Thailand Flashback #3: Chiang Mai, around town

I am way overdue for a Thailand update, so I figured I would give you a fairly decent account of my day-to-day life in Chiang Mai. Everyday started about the same. I woke up late morning unless I was going swimming with my friend Faang, in that case I was up and headed to the pool at 8. Otherwise it was down to a local coffee shop, then to Wat Phra Dhatu Chedi Luang to sip my coffee and read under one of the trees surrounding the 800 year old structure. Not a bad morning routine. Then lunch…one of the highlights of my day, I always ate at Salomjoy. It was a great resturant that was fairly cheap and had an awesome menu including a local specialty Khaw soi! And just about anything you can make with a mango. The family that owned it loved me and were a huge reason I always went back. They were so sad the day before I left…nowhere near as sad as I was though. :)

Daily cup of coffee. and yes those are monks.

So that was a typical weekday through 3pm, then it was usually a long walk or going to the guesthouse to pick on Faang and get online for a bit. I would meet my friends for dinner when they got off of work. This was always fun because I made them pick what we ate and they also taught me a few Thai words each night. I always enjoyed riding around on their motorbikes as well. This was what I loved the most about Thailand, the people. They work hard but have a lot of fun!

On the weekends…it was all fun and games! I played soccer with local college students, had beers with my friends, and danced more than I had ever. Saturday/Sunday night my friend Ryan, from England, and I would go to a cluster of covered outdoor bars to watch the English Premier League games. We always watched Liverpool (my team) and Arsenal (his) and all of the employees would be expecting us. They loved us because we always at least ordered and complemented them in Thai. Also we were definitely the only white guys there. It was great, They had big screens with the games projected on them. We would order a few beers an enjoy the game. Usually our friend Nong would join us but she was a Man U fan so she didn’t count! 5555 :) Other days some of us would go to a local lake and relax. And some nights I would head to a nightclub with my friend Bebe (Supinya) and a few others! No matter what I did it was always fun because of the people I was around.

Late night ride with a pack of motorbikes.

Its not just the natural beauty, or the history, or even the food. It’s the Thai people. They always have a positive attitude through everything and are so caring. They earned their slogan “The land of Smiles.”

Chilling at the lake with Nongers. (Mama)

USA Vacation and Japan quake experience

So many of you know I was able to visit home in the US recently, which was absolutely amazing! On my flight home I had a layover in Tokyo just as I had on my way to the US. On my way home the flight ion and out of Tokyo was great to watch from the plane, it was a massive and vibrant city, this was one week before the earthquake. On my next flight in two days after the earthquake and tsunami it was a completely different story, Tokyo was dead. Not to mention the airport that I was flying into had been closed just one day before I left. There was very little traffic in the city and the airport was in a near panicked state. Many of the airport shops were closed and a lot of domestic and a few international flights had been canceled. Everyone was glued to the tv. Did I mention that aftershocks were still being felt? I remember the whole place shaking for 20-30 seconds, something really unnerving.

After a great visit home to see so many people I care about and then being so close (even if for a short time) to one of the world's biggest natural disasters it is hard not to be grateful for everything good in life.




Good friends and their kids.  Are we really growing up?!? btw, Wyatt is totally wearing the 311 swag I gave him.

 

I am glad I got to see all of the folks that really matter. I'm so blessed!




The only photo of me on my camera...oops.