ThaiTime

Leaving Chiang Mai

2012-04-25T01:16:00.000+07:00

What is it that molds our personalities and what is it that makes us the individuals that we are in this moment? Personally, my belief is that much of what makes me who I am has a great deal to do with my interactions amid the external world. It is all of the experiences; joyful, depressing, painful, exciting, discouraging, insurmountable, along with every trivial and momentous instant that life affords, that shapes my personality and my character. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you speak with, my persona has been created through interacting with many people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. There was a time, a good while back, when I used to be one of those polyester suit wearing persons that passed out peanuts and refused to give you the entire can of pop unless you asked for it. One of the greatest things about that job was having the chance to interact with so many unique people from all sorts of places around the world. Also, I was able travel and be a part of differing cultures at least for a short time. How great it was to travel and see the people of the world and to be a part of their daily lives, if even for just a short while, the experiences were unforgettable.

Living in Chiang Mai was the first time that I was able to truly immerse myself into a foreign culture and people for an extended period of time. It surely was a very strange adjustment going from working an eight to five job for the last eight years to moving to the other side of the world without a set daily schedule. This was to be the first time that I would give myself the opportunity to integrate with another culture for more than just a two week vacation experience; and oh what an experience this was to be for me. Sure, when I first arrived in Chiang Mai I had a set agenda and itinerary, which listed all the things that I wanted to see as well as a list of things that I needed to achieve in order to get situated as a short time resident in this “Land of Smiles”. So, initially I made sure to get all of the sites in that I wanted to see; making sure to visit the many temples, markets, and any other guide book suggestions that caught my eye. After getting familiar with this enchanting city and after getting a good fill of sites, taste, and sounds; I moved onto the less enjoyable task of setting up the mundane aspects of life, such as a place to live, phone, electricity and all these other boring necessities required to get by in most places of societal existence. After passing the two week mark in Chiang Mai, I began to develop a daily routine. A routine is something that I require as a base in order to give me an anchor on which to cling upon. This anchor assists me in keeping the chaos and disorder of life from encroaching and disrupting my desired perpetual contentment.

After a month in Chiang Mai and after getting into the flow of a daily routine; which consisted of Thai Language course, golf, leisurely reading, fiddling with the guitar, and enjoying a variety of Thai dishes. Comfort and confidence started to set in when it came to getting around and functioning in this once overwhelming society as it began to envelop me. After gaining a little more courage with speaking the Thai language, I was more secure when engaging in limited conversations with the local Thai populace. Also, I was fortunate to meet several Thais that spoke a fair amount of English; this was a great opportunity for me to use the Thai that I was learning as well as to immerse myself more into the local culture. The local culture and those wonderful interactions with such an amazing and ingratiating people, will be the things that I will carry with me as the days soften into years and the images, smells and taste of temples, waterfalls, lush vibrant forest, lingering smoke of burning incense during my morning walks, monks holding large silver bowls in expectation of offerings while walking barefoot on the cool morning streets, steaming bowls of warm rice covered with all sorts of varying sauces and meats, and paper lanterns filling the night sky in small orbs of illumination. These are sure to all begin to become fuzzy remembrances conjured up from the depths of memory by the thumbing through of old photos and writings. Yes, and this goes back to what I was mentioning earlier; that is, our personalities are forged through our experiences and interactions. Who I am as a person is fluid and is ever changing and should remain so, just as long as I continue to expose myself to diverse people, situations and ideas. Stagnation of mind is self imposed and is a condition that limits my ability to empathize and interact with other cultures and persons. This belief may be why I take so much more from my back and forth interactions with the people that I met in Chiang Mai than what I take from the sites I saw during my stay in Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai was initially planned to be a place that I might live out the rest of my days. However, after getting into the routine of daily existence, I realized that life in Chiang Mai was just like life in Austin with just a few differences. Also, I knew that I could survive for a few years without working due to the low cost of all things, but eventually I would have to get a job in order to get by. And as nice as it was to be away from the workplace, I have to say, I found myself actually missing the daily routine of the job, as well as the daily challenges to be surmounted. The employment choices were limited in Chiang Mai and the pay was minimal for the jobs available. Sure, I could work to live in Thailand but this working to live thing was already something that I was doing in Austin. As I pondered what I might do to get by in Chiang Mai, memories of Austin and of its beautiful meandering hikes, of its humble water falls and streams, of the wonderful diverse taste, of the amazing people and of my extraordinary friends began to flicker into my consciousness more and more often. These smile inducing memories led me to reminisce about the time way back then. It was thirteen years ago, during a time when I had a job that allowed me the opportunity to commute from any location around the world. At the time I was based in that decrepit crumbling city of Detroit and only wanted to get the hell out of there as quickly as I possibly could. Well, when I was younger, I had always thought of living in one of those “hip and cool” cities, like New York, LA, San Francisco, London, Madrid, Tokyo and a few others. It’s amazing how the things that I thought I wanted were really just things that others around me said that they wanted and so these are things that I thought I wanted as well, funny how that works. Anyway, I ended up going to all of these cities for small amounts of time and found that I really didn’t enjoy any of these places enough to pack up and move there. “Hip and cool” was turning out to be crowded and pretentious, not really what I was hoping for. Then there was this one day that I was to meet up with an old friend who was living in Austin Texas. It was May and the overbearing heat of the summer had not yet set in. Temperatures were still in the mid 80’s, the flora was in full bloom, and the trees were coloring the horizon and roads in varying hues of green. There were times in the past that I had made my way to Austin, but these occasions were just two day excursions over weekends away from Dallas. That trip was the first time that I was able to actually get out and see all that Austin was; it took just a week for me to fall in love with the town. I remember being taken out for some tasty Tex Mex, getting out on the lake, sipping upon cold beers on the back porch amongst the flickering fire flies and cool breezes of Austin’s spring evenings, and then concluding the trip with a free outdoor concert. While lying there in the soft cushion of thick grass while shifting abstract cloud shapes into discernable images as they floated slowly overhead, I decided that Austin would be the place to hang my hat and kick off my boots. And well, as time passed in Chiang Mai it began to enter my mind that Austin is still the place that best suits me.

Like a fallen leaf floating upon the ebb and flowing surface rippling down a winding stream as it dips and rises through voids carved from impermanent stone, through tumultuous rapids, and calm serene lulls; I find myself adapting and adjusting to the externalities of life; trying not to resist too much but still trying to guide myself in the direction that will offer me the highest chance of contentment. Since I do not believe in Dharma or that we all have been given some sort of single purpose which we need to accomplish during our limited years on this planet, I am free to change directions on a dime and simply follow a new path. This is where I am today, on a new path. For me I find it a very liberating thing to know that I am not limited by dharma or limiting ideas of what the future is to be. Sure it’s trite, but I am a big believer in enjoying the now. The future will have everything to do with what is done in this moment and so, I do my best to focus on my happiness in the here and now. Currently, the here and now is back in the place in which I left six months ago, good ole Austin.

Spring is the best time to be out and about here in Austin and I am so very glad that I made my way back to this home of mine. Now I come back with a new gained perspective on where it is that I want to live out my days. Chiang Mai, as beautiful and as unique as it was, did not outshine the everyday experiences that I have been able to find here in Austin. And now that I have moved from Chiang Mai and set back up in the states, I will not be keeping up with the blog that I created to document my happenings while living abroad. As fun as it has been to write about my time away, I do not think that it would be nearly as interesting to write about the day to day back here in Austin. Also, I think that my chances of getting into awkward social situations would be greatly heightened by keeping a blog about my experiences and interactions with the locals here. Back in Chiang Mai, most of the locals were unable to read any of the postings, so I had carte blanche when it came to telling my stories. Of course I will miss writing, it has been a good deal of fun and the support from my friends and family was a great motivator, thanks for that.

Thank you Chiang Mai, thank you to all of the wonderful smiling Thai faces, thank you friends and family, and thank you to all of those that instilled in me the fortitude to take the leap onto that next stepping stone of this ever varying path.

Just the day to day.

2012-03-30T16:57:00.002+07:00

Yes… yes, I know. I have fallen into the traps that I imagine many people who start a Blog fall into. It’s just amazing how life and all of its distractions are able to pull ones attention away from things that one would hope to keep up with or complete. Self involvement is like a tranquil tide is to a untethered ship floating leisurely in the vastness of an open sea. Gradually and without perception, the daily routine has pulled me away from many of the things that I planed on doing. I imagine many a relationship and a desire has befallen this same sort of fate. Well, here I am paddling back to the shore and wishing to cling onto the things that have slowly fallen from the clear and tangible present to the fading hazy memories of the past.

As my time passes without documenting the common simple occurrence of daily life here in Chiang Mai; the occurrences begin to stack up and I perceive the task of telling all that has happened to be a daunting one. Maybe it’s just that I don’t want to bore the reader with what I perceive as mundane and in line with the same experiences of all of our everyday lives. Also, I; like an old man in a lounger repeating old stories to those that have the patience to listen, have a tendency to repeat stories, words, people, events and all other echoes of the long-ago. So, if you have the patience, here is another pondering of meshed up experiences from the old man that rest within me and who seems to find his voice coming out more and more.

Not sure exactly where to start, so I will just begin with today and work my way back to those memories that jump from the dark into the light of my perception. Bed time was a little late last night and I didn’t find myself rousing from the images of previous experiences assimilating into some sort of coherence until 8AM. Once I climbed from the comfort of sleep, I got the water boiling in the kettle for some locally grown tea I had picked up at a street market near my home. Sipping my morning tea (normally I’m a coffee drinker, but the only readily available coffee here is instant and I am just plain tired of the powder mixture), I perused the news of the day then got through the daily morning routine. 9AM, I was out the door, in my backpack were books I wanted to try to pawn off to a few of the local used bookstores near Siam Gate on the old mote of the City. First, I wanted to stop by a little cafe attached to a Bed and Breakfast that I like to frequent, to see if I could get a friend of mine to make me a tasty bowl of Khaw Tom. Unfortunately that friend was not working this morning, so I talked to another friend that works there for a bit. Poor girl was in a motor bike wreck the other day and had her foot bandaged up. So very glad that I had to give up on that idea of driving around this town on a scooter. Living by two hospitals, I see many a bandaged up limping foreigner trying to shuffle their way to the curb to hail some mode of transportation. Also, I am a terrible driver, and if you factor this variable in with the variable of all the other terrible drivers out here driving with the fearlessness of youth and naive beliefs of immortality; then you understand why it’s simply one foot in front of the other for me. Hell, it’s also just nice to have all the walking time to think, to listen to audio books, to music, and all the sounds that this city is able generate. It took me about an hour to get from my starting place down to the book stores, where I was only able to sell just one of the five books that I had brought with me. And so, having completed my chores for the day; I headed to the park that is located near the west side of the mote surrounding the old City. On the way to the park, I found a little place in which to get a bite to eat. 30 more minutes of walking after enjoying a nice plate of Pad Thai, I found myself at a local park where I laid out a little rented mat on the soft green grass by a small man made lake and picked up reading where I had left off.

There is something so nice about reading a good book in the shade of a palm tree, while listening to the sounds of a splashing fountain in the distance, fish creating little drops of sound as they come up to retrieve pellets of food that small children sprinkle into the water smiling with anticipation of getting a glimpse of these large vibrantly colored Koi, the much welcomed sound and feel of the cool wind coming through the flora and brushing the heavy blades of grass, and even the cooing sounds of the pigeons as they pander for a little morsel of what the fish are getting. This orchestra of nature around me was very conducive in allowing me to really get immersed in the book I’m currently reading by Cormac McCarthy called Suttree. The story is about a guy who lives in a small house boat on a river near Knoxville TN. Sitting by and hearing the sounds of water as I read the book was just great. After spending a few hours reading and napping, I headed on back to the homestead. 40 minutes of walking took me back on home. Once home, I just got back to reading a bit more, practiced guitar for an hour, watched a good BBC documentary on the worlds population and its exponential growth, very good, and now I am here trying to catch up on this darn Blog of mine. See there, I told you, it’s all just a pretty boring story. Pretty much everyday is about the same. Of course there are more experiences left to tell, experiences of parties with interesting people, parties with go go dancers and bands, parties with so much food and so much drink, the story of a dance class that allows only nonverbal communication and promotes a lot of eye contact, of golf, of language class, and of great random encounters.

Now to get to those memories from days which have slipped into the past. Last week I was invited to a going away party for a friend of mine who runs the Eco Lodge where I stayed a few months ago. Festivities were to begin at one in the afternoon and extend into the wee hours of the following morn. In order to pace myself, I decided to arrive at the party mid afternoon and got there a little after 3:00. Upon my arrival it was obvious that these fellow party goers had begun sucking at the teat of Backus flask much earlier than the set upon time of one. It turns out that they started the pig roasting at nine AM and began putting back the drinks around the same time. Placing the pigs flesh over the flames and heat of white hot coals to get the meat to just that tasty tenderness, was something that I wanted to see. Cooking in such a primitive and ritualistic way is something that I really enjoy seeing and being a part of; I was sad I missed it. Still though, by the time I got there the meat was cooked, cut and served. Very tasty and served with many a Thai dish as well, also there was wonderful variation of potato salad to munch upon. Oh, and a French baker brought by a basket, I mean that, the fifteen freshly baked large begets were brought in a wicker basket; that bread smelled so good. The cornucopia of food was served without cost to the revelers, thanks to the gracious nature of our host; drinks though, were being sold at the bar. After purchasing a large bottle of Leo, I got started on the intensive battle that was to be my lunch. Such battles are always a win and a loss depending on the time that passes from consumption to lethargic content patting of ones engorged belly. As the contentment of over consumption of sustenance and drink rolled over me and lethargy began to take hold, a very short in stature group of Thai cowboys began to arrive with all sorts of instruments of sound. One guy carried in a stand up base, he looked like he would collapse at any moment from the massiveness of the apparatus. Following him, were large bongo drums, chimes, amps, guitars and all sorts of other percution instruments. Members in the band all wore boots, cowboy hats with feather rings rapped around their brims, necklaces that varied. The chains clinging to their necks were made of mother of pearl, turquoise, gold and bone. The venue was beginning to take on what I imagine an old dusty bar from the days during the colonization of the wild west. Whiskey bottles were all about along with shot glasses filled for sipping during the momentary intermissions of play. All types of music was being created in this small corner in the open air bar, it ranged from an old country sound that was sung in the words of the local language as well as recognizable classic rock tunes being voiced in the familiar language of my own neck of the woods. After having several more tall beers and sharing in just one shot of whiskey with this band of what would be called heathens in the times of spurs, chaps, and outlaws; I headed into the quite still night for my long walk home. There were great conversations, wonderful people, great food, and great music to be heard that night. Sleep came on me as solidly as a large boulder tumbling from its perch high above. But before the impact of darkness washed me away from consciousness; I kicked off my shoes and felt like a cowhand bunking down for the evening. This was a nice way to find my slumber but how the following morning wiped away any notion of joy from that night before.

