Leaving Chiang Mai

      What is it that molds our personalities and what is it that makes us the individuals that we are in this moment? Personally, my belief is that much of what makes me who I am has a great deal to do with my interactions amid the external world. It is all of the experiences; joyful, depressing, painful, exciting, discouraging, insurmountable, along with every trivial and momentous instant that life affords, that shapes my personality and my character. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you speak with, my persona has been created through interacting with many people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. There was a time, a good while back, when I used to be one of those polyester suit wearing persons that passed out peanuts and refused to give you the entire can of pop unless you asked for it. One of the greatest things about that job was having the chance to interact with so many unique people from all sorts of places around the world. Also, I was able travel and be a part of differing cultures at least for a short time. How great it was to travel and see the people of the world and to be a part of their daily lives, if even for just a short while, the experiences were unforgettable. 

            Living in Chiang Mai was the first time that I was able to truly immerse myself into a foreign culture and people for an extended period of time. It surely was a very strange adjustment going from working an eight to five job for the last eight years to moving to the other side of the world without a set daily schedule. This was to be the first time that I would give myself the opportunity to integrate with another culture for more than just a two week vacation experience; and oh what an experience this was to be for me. Sure, when I first arrived in Chiang Mai I had a set agenda and itinerary, which listed all the things that I wanted to see as well as a list of things that I needed to achieve in order to get situated as a short time resident in this “Land of Smiles”. So, initially I made sure to get all of the sites in that I wanted to see; making sure to visit the many temples, markets, and any other guide book suggestions that caught my eye. After getting familiar with this enchanting city and after getting a good fill of sites, taste, and sounds; I moved onto the less enjoyable task of setting up the mundane aspects of life, such as a place to live, phone, electricity and all these other boring necessities required to get by in most places of societal existence. After passing the two week mark in Chiang Mai, I began to develop a daily routine. A routine is something that I require as a base in order to give me an anchor on which to cling upon. This anchor assists me in keeping the chaos and disorder of life from encroaching and disrupting my desired perpetual contentment.

           

          After a month in Chiang Mai and after getting into the flow of a daily routine; which consisted of Thai Language course, golf, leisurely reading, fiddling with the guitar, and enjoying a variety of Thai dishes. Comfort and confidence started to set in when it came to getting around and functioning in this once overwhelming society as it began to envelop me. After gaining a little more courage with speaking the Thai language, I was more secure when engaging in limited conversations with the local Thai populace. Also, I was fortunate to meet several Thais that spoke a fair amount of English; this was a great opportunity for me to use the Thai that I was learning as well as to immerse myself more into the local culture. The local culture and those wonderful interactions with such an amazing and ingratiating people, will be the things that I will carry with me as the days soften into years and the images, smells and taste of temples, waterfalls, lush vibrant forest, lingering smoke of burning incense during my morning walks, monks holding large silver bowls in expectation of offerings while walking barefoot on the cool morning streets, steaming bowls of warm rice covered with all sorts of varying sauces and meats, and paper lanterns filling the night sky in small orbs of illumination. These are sure to all begin to become fuzzy remembrances conjured up from the depths of memory by the thumbing through of old photos and writings. Yes, and this goes back to what I was mentioning earlier; that is, our personalities are forged through our experiences and interactions. Who I am as a person is fluid and is ever changing and should remain so, just as long as I continue to expose myself to diverse people, situations and ideas.  Stagnation of mind is self imposed and is a condition that limits my ability to empathize and interact with other cultures and persons. This belief may be why I take so much more from my back and forth interactions with the people that I met in Chiang Mai than what I take from the sites I saw during my stay in Chiang Mai. 

