flying away from Hawaii to the land of smiles.
I love when they put “expansion medicine” in my Japanese rice cracker (see last line of ingredients list)
great airline food! (ANA)
bi bim bap on the plane
my cab driver who tried to rip me off (550 baht to the city) but was a nice, chatty guy
living it up like a super king in my "super president" suite.
pad thai: go!
good pad thai on dirty khao san road
my guesthouse: samsen sam place
rice soup for breakfast at my guesthouse
near khao san road
mini-monks
giant chillin buddha
when's the enlightenment?
wat pho on an overcast day
wat pho
show me the way
kow dom mat means sticky rice with coconut, black beans, and banana wrapped in a banana leaf. it also means deliciousness.
grand palace which was closed today because of some monk holiday
i love when a mystery milky beverage goes from the bottle into a plastic bag.
market chaos, this one called the “amulet market”
fish balls in rice noodle soup, i think called gooyay dee-o look chin blah. not a favorite...and what's with the tortilla chip?!
noodle soup lady
on a river taxi going down the chao phraya river
lumphini park
komodo dragon or some other kind of lizard thing giving me the evil eye
i was thinking of going in and complaining about the lack of an applebees in bangkok
what's that i see from above?
delicious drumstick
i think this is tort man blah, fried fish cake. i didn't eat this but rather want to point out that this stuff stinks so bad and wafts everywhere.
two sorbets: guava with salted plum and mangosteen.
on the way back to samsen sam place, behind a disco tuk-tuk.
sticker on the taxi driver's console. she was loving my reaction!
me, random passerby, and a lot of exhaust!
gaang kee-o wahn: green curry with fried, runny egg; delicious and only 30 baht ($1)! pea eggplant made the dish.
many, many dishes
quiet the ambience for a foot massage, i could see other things happening here too.
this alleyway had duck soup. and only duck soup.
bet dun: steamed duck soup with chinese five-spice-y broth. one of the most delicious things so far.
muay thai gym
me and my muay thai instructor. nice guy...who has cauliflower ear.
an afternoon downpour
refreshing pineapple post-muay thai
rambutan and mangosteen. thanks to friends who have identified these for me and taught me how to eat them. delicious!
might be moo kor but wasn't really like a sausage other than in appearance and casing. full of rice (and sour and weird).
near ring and Ratchadamnoen Boxing Stadium
notice the weighs in lbs left of the pictures. no one was above 127 (because they're like 12 years old).
young combatants with the crowd yelling with each strike.
the awesome music with a beat that penetrates the skull.
betters going crazy at ringside.
third tier 1000 baht ticket holders behind fence like caged animals!
kicking like crazy
incredibly small world! bill and andrew, friends/advisees from harvard.
fried rice from late-night restaurant. very boring and plain but sausage was good.
gooay dee-o nam: chicken soup with deliciously fresh noodles. the leaves are coriander leaf, i think.
night market in banglampoo
downstairs of my really charming guesthouse in bangkok called samsen sam place.
mini taxi buddha shrine
curry shop next door to nikki's condo. delicious pork and pumpkin curries, mango chutney, roti. yum yum.
geckos are all over the place, especially brightly lit signs.
nikki trying my coconut fruit shake, the first of two today. it's a hard life.
Tuk-tuk time with Nikki in Chiang Mai
i love my chips hot and chicken-y and lemon-y.
street food, meet the mall.
so i would call it a donut lollipop but it has a hole and is a thing so i guess “holething” is just as descriptive.
custard and sticky rice (red and really, really blue)
i'm not sure what food this is referring to but i understand “nom”. nom nom.
tuk-tuk driver, please don't kill us.
like mario cart except with more exhaust.
view from nikki's condo
blueberry smoothie and carrot juice for breakfast.
american food is good sometimes: banana pancakes with fruits
nikki with cute, cute tiger cub
it's a baaaaaaby.
nap time for human and tiger
belly scratch
oh da cute paws...
i spot a human in the distance.
yawning, not eating, thank goodness.
nikki rubbing tiger's belly and tiger too tired to do anything about it.
more cuddles
trainer's quote: “don't lick. you don't have to do that right now.”
just prior to my gruesome demise...
now i know how to neutralize a tiger. i notice the same thing works on dogs.
glad he's in there and i'm out here despite those cute wittle paws.
