Chiang Mai

I had high expectation for Chiang Mai since my buddy Marc -- my friend who met me in China for the World Team Table Tennis Championships back in March -- had lived in Chiang Mai for a few months in 2007.

Hannah and I arrived in the city in the evening and took a tuk-tuk to a guest house. After we BOTH showered (our first hot water since the first night!!!!) we went out to a Thai vegetarian restaurant. Following dinner Hannah and I grabbed dessert on the street. A very common dessert in Thailand are street pancakes. They're kind of like a crepe. Here's a pancake stand we went to on the islands:

After dinner Hannah and I walked around the city until we found a nice looking massage place. We paid a couple dollars and had traditional thai massages. At some point during the massage I passed out. I'm not sure if I fell asleep because I was utterly exhausted or because of the extreme pain I was in from this surprisingly strong Thai woman pushing on my pressure points.

After our massages Hannah and I went back to our room to go to sleep. I was dreaming away in the middle of the night when some disturbing noises awoke me from the bathroom. I got up out of bed and found Hannah sitting on the floor praying to the porcelain god (all these Wats must have inspired her):
Hannah claims to have gotten her first case of food poisoning. She thinks it was the street pancake. That said, I'm pretty sure her body was just rejecting the fact that she took a shower.

The next day Hannah was in pretty rough shape so we just took it easy all day. In the afternoon when Hannah took a nap I rented a bicycle and went for a ride around the city to get the lay of the land.

The next day Hannah was feeling a little better so we ventured out of our hotel. Hannah wanted to get some traditional Thai food for lunch so we went to a place honors the king. Not this king:



(PICTURE: The 81-year-old king of Thailand whose picture is everywhere.)

Instead we went to this king:
Hannah got the veggie burger and I had my first non KFC fast food in a year.

After lunch we continued to walk around the city. We stumbled into a random Wat that had some strange statutes in front of it. See if you recongize this Buddha:



Finally, at the end of the day Hannah and I went to the famouse Chiang Mai night market. Like most night markets in Asia they sold a plethora of cheap junk.

Hugging Karma

I consider myself a pretty big hugger. When I say goodbye I generally like to hug people who I feel close with. Sometimes I do the half handshake - half hug thing with guys but usually I go for a full-on hug if I sense the other person is down with it. Once or twice since living in Vietnam I've gone in for a hug with friends of mine who proceeded to stiffen up like a totem pole. It's definitely a cultural thing.

Well, Hannah's love of hugging definitely trumps mine...which resulted in a pretty funny story.

After we were dropped off from our jungle trek I said a quick goodbye to the Germans and our tour guides and sprinted into the guest house to go #1. It was a long drive and I had to pee really really badly. When I came out of the bathroom, Hannah was just getting back from saying her goodbyes. She looked at me and said, "You just missed the most awkward thing ever." Apparently Hannah said to everyone something like, "I just want to warn you but I'm going to hug you goodbye because I like to hug." Hannah then proceeded to hug the Germans and the Thai tour guides -- NOBODY reciprocated.

Hannah couldn't stop laughing about how everyone must have thought she was the weirdest person in the world and how she couldn't stop hugging everyone even as everyone stiffened up around her. In everyone's defense, at this point Hannah hadn't really showered, minus bathing in a waterfall, for a few days.

Anyway, Hannah and I joked about this awkward situation for the next day or so...until karma struck Hannah back.

While bike riding in Sukhothai, Hannah and I rode up to some old building with a bunch of elephant heads on it's side. As we rode up we passed a Thai man who was sitting under a tree. Hannah and I walked around the building and started to take pictures. After a minute the Thai man approached us and asked if we wanted him to take a picture of us. We said yes, thanked him and he took this picture:

After he took this picture he asked if I could take a picture of him and Hannah. The man excitedly walked up to Hannah and gave her a hug...AND THEN HE TRIED TO KISS HER!!! Hannah turned her head fast enough so that he only got her cheek.

Being the good big brother I am I stood there frozen and giggling. Hannah politely pushed him off and said to me, "Let's get out of here!" We rode off as fast as we could. I don't think I stopped laughing for about ten minutes.

Here's their intimate moment seconds before the kiss:

Hannah's First Prophecy

Hannah is not much of a bike rider. I remember as a kid our family once made a big purchase -- we all got mountain bikes. After the first day with our bikes, I'm pretty sure mine was the only one taken out of our garage more than two times. In fact, they are still all in our garage collecting dust as I type this (a million years from now archaeologists or aliens will discover all they ever need to know about human civilization from the never-throw-anything-out August garage).

One person who NEVER rode a bicycle was my sister. To be fair, I think Hannah was so young that she was the only one who didn't get a bike. However, what I'm positive about is that as a kid she never rode a bike. In fact, when she studied abroad in Belgium she rented a bicycle and never rode it because, "I couldn't ride on cobblestone."

Why am I telling this? Well, because Hannah and I went to Sukhothai, Thailand, a place that is highly suggested to be seen while bike riding. Sukhothai is the old kingdom of Thailand (It existed from 1238 till 1438...according to Wikipedia). The area of the old kingdom is pretty spread out and would have been a lot to see on foot. Our guide book told us to rent bikes so the day before we got there Hannah prophesied, "Tomorrow I will ride a bicycle." Well, call her Moses:



(PICTURE: Frog faces, our money pose.)

Overall Sukhothai was a great stop on our way to Chiang Mai. Most people go directly from Bangkok to Chaing Mai and miss this little gem of a place. If you're in Thailand and have an extra day, I would highly suggest going to Sukhothai...especially if you like bike riding.

QUESTION: What is the king of the jungle in Thailand?

ANSWER: Poodles.

One of the weirder things that Hannah and I noticed in Thailand was the large amount of stray show dogs. It seems that lurking in every dark alley was a gorgeous poodle or a cocker spaniel or a corgi or a shar-pei or a chihuahua. These dogs were both cute and ferocious. Ironically we would often see a giant scary looking dog roaming the street and a poodle chained to a wall as if the poodle would tear someone apart. Even weirder, was the large amount of dogs that were wearing sweaters. It seemd that every little dog, even the strays, had sweaters on.

While Hannah and I were waiting in a bus station to go Sukhothai, the old kingdom, I caught on video a vicious little dog in a sweater in action:

Happy Birthday, Huyen!

Happy Birthday, Huyen!

I can't wait for your birthday party!!! You were just kidding when you said in Vietnam that the boyfriend is supposed to pay for the girlfriend's birthday party, right?

I hope you have a wonderful day and an even better year!

7-11

One thing that is hard to miss in Thailand are the gazillion 7-11 convenience stores. They're everywhere. Walking inside of one feels just like being home at the 7-11 on Livingston Avenue. There's really only one difference though -- some of these 7-11s have Monkeys climbing on their roofs:

Hannah became a big fan of the random monkeys in Phetchaburi:

Thai Kids Love Me

In this blog entry I'm just gonna state a fact: Thai kids love me. A picture says a thousand words:

Look at the disappointment on their faces when I had to leave:




Okay, the truth is not all Thai kids love me. I'd say it's around 99% though. Here's the 1% that wants nothing to do with me: