We. Have. Arrived.
Our bags are still at SFO, but we have arrived in Portland.
This blog is becoming a safe-keeper of memories and a do-not do list for when you travels.
Still, We. Have. Arrived. Safely.
And, really, that's all that matters.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
If I could spell the German word for "Goodbye"
In a temporary holding pattern, this latest entry serves as a sign post: I sit in our guest house's internet room on Julia and I's last night in Bangkok, last night in Thailand. We fly back to main land this afternoon from Phuket and will be on a 5 PM flight back to the States on Jan 26th, tomorrow. We arrive the same day (miraculous how they've figured out how to use time, really): 10 PM to Portland airport, Julia's parents graciously picking us up.
From there I'll drive back to Yreka then Santa Cruz to hitch a ride to SFO: I'm off to Ireland and England next. Julia's gonna earn a bit o' cash back in Pee-Pee town and we're moving to LA at the end of Feb. Huh, probably most of you already knew that. Ah well, there it is and expect the final postings as we both find time.
Thanks for tuning in.
Endless love (but not an endless vacation),
e
From there I'll drive back to Yreka then Santa Cruz to hitch a ride to SFO: I'm off to Ireland and England next. Julia's gonna earn a bit o' cash back in Pee-Pee town and we're moving to LA at the end of Feb. Huh, probably most of you already knew that. Ah well, there it is and expect the final postings as we both find time.
Thanks for tuning in.
Endless love (but not an endless vacation),
e
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Swimming with Fishes and a Childhood Puzzle
When I was little I remember many an afternoon putting together my favorite jigsaw puzzle: an ocean view of over a hundred pieces with every creature imaginable under the sea in its small rectangle. The beautiful whales (Blue, Orca, Sperm, Humpback) were at the top with the dolphins, giving eachother their necessary space and taking breaths at the surface with the seagulls. Down along the sides, kelp and coral drew the eyes with its greens and oranges and reds. Fish swam alone, in schools, in and out of coral and kelp. All were brightly colored, all were placed with special care into their respective fittings.
Growing up this puzzle was so special to me (or perhaps I just have the level of orderliness) that there was almost a system for putting the puzzle together. The borders, of course, were first, as any good jigsaw puzzler knows, but the pieces then fit together in order of my preference for the creatures they contained. I seem to remember one particular red-orange coral, with its respective fish, being my favorite.
Along the bottom panel though, the world of the sea got a little darker and, as the puzzle grew more and more complete, I feared placing the last piece in: a morrey eel lurking among the dark brown coral looking for its prey. It was nasty and sinister and more evil looking than anything Disney could cook up in The Little Mermaid. Sometimes, I wouldn't even put this piece in, not wanting to touch it, and consider the puzzle done without the last piece in place--afterall, I knew where it went, I just didn't want to put it there.
These were the memories--images of the creatures that swam in tropical waters with coral--that I took to the sea withme, snorkel mask fitted, and Julia by my side. I was as excited as I was nervous (thinking to myself that this was truly the reason I could never be a marine biologist), monitoring my breathing to a steady pace--it was going to be OK, I wasn't going to see an eel.
It's amazing where hopeful thinking can get you. In this case, it got me into the water and swimming with FISH in THE OCEAN: Angel fish, schools of hunderds of little silver fish, ones with neon blue stripes, others with neon pink and green dashes on their heads, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, crabs, little jellies (kind of tubular ones and ones with yellow in their tops--yes, we stayed away from them), bigger silver fish and more and more and more all over the rocks and the coral and everything...
And then, there it was: a little grey eel, sleek and harmless looking, poking around a small rock looking for food (presumably vegetarian), below and in front of me by maybe fifteen feet. It couldn't have been more than a foot long and didn't seem to know that we were even there. And I wasn't scared. In fact, I felt a little relieved. There was an eel, not even interested in my presence, doing its own thing right there in the ocean with me (or rather, in the ocean with me intruding).
We watched him go about his feeding business for a minute or two and then another school of fish came in with the waves and we were distracted and re-interested in something else all over again.
We were out there, no more than 50 meters from the shore, for maybe a half hour or so before we decided to head back in and take a rest. In that time, we had followed some other gorgeous creatures of the sea, and yes, found another eel, poking out of its holely home: spotted brown and white, snapping at the water, but still not interested in us humans.
Growing up this puzzle was so special to me (or perhaps I just have the level of orderliness) that there was almost a system for putting the puzzle together. The borders, of course, were first, as any good jigsaw puzzler knows, but the pieces then fit together in order of my preference for the creatures they contained. I seem to remember one particular red-orange coral, with its respective fish, being my favorite.
Along the bottom panel though, the world of the sea got a little darker and, as the puzzle grew more and more complete, I feared placing the last piece in: a morrey eel lurking among the dark brown coral looking for its prey. It was nasty and sinister and more evil looking than anything Disney could cook up in The Little Mermaid. Sometimes, I wouldn't even put this piece in, not wanting to touch it, and consider the puzzle done without the last piece in place--afterall, I knew where it went, I just didn't want to put it there.
These were the memories--images of the creatures that swam in tropical waters with coral--that I took to the sea withme, snorkel mask fitted, and Julia by my side. I was as excited as I was nervous (thinking to myself that this was truly the reason I could never be a marine biologist), monitoring my breathing to a steady pace--it was going to be OK, I wasn't going to see an eel.
It's amazing where hopeful thinking can get you. In this case, it got me into the water and swimming with FISH in THE OCEAN: Angel fish, schools of hunderds of little silver fish, ones with neon blue stripes, others with neon pink and green dashes on their heads, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, crabs, little jellies (kind of tubular ones and ones with yellow in their tops--yes, we stayed away from them), bigger silver fish and more and more and more all over the rocks and the coral and everything...
