1/23–Bor Sang

Today we are striking out for Bor Sang, the town where they make Silk Umbrellas.  Last time we were here we went there for the annual Umbrella Festival. Sadly, this time, we arrived here on the last day of the festival so there was no way we could make it. But, we figure it will be nice to see the place without the crowds and the hub bub.

We want to take a Songthaew (the little half bus/half pick up trucks that run around all over the city), so I ask the concierge in the condo to write out Bor Sang in Thai for us – just to be safe.  Then, we walk down to the Warorot market where the “station” is located.  We know they are in the market, we just aren’t sure exactly where to pick them up. After meandering around down there for about 1/2 hour, stopping a number of Songthaews and asking the drivers if they are going to Bor Sang – all of whom are lovely and tell us to go to the market to get the Songthaew (of course we’re already AT the market, so that’s not totally helpful!) – we pretty much decide to give up on the Songthaew and find a Tuk Tuk.  Lots more money, but at least we know we’ll get there. 

As fate (or luck) would have it, we walk down the street to find a Tuk Tuk and find the darn Songthaew!  Cool!  And the driver is ready to leave once we get there – even better!  So off we go, out to Bor Sang, with a French couple and a bunch of locals.  These things are great!

Open air, 2 bench seats, scenery flying past you, 9 km to Bor Sang and only 20b per person (I think he ripped us off though – I think it should have been 15b, the difference is only really 15 cents each, so who can complain?).  It’s still early, so we head off down the main road and find Coffee Time – the little coffee shop where we drank and ate  during the festival. She’s moved around the corner and outside of the building – so we go with the flow and have cappuccinos out back under and umbrella in the sun while playing with her 2 dogs.  And making funny faces at her baby daughter.  Love it!

Then we just walk all through the town, looking at all the shops and the street food and getting hungry. But it is only a little after 10AM so we need to wait on food.  We wander through the Wat Bor Sang, which has the World Peace Pagoda along with a lovely outdoor Buddha.

We head back to the umbrella factory, making a pit stop in a little strip mall to check out Yui’s restaurant, Italian, Thai, Pizza and something else.  They aren’t open yet, and as we head out, we catch a glimpse of an English school whose banner is just too funny to pass by.

Could they have made anymore mistakes?  Maybe the instructor’s name really is Chirstopher. We’ll give you that – but it also says “Gramma” instead of “Grammar”.  We’re thinking that maybe their English is too easy!

Back at the factory, we spend some time watching the artisans make the umbrellas. Really amazing – the talent! Whittling down the bamboo for the structure, weaving together the sticks to make the structure, applying the fabric and then the painters.  So talented.  You could stand there all day and just watch each set of workers do their tasks. 

Finally we tear ourselves away and head back into town for lunch. We end up going to the half wood carving/half restaurant on a corner across from the place that had a big sign that just said “Food” with an arrow.  Choices, choices! 

This turned out to be great – plus they had pictures so you knew what you were getting! 

Ed has Krapow Moo (spicy pork) and Fried Egg.  I have Garlic pork and rice.

Both ever so yummy and only $1US each.  Heck we split a large beer and that cost as much as the food!  Total meal cost – $4.25.  Can’t beat it!

We walk off our food, and do a little shopping, buying a really neat carved wooden vase for $2.40.  Then back out to the main road to flag down a Songthaew for the ride home.  We’re dropped off in the middle of the Warorot market – exactly where we want to be – and this time it is only 15b each. See! I told you the first guy ripped us off!

We head into the market, stopping first for an earring (3 for 50b-$1.50) and sunglass (49b-about the same!) purchase. Then we dive into the food section to pick up Spanish peanuts and chicharrones (yeah, well, who knows what they are called in Thai!) made fresh every day. Next up we hit the vegetable stalls and pick up those awesome little cherry tomatoes (a steal at 25b or 75cents for a package of over a pint) and also a package of spices so Ed can cook his squid.

On the way home, we walk through the flower market (which we normally miss). It is just amazing.  We’ll have to go back and take pix – since we sort of neglected to do that as we gawked our way through the market.  It’s heating up – especially walking in the sun – so the condo is a nice cool respite after our busy day.  Now the big decision – where to go for dinner!

