Bangkok breakfast
(Breakfast: Pete’s house, Bangkok)
I was woken this morning by the crowing of a cockerel just outside the window. I had no idea I would have such a rude but delightful greeting as I woke up, and he was not even our first disturbance; Pete and I had to contend with a noisome cricket that had somehow become lodged in the air conditioning system above our heads as we slept.
A sumptuous spread was prepared for my first morning in Thailand; goose, fish, omelette, green vegetables and prawns. It was so decadent and relaxed – not like the usual rushed breakfasts with Ying before he leaves for work at 7.25am each day. One of my most cherished Asian habits is that meals are not constructed on personal plates before they arrive on the table, but are supplied to the diners as communal dishes for sharing. That way I can try everything on the table instead of the western trait of eyeing up other people’s dishes wishing you had chosen that instead of your own.
You can perhaps see a small black shape between the two chairs on the patio (top left); this is one of the chickens that roams Pete’s roof garden. His father’s business occupies the floors below and the flat sits above it on the top floor with views over suburban Bangkok. My first impressions of this city is that it has much more colour than China somehow; there are more shrines and decorations, as well as a less dusty atmosphere, so vehicles are not powdered in the same way as in Suzhou. Pete mentioned that clean cars here denote a good and fastidious personality, so washing is done with more regularity than I am accustomed to seeing.
[...] that afternoon. In a way, it reminded me of some of the crazy breakfasts I ate in Asia, mainly in Thailand and [...]