And then, there it was: a little grey eel, sleek and harmless looking, poking around a small rock looking for food (presumably vegetarian), below and in front of me by maybe fifteen feet. It couldn't have been more than a foot long and didn't seem to know that we were even there. And I wasn't scared. In fact, I felt a little relieved. There was an eel, not even interested in my presence, doing its own thing right there in the ocean with me (or rather, in the ocean with me intruding).
We watched him go about his feeding business for a minute or two and then another school of fish came in with the waves and we were distracted and re-interested in something else all over again.
We were out there, no more than 50 meters from the shore, for maybe a half hour or so before we decided to head back in and take a rest. In that time, we had followed some other gorgeous creatures of the sea, and yes, found another eel, poking out of its holely home: spotted brown and white, snapping at the water, but still not interested in us humans.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Honey and Vinegar
Julia and I are are leaving Kamala Beach today in exchange for Kata Beach, further south on the island and much cheaper accommodation--we'll see what our Baht gets us there.
Our days have included a trip to Patong Beach yesterday for shopping and a movie (National Treasure 2, in English), snorkelling on our day trip to Laem Sing Beach, learning how to play Backgammon at the Top Roof Club after dinner, and eating a really good banana pancake/crepe/thing.
More details on those later, but for now, lots of love to you!
Our days have included a trip to Patong Beach yesterday for shopping and a movie (National Treasure 2, in English), snorkelling on our day trip to Laem Sing Beach, learning how to play Backgammon at the Top Roof Club after dinner, and eating a really good banana pancake/crepe/thing.
More details on those later, but for now, lots of love to you!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Benjamin Resort = Bad Ju-Ju Part II and the Recovery Effort
After two nights at the "Benjamin Resort" (read: falling apart old hotel building with no pool) and waking up this morning to a neck ache, back ache, a little and restless night of sleep due to light and noise from the ajoining lobby accommpanied by a cockroach the size of my two thumbs together christening my morning pee, I walked out of our room at 7:45 this morning and asked for a new room (I would have to wait until 10 am to find out).
With Julia now up, we decided instead to go looking for new accommodation. We inquired at a few places (ranging from 1,000-5,500 Bhat) and Julia was smart enough to inquire at Ice Bungalows for a room. What we found was a pretty, clean room with a nicely stoned tiled bathroom, good bed and appliances and a view of the mountains from our front steps.
Making sure we got our breakfast afforded us at Benjamin, Julia (good cop) and I (bad cop) then proceeded to ask for a refund on our cockroach-mosquito infested, bad ju-ju, view-of-the-front-lobby-only room--we had originally paid for 4 nights, but two was all we were gonna take. Trying to channel both my aunt Rhonda Ono and my dad (both of whom I felt would have most certainly demanded their money back), we got the lady to agree to give us a refund if she could get someone else to take the room for the following two nights.
She did. We got our money and left.
And, as we put our stuff down and unpacked a little in our new room at Ice Bungalows, my heart glowed a little...
The rest of the afternoon looked much like the last two: us on the beach with our beach chairs, water and pineapple--julia reading The Red Tent, lying in the sun and napping; me trying to get a tan, reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and composing emails to Alex in my head. (Julia's right, the world is so much more beautiful when you're in love.)
Together we spend our time trying to figure out the best way to stay afloat in the Indian Ocean with as little effort as possible (haven't found the right combo yet and still keep our heads above water), breaking only to eat, go for a walk, warm up and comment on the many, many German tourists with us on the beach--many of whom we feel should learn the appropriate time to put their shirts back on...as well as enjoying the sudden thunderstorms that happen in the afternoon.
Occassionally, I have to remind myself to look up and remember just where it is I am exactly...and when I do, it's breathtaking.
With Julia now up, we decided instead to go looking for new accommodation. We inquired at a few places (ranging from 1,000-5,500 Bhat) and Julia was smart enough to inquire at Ice Bungalows for a room. What we found was a pretty, clean room with a nicely stoned tiled bathroom, good bed and appliances and a view of the mountains from our front steps.
Making sure we got our breakfast afforded us at Benjamin, Julia (good cop) and I (bad cop) then proceeded to ask for a refund on our cockroach-mosquito infested, bad ju-ju, view-of-the-front-lobby-only room--we had originally paid for 4 nights, but two was all we were gonna take. Trying to channel both my aunt Rhonda Ono and my dad (both of whom I felt would have most certainly demanded their money back), we got the lady to agree to give us a refund if she could get someone else to take the room for the following two nights.
She did. We got our money and left.
And, as we put our stuff down and unpacked a little in our new room at Ice Bungalows, my heart glowed a little...
The rest of the afternoon looked much like the last two: us on the beach with our beach chairs, water and pineapple--julia reading The Red Tent, lying in the sun and napping; me trying to get a tan, reading Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and composing emails to Alex in my head. (Julia's right, the world is so much more beautiful when you're in love.)
Together we spend our time trying to figure out the best way to stay afloat in the Indian Ocean with as little effort as possible (haven't found the right combo yet and still keep our heads above water), breaking only to eat, go for a walk, warm up and comment on the many, many German tourists with us on the beach--many of whom we feel should learn the appropriate time to put their shirts back on...as well as enjoying the sudden thunderstorms that happen in the afternoon.
Occassionally, I have to remind myself to look up and remember just where it is I am exactly...and when I do, it's breathtaking.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Dinner at Pavillion Beach Restuarant, Kamala Beach, Phuket, Thailand, Milky Way, Universe, Little Ball Hanging from a Cat's Neck
Tonight at dinner Erica wrote a note on a napkin. It read: hi julia. i like you! we're on the Indian Ocean!!! ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD! the end! (schmau!) <3
The reply:
Erica my fair headed maiden of the seas, why do I find myself seven moons upon this cursed vessle without a word to warm my heart that you are well. My mother, on her weary deathbed in that ill-fated isle of damp, warned me to guard my spirit against those that possess the green sparkled eye, the eye of the banshees dear Mother also said. Yet here I stand, exposed to rains that cease not for eleven days now and no sweet words to keep me. I must believe that you feel no fire in your breast for me. Your sister writes to tell me your family is well, prosperous in the market and blessed in strength of womb. Therefore I attest that you have not befallen ill fates--the humours or capture by pirates. Dearest Erica, sweet and gentle maid, do wet your quill for me. Put your mind to recall the autumnal feast of three years last, the mead that loosed my lips--ah but it was not strong brew that conjured my words to you--No, those words were written in my heart. . . The captain calls me to the deck with hurried calls of a great oceanic beast.
