BootsnAll Travel Network



Bangkok Birthday Bliss

The evening improved the moment I sat down to eat in a very atmospheric restaurant in a quiet side-street, illuminated by candles and Christmas lights which were strung onto bushes of bamboo. I sat down and looked dreamily at a flame dancing in a pool of oil in front of me, occasionally streaking the soft breeze with a feint skein of smoke. A glitterball hanging over the entrance surrounded me with slowly spining freckles of light and the waiter set a large, ice-cold Chang beer on the cool stone table at which I was sitting. Dido warbled in the background, I’m 41 years old and life was good.

It got better when I relocated to my ‘local’ down the road, dropping by the guesthouse on the way. Just as I started to climb the stairs, I resolved to try some of the delicacies a woman was pushing along in an illuminated trolley. Rather than go all the way up to my room, I stopped on the first floor, quickly visited the bathroom and practically turned on my heels, rushing back outside with just one thought on my mind: Catch up with bug-lady!

bugs.jpg
There, displayed in a series of trays were mealworms, pupae (yes, as in chrysalis), grasshoppers, giant waterbugs and scoprpions—all roasted and ready to eat. Well, it was my birthday so I selected a giant waterbug and a scorpion which the lady sprayed with fishsauce, dusted with chilli and handed to me in a clear plastic bag. With that, I finally returned to the bar and ordered another beer.
dinner.jpg

Of course I was going to eat them, I hand’t just bought them to look, besides I abhore wasting food. The woman running the bar looked at me a little strangely. “Ever tried scorpion?” I asked. “No,” she shook her head. Just because she’s Thai, I should not assume she had eaten bugs.

I swear that the morsel of meat contained in the scorpion’s claws tasted just like chicken. A microscopic piece of chicken and stringy as hell, but definitely chicken. The rest of the thing was not so nice, the abdomen seemed to be hollow and what little meat remained was brown and bitter. Good for virility, I assume, but not worth 20 Bhat. The limbs weren’t so bad; a bit nutty and laced with the chilli and fish sauce.

I fared better with the waterbug which turned out to be an eg-carrying female. The taste of the eggs was subtle, hard to describe, but the texture was good—like miniature crunchy caviar. I might try this again. If I look onto bugs as food I might lose my fear of them, by establishing exactly who is at the top of the food-chain.

bottles.jpg

After that, things got a little hazy. I think I argued with an Irish journalist who thinks that having had my neighbourhood bombed by the IRA does not entitle me to an opinion about their petty issues. When the bar closed, I moved on to another and I don’t know when I made it back to my room. Ooops. But it was a great birthday party even though I wasn’t with anyone I knew or whose names I’m likely to remember. And now I’m off for another drink. But just the one.

Tags: ,



Comments are closed.