            Chiang Mai was initially planned to be a place that I might live out the rest of my days. However, after getting into the routine of daily existence, I realized that life in Chiang Mai was just like life in Austin with just a few differences. Also, I knew that I could survive for a few years without working due to the low cost of all things, but eventually I would have to get a job in order to get by. And as nice as it was to be away from the workplace, I have to say, I found myself actually missing the daily routine of the job, as well as the daily challenges to be surmounted. The employment choices were limited in Chiang Mai and the pay was minimal for the jobs available. Sure, I could work to live in Thailand but this working to live thing was already something that I was doing in Austin. As I pondered what I might do to get by in Chiang Mai, memories of Austin and of its beautiful meandering hikes, of its humble water falls and streams, of the wonderful diverse taste, of the amazing people and of my extraordinary friends began to flicker into my consciousness more and more often. These smile inducing memories led me to reminisce about the time way back then. It was thirteen years ago, during a time when I had a job that allowed me the opportunity to commute from any location around the world. At the time I was based in that decrepit crumbling city of Detroit and only wanted to get the hell out of there as quickly as I possibly could. Well, when I was younger, I had always thought of living in one of those “hip and cool” cities, like New York, LA, San Francisco, London, Madrid, Tokyo and a few others. It’s amazing how the things that I thought I wanted were really just things that others around me said that they wanted and so these are things that I thought I wanted as well, funny how that works. Anyway, I ended up going to all of these cities for small amounts of time and found that I really didn’t enjoy any of these places enough to pack up and move there. “Hip and cool” was turning out to be crowded and pretentious, not really what I was hoping for. Then there was this one day that I was to meet up with an old friend who was living in Austin Texas. It was May and the overbearing heat of the summer had not yet set in. Temperatures were still in the mid 80’s, the flora was in full bloom, and the trees were coloring the horizon and roads in varying hues of green. There were times in the past that I had made my way to Austin, but these occasions were just two day excursions over weekends away from Dallas. That trip was the first time that I was able to actually get out and see all that Austin was; it took just a week for me to fall in love with the town. I remember being taken out for some tasty Tex Mex, getting out on the lake, sipping upon cold beers on the back porch amongst the flickering fire flies and cool breezes of Austin’s spring evenings, and then concluding the trip with a free outdoor concert. While lying there in the soft cushion of thick grass while shifting abstract cloud shapes into discernable images as they floated slowly overhead, I decided that Austin would be the place to hang my hat and kick off my boots. And well, as time passed in Chiang Mai it began to enter my mind that Austin is still the place that best suits me.

            Like a fallen leaf floating upon the ebb and flowing surface rippling down a winding stream as it dips and rises through voids carved from impermanent stone, through tumultuous rapids, and calm serene lulls; I find myself adapting and adjusting to the externalities of life; trying not to resist too much but still trying to guide myself in the direction that will offer me the highest chance of contentment. Since I do not believe in Dharma or that we all have been given some sort of single purpose which we need to accomplish during our limited years on this planet, I am free to change directions on a dime and simply follow a new path. This is where I am today, on a new path. For me I find it a very liberating thing to know that I am not limited by dharma or limiting ideas of what the future is to be. Sure it’s trite, but I am a big believer in enjoying the now. The future will have everything to do with what is done in this moment and so, I do my best to focus on my happiness in the here and now. Currently, the here and now is back in the place in which I left six months ago, good ole Austin.

            Spring is the best time to be out and about here in Austin and I am so very glad that I made my way back to this home of mine. Now I come back with a new gained perspective on where it is that I want to live out my days. Chiang Mai, as beautiful and as unique as it was, did not outshine the everyday experiences that I have been able to find here in Austin. And now that I have moved from Chiang Mai and set back up in the states, I will not be keeping up with the blog that I created to document my happenings while living abroad. As fun as it has been to write about my time away, I do not think that it would be nearly as interesting to write about the day to day back here in Austin. Also, I think that my chances of getting into awkward social situations would be greatly heightened by keeping a blog about my experiences and interactions with the locals here. Back in Chiang Mai, most of the locals were unable to read any of the postings, so I had carte blanche when it came to telling my stories.  Of course I will miss writing, it has been a good deal of fun and the support from my friends and family was a great motivator, thanks for that.

            Thank you Chiang Mai, thank you to all of the wonderful smiling Thai faces, thank you friends and family, and thank you to all of those that instilled in me the fortitude to take the leap onto that next stepping stone of this ever varying path.

Just the day to day.

 

Yes… yes, I know. I have fallen into the traps that I imagine many people who start a Blog fall into. It’s just amazing how life and all of its distractions are able to pull ones attention away from things that one would hope to keep up with or complete. Self involvement is like a tranquil tide is to a untethered ship floating leisurely in the vastness of an open sea. Gradually and without perception, the daily routine has pulled me away from many of the things that I planed on doing. I imagine many a relationship and a desire has befallen this same sort of fate. Well, here I am paddling back to the shore and wishing to cling onto the things that have slowly fallen from the clear and tangible present to the fading hazy memories of the past.

