We’re Glad We’re Here

Hey, I know many of you have been speculating whether we’ve decided to join the Muay Thai semi-pro circuit.  Actually, I think we could’ve made a go of it, given the frequent “You big like man” comments followed by admiring squeezes of my biceps from the Indigo Montoya-like Thai guys at the gym.  No, the reason for our lack of posts is actually much more mundane.  Mom arrived and with her hot showers, flush toilets, the Four Seasons hotel and the softest, squishiest, cleanest beds in the world, not to mention, someone else footing the bill!  Yay!  

But before we get to all that I need to give you the low down on Singapore;  In a nutshell, hot, clean and a landmine of rules.  I actually thought the gum chewing thing was a joke until I saw someone being hauled away on the subway.  Must’ve been bubble gum.  Yikes!  We had a quick trip to visit Natasha, but managed to pack in quite a bit, both seeing the sights and eating the food.  (But not this.)

What else is there?  Of course, the zoo was fantastique.  Here’s a pic of one of the baby pygmy hippos…is there anything cuter? 

 

We also really loved the botanical gardens: orchids growing everywhere like dandelions, take a look.  

We did the best we could to try every food stall in the city, but with Charlotte’s parasite (Poookie) acting up, we had to take it easy.  Still, my favorite were the soup dumplings.  How do they get that soup in there?

Mom actually arrived in Chiang Mai before we got back from Singapore.  Dad was appalled “You mean your mother is travelling halfway across the world to see you and you won’t even be there?” but Mom was cool; She spent the day getting the first of many Thai massages, exploring the area around the hotel and having her first Singha beer.  Her explanation:  “Well, girls, I wasn’t sure about the water, but figured the beer would be ok.”  Huh.  We then spent the next few days giving her the tour of Chiang Mai and our favorite food carts.  On the Queen’s birthday (also Mother’s Day in Thailand) we went to the Mandarin Oriental for lunch.  

OMG.  It was outrageously ridiculous.  Everything was imported (forget about local) e.g. parma ham and honeydew, Parmesan custard w/arugula pesto; Duck, lobster, shrimp, crab, lamb and 20 desserts.  Of course, it was our duty, our obligation, to eat one of each so that we could tell you all about it.  I think we embarrassed Mom, though, when we first were seated.  We both stood there (in our elephant poo encrusted Chacos) with our mouth hanging open turning around in circles then dashing off to “survey” the food prior to committing to anything, all before they could come back with our fresh squeezed juices. Some time when we both have plenty of time, I’ll tell you everything we ate.  Gluttony.  It’ll take me an extra 6 weeks to work that lunch off once I get back in the pool, but it was sooo worth it. 

We had also heard that the best Thai cooking classes were in Chiang Mai so decided we’d give it a go.  What a blast.  We stopped at the market first where the instructor explained and we selected the ingredients we’d be using (thank goodness they skipped the caterpillars, crickets and cockroaches.) 

Unlike in the States where a cooking class consists of a classroom which watches the chef prepare a meal, in Thailand, you actually do the cooking at your own station with a helper for every three students.  The helper was a huge plus; thanks to him I only singed my eyebrows.  Anytime you need help with your Pad Kee Mao, let me know.  I’m a pro now.

We said goodbye to our friends (“You go America now?”) and Chiang Mai and flew down to Bangkok.  Wow.  What a difference.  9 million smiling friendly people with what seemed like a cab or tuk tuk for each of them.  It makes L.A. traffic look like Sesame Street.  Hot, gritty, chaotic with fantastic wats on every corner.  We decided to go straight to the Chatuchak Weekend market, the largest in the world, but as soon as we got off the skytrain realized it might’ve been a bad idea.  The station, the exit and overpass, the street all were a wall to wall pulsating mass of sweating people.  You couldn’t even move.  At all. 

The worst though was when we tried to head down one of the covered alleyways (sois.)  Where one person could walk comfortably, there were 6 – 8 and because it was a long dark alley with an overpowering sewer on either side, the overall effect was suffocating.  Of course, we had no idea where we were or how to get out so just decided to sabai (relax) and go with the flow of people although we had to choke down the occasional panic.  Hey, but the shopping was good.  On our way out (at dusk) Mom decided to take a shortcut through the park where we had earlier seen people picnicking (in 100 degrees?)  As we headed toward the station we saw things moving in the grass.  “What’s that?” Thinking she had spied some cute little native Thai mammal, Mom headed toward the swirling shapes, ready to pet them.  Then it hit us, rats!  Hundreds of huge Riley-sized rats were swarming all over the park having a merry Rat Fest which evidently includes a lot of biting.  Funny, that didn’t seem to deter the foreigners from laying in the grass and picnicking in the same spot the next day.  EEEEEEWWWW.  Oh Four Seasons, no wonder we love you so much.

