Sooo while Charlotte was busy creating delicious dishes in wellington, i went to Thailand and spent some time investigating the mouth sensations there. In the beginning it was a little difficult to figure out what was what and what was in what, but after breaking through some language barriers and finding a few really special places to dine, i was eating like a king! an animal loving king!
Thailand apparently ranks second in the world of countries that are tainted by immense animal cruelty.
but there are some great people doing some great things, like Sangduen Chailert (lek) who founded the wonderful elephant nature park in Chiang Mai, a place where people help and heal elephants rather than abuse and disempower them. http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
I found this website very useful: http://thaiwildorchids.com/environmental_concerns.htm
in other news there are so many cats and dogs everywhere! some look very sick and feral but the locals seem to love them anyway and feed them when they can
but now...onto the food!
in bangkok i mostly ate the 35 baht pad thai and spring roll
what a bargain, and very delicious and simple too
im not too convinced its very healthy but it was good fuel for the adventure fire
they make it right there in front of you and as long as you specify no eggs, tofu instead of chicken, and the rice noodles they are totally vegan. This was our favourite lady:
in Chiang Mai the food was splendid, i must admit not all of it was actually thai food, but outrageously great and brimming with health benefits none the less. I am now planning to move there next year for a couple of months and concentrate solely on being the healthiest being i can possibly be, including studying massage, yoga all the time, and consuming only health and life affirming infused things
here are the highlights:
JUICY4U
5 Ratchamanka, Chiang Mai, Thailand
the best veggie burgers around! the first place we found avocados, after over a week of craving them. And as the name implies they also craft magical freshly squeezed juices, my favourite was the beetroot, carrot, celery and wheatgrass. With prayer flags, wall hangings, om symbols galore and a really friendly staff, this place quickly became my morning ritual.
DADA KAFE
across the road from juicy4u we discovered kombucha tea at the dada kafe
(which i plan to have a go at making in the coming weeks, so stay posted for that!)
(...this site looks rather useful on doing so: http://kombuchanz.blogspot.co.nz/)
and the most delicious thing i have actually every put in my mouth: homemade peanut butter, almond milk, and cinnamon shakes. Also i must add that the mango and avocado shake was also a delight.
AUM
65 Th Moon Muang
on our main walking route between our lovely guest house (http://www.giantguesthouse.com/index.html) and our favourite bar we found AUM, an absolute treat. the best we had was the eggplant pizza and the avocado maki (sushi)
CHA TEA HOUSE
Moon Muang Rd., Soi 6
and last but definetly not least, as this was my favorite place to eat of the whole trip:
the cha tea house. With an abundance of playful and well loved kittens hanging out, two genuinely warm ladies running the operation and the healthiest looking and tasting food i had the whole time, it was hard not to love this place. upstairs there is also a stomach detox massage centre and a nice low to the ground table with cushions to sit on on an elevated deck sort of thing out the front, with indoor plants and trees galore. the most impressive of all was the summer rolls with a ginger and peanut sauce, truly delectable and only 45 baht! the two soups we tried were some of the best soups ive ever eaten, especially the simple pumpkin and coconut creme one sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds.The ginger tea tickled all my senses and gave me an immunity boost.
so that was Chaing Mai....what a special and for the most part, positive place!
here are some other random food moments from Thailand, i dont know what the places were called that we found them at, but i do know they tasted exquisite. there was pinepple and sticky coconut rice wrapped in a leaf accompanied by noodles in a simple fragrant broth swimming with perfectly cooked vegetables. there was DRAGON FRUIT..the most visually stunning fruit i have ever laid eyes on and then the yummiest samosa i have ever tried by far (with maybe only the exception of our mothers homemade miracle samosas), and believe me i have tried many a samosa. we found these at an awesome indian restaurant in bangkok and dined here on my last night, or i should say feasted.
so all in all i managed to remain pretty dutiful to my preferred ways of eating. but you never know, and i did eat a few veggie green curries which i found out later almost always have shrimp paste in them.
here are some websites i found useful:
i think before i go next time i am going to do a lot more research and learn to speak and understand as much Thai as i possibly can. Thailand is amazing, everyone should visit! i just hope that it and every other country makes some vast changes in regards to the treatment of animals. And that people traveling will think carefully and ethically about the things they partake in
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