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!