Before leaving Bangkok we toured the usual museums and temples; At the Grand Palace Olivia developed a fever (diagnosed by Mom as dengue fever) so we seriously thought about cancelling our trip to the Southern Thailand beaches.  After careful family consultation, we decided it was worth risking Olivia’s life to go ahead.  After all, Olivia wasn’t bleeding from her eyes and Mom could just monitor her.  Next post, “How the *%#! could it be even hotter than Bangkok!”

Good Tunes, Mac and Cheese, and Utter Nastiness

Well, here we are for our last week interning in Chiang Mai. I can't believe how fast these past 2 months have gone by, and while I'm sad that things are winding down, I'm looking forward to Mom's arrival next week. (And of course we have a quick, four-day trip to visit Natasha in Singapore this Friday!) But I can't get too far ahead of myself, as I first must report on the happenings from last week.

Wednesday night, Charlotte and I went to our final Muay Thai match at the Tha Pae Stadium, since Tom (the skinnier-than-a-beanpole-but-all-muscle-y New Zealander from our gym) was fighting the super-intense Thai champion who's ranked 2nd in Chiang Mai, I believe. He's also the same dude that beat poor Lon a month or so ago. Everyone agreed Lon should've won that match, though....darn judges....Everyone from the gym was betting on Tom, and they even wanted him to bet on himself, that's how certain they were that he'd win. Yet, alas! That darn Thai dude won again! I was so bummed! The match itself was certainly the most exciting I've seen so far (with a Thai champion vs. a New Zealand champ, how couldn't it be?), and both Tom and intense-Thai-dude fought pretty well. Charlotte and I were both convinced that Tom had won the match by the 4th quarter, but apparently we're biased. From a western point of view, more punches and kicks look better, right? But from a Thai perspective, it's better to look fresh and relaxed at the end of a match, even if you don't get in as many punches as your opponent. So while poor Tom was jabbing away at the other guy and wearing himself out, intense-Thai-dude was all chipper by the last round. So he won. Talk about a let down! Oh well, at least it didn't end in a knockout...

At the elementary school the next day, all of the students really enjoyed our lesson about emotions. We taught them a "Hello, how are you?" song that has corresponding movements to go with each emotion. Once they had these down, we played a "hungry monster" game outside where they had to ask the monster (aka. me), "Hello, how are you?" To this, the monster would reply with one of the emotions that we'd learned, and the students would move forward several steps. But, whenever I would growl, "I'm hungryyyy!!" all of the kids would scream and run away as I tried to catch them. They loved it, but man those kids can run fast! They may only come up to my hip and they may have tiny legs, but they sure can move! We also did a walk around the schoolyard teaching them "What is this?" and identifying common objects.

By now, our poor little camera's been worked to death (over 1000 photos since we've been here!) and didn't really make it to document our weekend. Oh well, this just means I'll have to do a thorough job of describing everything, since all of the pictures are pretty fuzzy/dark! After a nice swim at the local pool, Charlotte and I hit up the Night Bazaar with Bernice and Michelle for an Indian dinner. It was a nice change from all of the Thai food (delicious though it may be), and we all chowed down on mango and banana lassis, not-quite-chai-but-nonetheless-tasty tea, butter naan (which I think must've had a pound of butter in it, judging by the taste), butter chicken (soo much butter!), alloo gobi, and some yummy lentils. D'lish!

We then headed over to The Riverside Bar and Grill to listen to some live music. Apparently, it's the place to go for that sort of thing, but it seemed as if everyone else in the city had the same idea, since there was a line out the door even before the band arrived! Instead, we checked out the Braserie, a much quieter restaurant and bar that Michelle and Bernice recommended. And what a nice pick! We sipped on ginger ale as we listened to this chill Thai guy strum out Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé songs. It was quite nice, since we were right next to the Mae Ping River and all (except that every mosquito in the restaurant decided to latch onto my feet). The next Thai band cranked out old rock songs, including those from The Beatles, The Doors, and The Eagles. They were pretty good, and they made quite the band, what with all four Thai guys clad in Nirvana and other rocker shirts. By the time the final band came on at around midnight, Charlotte and I were practically dozing off at our table. We had to stay for at least a song or two, though, since Khun Well (who we work with)'s brother-in-law was playing. They cranked out some good tunes, too, but I'm not sure if I appreciated them as much since I was so sleepy! (What a weenie! I need to improve on this staying up late sort of thing.)

