess.  I guess it is a way to save face.  Wow, I have been in Thailand for some time now.  Saving face is a huge value here.  

I posted once about leading Jeshurun in how to have a quiet time.  Since he became a new believer earlier this year, one of our chief parenting goals has been to help him learn more about who Jesus really is and that we can have a real relationship with Him.  I don't want my kids to know the Bible backwards and forwards, to pray eloquent prayers, or to play the guitar like a worship-leading rock star if they don't learn to really love Jesus first.  Check out 1st Corinthians 13 for more on that subject.

seriously awesome Bible for wiggly boys...some wiggly boys, at least!

So, when we bought a "real" Bible for Jeshurun while we were in the States, instead of relying on him reading bible story books for the rest of his life...we knew this journey wasn't going to be as easy as before when he needed a picture to go with everything he read. The Jesus Storybook Bible and all the other beautifully illustrated and highly paraphrased bible books are awesome!  I have cried through reading them myself and greatly value them for all my youngsters. But, they still don't hold a candle to the real, authoritative word of God.  We want our kiddos to learn to love The Word at a young age.

Fast forward to the last few months...

Jeshurun read through Genesis with no major reading problems (BTW: thanks, God, for that incredibly awkward story about Lot and his two daughters in the cave...I was so short on teaching points about sexual immorality).  *shudder*

But, as he started working though Exodus, I began noticing a reluctance every time we reminded him about spending time in the Word every morning.

"But it is hard!"

"I'm bored."

"Can't I just do something else instead?"

"I can't focus!"

And so on...

I started thinking that maybe we were missing something and that soon he was going to start dreading his quiet time rather than looking forward to it like he was before.  Enter...

...the iPod.

Ricky, Treavor's brother, graciously gave us his iPod because it was collecting dust in his house.  Treavor and I have been using this app from YouVersion...a free bible application that gives an almost endless option for translations.  Oh yeah, and a few of them have an audio bible option.  Perfect!

In observing that Jeshurun is more in love with audio books than I am in love with sitting for (extra) hours reading to him...Treavor had the genius idea to show Jeshurun how to use the audio bible on the iPod.  One catch, though...he has to listen to it two or three times in order to make sure he's actually catching the material rather than zoning out.  He's prone to zoning out.  He gets it from me.

What was I talking about?

Oh yeah...so, after "reading" through his chapter a day, Run spends time in prayer and worship (music already conveniently located on the iPod) and then finds me when he is all finished.  We go over what he is reading, ask him questions about it, answer his own inquiries, and then check up on what he senses God is speaking to him about each morning.  

We have seen a complete turn-around in his attitude and have actually noticed that he is "getting" more out of the Bible than he was before.

Thank you, YouVersion creators

Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Thank you, Treavor...for your great idea.  

Even at reading one chapter a day (if he sticks with it) Jeshurun will have read through the bible at the ripe old age of 9.  This isn't a comparison issue.  This isn't a competition.  It is just a really awesome opportunity for him to work through, daily, what he believes.  It is a chance to, daily, feast on the words of Life.  

What else helps you to focus in your time alone with God?  Got any tips for this distractable mom (and son)?  Leave your advice below in the comments...

First Leg Back To Thailand And Sippy Cup Woes

Our plane has just passed the International Date Line, has traveled almost eight hours at frightening speeds, and our children are averaging their third movie and their umpteenth snack and drink of the flight.  On the whole, my boys, sitting with Treavor, have been staring at their personal entertainment screens, watching Japanese pre-school cartoons and playing video games.  I love the Information Age.  Kyla, after eating a snack and napping a few hours, has been generally busy.  Busy.  BUSY!

We went on a "walk" around the plane to search out all the other babies on board, waved, got down their names and moved on to more interesting territory.

By "more interesting territory" I mean, the bathroom. 

Seriously folks, if you're at a loss to what to do with your child on a overseas flight...take a field trip to the bathroom.  We washed our hands, went potty (not necessarily in this particular order), made silly faces in the mirror, tried the complimentary lotion AND the Jasmine scented facial spray (lovely!)...

...and then there was an unfortunate incident with the sippy cup.  Rather, the lid of the sippy cup.  It may or may not have landed in the toilet. 

I kid you not...the toilet.

I was innocently trying to wash out the remains of Kyla's third helping of milk...when I dropped it promptly in the (empty!  Praise God, Hallelujah!) toilet.  Could I have wisely closed the lid of the toilet seat while I did my blessed washing....oh, no!  That would be too smart!

So after about three complete scrubbings with soap and the hottest water I could manage from the safety-sink in the plane's bathroom...we're good as new. 

Let's just hope Treavor doesn't read this entry.  He might banish me from watching Kyla for the rest of the trip...

On second thought, maybe I should forward this directly!

Off to endure the second leg of our trip: Seoul to Thailand.  You'll be hearing from me again soon if I can regain my ability to type after jet-lagging myself into this next new season of our ordinary life in the wild.  Thanks for reading, friends!