Can something be familiar even if you have not had the original experience yet?

Team leader found a restaurant on the net.  Google maps, it said it was 1 km south and Bing said it was 500m north. With great ‘google-age’ I determined that Google was correct. Yes, we don’t like Bing anymore. It was a 15-minute walk theoretically, so how bad can it be? Soon after we left ‘rich-people row’ where we are staying it became a neighborhood. ‘Rich people row’ had port cocheres (that’s fancy speak for pull through drop off area) with attendants and the buildings set back from the street. This new ‘hood is local and welcoming. We passed a 7-11 that was called something else. It was 84 degrees and dark as we walked, mostly on the sidewalks. The street was much less busy than where our place was, but cars were occasional. There were various restaurants and shops. There were even chickens perched on power lines across the street. We both questioned if chickens could indeed fly. I will let this just be a mystery. This area certainly seemed for locals. I felt comfortable here. It was also ‘familiar’. I was a little concerned that Google was wrong, but we persevered and kept on walking. Looking for that elusive ‘yellow sign’ that I saw on their website. There were lots of cats and less, and less traffic the further we walked. I saw fruit and vegetable shops and all one would need to live. Then straight ahead a glowing beacon in the night was the yellow sign we were striving for. Khemthong Restaurant!

       Though it was dark, we were still a little early. This happens when the sun sets at 5:55pm. Thus, the place was empty with the exception of one Farang (foreigner), who was having a beer and then left on his bicycle a short while later. I suspect he has been living in Thailand for quite a while. We ordered fried snapper, spicy egg salad, and pork with dipping sauce. And of course, a large Singha beer with two glasses filled with ice. The beer hit the spot after the walk. It’s nighttime but still 84 degrees. We had built up a thirst and the ice cold beer hit the spot while we chatted.  The snapper looked perfect and Diane, because she is Filipino, thought vinegar would hit just right on the fish. I looked up vinegar on my Thai dictionary and talked to the waitress and sorted out getting some in a small bowl. Actually, saying’ I wanted a small bowl of vinegar’ in Thai was not hard, but she said something back and I didn’t understand. I just smiled and said ‘yes’. I hope I just didn’t buy a cow for someone’s daughter.

  The pork was tasty, especially with its dipping sauce. As usual, the salad packed a punch. It even had cashews and fresh tomatoes. The dinner was most excellent. Our favorite in Hua Hin so far. I told them so in Thai, and they were delighted. I’m hoping we have our last meal in Hua Hin at this restaurant tomorrow before we head back to Chiang Mai.