Then there was that party that took me out into the outskirts of town. This party came out of nowhere and I was ill prepared for such an event. My lack of preparedness probably had to do with the fact that the night before I had enjoyed another gathering of ladies and fellows, along with a bit of the Hong Tong. Anyway, a friend that I had not seen in four months called me up and invited me to a birthday party. Although I was tired from the night before, this was an invitation that I was not going to be able to decline. 7:00 PM, I was picked up by my old friends and we got to the shin dig around 7:45. There was a table of homemade Thai dishes laid out and bottles upon bottles of whiskey and rum jutting up from ten different tables that had been set up for the night’s activities. This place was set up with a stage that already had the drum kit, large bongos, chimes, guitars and a Karaoke machine all set up and ready for use. Someone filled a glass with ice, whiskey and soda, and then handed it my way, now the evening was beginning. After having a plate laden with a variety of taste and starting my second glass of whiskey and soda, I started to mingle. It was so nice to see so many acquaintances that I had enjoyed spending time with during my first months of arrived here in Chiang Mai. My ability to speak Thai had really improved, so I was able to communicate much better than I had during our earlier interactions. Unfortunately, all those that I spoke with must have thought that my Thai was better than it really was. Each person that I had a conversation with started to speak so quickly, too quickly for me to catch the entire meaning of what they were trying to get across to me. Having a few glasses of tan liquid didn’t help with the speaking or the listening either. By the fourth glass of whiskey and soda, the band was in full swing and two go go dancers were up on stage moving about to the Thai tunes. The ladies made their rounds from table to table and from chair to chair. Someone slipped one of them 50 baht and pointed towards me. Next thing I know I have this scantily clad young lady closing in on me like a lioness cornering the gazelle she has chosen to pounce upon; and pounce she did. Being preyed upon was a nice situation to be in and it was nice to sip upon my glass of liquid courage as the sensuality of this beautiful girl enveloped me. I must say that my self concept has been given an extreme boost since arriving here in Chiang Mai. This must be what it feels like for the English when they show up at some teeny bopper drinking establishment in America speaking with their country of origin’s accent. A few of the ladies out here have nick named me “Hollywood Handsome”, how can this not go to ones head. Soon enough a humble state of reality will be my existence; but until the day I set foot back in the states, I will enjoy all the attention being given my way. After the girl left my lap, I found another table of friends to drink and converse with. Karaoke started to crank up around 11, the band stayed on the stage and those stepping up to the mic were accompanied by the band. Around midnight, the drinks and the lack of sleep were beginning to take hold of my will to keep on going. Only one more hour after the twelve chimes was I able to be a part of the music, the dancing, the laughing, and the lively conversation. After finishing the last sips that fell from my upturned glass, I found the carriage that brought me to this congregation; there I laid the seat back and found myself in a fine state of repose. It was close to 3AM when I was shaken from the blackness and asked to bring the seat back; it was time to head back home.

There are many more stories to tell, but for now, I think that I have written far too much and will give the eyes of those reading this a little break. Tonight, I am going to a celebration and charity event for one of the temples near where I live. A friend of mine is going to be singing in a competition tonight and I said I would be there to lend my support.

Soon, I will be leaving Chiang Mai, so I will do my best to try to at least finish up a few of the descriptions from events past. No guarantees though.

Flowers and more flowers.

2012-02-06T21:26:00.004+07:00

Flowers have never been something that I seek to find. Sure they are pretty enough; I just don’t find myself going on excursions in nature to find these unique manifestations. This lack of desire changed the other day on my trip to a local event that had the streets around the old city closed down. “Why the hell not”, I said to myself, and so with a friend of mine, I headed down the street to take in the spectacle. I have never engaged my time in order to take in the diversity of colors, shapes and types of these so readily seen phenomenon of nature. Pleasantly, I was surprised by it all.

Saturday was like most days here in Chiang Mai that fall in the latter part of January and the early days of February. All things and persons were being illuminated by the always prevailing sun in a temperate climate that affords a wonderful opportunity to enjoy just about anything during a nice stroll down a bustling market street. As I walked down the closed off street, to the left, were lined countless food vendors selling so many confections, juices, and a vast assortments of edibles. On the right side of the street were large canopies that had been set up just to the edge of the old moat. The tranquil slow moving water of the moat along with the fountains located within, that were creating a hypnotic vibration as streams of water collapsed into its voluminous self, served as a most wonderful back drop for the sellers to display their floral creations as well as a multitude of other plants and flowers for purchase. All though the streets were filled with an ever moving stream of individuals sliding through the push of one another, the moat and the kaleidoscope that had been plucked from the essence of nature made for a very relaxed walk.

My friend and I leisurely worked our way from one spot to another, as we did, we made a few stops from point A to the unknown point B to enjoy some sort of tasty donut like creation, a large glass filled with fresh coconut juice as well as the meat that had just been peeled from the husk, and we stopped at a few displays to check out the various flowers. Along our way, we came across a line of floats that had just been out roaming the streets peacocking their natural adornments in a recent parade. It is just amazing, the amount of detail that a person can get from simply arranging differing types of flowers, colors and varying types of flora. Each float had a theme and each was created by the help of many hands joining to accomplish this single beautiful pursuit. These floats were definitely worth the time we took enjoying them, but I think what I enjoyed most, were the many types and styles of Bonsai trees that were on display. Many of these little manicured miniature creations were brandishing ribbons of recognition. So, I am guessing, that there was some sort of competition pitting these little guys against one another. It is such a nice thing to have no knowledge of the measures of correctness and subtle nuisances that are externally set by an esoteric group to define an objects beauty. This may be why I care little for those that tell me which wine, whiskey, beer, food… etc. is best or better than what my own plebian palate is communicating to my mind. This fortunate lapse in knowing allowed me to really enjoy each of these little creations. A great deal of my time was spent enjoying the multitude of intricacies, as well as with admiring the skill and time it must have taken to create each of these little wonders.

Meandering along, we then came upon a nice little park, where a number of people had laid out bamboo mats to stretch out on and to enjoy a nice little meal with their family and friends. As we set up by the small lake, we were serenaded by the traditional sounds of Thai music being performed in a small amphitheater by a local Chiang Mai Orchestra. Dusk was beginning to set in with a pastel rose hue that emanated from the heavens and reflected in the shimmers of water being created as the Koi peaked through the surface to take in and be a part of the happenings occurring all around their serine sanctuary.

Just taking a moment to be still in a place and time like this provided a great opportunity for each of my senses to be stirred. My smell was influenced by thousands upon thousands of flowers giving off an assortment of fragrances that intermingled with the grass, the water, fruit trees, and unique aromas of all types of freshly made cuisine. Varying tints and shades of color; along with the reflections of the sky, clouds, children playing, families laughing, lovers embracing, and of the subtle fragmentation of these images as the Koi broke the stillness of the water creating this mirror of reality. Lush green grass is surrounding and cushioning my bare feet as well as each of my fingers; a sensation of cool soft comfort is felt as my fingers slightly tug at the blades of green now serving as my place of contented rest. Sounds of laughter, music, and simply of movement induce an unconscious smile as well as provide me with that feeling one gets when enjoyment is just beginning its cascade through the body. Yes, I find that there is so much to experience in a single moment and I love that I have had the opportunity to enjoy these fleeting moments as often as I have.

Yummy

2012-01-14T16:24:00.001+07:00

Being here in Thailand has given me the opportunity to try a diversity of Thai food. There are usually just one or two dishes of a food type that I will find that are enjoyable and I will stick with those, however, where I am at now there are just so damn many variations to try. To be completely honest, when I first got here I was so intimidated by the language barrier that I only ate the Kaao Tom Moo with Kai, which was served to me at the bed and breakfast where I was staying. Kaao Tom with Kai is a rice soup with greens, pork and egg; it is a very tasty dish to start the day with. But just subsisting off this one meal a day was not going to cut it. On the third day here, I ventured out and found a restaurant that had a banner hung on the wall that showed all types of dishes being served. Having the banner as a reference gave me the opportunity to choose something that looked edible. Of course this place was more expensive than many of the other places that I now eat; the meal I ate at this place was two American dollars, which is twice as much as I pay now. But at least I was finally getting out conquering my insecurities with the language and my inexperience with ordering from the multitude of Thai fare. Like the first encounter with a new found attraction, it’s the getting through those first fumbling insecure moments that allow for the prospects of new and wonderful experiences. Now that the ice had been broken, I was on my way to try just about any type dish. Fortunately, I am able to eat just about anything and this stomach of mine has been strengthened like the hands of a martial artist that are calcified through repeated slams into hard stone.

Before going out to gain a new taste perspective, I would first do some research via my laptop. This research allowed me to pull up multiple Thai dishes along with the ingredients in the dishes. Now that I had a list of what I wanted to eat, I could now go with my English to Thai dictionary in hand and try a new taste. A couple of funny things occurred though and still occur on my ventures when going to get something to eat; one, my pronunciation of what I wanted was usually well off from the actual pronunciation and two, many of the places I first went to, did not serve the dish I was requesting. That’s the thing here; there are so many restaurants that specialize in a certain type of Thai food. So, if I order something like Kang Pet with rice at a place where they only make noodle dishes or Tom dishes or this or that dish, they would look at me like I’m mad and point to the menu, which was all in Thai. Like a mad man, I would just keep repeating the phrase for the meal that I had worked so hard on to pronounce. Finally, and this is a great thing about many of the Thai people, someone at the place would physically walk me down a few steps or would point me towards a place that did serve what I was looking for. People here are so damn accommodating and for their graciousness, I have always returned back to their serving place to try out whatever dish that the restaurant specialized in.

On a few occasions I have ended up eating a few things that are pretty unsavory looking and do have a unique look as well as taste. One time, actually two times now, I have ordered a dish that sounds pretty basic and familiar; noodles with chicken and vegetables, chicken noodle soup, right; well not exactly. A steaming bowl of noodles, veggies and chicken came out but the chicken is broken up with various bones protruding from parts that I did not recognize. Keep in mind, that the Thais waste nothing from an animal and will eat the feet, head, ass and all other parts. Tentatively I poked at the dark pieces of meat floating about in what I thought was to be my cozy warm chicken noodle soup. If you know me, then you probably know that I am about as frugal as they come and it is a rare moment when I will pay for something and not utilize it. In this case the thought did cross my mind of just leaving it and ordering another dish, but in the end the thought of leaving something to waste was too much of a burden for me to carry. After loading the dish up with a lot of red pepper and other provided spicy ingredients, I dove in. Not so bad, the meat was very tender and the noodles were pretty good. All in all, it was a pretty bland dish but not inedible. Still, I am not sure exactly what part of the chicken I was eating and that is probably best. The worst dish that I have tried so far is this noodle soup that consist of these balls of pork bobbing about like little fat castaways trying to find an edge to rest upon, along with some greens and then the ingredient that gives it a real punch, blood. Many of the Thais that I have met really enjoy this blood soup but it’s not something that I found any sort of want for. Happily for me, I did not order this blood dish and only tried a spoonful of my friends. Nah, I just stuck with my standard noodle and buoyant floating balls of pork. Not too bad, but again, too bland for my taste. Phet is a word that I use often when I am ordering food, it means spicy and I do dig it as spicy as they can get it. Also, Kai Doa are words that I use every time that I order a rice dish, Kai Doa means with a fried egg. Ummm, I do love me that fried egg on everything, very tasty. I have even tried to order this crown of a fried egg for noodle dishes and dishes that already have egg in them, like Phad Thai. The waiters or cooks usually smile and laugh at me; they never believe me and I still have yet to have a nice fried egg on top of noodles while eating out. It’s OK; I have made my own fried noodles with a fried egg to serve as my cherry on top. Smile.

Local Friends though are the best guides in finding the best Thai morsels to stimulate the palate and fill the gullet. Bo and Sai have both showed me so many great traditional dishes as well as some of my most wonderful times during my stay here in Thailand. Bo introduced me to Gang Pet, which is a red curry pork dish that I have with rice. It’s loaded up with galangal, lemon grass, kaffir, coriander, fennel seeds, shallots, garlic, and a lot of chilies. This dish can be served with any sort of meat and I have always had it with pork. Oh man, it is served in a bowl and comes out steaming hot. I usually order two helpings of rice and I smoother this spicy goodness over some white steamed rice, so good. Sai got me into Jim Joom, which comes out in a ceramic bowl that is resting over flame or hot coals. The ingredients are placed on individual plates that include lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf and chopped chillies. The meats include beef, pork, chicken, pork liver and squid cut into thin slices, with an egg broken over them. So far, I have only had this delicious soup dish with pork and I have loved it every time I have had it. There is something enjoyable about taking fresh ingredients from the plates strewn across the table and placing them into the flame heated thom, then serving the mixture once the medley of flavors have commingled and the meat has cooked to a ideal tenderness. It’s also very nice to have some perfectly grilled chicken with meat just falling from the bone on the side. In reality, when eating out with my Thai friends, there are always several types of foods laid out on the table. A nice spicy Thai salad, some grilled veggies, spicy meats and a fair amount of rice. Yes, the taste are abundant when eating a Thai meal, it is so nice to have the palate bombarded by so many differing flavors. Oh and of course I can not leave out the great meals that I enjoyed during my trek at the eco-lodge. While laying back and relaxing in the mountains of Chiang Mai, I ate some of the best pork ribs I have ever had along with traditional Thai dishes and man that hot vanilla rice pudding was just damn amazing.

Man o man, the exposure that I have had to the Thai food here will probably be the best that I will ever have in my life, and this has been a great plus to my stay here in Thailand. Being exposed to such a diversity of people, of sites, and of flavors has been such a great thing for me and it is this diversity that I believe to be the essence of this beautiful and wondrous place that I now reside. Adjusting to all of the divergences from my previous way of living has been such a magnificent benefit to my growth as a person and has so added to my distinctiveness as an individual. It is my belief that every person in this world of seven billion individuals is so very inimitable, and that each of us has within an aptitude to grow our acceptance of this world of unique ideas, flavors, beliefs, sites, wonders, loves, and desires. At least this sort of thinking keeps a smile on my face and allows me to be content and happy more often than not.

Tasting all of this greatness here in this land of smiles has certainly been a bonus, but I must say, I do miss the taste of melted cheese wrapped in tortillas, smothered with more melted cheese and covered in onions, and of course, with a nice fried egg on top to serve as that little cherry of goodness on my Sunday. Also, a nice margarita on ice would be another fine addition to that tasty treat. I am so very much looking forward to getting me some of that fine Tex-Mex fare upon my return to Austin.

Wishing you well and envying those of you that sip margaritas and enjoy the fine taste of Austin on a patio while enjoying the beautiful Texas sky on a languid Sunday.

Deep in the forest.

2011-12-31T15:53:00.002+07:00

Pin pricks of light poked through the swathe of night and the moon rested in comfort, as if smiling with a cup of warm tea, lounging there while taking in the new eve once again guiding it through another cycle of perpetuity. And there I was, following the example set by the pale sliver of pearl above. In my hand was a cooler beverage though, a beverage that you may have guessed I would have in hand if you have read any of the previous post of mine. A glass of whiskey and soda is the drink that rested between my grip as I laid my head back to take in the unobstructed view of this mural of stars, moon and of the hazy clouds dissipating in and out of existence while sharing in a little tango with the flickers of light smiling above. There is just something so entrancing about the night sky when you are able to view it without the touch of ambient light, and when you are able to hear the sounds in which the darkness orchestrates without a single encroachment of civilization.

It took about two hours to get to the parking spot for the Lime leaf lodge. Once the truck was parked, all of the items that we needed to get to the Eco lodge had to be trekked up a steep, long and high incline. I thank goodness for the fact that this lodge is very near to a town where a local tribe called the Black Lahu live and who have plenty of individuals looking to help out for a small fee. So, we had a little helper assisting us, he strapped a large carrying basket to his forehead and we followed him up the steep incline. It took about thirty minutes to get up the little dirt path that led to the lodge. Once we reached the end of the trail we were welcomed by the sound of a little Koi pond on the left and some amazing little huts that were tucked away amidst the banana trees and various other floras. The group of us, which included an English fellow named Clive, a Chinese girl named Daisy and Chris, our host, headed to the main little bar area and temple like living area. Immediately; we all poured ourselves a beverage in celebration of making it up the hill as well as to savor while taking in the view that this little temple afforded us. That is the great thing about driving for a long period up the steep slant of the road and then footing it up the mountain. The views are that much better the higher the elevation is when the eyes seek out an end point in which to rest upon. This little area of the property, consisted of a sleeping area under a thatched rough made from bamboo, with walls made of a beautiful wood, and with a decor that one might find in a Buddhist temple. The doors of the entry were antique folding doors that opened up the sleeping area to he views of the mountains, forest and sky above. This area also served as a communal gathering and cooking area. Also, there was this great tiki bar on the deck that again had a great view of the mountains surrounding us.

After a bit of time chatting and sipping we split off into little sub groups. Clive and Daisy were here at the lodge for more of a romantic get away and went off to their own little hut on the hill. These two kids both teach English here in Chiang Mai and each are able to speak Thai so very well. Daisy speaks, English, Thai, and Chinese – Mandarin and Cantonese. And Clive is working on learning the Chinese; with Daisy as his teacher he sure seems to be getting the language down pretty quickly. The rest of the group consisted of me, Chris, Winai and his wife Noi. Winai lives at and operates the lodge with Noi. He has been a guide for a little over thirty years and soon will be taking trekkers out on three day survival expeditions. He is a pretty amazing guy who can get out in the forest and create an amazing meal by building a fire and chopping down one of the many stalks of readily available bamboo. It’s a pretty cool thing how he will segment the stalk into cookware, bowls, and chopsticks. On the short trek that Clive and Daisy took, Winai created a nice fire and a great meal midway through the three hour trek. Chris is one of the owner operators of the lodge and who provided me with the transportation to the lodge. Six months out of the year Chris is a chef on a yacht and his culinary talent is greatly utilized at the lodge. Chris and Noi are amazing cooks, who prepared some amazing meals utilizing only an open fire in the middle of a forest, on top of a beautiful mountain, surrounded by nothing but the sounds and fragrances of the immediate environment.

Before the night enveloped us, we were given a nice mid-day buffet of wonderful flavors and sustenance. We ate our meals on a bamboo deck that extended out from Winai’s home and that offered us a wonderful view. After our meal we had a little conversation about this and that and then went off to our own expectations of how the rest of the day would unfold. Me, I went and found a nice comfy deck chair to lay back in while I did a fair amount of reading. Reading while periodically looking up from my book to take in the view or to pour myself another whiskey and soda at the very near tiki bar, were about the only activities that I participated in as the day began to slowly wane. The dusk set in and a small fire was lit in order to provide a small amount of warmth from the now cooling night, as well as for the preparation of the night’s meal. Another large meal was laid out and now the deck provided views to the starry heavens as we took in the warmth and flavors of the spread laid before us. Once the meal was finished the loving couple went on to continue in their interlude, while the rest of us went on to the large snooker table that somehow was brought up to this small precipice. Yes, Winai loves himself some pool and so he had this huge snooker table brought up to the lodge. And thanks to some recently installed solar panels there was plenty of light available to guide us through a little game of eight ball on a table that was very challenging for a guy that is used to playing on a standard eight foot table or a small bar table. This table stretched to eternity -it seemed-, the pockets were tiny, as they were designed to consume the tiny snooker balls that the table was initially made for; however the pool balls were the standard size. This combination of small pockets, standard pool balls, and an immense spans of felt sure made for a difficult game of pool. Of course Winai knew this table like the back of his hand and made for a formidable foe in this game of billiards. He may be physically unassuming but he is sneaky like a fox and in no time he found a way to get the upper hand. I only beat him once that night but I sure had a great time in my efforts to dethrone the king of this table in the depths of the forest of Thailand. Once the games had finished and the last sips were consumed from our once full glasses, we all began to make the steps into slumber. Lying down on a small mat that was placed across a hand made wooden frame raised above the floor; I covered myself with two large dense covers to keep the crisp night air from disturbing my rest. The entry way was left open and provided a beautiful background of night and allowed the sounds of all the nocturnal creatures to serenade me into a sound sleep.

Birds calling in the new day and the light of morning both served in a tandem duo to take me from the comfort of my slumber. Chris had prepared some brewed coffee from beans that were taken from the coffee plants located only meters away. This was a nice way to start the day and following the coffee was a nice little breakfast to get us going. It is hard to say where the morning and day went. I just stayed on the deck and continued to read my book while the couple went on a trek with Winai. Chris was busying himself with some prep for dinner. First he started marinating some pork ribs, then he began to boil chick peas for a curry, and then he sliced up some high dollar vanilla for a vanilla rice pudding. It looked like we would be having another great dinner again once the night set in. When the trekkers got back to the homestead another fellow joined us. He had heard of the lodge from someone who had stayed there a good while back and he decided to find his way there from Chiang Mai. The lodge is not an easy place to find and I have to hand it to him for just making his way there all on his own. There is no internet or phone, so he just took a chance and drove his rented moped up the mountain in the hopes of being fortunate enough to meet up with someone at the lodge. His name was Dillon and he was visiting from Australia, where he teaches philosophy at an international baccalaureate school. The time was around three in the afternoon and it was a good time to start pouring the whiskey and chat about various subjects that came to mind while we waited for the dinner buffet to begin. As the sky began to darken and the fire was lit, Winai brought out two guitars and a drum. Dillon, it turns out, was a fine guitarist who was also able to sing. So, I did my best to strum a few chords and keep up, but really I was just lightly strumming and creating only muffled sounds, so as not to intrude on the songs that Dillon was putting out. Sitting back listening to a little guitar, drums and singing with the accompanying sounds of an open crackling fire on this deck was a great way to spend the evening. Once the dinner was put out, the music was put on hold and we sat ourselves down for another grand meal. Mmmmmm, so damn good. There was such a diversity of taste. First we started out with gnawing on some perfectly cooked and marinated ribs, oh they were so good. Then we set down for an Indian curry dish, a Chinese soup, and a couple of Thai dishes, all served with superbly prepared fried rice. Once we had all sufficiently stuffed ourselves beyond contentment, Chris brings out this dish that is steaming and putting off a fresh aroma of freshly cut vanilla. This was the first time that I was served a hot vanilla pudding and damn I sure hope it’s not the last. Now that we had more than satiated our appetites, we sat back and enjoyed several more songs and beverages by the fire. As it began to get closer to the end of the day, several of us headed over to the covered pool table for a couple of games. We played into the night while drinking our whiskey and laughing, all the while enjoying each others company and the great outdoor pool hall. After pool we all turned in.

The next morning started in the same way as the previous one had. Repetition of such nice beginnings is sure a great way to start any day. After breakfast, I walked over to another area which shares the same property as the lodge. There is this crazy Thai boxing training area that is located just a few steps away. This place is something that you might have seen in a Rocky type Thai boxing movie. It is extremely rustic, with dorms made of wood and thatched roofs, a ring built upon a cracked hard earth ground, large tires for flipping, huge ropes for climbing and pulling, weights, heavily used punching bags and sparing pads. Those would be Thai boxers training here would be exposed to the mercy of the outdoor elements. I could only imagine how difficult the training would be during the hot stifling humid heat of a Thai summer. I couldn't help but have a great deal of respect for these individuals that were committed to training in such extreme conditions. This outdoor Thai fighting training area recently had a crew from National Geographic come up and do some filming of the instruction and fighting area. It was a pretty unique thing to see. After finishing up on my little walk, we began to pack up and prepare for our departure from the lodge. We made our decent down the steep incline to the truck and all made it down in one piece. Dillon was going to stay another night and so had the entire compound to his self, well, Winai and Noi would still be there to provide wonderful experiences and food.

Nestled in the comfort of a surrounding forest on the side of a Mountain here in Thailand was exactly the thing that I wanted to experience when I first thought of moving here. Being able to experience Thailand in a way that was much more congruent with the way that locals would have lived a hundred years ago was an amazing moment. Breaking things down to the bear essentials and negating the extraneous elements of life and society seems to provide me with a wonderful sense of clarity. This lucidity creates a higher level of confidence and contentment in my life which I hope to carry with me all of my days.

Pai, Lunar Eclipse, and water falling.

2011-12-17T18:35:00.005+07:00

Keeping up with the writing for this Blog has been happening less and less as of late. I suppose that this may be attributed to there just not being as many adventures, new occurrences, and the fact that my days are occupied with so many other things that I enjoy doing. Going to the language school, studying for the language school, golf, reading, painting, writing and guitar are taking up pretty much all of my days and hours. Then again, I am easily entertained and carry few expectations in this little mind of mine. Who knew that doing a bunch of nick knack things could take up an entire day. Focusing on just the things that I want to do, sure is a damn fine feeling and I will miss it when I have to go back to work in the monetary paradigm. The paradigm of the egalitarian nomadic societies from back before the imposed agricultural revolution, sounds more like the archetype that I would prefer to lend my labor to, but hell, the grass is always greener on the other side I suppose. Besides, I do love my flat screen and pseudo cheese block melted with cans of processed chilies and tomatoes from time to time. Now there are still a few adventures left out there and I do take random little step abouts from time to time I guess that is why I have a reason to punch the keys tonight.

Eliminating expectations and retaining a flexible schedule has allowed me to experience a good deal of serendipity in this modest life of mine; the trip to Pai is a good example of this serendipity. Before I go into the story of Pai, I feel the need to say that I may have to curtail a few things stated in this Blog as well as alter a few identities of those mentioned there within this bit of writing. Now that I am meeting new people here and there. I am finding that these new people may be interested in reading these little annotations of mine and may not appreciate their names being mentioned; also, they may not like the things that I have written about our shared experiences. My sense of humor is unique - so I am told - and there are those that may take offense to a few statements of mine. So in the interest of keeping friends and keeping friends out of trouble, I will do my best to save face for all listed parties, myself not included, I’m not too concerned with losing face. Now on to the story of Pai. Sorry, I have just one other preface prior to moving onto the trip to this little hippie town in Thailand. Chris is the person that invited me to go to Pai and who was kind enough to drive myself and seven others to Pai with him. He is someone that I met randomly at the Hong Thong bar that I mentioned in an earlier post. And on a side note, he owns an Eco-lodge in the mountains of Chiang Mai. The lodge sounds and looks amazing, this according to a few Kiwis that I met as well as the pics I have seen of his place on Facebook and his website. If you want to check out the place, it is called limeleaf eco lodge, www.limeleaf-thailand.com . So, Chris calls me up, I hadn’t spoken to him in several weeks and just thought that he might have a lot going on. During the phone conversation he let me know that he and a few friends would be heading up to Pai and asked if I wanted to go. Now I knew nothing about Pai or where Pai was, but shit it was Friday and I had no job and nothing to do, so why not go to Pai. One other thing about Chris, the guy has a pretty nice set up when it comes to the work side of things. He is a chef for those that need to have tasty morsels of nourishment on their large world traveling yachts. Six months out of the year is he required to be out on the seas or based in Spain, Greece or some other romantic port of call. Then he lives in Thailand for the other six months working on the Eco-lodge and enjoying his time off. There will be more to tell about the lodge once I go for a visit.

On Saturday afternoon, I took a little thirty minute stroll on over to Chris’s place to meet up with him and the others that were headed out to Pai. After introductions, we all packed into Chris’s truck. Introductions included the following, in no particular order of worth, value, or importance; actually, listing will begin with those names that I am able to remember, Thai names are tough for me to remember. There was Kay, sounds like Ki, who is a German that made it here to Thailand by way of New Zealand. Kai calls New Zealand home now after traveling the world for 9 years of his life. He made his way here with his lady friend Louise. Louise is from New Zealand as well and has done a fair amount of traveling herself. Traveling is how she met Chris; she met him in Antigua while working on a yacht – I may have to check out a job in this yacht industry. Louise does landscaping and Kay is a stone mason. Their professions are only mentioned here because they put their skills to use on the set of the movie “The Hobbit”, which they have been working on for the last year and half and I really was dieing to mention that they were working on the set of this 600 million dollar movie. Then there is this little Thai guy, who’s name is Wainai – I am about hundred percent sure that I have misspelled this name. The fellow is a little over five feet tall and looked like a Thai Mr. Miyagi. He may be a little tougher than the wax on wax off guy though. His body is tatted from neck to toe with several Buddhist images and prayers, many of these he received during his time living in Buddhist temples; Mr. Miyagi is also a guide at the Eco-lodge. He is able to survive in the woods with nothing more than a knife, and I tell ya, if there is some sort of cataclysmic event this time next year - as the Mayans have foretold - then I want to look this fellow up. When I go to the lodge, he plans on taking me out to find a tasty blue tarantula to bite into. Can’t say I’ve ever tasted tarantula but I sure bet that the blue variety are tender once cooked up and served over rice. The others joining us were Mr. Miyagi’s lady friend, young fellow, the young fellow’s young lady friend, and a guy in his late 20’s.