Saturday, we mushed about as usual, but we had a fun evening making soup with Bernice and Michelle. We all cooked it in a stemy pot in Bernice's room, adding fresh veggies and rice noodles here and there. It was the same type of soup that we'd had at Khun Well's shabu shabu party, and it made for a lovely dinner. Afterwards, we topped it all off with Love at First Bite carrot cake (compliments of Bernice), crunchy "cocaine" nuts (They're these peanuts covered in crispy coconut coating, and they're made by a brand called KoKae. Charlotte and I are convinved that their secret ingredient must be cocaine, judging by their name and addictive properties.), and Milo chocolate ice cream. We also tried renting "Captain America" from the local video store, but I was pretty suspicois of it since it's still in theaters. Of course, the video was pirated (you can see the camera moving around as someone taped it in the theater), and was unfortunately all in Thai. I guess that's what we get for trying to rent a pirated video, though. I'm still not sure how a video store can blatantly rent videos like that! They had a whole shelf of movies that were still in theaters. Kinda sketchy, if you ask me.... So instead of watching a shaky, Thai-dubbed version of "Captain America," we watched "The Lord of the Rings" on tv. Ha!

When Charlotte woke up on Sunday morning, she said she was absolutely famished (despite our massive dinner) and wanted to have a big brekky with eggs, bacon, toast, and all that jazz. "Where could I get such a brekky?" she asked, pondering over where she could find such a meal in a place where most people have meat on a stick with rice to start the day. To this, I simply replied, "Miguel's!" We usually sit at their outdoor tables in the evenings (since we don't like staying cooped up in our apartment room all of the time), so we figured the least we could do was to eat there. It hit the spot! Twin had the American breakfast, complete with eggs, bacon, toast, and potatoes, while I had a massive breakfast burrito with precious cheese in it! (It was a welcomed surprise in this cheese wasteland.)

From there, we cycled around Old City scoping out hotels for us to stay in when Mum arrives next week. Later in the afternoon, we decided to bike to Love at First Bite (we're kinda crazy about it) with Michelle and Bernice. We knew we had to bike over there pretty quickly though, since the sky was rapidly darkening with ominous clouds that threatened to let down a torrential flood any minute. We managed to bike over there and eat a bit of our dinner (mac and cheese at last!!!) without any rain.

However, about halfway through our meal, the torrential flood let loose. Enormous rain drops pelted the sidewalk, and within several minutes, the courtyard we were sitting in was flooded. Michelle and Charlotte were getting pretty excited at the prospects of riding home in the rain, with Charlotte saying things like, "Ooh, I love riding in the rain in Seattle!" Uh huh. Well, we soon realized that Seattle rain is quite different from the Chiang-Mai-end-of-humanity-drown-the-planet-in-water type of rain. We quickly dashed into the bakery to pick up a chocolate cake for the road, and stopped to chat with the bakery owner before braving the elements. (Quick side note: The Thai lady who owns the bakery visits CA every April, and goes to a Thai church in Claremont of all places! And, if that's not weird enough, her daughter lives in Eugene, OR! Ack! Another person from Eugene! Super weird!) Anyways, she was super friendly and gave us all pumpkin muffins to take with us. As we were leaving, she advised us: "Make sure you wash your feet when you get home because they'll be very dirty from all of the water." At the time, I thought that of course I'd wash my feet since they'd probably be a bit muddy, but I didn't really think any more of it. However, when I stepped outside into the downpour, I realized that I would need to thoroughly scrub and sanitize my feet with scalding water and excessive amounts of soap, not to mention slather them in Purell for hours on end. No, I could not just "wash them." To my horror, I looked out at the street that was completely submerged in foul-smelling, swirling grey water. The super-sized raindrops had completely flooded the street during bakery stop, making it impossible to fetch our bikes from the parking lot without crossing the treacherous, filthy water. Although the parking lot was only 25 meters or so away, it now seemed impossibly far, since we practically had a river between us and our bikes. Bravely, Michelle waded out into the muck as I stood transfixed at the edge of the water, watching with disgust as she sloshed through the fetid street water. Knowing that Charlotte would rather die than cross the mucky-muck, I sacrificed myself. I hoisted her onto my back, and gingerly stepped out into the ever-growing river of filth. Truth be told, I thought I was going to contract some sort of deadly tropical disease that would force me to spend my final days in a hospital bed, ruing the day I waded through the nasty street water. When I wasn't thinking about how I'd soon perish from sheer disgust (if some mysterious disease didn't get me first), I tried not to think about what exactly I was stepping on or what I was wading through. Somehow, though, I managed to make it to the parking lot, where I promptly deposited Charlotte and had a little that-was-so-incredibly-disgusting freak out, which consisted of me running around and shaking my feet, as if I could shake the grime off. (Note: This method didn't work.) I must also note that until now, I'd taken great care to avoid even the smallest puddle of street water and I normally am not as easiluy repulsed by this sort of thing. It's just that wading through murky, refuse-filled water tends to have this sort of effect.

At least my pink poncho matched my beach cruiser bicycle! As we all pushed off from the parking lot, I realized that there really wasn't any point in having carried Charlotte to the lot, since her feet were now completely submerged with every push of her bicycle pedal. Surprisingly, we made it through the flooded street without tipping over, but would get completely soaked (even more than we already were) in walls of water whenever a car sped by. When we finally made it back to the apartment, we were completely filthy but all of us were smiling! Quite an adventure, I say, even if it was disgusting!

Shabu Shabu Partay (And Other Fun Bits)

Olivia and I keep quibbling about who has to do this post because we are both so tired we just wanna go to sleep, but since the arguing wasn't getting us anywhere we decided to try a combined post.  So I'll do a paragraph or two, then Olivia will do some. Hahaha.  You, our lovely, followers can turn it into a game! Try and guess which twin wrote which paragraph.  I'll give you a hint.  The better ones will be by me ;P.  So, I guess I should start by talking about Olivia and I's first ever office party!  Friday afternoon Khun Well, Bernice, and Thor left work early to go pick up some food from the markets.  After work, Khun Tom picked Olivia, Bernice, Michelle and I up from the apartment and we headed off to Khun Well's house.  Turning down one of the smallest streets in all of Chiang Mai we were greeted by Khun Tin holding a leash, at the end of which was a very feisty chihuahua.  On closer inspection, Olivia and I realized there were actually 4 other small rather irritating yapping dogs locked up in a wire cage in the corner of Khun Well's yard.  I guess she decided to go for 5 small guard dogs as opposed to one average sized one.  Khun Well also has two little girls.  I can't remember their names....but they were SUPER energetic.  They ran around screaming and jumping up and down for at least the first 3 hours we were there! They would have made any varsity athlete jealous of their endless stamina.  Well, I like Khun Well's part a lot because we got to help her cook! First Olivia and I decided that it would be best to learn how to make desert.  So we helped Khun Tin as he made his famous pumpkin custard.  It's delicious! And we took notes, so hopefully next year I can make it for people to try! Only if I can get a hold of some of the ingredients....But, I'll tell you guys the basics.  Firstly, you acquire a ripe pumpkin.  Cut the top off, and scoop out all of the filling and seeds.  These can either be discarded, or used for another recipe, but they are not needed for the custard.  Next mix 4 eggs (we used duck eggs cause they are richer) a cup of coconut milk, three pandanus leaves, and 200g of sugar.  Oh, and a pinch of salt.  Mix all this together, and pour it into the pumpkin.  Then you steam it for an hour.  Viola! After the pumpkin has cooled, you slice it up, and eat the delicious custard insides.  Quite simple, really, and yet oh-so-tasty!

Behold, the great pumpkin steamer!

After we finished helping Khun Tin, we helped Bernice chop vegetables.  Not nearly as fun as making a custard....but the baby corn did provide a cuteness factor that the custard-making didn't really have.  Oh, yes, and there's the fact that a super old karaoke machine was playing in the background.  Khun Well LOVES singing.  Eating was more fun that eating usually is, too! Which is saying something, because eating is truly one of my favorite pastimes! But, at Khun Well's we had Thai-style Korean BBQ.  Olivia and I sat on these TINY stools, that were about half an inch off of the ground.  Everyone gathered around this little hot plate.  There was a simple soup of diced vegetables in a bowl in the center of the hot plate, and all around it we placed raw meat.  It was super fatty meat, kinda like bacon...except even fattier.  But not quite as fatty as pork belly.  If you left it on the grill long enough it got super crunchy, and went quit nicely with the soup.  We all had to be careful though because the fat kept popping and exploding all over us.  We'd be in the middle of a conversation, and all of a sudden someone would scream and clutch their neck, or arm, or whatever exposed skin had just been hit by the scalding fat blobs!

Khun Tin, Thor, Khun Tom, and Khun Annop grilling the enormous mound o' meat from the market.

Bernice, Charlotte and Khun Well's dad, who was super cute and kept dancing and tapping a tambourine to the karaoke music.

Michelle, Khun Tin, and Thor preparing to chow down on shabu shabu!

Thor looks displeased that we interrupted him mid-bite!

By the time everyone was done eating it was quite late, and I was thinking how nice it would be curl up for a nice long sleep.  Little did I know the party was just getting started! Khun Well, quite tipsy by this point, insisted that we all sing a million karaoke songs each! Olivia and I jammed out to ABBA for quite some time (hooray for "Dancing Queen!"), but after Khun Tom had a few more beers it was hard to get the mike away from him! Well, Thor managed to wrestle it away from him a few times, and belted out Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved."  These Thai people sure do like their karaoke....but they like the slower songs.  No Lagy Gaga for them! NO WAY!  HAHAHA! Khun Tom sang Michael Buble and Simon and Garfunkle.

Crankin' out some tunes.

Ok, switching over to Olivia's portion now! We spent Saturday lounging about and relaxing in between our Muay Thai lessons, and we even managed to buy some Tintin shirts from the night bazaar. Score!

Charlotte and Kob after practice (with super tall and skinny Tom in the background).

Check out the gun show!

After a scrumptious brekky at Smile Coffee on Sunday morning, we hit up the Chiang Mai National Museum with Michelle and Bernice. There were some interesting bits and bobs here and there, but I think Michelle summed it up pretty well when she remarked, "My favorite part was the water jug at the end." The museum was quite simple and had a few nice pieces of Lanna art, including this one enormous, bronze Buddha head. Unfortunately, they didn't allow us to take any pics, so I can't show you the lumps of silver that used to be used as currency or mannequins that had a strinking resemblence to Gollum. While I was getting that dusty museum drowsiness by the end, I was soon revived by a quick motorbike ride over to Nimanheimen Road, which is near Chiang Mai University. The area has a Thai-style college town vibe to it, complete with hipsters, cute coffee shops, and tiny boutiques. A perfect place to dink around in!

Michelle and Bernice are experts at driving along the crazy Chiang Mai streets.

Our first stop was Mont, where we munched on tart, creamy yogurt, buttered toast with custard, and a green tea latte. Sooo good! The toast was ridiculously yummy, but I suppose anything slathered in butter and covered in egg custard would taste pretty darn good. Strolling around afterwards, we came across a tiny mochi ice cream shop called Kane Mochi. Since Michelle had never had mochi before, we naturally had to get some for her to try.

Michelle was quite pleased with her toast!

Oops! I forgot to take a picture of my scrumptious toast before I began devouring it.

I don't really know who this is (maybe the guy who started Mont?), but he looks just like the principal at the school we teach at.

We walked around for a bit "waiting to get hungry again," as Michelle put it. You have to understand that I've been having these ridiculous pasta cravings since I've been in Thailand, which isn't altogether too surprising since I have pasta at least once a day back home. So when Michelle and Bernice said there was a yummy pasta shop in the area, I couldn't pass up the opportunity! And I must say, it was certainly worth the wait!

Pasta carbonara, Thai-style (note the small, roasted chilies poking out).

From Nimanheimen, Michelle and Bernice dropped Charlotte and I off at the Sunday Walking Street Market where we poked around for a bit. One of the interesting finds for the night: dried longans. Fresh longans are juicy and sweet (kind of like lychees), but the dried ones had a slightly more savory taste, almost like beef jerky. Sounds funky, but they were pretty tasty.

