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Steak Celebration

Posted by Stuart at 12:33 PM on September 13, 2003

The first week of serious daily Thai lessons are over now and looking back I think we did a pretty good job. The order of learning has been:

1) consonants (which I knew a lot already)
2) long and short length vowels (which I knew some already)
3) all five tones (which I knew a very little bit already)
4) three consonant classes that affect tones (which I know nothing)
5) reading mono-syllables with the correct pronounciation (#1-4 above)

Now, its time to continue practicing these three things and move on to 6) vocabulary 7) grammar and 8) conversation. Interesting that every single Thai language school we visited started with conversation first, but we are leaving it for last. I like our order better.

To celebrate a successful first pass at #1-5, Piyawat and I at dinner American-style at Outback Steakhouse at the Discovery Center. In other words, we gourged on meat and potatoes. I have avoided going to Outback for over a year now, but last night we decided to give it a try. We knew it would be (relatively) expensive (it was) but we thought it might be worth it (it was).

My sirloin steak was awesome and was cooked perfectly. Piyawat's chicken breasts were covered in real cheese (rare in Thailand) and was also delicious. Service was American style as well -- for the first time in Thailand the server asked us how our dinner was after three bites. Fantastic.

The final bill was close to 1200 baht (US$30). Not bad for a two person dinner at a steak restaurant in America, but unbelievably expensive here in Thailand. At least that was the thought on my mind today as I ate my 20 baht (50 cent) lunch at school today. But it's ok, my mouth is still watering as I think about that steak last night!