8/5/10 (chiang mai)

Chiang Mai - Mae Sa Valley - Chiang Mai

By my standard we woke up early in the morning at 7am to get ready for our day. We were going to the elephant camp about an hour away at Mae Sa Valley and had to be there before the show at 9:30am. We checked in with Mr. Sak before leaving who gave us directions on how to get to the camp. Along the way we got a bit turned around on the road but found the camp with plenty of time to spare. We are always a little weary of going to animal camps or farms since there is a reputation that the animals are not treated very nicely. Pai recommended the elephant camp and said that the elephants do amazing things. When we arrived there were a row of fifteen elephants each with their own trainer, called mahout. There was a wall listing each elephant and its own mahout. It is said that a very special bond is formed between the elephant and its mahout. We watched people feed the elephants bananas and sugar canes. Some of the elephants got impatient with the people taking too long untying the bundle of sugar canes that they just grabbed the whole bundle with their trunk and shoved into their mouth. There was a very cute little girl about four years old feeding an elephant at the far end of the stable away from the crowds. She was nervous and excited at the same time. I’m sure the elephant was feeling the same thing.

The beginning of the show started with the elephants taking a bath in the river. The mahout instructed the elephants to lie down and the mahouts poured water on the elephants and scrubbed their bodies. I think the elephants liked the baths so much that they would let themselves go and poop in the river. If you have never seen an elephant poop it is about the size of a softball. There were women standing at the edge of the river with baskets scooping up the poop. If you ever thought you had a crummy job just think of theirs!

Then we entered an open stadium where the elephants performed all sorts of acts from kicking a soccer ball into the net with an elephant as the goalie to playing harmonicas using their trunks. The most impressive thing was watching them paint. Their mahout handed them different color paintbrushes. Some painted stems with different color flowers on each one of them and it was amazing the control they exhibited with their trunks. One elephant painted a view of the mountains and it even had a dimensional effect to it. It was incredible! The paintings were available for sale afterwards. All of them were $67 US each except for the mural of the mountains, which was selling for $200. I would have seriously considered buying one of them if we were able to carry them around easily in our travels. The most amazing one was a huge mural that was selling for $10,000. I would like to meet the elephant who painted that canvas. After the show we walked to visit their newest addition to the park. An elephant had given birth to a baby girl elephant five months ago. The mom and the baby were kept far away from the other elephants and crowds. The baby was rambunctious and several times tried to put her mahout into a corner and kick him with her hind legs. The mahout had to be careful and would hit her legs when she did so. I guess the baby elephant had a lot of learning to do.

After a full morning with the elephants we headed to lunch at a boutique hotel called Proud Phu Fah that I had read about in Lonely Planet. The hotel was tucked away in the valley and had an open-air restaurant with a view of the valley. We had a very relaxing lunch so much so that we considered asking them if we could take a nap before heading off. If someone was looking to unwind and get away with very little to do this was the perfect place.

Along the way to the elephant camp we passed by a tiger farm that Jon was curious to check out so we drove back to the tiger farm. The place was such a contrast to the elephant camp. It was one of the most modern and sophisticated entrances to an animal park we had ever seen. There were TV screens showing you various packages. The packages depended on what size tigers you wanted to see and how many ranging from $10-$66 and higher to spend ten minutes with each tiger. The most expensive was a visit to the baby tigers. We felt it was too commercialized and a profit center. The tigers looked like they had been drugged, which is likely considering they probably don’t enjoy lines of people coming up to the them to take pictures. I felt bad for the tigers.

By this time we were feeling groggy and needed a nap. We considered going back to Mr. Sak’s place for a nap but were also interested in a monk chat at another temple. We had become monk chat junkies. We headed into town to find the temple. I took a quick nap in the car to recuperate while Jon enjoyed a chocolate latte at a nearby coffee shop. After a quick nap and caffeine surge we headed to the monk chat. We found several foreigners talking to monks. We sat at one of the tables with a few monks and quickly developed a friendly rapport with them. They were all university monk students and were as curious about us as we were about them. We met a lively young monk nicknamed Tiger who shared with us his reasons for being a monk. He is from a village close to the Laos border and is learning English so he can go back to his village to teach the children. Many of them were intrigued that someone, like me who looked like them, can speak English so fluently. They envied Jon’s pale skin tone while we tried to explain to them that westerns spend tons of money to get tanned skin. We tried to explain a tanning salon but I don’t think they understood the concept. Jon approached one of the more fluent English speaking monks for an interview for our blog. He was nervous being on camera since it was his first interview.

