Street food

Nana, plaza , Bangkok,The name originates from the Nana family (Lek Nana being the most prominent member) which owns much property in the area and has still much influence in Thailand.
It is an interesting place. Nana plaza has 3 floors of bars to take care of any type of fantasy you may have. There are numerous street vendors selling everything from cooked bugs to luggage. I have eaten some awesome street foods there. And spent wayyyy too much money in the bars. I have come away from there with some pretty severe skull cracking hangovers the morning after.
Anyway, one night in Nana I was wandering around drinking Chang and San Miguel beer on the street, just havin' a look to see what was going on.

I spied a vendor selling cooked bugs. I sampled a grasshopper and though it didnt taste bad, it had a smell that was not good to me. So, I passed on the others. I snapped a quick picture, and was on my way. Almost immediately I caught the aroma of Beef, it kinda reminded me of my moms pot roast back in the day. Anyhoo, I followed my nose to the spot where the aroma was coming from. I saw a large wok filled with hard boiled eggs and some strange looking cuts of meat in it.
It smelled great but had (to me) an un appetizing look.

Over the years I have been able to build up a tolerance for eating street food. When I first came to Asia I had a virgin stomach. And, each time I  attempted to sample some street food I’m looking for a sit down toilet in less than 5 minutes.

Previously,when I traveled to  3rd world countries, I always practiced what I call "Prophylactic eating" - that is eating nothing that does not come packaged, bottled or canned. The acceptation to this is fruit like pomelo, bananas, pineapple etc. which had a thick skin on it. But now? After 20+ years of traveling around the world, I have a gut that can digest a volks wagon and never to hesitate to eat street foods.

I do still use bottled water in Asia and other regions, I commonly only drink whisky , water , coffee and sometimes local beer like Chang in Thailand or San Miguel in the Philippines (my favorite). Recently in Thailand while visiting my friend Mams family I was exposed to a wide variety of interesting foods. Everything from water buffalo skin to ant egg soup. I tried a few of them and was pleasantly surprised at the unique flavors and textures. I have never been a fussy eater. All I really require is that food looks good, smell good, and tastes good. And, I admit, there are some things like pong tear in Cambodia or Balut (Hard boiled chicken embryos) in the Philippines , I will not eat.
I look forward to my next 3rd world adventure and any type of unique foods that look tasty.

Tomahawk