Asparagus Promotion

I noticed that my blogs on this trip have been largely food-centric. Food is one of the experiences I enjoy when I visit here, so I guess that is why I write about it so much.

Today as I took my walk I noticed a sign outside a restaurant. It advertised an "Asparagus Promotion." I thought that was a funny way to put it, I guess it has something to do with the translation from Thai to English. I like asparagus, but I kept walking, because I had my mind set on...curry shrimp.

I had this on one of my previous trips, I remember I loved it, so I thought I would have it as my "last meal" before heading offshore.
What I forgot was how messy it was. You have to peel the shrimp, so you basically dig into the plate of food and get the gooey curry mixture all over your fingers. That is not typically a problem for me, but if you have ever traveled to Asian countries you know that most restaurants don't have American-style napkins at the table. What they have is basically little squares of very thin paper. They are the equivalent of a single square of single-ply toilet paper. In fact, in some very informal dining settings, they actually put a roll of toilet paper on the table. I'm not making this up.

Anyway, so I sat there attempting to remove the mixture from my hands with these little pieces of toilet paper. If you have ever tried to handle toilet paper with wet hands you know that it just tears apart. So, what I ended up with was a pile of about 10 pieces of toilet paper on the table (one per finger) and little bits of toilet paper stuck to my fingers. The wind picked up and started blowing the little bits of paper off the table and scattered them around the deck area. I had visions of the waitstaff scampering around chasing after all the toilet paper generated from my dining experience. They didn't actually do that, or maybe they were so discreet that I didn't notice. After all, I was staying fairly focused on the curry shrimp. I did look up to see the waiter placing a huge fingerbowl on my table. He smiled and nodded his head, as if to say, "this is for messy Americans, you need this." Since the wind was blowing I could not keep any little squares of toilet paper in my lap. It would take about three of them to cover my lap, but the wind kept blowing them off. I soon noticed that I was dripping the bright orange curry mixture all over my beige pants. Great. I suddenly realized what I must look like with curry and toilet paper on my hands, my pants, the table, my beard. I wouldn't have been surprised to look up and see the waitstaff standing by with a water hose.