“mama's waffles”: mama knows how to make great coconut waffles with chocolate.
the throngs at chiang mai's sunday walking market
taro ice cream
khao soi: burmese-style northern chicken curry noodle.
so many good flavors going on: spicy yellow coconut curry, cabbage, pickled greens, lime leaves, crispy egg noodles, nam prik
tons of amazing little dessert-y things for 2 baht each (about 6 cents!)
called mieng kham: walnuts, coconut dried shrimp, ginger, lemon with rind still on it. i did not like this leafy, lemony, weird thing.
mango and sticky rice is so ono. one serving = gain of 5 lbs.
i'm stuffed but why not a bright fuchsia dragonfruit shake for a nightcap.
time for some mountain biking after a nauseatingly windy ride up.
coffee plantation in hmong village, first stop on mountain biking trip.
me and nooh, my guide, discussing muay thai.
my guide nooh
before stuff got really messy...
chiang mai below
chilling on the mountain
now down the mountain with rice patties and doi suthep in the background.
finished with the ride. time to relax in some grass huts.
friends from the trip: two groups from england, two from australia, i was the lone american.
red curry...really, really good.
dinner at huen phen, a great northern thai restaurant. pork curry, fried northern-style sausage, spareribs, rice...and singha of course.
beautiful entrance to huen phen
you're right, this fish is nothing like the sun but more like fish. so they talk about your breakfast in london but how about in chiang mai?
on a songthaew from the buddhist university at wat suan dok to the meditation center in an unknown location. 2-day retreat from 2pm Tues - 2pm Wed.
getting off the bus (after a 45 minute drive outside the city) for a two-day meditation retreat with monks. this is pre-white robe action.
sharing a room with frederico from argentina, another meditation member. fred slept through the morning gong at 5 am the next morning so i woke him up and slapped him across the face like any good buddhist monk would. hard love is a form of “loving kindness.”
roaming around the beautiful meditation camp grounds. each buddha is for a day of the week. the consensus was that as a group, we looked like either prisoners or asylum patients.
time to get holier than thou! white clothes helps set the mood.
getting ready to give morning alms to monks.
the five monks collected a lot of rice from us but that's a good thing since they eat only once or twice a day.
the bell means it's time to meditate. thanks for the reminder, friendly monk. seriously though, such nice people.
time for meditation in the main hall.
this monk was so smiley. really nice guy.
at the riverside restaurant right on the mae ping river near nikki's apartment. beautiful in the evenings especially since the night hides the river's nasty brown hue.
time for simple food. shrimp omlette with rice and a dark lao beer.
jennelle and amy, new friends from meditation retreat. so much for “do not eat/drink out of pleasure and fun.” bring on the bacardi breezers!
longan is delicious! better than rambutan in my opinion since shell of seed doesn't stick to the interior of the fruit's flesh. surprising given that they look like home decorations you would get at pier one.
so much good stuff at this vegetable market, a stop prior to heading out to the cooking class. i now understand the differences between holy, sweet, and lemon basil. for this, i am grateful.
“international chef celebrity” but i don't recognize him.
first dish at chiang mai thai cookery school: pad siew with pork. love the sweet dark shoyu.
the yellow curry coming along.
dishes 2-4: cashew chicken (with whiskey!), yellow curry, and steamed fish in banana leaf. i didn't cook the rice though.
couldn't resist including this closeup of cashew chicken. delicious!
outdoor cooking at my own individual stall.
dishes 5-6: oops, forgot to take a picture of the prawns before eating vigorously. bananas in coconut milk taste shockingly like bananas in coconut milk. pretty straightforward.
chiang mai with doi suthep in the background. bye bye, chiang mai. you were awesome.
by far the coolest, most modern hostel i've ever seen. called “refill now,” in bangkok on last night in thailand. my room with two twin beds (literally, that's it) with tall glass windows
super modern hostel's shared facilities.
ridiculous shirts at suan lum night market in bangkok on last night in thailand after getting in late from chiang mai.
it starts with pad thai in bangkok, it ends with pad thai in bangkok. well, bbq pork too (in the background). last meal past midnight before heading to the airport at 5 am.
back home home to hawaii after a fun trip. :)