Ferocious, Highly Poisonous, Man-Eating Leeches

There are lots of exciting things to talk about! But I think this might have to be a short post because Olivia just turned on the TV and is watching Sean of the Dead. HAHAHAHA! Man, Simon Pegg is hilarious.  But enough of that.  As far as Thailand is concerned, I'll get started with the activities of last night.  So, Olivia has developed this super depressing theory about Kob, our friend from Muay Thai.  He's one of those kids that got shipped off when he was 8 to a training center to learn the art of Thai kickboxing.  This naturally means he doesn't  have time to go to school.  Olivia has now convinced herself...and me, that since Kob has never been to school, and most of the Muay Thai people are foreigners, he has no friends.  That's why he's so excited every time Olivia and I get to the gym...and he always says "You my friend! My friend!"  So, Olivia has decided that it's our job to befriend him.  I agreed that this was a noble goal, and so we invited him and Sean to the night market! After Muay Thai we all took a tuk tuk across the Nawarat bridge into the "touristy" part of the city to the Bazaar.

Me about to hog all to food from poor skinny Sean.

I bought 2 pairs of knock-off Ray Bans to replace my super cool ones that I sat on the other night.  I don't think Sean bought anything, but I thought it was funny that he loved to look at the Batman-shaped throwing blades, and Captain America t-shirts.  What a nerd!  Kob was falling asleep by 8 o'clock, and I don't think he could afford anything at the market anyway.  He really wanted a pair of these Nike shoes, but when Olivia told him to get them he just said "no money."  I wanted to by them for him cause they were only like $15, but I wasn't sure if that would be offensive....  Anyway, it started to rain and rather than brave the elements, in the proper Thai fashion, we found refuge in a restaurant.  The food was alright.

Disappointingly small serving of duck noodles.

 But the portions were pretty small, and it was kinda pricey.  My guess is because it's kind of a touristy area.  Luckily, Sean and Kob, both as skinny as bean poles,  didn't eat too much, which meant there was plenty for Olivia and I.  We ate family style where we all just picked one entree each and then shared.  Oh, and just as a side note, there are tons of drag queens at the night bazaar.  Which I don't really get.  Kob just thinks they are really gross.  But I guess that's where the Muay Thai instructors get the term "Lady Boy".  That's what they call all the foreign guys that obviously haven't renewed their gym memberships in a few years.  Anyway, we all had a lot of fun looking at all the nifty stuff together, but Kob was wiped, so we had a pretty early night.  Either way, Olivia and I were very pleased with how things turned out, because now I think we are officially friends with Sean and Kob. 

Olivia being...I dunno....Japaneseish.  And a sleepy Kob.

Super cool bug I found.  It's like a giant roly-polly, but it felt like a marble. 

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see them today because we couldn't make it to Muay Thai.  We went on a hike through the jungle instead! Michelle (from the office) invited us to go up to Pang Soon lodge today and help her remark the trails.  Olivia and I couldn't refuse such an exciting invitation, and so today we found ourselves hiking through several miles of "trails" in the jungle.  Aunty C (super cute old lady that does all the cooking at the office) packed us a lunch of rice, chicken and basil, which we loaded up into the truck, along with some leech-proof socks and trail cameras.  After one last look-around, we decided we hadn't forgotten anything, and so we hit the road.  I don't know if Olivia has introduced Thor in a previous post, so I'll just put my 2 cents in.  He's possibly one of the goofiest people I have ever met.  We were sitting under a lamb-yai tree (type of fruit) the other day.  He peels the skin off of one to reveal the soft, juicy interior.  "Mmmm...eyeball" he says, as he pops it into his mouth. "You want some?"  What a goof!  Anyway, Thor was driving.  Michelle was in the front passenger seat, and Olivia and I rode in the back.  As we were making the long drive up to Pang Soon (it's  just over an hour drive from Chiang Mai), she told us what we were going to be doing.  Pretty much all we had to do was replace the existing trail markers with the newer ones.  And when I say trail markers, think 2x3 inch rectangles of aluminum nailed to a tree.  Also, don't think nicely groomed trails.  We often got lost in the jungle because the trails aren't exactly what you'd call defined paths.  It was super fun though!  We saw SO many cool bugs, and plants, and mushrooms.  We were up marking the "trail" for about 5 hours.  Around 1ish Olivia and Michelle were about to collapse from hunger, so we stopped on a little ridge and ate our tasty Thai cuisine overlooking the misty mountains.  It was really a beautiful place...even if I did leave covered in leeches and ticks! We also had to set up the camera, in order to do some wildlife surveys.  Unfortunately, Michelle bought a really crummy padlock for it.  I pointed out the fact that if the lock rusted she wouldn't be able to get the camera out of the anti-theft case to see the pictures.  So, we didn't get to set the camera up...but maybe that just means we will get to go up to the lodge again!  We did manage to survey some staked-off quadrants and identify some plant species, though. That was pretty cool.  Oh, and it also started pouring during lunch, and lasted the rest of the trek.  But I didn't mind.  I like the rain much better than the constant sweating!  Okay, I apologize for the poor organization of this post...but Simon Pegg shooting zombies can be a bit distracting!

