Category Archives: Chiang Mai, Thailand

Five days in Chiang Mai. Delightful.

Do Over

26 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Out in the Big World/Travel

≈ 1 Comment

New Year’s Resolutions have always made me dislike myself –  just a little.  They make me focus on all my faults, and vow to fix myself, all the while knowing, with absolute surety, that it’s soooo not gonna happen.  It’s a futile process.

That never stops me from trying.

On January 1st of this year, I made some pretty good resolutions.

1.  I gave up sweets.  That lasted two days.  Which was longer than the last time I gave up sweets.  But I was in Fiji!  At a buffet!

2.  I gave up sarcasm.  That one I’ve totally got down pat.

3.  I pledged to be nicer.  To hold my tongue more.  To think before I speak.  You now, the stuff you’re supposed to have mastered before the age of … when the hell are you supposed to get that one under control?

4.  I pledged to travel more.  I know, it was a gimme.  Not fair.

I didn’t know I’d get a chance to celebrate Songkran, the celebration of the Thai New Year that occurs mid-April — after only 4 1/2 months of trying to be a better person and all that other crap I’m always striving toward.  I’d have just LIVED IT UP – eaten that raspberry cheesecake I saw at Costco – let that lady at the airport who cut us in line have it – had I only known I’d soon be able to wipe the slate clean.  Again.

Because Songkran lets you do just that.  Wash away all the mean, petty, flippant, spiteful things your mouth eats says when your heart is sleeping.   Sometimes, my heart is very, very tired.  Apparently.

So, I went to Songkran, a highlight among highlights in Chiang Mai.  We rented a truck loaded up with 3 huge barrels of water, and set about helping all the people of the city wipe their repentive slates clean.   After hundreds of buckets of ice cold water were thrown at my head —  by laughing strangers on the side of the road, in drive-by shootings from unassuming old ladies on putt-putt scooters with gigantic squirt guns, by small children, by a truckload full of men in black…even by the guy that filled our gas tank who just threw the water he was drinking at us, I did feel – if not cleansed, then definitely – refreshed.

Say hello to my little friend.

Here's a soaking! Peace out!

And It.  Was.  Phenomenal.

What an awesome do-over for 2012!

A hose? Is this even legal?

You drink a little, you pour a little.

Refilling the tank and the tanks.

Songkran is a celebration that originally had many religious connotations, like it sounds.  And some people do still parade statues of the Buddha on the streets so they, too can receive cleansing.  If one saves the water that drips from the Buddha and cleanses with that,  they will have much luck for the entire year.  But, for us, it was mostly just a wicked lot of fun.  No praying necessary.

Resolutions are like prayers, though, in the way that I kind of keep them as open-ended, ongoing projects.  God, or Buddha or whatever name happens to be used, is always setting things up for me to learn my lessons.  Thus, the cheesecake.  The lady at the airport.  They’re total pains in the arse, but they help me be a bitter better person.  So keep it coming, Buddha man.  Bring it on!  And I promise to rededicate myself to my own betterment every January.  And April.

Tastes of Traditional Thai

21 Saturday Apr 2012

Posted by in Bangkok, Thailand, Chiang Mai, Thailand, Cuisine, Out in the Big World/Travel, Thai Food

≈ 6 Comments

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must

regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.  ~Luciano Pavarotti

****________________________________________________________________________****

Well said, Mr. Pavarotti.  And yes, yes it is.

I didn’t have to go to Thailand to fall in love with Thai food.  It’s always been a favorite.  Thank Buddha, in Thailand it was better than I’d even dreamed!  Multiple flavors in every bite,  all fresh ingredients, brightly colored concoctions – with proteins and grains taking a serious backseat to nuts and exotic fruits and vegetables.   My kind of eating.  Guy’s favorite Thai foods include curry, while mine include coconut or coconut milk, or both.  While visiting Thailand, we never ate the same thing twice and often shared dishes.  We ate a lot. And often.  And did I mention a lot?

I find it funny that some doctor, at a clinic my mother went to before traveling to Asia, told her to avoid the street food in Thailand.  She may have meant to avoid street food as a general rule, with which I can’t sweepingly disagree.  But using your common sense, and eschewing filth and obvious signs of mold or rot, street food in Thailand is some of the absolute best cuisine. (And for the record, I never saw mold or rot anywhere.  Urine soaked trash, yes.  Mold?  Rot?  No.)

If you avoid the street food you'll miss out on the fried bananas. And that would be tragic.

Fresh coconut milk on a hot day? Yes, please.

Fried sidewalk chicken. I say go for it!

This particular fish, however? I opted out. The flies chased me away. Common sense, I tell you.

DIVINE fruits: sapodila, rambutan, mangosteen, papaya or mango, and dragonfruit.

Bugs are always a safe bet, too. Sometimes chalky, but safe!

Larvae is also safe. So I hear. The vendor wouldn't let us try these. And we didn't want a 1/2 pound bag full. So.

I’m a huge supporter of going right ahead and eating Thai street food.  I’m jinxing myself, but I’ve never so much as had a wave of nausea eating or drinking in a foreign country.  Yes, I know it happens.  No, I don’t want to hear the horror stories.

Then again, the restaurants are equally incredible.  I have never been happier to eat out every single day, for breakfast.  Second breakfast.  Lunch.  Dinner.   And snacks.  And desserts.  And coffee.  Miraculously, I didn’t gain an ounce.  Thai food is among the healthiest in the world (the fried bananas notwithstanding), and we took advantage of our time to swim at the hotels and walk a lot around the cities, too.  If I had stayed another month, maybe I’d have gained weight and be looking more like the famous tenor quoted above.  I promise you, I’d still be singing the praises of Thailand’s cuisine.

Little bites of lots of things = perfection.

I don't even know what this is. Except De.lic.ious.

Pad Thai. In THAILAND. Does it get any better?