My new place

After the glow of the lantern festival and of all the wonderful sensations circulating through my mind and body from the event; I still had some major hurdles to surmount in order to get a solid footing here in this beautiful foreign land. And so I slept and prepared for my Sunday morning meeting that was set to be at 10 AM. I was to meet up with a fellow who would help guide me through the process of getting a decent place to reside for my stay here in Chiang Mai. Initially, the day after I arrived here in Chiang Mai I checked out a few spots that were very nice but so damn far away from some major necessities, such as a grocery store, cheap food vendors and a place to sit for a night time beverage and wind down. These places were close to a nice golf course which in it self almost had me convinced to live in the Georgetown of Chiang Mai. For those that don’t get this reference, just think of living in the suburbs of a major city and trying to walk into town for a drink.

Well, I got on the boards and asked the masses of ex-pats that already have gone through these steps and missteps for a little guidance as to my choice to live so far out from the old town center. Responses varied, but the overall consensus was that unless I got myself a set of wheels I would simply whither on the vine and not truly experience the subtleties that make Chiang Mai so inviting to so many. Anxiety began to creep in again and led me to a mad dash to find a place that was affordable and near where things were more energized and tactile. Of course it also needed to be in an area that will afford me a peaceful nights sleep. Only one place I found on the net fit the bill, and although I felt poorly for already telling my agent that I would take the place out in the burbs, I kept in mind that this cat worked on some sort of commission and I quickly lost any sympathy for the inconvenience that I may have caused the guy. Nice guy by the way, he offered to pick me up on his day off and show me the place.

“Man O man, this place is so utterly perfect”. This internal statement I tried to keep to myself in order to leave a little room for negotiation. But hell, my face and mannerisms have a way of showing whatever it is that I am thinking and my excitement got the better of me. “I’ll take it”, were the words that jumped from internal to external in an instant. Maybe it was my excitement that made them take $1000 baht from the original set monthly rent, either way, I was happy that things went as they did. Negotiating is a fucking hassle and I leave it to the snake oil sales men in the world out there that set prices in order to take advantage of those that naively take that price as it is set; this is a digression and pet peeve on my part.

In addition to my excitement in getting this place that is set so near to the city center and that encompasses all of things that I was hoping for when I envisioned living in this town. Was the fact that the woman that owns the condo and who was there to show it to me is also a manager at the Bangkok Bank here in Chiang Mai. She offered to call one of her staff to help me set up an account at the bank. So after leaving the condo and filling out some paper work, my agent drove me by the place I am at now, picked up my passport and he then dropped me off at the bank. When I arrived at the bank, an account manager was waiting for me and lickety split, I now have an ATM card and an account here in Chiang Mai. Another to do was just crossed off the list.

Well, I have rambled on and raddled about this and that for too long now. My excitement of the occurrence of events may be the cause of such things.

Now, I am just relaxing while reading and enjoying a little refreshing adult beverage on ice.

Here is a link to the place that I will be staying. Rent is $366 a month and I get maid service every 2 weeks along with free laundry service. Now the pics on this link do not convey how nice this place is now that the owner has added a few finishing touches. So I will update this post with a few pics of the place when I move in on Thursday.

http://chiangmaiproperties.co.th/condo/rent/Studio-room-condo-with-1-bathroom-and-fully-furnished-in-Karnkanok-5-Baan-Suan-Greenery-Hill/Condo/rent/1-Bedroom-1-bathroom-with-fully-furnished-in-SD-Condo/C940.aspx

Wish me luck and I wish you well.

Yee Peng, Damn fine time

 Here is a link telling all about the Yee Peng event. Check this out to find out what the event is all about and I will go on a tell of my exciting time there and the time after.

http://www.thaifly.com/Home/Hilight/thailand-tour/yee-peng-festival.php

 

The day started out great, I got a bunch of to dos scratched from my list, and however I was still concerned about how the hell I was going to get all the way out to the lantern festival. All of the transportation that I looked up was booked and to get a taxi out there would have been costly. The temple where the event was held was about an hour out of town. All I can say is thank goodness for great friends and Facebook. My friend Susan lived in Chiang Mai for about a month and half and while she was here she met a girl who goes by the Bo, Susan introduced me to Bo on Facebook. And now that I have a phone I was able to make contact with Bo. I gave ol Bo a call and let her know that I really wanted to go to the festival and asked if she would be going. She had never been to this ceremony and she told me that she was actually very excited it and wanted to go. Bo told me that her boyfriend would come by and pick me up at 5 and that she would feed me before we headed to the event, Bo owns a small restaurant just outside of town and I soon found out is an amazing cook.