Thor, Olivia, Me, and Michelle after a day in the jungle

A Visit to Muang Gorn

Charlotte and I just spent a lovely day and a half in Muang Gorn, the village where Khun Annop (from the office) lives. Khun Annop invited us to join him and Thor for a short visit to his village, since Whitney, a 5th grade teacher from Colorado, was coming to do a home-stay with him and to teach local students for a few hours (just to "see what the culture's like"). Naturally, Charlotte and I were eager to do a bit more exploring, and happily accepted the invitation. After we picked Whitney up from the airport yesterday, we stopped by a local restaurant for some killer kow soi--the curry-ish egg noodle soup that I'm hopelessly addicted to. (I really need to learn how to make some before I leave Thailand, since I'm going to crave some when I get home!)

When we arrived at Khun Annop's house, his wife and some of the village elders greeted us and performed a welcoming ceremony for all of us. (Ooh, and they also gave us each these heavenly-smelling, Thai-style jasmine leis. They smelled sooo good!) A Bai Sri Soo Kwan ceremony is a traditional Isaan ceremony that's conducted on important occasions like welcoming visitors, celebrating marriages, and for deaths. Only the village elders can conduct a Bai Sri, and the special tradition is passed on from one generation to the next. During the ceremony, the women tie strings onto participants' left wrists and the men tie strings onto participants' right wrists. As they tied the strings onto our wrists, the elders prayed for our spirit/soul (Kwun) to bring goodness and protection to us. An older woman also dragged a piece of string across the palms of our hands to remove any bad things from our lives and welcome good things. Many Thais believe that each person has a protective Kwun that looks after them and their family throughout their lifetime. Your Kwun brings happiness, and it must be regained if it is lost (or else there will be serious problems!). For now, we're supposed to keep our string bracelets on for at least three days for good luck. Hopefully, mine will make it longer! It was quite incredible that they shared their ceremony with us, and I felt honored to be a part of it. It was such a cool experience, and all of the village elders were very sweet.

Me, Charlotte, Thor, the village elders, Whitney, and Khun Annop at the start of the ceremony.

The Bai Sri tree that served as the centerpiece was meant to represent  the universe.

Tying the knot.

We then refueled with fresh coconut water (right from freshly picked coconuts from Khun Annop's garden) before going for exploring the village. We pedaled around on these adorable, candy-apple-red vintage bicycles that used to belong to the Japanese postal service. They proved to be an ideal method of touring the area! After stopping over for a quick visit to the local temple (every village has its own temple), we paid a visit to the local handicraft center. The village is know for its carpenters, and I quickly learned why. They made these incredibly intricate wood carvings that had so many detailed layers of woodwork. In one little patch of the wood carving, there would be misty mountains, twisting trees, blossoming flowers, and leaping deer all carefully carved around one another. I can't imagine how you'd go about making something like that out of a huge hunk of wood! And think how patient they must be to gently tap away each little piece of wood! I wish I could bring some of them home (I bet Charlotte would put the wooden dragon in the entryway to our house if she could), but I know they'd get smashed to bits.

Look at all of those wood shavings!

Later that afternoon, we met some of the local children that we'd be teaching the next day. As we played soccer with them, I realized that they are much more advanced than our students (near the elephant camp). I'm not sure why this is, since they don't have any foreign English teachers at their school, but it certainly was much more fun playing with them when I could communicate properly! There were longan trees everywhere, too, so we had fun picking and munching on them throughout the afternoon.

Longans!