1/22–Hanging around Chiang Mai

Ok – so today is a very boring day. We just really hang out – enjoy the lovely weather – it’s maybe 75 degrees and not a drop of humidity.  Hit the gym in the morning, after doing our work, then proceed to the pool to read until lunch.  Today we reverse the lunch – I have eggs and Ed has salad. (See I told you it was a boring day.)

We read some more (yeah, boring), then instead of the gym we go out walking.  Down the Ping river walk to the Iron bridge where there is the Bus Bar!  It looks like an awesome hang out – parked in the lot at the beginning of the iron bridge right on the river.

Maybe one night we’ll try it, but the pictures we found of New Year’s Eve look a little young for us. We’ll see – it’s not like it is all that far away from us! 

Over the bridge we go, then up the River to the big Nawarat Bridge, one of the main motorways out of the city.  Around the Governor’s Mansion, then back down Charoenprathet Road, which skirts the Ping River.  We stop at the DownUnder Bar (obviously Aussie) for a refreshment – just to check it out for the Super Bowl. It is one of the few places that will be open and showing the game.  It’s the closest one to us so we wanted to see what it was like. Eh, for the game, it would be workable – if necessary – but that’s about it.  You can tell it will get loud and obnoxious fairly quickly and fairly easily.

Back on our jaunt home, we pass a salon that may be my new nail place – a little off the beaten track and 20b cheaper than every place else.  That will be next week’s adventure!

Tonight we are cooking in – Ed prepares a great pork tenderloin with cauliflower and fresh baby corns, using the spices we bought in Sanibel and the salad dressing we got here as a marinade.  Yummy!  Then it’s a night out at the Ansuran Market. Off to the Bamboo to watch the Night Market shoppers, listen to the great singer (who halfway through the set swallows a fly and we all think he’s going to lose it right there – I would have – oh yuk!).  Sunny has a very good time, people watching and of course imbibing in adult bear beverages.

After a couple of beers we head down the market and decide to stop in at a new place, The Roadside Bar and Grill. They have a beer special – plus 50b Pad Thai. We are not hungry in the least now, but if that’s still going on, we’ll for sure be back.  They also have a great female singer – so we sit at the bar a bit and listen.  Sunny has a little too much fun – and we have to call it a night!

Back to the condo, after taking the obligatory before (daytime) and after (night time) night market pictures.

1/21–Warorot Market and Dash Teak House

Up at a normal time this morning, well, 5:45.  Hey, we’re getting better!  Ed goes to the gym, I stay here managing email and blogging.  Then we head over to Warorot Market, the Chinese market, to peruse all the fruit and veggies (we’re not buying until we finish our honey oranges and rose apples) and to find ChiangMai sausage for lunch.  We wander around that place for 2  hours! It is amazing- the fresh fish, poultry, meat and candy, sweets, spices. Anything you’d want is there.  We resist all temptations, except the sausage – and the little rice krispie type treats that I’m addicted to! 

We also peruse all the clothes and wallets and purses.  We’ll be heading back here later to shop for those! I do pick up a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses for 49 baht ($1.50) and see some others I really like for 129 ($4). Will come back for those later too!

We hang out at home for the afternoon. Have salad (me) and eggs and sausage (Ed) for lunch. Then go out to find our restaurant and nail salon.  Huge disappointment!  They are gone. As a matter of fact the entire complex in which they were located is gone.  And I mean gone, torn down, nothing left but overgrown grass and the cracked cement parking area and drive!  In its place – at least at the entrance on Chang Klan road – is a building with a model of condos that are going to be built! What a shame.  It is even hard to see where the original buildings were located.  The only way we can see it is to walk all the way around, down the next road to the Girl Scout complex and peek over a fence they have erected to hide the construction.  I’m so sad.

Back on the street, we sort of meander about – find the $1 pad thai restaurant, and hit the 7-11 for small beers, then scoot back to the condo.  Now I’ll be on a search for a new nail place….not that I won’t have choices, they are everywhere, but I so loved those girls at the one around the corner.  Oh well, everything can’t remain the same.