As my time passes without documenting the common simple occurrence of daily life here in Chiang Mai; the occurrences begin to stack up and I perceive the task of telling all that has happened to be a daunting one. Maybe it’s just that I don’t want to bore the reader with what I perceive as mundane and in line with the same experiences of all of our everyday lives. Also, I; like an old man in a lounger repeating old stories to those that have the patience to listen, have a tendency to repeat stories, words, people, events and all other echoes of the long-ago. So, if you have the patience, here is another pondering of meshed up experiences from the old man that rest within me and who seems to find his voice coming out more and more.

Not sure exactly where to start, so I will just begin with today and work my way back to those memories that jump from the dark into the light of my perception. Bed time was a little late last night and I didn’t find myself rousing from the images of previous experiences assimilating into some sort of coherence until 8AM. Once I climbed from the comfort of sleep, I got the water boiling in the kettle for some locally grown tea I had picked up at a street market near my home. Sipping my morning tea (normally I’m a coffee drinker, but the only readily available coffee here is instant and I am just plain tired of the powder mixture), I perused the news of the day then got through the daily morning routine. 9AM, I was out the door, in my backpack were books I wanted to try to pawn off to a few of the local used bookstores near Siam Gate on the old mote of the City.  First, I wanted to stop by a little cafe attached to a Bed and Breakfast that I like to frequent, to see if I could get a friend of mine to make me a tasty bowl of Khaw Tom. Unfortunately that friend was not working this morning, so I talked to another friend that works there for a bit. Poor girl was in a motor bike wreck the other day and had her foot bandaged up. So very glad that I had to give up on that idea of driving around this town on a scooter. Living by two hospitals, I see many a bandaged up limping foreigner trying to shuffle their way to the curb to hail some mode of transportation. Also, I am a terrible driver, and if you factor this variable in with the variable of all the other terrible drivers out here driving with the fearlessness of youth and naive beliefs of immortality; then you understand why it’s simply one foot in front of the other for me. Hell, it’s also just nice to have all the walking time to think, to listen to audio books, to music, and all the sounds that this city is able generate. It took me about an hour to get from my starting place down to the book stores, where I was only able to sell just one of the five books that I had brought with me. And so, having completed my chores for the day; I headed to the park that is located near the west side of the mote surrounding the old City. On the way to the park, I found a little place in which to get a bite to eat. 30 more minutes of walking after enjoying a nice plate of Pad Thai, I found myself at a local park where I laid out a little rented mat on the soft green grass by a small man made lake and picked up reading where I had left off.

 There is something so nice about reading a good book in the shade of a palm tree, while listening to the sounds of a splashing fountain in the distance, fish creating little drops of sound as they come up to retrieve pellets of food that small children sprinkle into the water smiling with anticipation of getting a glimpse of these large vibrantly colored Koi, the much welcomed sound and feel of the cool wind coming through the flora and brushing the heavy blades of grass, and even the cooing sounds of the pigeons as they pander for a little morsel of what the fish are getting. This orchestra of nature around me was very conducive in allowing me to really get immersed in the book  I’m currently reading by Cormac McCarthy called Suttree. The story is about a guy who lives in a small house boat on a river near Knoxville TN. Sitting by and hearing the sounds of water as I read the book was just great. After spending a few hours reading and napping, I headed on back to the homestead. 40 minutes of walking took me back on home. Once home, I just got back to reading a bit more, practiced guitar for an hour, watched a good BBC documentary on the worlds population and its exponential growth, very good, and now I am here trying to catch up on this darn Blog of mine. See there, I told you, it’s all just a pretty boring story. Pretty much everyday is about the same.  Of course there are more experiences left to tell, experiences of parties with interesting people, parties with go go dancers and bands, parties with so much food and so much drink, the story of a dance class that allows only nonverbal communication and promotes a lot of eye contact, of golf, of language class, and of great random encounters. 

