Travel Stories: The kindness of strangers in Thailand

Last night NewMan and I were feeling lazy following an impromptu afternoon being big kids so we trundled downstairs to order food from the small but excellent restaurant in the basement of our small apartment block in our small piece of Thailand. As we ordered some Thai food, NewMan asked if they had any alternative rice options, like saffron or our favourite brown rice. The sweet woman who was serving us explained they didn't, but she started to tell us all about a special "yellow ri'e" dish that Thai people eat for breakfast. It's the very food she collects on her way to work every morning after she gets up for her run at 6 o'clock every morning.

At 7.30 this morning our doorbell rang and I was presented with two bags of delicious smelling goods. She'd picked up two extra portions of "yellow ri'e" complete with sweet chilli sauce, chicken, spring roll and a chicken broth. On the side were some sticky rice and dried spicy coconut sausage shaped rolls wrapped in leaves. I'm fairly sure I ate it all in the wrong way and in the wrong order, but it tasted good nonetheless, all the sweeter because of the kind intention behind it.