At 5:00 o’clock her man Golff showed up and we were on our way. Traffic was a site in itself, I tell you it’s amazing what a person can fit on a moped. Now let me say, I was nervous about getting picked up so late since the 10,000 lantern release was set for 7:30 PM and everything that I read said if you want to be there in time for the release you really need to leave Chiang Mai by 3:00 PM in order to make the lantern release. “Mie Pen Ri”, as is commonly said here, which means “it is what it is”. To be honest, I was just happy to go out and meet a friendly face and eat some homemade Thai. I figured I would catch a glimpse of the lanterns floating in the sky either way and if that is all that I could see of the festival then I would still be content in the site of seeing 10,000 small fires in night sky.

Once we arrived at Bo’s restaurant I was immediately accepted as a friend. I thought how amazing it was that a new friend could so ease my restless mind. Bo cooked me up some yummy dish of rice with a fried egg laid across, this along with a very spicy dish of chicken and veggies. It was so nice to finally have some Thai food that actually lived up to the term spicy. Now those that know me know that I love it spicy and this was perfect. There was no need for my standard lathering of Sriracha sauce, just a little crushed red pepper and it was perfection.  

After the meal we headed into a bedlam of people, traffic, and sounds. When we finally parked we paid a fellow 20 baht ($.70) for a ride to the event. And I kid you not, we arrived at the center of the gathering about 10 minutes prior to the big release. It was so very amazing to hear and see. In the back ground were monks chanting traditional prayers over loud speakers, smoke from a large fire in the middle of the throng of monks and the spectators, as well as so many wonderful lit up Buddhist icons. The collective since of joy was contagious and washed over me, refreshing my spirit like the cool waters of Baron Springs on a hot summer day. This refreshment was a needed necessity considering I was still just going on three hours of sleep.

All I could think was that I was really here, that I was really seeing this and experiencing this event. This event that I had been wanting to see in person ever since I first saw the video of it on Youtube.  Then the countdown started, sip haa… sip see.. sip sam, all the way down to neung, then the release of these 5 foot lanterns made of a thin paper that was surrounding  a fiery wax. Hot air and smoke lifted these 10,000 lanterns into the sky all at on time. The lanterns were accompanied by a barrage of rocketing fireworks lighting up the night in a glow that no pictures I took could truly capture. Wow! I kept saying this over and over; I was like a small child experiencing their first fire works show. This was the first moment that I felt I had made the right decision in coming to Chiang Mai.

After the event and after waiting an hour just to get through the traffic leaving the event; my gracious hosts were in no mood to end the evening. And thanks to a little nap I had taken during the sludge of a crawl that it took to get out of the temple grounds, I was game for a few libations and a late night Thai sampler. Bo and Golff dropped off Bo’s mother, Omm, and then we were off to a local Thai bar. When we got to the bar these skinny little 27 year old Thai kids ordered a ton of dishes to go along with our Singha beers. More food than a fat man would consume at the Sizzlers all you can eat steak buffet.  A funny thing about the beers though, was that they brought out a bowl of ice so that we could keep the beverages cool. Beer with Ice was not something I was used to but neither were half of the dishes laid out in front of me, so I went along and enjoyed every minute of it. My new friends were not very fluent in English, well Bo was at least able to speak a fair amount but Golff could hardly speak a lick. And with me being a just little more fluent in Thai than Golff was in English and much less fluent than Bo, there were some lulls in conversation. But we did have the Thai translation book in front of us and had a great time teaching each other the languages of our birth.

 It sure is amazing how beer and good food can bridge the language bearer and change strangers into friends. By the end of the night we were raising our glasses time and again chanting Chon, which is the Thai word for cheers and I think each of us was really enjoying one another’s company. After settling the bill, I was dropped off at my temporary place of residence. An invitation to go to Chiang Rai on Monday at 9 AM was extended my way and I gladly accepted, we then said our good byes. My bed was inviting me in for a nice solid sleep but first I had my evening cigarette and watched the rain that had begun to fall over Chiang Mai. Before finding slumber I smiled from ear to ear thinking of just how the night had unfolded and of how my world is made so much better by the company that I keep and how fortunate I am to have such wonderful souls in my life.