Now to get to those memories from days which have slipped into the past. Last week I was invited to a going away party for a friend of mine who runs the Eco Lodge where I stayed a few months ago. Festivities were to begin at one in the afternoon and extend into the wee hours of the following morn. In order to pace myself, I decided to arrive at the party mid afternoon and got there a little after 3:00. Upon my arrival it was obvious that these fellow party goers had begun sucking at the teat of Backus flask much earlier than the set upon time of one. It turns out that they started the pig roasting at nine AM and began putting back the drinks around the same time. Placing the pigs flesh over the flames and heat of white hot coals to get the meat to just that tasty tenderness, was something that I wanted to see. Cooking in such a primitive and ritualistic way is something that I really enjoy seeing and being a part of; I was sad I missed it. Still though, by the time I got there the meat was cooked, cut and served. Very tasty and served with many a Thai dish as well, also there was wonderful variation of potato salad to munch upon. Oh, and a French baker brought by a basket, I mean that, the fifteen freshly baked large begets were brought in a wicker basket; that bread smelled so good. The cornucopia of food was served without cost to the revelers, thanks to the gracious nature of our host; drinks though, were being sold at the bar. After purchasing a large bottle of Leo, I got started on the intensive battle that was to be my lunch. Such battles are always a win and a loss depending on the time that passes from consumption to lethargic content patting of ones engorged belly.  As the contentment of over consumption of sustenance and drink rolled over me and lethargy began to take hold, a very short in stature group of Thai cowboys began to arrive with all sorts of instruments of sound. One guy carried in a stand up base, he looked like he would collapse at any moment from the massiveness of the apparatus. Following him, were large bongo drums, chimes, amps, guitars and all sorts of other percution instruments. Members in the band all wore boots, cowboy hats with feather rings rapped around their brims, necklaces that varied. The chains clinging to their necks were made of mother of pearl, turquoise, gold and bone. The venue was beginning to take on what I imagine an old dusty bar from the days during the colonization of the wild west. Whiskey bottles were all about along with shot glasses filled for sipping during the momentary intermissions of play. All types of music was being created in this small corner in the open air bar, it ranged from an old country sound that was sung in the words of the local language as well as recognizable classic rock tunes being voiced in the familiar language of my own neck of the woods. After having several more tall beers and sharing in just one shot of whiskey with this band of what would be called heathens in the times of spurs, chaps, and outlaws; I headed into the quite still night for my long walk home. There were great conversations, wonderful people, great food, and great music to be heard that night. Sleep came on me as solidly as a large boulder tumbling from its perch high above. But before the impact of darkness washed me away from consciousness; I kicked off my shoes and felt like a cowhand bunking down for the evening. This was a nice way to find my slumber but how the following morning wiped away any notion of joy from that night before.

Then there was that party that took me out into the outskirts of town. This party came out of nowhere and I was ill prepared for such an event. My lack of preparedness probably had to do with the fact that the night before I had enjoyed another gathering of ladies and fellows, along with a bit of the Hong Tong. Anyway, a friend that I had not seen in four months called me up and invited me to a birthday party. Although I was tired from the night before, this was an invitation that I was not going to be able to decline. 7:00 PM, I was picked up by my old friends and we got to the shin dig around 7:45. There was a table of homemade Thai dishes laid out and bottles upon bottles of whiskey and rum jutting up from ten different tables that had been set up for the night’s activities. This place was set up with a stage that already had the drum kit, large bongos, chimes, guitars and a Karaoke machine all set up and ready for use. Someone filled a glass with ice, whiskey and soda, and then handed it my way, now the evening was beginning. After having a plate laden with a variety of taste and starting my second glass of whiskey and soda, I started to mingle. It was so nice to see so many acquaintances that I had enjoyed spending time with during my first months of arrived here in Chiang Mai. My ability to speak Thai had really improved, so I was able to communicate much better than I had during our earlier interactions. Unfortunately, all those that I spoke with must have thought that my Thai was better than it really was. Each person that I had a conversation with started to speak so quickly, too quickly for me to catch the entire meaning of what they were trying to get across to me. Having a few glasses of tan liquid didn’t help with the speaking or the listening either. By the fourth glass of whiskey and soda, the band was in full swing and two go go dancers were up on stage moving about to the Thai tunes. The ladies made their rounds from table to table and from chair to chair. Someone slipped one of them 50 baht and pointed towards me.  Next thing I know I have this scantily clad young lady closing in on me like a lioness cornering the gazelle she has chosen to pounce upon; and pounce she did. Being preyed upon was a nice situation to be in and it was nice to sip upon my glass of liquid courage as the sensuality of this beautiful girl enveloped me. I must say that my self concept has been given an extreme boost since arriving here in Chiang Mai. This must be what it feels like for the English when they show up at some teeny bopper drinking establishment in America speaking with their country of origin’s accent. A few of the ladies out here have nick named me “Hollywood Handsome”, how can this not go to ones head. Soon enough a humble state of reality will be my existence; but until the day I set foot back in the states, I will enjoy all the attention being given my way. After the girl left my lap, I found another table of friends to drink and converse with. Karaoke started to crank up around 11, the band stayed on the stage and those stepping up to the mic were accompanied by the band. Around midnight, the drinks and the lack of sleep were beginning to take hold of my will to keep on going. Only one more hour after the twelve chimes was I able to be a part of the music, the dancing, the laughing, and the lively conversation. After finishing the last sips that fell from my upturned glass, I found the carriage that brought me to this congregation; there I laid the seat back and found myself in a fine state of repose. It was close to 3AM when I was shaken from the blackness and asked to bring the seat back; it was time to head back home.

