How to Order Thai Food, Like a Boss: Part 1

As I am sure you can tell I am not Thai, however I have worked as a waitress in a local Thai restaurant for almost 5 years.  I feel like I know Thai food quite well, and since people always like have suggestions or ask a million questions here is a handy-dandy guide to ordering Thai food.  Not all restaurants are going to have the same items, but I am sure that you would be able to find something you'd enjoy after reading this!

First, let's start with some misconceptions of Thai food:

1.  Everything is spicy: Nope.  While some dishes may be spicy right off the bat like a curry (since curry is a naturally spicy spice) not everything is spicy.  All restaurants should have a base level of spiciness of level/star of one or two that can be made hotter.  It's just hard to make anything less spicy if it already is.  One way to look at is that in Thailand they eat all their meals family style, as in there are several entrees that everyone shares.  So if mom likes something with a level three of spice but dad likes a 10 and their daughter likes 2 they have to make something at a base line of spicy.  Then they would heat it up with hot sauces.

2.  Thai Tea: It is not made with coconut milk, but diary.  We use both condense milk and half and half.  Also Thai tea is very different than Chai tea.  Despite the fact that Chai is Indian and Thai tea, is well, Thai, Chai is spicy and sweet while Thai tea is just sweet all around.

3. Thai food is just like Chinese food: Several customers have said this to me on many occasions.  No, it's not.  They're two very both unique, beautiful, and delicious cuisines with deep historical and cultural significance.

4. Chopsticks:  While many Thai resteruants (including the one I work at) have chopsticks available to customers they don't actually use chopsticks in Thailand to eat Thai food.  They'll use them for other Asian cuisines like Chinese or Korean.  But when they eat at home they use a spoon and fork.

5.  Pad Thai:  It isn't made with peanut sauce, just has peanuts on the side.  It's primarily tamarind juice.

6. Salad Rolls:  A lot of Thai places have them, some don't.  Salad rolls (sometimes called summer rolls) aren't Thai.  They're from Vietnam.  So my restaurant doesn't have then because they're not Thai, and our owner likes to keep things traditional.

The next parts will be about dish suggestions, how to order them, and suggestions for kids.

The Hawaii Posts: People

I think it's best to start this series with the people who made our trip possible.  Chris and I spent countless hours with his amazing family and friends who treated (and spoiled us) with much kindness, generosity, and love.  This was my first time meeting many of them, you know, beyond Skype.

This is Chris' half sister Natalie. She hung out with us after we checked into the hotel that Chris' dad and step-mom work at.

Chris and Natalie together.  Would you believe she's 13?  She is tiny just like her mom, Lucy.

I took this picture of Chris with his best friend's Andy's mom, Sue Jan.  She calls Chris the fourth son of their family.  I stayed with her, her husband, and their eldest son Greg during our trip.  She's a kindergarten teacher and a great cook.

Chris' Aunty Cheryl took us and several family friends to dinner at a teppanyaki restaurant called Kobe.  It was a lot of fun for the kids.  Aunty Carol brought her two sons Nicholas and they had blast.  Here is Chris with Natalie, Ethan, and a tanuki statue.  Notice the sizable nads on the tanuki.

This is Aunty Jewel with her partner Aunty Cheryl Anne.  They live in a beautiful house on Koko Marina.  This was taken on the top of Mariner's Ridge.  I enjoyed all of the time I spent with them.

This is Chris' dad Greg.  He is a big foodie and baker just like me.

Please ignore Chris in this picture.  This is the only picture I took of his Grandma.

This is Chris' step-mom, Lucy, who is Natalie's mom. See the resemblance?

This is Greg, who is Chris' best friend older brother. He's huge Doctor Who fan, just like me.

These pictures weren't taken in Hawaii, but the night we got back to Oregon:

This is Elisa, she came and rescued us at airport in Portland.

 Chris, using my phone to talk to someone. I think it was Andy's mom.

This is Andy, Chris' best friend, and me.  He's Greg's brother, Sue Jan's son.

So, that's it for the people we spent our holiday with.  I miss them dearly and the made our trip that much greater.  Sorry the spacing between the picture is wonky.

Oh, Irony

Last night I decided it was the night.
The night that I was going to blog.
The night that I was going to blog about my holiday in Hawaii.

I was excited to say the least. I had divised a posting system (see below) that I thought was perfect. So I set out choosing the perfect pictures and putting them into organized (well, for me) files.

I started my first post and I noticed my MacBook's battery was low. No big, plugged in my charger, hooked it to my baby and I started typing away again.

Then I noticed that the light wasn't on. It wasn't charging.

So I checked the power strip, which was working, because I had my heating pad plugged into it and it was working just fine.

(Yes, I am an old lady.)

So I tired just about every combination of cords and outlets with no result.

Apple is calling me at 4:30 today.

Hopefully whatever is wrong is covered by the warrenty.

Is it too soon to blame Steve Jobs' death?

(I have a very dark sense of humor.)

The Hawaii Posts

For two and a half weeks this summer my boyfriend Chris and I went to Hawaii to visit, and for me to meet, his family.  It was a really amazing vacation filled with great sights, amazing people, and delicious food.  I have decided instead of doing one giant post I am going to divide up the posts in five groups:


People
Places
What We Did
Food
Us

Once they're all completed I will link them with in this posts (in the list above) and to each other.

Each post will contain a lot of pictures, so bear with me.  Also a lot of things will over lap, especially with places, food and what we did.  But I tried to not duplicate pictures so each post will be different.