Khun Annop and his neighbors went all-out for dinner, though! They made us an incredible feast with lemongrass pork sausage, tasty pork bits, this yummy soup, some sort of hevenly veggie, and the world's best curry. Everything was so yummy, Charlotte and I had a hard time eating it all, although I did manage to get fourfthsies! For dessert, we munched on mangosteens, longans, and this fruit that looks like a small, tan fig but tastes like a grapefruit. A most curious fruit! When I was so stuffed I couldn't even wiggle (to pack the food down), I drafted a quick lesson plan before turning in for the night. Oooh, but I forgot to mention one of the the wonderful luxuries Charlotte and I had at Khun Annop's house--full sized towels! Ever since we've been in Thailand, we've only used these tiny, quick-dry camping towels that are slightly larger than a wash cloth (since we didn't have room to pack big ones and we don't want to buy big ones since they'll never dry in this humidity). I guess I hadn't realized it before, but there's nothing like burying your face in a nice, fluffy towel (especially if you've been deprived of one for a bit).

This morning, we woke up early to visit the village temple, where they allowed us to participate in their daily rituals. Everyone was given plates with incense, flowers, leaves, and puffed rice (of all things!) to donate and place in four larger bowls. Then we sat in the temple during their prayers and chanting, which were sometimes led by the monk. At one point in the ceremony, everyone was given a small bottle of water and a glass. When the monk blessed the water, we bowed three times (nearly touching our heads to the floor) and slowly poured the water into the glasses. We then took the water, and poured it over some of the plants outside the temple. It was a most relaxing ceremony, even if I didn't understand what they were saying! Following the ceremony, we all lined up and gave food donations to the monk (although we had to place them in his bag, since we weren't allowed to hand it directly to him). Most people donated rice, pork rinds, perhaps some fruit, and/or a few baht, although I saw one lady donate a chocolate bar, too! There was this super cute old lady there, who was very eager to tell us all about her tradtions and customs (but in Thai). She was so sweet, and showed us how to rub the gong to make it ring, rather than hitting it with a gong-hitter thingy. While we rubbed the gong, we were supposed to think of a message or wish for Buddha, so that he would hear it. It was pretty cool how loud the gong would ring just from us rubbing it with the palms of our hands.

Khun Annop making his donation.

Rub rub rub!

After a brekky of tea and toast (hooray!), we broke into our English-teaching groups. Since Whitney teaches 5th graders in the US, she took the youngest kids while Charlotte and Thor taught two high school students. Meanwhile, I worked with three adults from the village who wanted to work on their speaking skills. I was quite impressed by how much they already knew, and they were worked very hard for our 3.5-4 hours of lessons. They even tried teaching me the Thai translation for some of the words I introduced, but I didn't retain any of them! After a lunch of pork fried rice and pig's blood noodle soup (that tasted surprisingly normal, despite my previous misgivings), we strolled through the neighborhood, pointing out things in English and asking our students simple questions. I enjoyed talking to them and trying to pick up Thai words and phrases. As we strolled about, the villagers and Thor showed us all the incredible fruits and veggies that grow there. Honestly, I don't see how you'd ever need to buy produce if you lived in a village like that, since there's so much! On our walk, we encountered: green papaya, mangoes, guavas (that were hard as a rock and tasted pretty funky....I'm pretty sure they weren't ripe!), pomegranates, lemons, limes, pommellos, longans (of course! Pretty much every other tree was a longan tree), bananas, custard apples, dragon-fruit, Thai basil, two types of beans, and a number of other mystery herbs/fruit/veg. That's quite a mix, I'd say! And the nice thing was, we had a chance to sample many of the tropical fruits. One of the villagers even gave us a pommello to take home! (It's about the size of my head, so it should make for a nice brekky tomorrow for Charlotte and I.)

Dragon-fruit!

Mysterious thingamabob.

Enormous pommello!

Sour/bitter thingy.

Charlotte and Pai, one of her students.

Later this afternoon, we chatted with some of the villagers, one of whom was this hysterical Thai man, who is a retired teacher from the local school. He kept giggling at everything, which I found quite entertaining, since he had a very goofy laugh to begin with. When he found our Thai-English phrasebook, he flipped through it, looking for words and erupting in little fits of laughter every so often. He'd repeat many of the things we'd say (a good way to practice his English, I suppose!), but his glass of wine certainly didn't help with his giggling! Finally, after pouring over our phrasebook for quite some time, he triumphantly looked up, and with a gleeful laugh pointed to the phrase, "What a babe!" Everyone at the table busted out laughing, especially the Thai man. He thought it was the funniest thing! Haha!

Pai, Charlotte, funny Thai villager, and Thor.

After a day and a half of exploring, teaching, and eating, it was time to bid farewell to the Muang Gorn village and return to Chiang Mai.