Cabbages and Condoms

Time has flown since we've been living it up in Bangkok so I'll have to backtrack a couple of days.
It was say maybe two days ago that I dragged Brett half way around Bangkok in search of a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. I read about this place in the Lonely Planet and for some reason decided to make it my mission to find it. I think maybe I'm just a sucker for a catchy title, but the reason behind the name is also really good. It was all started as a means of raising awareness and money to encourage family planning here in Thailand. It has now developed into a huge NGO, working on many projects, including work to combat the spread of AIDs and support the use of condoms. Finding this place took the best part of our day but I reckon it was a day well spent. Plus, the food was lovely and set in a tranquil garden area and you got free condoms with your meal (not really sure what they're suggesting there but still it's a novelty!)

Hmm, what have we done since then?! One of us (and when I say one of us, I mean Brett) can't handle his Thai beer so had a great night in Bangkok followed by a great day seeing the inside of our little room (lightweight!). The other one of us, being infinitely more sophisticated and able to handle her alcohol, had a good cultural day of more art galleries and temples. I also wandered my way through a demonstration of the pro-democracy people who all wear red T-shirts. I'm a bit hazy on exactly what the political situation is here (awesome politics graduate that I am!), I'm pretty sure that I promised my support to the red t-shirt people I chatted to but maybe I'll do a bit more research before I put my money where my mouth is! Either way, it made for an interesting wander.

Last night back, a group of us went out to watch the moon from the bridge (the moon being specially bright) and then went on to an all-you-can-eat buffet - Thai style! This was surely just an open invitation for everyone to get serious food poisening. We all seemed to have escaped this fate but I'm sure it was just freakishly good luck rather than any kind of judgement. The place was located right on the water's edge and beautifully lit (the Thais sure are good at a good light display!). It was also massive and hot and loud and oh so very smokey! The concept is that you have hot burner things in the middle of your table and then you go and fetch all of your raw food and cook it yourself. To get food, you queue until someone gets bored of the queueing process and then it just seems to be a free-for-all. It all takes a bit of getting used to. Beginning, as I did, hungry and faced with a table full of raw meat and veggies, I was so disappointed. Somehow it all works though and the food is eventually really good and the hot, loud smokiness all adds to the atmosphere. We stuffed ourselves stupid, listened to some seriously cheesy live music and seem to have managed to escape food poisening.

Today, me and Brett took the boat, then the skytrain to the giant weekend market. It's a shoppers heaven with so much to see. Our stamina didn't last long though as it was hot and sweaty (Oh yeah - the cold spell is over, it's intense sweaty heat and grime all the way again). Now I'm hungry and my brain is fried from trying to upload photos onto this bloody computer so I'm going to collect the Australian (who is currently bending the ear of our poor German friend with an entire encyclopedia's worth of information on New Zealand) and get some food. Tomorrow is our last day in Bangkok before we get the night train up to Chiang Mai. Then we really need to decide where to go next!