They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, and I’ve said it before too. But in Thailand, it seems a dollar is worth a couple dishes. Personally, it was a little hard controlling myself by the time I had finally found a place I thought was worth giving a try.

I won’t say too much because this is supposed to be a post card, but what do I really need to say. The food was amazing! In my experience, the street food in Bangkok was better than any other food service  establishment I’d found, and that’s no cliche! Granted, I didn’t search far and wide for Thailand’s finest. (Speaking of, next time I go, there’s a restaurant I’ll have to visit- Baan, by another CIA alum; it fell off my to-do list.)

On the way back to the hostel, I strolled past this spot that, just the day before, had been a market! There were food vendors, clothes, and cool trinkets. But tonight, it was someone’s restaurant. I had to wonder if I got lost.

These open dining formats don’t seem so uncommon, a spread of metal tables , and a bunch of plastic chairs (not uncommonly shared with a stranger), all preceded by the food cooked out front.

I scrolled through the menu, sniping my selections, losing track of exactly what I ordered. I’d only have one more day. Didn’t want to miss a thing. Pictured is a pork wanton soup (with a welcomed, mellow and toasty flavor of either sesame or sweet miso); stir fried pork with rice and a fried egg; every good thing you can imagine about pad thai; some okay pineapple fried rice; papaya salad; mango sticky rice (the highlight) and a coconut. I was also given a condiment caddy, with chiles, vinegar, and sugar. I didn’t bother with it though.

The meal cost me whopping 450 baht! That’s about 15 USD. The only reason I ate it all though was because you didn’t offer to help. I would have probably been happy- nearly stuffed with $5’s worth.

There’s always next time.