Forever yours,
Frederico
The reply:
Erica my fair headed maiden of the seas, why do I find myself seven moons upon this cursed vessle without a word to warm my heart that you are well. My mother, on her weary deathbed in that ill-fated isle of damp, warned me to guard my spirit against those that possess the green sparkled eye, the eye of the banshees dear Mother also said. Yet here I stand, exposed to rains that cease not for eleven days now and no sweet words to keep me. I must believe that you feel no fire in your breast for me. Your sister writes to tell me your family is well, prosperous in the market and blessed in strength of womb. Therefore I attest that you have not befallen ill fates--the humours or capture by pirates. Dearest Erica, sweet and gentle maid, do wet your quill for me. Put your mind to recall the autumnal feast of three years last, the mead that loosed my lips--ah but it was not strong brew that conjured my words to you--No, those words were written in my heart. . . The captain calls me to the deck with hurried calls of a great oceanic beast.
Forever yours,
Frederico
Twin Inn = Bad Ju-Ju
After two nights in Phuket town, Kamala is a nice change of scenery. I wouldn't say that the town of Phuket is bad necessarily--we didn't give it much of a chance--but after two nights at the Twin Inn, I'm not aching to go back.
We arrived in Phuket on Jan 14th without reservations made for accommodation--this action was recommended to us by our friend at the lucky temple in Bangkok, and I don't blame him.
The taxi driver, who WAY over charged us, took us to a nice lady named Jenny at a travel agency near the airport upon arriving. After a few phone calls, we found out that our picks for accommodation at various beaches around the island were either full or twice the listed price in our trusty guide book, i.e. 800-1000 Baht per night, if we were lucky.
So Twin Inn it was. 850 per night, including breakfast. Let's just say it didn't look like the brochure.
Hence, we saw a lot of the inside of the room (with the view of the backside of a billboard two feet away), knitting, reading, writing, talking, watching TV.
Highlights: the pool was tiled blue and had three little statues spouting water; we watched an excellent Spanish film entitled The Sea Inside, we highly reccommend that.
We arrived in Phuket on Jan 14th without reservations made for accommodation--this action was recommended to us by our friend at the lucky temple in Bangkok, and I don't blame him.
The taxi driver, who WAY over charged us, took us to a nice lady named Jenny at a travel agency near the airport upon arriving. After a few phone calls, we found out that our picks for accommodation at various beaches around the island were either full or twice the listed price in our trusty guide book, i.e. 800-1000 Baht per night, if we were lucky.
So Twin Inn it was. 850 per night, including breakfast. Let's just say it didn't look like the brochure.
Hence, we saw a lot of the inside of the room (with the view of the backside of a billboard two feet away), knitting, reading, writing, talking, watching TV.
Highlights: the pool was tiled blue and had three little statues spouting water; we watched an excellent Spanish film entitled The Sea Inside, we highly reccommend that.
The final days of Chiang Mai
We began our last full day in Chiang Mai at what I have recorded in my notebook as "the runny egg bakery." 'nough said. Then it was finally time to tackle Lonely Planet's Self Guided walking tour (5 temples, a pub and a massage). Our first temple was much like others we had seen around Chiang Mai - of course it was still impressive, but there comes a time when one wat seems to blend into another. The second temple though, stood apart. Instead of elaborately painted walls filled with scenes of the buddha, this temple was modest - made entirely out of teak. The spare wood really let the golden buddhas at the altar stand out and Erica and I agreed it was our favorite wat yet. Next to the temple there was a row of large bells and a tree with many paper flags hanging from it - totally beautiful. Also, near the entrance was a fortune teller! So of course, we had to have our fortunes told. This involved drawing an insane number of tarot cards (three at a time, with your left hand) and having our palms and forheads examined. The highlights: I will live to be over 80, marry wealthy, travel a lot, have two children and stay home to take care of my kids and husband. Erica will be married by 25, pregnant at 28, live by a river, will be prosperous in selling anything except food.
The Writers Bar and Pub was our next destination - food and beer. Yum.
From there it was on to the Chiang Mai Women's Prison, where inmates are taught massage and handicrafts, to save money for their release. But alas, we were too late to be massaged by the incarcerated. So we returned to our guesthouse street and instead got wonderful massages by blind Thais. Yes blind. Totally amazing.
Shortly after our relaxation sessions, we met up with our Thai friend Nik who took us to Chiang Mai's famous Night Market. (For those of you from Orange, it's like the street fair times 100). Blocks and blocks of town are shut down to traffic and filled with stalls selling every kind of food you'd ever want (many on sticks!), clothing for people, clothing for dogs, scarfs of cotton and silk, paintings, jewelry, beauty products, 99 cent store merch, and so much more. Along several corners there are rows of chairs set up and if your feet ache, you can sit down for a foot massage. Erica and I literally shopped til we dropped. But the night wasn't complete without popping into a British Pub for beer (mine), cider (erica's) and french fries (both).
The next day - with only hours left in Chiang Mai, we woke early and were picked up by Nik who drove us up to the top of a very high hill to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep- a beautiful hill-top temple. We prayed and took in the view -- which is all of Chiang Mai, covered in haze. Totally beautiful.
Driving down we prayed once more, that we wouldn't meet our end in a Nik's car vs. TukTuk collision (everyone drives like a maniac here). We drove through Chiang Mai University and saw where Nik will study but then it was back to the guesthouse to pack, grab a quick lunch to go (from Prego, of course) and rush rush rush to the airport to catch our flight to Phuket.
