Tucked in with wisdom

I am now ‘between’ projects and thus in the more-than-usual reading mode. Recently, I picked up Jamie from the newstand and loving it. This might be the first magazine ever that I read from cover to cover in a long time.

Jamie just cooked for the G20 leaders at Number 10, Downing Street. Yes, that supposedly simple story of a chef who cooks for leaders. But so many small yet fascinating details made the story so good, from the way he persuaded asparagus growers to give him the first batch of their produce before Harrods and Obama’s man who is an ex-chef, ex-marine, ‘very nice and watched everything like a hawk’ to, for the security reason, when Oliver was the only person there allowed to have his mobile phone with him only because his wife was due to give birth to their third child that very night and the aspiring fact that the man on his team were from 15 and one of them described in his story as a former homeless who now cooks for the G20 leaders!! And the fact that his food was glorious does not hurt a bit.

Here are some other books that I had finished and enjoyed.

CHINA UNDERGROUND by Zachary Mexico. LOVE THIS BOOK! I love the fast-paced reading and this book makes me want to read a Thai version of it. I mean Thailand Underground.. A must read for those looking for an alternative travel stories.

 

NEVER an adventure, I always enjoy accounts of those who are. The first book compiles 13 stories of 13 adventurers to places like Kirimanjaro, Canadian Rockies Range, Kinabalu and much more. The next book is the second book I read about OSHO and this one, translated by Mr. Tomorn Sukpreecha, serves as a slow read. You just cannot skim through these proses for every word carries deep meaning and that’s the experience one should get when enjoying a wonderful time-off.

I love all James Bond book and this is the latest I savoured weeks ago… Mr. Faulks writing as Ian Flemming did a wonderful job that makes me wonder how fun would it be if Mr. Bond eats something else and not the usual martini and his favorite breakfast. What about a shabu shabu meal with warmed sake while on a mission espionaging.

Street Comforts

So true that market is the window of a town’s soul. Trang’s small community misleads the fact that this place is a gastronomic heaven. Take a tour to their morning fresh market and you’ll know it. In fact, writing this makes me nervous for I am afraid that by revealing it, even just a little bit on my blog, would result in the lost of local charms that are now hard to find even in remote towns of Thailand.

Trang people really love to eat. And their foods are as fastinating as their lives and the way they conceal this plentiful fact from the thin surface of tourism. Compared to other Southern provinces boasting as beautiful seaside and islands, Trang is low-keyed and most of the people I met are proud of the greenery they can still preserve from the severe encroaching of the hotel constructions. The result is that Trang locals can still roam their beautiful beaches, bringing their picnic basket and roll out their mats enjoying the shady afternoon naps on any beach they want. So far, there is just one hotel that can make its existence right on the beach, but other than that, we still have to wait and see.

Trang’s morning food market is packed with, well, what else, since dawn. We could wake up as early as 6am and still managed to catch the gastro beats of the town. I was so lucky that day when I found a place where seller just chopped fresh young coconuts right out from its trucks, handed them over to buyers who slurped the juice and flesh down for just Bt10. This is the place you will love if you want to try anything Trang, from kanom cheen to the province’s famous roast pork, to the simple yet hard-to-find delicacies like guichai which is still my favorite. Also, shops open early to serve morning coffee, dim sum and something so exclusively local as kanom pak mo and pork intestine ladled with their ’somjeung’ sauce.

This market is called ‘Talad Kao’ and it is right on the main Rama 6 Road not far from Trang Train station. A tuk tuk should take you there for may be Bt30. The market runs out at around 9am and is especially crowded during weekends, but it is when you’ll bump into your local acquaintances and take up some friendly chats.