Stickman’s Excellent Night Out
The plan was simple. Get down to Chinatown and take the photos I promised Dave The Rave a week ago, pop over to Pahurat for some good Indian and then head back home↲ to watch the football. I’d be gone just a couple of hours. Easy! This being Bangkok things did not quite go to plan…
The traffic in Chinatown is a nightmare, even at the weekend, so it was a motorbike journey across town. I arrived at the perfect time. The sun was going down and the sky had a pleasing blue hue↲. Mr. Rave was going to be the recipient of some decent snaps↲. But there was a problem. Chinese New Year was just a few days earlier and it appears many businesses were still closed, hence↲ a lack of neon. Blast!
As the sun dropped below the horizon at rapid knots↲, I raced up and down↲ Bangkok’s Sino centre, making the most of the light, snapping↲ what neon had been turned on.
I had arrived to a quieter than usual Chinatown, but as darkness loomed↲, streetside restaurants set up and the crowds↲ started to arrive. The pavement became an obstacle course↲ and with my assignment complete, I leapt into a tuktuk↲. 2 minutes and 40 baht later I was in Pahurat, the heart of shall we say↲, Bangkok’s “authentic” Indian community.
I had lived in Bangkok for many years before I made a conscious effort to explore the Indian quarter and when I finally did I found it to be something of a let down↲. Where Chinatown captures the flavour of the mother nation, Pahurat is but a couple of streets and alleys with Indian spices, fabrics↲ and various knick knacks. There is little to interest an outsider↲. But there is one thing that Pahurat does well. Not just well, but better than anywhere else in the city. Being the heart of Indian culture, Pahurat is home to some of Bangkok’s best and most reasonably priced↲ Indian restaurants.
I remain perplexed by Indian food in Thailand. There is no shortage of↲ Indian restaurants in Bangers but price comparisons with Thai food will never convince you to head to a curry house. Indian curries typically run 200 baht or more on Sukhumvit, more than twice that for some dishes↲ in higher end eateries↲. A quick dinner for two can easily run 1,500 baht, a price point at which you can find some fairly decent↲ European food. As much as I enjoy a good Indian, local pricing puts me off enjoying it more often.
So the great thing about Pahurat is that you can find good, cheap Indian and if there is anywhere better than the Royal India, I have yet to find it. Small Indian eateries are spread throughout the back alleys↲, adjacent to smelly↲ klongs , giving Pahurat very much an authentic feel. The first thing I noticed upon entering↲ the Royal India were the new menus. In Bangkok that means only one thing, minor alterations to the menu and major alterations to the prices. Yep, the prices had gone up, but only by a few baht it seems. I don’t get to enjoy Indian often so I made a pig of myself↲. Two curry dishes, samosas↲, a superb↲ garlic nan↲, saffron rice↲, all for under 300 baht. Try and do that on Sukhumvit.
The problem was that I had overdone↲ it. I had eaten too much. As a food lover in a city of unlimited dining options, it’s an all too common problem. There was only one solution. I needed to walk it off↲.
So out of the Royal India I strode↲ and off on a little exploration I went. It was still relatively early, not much after 8 PM, but little India was dead. All the streetside shops had closed and only the India Emporium remained open. It was dead.
Key Terms…
- pop over to ↔ ir rapidamente para
- head back home ↔ voltar para casa ↲
- did not quite go to plan… ↔ não exatamente correram como planejado
- pleasing blue hue ↔ agradável tonalidade azul ↲
- snaps ↔ fotos ↲
- hence ↔ portanto ↲
- at rapid knots ↔ rapidamente ↲
- I raced up and down ↔ Corri para cima e para baixo ↲
- snapping ↔ tirando ↲
- as darkness loomed ↔ ao ser tomada pela escuridão ↲
- set up ↔ montaram
- crowds ↔ multidões ↲
- an obstacle course ↔ uma pista de obstáculos ↲
- assignment ↔ atribuição, objetivo
- tuktuk ↔ (see picture) ↲
- baht ↔ the currency of Thailand
- shall we say ↔ vamos dizer assim… ↲
- quarter ↔ quarteirão, bairro
- a let down ↔ uma desilusão ↲
- is but ↔ é apenas, é nada mais do que
- Indian spices ↔ especiarias indianas
- fabrics ↔ tecidos ↲
- knick knacks ↔ quinquilharias
- outsider ↔ forasteiro ↲
- most reasonably priced ↔ mais razoáveis ↲
- There is no shortage of ↔ Não faltam ↲
- dishes ↔ pratos ↲
- eateries ↔ restaurantes ↲
- fairly decent ↔ bastante decente ↲
- puts me off ↔ me afasta de
- eateries ↔ restaurantes
- spread throughout the back alleys ↔ espalhados por todos os becos ↲
- smelly ↔ malcheiroso ↲
- klongs ↔ A klong is the general name for a canal in the central plain of Thailand.