Friday Favorites

Because I have no idea what to blog about I'll just write little blurbs about what I am currently in love with for the past week.

Television:

House, M.D.: I have never really watched House until now.  I've enjoyed the random re-runs I've caught on syndication. My boyfriend loves it and procured all the seasons for me to watch.  I started season one on Sunday and I am currently in the middle of season two. I am addictcted to House

as much as he's addicted to Vicodin. Two peas in a pod.

The Hills: Judge me as you will, but I love this show.  Mainly because I love Lauren Conrad, she is

my style icon and I adore her new website The Beauty Department.  I also think Heidi and Spencer

are redonk.

Teen Mom, Season Three: Oh man, let the drama begin!  July 5th, you cannot come fast enough!

Products:

 Covergirl Natureluxe Foundation:

A-May-Zing

This foundation is lightweight, pigmented, and leaves a nice dewy finish.  The coverage is

really nice and even.  I have rather uneven skin tone (can we say red patches

and acne scars?) and this covers everything really nicely. Did I mention

it's really inexpensive?  Best summertime foundation.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Fast Dry Nail Color in

In Blue Away

I've been using this line of polishes since they came out a couple of years ago.  I must have five or six of them so far.  I love this shade of blue because it's pretty much robin's egg blue, which happens to

be my most favorite shade of blue.  I bought Pink Blink to wear for my graduation.

Arbonne's SeaSource Detox Spa Renewing Body Gelée

Yes, please.

My awesome friend  Ruth just started selling Arbonne, which is an all-natural skincare, network sales company. I hosted a party which gives you awesome rewards, so I got to order a lot of

products at a discount.  So far this is one of my favorites.  Smells like lime sorbet, super

moisturizing, and gives the really nice cooling affect on your skin. Perfect

lotion for summer.

Fill in the blank Friday

                                                                                 From
 
1. The very best things about the summer are … SCA events, going to Saturday Market in a sundress, bike rides through Alton Baker Park, our three week trip to Honolulu, summertime fashion inspiration.

2. My first crush ever was … His name is David.  We went to preschool together in Texas; I would chase him around the playground trying to get him to kiss me.  He's married now, but we're friends on FaceBook.

3. This may sound really silly but …  I think my IQ and attention span drops by a million when I see cute animals.  Last night I even had a dream about cows and how cute they are.

4. One of the best feelings in the world is... When I help someone or when I know that I've done the right thing or the grown up thing.

5. My absolute favorite “comfort food” is … Honestly for me I am more comforted by drinks.  Cups of tea; Dr. Pepper or Coke from a can; bubble tea with two scoops of tapioca; coffee from Starbucks or Midtown. And breakfast food. Nothing says 'good morning, everything is ok' like challah french toast, bacon, and eggs over easy.

6. A random fact about me is … I really don't like fruit due to its texture.  But I am trying! So far I've eaten five strawberries and few grapes and haven't gagged yet. 


7. The one piece of technology I couldn’t live without is …  My phone!  Because it can do anything.

Ickle Meme

I took this little ABCs of Me meme from...

 

Caitlin over at To Make Love Stay 

 

My ABCs...

 

Age: 25 for now, 26 on the 27th, less than a week away.

Bed Size: Chris, the beau, says it's a queen.  Not sure if I believe him.  One day I'd like a giant bed where I can have my own space.

Chore you hate: Dishes and picking up after myself.  I have a tendency to leave trails and undress in the living room.

Dogs: I love cats and dogs equally.  One day I shall have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and he shall be named Falstaff.

Essential start of your day: A shower.  I am not fully awake till I have one.

Favorite Color: Always hard for me to say.  Lately I've been drawn to pale shades of pink and mustard yellow.

Gold or silver: For awhile I was all about silver, but gold/brass/bronze just matches my coloring a lot better.  I love rose gold.

Height: Close enough to 5'5'' that the nurses at Planned Parenthood always round it up.

Instruments I play (or have played): I cannot play anything, but I did try my hand piano when I was 6 as my parents' insistence and the flute when I was 9 on my own insistence.

Job Title: History student, waitress, debt wallower, vampire slayer.

Kids: I only like the ones I'm related to that are from relatives I am close to.  I kinda can't stand babies because I've never really interacted with them before.  They also look like aliens.

Live: Eugene, Oregon.

Mom's Name: Cathy, obviously with a 'C'.

Nickname: Lena, Flower to some SCAdians.

Overnight hospital stays: I'm sure I spent the night in the hospital when I was first born.

Pet Peeve: People who don't tuck in their chairs in public places.

Quote from a movie: "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." Westley from 'The Princess Bride'.  The first quote that popped into my head.

Right or left handed: Right.

Siblings: None.  Only child.

Time you wake up: On weekdays, 8-9:30 AM, depending.  Weekends if I have nowhere to be 10-11:00 AM.  My mom thinks I sleep in too late.

Underwear: Yes, please, all the time.

Vegetables you dislike: Eggplant, mushrooms, and squash.  Although I don't think any of those are technically veg. I actually love brussel sprouts, broc, etc.

What makes you run late:Taking way to long to get ready.

X-rays you've had done: Teeth and lungs.

Yummy food you make: I can make really yummy sauces and marinades.  Chris taught me how to make cream sauces and I do it all the time.

Zoo animal: Elephants!  And if they have insects I am always intrigued by them too.