It was kind of sad to say goodbye to Nik, who had been so sweet to make it his personal task of being our Thailand guide, but it would be a lie to say there wasn't also some relief (we felt guilty when we opted to do our own thing). Chiang Mai had been really good to us and it was sad to leave, but we had Part 3 ahead of us: Phuket.
-julia
The Writers Bar and Pub was our next destination - food and beer. Yum.
From there it was on to the Chiang Mai Women's Prison, where inmates are taught massage and handicrafts, to save money for their release. But alas, we were too late to be massaged by the incarcerated. So we returned to our guesthouse street and instead got wonderful massages by blind Thais. Yes blind. Totally amazing.
Shortly after our relaxation sessions, we met up with our Thai friend Nik who took us to Chiang Mai's famous Night Market. (For those of you from Orange, it's like the street fair times 100). Blocks and blocks of town are shut down to traffic and filled with stalls selling every kind of food you'd ever want (many on sticks!), clothing for people, clothing for dogs, scarfs of cotton and silk, paintings, jewelry, beauty products, 99 cent store merch, and so much more. Along several corners there are rows of chairs set up and if your feet ache, you can sit down for a foot massage. Erica and I literally shopped til we dropped. But the night wasn't complete without popping into a British Pub for beer (mine), cider (erica's) and french fries (both).
The next day - with only hours left in Chiang Mai, we woke early and were picked up by Nik who drove us up to the top of a very high hill to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep- a beautiful hill-top temple. We prayed and took in the view -- which is all of Chiang Mai, covered in haze. Totally beautiful.
Driving down we prayed once more, that we wouldn't meet our end in a Nik's car vs. TukTuk collision (everyone drives like a maniac here). We drove through Chiang Mai University and saw where Nik will study but then it was back to the guesthouse to pack, grab a quick lunch to go (from Prego, of course) and rush rush rush to the airport to catch our flight to Phuket.
It was kind of sad to say goodbye to Nik, who had been so sweet to make it his personal task of being our Thailand guide, but it would be a lie to say there wasn't also some relief (we felt guilty when we opted to do our own thing). Chiang Mai had been really good to us and it was sad to leave, but we had Part 3 ahead of us: Phuket.
-julia
while you're making other plans...
Looking back Erica and I both remember our second day in Chiang Mai fondly, even though at the time there was some sadness and some frustration... We had a simple breakfast at Prego, the Italian and Thai restaurant across the small alley-street from our beloved guesthouse and headed out into town, wandering around. Our initial plan was to hire a tuk tuk to take us to the International Museum of Insects and Natural Wonders. The first tuk tuk we approached wanted 60B (ridiculous! we were charged only 40 in Bk for hours of being hauled around). So we walked on. The next tuk tuk wanted 100B (one way). As did the next. And the next. And the next. Giving up on the museum for the moment, we looked around and saw the gold spire of a temple nearby. So we walked towards it and found a beautiful little temple and monastery, complete with an ancient, very rare, archway. We payed our respects to the buddhas and, spotting a sign offering massages on the premises, we duked into a cool room where two women massaged our feet (60B for 30 minutes!) until we thought we were in heaven. Amazing how it can relax your whole body. The only real downer was the chatty woman who kept trying to converse with us while we were trying to zone out and be massaged. Now I know that annoying hippies are not just an American thing.
Next it was off to Mike's, a little fast food stand renowned for having the "best burgers outside the USA." Cheeseburgers, fries and coca-cola. It wasn't In-&-Out by far, but still yummy.
More wandering led us to bookstore row, a shady alley filled with cafes and second hand bookstores. We perused the selection and settled on the 30B bin, finding some really poorly written but totally entertaining beach books - Indecent Proposal for me, Doll: Some stories are made up and some are real for Erica. Then: sorbet to rest and read.
From there we decided to walk to the river and check out the Flower Market, a daily gathering of people selling insane amounts of beautiful flowers - seriously, i don't know where they find the land to grow so many flowers.
On the way there we were draw into some super cute and funky art galleries where Erica found some souvenirs (in paintings) and I found plastic bracelets!
Right before the market we saw a very red, very colorful, very dragon-ified structure and went inside to learn that it is one of the oldest Chinese temples in Chiang Mai. On the way out I smiled at a little girl watering plants and she sprayed water at my feet. (?)
The flower market was nice to see but I was disappointed that I was surrounded by the smell of exhaust instead of roses. The river, brown as it is, was still a sight to behold and the raised bridges (much like the ones over California freeways) provided many a photo opportunity.
It was getting dark and we were getting weary so we started to walk back but then- night market! We passed between the stalls, checking out the merchandise and getting hassled by many a seller shouting "How much for you? How much? 100B! Very good price! Discount!" Etc.
It was a little much but fun to see. We made a few purchases and walked home, ready to finish off our day at Prego! with spaghetti made by Thais.
Next it was off to Mike's, a little fast food stand renowned for having the "best burgers outside the USA." Cheeseburgers, fries and coca-cola. It wasn't In-&-Out by far, but still yummy.
More wandering led us to bookstore row, a shady alley filled with cafes and second hand bookstores. We perused the selection and settled on the 30B bin, finding some really poorly written but totally entertaining beach books - Indecent Proposal for me, Doll: Some stories are made up and some are real for Erica. Then: sorbet to rest and read.
From there we decided to walk to the river and check out the Flower Market, a daily gathering of people selling insane amounts of beautiful flowers - seriously, i don't know where they find the land to grow so many flowers.
On the way there we were draw into some super cute and funky art galleries where Erica found some souvenirs (in paintings) and I found plastic bracelets!
Right before the market we saw a very red, very colorful, very dragon-ified structure and went inside to learn that it is one of the oldest Chinese temples in Chiang Mai. On the way out I smiled at a little girl watering plants and she sprayed water at my feet. (?)
