The longer I stay here, the more aware I become of the changing seasons. This requires a much higher level of attention because the changes are more subtle than in regions further from the equator.
Expats in Thailand often jokingly refer to the three Thai seasons as “hot,” “hotter” and ‘damn hot”. This year we enjoyed the coolest winter in a decade and so the transition into ruuduu rone, literally “hot season”, is more pronounced than in the past few years. Likewise, the springtime burst of blossoms is more noticeable, too.
Above is an example of dtonmai chompoo pantip. They are everywhere in Krungthep this week. While less delicate and refined than the Japanese sakura (flowering cherry trees) that blossom each March and April in the land of the rising sun, these Thai sakura give us a week or two of beautiful and festive color. Our soi is littered with pink blossoms.
In other news, we have a neighbor somewhere in our condo complex – a few stories above us, I think – who seems to really like stinky tofu. Once or twice a day they start frying it up, turning on their kitchen fan to vent the smell, which then pushes it into our kitchen.
To say that it is overpowering is an understatement. While I appreciate that everyone has a different sense of taste and I don’t claim to the be arbiter of what should and should not be prepared, every day is a bit much. Tawn has climbed the stairs to try to figure out who the offender is. But the problem is, since the smell is vented into a central air shaft, you can’t smell it out by the front doors of the units.
So the mystery remains. Might be time to go talk to building management and have them post a “no durian or stinky tofu” memo.
Tawn and I are off to Kuala Lumpur this weekend for a few days, our first time. May not have a lot of entries over the next few days but I’ll update as soon as I can.
christao408 
The season transition has started in Delhi too. It is already a little hot and I already dread the upcoming summer!Enjoy KL! I really like that city.
love stinky tofu!!! grew up on that stuff!
It’s sleeting here. I want spring flowers! I can’t wait for our cherry blossoms to come out here in DC.
I love the look of spring flowers. As for stinky tofu, my younger borther loves that stuff, and he would exchange his condo with your anytime, lol. Wish you and Tawn a wonderful KL trip.
I remember walking along some soi during this time of the year and noticed a few of the blossoms…nice to have them to provide some colour in the concrete jungle.I hope it’s ‘stinky’ tofu and not other stinky waste that leaked through the pipes! On a separate note, most (or all) hotels in the Big Mango ban their patrons consuming durian inside the rooms, maybe they should add ‘stinky tofu’ to the list?
KL is great! The land of sweet 4 star hotels for a great price. Some of the food is simply amazing!
BTW, it might be something else causing the stink. Once or twice a day is quite excessive for eating stinky tofu.
Have a great trip!
Cherry blossom has been blooming since the beginning of Feb here in SF.It’s a bit odd, since they aren’t suppose to bloom till mid March
Beautiful sakura. Enjoy while they are in bloom. Safe travels to you and Tawn this weekend.
Stinky Tofu…the smell is really strong when being cooked but it tastes surprisingly great!
….KL…hm…..Malaysian food though differenc from those in Singapore, still very good! Have a good trip
The blossoms are nice. I wonder if they are making stinky tofu for commercial purposes. I don’t think any air freshener can get rid of the smell.