Northern Thailand – Chiang Mai

Week 68: 24.02.2014 – 02.03.2014

Monday:-

After my fairly standard laid back morning I met Richard for lunch. We were going to try somewhere new, to me anyway. A place called Anchan on Nimman – another veggie restaurant. Sadly, once finding it we discovered it was closed on Monday. Plan B was Bake n Bite. Delicious!!!

The weather was definitely hotting up and so we headed to the GreenHill pool. We were joined first by Oli and then Sofie. The four of us sat by the pool and enjoyed the afternoon.

Straight onto Blue Diamond for dinner where I met some old faces and some new ones too. There are always people passing through which gives the group a new dimension and extra interest. The evening stretched on and soon it was time to head home and bed.

Tuesday:-

Fla, my housemate, was leaving today which was a bit sad as we’d hit it off straight away but had not had much time together. She was heading home to South Africa for a few months and probably wouldn’t come back to stay at this place.

I helped Fla pack away her final bits and move the big things she was leaving for her return into storage. Whilst I was in her room she showed me the termite and bee nests that had been found in the ceiling of the bathroom when it was being repaired. It was amazing to see and there was honey dripping from the rafters.

I was going to rent Fla’s scooter whilst she was away, as she was doing me a really good deal. So after saying a very fond farewell I headed into the old town to drop off my scooter back to Waew. I took the opportunity to do some shopping in town then met up with Oli and Dennis (who was doing a hand reading) and spent the afternoon chilling at the Wawee coffee shop.

Dinner was a shared pizza and then chocolate brownie with Dennis and Oli, before Oli dropped me back home as I was scooter-less.

Wednesday:-

I was helping Ocean with a chocolate workshop today and whizzed to RimPing to get in some grocery supplies.

One of Oceans friends, Alex, joined the group – four intrigued class attendees. It was a great gathering and there was a glut of chocolates to try and so we were all buzzing after the five hours or so had passed.

  

The class went on for longer than expected and so I didn’t have time to get home and spruce myself up in readiness for Nic’s leaving meal at Blue Diamond. It was a lovely gathering of people and I tried a new dish which was delicious. These moments are such fun although there is always a tinge of sadness when one of the group leaves.

  

After the night was done we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways home.

Thursday:-

After breakfast and my morning ablutions I spent the day with Oli. I dropped off Fla’s scooter for a service, then jumped on Oli’s scooter and we took a road trip out north of the city. We visited a gallery and also a wonderful coffee shop for some food and a chilled afternoon on their sofa. An added bonus was the little gift shop where I bought a small vase to add to my collection of goodies to send home.

  

 

I stayed in during the early evening as a British guy called Jasper was coming round to check out Fla’s room – a potential housemate. Jasper was a numerologist and interestingly gave me a very quick reading. Apparently, last year was a low energy year (yep), this year would be one of fun (yep) and energy (here’s hoping), and next year would be one of business (interesting!!!). He was an interesting guy but this place was not what he was looking for. I gave him some ideas of things to do and places to visit, including tonight’s Tea Tree jam night.

Once Jasper had left I showered, changed and head to the jam night. I met jasper as I was parking. He had already put his head around the Tea Tree door and decided to give it a miss. The place was heaving and it was great to meet up with friends and join the circle of players and singers for the jam night.

  

Friday:-

My regular Friday morning breakfast meant I got up and going earlier than normal. We went to Bake n Bite and had a treat if a breakfast and a catch up.

Next stop was the old town and a catch up with Waew, and some shopping.

On the way back I stopped at the Royal Project to stock up on fruit and veg, then back for lunch.

I had offer to go out that evening but I was very behind on my emails and decided to stay in. I also managed to update the music on my iPod from itunes. I always have to take a deep breath with iTunes!

Saturday:-

Saturday morning means early start to the bakery. Jasper had taken my advice and had gone along. One of the things he does is administer some vibrational treatment via some electrodes. I take all these things with a pinch of salt but it was being offered for free and I was told it would get rid of any bad bacteria in my body – my cold was lingering and if this got rid of it, I was in.

  

 

So after gathering together the baked goodies, I sat almost patiently whilst holding these electrodes. I felt nothing but a slight buzzing but I guess time will tell.

Today was Clare’s last bakery visit for a while so some of her choir had turned up to sing a few numbers. She was also presented with some gifts – surprisingly we bought her to tears. Another wonderful morning.

I had lunch at Blue Diamond with Leo and Anna, and we were joined by Richard. I had time to catch up with Leo for an hour or so before heading home.

The evening was something completely different. I went out with Honor.

We met at the night bazaar road. I’d been invited to see a ladyboy cabaret with four of Honor’s friends (2 Thai and 2 Brits who now lived in Laos) First we stopped at a fabulous open restaurant – ordered a selection of freshly cooked dishes and spun them around on the lazy susan so we got to try something of everything.

The cabaret was free but the drinks were a tad pricey. Overall though is was a good value evening. The performers were beautiful and mined like the best of them. After the show was over, Honor and I got up on stage for a boogie.

  

  

We didn’t want to go home so we went to a club with the 2 Thais. It was a crazy place – we didn’t end up dancing as entrance was free but you had to buy a drink. They only served alcohol in the club and you could only buy a full size bottle. We sat outside the club and listened to the live band.

Time to get home. At this time of night the roads are clear and you can pretty much ignore the lights. Home in double quick time.

Sunday:-

I had originally planned to meet Honor for breakfast but having checked the amount of fruit I had in the fridge which needed eating I decided to eat at home.

I did meet Honor and Dennis around 11:30 at airport plaza. Dennis really wanted to go to the “dog show” and we’d promised to go with him. We found our way around the plaza and eventually found the venue of the show. It was a pretty bizarre show – really just mastiffs pulling a large cart on rails full of weights. The winner pulled the weights the quickest. It was rather sad as the weight was just way too much for some of the dogs. The rest of the event was a strange mix of toy dogs, reptiles, and lingerie stands!!!

  

  

  

  

After a quick khow Soi meal in the food hall and a coconut water Dennis left us.

  

Honor and I browsed some shops and then headed back. I’m getting loads of practice at carrying a passenger on my scooter – a skill I’m still mastering. I dropped off Honor and headed to Sangdee cafe, for Clare’s final choir practice. We learnt 3 songs – one African, one Bulgarian and one in Hebrew. Phew, all a bit scary in such a small, closed group, but good fun. All helps with expanding comfort zones.

Ocean and I left Sangdee together and stopped off at Elizabeth’s place – I knew the way because I’d cat sitted Norman there for a month. Ocean wanted to check out a massage couch that Elizabeth had for sale. It was a no no though!

I got home, showered, changed and headed out for dinner.