The flower market was nice to see but I was disappointed that I was surrounded by the smell of exhaust instead of roses. The river, brown as it is, was still a sight to behold and the raised bridges (much like the ones over California freeways) provided many a photo opportunity.
It was getting dark and we were getting weary so we started to walk back but then- night market! We passed between the stalls, checking out the merchandise and getting hassled by many a seller shouting "How much for you? How much? 100B! Very good price! Discount!" Etc.
It was a little much but fun to see. We made a few purchases and walked home, ready to finish off our day at Prego! with spaghetti made by Thais.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Cute Clothes and Thai Boys
Rounding out Day 1 in Chiang Mai was 1) realizing there was a vintage clothing shop right across the street from our little outdoor cafe of Thai Tea ecstacy and 2) dinner with Nick and his friends at LaPaz cafe somewhere just outside central Chiang Mai.
The vintage shop was just basically awesome. The shop person, a hip guy of around 20 took a liking to julia's hip yellow sunglasses as we purused the racks and after julia had found three shirts and I found a sweater (kelly green) and my first pair of hip flats (white with green flowers), julia was generous enough to trade her hip yellow sunglasses for the best find of the day. (Danrae, we hope you love it.)
Upon getting back to our guest house, we called up Nick. Nick is a Thai guy we met in the Taipei airport during our final lay-over. Having spent the last 14 months in LA working on his English, Nick is a 19 year old guy returning to Thailand to go to university. And he was eager to show us around his favorite city, Chiang Mai, where he was from. (Liking to think I have somewhat of a creep-monitor by now in my travels, I rated this guy a zero, being not a creep at all.)
We called up Nick. He invited us out to dinner with his friends, his first night back in Chiang Mai. He would pick us up in half an hour.
And dinner was a great experience. Julia had read that Thai people eat very communally, and this extended into every one taking their fork to the same dish and sharing just one bowl of soup--each person dipping their spoon in for each sip of the delicious Tom Yum soup (my favorite). We had multiple, multiple dishes from friend rice to sweet sauce pork to some type of fried whole fish (yes, I tried it) to hot dogs dipped in batter and fried to octopus to things I'm not even sure what they were but they were spicy! With a constant flow of mixed drinks (seriously, you basically had to be forceful for them not to refill them) and good conversation and laughs, the night was a very, very good one. Sadly, julia ended up feeling not very well at all and we retired, rather thankfully (it was a full day for us) back to the guest house to sleep soundly.
The vintage shop was just basically awesome. The shop person, a hip guy of around 20 took a liking to julia's hip yellow sunglasses as we purused the racks and after julia had found three shirts and I found a sweater (kelly green) and my first pair of hip flats (white with green flowers), julia was generous enough to trade her hip yellow sunglasses for the best find of the day. (Danrae, we hope you love it.)
Upon getting back to our guest house, we called up Nick. Nick is a Thai guy we met in the Taipei airport during our final lay-over. Having spent the last 14 months in LA working on his English, Nick is a 19 year old guy returning to Thailand to go to university. And he was eager to show us around his favorite city, Chiang Mai, where he was from. (Liking to think I have somewhat of a creep-monitor by now in my travels, I rated this guy a zero, being not a creep at all.)
We called up Nick. He invited us out to dinner with his friends, his first night back in Chiang Mai. He would pick us up in half an hour.
And dinner was a great experience. Julia had read that Thai people eat very communally, and this extended into every one taking their fork to the same dish and sharing just one bowl of soup--each person dipping their spoon in for each sip of the delicious Tom Yum soup (my favorite). We had multiple, multiple dishes from friend rice to sweet sauce pork to some type of fried whole fish (yes, I tried it) to hot dogs dipped in batter and fried to octopus to things I'm not even sure what they were but they were spicy! With a constant flow of mixed drinks (seriously, you basically had to be forceful for them not to refill them) and good conversation and laughs, the night was a very, very good one. Sadly, julia ended up feeling not very well at all and we retired, rather thankfully (it was a full day for us) back to the guest house to sleep soundly.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Thai Tea Ecstacy, 11 Jan 2008
After falling blissfully asleep at 7 PM on our first night in Chiang Mai (we literally checked in and didn't get up after that--EXHAUSTED) Julia and I ventured from our lovely guest house, Tri Gong, to find breakfast sleepy-eyed.
The open air cafe at the corner of our little cozy neighborhood street seemed plaseant enough for us that morning. I stuck to the fried eggs and toast on display at every place we'd hit so far on our trip (a girl's gotta have her protein) but julia ventured for the local fare: rice soup for breakfast. The traditional Thai soup (served for breakfast) consists of rice, broth, some veggies, choice of meat and lots of good savory spices. And, damn, was it good.
Feeling crampy (me) and generally "bleh" (insert raspberry noise) and having wandered a bit of our little street (all thirty feet of it) Julia and I decided it was mani/pedi time. (Cut to montage of salon scenes from Legally Blonde). Really though, we did get manicures and pedicures--red for my toes, green for julia's--and it was delightfully relaxing. Most notable part: the women used limes on our fingers and toes, presumably as a skin conditioner...??
From there we wandered some more, my favorite part of traveling: getting just a little bit lost in a new city and stumbling upon whatever's around the corner. We needed postcard stamps (that's right, be watching your mailboxes any week now) and got directions to the nearest post office. Never without our trusty Lonely Planet Thailand, we realized we were near a few of LP's top restuarant picks and realized, yes, our bellies were a little hungry now that we'd gotten our stamps with the king's portrait on them. Note: it is rude to lick any stamp (or step on any money) which bears the king's portrait, hence you use the wet pad in the post office (or don't let anyone see you lick it while your friend covers for you.)
Just across the street from the post office was a monument of the Three Kings, and if you turned right there, you could find some delectable shrimp fried rice. And that we did, or should I say, that was where I had my Thai Tea Ecstacy...
