Som tam vendor | Mae Sot, Thailand
Olympus OM-2N | Fuji 800Z
I'd drifted over to this storefront for its beautifully-designed menu, thinking that maybe something so professional-looking would have English translations. Alas, no. So as an extremely patient customer randomly translated a few menu items, the owner here basically said, "you know, there's a foreigner restaurant right down the street." Which I had already seen, and noted that it was jammed full of Westerners while her restaurant had only one pending take-out order by the gal who was valiantly trying to guess what items I might like. I may or may not have petulantly stamped my foot and whined, "I don't LIKE foreigner places" ...but I'm not sure, it's all a blur now. Anyway, I eventually pulled out the old standby, "I'll have what she's having" and score! it was papaya salad.
I asked for two-chili-hot which boggled the owner a bit, but after watching me eat it without problem, she opened up to speaking a bit more halting English. She is married to a Burmese man and offers a Burmese-translated menu, and she and her husband are saving up to move to Japan...she realizes it's very expensive, but is certain business would be much better there.