We sort of while away the afternoon, then head into the old town to go to Dash’s Teak House for dinner. It gets pretty good reviews – and it looks totally cool.  A traditional Thai Teak house that has been converted into a restaurant.  It’s back on this little Soi (street) that has tons of restaurants and bars, but we don’t remember it from either of our last times here.  We walk over, a nice hike, but it is still so cool, that it’s not an issue walking around – especially in the evening.

It’s a gorgeous old 2 story Teak house with dining options on the first and second floors, as well as in the gardens. 

Of course we want to sit at the small bar on the first floor – but that apparently is not happening. The girls seating us are ignoring our request and then the owner’s son (who runs the place) ignores it as well. Ok – we’re going upstairs!

It’s not a big deal – upstairs was originally Thai style seating on the floor, but now has tables and chairs, just no shoes allowed.  We’re ok with that.  We settle in, order beer and wine, then an appetizer of fried pork to start.  All very yummy!

Once we are done with the pork, we put in our main orders- stir fried pork with cashews and vegetables for me, and a whole sea  bass, fried with garlic for Ed.  It’s a bit pricey (well for us, I mean, really, the thing costs 295 b which is like $9US, the pork is about $3US, so we’re splurging!).  We hang out, listening to a singer they have downstairs, and in a bit my pork comes out.  It is really great – lots of veggies, lots of meat. 

The only problem is the fish doesn’t come.  And it doesn’t come. And it doesn’t come.  They have this tag team sort of wait service system, so the same girl doesn’t wait on you all the time, and regardless, they are really hard to catch when they come upstairs. So, after about 1/2 hour of waiting, after we’ve been done with the pork, I head downstairs to capture Mr. Owner’s Son.  It’s crazy down there- really busy – but I finally get him  and ask him about the fish. The first thing he said is that they have run out of some of the fish – oh please, don’t even go there!  Then he decides the fried fish is still there and goes back in the kitchen and starts yelling.  He comes back and tells me they have it but just seemed to miss it and it will be up shortly.  Ok. We’ll see.

He comes up a few minutes later, extremely apologetic and tells us he’s giving us 20% off our bill. Plus he offers us a free dessert.  We decline the dessert but tell him he can substitute another beer. And he does.  The fish finally comes and is delicious (worth the wait, maybe not, but still incredibly good!).

 

Once we’re done, and finally get the check, it is in fact 20% less.  And a free beer, so all is well.  We go downstairs to leave, and Mr. Owner’s Son is there (whose name is Dash, thus the restaurant name, we know he speaks 4 languages, because I asked…but…still….), and he asks us how long we are in Chiang Mai. We tell him a month, and he says he’d like us to try Dash’s again – which we are willing to do – and he also says he’ll get us to try a dessert! Well, the challenge is on LOL.

As we are walking out –heading back to the Moat Road to find a Tuk Tuk – one pulls up and lets off a passenger.  Serendipity! We grab him and he whisks us back to Twin Peaks.  Ah, the beauty of a $3 Tuk Tuk ride at the end of a long evening!

1/20–Gekko Garden

Hanging out at the Greasy Gekko – our pet name for this  amazing restaurant/bar!  We get there around 6:30 – and the bar is not that busy. Although there are some really loud and foul mouth Aussies who don’t really need any more to drink. And fortunately they decide to leave after only about 10 minutes of obnoxiousness.  Beyond that – the Gekko is just as we recalled – but only with better bar stools!  Yay Rudy! The owner. He’s obviously upgraded the bar stools – and were happy – way comfier!

Tonight is baguette special night – and well, we don’t feel like sandwiches, so we go for the Thai side of the menu –omelet with pork for Ed (way better than O’Malley’s!) and fried Chinese broccoli with beef for me.  Yum!!!  And of course all washed down with big Chang Beers – 3 for 179 baht – that’s like $2 bucks each for 640ml.  Where can you get that?

We decide we are still hungry- so we get the chef special fried chicken for 99 baht (or $3).  We end up with chicken wing/leg sort of things, but for $3 who’s going to argue?  Then Rudy shows up and we start chatting and he starts selling his reader glasses and sunglasses that he picked up in Bangkok when he was there last week.  I’m set for readers since I just bought a 3-pack at Costco – but sunglasses – now you’re talking!  We end up with a pair of Ray Bans for Ed and Oakleys for me.  Oakleys – yeah – who would’ve thought it. But hey- they are only 75 baht – which equates to about $2.25.  Sold!  All told dinner, one glass of wine, 3 BIG Chang beers, 3 plates of food and 2 sunglasses cost us $20. Yeah, that’s why we love this place!  Not to mention the characters you meet!