Ok, so for some reason I didn't compute that I would be finding my beloved Thai Iced Tea in Thailand. Seriously, it, like, didn't even register. I wasn't even looking for it. I mean, when I looked down at the lunch menu and saw Lemon Iced Tea and julia chose Iced Tea, I was expecting her to receive the iced green tea we'd gotten at the Wiffy Waffle and me to receive my favorite Lipton Lemon Ice tea. Not in a million years, not for a million bucks would I have guessed what we got.
In cute, stout fish-bowlesque glasses we got our drinks. And they were heavenly. More than heavenly, they were delicious and amazing and inspiring--I immediately got out my journal and started writing frantically so I wouldn't forget the experience! Julia's "Iced Tea" was in fact Thai Iced Tea (with half and half mixed in) and mine, well, it was sweetened Thai tea (minus the half and half) with lemon. Gorgeous... Best. Drink. Ever.
The open air cafe at the corner of our little cozy neighborhood street seemed plaseant enough for us that morning. I stuck to the fried eggs and toast on display at every place we'd hit so far on our trip (a girl's gotta have her protein) but julia ventured for the local fare: rice soup for breakfast. The traditional Thai soup (served for breakfast) consists of rice, broth, some veggies, choice of meat and lots of good savory spices. And, damn, was it good.
Feeling crampy (me) and generally "bleh" (insert raspberry noise) and having wandered a bit of our little street (all thirty feet of it) Julia and I decided it was mani/pedi time. (Cut to montage of salon scenes from Legally Blonde). Really though, we did get manicures and pedicures--red for my toes, green for julia's--and it was delightfully relaxing. Most notable part: the women used limes on our fingers and toes, presumably as a skin conditioner...??
From there we wandered some more, my favorite part of traveling: getting just a little bit lost in a new city and stumbling upon whatever's around the corner. We needed postcard stamps (that's right, be watching your mailboxes any week now) and got directions to the nearest post office. Never without our trusty Lonely Planet Thailand, we realized we were near a few of LP's top restuarant picks and realized, yes, our bellies were a little hungry now that we'd gotten our stamps with the king's portrait on them. Note: it is rude to lick any stamp (or step on any money) which bears the king's portrait, hence you use the wet pad in the post office (or don't let anyone see you lick it while your friend covers for you.)
Just across the street from the post office was a monument of the Three Kings, and if you turned right there, you could find some delectable shrimp fried rice. And that we did, or should I say, that was where I had my Thai Tea Ecstacy...
Ok, so for some reason I didn't compute that I would be finding my beloved Thai Iced Tea in Thailand. Seriously, it, like, didn't even register. I wasn't even looking for it. I mean, when I looked down at the lunch menu and saw Lemon Iced Tea and julia chose Iced Tea, I was expecting her to receive the iced green tea we'd gotten at the Wiffy Waffle and me to receive my favorite Lipton Lemon Ice tea. Not in a million years, not for a million bucks would I have guessed what we got.
In cute, stout fish-bowlesque glasses we got our drinks. And they were heavenly. More than heavenly, they were delicious and amazing and inspiring--I immediately got out my journal and started writing frantically so I wouldn't forget the experience! Julia's "Iced Tea" was in fact Thai Iced Tea (with half and half mixed in) and mine, well, it was sweetened Thai tea (minus the half and half) with lemon. Gorgeous... Best. Drink. Ever.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Incident
Bangkok Day 2: Wake up and breakfast at the hotel restaurant. We have to check out of our room by 11AM so we're trying to cram in some good stuff. We don our more formal dress (or at least closed toe shoes) and walk the 15 minutes in pretty intense heat to the Grand Palace (seeing our friend The National Theatre Man on the way). The Grand Palace is many buildings, a lot of them temples, enclosed by high walls. It was very busy, filled with tourists and Thais alike, many of them there to pay their respects to the King's Sister. The buildings (we'll post pictures when we figure out how) are ornate, covered in beautiful, intricate patterns and gold. We prayed to a emerald Buddha and took a lot of pictures.
Then it was back to the hotel, but officers had blocked off the sidewalk on the way we came so we were funneled across the street into a park (by way of some cool elephant statues). The second our sneakers hit the pavement we were surrounded by poor Thais pushing small bags of pop corn kernels into our hands. "feed birds. yes. please. please. happy new year. you take. good luck." we tried to say no. we tried. when i tried to cross my arms and hand my arms, they pushed the bags into my chest. flabberghasted I stood, my hands full of kernels, completed surrounded by pigeons. they were standing on my feet, they were on my hands, scratching my arms with their dirty pigeon feet. as soon as those evil pigeons touched my skin i realized what a bad scene it had become. so i start to leave but of course now the people are asking for money. i toss someone 100B (4 dollars) and meet erica who is standing in the grass about 10 feet away. THEN. Erica says that one of the ladies took 2000B from her hand (80USD). (Erica edit: didn't just take, ripped out of my wallet 2500B, somehow shoving the 2000B somewhere else and showing me the 500B as if it was all she took. I was so shocked I didn't want to believe what had just happened and could only manage to argue paying 300B instead of 500B). Well Shit. Just this morning I had read that it you get mugged or ripped off, Don't Confront. Just report the theif to the Tourism Police. But 2000B. It was the middle of the day, in a public area and there were tons of police type officers around, so we went back and demanded 2000B. There was a lot of denying and anger and confusion. Two officers came over but of course neither of them spoke English. The "peddlers" didn't threaten us and the cops seemed to be on our side so we just didn't leave. We said 2000! over and over and gestured as to what had happened. And finally, a few small bills at a time, we got our money back. It was totally traumatic. I think I was mostly really angry and Erica was just shaken up and sad. (Erica edit: I could believe I had just argued with someone who had less money than me to give me my money back, but 2000B was 2000B and I needed it!) We sort of chalked it up to part of the Bangkok experience but it definetly left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I was glad to leave the big city behind.