The drive to Pai was a little under three hours and was through and over the mountains on some very winding roads. I guess I should say something about Pai so that you know why people go to the place. Of course there is plenty of info on the net about the place but I will do my best to give a little run down. Initially the place was filled with a bunch of dread head hippies wearing drawstring hemp pants. There are hot springs that are set up in a way to allow a person to lay back in a natural spring of warm water, rather than in a hot tub of thermally heated water – I hate those damn hot tub hot springs. Due to the elevation of the town the temps in Pai are much cooler than those here in Chiang Mai, which makes for a perfect location in which to enjoy thermal waters running across and wrinkling the skin. But, like many cheap places where hippies and artist inhabit, the masses wondered what the hippies enjoyed about this place in the middle of nowhere and so decided to go and take a look. More and more tourist began making Pai a weekend spot in which to take a little holiday. Then the death nail - as far as the hippies were concerned - to weekends of tranquility was pounded in once a Thai movie - some sort of love story - was shot in Pai. Now, from what I hear, the place is always booked up on the weekends, the hot springs are now closed at six pm – no more candle lit evenings laying back in the trickling tranquil warm waters, damn - and the price has doubled everywhere. Our trip to Pai was a last minute affair, so we had no reservations. Which was fine by me, I figured, if need be, I would just bundle up in a heavy cotton hoodie and lay my head upon my rucksack under the undisturbed blanket of a star laden evening. We did attempt to find lodging once we arrived and stoped at several bungalows and inns, all were booked and all those we spoke with, when asked if they knew of another place, said that every place was booked and was always booked on the weekend. Also, it didn’t help that there was a festival going on this weekend, the Rice Harvest Festival. There were several tents set up around town and many of these tents turned out to be for rent. So we ended up paying a chunk of change, by Thai standards, to stay in tents on a person’s front yard; a front yard that was at the corner of an ever moving vein of traffic that connected with an equally busy concrete thruway. And next to what was to be our resting place for the evening was the town’s busiest bar, which didn’t usually shut down till around three or four AM. After shelling out my three hundred baht, ten American dollars, for the tent, we all headed into town in order to get the evening on track.

Louise mentioned that a lunar eclipse would be occurring that night and that she wanted to find a nice vantage point in which to get a good view. Chris mentioned a Reggae bar that would be a good place to view it from, now we had a destination to make our way to once we finished walking through the crowd that filled the streets. We all just grabbed a bite to eat from one of the street vendors, and then sat for a bit to grab some cold beverages. Sitting in this little side street bar that had some white hipster serving drinks along with a little hipster Thai girl, I was thinking to myself, that this place would be a better venue to visit during the week. All of the streets were just too full of people. Let me say this though, there sure was a fair amount of eye candy that my gaze took much benefit from. I do enjoy those pale hippie girls with their loose-fitting attire and their nonchalance. Still, I was more in the mood to simply kick back and enjoy some relaxation, so it was nice when we headed off to the viewing area to watch the eclipse. We ended up at the Reggae bar on another side street which was a little less crowded than where we had been. The bar was like many of the bars in the town, in that it had an open patio that led into a deeper recessed sitting area. There was a pool table, a stage, reggae music, and some pretty laid back individuals milling about. This place was going to be perfect. It was nice to sit, have a beer, and watch the vanishing luminous orb that sat resting above us and the rest of the hemisphere. I can’t even remember the last time I watched an entire lunar eclipse. It was fortunate to be there with people that I found to be so very enjoyable. After about five hours, the moon began to peak out from the shadow of this rock we were gazing from. And the night went from darkness into a slowly illuminated evening that was just now beginning to adjust and to settle into its normal state of existence. It’s such a strange thing to watch an eclipse occur; although there are no physical changes to speak of, there seems to be a transformative development occurring. Maybe it’s the moon shedding it’s old self, relinquishing the skin of past experience and starting anew. Well, this is at least the thought that arouse as neurotransmitters were sent firing between the synaptic connections in this tangled web of mine. With this thought of transition floating about in my thoughts, we headed off towards our little camp site. Chris and I made a final stop at the bar next to the yard our tents were staked up in for just a few more beverages prior to our search for the sandman. After finishing a whiskey on the rocks I purchased a final tall bottle of Leo beer to take back to the camp site. Chris climbed into his tent and went on to sleep. Me, I stayed up a bit longer, kicked back on a portable hammock, and finished my purchase as I swayed to and fro enjoying the fresh night.

Morning light is just as bad as the loudest waking bell or squawking feathered creature. Unfortunately for me and my pounding head, two of these three got me started for the day. First the light began to cut through the tent and then through the thin flesh veils keeping my sleep guarded; now, the light it not the best thing in the world when trying to continue in a fine state of slumber but my slumber has many tactics at its disposal in which to employ in order to continue in a place of existence for an extended amount of time. Too bad my slumber had no sort of back up for that squawking fowl creature that was only in the mood to scream in celebration of the new day. Everyone else was up as well and here it was just seven thirty in the AM. After a cup of coffee, I thought to myself that a Bloody Mary might be a better call at the moment. For those of you that drink, you know that feeling you have after a heavy night of consumption without enough sleep. For me it’s as if I just took a small break from drinking and I still had that same buzz from the night before. The impending hangover had not set in yet and I knew that within a few hours I would be in the back of a truck on a winding road that would keep going up and down as it jostled for grip from side to side. I sure wish that I would have just had a beer or something with a bit of the hair of the dog from the night before. So be it, I went with coffee, water and a fried egg sandwich; I have to take my lumps sooner or later, might as well get it over with. We didn’t make it to the hot springs, which was fine by me and my rapidly falling into a hangover self. However, we did head towards a waterfall that was on the way back to Chiang Mai. According to Chris, this was his favorite waterfall in the area. On our way to the waterfall and home I found out something that I did not know or had forgotten that I knew. I was unaware that sitting in the back of a truck for a long period of time while facing your vision towards the tailgate would create the sensation that you are continuing to move once the truck stops. This is a damn awful feeling in itself and if you tag on a full blown hangover, it’s a pretty nauseating affair. Although there were signs signifying stop offs in which a person on this twisting road could vomit, I guess car sickness is a common thing on this road, I did not get sick. Once we arrived at the waterfall my hangover was at its peak but the moist dewy air began to chip away at the symptoms a bit, this was a nice reprieve. Our little band climbed out from our cramped positions in the truck, stretched our legs and arms, and then trekked towards the roaring sounds of a mass amount of water falling into it self. A thunderous sound greeted us once we made it to the falls, and man, this thing was immense. There was a crisp wet air surrounding us and at the elevation we were at it was flat out cold but this chilly temperature was not going to prevent me from getting into the even cooler water - thank you Barton Springs and Deep Eddy for prepping me for the jump into cold depths. Boom, once I pulled my head from the refreshing cool water my hangover dissipated a great deal. Damn I do love me some water falls. There were a few other wonderful things that we were able to see as we hiked through the waterfall area, a wonderful Bamboo forest, a deep crack in the rock that served as a home for a large family of bats, and a few other things, but I’m getting tired of writing and really want to finish a documentary I started, so I am going to finish up here.

Once we got back to Chiang Mai I had to bid my new compatriots farewell and get back home to that slumber. Maybe I could get back a little of that sleep that I missed out on earlier in the morning. On my walk home I pondered; life is so much better for me when I simply limit the expectations and plans for the day. Keeping a good deal of flexibility along with being open to the whims of the day has provided me with some great experiences. Also I thought, how nice it is to be so easily entertained and find pleasure in such modest undertakings. So if there are no crazy or hair raising adventures that find their way to me, then I am still just as content doing the little things that currently fill my life. This contentment with self and life is a wonderful coin of value that I carry with me. This currency allows me the procurement of many unforgettable and indescribable experiences; it allows me to give fully of self and to enjoy fully those that I love in my life.

Thank you to all those that I give and take love from, you are appreciated.

Thai food and an Ugly American

2011-12-07T23:44:00.005+07:00

Alright, my plan initially was to just give a few details about the very tasty Thai food that I have quickly become accustomed to, unfortunately, I ran into a painful individual yesterday during my golf day; A person that I just can not go without mentioning. First, let me preface by saying, I myself am a humble tourist in this land and in no way am I better than a person that visits for a week nor am I any worse than a person that has lived here for 10 years. I do not want to come across as a person that somehow thinks they are more versed in culture or as some sort of seasoned traveler critiquing fellow travelers. No, if there is one thing that I hate as much as I hate those that disrespect their host, is a self important, patronizing, “Traveler”. Now that I have that out of the way, let me first start by saying that traveling, in my opinion, is not a ride at Disneyworld. A person does not just go from German town, get a corn dog, and then move onto Asia town. It is unfortunate that there are still a few people traveling that seem to believe that the world is just some small amusement park, where their language is spoken in each of the featured worlds and the customs of their culture are the same in all locations around this very large rock. A rock that we share with about 7 billion differing opinions, beliefs, loves, hates, fears, wants, and all the other nuances that are held unto our singular selves. It does constantly amaze me when I am in a non English speaking country and I hear a person say “I can’t believe these people don’t speak English”. Someone actually said these words when I was in Beijing China. It made me ponder how well this statement would go over in Texas. Can you see a Mexican national looking at the WalMart check out lady and snidely stating to his wife in Spanish “Why can’t these people speak Spanish?” This would be much funnier if it just were not so dame reprehensible. “Ok… ok, I get it, Jeff has a pet peeve here”, I can hear you saying, and yes you are correct in your supposition with this one. You know one of the worst things of all about these ungracious guests, is when they are discussing foreigners amongst themselves in their own countries. I am sure it has been said more than once, “these foreigners should learn the language or go home”. Oh my goodness the hypocrisy is making my body shudder in cascades of laughter and my face tighten with intermittent smiles stretching from cheek to cheek.

Wow! My tangents are never ending, my apologies. To the story of the event that has so motivated me to climb up on this proverbial soap box; I am known to bring this little standing crate out from time to time. The day is Tuesday and it’s nine AM, the day is starting out gorgeous. The temperature is just at about 80 degrees; there are just a few low clouds drifting like languid climbers over the mountains surrounding a well manicured golf course. This is a golf course that I have wanted to play for a good while now and here I finally am. A buddy from my language school who goes by the name of Smiley asked if I wanted to play today. Here’s the run down leading to the tee box. First we pay our fees, check in with the starter, and then we pair up with our mandatory female caddies. My nerves are now tingling a bit from a few of the following external factors that I seem to always internalize. First, I have never played this course and it looks tough; there is water everywhere and oh man, so much sand. Bunkers are pretty much death traps for my golf game. Second, I am playing golf with someone I have never played with before. Now these factors in themselves are enough to throw my delicately balanced golf game and mental state out of whack, but then a cherry on top of this nerve inducing scenario is thrown my way. We our paired up with some loud guy from Jersey, who is wearing a bright tangerine colored shirt and who has some sort of gaudy looking leather golf bag with his name “Bob Mathews” sewn into the side and the poor little caddy lady is having to lug this huge ass thing around behind him. This bag looked like something Rodney Dangerfield would have been proud to have during a round in the movie Caddy Shack. Now, I have met plenty of great people from this little spot in the North East, that they call New Jersey, who are fine people to know but I wouldn’t say that the majority that I have met from this part of the country are people that I enjoy long conversations with. Still, here it is a beautiful day, I’m not at work, and I am just looking forward to playing a friendly game of hit the little white ball around the big field of grass. Ole Smiley and I introduced our selves to Bob; the first thing Bob say’s is “What kind of name is Smiley?”

All of our tee shots were grouped together a good ways out in the fairway and we are in great position after teeing off from tee box number one. Bob is up first to hit; the guy just walks up and hits the ball, no pre-shot routine no time wasted. Personally, I feel that you do whatever you like with your golf swing, pre-shot routine and game, that’s your thing; we each play in our own way. Smiley plays considerably slower than Mr Bob and Bob is being pretty vocal about how slow smiley is playing. Man this guy, really, what the hell. Now I am thinking that I need to speed up my game, I do and my game begins to suffer for it. All the while as we are walking from hole to hole, this Bob guy is telling me how it is just a waste of time for Smiley and I to go to language school. He say’s “these people don’t care if you know their language or not, they'll fuck you over either way” and “you won’t get anything out of it”, yes, he said these people. He tells how he has lived here for 10 years, was married to a Thai women – he has that ugly desperate to find a wife on the internet look -, and goes on to say more disparaging things about the country, the people and the culture. Yes, this guy is just a load of good times. This dilemma that I now find myself stuck in, that is, being trapped with someone for an extended amount of time that says a bunch of raciest statements and that is the type of person that I would rather see never; is not something new. When I find myself in this situation I always I have to do a internal measure, will it be worth my breath to try to convince some mentally challenged, backwoods, banjo plucking, hardheaded, raciest fellow that he should change his raciest sentiments? Do I go along with him so as not to rock the boat, to keep the societal norm of non aggression in place? Or do what I do. Again I have been in this situation a few times and I find that I am always angry with myself later; upon reflection I wonder why I was unable to find the words to rebuke those of this person who is only emboldened by my silence. So in this case I made sure to smile as I simply told him that I disagreed with what he was saying. I didn’t get into a discussion with the blow hard; I just laughed at him and gave his words no credence. He did stop with the racist shit and just kept that big mouth of his focused on how slow Smiley was playing. It should be understood, that yes, Smiley was playing a little slow, but nothing out of the ordinary and Smiley is a pretty good golfer, so even if he was slow on taking his shot, there was no time wasted on re-hitting a lost ball, finding a ball, or re-hitting another ball as a muligan. What’s funny is that this Bob guy couldn’t hit the ball straight at all and would hit like three balls off the tee. Of course he blamed his poor play on the slow play of Smiley and then he would yell at his Thai caddie to do this or that. Well, then finally it all came to a head when on hole 8, Smiley did something that he had not done in his 30 years of playing this elusive and temperamental game of golf. He got a hole in one on a 174 yard par 3. Smiley was jumping up and down, I was patting him on the back, and the caddies were laughing and took a picture of him taking his ball from the cup. This hole in one thing is kind of a big deal for most golfers. Even this golf course makes a big deal out of it by putting up a plaque with the name of the golfer who made the hole in one, as well as put the ball in a small little clear encasement. Nope, Bob did not think that this was such a big deal and made it known that he had just made a hole in one just last week and didn’t think it was such a big deal, he was just upset with how the celebration was slowing him down. Hey and that’s cool Bob, but my friend Smiley thought it was a pretty big deal and should get his chance to bask in this rare feat. Hell, smiley is a 60 year old man, who I think enjoys marking things off of his bucket list. Anyway, Bob starts yelling about how this is all bullshit and how Smiley is just using junior golf tactics to mess up his game. Oh man, I just started laughing out loud; this did not help the situation. Bob made it clear that he would be playing the next nine holes on his own. The thing is that there were two groups in front of us, so Bob needed to skip the next two holes just so he wouldn’t have to play anymore slow golf with us. Ahhhhhhhhhh, what I sense of relief it is. Bob is like some sort of darkish malignant melanoma that, instead of needing to be cut away, just shriveled up and fell away of its own accord.

Needless to say, after Bob’s departure, Smiley and I had a great time. We chatted and laughed with our caddies at Bob’s expense, this thanks to our “useless” language course. It is just hard for me to believe that there are still people like this Bob guy still in the world. Not sure why these people are still around but maybe history has shown this sort of person since the beginning of territorial conquest. It seems to be a natural tendency to demonize or subjugate other cultures and populaces when ones own insecurity prevents assimilation.

Whatever, like a receptive sponge, I will capture it all and expunge those things that are of no benefit and retain what it is that will help me grow into a more whole individual. Ah, that’s just me though. Closed minded works for others, it’s just not the course I’m on at the moment.