Back home – Ed’s continuing on with the Chang – I’ve switched back to wine.  Nice day….welcome to Chiang Mai!

1/20– Hanging around Chiang Mai

Ahhh, that bed! It is so nice, but we still only manage to stay in it until 4:00 or 4:30.  Oh well – we’ve had a lot of sleep – and hey – it’s ok because we can watch football!  Yes!  We have the sports channel on the TV and we have a kettle to make coffee (and since we brought our Folgers instant coffee packages we have tons of coffee!) and we can just lie here and watch the Broncos beat the Patriots.  Not that exciting a game really, but it’s the game!  And we’re not bored!

In between the NFC and AFC championships, we head down to breakfast (which is included) and what a spread! They have everything from omelets to waffles to noodle soup to braised pork.  Asian, Thai, Continental and pastries.  You could make your main meal of the day there! 

We try not to gorge too much – then head back upstairs for that awesome Seahawks-49ers game. That was too fun!  After its over, we organize and pack and get ready to move on to Twin Peaks for our month long stay here in Chiang Mai.

Richard picks us up at noon and takes us over to the condos. Somehow though everything has gotten a bit discombobulated and we end up in the same condo where we stayed 2 years ago. No biggie – we thought we’d be in another unit, but they are all basically the same – so not an issue!

We drop our stuff and head over to the grocery store so we can supply up.  We grab little snacks and a couple of filler meals (chix tenders for salad, pork tenderloin, squid for Ed) and salad for lunches, snacks and alcohol (OMG, I knew the wine was expensive because of the tariffs but geez – $40 for a 3 liter box of wine – sigh – ah if only I drank beer!).  We grab our necessities, hand it all over to the customer service guy to arrange for delivery to us and off we go to walk back to the condo.

We wander through the Ansuran market so we can take day pictures – we’ll give you the before and after later!  We snap some pix of the Bamboo all closed up – there’s my tree!

Then head back to the condo to unpack.  Tonight we’ll hit the Gecko Garden (or what we lovingly refer to as the Greasy Gecko) for dinner and ex-pat bar conversation!

1/17–1/19–28 hours of travel

Our long day(s) start off early enough.  Last walk to the beach, last coffee at Kalawapai Market, last load of laundry, last eggs and sausage.  It’s the last of everything! 

We leave the cottage right before the 11am check out time with 6 hours to kill before our first flight. We leisurely drive along the coast, heading to Costco in Hawaii Kai to wander around, graze a bit, and in general waste time. Since we’re not that hungry, the grazing isn’t all that appealing, but it does waste about 1/2 an hour.  Since we are close, we stop in at the Kona Brew Pub at the Hawaii Kai harbor. It’s  a great setting, all open air (as is just about everything in Hawaii!) and would be a great place to hang out and eat. Of course, we’re still not hungry but at least we can have beer and wine and while away a little more time in a very pleasant setting.

Soon, though, we must go (we can’t drink THAT much before we have to drive to the airport).  Back into Honolulu we go, navigating to a cheap gas station (20 cents cheaper than everywhere else – odd –but totally worth the detour), then onto Thrifty to drop our car.  We’re still way early for check in, but we’re first in line – that’s a bonus!

After about an hour of waiting, the check in opens up and we speed right through. We can check everything straight through to Chiang Mai and the agent even gets us seats together on the Bangkok to Chiang Mai flight – so we’re happy campers.

Off to the United Club where we spend the next 2 hours snacking, drinking and blogging.  Then finally head over to board the first of our many flights. 

