Just playing around with the new photo feature in this section of the forum.
In this pic you see what I saw when I was in Thailand. Yes, that’s a steaming cart full of bugs. Yes, people eat them. Yes, this is a “lunch cart.” No, I did not partake.
I really wanted to, but I heard some of those buggies could make you sick for days and I didn’t want to have to spend the whole trip in my room on the throne.
This was more like it. No idea what these fruits are called, but they were pretty good.
I asked where I could find more fruits and I was sent here. I did not partake.
I never could figure out what this restaurant sold.
There were many nutritional supplements available however.
My friend Om points out an elephant in the middle of Bangkok.
Really. She was like “You see elephant?” and I didn’t. There was so much going on and I was in such culture shock that I had literally walked by an elephant in the street and didn’t see it. So she turned me around and pointed out the elephant I had brushed against but didn’t notice. Doh! Bangkok and jet lag do that to you.
How much protein is in cockroaches anyway? I think I ate quite a few back in the old high school cafeteria. Then again maybe Tuesdays were just Thai food day.
Your friend Om looks quite happy with that trunk.
I was always fairly wary of meal carts or street “restaurants” when I was in China. Something about food being left out in the open with the air being so polluted that you couldn’t see the sun just… bothers me. (I live on an island in Canada with only one REAL city, so air pollution is miniscule). I am not sure about air pollution in Thailand, but I’d imagine it to be similar.
It looks like that elephant is wearing a toupee, or is it just a combover?
The Super Pussy made my day.
He’s got one of Sam Donaldson’s old rugs on.
I think the Thailand article may have been my favorite of all time…of any magazine…ever.
Mmmmm, Thai food.
Wonder how many of them little critters were masquerading as “chicken” in my last order of Pad Thai? Oh well, it was plenty spicy enough to “sanitize” the bugs and keep them from biting back.
thats the most fucked up elephant i have ever seen!
Someone mentioned a Thailand article but I can’t find it. I’m wondering if it’s the same one I read in a mag about Muy Thai fighting.
How much does it cost to eat the elephant?
Chris~
I believe I’ve heard from some of my doctor friends that they’ve heard of people getting terrible Salmonella poisoning from eating bugs.
Growing up in a very Chinese culture, my grandmother used to get herbs from the chinese herbalist. One of the herbal remedies she used to brew for us when we’d have colds and flu was “cockroach tea”…we’d check the pot, and among the herbs in the rolling boil were huge cockroaches. But they were “special cockroaches”, per “Popo” (grandma)…they were specially raised and “clean”…yuck…of course my siblings and I claimed that we were westernized so didn’t have to drink the special tea!
Anyway, looks like you had a fun trip! Thank you for sharing the GREAT photos!!
Love and Aloha,
Chinadoll
Panda - You’re right. Bangkok is one of the most polluted cites on earth. The air is gagging, especially while on the back of a motorcycle taxi. Still, I ate a little off the food carts. I usually got the fruit and these little fried tentacle things, no clue what they were. Also they had some doughnut hole kinda things. I lost seven pounds while there nevertheless.
Bosshawgoutlaw – Links to the original articles:
<a href=“Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION”>Thailand I
<a href=“Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION”>Thailand II
<a href=“Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION”>Thailand III
Chinadoll – Exactly. I really wanted to experience the whole country and immerse myself in the culture, but I drew the line at the bugs. I wanted to try them, just to say I had, but too many people warned me that if I wasn’t used to them I could be sick for a few days.
Funny thing is, the bug eating comes from the “country” culture. Since most of the bar girls are from the country, you’ll see these pretty young things munching on bugs while on their lunch breaks. So you’re like, “Wow, she’s stunning. . . and she’s eating a cockroach.”
There’s no place like home!!
If any of you are planning to come to Pattaya, Thailand, I’ll be more than happy to guide you around.
Just bring some Biotest supplements, please. Can’t get it through customs when you order it, (unless you pay a extra “tax”.)
BTW, the bugs that look like cockroaches are actually waterbugs, quite tasty, believe it or not!