My Neighbourhood

I've been meaning to post this one for months now, but never got round to it.  I thought it would be fun to share some of the details of Ubon that are relevant to my daily life here - i.e. my neighbourhood.

It's only fair to start with Thung Si Muang Park, which sits in 'downtown' Ubon.  We are so lucky to have this park and the variety it brings.  Depending on the hour you go, you will see people feeding flocks of pidgeons, playing jianzi (I forget its Thai/Lao name), soccer, or other sports, doing aerobics, dancing, skateboarding, running, or just chilling out with friends.

Possibly Ubon's most recognised landmark sits in the middle of the park.  This statue represents the famous candle festival here in Ubon.

Next to the park is the night market, where there is a surprising variety of very cheap food and drinks.  There are rows of food stalls, and between them are dozens of plastic tables and chairs.  Interestingly, I have never seen alcohol sold or consumed in a night market like this.

However, I live much closer to the food stalls along Sapphasit Road, just opposite the hospital.  Andy and I often lovingly refer to it as "7-11 street", as there are three 7-11 stores all within 120 meters of each other.  This is where I buy dinner at least once a week, as it's just a seven-minute walk from my apartment.  The guy on the right drives around and sells insects, which don't taste as bad as the idea would suggest.



One lady here does the best pad kra pow gai, which is chicken and Thai holy basil on rice, with onion and chillies.  She let me take this picture of her workstation as she cooked someone pad kra pow muu sap, which is the same dish except with minced pork instead of chicken.  It costs 30 baht (90 cents).

I'm mesmerised every time I watch her cook.  She's so quick and so automatic, and yet her food is perfect every time.  She knows exactly how much chilli I like and, like all street vendors, has the amazing ability to remember a long list of orders (they don't write them down) and which customer each one belongs to.  She's never made a mistake even when she's had close to a dozen people crowded around her wok waiting for their food.  I love eating locally and that draws looks from a lot of the locals, but just last week she was explaining to her other customers that I'm here as a teacher at Ubonwit, as if to satisfy their curiosity.  I suspect she's also flattered to have a regular farang (white foreigner) as a customer and was pleased to show off her knowledge.

On this occasion I got pad prik prow, which is chicken and mushrooms in a delicious sweet sauce.

Not far beyond the food stalls along Sapphasit, hidden behind some buildings, is a night market with fresh produce and meat.  This is where I usually buy my fruit and vegetables, and get stared at a lot in the process - which is fine.  I do not buy my meat here though - it's usually so swarmed with flies and I just cannot do it... even though I know that probably most of the meat I eat in Thailand comes from markets just like this.