After spending a few hours with our monk friends we decided to head home. On our way home we stopped for dinner. Jon was in the mood for Miguel’s Mexican while I settled for some local food. For dessert we got a fresh juice shake along with a banana and chocolate rotee. A rotee is what I would describe as an Indian fried crepe filled with any topping you like and most order it with condensed milk and/or chocolate on top. It was a sweet ending to a full day.

8/4/10 (chiang mai)

Chiang Mai

After a full night’s rest and a few hours of reacquainting ourselves with driving a car yesterday we were ready to explore the city. Before leaving Mr. Sak provided us with clear instructions on how to reach our destination. He reminded me a lot of my father with his exactness in driving and road conditions. He would tell us when to turn on a road based in kilometers and the road conditions to expect along the way. His kindness touched our hearts.

Our first stop was the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, considered one of the most sacred temples in the north. To reach the temple we drove up a summit, which reminded us of the roads in New Zealand. In some parts there were only two lanes though it was only as wide as one car and it was very lush and green everywhere. Once we got to the base of the temple there were 306 steps waiting for us. There is also a tram you can take instead of walking the steps but we figured we were young and fit enough to tackle the steps. Luckily, the step were evenly spaced out and seemed newly constructed versus the steps at the temple in Battambang. After catching our breath we walked around the temple. In the center of the temple is a huge shrine encased in gold. There was construction going on so it didn’t make for the best photo spot but it was still an amazing sight. Around the shrine there were smaller prayer rooms with statues of various deities. In one of the rooms there was a monk offering blessings to people. After the blessing people approached the monk for a wristband made from yarn. In the Thai tradition women are not supposed to get close to the monks or have any physical contact with them so the only the men went to the monk to get the wristbands while the women went to an assistant sitting next to the monk.

Mr. Sak recommended that we visit the royal family’s winter palace after the temple. When we arrived there were about a hundred middle school children waiting to enter the palace. We decided to grab some lunch and wait for the crowd to thin out. But then a thick layer of fog rolled in and we figured if we went into the palace it would be hard to see anything. We skipped the palace and continued on the road to a Hmong village. There were two villages mentioned in the guidebook and one was off the beaten path so we decided to explore the road less taken. It did prove to be less explored as the paved road turned into gravel roads and became treacherous in some parts. When we arrived at the Hmong village it looked as if it was deserted. There were only a few people near a roadside convenience shop. We did see a lot of dogs and they laid around looking lethargic. They weren’t too curious about us and we had to weave around them on the road since they didn’t even bother to get up. We decided to drive further down the road and stumbled upon an elementary school. There were some people knitting but it didn’t appear that they spoke any English. We saw the biggest rooster ever standing on top of its wooden cage staring down at its little chicken subjects. There were wooden houses, some look like they had been built decades ago and not in the best conditions, along dirt paths and surprisingly there were solar panels next to some of the houses. I was surprised to see solar panels, which is a modern invention, in a village that appeared to have been unchanged for decades.

As we headed back to the city we made a pit stop at a coffee shop along the hillside near the Hmong village. The shop overlooked the valley and reminded us of some of the places we had been on our travels. Continuing down the road we made another stop at a vista point overlooking the city. We didn’t realize how big Chiang Mai was even though it is the second biggest city in Thailand. In the distance we saw two rainstorms approaching the city from different directions. It was an awesome view.

One of the things we had been curious about was how the monks lived in Thailand. Every morning you see monks going out to get their daily meals from the public. The monks will go from shop to shop to collect food or money and in return offer the shops a blessing. It had been hard to talk to monks since we are not sure if we can approach them to ask questions and if they speak English. So when we found out about monk chats we were very excited. There are a few temples that have a Buddhist university attached them. The universities created monk chats as a way for monks to practice their English and for foreigners to ask questions about monk life and Buddhism. We visited Wat Suan Dok where there was a monk chat from 5-7pm. We sat around a table with monks from Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. We met a monk from Cambodia who was the most talkative though some were just there to practice their listening skills. It was interesting to hear his perspective on Cambodia as he was about seven years old when the Khmer Rouge was coming into power. We also learned that the color the monks wear doesn’t have any significance though many of them choose the yellowish orange color as it resembles the mature life cycle of a leaf. Overall it was an engaging experience and opened our minds.