There are many more stories to tell, but for now, I think that I have written far too much and will give the eyes of those reading this a little break. Tonight, I am going to a celebration and charity event for one of the temples near where I live. A friend of mine is going to be singing in a competition tonight and I said I would be there to lend my support.

Soon, I will be leaving Chiang Mai, so I will do my best to try to at least finish up a few of the descriptions from events past. No guarantees though.

Flowers and more flowers.

 

Flowers have never been something that I seek to find. Sure they are pretty enough; I just don’t find myself going on excursions in nature to find these unique manifestations. This lack of desire changed the other day on my trip to a local event that had the streets around the old city closed down. “Why the hell not”, I said to myself, and so with a friend of mine, I headed down the street to take in the spectacle. I have never engaged my time in order to take in the diversity of colors, shapes and types of these so readily seen phenomenon of nature. Pleasantly, I was surprised by it all.

            Saturday was like most days here in Chiang Mai that fall in the latter part of January and the early days of February. All things and persons were being illuminated by the always prevailing sun in a temperate climate that affords a wonderful opportunity to enjoy just about anything during a nice stroll down a bustling market street. As I walked down the closed off street, to the left, were lined countless food vendors selling so many confections, juices, and a vast assortments of edibles. On the right side of the street were large canopies that had been set up just to the edge of the old moat. The tranquil slow moving water of the moat along with the fountains located within, that were creating a hypnotic vibration as streams of water collapsed into its voluminous self, served as a most wonderful back drop for the sellers to display their floral creations as well as a multitude of other plants and flowers for purchase. All though the streets were filled with an ever moving stream of individuals sliding through the push of one another, the moat and the kaleidoscope that had been plucked from the essence of nature made for a very relaxed walk.

            My friend and I leisurely worked our way from one spot to another, as we did, we made a few stops from point A to the unknown point B to enjoy some sort of tasty donut like creation, a large glass filled with fresh coconut juice as well as the meat that had just been peeled from the husk, and we stopped at a few displays to check out the various flowers. Along our way, we came across a line of floats that had just been out roaming the streets peacocking their natural adornments in a recent parade. It is just amazing, the amount of detail that a person can get from simply arranging differing types of flowers, colors and varying types of flora. Each float had a theme and each was created by the help of many hands joining to accomplish this single beautiful pursuit.  These floats were definitely worth the time we took enjoying them, but I think what I enjoyed most, were the many types and styles of Bonsai trees that were on display. Many of these little manicured miniature creations were brandishing ribbons of recognition. So, I am guessing, that there was some sort of competition pitting these little guys against one another. It is such a nice thing to have no knowledge of the measures of correctness and subtle nuisances that are externally set by an esoteric group to define an objects beauty. This may be why I care little for those that tell me which wine, whiskey, beer, food… etc. is best or better than what my own plebian palate is communicating to my mind.  This fortunate lapse in knowing allowed me to really enjoy each of these little creations. A great deal of my time was spent enjoying the multitude of intricacies, as well as with admiring the skill and time it must have taken to create each of these little wonders.

            Meandering along, we then came upon a nice little park, where a number of people had laid out bamboo mats to stretch out on and to enjoy a nice little meal with their family and friends. As we set up by the small lake, we were serenaded by the traditional sounds of Thai music being performed in a small amphitheater by a local Chiang Mai Orchestra. Dusk was beginning to set in with a pastel rose hue that emanated from the heavens and reflected in the shimmers of water being created as the Koi peaked through the surface to take in and be a part of the happenings occurring all around their serine sanctuary.

            Just taking a moment to be still in a place and time like this provided a great opportunity for each of my senses to be stirred. My smell was influenced by thousands upon thousands of flowers giving off an assortment of fragrances that intermingled with the grass, the water, fruit trees, and unique aromas of all types of freshly made cuisine. Varying tints and shades of color; along with the reflections of the sky, clouds, children playing, families laughing, lovers embracing, and of the subtle fragmentation of these images as the Koi broke the stillness of the water creating this mirror of reality. Lush green grass is surrounding and cushioning my bare feet as well as each of my fingers; a sensation of cool soft comfort is felt as my fingers slightly tug at the blades of green now serving as my place of contented rest. Sounds of laughter, music, and simply of movement induce an unconscious smile as well as provide me with that feeling one gets when enjoyment is just beginning its cascade through the body. Yes, I find that there is so much to experience in a single moment and I love that I have had the opportunity to enjoy these fleeting moments as often as I have. 

Yummy

 

Being here in Thailand has given me the opportunity to try a diversity of Thai food. There are usually just one or two dishes of a food type that I will find that are enjoyable and I will stick with those, however, where I am at now there are just so damn many variations to try. To be completely honest, when I first got here I was so intimidated by the language barrier that I only ate the Kaao Tom Moo with Kai, which was served to me at the bed and breakfast where I was staying. Kaao Tom with Kai is a rice soup with greens, pork and egg; it is a very tasty dish to start the day with. But just subsisting off this one meal a day was not going to cut it. On the third day here, I ventured out and found a restaurant that had a banner hung on the wall that showed all types of dishes being served. Having the banner as a reference gave me the opportunity to choose something that looked edible. Of course this place was more expensive than many of the other places that I now eat; the meal I ate at this place was two American dollars, which is twice as much as I pay now. But at least I was finally getting out conquering my insecurities with the language and my inexperience with ordering from the multitude of Thai fare. Like the first encounter with a new found attraction, it’s the getting through those first fumbling insecure moments that allow for the prospects of new and wonderful experiences. Now that the ice had been broken, I was on my way to try just about any type dish. Fortunately, I am able to eat just about anything and this stomach of mine has been strengthened like the hands of a martial artist that are calcified through repeated slams into hard stone.

Before going out to gain a new taste perspective, I would first do some research via my laptop. This research allowed me to pull up multiple Thai dishes along with the ingredients in the dishes. Now that I had a list of what I wanted to eat, I could now go with my English to Thai dictionary in hand and try a new taste. A couple of funny things occurred though and still occur on my ventures when going to get something to eat; one, my pronunciation of what I wanted was usually well off from the actual pronunciation and two, many of the places I first went to, did not serve the dish I was requesting. That’s the thing here; there are so many restaurants that specialize in a certain type of Thai food. So, if I order something like Kang Pet with rice at a place where they only make noodle dishes or Tom dishes or this or that dish, they would look at me like I’m mad and point to the menu, which was all in Thai. Like a mad man, I would just keep repeating the phrase for the meal that I had worked so hard on to pronounce. Finally, and this is a great thing about many of the Thai people, someone at the place would physically walk me down a few steps or would point me towards a place that did serve what I was looking for. People here are so damn accommodating and for their graciousness, I have always returned back to their serving place to try out whatever dish that the restaurant specialized in.

On a few occasions I have ended up eating a few things that are pretty unsavory looking and do have a unique look as well as taste. One time, actually two times now, I have ordered a dish that sounds pretty basic and familiar; noodles with chicken and vegetables, chicken noodle soup, right; well not exactly. A steaming bowl of noodles, veggies and chicken came out but the chicken is broken up with various bones protruding from parts that I did not recognize. Keep in mind, that the Thais waste nothing from an animal and will eat the feet, head, ass and all other parts. Tentatively I poked at the dark pieces of meat floating about in what I thought was to be my cozy warm chicken noodle soup. If you know me, then you probably know that I am about as frugal as they come and it is a rare moment when I will pay for something and not utilize it. In this case the thought did cross my mind of just leaving it and ordering another dish, but in the end the thought of leaving something to waste was too much of a burden for me to carry. After loading the dish up with a lot of red pepper and other provided spicy ingredients, I dove in. Not so bad, the meat was very tender and the noodles were pretty good. All in all, it was a pretty bland dish but not inedible. Still, I am not sure exactly what part of the chicken I was eating and that is probably best. The worst dish that I have tried so far is this noodle soup that consist of these balls of pork bobbing about like little fat castaways trying to find an edge to rest upon, along with some greens and then the ingredient that gives it a real punch, blood. Many of the Thais that I have met really enjoy this blood soup but it’s not something that I found any sort of want for. Happily for me, I did not order this blood dish and only tried a spoonful of my friends. Nah, I just stuck with my standard noodle and buoyant floating balls of pork. Not too bad, but again, too bland for my taste. Phet is a word that I use often when I am ordering food, it means spicy and I do dig it as spicy as they can get it. Also, Kai Doa are words that I use every time that I order a rice dish, Kai Doa means with a fried egg. Ummm, I do love me that fried egg on everything, very tasty. I have even tried to order this crown of a fried egg for noodle dishes and dishes that already have egg in them, like Phad Thai. The waiters or cooks usually smile and laugh at me; they never believe me and I still have yet to have a nice fried egg on top of noodles while eating out. It’s OK; I have made my own fried noodles with a fried egg to serve as my cherry on top. Smile.

           

Local Friends though are the best guides in finding the best Thai morsels to stimulate the palate and fill the gullet. Bo and Sai have both showed me so many great traditional dishes as well as some of my most wonderful times during my stay here in Thailand. Bo introduced me to Gang Pet, which is a red curry pork dish that I have with rice. It’s loaded up with galangal, lemon grass, kaffir, coriander, fennel seeds, shallots, garlic, and a lot of chilies. This dish can be served with any sort of meat and I have always had it with pork. Oh man, it is served in a bowl and comes out steaming hot. I usually order two helpings of rice and I smoother this spicy goodness over some white steamed rice, so good. Sai got me into Jim Joom, which comes out in a ceramic bowl that is resting over flame or hot coals. The ingredients are placed on individual plates that include lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf and chopped chillies. The meats include beef, pork, chicken, pork liver and squid cut into thin slices, with an egg broken over them. So far, I have only had this delicious soup dish with pork and I have loved it every time I have had it. There is something enjoyable about taking fresh ingredients from the plates strewn across the table and placing them into the flame heated thom, then serving the mixture once the medley of flavors have commingled and the meat has cooked to a ideal tenderness. It’s also very nice to have some perfectly grilled chicken with meat just falling from the bone on the side. In reality, when eating out with my Thai friends, there are always several types of foods laid out on the table. A nice spicy Thai salad, some grilled veggies, spicy meats and a fair amount of rice. Yes, the taste are abundant when eating a Thai meal, it is so nice to have the palate bombarded by so many differing flavors. Oh and of course I can not leave out the great meals that I enjoyed during my trek at the eco-lodge. While laying back and relaxing in the mountains of Chiang Mai, I ate some of the best pork ribs I have ever had along with traditional Thai dishes and man that hot vanilla rice pudding was just damn amazing.

Man o man, the exposure that I have had to the Thai food here will probably be the best that I will ever have in my life, and this has been a great plus to my stay here in Thailand. Being exposed to such a diversity of people, of sites, and of flavors has been such a great thing for me and it is this diversity that I believe to be the essence of this beautiful and wondrous place that I now reside. Adjusting to all of the divergences from my previous way of living has been such a magnificent benefit to my growth as a person and has so added to my distinctiveness as an individual. It is my belief that every person in this world of seven billion individuals is so very inimitable, and that each of us has within an aptitude to grow our acceptance of this world of unique ideas, flavors, beliefs, sites, wonders, loves, and desires. At least this sort of thinking keeps a smile on my face and allows me to be content and happy more often than not.

 Tasting all of this greatness here in this land of smiles has certainly been a bonus, but I must say, I do miss the taste of melted cheese wrapped in tortillas, smothered with more melted cheese and covered in onions, and of course, with a nice fried egg on top to serve as that little cherry of goodness on my Sunday. Also, a nice margarita on ice would be another fine addition to that tasty treat. I am so very much looking forward to getting me some of that fine Tex-Mex fare upon my return to Austin.

Wishing you well and envying those of you that sip margaritas and enjoy the fine taste of Austin on a patio while enjoying the beautiful Texas sky on a languid Sunday.