thempanada and the national anthem

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Learning Thai has proven to be a daunting task, so a few weeks ago i decided to focus my efforts on just memorizing the Thai national anthem that the kids sing in school assembly each morning. I devoted a week to the endeavor and now I'm showing off... i proudly sing at morning assembly, i sing in the evening when the anthem plays on all radios and televisions, i sing in taxis for the taxi drivers, really I sing to anyone who'll listen. did I mention that I'm terribly proud of myself? The kids in class helped me with learning all the pronunciation and they still get a kick out of listening to me butcher their dear country's anthem in class.

morning assembly where we sing the national anthem

i have discovered the thai equivalent of the fabulous latin american hand-held snack, the empanada. I don't know what they're called here, so I've dubbed them thempanadas. these ones I tried in Ayutthaya had two different fillings: one, a sweet crumbly paste made perhaps of some sort of sweetened mashed beans (?), potatoes (?), loads of sugar and some egg yolk, i would guess. the other was filled with ground chicken seasoned with sweet and savory middle eastern/north african spices. The dough is thin, chewy and a bit crunchy around the edges. The whole thing is deep fried - no surprise there - and costs about 15 US cents.

sweet, crunchy, dense Thempanada
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