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.