After a long day of exploring we were ready to head back to Mr. Sak’s restaurant to have some dinner. He was very excited to hear about our day and impressed with our determination to climb the temple steps. He also helped us plan our next day of sightseeing in kilometers.

8/3/10 (chiang mai)

Chiang Mai

Annie and I woke up to the swaying of the train and the banging of the bathroom door. It was a rainy morning as the train raced through the Thai countryside. We arrived at the Chiang Mai train station at 11am. Both Annie and I were feeling tired. Annie had trouble sleeping and felt a little disoriented when she stepped off the train much like setting foot on land after a long and wavy boat ride. I feel like Ambien sleep isn’t real sleep. I like to call it fake sleep because I feel like it isn’t a deep sleep. We were met by Mr. Sak, who is the father of our friend Pai from Bangkok. Pai had arranged for us to stay with his  father while we were visiting Chiang Mai. Mr. Sak eagerly greeted us and escorted us to his car. We loaded our luggage and were off to Mr. Sak’s restaurant and bungalows called Khun Chai Kitchen. We got a brief glimpse of downtown Chiang Mai and Mr. Sak pointed out many areas of interest. When we arrived we were shown to our accommodations and quickly got settled. It was lunch time and we visited the restaurant. We had a good lunch and then headed back to our room to rest for the afternoon. At 4pm we decided to explore the downtown area of Chiang Mai and Mr. Sak had armed us with a car and directions. I had not driven a car since we were in Australia roughly three months ago and Asia driving has a unique ebb and flow. I am going to go down a politically incorrect path but most people know the bad reputation Asians get for driving in the United States. It all makes perfect sense to me now having spent the last three months in Asia. It is very different from US driving. For instance when entering the flow of traffic, most drivers don’t stop to wait for a break into the traffic. To me it feels more like a short yield with the expectation that you will let them in. In America this would result in a lot of swearing and probably a few middle fingers. In Asia, it is customary and no one seems to mind. You also have to contend with the thousands of motor bikes weaving in and out of lanes. They really come at you from all directions. It is a unique free flow much unlike the more proper US system. Rules are bent but it all seems to work. I will cut the Asians a little more slack having seen what it is like on their home turf. 

The city center of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a square moat and we did a short loop inside the inner city. The town itself it a lot larger than I anticipated and has a population of two million people. It reminds me of Siem Reap in many ways as it was the center of Cambodia before Phnom Penh. Both Phnom Penh and Bangkok became the capital due to its close proximity to the sea. The city has many ancient temples mixed with many modern buildings. The town is loaded with restaurants and is very tourist oriented. After driving around for 30 minutes we discovered a school supply store and I picked up some paper and pens for a writing project and then decided to head back to have some dinner. We had several days to explore and decided to return when we felt a little fresher. On the way back I spotted a little Mexican restaurant called Miguel’s to have dinner. I never turn down a chance for Mexican, a true rarity in Thailand. After dinner it started pouring and luckily we were very close to the Khun Chai Kitchen. We quickly ducked into our room and were in for the night. We spent a little time planning some areas for exploration and were off to bed for a much needed sleep. 

8/2/10 (bangkok)