(Final Erica edit: Julia is my hero.)
Then it was back to the hotel, but officers had blocked off the sidewalk on the way we came so we were funneled across the street into a park (by way of some cool elephant statues). The second our sneakers hit the pavement we were surrounded by poor Thais pushing small bags of pop corn kernels into our hands. "feed birds. yes. please. please. happy new year. you take. good luck." we tried to say no. we tried. when i tried to cross my arms and hand my arms, they pushed the bags into my chest. flabberghasted I stood, my hands full of kernels, completed surrounded by pigeons. they were standing on my feet, they were on my hands, scratching my arms with their dirty pigeon feet. as soon as those evil pigeons touched my skin i realized what a bad scene it had become. so i start to leave but of course now the people are asking for money. i toss someone 100B (4 dollars) and meet erica who is standing in the grass about 10 feet away. THEN. Erica says that one of the ladies took 2000B from her hand (80USD). (Erica edit: didn't just take, ripped out of my wallet 2500B, somehow shoving the 2000B somewhere else and showing me the 500B as if it was all she took. I was so shocked I didn't want to believe what had just happened and could only manage to argue paying 300B instead of 500B). Well Shit. Just this morning I had read that it you get mugged or ripped off, Don't Confront. Just report the theif to the Tourism Police. But 2000B. It was the middle of the day, in a public area and there were tons of police type officers around, so we went back and demanded 2000B. There was a lot of denying and anger and confusion. Two officers came over but of course neither of them spoke English. The "peddlers" didn't threaten us and the cops seemed to be on our side so we just didn't leave. We said 2000! over and over and gestured as to what had happened. And finally, a few small bills at a time, we got our money back. It was totally traumatic. I think I was mostly really angry and Erica was just shaken up and sad. (Erica edit: I could believe I had just argued with someone who had less money than me to give me my money back, but 2000B was 2000B and I needed it!) We sort of chalked it up to part of the Bangkok experience but it definetly left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I was glad to leave the big city behind.
(Final Erica edit: Julia is my hero.)
Sawasdee Kha!
Hey You! Falang! Hello! and other greetings from Thailand. So Erica and I arrived into Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon and promptly succumbed to the jet lag we had been fighting off. But let's start at the beginning.
Bangkok. Your beautiful but totally insane friend.
We arrived after 1 am at the BKK International Airport. Despite the late hour it was hopping! We later learned that late arrivals are very common in Bangkok. We taxied to our hostel/hotel in the Thai equivalent of NYC's FiveStar, flat rate unmarked cars that will take you anywhere but don't really know where they are going. But we arrived without too much confusion at New Siam 2 - set back from the street on an alley, colorful, and full of tourists. It had a restaurant in front with open air seating and a pool. Very fun. Our room was pretty plain but that didn't stop us from crashing.
We slept for about 4 or 5 hours and woke around 9, went around the corner and had breakfast at the Wiffy Waffle. It serves waffles, as you might guess. And wafflewiches. It's delicious and the name makes us giggle. We ate there twice.
We started to walk to the Grand Palace but right in front of the National Museum we met The National Theatre Man (we never got his name). He was one of those people you just trust instantly. He greeted us and told us that if we wanted to go to the Grand Palace we would have to change as entrance requires long pants, closed toe shoes and preferably black or white (as the King's sister had just died). We chatted with him for a while and told him what we were planning on doing that day. He directed us to a Wat (temple) with a 40meter tall Buddha that is only open one day a year. So we hopped in a tuk tuk (three wheeled, open air taxi) and sped off. For 40B (about 1.75) our driver took us to two Wats and then some tailoring shops. At the second Wat we met Tanal, a friendly Thai who imformed us it was "Prayer Day" and instructed us in how to pray to Buddha. Then more chatting. When Tanal found out
we were from California his response was: I see movie about California. Call... Sideways. Its about friendly relationship with two men before one get married and they go crazy! Later he asked us if we had seen the news the night before. Thinking it was something about Thailand, maybe the death of the King's sister, Erica and I put on our sad faces only to crack up when he said: Britney Spears go crazy again!
Yes, we discussed what made Britney go crazy in the presence of the Buddha. Shame.
Later, exhausted from our tuk tuk excursions and the trafficy pollution of the city, we came back to New Siam, ate and relaxed. Then it was off around the corner, to explore the tourist rows, streets lined with stalls selling food, fisherman pants, tie dye, sunglasses, thongs, cds & dvds, etc. We shopped a little at a vintage clothing stall, purused some art, then ate at Ricky's - a cafe that served Thai, American AND Mexican (scary) food. To top of the night we got 1/2hour Thai massages. The women take you into a dimly lit room lined with soft mattress pads. There is no space between yours and your neighbors - it's a totally different feeling from the atmosphere of American massage parlors but I really liked it. I like the idea of healing and comfort being communal. I also found it to be more intimate than American/Swedish massage because you aren't just being touched by their hands- these massuers are kneeling on you, leaning you against them, etc. So you lay down and a masseur begins to press and pull you, stretching you, cracking your figners and toes. They bend you into some pretty bizarre positions, not all of them totally comfortable, but you feel so relaxed afterwards.
So yeah, that was our first day in Bangkok. Pretty cool. We were feeling good. Little did we know about what lurked around the corner.
Bangkok. Your beautiful but totally insane friend.
We arrived after 1 am at the BKK International Airport. Despite the late hour it was hopping! We later learned that late arrivals are very common in Bangkok. We taxied to our hostel/hotel in the Thai equivalent of NYC's FiveStar, flat rate unmarked cars that will take you anywhere but don't really know where they are going. But we arrived without too much confusion at New Siam 2 - set back from the street on an alley, colorful, and full of tourists. It had a restaurant in front with open air seating and a pool. Very fun. Our room was pretty plain but that didn't stop us from crashing.
We slept for about 4 or 5 hours and woke around 9, went around the corner and had breakfast at the Wiffy Waffle. It serves waffles, as you might guess. And wafflewiches. It's delicious and the name makes us giggle. We ate there twice.