We’re all boarded, All Nippon Airways, flight to Tokyo, we’re 2 of only 3 Caucasians on the whole plane!  Wow!  And sadly, seated across from screaming baby boy.  Yikes.  I manage to sleep, Ed only gets and hour or two.  Stinks! We get to Tokyo bleary eyed and have to stand in line for security going through transit – and it takes forever!  Thankfully we’ve got time before our next 9 hour flight to Bangkok. Finally through security, we still have time for beer and wine, which we find surprisingly cheap for an airport, especially in Tokyo!  $10 a round.  And good wine too!  Who knew.  We manage 2 rounds before the next wheels up!

This flight doesn’t have nearly as many children, which is lovely.  I again manage to sleep.  Ed again not so much.  But we arrive relatively unscathed in Bangkok at 6am Sunday morning – we’ve lost an entire day and we really can’t tell you what time it is! 

The next flight is short and sweet – 55 minutes – yet they still manage to feed you.  How is that not possible on American airlines?  At any rate, we are finally in Chiang Mai!  Yes.  We can finally unwind and maybe even lay down!

Richard (our landlord) meets us at the airport – which is a surprise because normally his wife (who is a tour guide) comes to fetch us.  Richard has come personally because somehow he has mixed up our reservation dates and we won’t be able to get into the condo until tomorrow.  He has reserved us a hotel room for the night, but is so upset, he is beside himself. Not a problem for us – it’s an overnight, we won’t complain – and truly – we can’t! The hotel is great – they are totally accommodating. Richard manages to get us into a room right away so we can decompress and relax.  The room itself is huge, with a cool bathroom that has shutters that open and look back into main room.  All the lights and a/c are controlled by this electronic control panel on the night stand.  It’s pretty neat.

Plus, it is right at the night market, so it’s a perfect location.  We take our bags up, get a little organized, then head out to stretch our legs.  We are trying vainly to stay awake all day – we’ll see how that goes!

After wandering around the main drag for a bit, we head back toward town and the Chiang Mai Saloon.  We like this place, it’s a hole in the wall, but with great dive bar atmosphere.  It’s still early, only a little before noon, and the place is empty.  That’s probably because it is Sunday and everyone is at the Sunday walking market (which is where we’ll be next Sunday, but its too much to even contemplate today!).  We belly up to the bar and grab a beer (big beer!)

and wine, and then order chicken fingers ($2.50) and beef satay ($2.50)

Yum! Perfect meal for us – light and satisfying!  We sit for a while, then head back to the hotel.  Our intention is just to relax and hang out – because we are deathly afraid if we nap we’ll never be able to get to sleep tonight, but that bed is just too darn comfy!  We end up napping – for a good long while too! 

Then its back out on the streets – this time to O’Malleys, the Irish Pub, for Ed’s favorite burger!  I have a Thai omelet with pork – which I love. And wine – yeah – they have great carafes here – and pretty reasonable too!  only $9 – not too shabby – it’s like 4 glasses of wine!

Afterward, we wander down through the Ansuran Market to Bamboo – our favorite little dinky bar.  It’s too cool – all open air – just a little tiki looking bar and patio set up around a big old tree.  We have a couple of beers (wine stinks here) and listen to a great singer while hanging out around the tree!

Back to the hotel – we make it up until almost 11.  Hooray!  Let’s see how long we actually sleep!

1/16–Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens

This morning we head over to Kaneohe to hike around the Ho’omaluhia Botanical Gardens.  It’s only about 15 minutes away, and sounds pretty interesting.  It is a 400 acre garden, planted with rainforest trees and shrubs from the tropics of the world.  The main walking trails are around a 32 acre lake located behind the visitor center. 

We grab a map and head out to the lake, which is a man made reservoir that helps with flood protection.  It is a beautiful day – and while a bit muddy, the hike around the lake is lovely.

We spend a pleasant hour or so walking along the lakeshore, then drive all the way through the garden, which is quite large.  There are lots of different garden areas and places to walk – or you can just walk down the road, which quite a few people are doing.  Nice place to come back to for nature walking next time!

Our afternoon is spent doing laundry and organizing our packing. We try to go to the beach to watch the moonrise, but it is too windy (and cold – yes – cold!) and it’s cloudy.  It’s a beautiful night, just not for the moon rise!

We quickly ditch that idea then head back home for more packing!  Excitement! Not really – because we are not looking forward to the next couple of long flying days – but at least we had a nice week’s respite here in Kailua.