This opinion of mine could be in someway contributed to by a book that I am currently reading called “A Passage to India” as well as another book I read a few years back called “Palace Walk” and a few other various books, documentaries and such. I wonder if I just took this opportunity to list books I have read, so that you as a reader would know that I have read some books. How very pretentious of me, my apologies

I promise to talk about the food next time.

Learning Thai

2011-11-29T22:07:00.004+07:00

It’s now been a week since I started going to the language school and so far it’s going pretty good. Initially, I was looking at attending another school on the east side of town, but it was about a 50 minute walk and classes were five days a week for two hours a day. Committing to that sort of schedule would not leave me too much time for studying and doing the other activities that I enjoy on a daily basis. So now I am going to the YMCA Thai language school; it’s just a 35 minute walk and is only 3 days a week for two hours a day. The class room is on the third floor of an older building. Inside the classroom are long rectangular white tables, that are reminiscent of my old high school science class. However, these tables have a constant flow of air, created from standard oscillating fans that are attached in the ceiling, blowing down upon them. The windows are left open to let the warm wet air from the humid world outside in to a circular flow created by the caged blades above. Primarily the class is attended by Koreans and a couple of Japanese, I am one of two Americans and there is one older guy from New England in there with us. We are a motley group to say the least but the diversity of nationalities is enjoyable and I am getting along well with the others who are want to try to get at least a semblance of understanding of this most difficult of languages. Currently we are learning about 40 words a day; first we started with nouns, then verbs, and now adjectives. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have a few numbers to this key of a most perplexing puzzle of a language. Just the other day, I was able to make out a full, all be it very short, conversation with the person serving me my plate of rice and tasty morsels of flavor. That was a nice night.

As well as going to class 3 times a week, I have had the fortune of having made friends with the host/receptionist from the bed and breakfast that I initially stayed at upon my arrival here in Chiang Mai. She has been an immense help in teaching me the subtleties of her native language, such as, when to raise the pitch, lower the pitch, and so on and such. Her name is Sai and she has been studying English for a little over 10 years now. In addition to working at the bed and breakfast, Sai creates subtitles, translating English movies to Thai script and she has also been a tutor to Thais pursuing the acquisition of the English language. Honestly, I don’t think that I could have lucked out any more than I have when it comes to having such a great tutor and at no monetary cost. In exchange for her help, I am assisting her with getting a better grasp of the subtleties of the English language. So far it has been great fun as well as a great deal of study in trying to understand this unique and wonderful language. During the short span of time that I have in this country, I think that it will be next to impossible to attain even a small percentage of cognizance of the language. And that’s fine; it is just wonderful gaining even a smidgen of understanding of something that seemed almost unattainable a year ago. Most of all it’s just nice to retain the awareness that during all days of our lives we may set a point in the distant horizon to arrive at; and in knowing that it is the steps we take along our journey towards this end in the far-flung enigmatic future, we will care for most in the memories of our internal stories and not the mark we have set.

Enjoy your day.

The $1.70 haircut

2011-11-24T18:12:00.005+07:00

This hair of mine was starting to get to the shaggy stage of its growth pattern and the time had come to get a little trim. Of course I had a bit of trepidation when thinking about getting my haircut by someone who I wouldn’t be able to explain the amount to take off, the way to blend it from short to long, to please – whatever you do – do not give me an 80’s hair line dividing the land of the shaved from the land of growth. All in all, I just figured I would take whatever the man gave me and hope for the best. Vanity has never really been too much of an issue with me and I figured the worst thing that could happen is I just get a full head shave and mingle with the monk crowd. After the little bit of contemplation, off I went to get my first haircut in Chiang Mai. When I walked into the small store front, I kicked my shoes off at the door and took a seat in the antique barber chair. This older gentlemen had a big grin and we both started laughing together. I thought we were laughing about the fact that I had no way to explain and he had no way to understand what it was that I wanted done. Short on the sides and longer on top, is all that I could get out in Thai. Actually it was more me pointing at the sides and saying short, then pointing at the top saying long, then there was this circular motion with my hand around my head as I tried to say blend in Thai. Honestly, I think he knew how he was going to cut my hair once I stepped in and took a seat. That is probably what he was laughing about when I thought we were on the same wave length. This guy was old school and I imagine that he has probably been doing the same style haircut for 40 plus years. So, like a turkey going down the processing line to its eminent demise, I was put through the predetermined stages of his assembly line of hair slaughter. This barber gave me a perfect view to this hair massacre by first placing a large mirror in front of the chair that I was sitting, as well as placing another mirror just behind and above the old barber chair. There were no restraints tying me down or any thing obtrusive that prevented me from speaking but it sure felt as if these items were in place. All I could do was watch, smile, and chuckle from time to time as the clippers were laid flush to my flesh and as they sliced through to the pale skin that lay beneath this long uncut area of my head. From time to time I did say dee… dee, good… good. Taklong… ok… taklong… ok. He just smiled and waved his hands, I guess to suggest just a little more.. just a little more, really, I thought. What really made me think that he had planned on making me as clean cut as possible from the beginning, was when, towards the end of the cut, he threw down a little talc on my neck and around my ears. Then he pulled out the razor and made sure that the skin was left completely bare above my ears and at the nap of my neck, and then… get this, he makes as if to cut the last little bastion of hair from my face, he was going for that little tuft beneath my lip. I gave a little laugh as I pushed the hand with the razor away. The barber man laughed a bit as well but I think he was a little disappointed in not getting that last little bit. Now that he had finished with the cut, he brushed off the talc and pretty much all of my hair; I gave him 50 baht and left this little hair shop of horrors thinking that at least I will not have to get another haircut for a good while. Hopefully I learn enough Thai by the next hair trim to say that I would prefer to steer clear of military and monk cuts.

Hope your haircuts are faring better than mine.

An evening stroll

2011-11-20T13:17:00.003+07:00

Saturday is just now ending as I write this day’s such and such. It really is such an amazing thing when time becomes irrelevant. My day started with just one thing on my list of things to do; I needed to get enrolled in a language program. Initially, I had planned on getting this language learning thing going earlier, but all of the programs that I looked into have already begun their sessions or were just too damn far away from my place of residence to be worth the walk. Trying to get some information via the web, I found to be difficult. After emailing this one location, that I am most interested into going to, 3 times and getting no reply; I decided to take a walk to the physical location of the aforementioned school. I thought maybe communicating using the techniques of primitive man would afford me some idea as to when the hell this language course would begin their lessons. The walk to the school is only about a thirty minute walk and the office does not open until nine in the morning. So, after throwing myself from the sanctuary of my comfy little bed and doing the morning custom, I put one foot in front of the other at around 8:30AM and shut the door behind me. Next, I stopped at my breakfast place, where I chatted for a bit with my two favorite morning ladies – I will need to get some pics of these wonderful women for my next post - , there smiles and demeanor inspire me to move forward with each day. They and the tasty meal get my day started in a good way. Upon finishing my meal I went on to the school. It looks to be about a 30 minute walk to get to class, which is not too bad and I can always get my breakfast on the way. The only issue with the class is the fact that they began instruction on Monday the 14^th of November. The fucks, I emailed them well before this 14^th start day and it sure would have been nice to hear back from them and to be included in the classes from the get go. So be it, I guess I should have made this walk at an earlier time. They have said that I may slide on into the second week of the already begun course and they will still charge me for the entire course – nice to know that I will be paying for a five week course but will only be attending 4 of those weeks. Another option is to wait until January the 9^th to begin classes. “Fuck it dude, let’s go bowling” – “The Big Lebowski”- , is how I respond to this. It will be nice to get started on the classes even if I’m a week behind and I suppose that in January I will move on to the next level of the Thai course. It’s really not that much money and so I’m not too put off by paying for the five weeks. The cost is right round $60 for the entire course and books. Well I’m not sure what the hell I did during the day, but it ended up being about a four hour walk by the time I got home. Once I got back, I had a little lunch, worked on guitar for 2 hours – I still suck even with all my darn practice -, and then did a little reading.

Once the day began to loose its sharpness and drift into the slow fade to night. I felt the need to get back out into the activity of the town. The great thing about tonight is that it’s Saturday night and every Saturday night the city has a huge night market set up in the old silver district. I am not sure of the significance or of the history of this “Old Silver District” but there was an effort to list this nomenclature on the site that I was reading, so I feel the need to list it as well. At 6:10 PM, I walked out my door and headed to the market. After about a 45 minute walk, I found myself in the midst of a huge street market. Shopping is really not something that I really get too into, especially street markets. The food is different here and these markets have been around for hundreds of years but all in all it was reminiscent of walking up and down the aisles of a flea market. The best thing about the market was simply watching all of the people, and there were a ton of people to watch. There were street performers, food and mercantile vendors, locals, and a good number of tourists to spy upon. Initially, I planned on walking down the entire line of vendors and on the way back through, maybe I would stop to buy something. Hell, after walking about a mile through a wall of people, I decided it best to just take my exit and find a place that would serve me a nice cold glass of fermented hops. All in all, I walked the night streets for a little over 3 hours and never did I find a bar that felt like it would suit my need to simply relax and enjoy my beverage. Most of the bars that I saw on the east side of town were just swimming with white faces that ranged from the scruffy hippie type to blotchy old perverted fat man type. It’s funny how this whole east side of the old town is like a Caribbean cruise line’s port of call. The whole feel was much like a Tijuana vacation and I didn’t want any part of this area of town during the night. There was one good thing about walking through this area at night, it was damn great for peeping at all these different types of people and their interactions. People watching is something that I love to do; it’s one of the only things that I enjoy about being at an international airport, and it was really the only thing to enjoy on this side of town. So, I was somewhat let down that serendipity didn’t step in and guide me with her sweet hand into some sort of unique and wonderful occurrence. Either way, it was a nice 3 hour walk around this little big town of mine and I wasn’t too let down. I stopped off at a nearby grocer as I neared my little place, grabbed a few beers, and then went on home to watch a movie to close out the evening. That “Beginners” movie was a damn fine show, thanks Morgan for the suggestion.

If you get a chance, please click on one of the ads on this site. The revenue is paying for my monthly internet bill. Thanks man.

Just an average day

2011-11-19T13:45:00.002+07:00

The first couple of weeks here in Chiang Mai were loaded with a ton of things to accomplish as well as many activities to take part in. That is why this week was such a great week for me. This is the first week that I really got into a nice routine. Before I go into this weekly routine of mine I should first say that a friend of mine gave me some advice about keeping up with a Blog. In order to keep it active, it’s important to update it often, he said. Even if the updates are short little stories or just a few pics uploaded from the day’s events. And so per this bit of advice, I am just going to give a quick run down of my day.

It’s a funny thing when the day is yours and you are beholding to no other entities schedules or expectations. Knowing that the day is fully mine has given me a new perspective on the direction in which the day will take me. Now I find that the morning of every day has me excited in expectation of the day’s events. My eyes open and I am instantly awake and ready to get my day started at 6:30 in the morn. It is my day, the to and froes, the times and places, the meals the happenings, it is all up to me. Yes… yes, I am aware that this bliss is fleeting; that sooner or later there will be entanglements, obligations, individuals and responsibilities that will factor into the way the days will unfold. And this will be just fine; melding my schedule with those of others is something that I have been doing for my entire life and is something that I do not have a problem with. However, I do have this momentary release from that paradigm of obligation and I am enjoying the reprieve immensely. With the disadvantages of being a stranger in a strange land there are also many advantages that I am just now beginning to recognize. Since my grasp of the language here is just below rudimentary at best the local populace does not expect me to engage in any sort of small talk or basic niceties. Negating these basic interactions frees up a ton of time as well as allows me to avoid the internal dialogue that invariably appears when I am put into these elevator - small inescapable – scenarios, in which I am constantly wishing the interaction would just end. Think about how nice it would be to go through the entire day knowing that you are not going to run into another person that will just simply occupy your time with a bunch of and then … and then … and then. Oh, to not be in the bondage of obliged conversation is serenity that in itself makes this excursion to the other side of the world so very worthwhile.

OK... OK, I digress; I fall into unnecessary diatribes at times, so now I will move onto the day’s activities. I was just writing down the day’s events, starting with what time I awoke and the mornings such and such and I found that it was necessary to go back and delete all of that detail, no one wants to hear my and then… and then. Here is a short summary of the day; today, I take a 20 minute walk in the AM to a little place located in the old town square, where a nice lady makes me the best Koa Tom, she serves it with coffee, some sort of tang like drink and water. After breakfast, I walk the 20 minutes back to my place and pick up my golf clubs. Then I head off to the double decked driving range that has automatic ball dispensers, as well as people to assist with food, drink, or whatever else one may require. The place is pretty much like a heaven to me. It’s a 30 minute walk for me to get to the driving range/golf course. All of this walking is about the only exercise that I’ve been getting as of late but I think I will start doing some standard calisthenics in the mornings. For the umpteenth time, I have quit smoking and so far it seems to be going well. Its day four and I haven’t really been too tempted to start up again. Just so long as I can avoid the damn bar for the next few weeks, I think I should be fine. So, nothing too spectacular to give you in this little update but not every day can be filled with over the top experiences. Appreciating the mundane is something that I have no problem in doing. I love routine and I find it’s enjoyable to take pleasure in the everyday happenings. Sure it’s a cliche to say something like “be in the moment” in a country that is 90% Buddhist, so be it; I love cliches I suppose.

Enjoy your day, I’m enjoying mine.

Loi Krathong night

2011-11-15T20:43:00.001+07:00

Here is a link that explains what the festival is all about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Krathong

Honestly I didn’t think that I would be getting into too much for this festival. Sure it was enticing to look out the window and see thousands upon thousands of little flames floating in the sky and to hear the sounds of fireworks going off every split second. But, since I didn’t have any access to the internet at my place in which to guide me to the events happening around town, and due to my contentment with just taking it easy at the homestead; I was pretty unmotivated to get out into the throng of crowds that were milling about. Then I get a call from my buddy Bo who was having a small party at her place with her family and a couple of friends. She offered to pick me up and since I really did not have too terribly much going on, I accepted the invitation.

Once I stepped outside to wait for my ride, I lit up a cigarette and began to take all the sights in. It was as if I were in the middle of war zone that had been set into slow motion. Tracers seemed to be shooting across the sky but it was as if there movement had been frozen, not quite frozen though, more like they were there in existence between progress and stagnation, just gradually floating up. The sky was illuminated by thousands of these small red dots which were slowly fluttering rather than shooting across the sky. A bright full reddish hued moon served as the beacon for these flickering fire flies in the night. In addition to the floating lanterns, there were rockets splitting the night in luminous streaks of color. With the light show there was the constant concussive sounds created by the masses setting off far too readily available fireworks. It was an impossible sight to describe really. Along the streets, candles had been laid in front of all of the homes and shops. The candles that were lined down the pathways of every chosen direction were putting off a radiance, which mixed with the lingering smoke in the streets to create a very spooky kind of walkway. All in all, it was a surreal scene that I found myself in. As I finished my second cigarette my ride pulled up.