We started to walk to the Grand Palace but right in front of the National Museum we met The National Theatre Man (we never got his name). He was one of those people you just trust instantly. He greeted us and told us that if we wanted to go to the Grand Palace we would have to change as entrance requires long pants, closed toe shoes and preferably black or white (as the King's sister had just died). We chatted with him for a while and told him what we were planning on doing that day. He directed us to a Wat (temple) with a 40meter tall Buddha that is only open one day a year. So we hopped in a tuk tuk (three wheeled, open air taxi) and sped off. For 40B (about 1.75) our driver took us to two Wats and then some tailoring shops. At the second Wat we met Tanal, a friendly Thai who imformed us it was "Prayer Day" and instructed us in how to pray to Buddha. Then more chatting. When Tanal found out
we were from California his response was: I see movie about California. Call... Sideways. Its about friendly relationship with two men before one get married and they go crazy! Later he asked us if we had seen the news the night before. Thinking it was something about Thailand, maybe the death of the King's sister, Erica and I put on our sad faces only to crack up when he said: Britney Spears go crazy again!
Yes, we discussed what made Britney go crazy in the presence of the Buddha. Shame.
Later, exhausted from our tuk tuk excursions and the trafficy pollution of the city, we came back to New Siam, ate and relaxed. Then it was off around the corner, to explore the tourist rows, streets lined with stalls selling food, fisherman pants, tie dye, sunglasses, thongs, cds & dvds, etc. We shopped a little at a vintage clothing stall, purused some art, then ate at Ricky's - a cafe that served Thai, American AND Mexican (scary) food. To top of the night we got 1/2hour Thai massages. The women take you into a dimly lit room lined with soft mattress pads. There is no space between yours and your neighbors - it's a totally different feeling from the atmosphere of American massage parlors but I really liked it. I like the idea of healing and comfort being communal. I also found it to be more intimate than American/Swedish massage because you aren't just being touched by their hands- these massuers are kneeling on you, leaning you against them, etc. So you lay down and a masseur begins to press and pull you, stretching you, cracking your figners and toes. They bend you into some pretty bizarre positions, not all of them totally comfortable, but you feel so relaxed afterwards.
So yeah, that was our first day in Bangkok. Pretty cool. We were feeling good. Little did we know about what lurked around the corner.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Travel Time: What happens when cross the Pacific
Fun fact: when you're flying for over 30 hrs and through fifteen time zones, you basically lose a day. In this case, julia and I were not on land for most of Jan 8th, but we didn't realize this until we were already in the air. We did, however, enjoy an hour of it in the airport in Taipei, Taiwan.
And the journey, well, it was a journey, but only in mileage and the emotional/mental stability of being able to stay sane on flights (with head colds, bloody noses, and no leg room on the trans-Pacific flight) that are just that long. Let's just say that I think Julia and I make really good travel buddies--we keep each other treading water. Other than that, every flight was on-time and smooth (Portland to LA, LA to Taipei, Taipei to Bangkok), our luggage arrived safely at BKK airport, there were no problems at customs, we got to watch Superbad and The Jane Austen Book Club (really good) on the plane, and my first attempt at saying hello in Thai (sat wat dii) got a pointed in the right direction of a taxi--and I couldn't be more thankful for that.
And the journey, well, it was a journey, but only in mileage and the emotional/mental stability of being able to stay sane on flights (with head colds, bloody noses, and no leg room on the trans-Pacific flight) that are just that long. Let's just say that I think Julia and I make really good travel buddies--we keep each other treading water. Other than that, every flight was on-time and smooth (Portland to LA, LA to Taipei, Taipei to Bangkok), our luggage arrived safely at BKK airport, there were no problems at customs, we got to watch Superbad and The Jane Austen Book Club (really good) on the plane, and my first attempt at saying hello in Thai (sat wat dii) got a pointed in the right direction of a taxi--and I couldn't be more thankful for that.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The countdown begins...
Well, here it is 36 hrs to take off and julia and I are relaxing at her abode in Portland, Oregon...
After taking on this hell of a storm we've got here on the West Coast (and putting on my own chains do it!) Grace (my car) and I made it just fine last night. The weather forecast was predicting snow in FEET over the Siskiyou pass through at least Monday, and well, that just wasn't going to do.
Today was running around getting the appropriate medicines and lotions and bathing suit and plug adapters and nursing the head cold of mine that seemed to arrive in my nose today. Julia is taking care of me though.
So far we've booked our first six nights in Thailand, Jan 7-9 we're staying in Bangkok at New Siam II. After three days wandering through the city, we'll fly north to Chiang Mai and stay four nights at Tri Gong residence. (Don't worry Dad, both we OK'd by Lonely Planet as their top picks!) You can check out the residence's at the links below (if you're curious/worried), and stay tuned...
love, e
New Siam II
http://www.newsiam.net/ns/newsiam2.php
Tri Gong Residence
http://www.trigong.com/
After taking on this hell of a storm we've got here on the West Coast (and putting on my own chains do it!) Grace (my car) and I made it just fine last night. The weather forecast was predicting snow in FEET over the Siskiyou pass through at least Monday, and well, that just wasn't going to do.
Today was running around getting the appropriate medicines and lotions and bathing suit and plug adapters and nursing the head cold of mine that seemed to arrive in my nose today. Julia is taking care of me though.
So far we've booked our first six nights in Thailand, Jan 7-9 we're staying in Bangkok at New Siam II. After three days wandering through the city, we'll fly north to Chiang Mai and stay four nights at Tri Gong residence. (Don't worry Dad, both we OK'd by Lonely Planet as their top picks!) You can check out the residence's at the links below (if you're curious/worried), and stay tuned...
love, e
New Siam II
http://www.newsiam.net/ns/newsiam2.php
Tri Gong Residence
http://www.trigong.com/
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