Kuppa and Baan Kamtheing

A few weeks ago, I was in the gym here at CentrePoint and there was a fellow there wearing a Red Sox cap. So I introduced myself. Turned out that he (Colin) and his wife (Anna) were originally from Massachusetts but had been living in Brooklyn before moving here. Her job brought them here – she works for the Rockefeller Foundation and manages projects to help small cities and towns in southeast Asia to prepare for climate change. She is based here but travels quite a bit – to India, Vietnam, and China. Colin is a writer and was a university professor at NYU before they moved here. He is continuing to write but is also looking for a job. Because they are going to be here for three to four years, they are moving to a “real” apartment on soi 18 – about half a mile away.

We made plans to meet after their move and yesterday we met for lunch at Kuppa. Kuppa is an Asian restaurant owned by some Australians. Their claim to fame is coffee – hence the name – but they also serve lunch and dinner, along with some great-looking desserts. Good food – I had a “crispy duck salad” that was really good. Definitely an expat place – some Thais there, but lots of Australians and Germans. Other than three of us, I didn’t hear any American accents – we still seem to be a relative rarity in Bangkok.

Over lunch, we talked about living here in Bangkok – the pluses and the challenges. It was good to talk to some other Americans and to swap stories about restaurants we have tried and places to see. They have been here longer than I have – Anna spent some time here on her own last year before they both moved over earlier this year. We will definitely get together again soon.

After having lunch there and not having to speak a word of Thai, I came across a fruit vendor on the way home. He saw me looking at the fruit and said, “Aloy! Aloy!” – which I knew meant “Tasty! Tasty!” So, I stopped and used my new favorite phrase “Pom ao sap-arot, krap.” He started counting, “neung, soong, saam...” but I only wanted one piece (neung.) He pointed out that he also had papaya and guava, but I was set on pineapple. Papaya is fine, but I don’t really get the appeal of guava. It doesn’t have much flavor – it has the taste and texture of a unripe Bartlett pear. They sell it with plum sauce, but still. And the price was the same – 10 baht. Did all the fruit vendors get together and agree on a price? Not sure if he didn’t speak any English, or just thought he would follow my lead, but he never said a word in English. It was an example of how the two worlds exist side-by-side here in Bangkok – how you can go from the world of "crispy duck salad and iced French coffee" to the world of “pom ao sap-arot” in less than 100 yards.

Later in the day, I went to Baan Kamtheing. This is a private home from the mid-1800s that was originally built in the north of Thailand, near Chiang Mai. In the 1960s, it was purchased by the Siam Society, moved to Bangkok, and turned into a museum.

It is interesting because it’s an actual home and the scale is personal.

The displays focus on the importance of spirits in Thai traditions – how to invoke, appease, and worship them – and on the importance of water to the Thai culture. So there were several objects that would have been used as altars, prayer mats, and ways to “make merit,” as well as lots of traps that were used to catch fish.