At round eight or nine we arrived at Bo’s place. I was then introduced to a few more of Bo’s wonderful family and given a beverage as well some deliciously spiced meat. This was more of a pre-party, I later found out, for a big shindig that goes down by an old bridge. We stayed at Bo’s for a bit and did a little dancing, which gave me a chance to show off a few old school break dancing moves – hard to believe I’m still able to pull any of these moves off at my forty years of age. We had a few more drinks, shot off several fireworks and then we all piled into an Uncles truck and headed to the big party. Man, once we got to the bridge we were engulfed by a mob of people who were releasing little floating offerings into the river, releasing lanterns in the sky and setting off a ton of explosives. A Ferris wheel could be seen on the banks of the river carrying revelers in circles, carnival games were being played and a band was on the stage singing out Thai words whose meanings were just abstract expressions to my ears. There were beautiful ladies bringing large cylinders of beer which included a nice pour tap for self regulation at the table, as well as bottles of whisky. Our table had three of these towering vessels of Chang beer and of course there were several different dishes of food laid out on the table. Unfortunately the batteries for my camera finally died and I was unable to get any pictures of this large party by the shore. The battery thing was a letdown, but what are you going to do. Along the way to the tables, my compatriots were accosted by the police when they were caught shooting some sort of mortar type device off of the bridge. My sense of survival kicked in when the cops showed up, I stealthy blended into the crowd and slowly I put a fair amount of distance between the altercation and myself. The funny thing was that my two friends were just sitting there antagonizing these poor overworked cops by going back and forth with them and not just choosing to walk away. Oh well, if for some reason they gain some sort of thrill from poking a stick in the cage of the beast, then more power to them; my choice was to simply keep clear. Later, there were some very interesting people that joined us at our table. One guy I met spoke Thai, English and Japanese. He had just gotten back from Japan and was now in Chiang Mai in order to open a Japanese restaurant. This guy served as a great translator for me and the rest of the group. It was finally nice to have an opportunity to better communicate with these so very hospitable persons seated at the table.

We finally checked out from that place at around 3AM and I got into my bed at about 3:30 in the AM. Once again, the locals here have showed me a wonderful time and allowed me to share in a genuine local experience. And for this I am extremely thankful, however, since that Friday night I have also been very happy to just take it easy, strolling around my little area and just taking it easy.

Hope you are all taking it easy as well. Take care.

A day in the Mountains

2011-11-13T17:15:00.002+07:00

On this morning I awoke just a little groggy and worn from wear. I was up and excited to finally head out into a few of the encroaching mountains. The pick up time was set for 9AM at my place; when the time was initially agreed upon the night before, I didn’t really think it would be followed through. But to their word, Bo and Goff were both at the door of the condo at 9 sharp. Glassy red eyes were the first thing that caught my eye once I was seated, then the smell of that brown liquid from the night before permeated from the pores of Goff as he took the wheel and led us down the morning street, he had gotten his way to sleep around 3AM the night before.

We arrived in the small town just outside of Chiang Mai a little before 10 AM. First we made a quick stop at a roadside restaurant on the way, that I was told specialized in duck. We grabbed a bite of breakfast prior to making it to our set starting point. The breakfast was some sort of spicy duck soup with noodles that cost eighty five Baht for the three of us. I picked up the three dollar tab and this is pretty much all that I was allowed to pay for. Several times I offered to pay for gas or a nice meal but they just weren’t having it. Well, when we got into the city of Bo’s mother and father all of the major players from the night before were waiting with a little pick up truck to load us up and head on out of town. Packed for the trip was a cooler with some just fried up Thai chicken, sticky rice, a few various finger foods, a good amount of ice, soda water, and of course several bottles of whiskey and rum. There must be something in the DNA or physical make up of Thai people that, like fish using gills to breathe underwater, allows them to put away so much drink. In the back of the truck there were four of us and in the cab another four. Another four would be meeting up with us at a little restaurant in the mountains later in the afternoon. As we drove out of town through the rice fields and farm lands of the Thailand country side, I found myself entranced by the by the never ending postcard images that were now a live tapestry passing before me. Choosing to ride in the back of the truck turned out to be a great way to head into the mountains.

Temperature in the City of Chiang Mai has been pretty warm with a fair touch of humidity clinging onto the brow. However, here in these mountains, the elevated air does a wonderful job in battling back that hot dank atmosphere from the lower depths. Still, in no way was this breeze chilly or cool, it was just only better than down below. As we climbed to the top of the mountain there was a much more noticeable change in temperature but that will come later in this story. Now if you know me, you probably know that I love waterfalls and that I have really been looking forward to getting out of the City to snuggle up to a few. So, it was very nice when we finally arrived at the park, which is located right about in the middle elevation of the mountain. By now I was ready to get out of the truck and go for a nice little walk through the jungles of Thailand, as well as to check out the flowing streams and falls I had been anticipating for such a long while. It did cross my mind to pack a swimsuit for the trip out to the falls, but then I thought I would be on another person's schedule while out in it, and so, the trunks were left behind. Next time I head out to the falls I will rent a bike and set a little longer stay at the falls. Then I will be sure to bring some swimming attire for the day. So for now, we just did a fair amount of walking; we also made sure to stop and take moments. Moments to allow our ears a chance to hear the wonderful sound water makes as it cascades and tumbles over and through stones that have acquiesced for Millennia. We walked across rickety bridges and walkways that lead us from one fall to another and through all types of flora and fauna. Bamboo shot out in all directions from various patches throughout the enveloped forest floor; all types of plants, flowers, butterflies, some big ole spiders and even a meandering snake was seen pushing through the thickly laden grass edge of our path. After about an hour of making our way from one waterfall to another, the group was pretty much done. If I had been there on my own, I am sure that I would have just found a nice spot to sit and read a bit; a spot that would have just given me enough shade, a few fine sprays of mist floating from the falls, as well as where I could take in the wonderful smells created by this diverse ecosystem. But alas, we were now all climbing back into the truck and heading to higher elevations.

About twenty minutes later the truck was pulling into a small gravel parking strip located next to a creek and waterfall. This waterfall differed from the others due to the presence of a medium sized outdoor cafe, which was located right up and over the falling edge of the falls. The eatery was linked from one side of the creek to the other by a little bamboo walkway that crossed the space of water and was looking a little precarious. There was a nice little hut type structure that hung out over the waterfall and stream, in which a table and two long wooden benches were placed, we all took a seat. In the next moment there was a bucket of ice, soda water and a bottle of whiskey that had been pulled from the bag of provisions. After pouring a few glasses for the group, Aamon ordered several types of dishes for the table to munch on. First a big fish, that still retained it’s head and tail, was brought out, then some large mushroomed bunt cake like container that held in it, a mixture of veggies, various spices, coconut milk, and seafood was brought out with a flame burning beneath to keep it nice and warm. Then there was some of this, some of that and then some more of this. All I know is, we had ourselves a lot of food to eat and what a perfect place to spend the time gorging on some very fine morsels of yummy. The part of the bench that I was calling home for the moment was set right up to the edge of this open little hut, right there, where the little shaded room was suspended over the falls. I was able to look over the edge and take in all the palpable flavors of the food, the drink, and this beautiful scene. It’s funny to me, how there are so many moments that seem to pass by so slowly due to a lack of activity. Yet, in this case the slow tranquility of the moment was something that I just wanted to secure and hold onto. This sensation was a feeling that I knew would be ending. And being aware of the inevitable conclusion of this moment made the instant quicken and become fleeting. Soon we were joined by the four others from the group who drove up to meet us at this little place on the water. After spending about an hour and half on the bench in the shade, and after leisurely taking in the sustenance that lay before me and having just two, almost all soda and finite parts of whiskey, I was loading up once again with the others and heading on up.

On our ride up we stopped at a small road side gazebo to take in the vista. Laid out in the distance was a great span of heavily vegetated mountains that seemed to just continue on into an endless abyss. Like the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina, the humidity of these mountains blanketed heavily over the vegetation and remained nearer to the soil than the sky. At the vista, some of that fried chicken, sticky rice and few other items were pulled out to chew on. So, we stayed at the look out for a moment and had a little impromptu picnic. After the picnic we headed from the overlook on up to this little town where one of those in the group had a home, a school and small grocery store. The ride to the town was filled with beautiful sites, of vistas, plants, flowers and with each mile we put behind us, you could feel the air cool just a bit more. Once we arrived to the town, I was amazed by the abject poverty that was all around me. In the middle of all of this beautiful nature, was this town that looks as if it were plucked from the middle ages. Waste water drains openly down the sides of the streets, the homes are made of bamboo and random strips of wood; there are gaping spaces in the wall that allow for the ventilation of air from outside to cool the home during the day and also to assist with the ventilation of smoke during the evening from the cooking fires inside the home. These individuals, who have been hosting me on this tour of the country side and to so many other adventures; all do a great deal of charitable work for this town, as well as few other causes and groups. They have built a school house for the town as well as provided clothing, food, education and essentials necessities. There is a working farm located here that brings in an income and that also helps to feed this rural community. Seeing this kind of poverty certainly does give me a moment of pause and an appreciation for the things that I have as well as for the comforts that an industrialized society brings. But along with this, the town showed me more than just poverty; it also gave me the perspective of seeing some amazing human interaction. On the side of the road there were around five to seven children, ranging in ages from 5-9; who were at the busy, grabbing onto a vine that was hanging over the road. They were utilizing this vine to swing from a height of about 6 feet up and across a stretch of dirt road and then back again. All were smiling and laughing as they risked life and limb without a care, it was crazy. Also, I saw many of the locals chatting, smiling and laughing with one another as they went through the chores of the day. The leader of the town joined us on the front porch at one of the home/education centers in the town and shared several beverages and conversation with us all. Well, in my case I was just doing a lot of listening, but still, it was a nice place to sit and listen to friends chat with each other.

Anyway, it seems that I have gone on for a good while now about this little town and the trip to the top of the mountain. There are many more details that I am leaving out from the trip but this Blog is really supposed to be more of a summary of events not a word for word description. For me, it’s just easy to get lost in the memories of the days events and to keep on wanting to tell more of the fine times and things I came across. I will only go a little further in my detail of the day’s events by concluding with a description of the sun setting over the soft smoky mountains of Thailand. Out over the horizon as the sun began to take its slow dive into the silhouette of mountains, I took a seat as a spectator to the fall. A few of the others in the group took up various spots nearby as well in order to get a good view of this descent from the light to the dark. As we all picked different portions of the sky in which to hold our gaze, someone in our group of viewers made a comment, to no one specific, about how beautiful this sunset was. A response that I liked to this statement was the one from Aamon, who said; “It’s hard not to use the word beautiful when watching the sunset anywhere in the world”. Sure, it’s not the deepest thing a person could utter but at the time it seemed like the perfect thing to say as the sun fell into its night of slumber. Now that the sun had taken its heat from us and left us with the chill of night, we bundled up, climbed back in the truck and headed down the mountain for our two hour drive towards civilization.

Wishing you well.

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Birthday party eve

2011-11-10T09:56:00.000+07:00

And now the early afternoon was upon us. We packed up from the temple and headed back to Amaan’s home to prepare for one of their friends birthday party. The ladies went to the market to grab up all the needed ingredients for a large feast that was planned for the evening, while the men stayed back at the homestead drinking weak mixtures of soda water and whiskey. Here it was now about 1:30 in the afternoon and we still had a good ways to go before the blanket of evening fell upon us. Now I was among a group of Thai men that spoke maybe just a smidge of English and so I just continued to raise a glass to my lips while taking an intermittent draw on a cheap Thai cigarette to pass the time. Still, as the day began to pass and the weak drinks began to create a nice since of repose. There was a little back and forth between myself and the others; mainly it was just these guys teaching me the correct pronunciation for the words that I was saying. I have to say, it sure is a painful thing when trying to use a word that I could have sworn I had down, just to find faces clinched in consternation all around me. This Thai language is so very subtle; inflection, the length of time that the breath is exhaled and even the pitch, will change the entire meaning of the word that is trying to be said. The word, beautiful, is a great example of what I am talking about. This word is spelled suuai in my Thai English dictionary; the thing is that if you want to say something is beautiful in Thai, you have to say the word in a high almost questioning voice and hold the eeee sound at the end. Without following these steps the word actually becomes the opposite and means not beautiful. Subtle, I tell you, very damn subtle. Although I was frustrated with my inability to grasp these nuances – I was only a tiny bit frustrated – I still enjoyed all the assistance from those around me in trying to help me get a better grasp of the language. Anyway, we went on like this until the large bottles of whiskey were vanquished – I think that there were 3 large bottles or there abouts. Once we had finished these off, we headed to the bar of the man whose birthday we would be celebrating. Oh and one note about Thai culture, the person having the birthday pays for everything. That’s the food, the drinks and any gifts for the guest; there is no way my cheap ass self could survive such an expectation.

When we got to the bar, I was given a small golden icon of a god that has an elephant head and another glass of whiskey and soda. The time now was around 5:00 PM and I would think after drinking straight since 1:30 in the afternoon and after having a few in the AM, I would be a little over myself and stumbling around, but nothing of the sort seemed to be occurring. After a few minutes at the bar the food stuffs arrived and the prep began for the birthday dinner. Setting up the tables and chairs was the next step in the process and at least with the manual labor I could be of some assistance. Once the darkness began to outweigh the light, invited guest began to arrive with more bottles of whiskey and dark rum in hand. Introductions were made and glasses rose in celebration of the nights and days events. Upon bringing our glasses to one another’s, I was taught a new toast; it went like this, roy roy hang hang, I am not sure how it translates but we sure said it a lot. Oh, I’ve forgotten to describe the bar where the festivities were getting underway. When I say bar, it was more like a little store front that had a breeze way with just a few tables and in the back were located some sort of cross between pachinko, pinball and soccer games to play. The parking area is where the chairs and tables were set up in order to provide a seat for the many people from this small town that were beginning to spill in. Even a Karaoke machine was set up and it sure was put to use. Once a good number of people arrived, the food was served and Amaan even went out of his way to create a dish that he prided himself on doing well, Pad Thai. Amann is a supervisor of the kitchen at a local hotel in a posh part of town and from what I saw earlier in the day, he could cook a mean anything. And sure enough I was not disappointed. Just watching him fry up the noodles, vegetables and what have you’s in this large wok was creating a Pavlovian experience. Prior to getting this hefty helping of Pad Thai, I was also given a good amount of another dish that I forget the name of and so here I was gorging on some very delectable dishes laid in front of me. Maybe, it’s all the eating in tandem with weak mixtures of alcohol and water that kept my spirits so high. Well, I am sure that the company that I was keeping sure was having something to do with the smile that was stretching across my face that night.