Bangkok - Chiang Mai

This was our final day in Bangkok as we were headed out to Chiang Mai via the overnight train. These long trips are always an adventure and we were excited to try our first train ride. I woke up early to put the final touches on my New Zealand edit and Annie worked to tidy up Paul’s condo. We gathered the items to be sent back to the states including 3 autographed Principles of Thai Cookery books, a Cambodian and Bali Lonely Planet, a back up hard drive, and a canister of Malaysian tea. After a quick lunch at Top’s Market, our favorite neighborhood grocery store, we were off to seek out the Thai post office. It is rainy season and as we navigated the neighborhood streets the rain poured in sheets. Luckily Paul had two umbrellas in his condo that helped us stay dry. We found this obscure post office tucked behind a large bank and the Thai employees worked hard to bridge the language gap to help us deliver our large package to America. It cost $50 US and we have lightened the load on our travels. After the post office, Annie and I split up to run our own errands. Annie had a credit at a used book store she was going to cash in and I was off to the Emporium mall to shop for some new hiking shoes. I purchased a pair of Gore-Tex Solomon’s before leaving the US. I had used them for several session of Basic Training before leaving to break them in as well as a few hiking adventures during our travels. The problem was that because they were packed deep within my suitcase they never really had a chance to dry out and began to stink. I am sure the Gore-Tex contributed to this as well. They were not breathable. I had soaked them several times and sprayed them with Fabreze in Australia to no avail. I wanted to hold onto them because they were very expensive to replace in Asia. I had them tucked away in a plastic bag deep in my suitcase and that seemed to keep them subdued. It was very muggy in Bangkok and when we left the air conditioning off at Paul’s things began to smell a little funky. By process of elimination we determined it was the shoes and I felt pretty embarrassed that the smell was my own. I quickly decided to retire the shoes and made a trip to the mall to find some new ones. After an hour, I was unable to find a suitable replacement and decided to see if I could find something in Chiang Mai. When I returned to the condo, Annie and I completed our final clean up and made our way to the train station. We took the Sky Train to the subway and arrived in a half hour. It is always an adventure navigating the subway stairs and turn styles with a sizable amount of luggage. We arrived at the train station an hour early and had purchased our tickets a few days prior. We settled into some seats and I enjoyed some Thai music videos on a jumbotron as Annie searched out some dinner. Annie went with her customary noodle soup and I then settled for some KFC and two Dunkin’ Donuts for dessert. It was a mad dash when the time came to board the train and I waited last to step aboard. It was much like boarding an airplane as you struggle a narrow corridor trying to squeeze past people busily loading their luggage into the appropriate bins. The main difference between an airline and the train was that everyone has all of their luggage and I worked hard to roll my main suitcase around all of the obstacles. Our seats were the first in the car and after a few minutes of settling in a Thai attendant kicked us out of our seats and unfolded and made our beds. We settled in for a bumpy Thai style ride up to Chiang Mai. I took an Ambien and looked forward to exploring Thailand’s oldest city tomorrow. 

7/28/10 – 8/1/10 (bangkok)

Bangkok

For a moment we had forgotten that we were traveling and made Paul's condo our home. Our mornings consisted of Jon waking up early in the morning to start working on video projects while I lounged around the house reading and tidying up. Jon has really enjoyed having an office that he can work quietly without much interruption. Then we would have a light lunch at home. Each day in the afternoon I would go out to do something. I relaxed by the pool reading, updated our daily details blog, got a Thai massage, and visited a local used bookstore across the street. There is a grocery store right next to the condo so getting groceries was super easy and allowed us to get fresh things every day. At night we usually watched a movie before going to bed. There is a lot of sightseeing we could’ve done in Bangkok but we really wanted to spend this time for Jon to catch up on his recap videos of our travels. And there were enough things to keep me entertained so I didn’t bother him. It worked out perfectly.

One of Jon’s biggest accomplishments was completing Chef McDang’s video for our blog. We wanted to have it posted before leaving Bangkok. Now he is tackling our New Zealand recap video and hopes to have it done before we leave Thailand. We took a lot of video footage in New Zealand and it was one of our favorite destinations so it has been a challenge condensing it into a few minutes. When I look at the footage it seems like it was so long ago and makes me miss that time since it was at the beginning of our journey. After Jon completes the New Zealand recap he will have Australia, Indonesia, Cambodia and soon Thailand. The work never ends for him but it will be worth it years from now when we read our blog articles and watch the videos.

We also got to catch up with one of our favorite traveling couples, Mike and Barbara. We mentioned in a previous article how we serendipitously ran into them at the floating market. We arranged to meet them for dinner near Kao San Road, where they were staying. They also planned to travel for six months and Bangkok is their last destination before going back home to the UK in a few days. They followed almost the same route as we did so it was great to compare our experiences. The last time they did their world travel it was for fourteen months. They were the first people we met at the beginning of the trip and it had a special meaning for us seeing them at the tail end of both our trips.

