Food poisoning

Wednesday, 5 Sep 2007 | Life in Asia

Some of the best food in Thailand I have had, was bought from a roadside stall and in those cases more often than not eaten while sitting right beside speeding motorcycles. I guess the exhaust fumes add an extra dimension to the food. Surprisingly enough, at least to some, is the fact that I have never gotten sick from eating streetfood.

I’ve never really worried about hygiene when eating in Thailand, I simply adhere to a few simple rules when buying streetfood but when it comes to restaurants I generally don’t worry. I have this theory that you will only get sick when you start to worry about getting sick. This point was proven when I first went to India and got quite sick following that visit, from a 5 star hotel no less. I was carefull during the entire trip there about food hygiene and ‘worried’ about it. And indeed I got sick. In a place like Singapore, I would never worry about food hygiene. Imagine my surprise when I got sick during this trip.

There is this Chinese snack, no idea what its called but it is minced meat pressed into ‘coins’ using some kind of glazing that makes the whole thing taste sweet. I love eating it when I get the chance, could blindly walk you to a shop selling just this in Hong Kong. So when I saw it in Singapore, I got myself a handful and happily munched on them walking down the street. No harm done. But a couple of hours later at the dinner table, I wasn’t feeling all that good. I just thought it was hunger. But a few bites into the dinner, I started feeling a bit sick. I’ll spare you the details, but I made it back to the hotel. I went to bed, shivering and waking up all through the night. The following day one of recovery, but soon back up to speed.

Nonetheless, food poisoning for the second time in one year. Neither of them in Thailand.