A few distinguished guests also arrived to the party; the mayor of the town was there and was given much fan fair upon his arrival, the leader of the local temple, and a man that owned several cockfighting arenas in and near the town. I was introduced to each of these individuals; these introductions seemed to be pretty much standard practice throughout the evening and day. Cockfighting is not something that I am much into but this guy, who owned the cockfighting venues, wasn’t having any of my objections and requested that I go to one of the fights. He said that I would be treated as VIP, which would include free entry, free food and drink and a personal agent to take my bets. Politely, I said maybe another time and we clinked glasses and laughed. Next, he introduced me to his daughter, who I think may have been about 19. And in this case, I also politely said maybe another time, this statement was followed by a good deal of back slapping, laughter and of course more whiskey. Finally around 10:30 PM, after releasing paper lanterns into the clear evening, shooting bottle rockets the size of large children at invisible targets in the night, singing karaoke, and drinking more whiskey than I think I have ever consumed; my ride was finally ready to exit the event. Surprisingly, I still had my wits about me and was able to say my many good byes. Everyone at the party seemed to make it a point to put there pressed palms together and bow their foreheads to their up raised fingers in a gesture of good bye and nice to meet you. There has never been a time in which I felt so welcome at a party in which I barely knew a sole. They may have thought more of me since I couldn’t find the chance to put my foot in my mouth; this language barrier may be more of blessing than a curse after all. My arrival to my room at around 11:20 in the evening was simply followed by a quick brush of the teeth and then to a much wanted slumber.

In the morning I was to be picked up at 9AM for an adventure into the Mountains of Chiang Mai. I was so very happy the next morning when I awoke and found no ills hung over me from the night before. There were several guest that were up until 3 in the morning but I will tell you about them when I write about the great fun I had in the lush forest.

A Thai Cookout

2011-11-08T09:37:00.001+07:00

For every negative there is a positive and it seems that this thought is exemplified so much more through my experiences here in Chiang Mai. My negative for this week comes in the form of going through the hassle of simply trying to get a little line of communication open to the world and friends that I know in the states. And my positive comes in the form of a weekend of pleasure and tranquil peace. It is so very nice when the positives in ones life outweigh the negatives. This weekend was just another, once in a lifetime experience, that keep seeming to sprout up in such a serendipitous way for me. I owe this wonderful weekend to my new friend Bo, her amazing and extremely gracious family and their friends.

Initially I had had plans to go out on Monday to Chiang Rai with Bo and Goff. Chiang Rai is a mountain town located about 3 hours out of town, that I hear is packed with a multitude of natural beauty; with such sights as waterfalls, mountain vistas and green lush paths for trekking; these plans were pushed off for next week. Although I was unable to make to Chiang Rai this week, I was invited to a yearly family event that Bo’s family put on, and with my weekly calendar being so open, I accepted the invitation immediately. And so, Saturday morning at 8AM Bo and Goff came by in there little beat up four door to pick me up, we were on our way.

Upon our arrival to Bo’s father’s home, which is about 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai; I was overwhelmed by the smells and activity of so many people cooking and prepping for a big event. Every year, Bo’s family and friends cook for a Buddhist day of celebration. They set up tents, tables, chairs and provide a large quantity of homemade Thai food for the monks and worshipers at the town’s Buddhist temple. Introductions were made, but there was no way I was going to remember all of these Thai names, and so I just kept saying Say Wat Dee Kraap – this means hello in Thai – again and again. Bo’s father was able to speak a little English but not very much. Here I was, surrounded by locals and in an element that for many may have been a difficult affair. And by difficult, I mean that it might be tough to enjoy ones time when communication is such a difficult thing to achieve. Fortunately for me, I have found myself in this sort of situation a good number of times since my arrival here to Chiang Mai, so I just figured that I would do all that I could to enjoy myself and the experience. The best way that I find to fit in with a new group that is busy in activity, is to lend a hand and work along side them. This communal participation allowed for non verbal communication to occur and help alleviate the language deficit. They put me to work separating Kefir leaves from the stems; this was Kefir that was pulled from the trees located on the property. This home is more like a farm really; there are different types of fruit trees located randomly across the property bearing all types of unfamiliar produce, herbs growing in the ground that are putting out a cornucopia of smells to excite the olfactory senses, and chicken clucking about. After tearing leaves and stacking them in a large bowl, I was put to the task of rolling up small balls of pork that were to be placed in a large vat where the heads of some sort animal were floating alongside thinly sliced veggies and spices. These pots and woks were the largest that I have ever seen and there were so many of these large vessels holding all types of dishes that ranged in density, color and smell.

After rolling about 100 balls of flesh, a seat was offered to me by one of the friendly Thai faces and along with the seat a glass of a light tan beverage on ice. That’s the moment I knew that I would be starting the morning with a little Hong Thong and soda, the things I will do in order to ingratiate myself to a new culture. There is something that I am quickly learning about the Thais. They drink, and they drink all day long. What’s amazing is the way that they go about drinking; I see them as the marathon runners of drinking. Since they know that they are going to be drinking all day; a glass is just filled with a fingers width of whiskey and then drowned in soda or water and Ice. It is actually looked on as gluttonous to fill a glass with more whiskey than water by the locals. This sort of thinking differs from what I’ve come accustomed to; where I’m from the darker the glass of whiskey and water the better. Now of course this darker version leads to a much faster end to the experiences of what the day and evening have to offer. Here we are at 9:30 in the morning drinking whisky, cooking up an ass load of food and preparing for an appreciation of the towns spiritual leaders. After having two of these almost clear beverages we were packing up for the big show.

Setting up the serving area went like a cinch and there is no drinking at the temple, so I knew that we would at least have a few hours before we got back to the small sips of whiskey we had started earlier in the AM. Those small sips, I knew, would be like a million little cuts to clarity and I enjoyed the lull. Oh, and I forgot to mention; earlier in the day I was given a team shirt. Yes, this group has a team name. The primary function of this team is philanthropic. From what I understand, they do work for a couple of temples and a small town in the country where they teach and support the town’s children for one thing, but I will get to more of that later. Anyway, I was now a member of the team and I found it to be quite a kind gesture to have been given the team shirt to wear. One thing I want to say about the temple where we had set up this meal; it is true that I once said that all of these temples begin to bleed into one iconic image in ones mind. However, during my wait to serve the multitude, I was able to take in more closely the decor and beauty of the temple grounds. Also, I was able to observe the ceremony that was occurring within this golden story book of a building. Worshipers sat with legs tucked beneath their bodies and feet facing away from the Buddha, grasping upon a small string that hung from a larger intricate web which ultimately led to a singular line held by the principal monk. As he grasped this unifying thread he was accompanied in ancient chants by the other monks that lined the interior walls. These monks created a buffer of orange between the worshipers and the decorative walls of the temple. The constant hypnotic sound of the chants reverberated across the temple grounds and with this resonance, a since of calm enveloped me and I so much more enjoyed my viewing of the temple and of it’s multitude of intricacies. A stillness of mind lends itself to the viewer during the appreciation of such things I suppose.

Once the chanting and worship had finished the parishioners came to us with plates outstretched and we obliged with ladles consisting of a multitude of flavors. It was so nice to be an active participant in this event; also, it was nice to partake in a sampling of all these tasty choices. After filling myself with more Thai food than I thought was even possible; the leader of the temple made many announcements of thanks to the team for setting everything up and providing the food. He also had a little fun at my expense by introducing me to all those present and making a small show of his introduction of me to the head Monk. There was a bit of blushing on my part but I was very grateful for the introduction and the welcome.

There is no need to go into the breakdown of the tents, the washing of the dishes, and the way every person gave a bit of themselves in order to make the event come together so nicely. However, there is a great deal more to tell of how the evening unfolded and I will tell this tale in my next post.

Wishing you all the best.

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My new place updated

2011-11-07T15:41:00.000+07:00

Here it is; a week has passed since my arrival in Chiang Mai. And although, to me, there are moments that I think that I have accomplished much, I’ve really done very little in a relative since. I mean if I were in the states, where I speak the language and know the processes, I would simply be moving into a new place and going through the steps that entails. Simply put, it’s just damn hard to do the basic sort of things in a country where everything is so alien and the language barrier is so great. Of course there are many tasks that do come easier than others, such as purchasing items at the grocer or market, traveling from local to local, as well as requesting beer at the near by bar – there are many near by bars. The ease of these task is in large part due to the effort of the locals and there desire to learn English. However, getting an internet connection to my new room, which would be such a simple task in the states, has been made difficult due to the barrier of language, damn you tower of babble. It’s times such as now and as well as in other travels that I just don’t get how, with a world economy and the homogenization that that economy creates nations can't come together in order to create a process that would teach all nations a universal language. Isn’t sign language a universal language, I’m not too sure. An ex lady friend of mine mentioned this to me many moons back – she was wrong about more than one thing but I think she is right about this - and since I don’t have access to the ubiquitous net, I can not be sure. Now if it is a universal language, I think that there would have been more merit in learning this over several other useless aspects of my elementary education that have since been expunged from my mind. Ok… ok, that is my little rant. If you know me, you know I have these rants from time to time. They serve as valve release for any pressures I am experiencing.

Now that I have had this release, I will move on to all the greatness that is my new place. There are wood floors in the small living room and bedroom, a comfy leather couch, a flat screen that works great with my PS3 and as a monitor for my laptop, a small fold away table with chairs that are camouflaged as cabinets when they are stored away, tons of storage and a nice huge bed. There is a large window that pretty much makes up the back wall of the bedroom; this translucent wall provides me with a wonderful view of the Doi Suthep Mountain. And viewing the sun set over the silhouette of this mountain every evening is such a nice way to begin the night. A free maid service will come in and tidy the place twice a month and I also receive a free laundry service. Let me say how nice it is to drop off a bag of my dirties and get back a sealed bag with my cloths folded and pressed. Even my white T’s are given this treatment; I have never looked so well kempt. Along with all of the aesthetic beauty that my little abode offers, there are the intangibles, such as the fact that I am just far enough away from the bustling city, yet still close enough to endeavor there within if need be. My location on the 5^th floor puts me above the street lights and since there are no other large buildings around, I am not exposed to any sort of ambient light. The quiet and darkness create a great opportunity for some quality sleep. This tranquility differs from the place where I was initially staying when I first arrived in Chiang Mai. That place is great if you want to be close to all the things the city has to offer, unfortunately, two of these things are traffic noise that goes from 6 AM to 4 AM and the constant glow of the city’s lights. It is probably this exposure to such a large amount of external stimuli that gives me such an appreciation for the stillness that now surrounds me. Still though, if at anytime I need to get back into the action, it’s just a five minute walk to cross the moat and walk through the entrance of the ancient crumbling wall that surrounds the Old City.

This new place that I am in now is just $366 a month. Sure, I could have gotten a place for a hundred bucks less that included internet service and that is located in the heart of the City. But the places that I looked at in the City, well for one thing are in the City, they are in older buildings with old well used furnishings. And to be honest, they look like old run down shacks compared to where I am at now. No, I will just deal with what I hope to be a short term inconvenience of no internet connection and pay the extra hundred a month. If I were planning on staying here for a longer period than I am, well then, I am sure I would have to settle for a place that didn’t offer all that this new place of mine does.

Well, I am very happy about being in my new temporary home and I hope the details were not too much of a bore. Tomorrow I am supposed to be going to a local neighborhood party and next week I may be going to the hills with the owner of an eco lodge that I met today during lunch. So, I hope to have a few more tales to tell soon enough.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Wish me luck on this whole internet thing.

You guys are great.

2011-11-03T08:34:00.000+07:00

Thanks to your clicks on this page, I am up to a $7.57 credit on my blogger account. And with breakfast costing just 25 baht ($.90), you have all just fed me my daybreak meal for a week. Currently I am eating a dish called Cow Tom, which is a tasty rice soup with spices, greens, egg and a bit of pork. I really appreciate the breakfast guys.

In the next hour I will be moving into my new place and I am so very excited to get set up. Unfortunately my new place does not yet have the internet hooked up, so I am not sure how often I will be able to post this coming week. The net should be up and running by next week, but I just wanted to give you a heads up. Also, with so many WIFI hot spots around town, I may just find a little coffee shop or bar to dwell in during the interim.

Yesterday, I went back to the bar that did so much damage to me in order to get some lunch and a bit of the hair of the dog that took me down the night before. Here are few pics of the meal. The lunch consisted of some spicy Tom Yum soup with shrimp and squid, also a few helpings of white rice on the side with a couple of small Singha's to wash it down. This meal was a little more pricy than most. Soup, $2 and two beers $2. Here is a pic of the meal being prepared in the outdoor kitchen of the bar.

Well, that is for this moment. I wish you all the best and wish me luck getting all set up in my new place. I hope to have a few pics of the place up later today.

Hong Thong time

2011-11-02T09:13:00.005+07:00

Whiskey o whiskey, you ol Hong Thong whiskey; how you pulled me in to your clutches just as the Grecian sirens lulled ancient sailors to their end, smashing them into the tumultuous sea and rocks of shore. The night took a turn from what I had initially planned, not in a bad way, just in a very whiskey laden way. Being the alter boy that I am, I planned on going to this little dive bar near the place I reside and working on learning a little Thai over a few Singha beers. Now saying dive bar here is saying a lot considering most bars here are tucked away under a tarp or dilapidated wooden roof. This bar had three little card tables and chairs to match, a few living establishments were located in the back where little heads picked out from time to time, and some sort of outhouse for a bathroom deep in the rear of the lot that had a piece of corrugated tin for a door. I imagine my friend Carl would have dry heaved and ran for the nearest exit upon seeing this bathroom. The bathrooms here are more for squatting than sitting and this bathroom just had a bucket of water for washing and no paper to be found. Oh and the buzzing sound of the fluorescent light overhead was a nice touch. Any horror movie producer would have jumped at the chance to use this bathroom in some depraved demented scene. However, as bad as this place looked it did have a flat screen TV on which was playing some old country music. There was Waylon Jennings and few other salty country dogs that I remember listening to in my yester years and the music was enough to bring me in to this converted car port of a bar.

When I went to take a seat, I had to go past a table of Thai locals that are laughing and slapping one another on the back. It was little intimidating; there were five of them and one was a pretty big guy with a jean jacket that had the sleeves cut off, he looked like some kinda biker. They had a large round cooler of Ice, a pitcher of water, a few plates of food and a bottle of Hong Thong whiskey on the table. I kept my head down and took the table next to them. If there had been a table that was further away I would have taken it but, as I said, there were only three tables here and options were limited. So I sat there jotting a few things down while listening to my Thai language tutorials. As I was sipping my beverage one of the Thais was looking over my shoulder and saw what I was working on. He took my pen from the table and began to correct of few things on my page and that is how I became introduced to these locals one table over.

The whiskey was starting to look nice and was only $3.50 a bottle, so I said what the heck; just a little bottle of whiskey will not be such a bad thing. I am not sure how, after so many experiences that tell a different story, that I have not learned that whiskey can lead me into some really strange places. Anyway, I ordered a bottle and soon I was sitting with the locals and sharing a few libations. One of the Thais asked my name; I told him my name was Jeff but he could not for the life of him pronounce the F and so he kept calling me Jepp. Now being called Jepp would not have been such a big deal but for the fact that in Thai Jepp means son of chicken and I really did not want to be known as the son of a chicken, his name was Aaw Do and I don’t think his name has any negative connotations. Well after awhile his friends Jaan and Som Chai helped him get the Fs pronounced correctly and then it became a running joke throughout the evening to refer to me as Jepp; it was actually pretty funny.