Another big highlight was our visit to Soi Cowboy last night. We decided for our big night out to have drinks and dinner at the Long Table, which is a restaurant on the 25^th floor of a building. We got there right at the end of happy hour and were able to get a glimpse of the sun setting and the city nightlife starting. The place was very chic and reminded me of places in LA. Their happy hour is tricky. We got a mojito each since it was buy one drink get one free but then when Jon finished his they brought him another mojito. Then we figured out that the happy hour special applies to the person rather than to the table so we ended up having two very strong but good mojitos each. After dinner we headed to Soi Cowboy, which is probably the sleaziest part of Bangkok. We heard that the girls can do some amazing tricks and figured it was our one chance to check out this very popular street. We grabbed a drink at Shark Bar and observed the action. Unfortunately we didn’t see any tricks though we had fun watching the interactions. We may not have seen the historical sights such as the Grand Palace but we did experience what it was like to live in Bangkok.

7/27/10 (bangkok)

Bangkok

For lunch we met up with a former student of mine from the California Culinary Academy (CCA), Saruth, and his girlfriend. Saruth studied at CCA and then returned to Thailand end of last year when he was finished with the program. He’s currently collaborating with a friend to open a café on the first level of a major shopping center called Emporium. We went to Lemoncello, a restaurant that Paul recommended for pizza. We had been craving good pizza since we have been on the road and were excited to give the place a try. The pizza wasn’t bad though I would’ve preferred a little more tomato sauce.

Then we decided to give the Grand Palace another try since it was closed when we went the other day with Pai and Saruth hadn’t been there before. The traffic in Bangkok is crazy and especially where Paul lives it is always congested. Finding parking isn’t always easy as well but Saruth finally found a spot in an alley. As soon as he parked a guy approached him and Saruth gave him some money. Saruth explained that although the guy isn’t an official parking attendant and has no connection to or ownership of the street it is an unspoken understanding that you will give the guy some money to look after your car. If you refuse, then you may find your car scratched or tire slashed when you return. Good to know for future reference. As we arrived at the intersection before the Grand Palace there were road blocks set up. No one was allowed to cross the street. Saruth asked around and found out that the prince was coming to the palace because it was a national holiday and no one would be allowed into the palace for another hour. It was really humid and we decided not to wait. Once again the palace refused our entry.

We parted ways with Saruth at the Paragon, another shopping mall. They were going to catch the movie, The Inception, and we decided to walk around and check out the mall. We’ve been told that there are only a few things to do in Bangkok and one of them in shopping. It is amazing how many malls there are in the city. It seems there is one on every block in the center of town. We decided no good can come from us being in a really expensive mall so decided to head back home.

We relaxed and stayed in for the night and enjoyed Paul’s movie collection.

7/26/10 (bangkok)

Bangkok

I love it when the room is completely dark and cool and I can sleep in till 10am. We checked out of the hotel at noon and returned to Paul’s apartment. Pim’s friends hadn’t left yet so we dropped off our luggage and headed to a nearby coffee shop for lunch. When we returned the place was empty and we had the apartment to ourselves. We were in desperate need of doing laundry and were lucky that Paul had a washer and dryer. Most people in Asia dry their clothes since it dries quickly in the humidity.

It was nice to have the feeling of being at home even if it wasn’t ours. It does make me really miss having a place and being able to invite friends over for drinks and dinner.

We were looking forward to having a home cooked meal so we went to the grocery store to get some stuff with dinner. It had been so long since we cooked a meal. The last time we cooked was at Jean and Jono’s house in Australia and that was over three months ago. We had forgotten how to cook and ended up getting bread and cheese to make a gouda grilled cheese sandwich. If you will believe it I had never made a grilled cheese sandwich before coming on this trip. It wasn’t something I grew up eating and never occurred to me how simple it was to make one. Easing our way back into cooking at home.

7/25/10 (bangkok)

Bangkok 

After a serious bout with food poisoning, I felt better and Annie and I were eager to do some exploring. We wanted to see the floating markets while in Bangkok. The markets are located an hour and a half outside of Bangkok and we coordinated a tour bus the prior day that would pick us up at 6:30am. We woke up at 6:00am and made it down to the lobby just in time to meet the van. Both of us were moving slowly. The bus stopped at two additional hotels to pick up a family of three from Bahrain and four from Penang in Malaysia. After a brief stop for fuel, we were on our way to the markets. Half of the van was filled with people doing a full day tour and half were doing a half day like Annie and me. Jackie, a middle aged Thai was our guide. He had a real name that was hard for the Westerners to pronounce and so went by Jackie. He was very enthusiastic and consistently cracked jokes during his monologue in the morning. I listened to Writing Down the Bones the entire trip. 

