HOW I STUMBLED UPON A “MICHELIN” STAR RESTAURANT

Meeting another South African

The day started, I took a deep breath. Mmmm-haaaaaaaa. There was something different, something I could not really place. It filled my lungs, aerated ambrosia. I kept breathing, deeper and deeper. Finally, I figured it out, there was a hint of freedom in the air. I proceeded to use my new-found freedom to have a shower. I needed to wash myself of off “J”. The shower nearly ended my trip as it had begun for I had forgotten my passport in the shower. It stayed there for an hour before I realised my folly and subsequently found it.

After my shower, I headed downstairs and coincidentally found another South African. I had travelled so far but home was right there. We decided to explore together. Heading out, he put me on to Krating-daeng, which I honestly prefer to Red Bull¹.

Stumbling upon a massive inner city market

We walked around the city, directionless². Checked out a few temples and nearly got scammed³. It was awesome exploring with another South African. We were confused by the same things. Thankfully, he was not gay.

Eventually, we stumbled upon this massive market. No idea where it began or ended, we decided to explore. It was dusty, dingy, smelly and cramped. I loved it. So many interesting things to see and do. We were not used to this at all, just walking around a city and stumbling onto a market was a foreign concept for us. Especially as South Africans, it isn’t really the safest to walk anywhere back home⁴.

I saw a sign and it opened my eyes

While floundering through the market, I saw a sign for a Michelin star restaurant. At the hostel we had stayed in, another backpacker had mentioned that there was a Michelin star restaurant in that specific market. The light bulb went off in my head. This must be it. I had never eaten in a Michelin Star restaurant before so preemptively started licking my lips. We resolved to try their dumplings. Along the way, we met a Moroccan, and American. We walked and became quite friendly with them. Somehow, we convinced them to join us in the hunt for those dumplings. We looked high and low, smelt left and right and heard up and down.

The real Michelin Star was the friends I made along the way

We tried the dumplings they were so expensive, around 80 THB (2 USD). Unfortunately, they tasted like ass⁵. Turns out, this was Thailand. We were swindled. These were just some ordinary ass dumplings, not Michelin star quality at all⁶. They had lied to us. Thankfully, the American and I became really good friends and travelled together for a bit. He also gave me some tips for Laos⁷, Cambodia and Vietnam when I went there.

1. Shout out to “A” ↩︎
2. I did not have a sim card at this point ↩︎
3. Thankfully, I had nearly been scammed the day before so could advise A how to not fall for it. ↩︎
4. At least, that’s how we perceive it to be ↩︎
5. Not in the good way 😉 ↩︎
6. I still haven’t eaten at a Michelin star restaurant though ↩︎
7. He did try and hit on a girl I was seeing in Laos though… ↩︎