Thai Style

While you mull over this picture let me tell you about dinner.
***
The table on the back patio was already set as I woke Larissa from a nap and we joined everyone for supper. Everyone consisted of four young Thais (aged 15 to early twenties) since our hosts were out for the evening. We sat and took in the spread; centered was a crock-pot with oily water seemingly boiling in it, next to it was a suspicious looking bowl of a thick pinkish viscous substance full of white globs, while each end of the table had a large platter of raw vegetables, and various bottles of sauces were dotted in between. (I selectively ignored the chicken carcass on a plate by the far end). A few moments of awkward silence preceded an attempt at an explanation in English that hardly enlightened us, so I invited our hosts to go ahead and we would follow suit. The preparation went as follows:

Small, foil-wrapped cubes were unwrapped and tossed in. ("Akin to bouillon cubes?" I wondered silently)
The lettuce, and other greenery were cut with scissors and slipped into the water.
Baby corn and carrots were next.
Finally an egg was cracked on top of the floating salad and stirred around.

Frankly things weren't looking all that appetizing at this point, and in part due to my un-eagerness to begin I prompted them to continue. A scoop of the white globs was lowered in a ladle and my query was answered affirmatively when I guessed that it was chicken. While waiting for this concoction to cook, er boil, I asked about another package on the table - within plastic wrap were two strips of crab meat and a variety of greyish blobs of varying shapes. Unfortunately for my vegetarian self my curious mouth prompted the contents of this fish package to be haphazardly dumped into the massive pot. Uh oh... furthering my conundrum was the scoop of raw chicken added and this time freed from its ladle.

Silent minutes passed with a few furtive looks being passed between my sister and I until one of our hosts deciding things were ready began serving from the communal bowl into their own. Following suit I began delicately spooning through the 'soup' with every effort to avoid anything white (sticking to green and orange - but not the crab). Larissa continued to sit unmoving. Adding a dab of sauce I presumed to be chili, though very well may have been seafood sauce, I took a stab at picking which of the fork/spoon/chopsticks to employ and tried my wet meal.

'Hmmm' turned mildly to 'mmm' as I was pleasantly surprised to find a fair amount of flavour. Daringly I added some finely chopped chili peppers to the mix and survived. Seeing how I was at least swallowing the food Larissa helped herself to a small first serving. Each bite for me was carefully inspected as the egg turned out to be a blessing and a curse. Yes, I enjoy egg and could use the protein, but boiled egg and boiled chicken look remarkably alike making it difficult for me to differentiate between the two. Some bites were based on the blind faith that the egg did indeed come before the chicken.

To my delight and surprise Larissa's second helping was even larger than her first, and I continued with my meal as well. Unbeknownst to me mushy, clear strings had been added which I ate and was relieved when Larissa informed me later that they were indeed glass noodles as I'd suspected, and not some sort of sea creature. Somehow the six of us managed to down most of the two giant platters of vegetables in their broken-down soup-like form and though I'd been apprehensive since it was an entirely novel dinner for me, it was rather enjoyable.
***

Now I reveal the photo snapped moments after the first picture was taken, as I plummeted 56 stories in a minute or so on a cable from tower top to the ground. I was anxious as Larissa was pushed over the edge in front of me, but once it was my turn to slide down into nothingness I quickly moved beyond the fear.