Southeast Asia Files: Dinner and Downpour

After a day spent shopping and exploring in Bangkok’s commercial areas, I decided to go for a walk in Lumphini Park, a large pond- and grass-filled area surrounded by skyscrapers and major arterials. After a couple of hours of strolling and reading it was beginning to get dark so I headed back toward the entrance, hoping to get something to eat from the vendors I had seen setting up shop on my way in. What greeted me at the exit defied my expectations. The parking lot had been transformed into an outdoor restaurant; waiters ran between food booths and tables full of chattering Thais, setting out plates of food, bottles of beer and glasses of whiskey for the dining masses. Having envisioned something simpler I was initially a bit lost and wandered aimlessly past the various vendors, eying the menus’ Thai script and hoping for some English. Soon enough a waiter ran up to me and began speaking in rapid Thai. The look I gave was no doubt baffled because he switched over to English, handing me a menu I could read.

I sat alone at a table with boisterous activity all around me. I felt out of place but in a good, excited way. As soon as my whole grilled catfish (delicious) and papaya salad with shrimp (spicy) arrived, the random bolts of lightening that had been playing through the sky all afternoon gave way to a full on thunderstorm. The tables situated on the outskirts of the overhanging tarps were quickly moved closer to the center of the dining area and the ends of the tarps were rolled and fashioned into makeshift gutters, which the water poured down from in great gushes. The sudden downpour brought the diners closer together and we looked at each other conspiratorially, laughing about the rain.

I waited it out as long as I could, but after nearly an hour the rain showed no signs of stopping so there was nothing for it but to trudge home through sheets and lakes of water. I was completely soaked by the time I reached the condo I was staying in, but the dinner was all the more memorable because of it.