When we arrived, Jackie funneled us onto a fast boat. The fast boat was a ten minute journey to the markets. The boat navigated along narrow city canals made of concrete. Long tail boats raced passed rocking our boat as we navigated this concrete maze. It is similar to Venice but with an Asian influence. We arrived at the market dock and all hoped off the boat. I felt fortunate to still be dry after a wild ride. Damnoen Saduak is the name of the market and is the most heavily promoted market in Thailand. Lonely Planet describes it as “...wooden canoes laden with multicolored fruits and vegetables, paddled by women wearing indigo-hued clothes and wide-brimmed straw hats...” which is a fitting description. Jackie told us we had an hour and a half to explore and he recommend we catch a ride on a paddle canoe to better experience the market. Annie and I decided to do it right away before it got hot from the mid-day sun. We purchased a private boat for 600 Baht ($20 US) and stood in line to take our ride.

We have experienced many coincidental events during our travels and this day was no exception. During our first day in New Zealand, we meet a couple from England when renting our camper van. Later that night we bumped into them again during our first night camping and enjoyed a bottle of wine, several bottles of beer, and many stories over the next two days. Their names are Mike and Barbara. Barbara sends us updates every two weeks as to their whereabouts as they followed a similar route to ours. It turns out that on this day, Mike and Barbara were in Thailand and standing right in front of us in line. When we discovered them, we all got a good laugh. We briefly caught up before being escorted onto our canoe and agreed to catch up when we returned from our thirty minute trip. 

The canoe driver was an elderly Thai women who looked like she had been navigating these canals longer than we had been alive. The ride reminded me of going to the county fair as a child and riding in the bumper cars. The canal was log jammed at several points with long tail boats, canoes, and shoreline vendors. The majority of the time we spent jockeying with the other boats to move forward. While this market was very tourist oriented, it was fun to see the many vendors lining the shore with Thai trinkets and fresh fruit. We saw two elderly ladies with a large wok of cooking oil on a boat in the middle of the canal selling deep fried bananas. It was all a scene very unlike anything we have seen. After a half hour of jostling with all the other tourists on the boats our driver graciously dropped us off on the shore. Annie and I spent the next hour capturing the experience with photos and video. Unfortunately we missed our UK friends but connected in the evening to coordinate a dinner during our time in Bangkok. 

We met up with Jackie and were under the impression that we would head back to Bangkok. We planned to meet up with Pai, Chef McDang’s nephew for lunch but it turned out our fun filled tour was just beginning. Jackie had us going to the cobra show, the wood carving museum, and the gem factory all before dropping us off at our hotel. Instead of arriving at noon we got back at 2:30pm. Poor Pai had been waiting for us all afternoon. Both Annie and I felt bad to keep him waiting but Pai took it in stride. 

Pai picked us up and we headed to the Royal Palace only to discover by the time we arrived it was closed for the day. We instead decided to check out Wat Pho, an adjacent Buddhist temple. This temple is known for many things but the big draw for me was to see the reclining Buddha. The reclining Buddha is 46m long and 15m high and illustrates the passing of Buddha into nirvana. It was very large and worth checking out. After an hour exploring Wat Pho, Pai agreed to take me to the technology center to get a portable hard drive. I currently have used up roughly 2 terabytes of space holding my video and photos from this trip and desperately needed to back these irreplaceable mementos up. Pai took us to Pantip Plaza that is five stories of computer geek heaven. I purchased a new hard drive that gave me the space to back up my files. We were hungry after our big day and decided on Pai’s recommendation to eat dinner at Sunrise Taco’s near our hotel for some delicious Mexican. This turned out to be a very busy day and Annie and I were very tired when we retired to the City Lodge hotel. 

7/23/10 - 7/24/10 (bangkok)

Bangkok

Jon woke up in the morning with a horrible stomachache and a fever. Not a good sign. We think he got food poisoning from the chicken he had last night for dinner since we had the same things for lunch. I went to the market to pick up some things for breakfast and lunch since Jon was in no shape to go anywhere. We were excited to have the use of a kitchen to cook meals rather than having to eat out everyday. Over breakfast I checked my email and got an email from our friend Paul alerting us that his apartment had been double booked, meaning that we had to find a place to stay for a few days. Pim had also promised the place to a friend of hers and there were four of them so we all couldn’t fit. We only had a couple of hours to find a hotel and pack up before his other friends showed up but it all worked out. Paul helped us find a hotel nearby his apartment.

