Nightlife in Bangkok part II

I smiled at a few Thai boys walking passed. One stopped to chat. He was wearing rasta colors, and decked out with hippie string bracelets. We started talking. He brought his brother over, who looked a little older. Amy got stuck with the brother.

They asked if we were hungry. I said no. They insisted we go eat with them anyway. I said ok. We followed the men down a couple of alley ways and through the Bangkok night. It was started to drizzle, and the brother was afraid of getting his head wet. Boy told me that he was half-Chinese and half-Thai. His mother had come from China. We exchanged a few words in Mandarin, and I asked him about Buddhism and his family. He was open, but thought I was a little silly for being so curious.

They wanted to take us to a food-stall that had Thai/Chinese food. We sat down on little red stools, scooting the table out of the rain. Amy continued to talk with the brother, a little awkwardly, and I continued talking to boy. They ordered for us, so I had no idea what to expect. The first dish arrived. It looked like shi-fan, a rice porridge that I ate in China. It was topped with a raw egg. I hoped mine wouldn’t be topped with a raw egg, and I would be forced to eat something gross that would make me sick. Luckily it wasn’t. It was just shi-fan with some sort of meat. I wasn’t very hungry and it took me a long time to eat my meal, but that gave us a little more time to talk. We got up to leave, and the bill thing came into play. I didn’t know if they had paid or we were expected to pay. I had heard that often people will seem like they are taking you out to dinner and then leave you with the bill. The brother pulled out a wad of cash and paid for us. I thanked him, but I was still a little confused. Did I “owe” them something now?

They asked if we wanted to go to a wat with them. I told them it was too late, so they said they would walk us home. We got to Khao San and they said goodbye. I hugged boy. They said nice to meet you and walked away. I got out unscathed, without any expectations. It was a strange encounter for me to meet a boy who wasn’t expecting anything other than to have a friendly meal. No asking to see me again. No trying to get physical with me. Just hello and goodbye. It was nice.