Stay off the grass!

Don't walk on the grass! What? No, there's no landmines! It's just common courtesy in a land where there's no other grass.

Well, like I mentioned, I'd hoped to get some shots and wander around a new area. I got to do that just yesterday thanks to Jacob and Noelle (see previous  post 'Who are all these people?'). We traveled down to the river front area to have a nice walk and some pizza.

The name says it all!

So we set out on our little journey with the hopes of some good food, and good company.

Did I mention we were taking 3 very active boys with us?

Whaaaat did I get myself into this time?

Yep! This is Aidan (of course), Aaron (tongue), and Sokun (spelling? not sure yet. I haven't asked anyone). Sokun is a new face to this blog. He's the son of Theavy, which is another person I'll be introducing you to at a later date (yeah, I know, promises, promises... hush!).

Sokun is Aidan's other best friend here. He's a mostly quiet boy... at least, as quiet as you can be around this group. ;)

I had the opportunity to sit in the back seat with them. This was quickly followed by a game of 'I'm a mosquito; try to smack me!' by the boys.

Have I mentioned I love my iPhone? YouTube + iPhone + Disney = no more smacking each other. It also meant I could briefly chat with Jacob and Noelle without having to wait for them to catch their breath.

See? Another best friend. Aidan loves these guys.

We parked in front of the King's Palace. To my delight, I got to see something and smell something I haven't smelled in over 3 weeks... a manicured lawn!

Yes! Freshly mowed and edged grass! What? You think that's kind of boring? Well, consider that the only other patch of lawn I have even heard of here has a high wall around it - a very small, but very high wall. Think like a couple of squares of sod and you get the picture.

Needless to say, we couldn't walk on it. Security doesn't like that, and I don't feel like being told I have to 'pay a fine' (basically a bribe).

Hmm? Bribes are bad? Well, yes, this is true. Consider though that bribes are actually a part of the commercial infrastructure. Almost all vehicles are overloaded to the point of collapse. If there were no bribes, people would have to use 2 trucks instead of one. People can't afford this here, and what's left of the economy would be drastically impacted. Instead, police walk casually to the middle of the road, and people hand them money as they drive past. Simple, effective, and also corrupt. It's not so good for the roads themselves either. Still, don't judge. People don't always know better, even if they should.

Looks like America, huh?

Anyway, onward and upward. We went inside and I ordered a cheese stuffed crust pizza and a couple of sodas for me and Aidan. Jacob and crew went with Hawaiian style, which includes bacon and ham with pineapple, apparently. The breadsticks were served with cocktail sauce.

What? Yes, you read that right. You think it strange? Well, check this out:

There were about 3 pages of seafood related pizzas.

Along with this cornucopia of fishiness, there were also special crusts, such as the ever-famous 'who stuck a polish sausage in there?!?' and 'cheesy sausage bits'. Yes, it's pizza, but it's also Asian. Trust me, I'll never fail to show you the unusual stuff. :)

Who needs YouTube when you have Jacob?

 After the yumminess of the pizza, we took a walk. It was nearly dark out, so we just did a brief stroll, but here the night time is especially pretty.

Can you see the lit mini-cruise boat on the river? Apparently, it's safer to take those cruises than it used to be...

We walked along the Mekong for a bit. The businesses open at night range from ice cream shops to hotels to places you shouldn't go. Gambling, alcoholism, and certain other vices I won't mention (Karaoke bars aren't usually there for singing) are prevalent, but there's still some nice areas to visit at night.

The king's palace at night. It's a small world after all... What? Ok, you tell me you don't see some similarities between this and the Magic Kingdom.

Crossing the street was interesting. I only nearly got ran over 2 or 3 times. Poor Noelle had the stroller, so she had the high score for near misses. Remember rule 1 - I'm bigger, so move? Yeah. I'm not bigger than a moto, so they just keep coming.

MMMMMMMMM!

On the way back, they were kind enough to stop and let me grab a quick souvenir of our journey - chocolate! Yes, it's as good as it looks. I should have gotten some photos of the flavors. I didn't try the ones made from various peppercorns, but Jess had the lime-basil flavored one after I got home and said it was good.
 

He was happy!

Ok, so 'Ryan', you ask, 'where's the human interest part of the story?'.

Tonight's random act of kindness was brought to you by Noelle, who spotted a little boy playing by the river (way down slope... no river rats out tonight though, so no worries.), decided to give him a balloon from the pizza place. He and his mom both were touched by this, and smiled at us big (Tom [tome, like rome] in Khmai).

Well, thus ends this little adventure. Laughter, smiles, and a lack of river rats I wish to you all. See you next time.