Chiang Mai

Those are oranges. Even though they are green in color, they're actually very sweet.


My birthday cake.

Just a picture of Kailani looking cute! :-)


06.07.08: I woke-up our last morning in Bangkok to a knock on the door. Delivered to me was a huge pancake, the size of the plate, with some fruit and a lit candle on it. It was a wonderful birthday surprise arranged by my dear husband the night before. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my birthday than in Bangkok! After our last breakfast of winter melon soup and chicken and tomatillo green curry on the Bangkok streets, we headed to the airport for our flight to Chiang Mai. For once, it was on time. Although, they did change gates on us, so we were running back and forth a bit.

Arriving in Chiang Mai, you could sense a bit more peacefulness in the air. The weather is also slightly more temperate. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a city and there are still motorbikes, scooters, tuk tuks and cars buzzing around like a free-for-all. And, after being out for half a day, you are still dripping wet with sweat. But there was a little less buzz, dirt and congestion going on…just a little. At our hotel, I felt a little “bait and switched”, just like Hong Kong, because our hotel room didn’t look like the recently renovated ones as shown on the web site. But we did get an excellent last-minute deal, therefore able to stay at a class of hotel above what we normally would, so I can’t complain. With Kailani, having a pool at the hotel is a great commodity. They had a beautiful one lined with aqua-colored crackled glaze tiles (just like the dishes in my kitchen). Chiang Mai is approximately 700 years old. The Old City of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a moat and partially standing walls. The neighborhood where we were is just outside the city walls, but on a street of boutiques and cafes. We wondered around the first night for what seemed like a while, looking for a place for dinner, somewhat missing the street stalls of Bangkok that you could practically trip over. We couldn’t find this Thai place that we were looking for, so settled for a restaurant called West, owned by an Aussie where only Western food is sold. Of course, after, we found the Thai restaurant. It looked pretty cute, quaint with an old-fashioned feel, so we went in for dessert, fresh fruit and black sesame paste balls, mochi on the outside, served in a sweet syrup. I haven’t had those sesame balls since my mom served them for Chinese New Year.

Sunday, we started with a really good breakfast buffet at our hotel. We weren’t feeling the best, probably catching what Kailani caught in Bangkok. So later, we thought we’d fight whatever we had off by taking a tuk tuk to an organic juice joint/café that I read about in our guide book, Juicy4U. Unfortunately, it was closed on Sundays. So, we headed to the Sunday Walking Street where they close off the main drag and open food and craft stalls. I thought I got my shopping all done in Bangkok. But there was a much better quality of things to buy here, rather than the mass manufactured cheap clothing/stuff on Thanon Khao San. There are definitely some creative and artistic people here in Chiang Mai. There were also some great handicrafts from the local hill tribes. One of our favorites was very intricate the metal wall art pounded into three dimensional images. Unfortunately, most of it, I wouldn’t want to carry in my luggage another halfway around the world. So, besides getting a cotton skirt, we strolled, ate mango with sticky rice (my new favorite dessert), Kai got another bottle orange juice (freshly pressed right in front of us this time) and Sean got some fried chicken elbows….yes, I said elbows! We also got 60 Baht ($2 USD) foot massages. We were surprised how long this street went down. By the time we reached the other end, we were ready for more foot massages! Unfortunately, they didn’t offer any on that end of the street.

Monday, we took advantage of the breakfast and pool in the morning. Then, we made attempt #2 to get juice at Juicy4U. Luckily, they were open. :-) But, I was a little bummed to find out they were out of wheatgrass. :-( Still, it was nice to have fresh, organic juice like I used to make daily at home and chat with the owner who knows her thing about nutrition. (Kai must be getting really spoiled with what I would call “fake juice” because she wouldn’t have anything to do with it, and she used to drink it every day with me.) At first meeting, she right away invited me to go to yoga class with her. Little did she know how much I would have LOVED to go, but wasn’t dressed for it, nor would Sean or Kailani be prepared to let me go since we already had plans. Her boyfriend owns a yoga studio too. And, once she sells Juicy4U (it’s on the market), they plan on opening a larger place where they can offer classes and retreats. I’d love to go back there when that happens! From there, we headed to the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. We picked up a couple pirated movies, Kung Fu Panda and the latest Indiana Jones one. We seem to have taken a liking to buying movies and CDs lately, I suppose because they are so readily available and cheap. We tried to look around the Night Bazaar more, but I guess we were finally shopped-out. There was some absolutely stunning, beautiful Lanna carved wood art there. But again, it wasn’t something I’d be carrying halfway across the world with me. We found pleasant Thai place for dinner on the way to the hotel and then headed back to pack up for a trip up north to Doi Ang Khang in the morning.