One of the guys, Som Chai is a Sergent Major with the Police department and I had some concerns drinking whiskey with a Thai policeman but so be it, I was already in the midst of a good time and saw no reason to end the evening due to such reservations. Actually it turned out to be great a great thing to have him there, he spoke some very acceptable English and really assisted in translating the conversations with the group. Aaw Do is an electrician and just kept laughing all night, I guess we all were laughing and having a grand time. His Mom was actually one of the owners of the bar we were in and his mom made some mean Thai dishes. The guys were actually impressed with my ability to handle the spicy dish in front of us and when I started eating tiny hot peppers along with my whiskey and water they really seemed to be awed. Of course I loved the attention and gave myself a wry smile as I thought, that’s right man “I’m no son of a chicken”.

Well, I guess I could go on and on about the evening and of all the Thai words that I was being taught, of all the slaps on the back, and of all the times that we laughed, but that would take up just too much of your time. So I will just say that after two large bottles of Singha and two small bottles of Hong Thong we all left the bar smiling and saying “Dee Jai Tee Die Pob Kon”, which means nice to meet you. And it truly was nice to meet these guys and find this little bar situated in just one of the many little ally/roadways of Chiang Mai.

It was unfortunate that we started drinking at 3 PM though, because by 7 we were lit beyond compare and I ended up staggering to bed around 7:30 in the evening. This night I got as much sleep as my little Smurf friend, Shelly, who likes to get about 10 hours of sleep in a night. Now I am showered and refreshed and a little bit more wary of taking part in another night of Hong Thong madness and so I will simply lie low today and work on a little recovery.

Wishing you all well. More photos available under pics and vids.

Also, would you click on a few of the adds on this page. The more clicks, the more silver the machine gives me.

Thanks

My new place

2011-10-31T18:23:00.003+07:00

After the glow of the lantern festival and of all the wonderful sensations circulating through my mind and body from the event; I still had some major hurdles to surmount in order to get a solid footing here in this beautiful foreign land. And so I slept and prepared for my Sunday morning meeting that was set to be at 10 AM. I was to meet up with a fellow who would help guide me through the process of getting a decent place to reside for my stay here in Chiang Mai. Initially, the day after I arrived here in Chiang Mai I checked out a few spots that were very nice but so damn far away from some major necessities, such as a grocery store, cheap food vendors and a place to sit for a night time beverage and wind down. These places were close to a nice golf course which in it self almost had me convinced to live in the Georgetown of Chiang Mai. For those that don’t get this reference, just think of living in the suburbs of a major city and trying to walk into town for a drink.

Well, I got on the boards and asked the masses of ex-pats that already have gone through these steps and missteps for a little guidance as to my choice to live so far out from the old town center. Responses varied, but the overall consensus was that unless I got myself a set of wheels I would simply whither on the vine and not truly experience the subtleties that make Chiang Mai so inviting to so many. Anxiety began to creep in again and led me to a mad dash to find a place that was affordable and near where things were more energized and tactile. Of course it also needed to be in an area that will afford me a peaceful nights sleep. Only one place I found on the net fit the bill, and although I felt poorly for already telling my agent that I would take the place out in the burbs, I kept in mind that this cat worked on some sort of commission and I quickly lost any sympathy for the inconvenience that I may have caused the guy. Nice guy by the way, he offered to pick me up on his day off and show me the place.

“Man O man, this place is so utterly perfect”. This internal statement I tried to keep to myself in order to leave a little room for negotiation. But hell, my face and mannerisms have a way of showing whatever it is that I am thinking and my excitement got the better of me. “I’ll take it”, were the words that jumped from internal to external in an instant. Maybe it was my excitement that made them take $1000 baht from the original set monthly rent, either way, I was happy that things went as they did. Negotiating is a fucking hassle and I leave it to the snake oil sales men in the world out there that set prices in order to take advantage of those that naively take that price as it is set; this is a digression and pet peeve on my part.

In addition to my excitement in getting this place that is set so near to the city center and that encompasses all of things that I was hoping for when I envisioned living in this town. Was the fact that the woman that owns the condo and who was there to show it to me is also a manager at the Bangkok Bank here in Chiang Mai. She offered to call one of her staff to help me set up an account at the bank. So after leaving the condo and filling out some paper work, my agent drove me by the place I am at now, picked up my passport and he then dropped me off at the bank. When I arrived at the bank, an account manager was waiting for me and lickety split, I now have an ATM card and an account here in Chiang Mai. Another to do was just crossed off the list.

Well, I have rambled on and raddled about this and that for too long now. My excitement of the occurrence of events may be the cause of such things.

Now, I am just relaxing while reading and enjoying a little refreshing adult beverage on ice.

Here is a link to the place that I will be staying. Rent is $366 a month and I get maid service every 2 weeks along with free laundry service. Now the pics on this link do not convey how nice this place is now that the owner has added a few finishing touches. So I will update this post with a few pics of the place when I move in on Thursday.

http://chiangmaiproperties.co.th/condo/rent/Studio-room-condo-with-1-bathroom-and-fully-furnished-in-Karnkanok-5-Baan-Suan-Greenery-Hill/Condo/rent/1-Bedroom-1-bathroom-with-fully-furnished-in-SD-Condo/C940.aspx

Wish me luck and I wish you well.

Yee Peng, Damn fine time

2011-10-30T17:16:00.001+07:00

Here is a link telling all about the Yee Peng event. Check this out to find out what the event is all about and I will go on a tell of my exciting time there and the time after.

http://www.thaifly.com/Home/Hilight/thailand-tour/yee-peng-festival.php

The day started out great, I got a bunch of to dos scratched from my list, and however I was still concerned about how the hell I was going to get all the way out to the lantern festival. All of the transportation that I looked up was booked and to get a taxi out there would have been costly. The temple where the event was held was about an hour out of town. All I can say is thank goodness for great friends and Facebook. My friend Susan lived in Chiang Mai for about a month and half and while she was here she met a girl who goes by the Bo, Susan introduced me to Bo on Facebook. And now that I have a phone I was able to make contact with Bo. I gave ol Bo a call and let her know that I really wanted to go to the festival and asked if she would be going. She had never been to this ceremony and she told me that she was actually very excited it and wanted to go. Bo told me that her boyfriend would come by and pick me up at 5 and that she would feed me before we headed to the event, Bo owns a small restaurant just outside of town and I soon found out is an amazing cook.

At 5:00 o’clock her man Golff showed up and we were on our way. Traffic was a site in itself, I tell you it’s amazing what a person can fit on a moped. Now let me say, I was nervous about getting picked up so late since the 10,000 lantern release was set for 7:30 PM and everything that I read said if you want to be there in time for the release you really need to leave Chiang Mai by 3:00 PM in order to make the lantern release. “Mie Pen Ri”, as is commonly said here, which means “it is what it is”. To be honest, I was just happy to go out and meet a friendly face and eat some homemade Thai. I figured I would catch a glimpse of the lanterns floating in the sky either way and if that is all that I could see of the festival then I would still be content in the site of seeing 10,000 small fires in night sky.

Once we arrived at Bo’s restaurant I was immediately accepted as a friend. I thought how amazing it was that a new friend could so ease my restless mind. Bo cooked me up some yummy dish of rice with a fried egg laid across, this along with a very spicy dish of chicken and veggies. It was so nice to finally have some Thai food that actually lived up to the term spicy. Now those that know me know that I love it spicy and this was perfect. There was no need for my standard lathering of Sriracha sauce, just a little crushed red pepper and it was perfection.

After the meal we headed into a bedlam of people, traffic, and sounds. When we finally parked we paid a fellow 20 baht ($.70) for a ride to the event. And I kid you not, we arrived at the center of the gathering about 10 minutes prior to the big release. It was so very amazing to hear and see. In the back ground were monks chanting traditional prayers over loud speakers, smoke from a large fire in the middle of the throng of monks and the spectators, as well as so many wonderful lit up Buddhist icons. The collective since of joy was contagious and washed over me, refreshing my spirit like the cool waters of Baron Springs on a hot summer day. This refreshment was a needed necessity considering I was still just going on three hours of sleep.

All I could think was that I was really here, that I was really seeing this and experiencing this event. This event that I had been wanting to see in person ever since I first saw the video of it on Youtube. Then the countdown started, sip haa… sip see.. sip sam, all the way down to neung, then the release of these 5 foot lanterns made of a thin paper that was surrounding a fiery wax. Hot air and smoke lifted these 10,000 lanterns into the sky all at on time. The lanterns were accompanied by a barrage of rocketing fireworks lighting up the night in a glow that no pictures I took could truly capture. Wow! I kept saying this over and over; I was like a small child experiencing their first fire works show. This was the first moment that I felt I had made the right decision in coming to Chiang Mai.

After the event and after waiting an hour just to get through the traffic leaving the event; my gracious hosts were in no mood to end the evening. And thanks to a little nap I had taken during the sludge of a crawl that it took to get out of the temple grounds, I was game for a few libations and a late night Thai sampler. Bo and Golff dropped off Bo’s mother, Omm, and then we were off to a local Thai bar. When we got to the bar these skinny little 27 year old Thai kids ordered a ton of dishes to go along with our Singha beers. More food than a fat man would consume at the Sizzlers all you can eat steak buffet. A funny thing about the beers though, was that they brought out a bowl of ice so that we could keep the beverages cool. Beer with Ice was not something I was used to but neither were half of the dishes laid out in front of me, so I went along and enjoyed every minute of it. My new friends were not very fluent in English, well Bo was at least able to speak a fair amount but Golff could hardly speak a lick. And with me being a just little more fluent in Thai than Golff was in English and much less fluent than Bo, there were some lulls in conversation. But we did have the Thai translation book in front of us and had a great time teaching each other the languages of our birth.

It sure is amazing how beer and good food can bridge the language bearer and change strangers into friends. By the end of the night we were raising our glasses time and again chanting Chon, which is the Thai word for cheers and I think each of us was really enjoying one another’s company. After settling the bill, I was dropped off at my temporary place of residence. An invitation to go to Chiang Rai on Monday at 9 AM was extended my way and I gladly accepted, we then said our good byes. My bed was inviting me in for a nice solid sleep but first I had my evening cigarette and watched the rain that had begun to fall over Chiang Mai. Before finding slumber I smiled from ear to ear thinking of just how the night had unfolded and of how my world is made so much better by the company that I keep and how fortunate I am to have such wonderful souls in my life.

I wish all well.

A walk in the old neighborhood.

2011-10-29T15:50:00.001+07:00

I got out there today on the grimy but well swept streets of Chiang Mai this AM. There was not much sleep to be had last night, unfortunately this restless evening was caused by cyclical thoughts that would not part from my mind. I did try some Thai wine last night and Thunderbird came to mind upon the first sip, the first sip was the last. This may have had something to do with the poor sleep as well.

Anyway, to the point; the air is heavy here with humidity that not even Houstonians could appreciate and it is still pretty hot in this parts. But so be it, I had a few things to get done in order to get a little peace and to put to rest these uncompleted task. So I got up around 6 AM after about just three hours of sleep and 6 hours of tossing and turning. I then had what the B and B called a western breakfast, which consisted of two hard eggs, a slice of ham and two nasty ass hotdogs, oh and some toast, the toast was tasty. The Thai breakfast yesterday was much tastier than this fat mans delight. What ya gonna do… I ate most of the breakfast but I just could not get past that first slimy dog, I left it where it lay. Anyway, I digress. So I went on a walk and saw a bunch of temples. I wish I could say more about the temples but after awhile, like gothic churches in Europe and trains in the states, they all started to bleed together. Yes, they were some damn beautiful buildings and I am sure they were extremely old, but did I mention I had just 3 hours of sleep and besides I was on a mission to get a few odds and ends cleared up.

It is an unfortunate aspect of my mind that requires all task be compete prior to pursuing relaxation. On my to do list was, find a damn international cell phone that took a sim card that could be upped with minutes or changed out for a sim card with more minutes, to meet with the real estate agent to look at a place closer to town and to find away to open a banking account in Thailand. The phone is in hand, the agent has been met and I found a way around the bank account thing. Now, I am just tired, but my head is a little clearer and that, I hope, will allow me to get some sleep tonight. Also, I hope this clarity will help me focus on the joy of watching 10,000 floating lanterns light up the evening sky.

Wish me luck.

Adjustment

2011-10-29T01:02:00.001+07:00

Whew! What a day. It sure is no cake walk trying to get a place to live, a phone, and even access to ones own money. Sure, I saw some really gorgeous sites today on my travels from real estate agent, apartments and my vain attempts to locate an international cell phone. I wouldn’t really call this site seeing but it’s all that I have had so far. Here’s a pic of me in a tuk tuk going from here to there.

I had it all worked out before I got here; I programmed a GPS with all of the necessary stops and even had a nice time schedule. Unfortunately it seems that my GPS is only picking up reception at night and not during the day. So that is part one of my plan going to pot, and this is a bad thing, but the worst failure in my planning is the fact that my beloved Netflix and Hulu do not work over in this foreign land. I know, I know, I should have checked to see that these sites worked before landing in Thailand. But that is just it, I did check and it was confirmed several times that these sites did stream here and how nice it was to have here in Chiang Mai. I guess that I still have not figured out that everything you read on the internet is not necessarily as it is stated.

And then, to top off my stress, this whole lantern release that I have wanted to see for a year now is not %100 set in stone as to date of release. It is about %90 set but the monks throwing the lantern release festival have set two dates, one for tourist at $100 a pop and one for the locals for free. Of course I fall into the tourist class but I also fall into the cheap don’t want to pay $100 class as well. These two release dates are set a week apart and most sites list the $100 festival as the only release. Anyway, trying to get transport 13KM out of town has been an adventure and one that has yet to be completed. Wish me luck and if you see pics of flying fire incased in a paper skin sometime soon, then you will know that I at least took care of that one adventure.

Wish me well as I do for you.

My going away

2011-10-28T12:02:00.001+07:00

Thanks to all of my friends for such a great send off. I consider myself so very fortunate to have such a wonderful group of loving people in my life.

2011-10-28T10:49:00.000+07:00

Well here it is day one of my trip to Chiang Mai. I’ve been up since 6:30 AM Central time and as I write this I am in Seoul Korea at 3:15 AM Central. It has been a long day to say the least and I still must get on another plan from Seoul to Chiang Mai, which will be another five and half hours on a plan.

Sitting here in the airport I hear the voices of all types of languages and now I am hearing a few ladies speaking Thai to one another and thinking to myself that I have a long way to go in learning the local language and dialect. But the only thing that I am concerned with at the moment is that my luggage arrives in Chiang Mai and that I have no issues getting to the bed and breakfast that I am staying. It should be around 10:30 PM Chiang Mai time when I get to the B and B and I am looking forward to just climbing under the covers and getting some sleep.