- upon entering ↔ ao entrar ↲
- had gone up ↔ subiram
- I made a pig of myself ↔ eu comi como um porco ↲
- samosas ↔ (see picture) ↲
- superb ↔ esplêndido ↲
- garlic nan ↔ (see picture) ↲
- saffron rice ↔ arroz de açafrão ↲
- overdone ↔ exagerado ↲
- dining options ↔ opções de refeições
- walk it off ↔ andar (para superar o que está o incomodando) ↲
- strode ↔ caminhei ↲
| ↱ head back home |
voltar para casa |
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But seriously it’s freezing in Louisiana. And I get to head back up to Maryland today. |
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| ↱ pleasing blue hue |
agradável tonalidade azul |
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A man’s character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him. |
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Any ground subtracts its own hue from the colors which it carries and therefore influences. |
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Snap a photo / Take a snap ↔Tirar uma foto |
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Titanium and carbon are the most expensive and hence dominate the upper echelon. ↔Titânio e carbono são os mais caros e, portanto, dominam o escalão superior. |
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| ↱ at rapid knots |
rapidamente |
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knot = milha, unidade de velocidade de um navio
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| ↱ I raced up and down |
Corri para cima e para baixo |
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How competitive is Indiana? They just raced up and down the inclined tunnel inside Dayton Arena to start getting warmed up for Temple. #iubb |
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My son has decided that he’s in training. “Training for what?” I asked. “For Boston,” he replied, as he raced up and down the sidewalk. |
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The most common reaction was to pull out a cell phone and start snapping photos. |
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| ↱ as darkness loomed |
ao ser tomada pela escuridão |
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Nelson Mandela was in jail, democracy was not on the agenda, a bloodbath loomed. |
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Grey clouds loomed. Rain fell against the polished windows of the loft. The water droplets ticked against the glass. |
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It could be interacted with large crowds in different ways. ↔Poderia interagir com grandes multidões de maneiras diferentes. |
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| ↱ an obstacle course |
uma pista de obstáculos |
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He had run the obstacle course nine times, and still nothing. No matter how fast or efficient he was, Roach could not impress Captain Price. |
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| ↱ shall we say |
vamos dizer assim… |
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She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance. |
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| ↱ a let down |
uma desilusão |
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Done being a let down and a disappointment to people who care about me. |
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You’re just a let down, another one of my mistakes. |
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Luxury fabrics, vintage pieces and perfect tailoring gives it an educated flair. ↔Tecidos de luxo, peças vintage e uma perfeita alfaiataria lhe dá um toque educado. |
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Nash was known as an outsider. A lot of people didn’t care for him. |
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| ↱ most reasonably priced |
mais razoáveis |
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Shrimp or scallop nigiri is $4, making this the most reasonably priced of all the sushi houses I visited. |
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| ↱ There is no shortage of |
Não faltam |
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There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. |
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How could we, when there are so many wonderful dishes to sample week after week? ↔Como nós poderíamos, quando há tantos pratos maravilhosos para se provar semana após semana? |
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While in Austin for a music convention, I visited many of the bars and eateries. |
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| ↱ fairly decent |
bastante decente |
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There is also some fairly decent documentary series that occasionally appear. |
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| ↱ spread throughout the back alleys |
espalhados por todos os becos |
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The company has previously toured throughout Europe as well as India and Africa. ↔A empresa já excursionou por toda a Europa, bem como Índia e África. |
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Constant rain, giant bugs and smelly sleeping bags are enough to put anyone off. |
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| ↱ upon entering |
ao entrar |
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Upon entering witness protection she had to quite her old job and had to go to medical school to be a doctor. Surprisingly she was quite good at that job. |
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| ↱ I made a pig of myself |
eu comi como um porco |
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I was hungry, sorry for making such a pig of myself. |
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I was sitting beside Touya eating slowly as not to make a pig of myself as I had done many times before. |
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I have been to some really great restaurants in Britain, one in York was superb. |
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| ↱ garlic nan |
(see picture) |
| ↱ saffron rice |
arroz de açafrão |
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Still, I thought-and still think-that the bearishness was ridiculously overdone. ↔Ainda assim, eu pensei, e ainda penso, que o pessimismo era ridiculamente exagerado. |
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| ↱ walk it off |
andar (para superar o que está o incomodando) |
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Oh fuck, my leg husts so bad! —Just walk it off man, you’ll be okay. |
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This sentence has a strange arrangement.
First, he says: So out … I strode, which is equivalent to: So, I walked out… (E então, eu saí…)
Then, he says …off on a little exploration I went, which is equivalent to: I went off on a little exploration (Eu embarquei numa pequena aventura) |
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He clapped a Wizards cap on his head and strode on to the big stage, misty-eyed. |
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She strode (andou com passos largos) across the room towards me. |
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On Learning Brazilian Portuguese 
Thanks for all upgrades! 🙂