Songkran

Songkran is the world famous Thai New Years WATER Festival celebrated between April 13-15.  Thai individuals roam the streets with buckets and water guns to drench any passersbys.  The throwing of water was originally a symbol of paying respect to people, and a cleansing of all the bad habits. It is celebrated in Thailand during their hottest month so the water also provides people with temporary relief from the scalding hot temperatures.

In Toronto, Khao San Road restaurant in downtown Toronto set out to celebrate the new year with their own version of the Songkran.  Patrons were invited to attend a six course authentic Thai dinner at the restaurant and an unforgettable experience where you were going to get wet and wet is an understatement.  We were drenched from the moment we sat down.  There were water guns in buckets of water placed at each table and patrons and staff alike got into the spirit and really outdid themselves as the water fight was on!  It started as boys versus girls; and then front of restaurant versus back; staff vs. patrons and then even friends vs. friends at the same table.  I had convinced one of my friends to prick a hole in her water balloon to ensure that it would burst when she threw it.  When she used her fork to poke some holes, can you guess what happened? Yes, the water balloon popped all over her and she was drenched.  Her reaction was to grab the water bucket at our table and throw it at me.
The water fight would momentarily stop while we ate our courses but very momentarily so you would have to eat your course quickly.

Chef Nuit prepared the following menu items for us starting with a small wedge of pineapple with duck ragu topped for us to start.  Then we had a seafood papaya salad with chunks of pandan chicken wrapped in banana leaves.  Next we had a oyster mushroom tom zap similar to a hot and sour soup.  Our main was oop moo which was braised pork belly marinated in a sweet sauce.  For our dessert we were served mango sticky rice.   To quench our thirst- we ordered the infamous thai buckets which are synonymous for a good time.  They were made with of Thai whiskey (Sangsom), a can of coca cola, and a bottle of red bull all poured over ice and then topped off with about 5 or 6 straws for sharing. We finished two buckets amongst ourselves.  It definitely made the night extremely interesting and increased our tolerance for getting soaked because the water would just leave us cold.  Drinking these buckets just increased our body heat as the weather of this celebration does not mimic the weather in Thailand and it was a chilly evening.  At the end, we had flooded the floors of the restaurant and it was mayhem.  What a truly unique experience that has reminded me of my love for water fights! Suk san wan songkran as they say in Thai - "Happy Songkran day!"