I wish all well.

A walk in the old neighborhood.

I got out there today on the grimy but well swept streets of Chiang Mai this AM. There was not much sleep to be had last night, unfortunately this restless evening was caused by cyclical thoughts that would not part from my mind. I did try some Thai wine last night and Thunderbird came to mind upon the first sip, the first sip was the last. This may have had something to do with the poor sleep as well.

Anyway, to the point; the air is heavy here with humidity that not even Houstonians could appreciate and it is still pretty hot in this parts. But so be it, I had a few things to get done in order to get a little peace and to put to rest these uncompleted task. So I got up around 6 AM after about just three hours of sleep and 6 hours of tossing and turning. I then had what the B and B called a western breakfast, which consisted of two hard eggs, a slice of ham and two nasty ass hotdogs, oh and some toast, the toast was tasty. The Thai breakfast yesterday was much tastier than this fat mans delight. What ya gonna do… I ate most of the breakfast but I just could not get past that first slimy dog, I left it where it lay. Anyway, I digress. So I went on a walk and saw a bunch of temples. I wish I could say more about the temples but after awhile, like gothic churches in Europe and trains in the states, they all started to bleed together. Yes, they were some damn beautiful buildings and I am sure they were extremely old, but did I mention I had just 3 hours of sleep and besides I was on a mission to get a few odds and ends cleared up.

It is an unfortunate aspect of my mind that requires all task be compete prior to pursuing relaxation. On my to do list was, find a damn international cell phone that took a sim card that could be upped with minutes or changed out for a sim card with more minutes, to meet with the real estate agent to look at a place closer to town and to find away to open a banking account in Thailand. The phone is in hand, the agent has been met and I found a way around the bank account thing. Now, I am just tired, but my head is a little clearer and that, I hope, will allow me to get some sleep tonight. Also, I hope this clarity will help me focus on the joy of watching 10,000 floating lanterns light up the evening sky.

Wish me luck.

Adjustment

Whew! What a day. It sure is no cake walk trying to get a place to live, a phone, and even access to ones own money. Sure, I saw some really gorgeous sites today on my travels from real estate agent, apartments and my vain attempts to locate an international cell phone. I wouldn’t really call this site seeing but it’s all that I have had so far. Here’s a pic of me in a tuk tuk going from here to there.

I had it all worked out before I got here; I programmed a GPS with all of the necessary stops and even had a nice time schedule. Unfortunately it seems that my GPS is only picking up reception at night and not during the day. So that is part one of my plan going to pot, and this is a bad thing, but the worst failure in my planning is the fact that my beloved Netflix and Hulu do not work over in this foreign land. I know, I know, I should have checked to see that these sites worked before landing in Thailand. But that is just it, I did check and it was confirmed several times that these sites did stream here and how nice it was to have here in Chiang Mai. I guess that I still have not figured out that everything you read on the internet is not necessarily as it is stated.

And then, to top off my stress, this whole lantern release that I have wanted to see for a year now is not %100 set in stone as to date of release. It is about %90 set but the monks throwing the lantern release festival have set two dates, one for tourist at $100 a pop and one for the locals for free. Of course I fall into the tourist class but I also fall into the cheap don’t want to pay $100 class as well. These two release dates are set a week apart and most sites list the $100 festival as the only release. Anyway, trying to get transport 13KM out of town has been an adventure and one that has yet to be completed. Wish me luck and if you see pics of flying fire incased in a paper skin sometime soon, then you will know that I at least took care of that one adventure.

Wish me well as I do for you.

My going away

Thanks to all of my friends for such a great send off. I consider myself so very fortunate to have such a wonderful group of loving people in my life.  

Well here it is day one of my trip to Chiang Mai. I’ve been up since 6:30 AM Central time and as I write this I am in Seoul Korea at 3:15 AM Central. It has been a long day to say the least and I still must get on another plan from Seoul to Chiang Mai, which will be another five and half hours on a plan.

Sitting here in the airport I hear the voices of all types of languages and now I am hearing a few ladies speaking Thai to one another and thinking to myself that I have a long way to go in learning the local language and dialect. But the only thing that I am concerned with at the moment is that my luggage arrives in Chiang Mai and that I have no issues getting to the bed and breakfast that I am staying. It should be around 10:30 PM Chiang Mai time when I get to the B and B and I am looking forward to just climbing under the covers and getting some sleep.