Once we checked into the hotel, Jon crashed and slept all day and into the night. The move took all the energy he had. I was concerned that his fever hadn’t gone down but he promised to take some medicine the next day if he wasn’t feeling any better. While he rested I checked out the night market right outside our hotel and found a small noodle shop for dinner.

The next day Jon was feeling better but not a hundred percent. He had a little more energy than the day before so we walked around the shopping center across from our hotel. We found a food court that had pearl tea, which is one of Jon’s favorite Asian drinks. After lunch we took the sky train to the Emporium to look for portable hard drives. After traveling for four months Jon has filled his computer and three portable hard drives with photos and videos. We needed a bigger hard drive to back everything up. We decided to hold off on making any purchases in case we found a better deal. While we were at the mall we got in touch with Pai and made plans to meet up the next day to visit the Royal Palace. We also booked a half-day morning tour of the floating market, located about an hour and half outside of Bangkok.

Since Jon was still feeling queasy he had bread and cereal for dinner while I tried a noodle soup stand right outside our hotel. I have had noodle soup for the last three days but I haven’t gotten tired of them since every place has a different way of making them. And they are super cheap, under $2!

7/22/10 (bangkok)

Bangkok

It was good to be back in Bangkok and felt as if we had been away for a long time. Nun was very thoughtful in getting us some breakfast at the local market. Nun offered Jon some soup for breakfast and when I saw what Nun was pouring into a bowl I thought, “Oh no! Jon is definitely not going to like what is in that soup.” I quickly told Nun that I would have the soup and Jon will just have some muesli for breakfast. I didn’t want to scare Jon with what was in the soup. Let’s just say the Thais, like many other Asians, don’t like to let any animal part go to waste.

After breakfast Jon set up his camera to film a video of Chef McDang for our blog. We thought it would be a good way to promote his book and have him share a bit about Thai culture. While Jon was setting up, Pai and Hector came over to the house. Needless to say, Chef McDang didn’t need much prompting as he is a veteran in front of the camera and gave us so much content that Jon had to use multiple memory cards. Now Jon has another video project to add to the queue.

We were hoping to take Chef McDang out for lunch as a belated birthday present but he had way too much to do before leaving for the states. So instead he ordered lunch and had a table full of Thai dishes. We all sat around the kitchen enjoying the feast. Over lunch, Pai gave us a list of things to check out while in Chang Mai since that is where he grew up. He also offered for us to stay with his parents, which was really thoughtful and unexpected. His parents own a very successful restaurant in Chang Mai. I guess food is in their DNA.

It was time for us to leave the compound for good. We packed up our stuff and as we were heading out we got the opportunity to meet Chef McDang’s father. We heard a lot about him as he is very well known in Thailand. He has his own weekly radio show where he gives his commentary on current events in Thailand. He used to critique restaurants and so his guide is displayed at certain restaurants all over the country. We only had a brief moment to say farewell to Chef McDang since he was in the middle of a meeting. We can’t thank him enough for his kindness and generosity. He opened his home and heart to us and allowed us to get a glimpse of his life. It is always an adventure with him and you just never know what is going to happen.

Chef McDang’s driver dropped us off at Paul’s apartment in downtown Bangkok. And wow! We heard his place was pretty spectacular and it was. It is located on the 17^th floor and has an amazing view of the downtown skyline. It is modern with contemporary furnishings. We were also thrilled to have a kitchen so we can cook meals at home instead of eating out everyday. We quickly dropped off our stuff and were headed out the door to The Emporium, a shopping center with a movie theater. Jon had been itching to see the movie, Inception, but it wasn’t showing in Cambodia so we had to wait till we got to Bangkok. Luckily it was playing in half an hour so we bought tickets and popcorn. Thais take their movie theaters very seriously. The staff was very nicely dressed and the doors to the theater were very plush. There was someone to greet you at the entrance of the theater at the beginning and end of the movie. Hard to pull off a double header with so many staff around, not that we were thinking of doing such a thing.

After the movie we grabbed dinner at the food court to digest what we thought about the movie. I’ll leave it up to Jon to give his take on it but in short we both liked it though it left us with some unanswered questions. It is the kind of movie that you have to watch again to make sure you really got everything.

With our mind and bellies full we headed back to the apartment to continue our addiction of Dexter. Just a few more episodes till we are done.