On the road...again!!!
Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek
Fli Li on the Menu
Backpackers at the youth hostel in Calcutta were eager to share information about places to stay and what to eat in Bangkok. They were headed west and the Footloose Forester was headed east, with Bangkok as his next stop, so he fixated on what they said. It was a rewarding bull session and fit for a chronicle.
When they said to stay at the Thai Song Greet hotel in downtown Bangkok, it was because it was centrally located, cheap, and clean. It was also a place that you could get good hot food at almost any hour of morning or night. They mentioned the fli li, the most popular and inexpensive dish on the menu.
Not surprisingly, the Thai Song Greet lived up to its reputation. It was cheap, friendly, and a natural way-station for other backpackers who readily swapped travel stories. And fli li was routinely on their menus. When several backpackers ordered fli li, that is what they got. The short-order cook repeated the order aloud, just to be certain. Soon, a tasty plate of fried rice (fli li), loaded with peas, carrots, diced chicken, onions, a scrambled egg, and maybe a few water chestnuts... was served up. Tasty, as advertised.
Many decades later, the bachelor Footloose Forester decided to try his hand at making fli li at home. It contained mixed white and brown rice, peas, carrots, diced spam, a scrambled egg, and shredded cheddar cheese. Bingo! A winner! The serendipity of the day!