Bangkok bus station -- Thailand III

After less than a day in Bangkok, some of which was spent sleeping, I was ready to leave. Karen and I headed to the Northern Bus Station to catch an overnight bus to Chiang Mai in the north.

We found the bus station food court and decided to eat at one food stand with a menu with pictures. Ordering would be easy: I would just point.

But, as what happens more frequently than I would like, I was wrong I walked up to the food stall and pointed to the picture of what I wanted, but the girl behind the counter, of course, couldn't see. She walked out of her stall and around to the front where I was standing, saw what I wanted, and gave the order to the girl making the noodles. I thought my embarassment was over, but then came time to pay. I handed her a 100 baht note and she left her stall. I waited and then she appeared next to me with change. Apparently, from what I deduced from the man next to me ordering food, you exchange your money for food vouchers and give the vouchers to the food vendors. How was I supposed to know? But, the girls were nice and understanding, even if they thought I was a strange and stupid foreigner, and I had my bowl of noodles.

My bowl of noodle soup had rice noodles and minced pork in a clear broth. It was like the noodle soup that I always order for Sunday brunch at the Thai temple in Berkeley, except this time I was eating among Thai people waiting for their bus, not young, hippy-ish and hipster-ish Berkeley-ites. The noodles were cooked al dente and the soup was flavorful. Putting the bowl to my mouth and drinking the soup made me almost forget about the embarassment of ordering it.