My neighbors had a party for their grandson's second birthday and I was invited. What a great time we had!

First of all, the kid is so adorable and a great kid to hang out with. I bought him a ABC book - of course because I have been hanging out and speaking English with him. The kid is so sharp. He picks things up so fast.

Second - the food.. For appetizers we had pork and carrots wrapped in rice paper, crab rangoon and fish bone. Now - crab rangoon in Thailand has no cream cheese. It is only crab in fried wontons. And my new opinion is that is the way God intended them to be. OK - fish bone. It is fish bones that have been breaded and fried. They still have fish sticking to the bone for flavor and you crunch on them much like a potato chip and dip them in this hot chili sauce. (I will be honest - not my favorite.)

And now the entree. Cubes of beef liver, chicken breast, roasted pork, scallions, rice noodles, bean sprouts and a hard boiled duck egg. (Duck egg is very popular here and it is much meatier or dense than a chicken egg and it does take a little getting use to but I have grown to love them. They are often used as a garnish to soups.) And then this lovely pork based broth is added. And let me tell you... It was amazing. The taste combinations are so different from what we are used to in America, but after the second bite you really get into it. And just one bowl was so filling. I asked if there was a name and they said there really wasn't. They just call it dinner.

After dinner, the adults hung out, drank Thai beer ( with ice - but when in Rome..)and played poker.

Now - Thai poker:

It is similar to Blackjack - but not.

You are dealt two cards face down and have the option for one more card - also face down.

The scoring system is 0 to 9

Face cards and 10s are worth zero.

So if you are dealt a 10 and a 7 - you have seven points.

If you are dealt a 4 and a 3 - you have seven points.
If you are dealt an 8 or 9 - you must show it immediately.

A winning hand using two cards of the same suit pays double.

Three face cards ( which technically equal 0) pay triple.

Three face cards in sequence also pay triple.

And three face cards in sequence of the same suit pay 5 times.

It is such a great game. It is fast and furious. It is possible to win with one point - because the dealer could get zero. And ties are possible. We had a blast drinking beer on a hot Thai evening, laughing and I took it upon myself to teach then some poker English. ( Poker face, jinxed, cooler, cut, goocher.) We played until 2 in the AM and I stumbled across the street and got up to teach a 12 o'clock class. I lost three dollars.

When I got to school, I told another teacher about my night and he said, "Ya know, poker is illegal in Thailand." Here for less than a month and I am already breaking the law. Not bad. But when you are a world traveler like me - you run that risk.

Gotta go!