Surprise .....

January is a bit chilly in Chiang Rai, as it is the northernmost part of the country.  Though the temperature appears mild to the westerners, it is still pleasantly cold to most Thais.  The mornings  always welcome us with mist or fog which keeps the sun a bit shy to greet the day.  But, that does not last very long. Once the sun could break through, the temperature would soon rise up.

Our family often starts such days rather early.  Kanit leaves for school before seven while IngSong and I get ready for our morning walk.  Yet, it was a little different on one cool morning.  Kanit had said goodbye and gone off the door, IngSong was in the kitchen for a little clean up.  There came Kanit's rather loud calling from the front and abruptly the door was open, revealing our  neighbor with what looked like a 'stick' in her hand!!

I quickly approached the door to figure what was going on, and just to be greeted with a very lovely surprise.  My neighbor was holding her freshly homemade sticky rice in a bamboo stick which she was very eager to share with us.  It has been a custom for people in this region to cook newly harvested rice in green bamboo sticks.  And, that was just that my neighbor did.  She had filled uncooked rice and water in the stick, left it overnight, then grilled it over the open fire in the morning.  

After peeling off the outer charred part of the bamboo and cracking it open, she came over to share her one and only rice in bamboo stick with us.  Right there by our partially open front door, four of us stood and fed ourselves with this specially cooked rice which was called, 'kao larm.' The rice was nice, warm, soft, fragranced and flavorful.  The morning was lovely and the warm relationship was 'celebrated'.  We were grateful and pleasantly enjoyed our surprise.  What a memorably precious way to begin the morning with!