Mai Phet

The vendor opened the small icebox that rested on the side of her cart. “Chiki, squit, pohk?”

I answered, “Chicken please.”

“Ok, ok.” She pointed me to a table on the side of the street where I settled for my breakfast today.

“Oh, mai phet,” I quickly add.

“Yes, yes,” she replied with a wide smile and nodding her head several times.

The vendor scooped a cup of rice into a small bowl. She then proceeded to a huge wok where she dropped chicken bits, sprinkled a few herbs and vegetables I don’t recognize, and splashed three kinds of sauces. The spicy aroma of the dish drifted in the morning air. A few minutes later the chicken rice toppings arrived on my table. On my first bite I instantly realized that saying mai phet did not work this time. My officemates taught me mai phet, which means that you want your food not spicy (mai=not, phet=spicy). For me it is the most important Thai phrase I have yet to learn otherwise I’d be forever sticking to McDonalds while in Bangkok. I did not finish the entire plate as my mouth was already burning, which I expressed to the vendor when I stood up. From her hand gestures, she told me that she only placed a very little amount of chilli in my food. Of course she did, I thought, while I rushed to the nearby Seven-Eleven for some soy milk.

Spiciness aside, Thai food had been an amazing treat. I’m not quite sure what sauces and herbs they put into it but the blending of the spicy, sweet, sour, and salty flavors – always present in any dish – is just mind boggling to me. I would not even dare describe here how one dish tastes because I simply don’t know where to start.

And please remember that I don’t even like food at all, right? Like I’m not supposed to be mushing over obesity-inducing things!!! But since coming to Bangkok I always think about what dish to try next even right after I just had a meal. It’s not even only about food, there’s also a variety of drinks, from fruit juices to milk shakes and who knows what else that are just always tempting.

All right, talking about tempting food, it does not help that food hawkers are on every bloody alley, street, avenue, and corner of this city. It just couldn’t be helped if I’m reminded about food all the time. I first thought that the preponderance of food stalls is unique to our office’s area where there are a number of universities, colleges, civil offices, and a market. But walking around the city so far, I see all these hawkers like EVERYWHERE. Even when I came down from sky train station a couple of nights ago, a cart selling grilled squit (ay squid) was right at the bottom of the stairs, with the perfunctory sweet smile from the vendor.

I couldn’t help but wonder, do people here bother to cook at home? With the numerous food stalls crowding every space of the pavement, and I can tell that they’re pretty popular coz the tables are always overflowing, I suppose a Bangkok resident would rather eat outside, no? With such variety and affordable prices, why not?

Last night, I had my first try of McDonald’s at Khao San Road (the popular backpacker area just twenty minutes by foot from my office). I felt that I just need some respite from the usual street food after always eating from the hawkers so far. Still I had some midnight snack outside my building at a food stall perched on the back of a pick-up truck. Maybe I shouldn’t call it a snack because I had a large bowl of pohk and squit noodles, Chai tea, and lemon juice just before going the bed. [The good thing about food stalls in Bangkok, by the way, is that they’re open until way past midnight.]

So with all the eating that I’ve been doing so far, I’m totally worried about its implications on my weight. However, since most Thais eat as much as I do (hopefully), they are still mostly skinny. In fact, I have yet to see a really fat person around. The girls here are especially skinny. Oh! My! God! I love Thai girls... I’m afraid I’m becoming a lesbian. But more on that later.