Above: an exhausted dog keeps watch (barely) over a table of local eggs for sale along Soi Rang Nam.  The vendor was nowhere in sight.  I was curious whether, if I wanted to buy some eggs, the dog could give correct change.

The final days of Bruce’s trip were lower-key.  I had to get back to work and I think he was ready to just chill out and not see any more sights.  We picked up his tuxedo, custom made at the same shop many of our guests enjoy visiting, so that he will have something nice to wear for his performance at Carnegie Hall in New York next April.

The final night, we went across the street to Extra Virgin, the cute new Thai-European bistro that opened a few weeks ago.  The decor is very nice but Tawn and I were actually surprised by the food.  All in all, much better than we had expected.  Sadly, so many western or quasi-western style restaurants in Khrungthep are long on concept and short on kitchen execution.  Not so in the case of extra virgin.  Here’s a selection of the food we enjoyed:

Top row from left: Indian-themed appetizers with fried calamari and vegetable samosas; Thai-themed appetizers with a take on fried chicken and sticky rice served with a “som tam” style salad made of guava; rocket and pancetta salad topped with a very light balsamic dressing.  Bottom row from left: seafood and vermicelli stir fry; a take on pad thai; grilled pork and sticky rice with chili dipping sauce.

My pictures of the western food did not turn out so well, but I thought the veal, which Bruce had, was nicely done and the coq a vin, while slightly less rich than I’m used to, was also tasty.

Below, Bruce’s plane taxis out to the runway after a full ten days in the Big Mango.

With Bruce departed, we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.  Life returned to normal as we had dim sum with a group of Tawn’s school friends, Eddy, Sa and Job. 

Sa and Job brought their half-year old baby boy, J.J.  He has his mother’s fair skin and his father’s beautiful eyes and was the center of attention.

J.J. was pretty fussy when other people would pick him up to hold him, but if you picked him up and held him facing towards his parents so he could see them, he didn’t fuss.

Later on, Tawn’s friend Prince came by to get changed for a wedding.  His back was hurting him so he asked Tawn to stand on his lower back. 

Knowing how much Thais consider the feet to be the lowest part of the body (cultural note – you never touch another person with your feet, gesture to something with your feet, or put your feet up on furniture or objects while in public) you have to be a pretty close friend to be asked to step on someone!

Time to direct Prince to a chiropractor.

In short, things are returning to normal here at home.  I’m able to work in my office again, we can wander around the house without regards for our state of dress, and I can enjoy the fresh air and cooling breezes with my windows open and balcony door ajar.

Tawn and I were talking about this: it is nice to have visitors, but we’re not very used to having visitors in our small home, especially for extended lengths of time.  It is amazing how much it alters your normal routine.  Something we’ll have to keep in mind in the future as we travel and visit others.