Temple, Temple, and Temple

From our D2 Hotel we took a tuk-tuk to the old city of Chiang Mai. The first stop was Wat Phua Singh, an old temple. Our travel guide at the hotel picked three temples for us and this was the one she recommended to go first.

Ralf told me tuk-tuck was banned in Bangkok and I was really disappointed. From the Amazing Race reality show, I saw the tuk-tuk and always wanted to ride one. I was happy to know that they still had it here in Chiang Mai. We passed the moat and went straight into the temple, it took us 10 minutes and cost 80 bahts. I forgot to negotiate the price before we hopped on and I was worried that we would be terribly over charged. Later I learned that the old man who drove the tuk-tuk did not trick us.

The main temple was covered up for maintenance. The inside was like a Chinese temple with the main Buddha in the middle and two smaller ones accompanying him on each side. We had to remove our shoes to walk inside. Locals came here also and many kneeled down and Kou Dou (touched their heads on the floor while praying). The temple was fairly big. It contained living quarters for the monks and other temples and a pagoda. Each temple was painted with two main colors, red and gold. The Thai temples had triangular pointy roof unlike the Chinese ones. They all had lions and/or dragons in front to safeguard the gods.

After the first temple, we decided to walk around for food. Everywhere we went there were temples. Most of them looked the same. No wonder someone was telling me I may be "templed out" after Chiang Mai.

Mike's gone for a Thai massage now. Tonight we will go for the night bazaar, which is right outside D2. I love bazaar and really look forward to the hagling.

Chiang Mai - Spicy Papaya Salad

When I had the first bite of the seafood papaya salad, I was thinking "this is not spicy at all!" I just had a chicken curry, it had red pepper in it. I accidentally ate one and was drinking my Thai ice tea to calm my tongue. Now with the papaya salad, since I ordered "mild" instead of "spicy", I thought they really took mercy on me. 10 bites down the road, the juice got soaked into the papaya, every bite became increasingly spicy. My mouth, tongue and even my gum became unbearably hot. I gulped down my ice tea and started drinking Mike's pineapple shake. Nothing helped. It was so bad I started tearing and my nose ran incessantly. The waitress, a girl no more than 17 started smiling at me when she passed by, probably amused by my misery. I couldn't describe this spice. It's not like the Chinese spice at all, which in general make your lips numb. What's even more interesting is you don't see one pepper in the dish. Mike said it was all in the dressing.What a shock!

Food was very good so far but not as good as Chinese food I had back home. It's different.

Here is my first taste of the local food. I had a bite into the red curry. I was happy with it when I realized there was no chicken in it and I ordered chicken curry. The waitress gave me someone else's order. I informed her and she brought me the second dish. For a carnivore, it was so much better with meat in it.

Bangkok Impression

Our flight was one hour late in Guangzhou so when we arrived in BKK, it was all dark outside. The airport was full of people. On the way to the customs, I saw two huge statues of Thai Gods. They both looked fierce and are very colorful. Our hotel sent a van to pick us up. The traffic was bad. Normally it would take less than 40 minutes but it took an hour to go to the hotel, Rama Garden, where the wedding would take place. In the dark, I could only see the buildings along the streets we past. Bangkok looked worn out in the dim street lights. I barely saw any high rise. Compared to Beijing, this capital city seemed way less modern. There were all kinds of cars, SUVs, vans and trucks. Overall, I thought the drivers were much more disciplined than the ones in Wuhan. Speed was fast but the cars stayed in their own lanes.

The evening was uneventful. We had dinner at the first floor. I ordered a beef dish with broth and a stir fried dish came out. I was thinking about a "pho" like dish since the menu said noodle with beef broth. I was surprised but was happy with the taste after all.

This morning, we got up and had a buffet breakfast at the same restaurant. I had Chinese style porridge with salty duck egg and stir fried sweet sausage and other western breakfast stuff such as eggs and pancake. I could tell this hotel was catering to the western/foreign taste (they had American football on TV, a German channel, a French channel and a Chinese channel).

On the way again to BKK to catch a flight to Chiang Mai, our driver was speeding so we wouldn't miss the flight. This time, I saw a lot of high rises far away, probably where the city center was. In just about an hour after the flight took off, we arrived in Chiang Mai...

Food Heaven

fish

I have been stuffing my face non-stop since I got home. Mom said it looked like I had been starving for ages. My sister-in-law said I was like my two year old niece in front of food-absolutely cannot wait! How could I?!! After being away from authentic Chinese food for more than a year. As we drove along the night streets of Wuhan, I saw food stalls, restaurants one after another, neon lights blinking with promises of the good food. There are so many Chinese old sayings about the topic of food. One of them could be roughly translated as "People see heaven in food." Yes, we Chinese, love food.

Forgot what this was but it was good...

Veggie seafood mix

Shrimp, just so that you know this is no way close to the "sweet and sour shrimp" in the USbamboo - apparently this was IN at dinning table when I was home
Duck
honey lotus

spicy eel

I was raised by a Cantonese mom and a Wuhanese dad. Mom never cooked spicy food so I grew up not capable of eating spicy food. When I moved to America, most Chinese food is so Americanized, it's hardly edible unless adding spice to it. I grew to love hot peppers and spicy sauces in the Sichuan cousine in no time.
Mike's favorite, garlic ribs at Mr. Xie Restaurant

We had our first welcome luncheon at a hotel restaurant near home. The meal was so spicy, my niece had her little cheeks burning as if she had blush on but she loved it. As usualy I told Mike that everything was simply chicken to trick him into eating frog legs, snakes, etc. He's not as gullible as three years ago though. :) It's impossible to post pics now. I will wait till I go back. Chicken

Veggie/Tofu

Good to fly again

It's 12:30 AM. I am still packing!! Work has been so overwhelming lately, I couldn't find a moment to do anything before the trip. Starting this morning, my heart started racing. The brain had gotten stupid too as I juggled between last minute work stuff and my excitement/anxiety about leaving it all behind. I have to pack for winter in China and summer in Thailand. As I checked last night, my home town Wuhan is going to be around freezing temperature due to a recent cold front. Beijing already had its first snow of the year. Bangkok and Chiang Mai however are in the upper 80s to mid 90s. I had the luxury though this time to pack three large suitcases and three small suitcases unlike my last backpacking trip. I had all the room in the world to pretty much just dump anything I want in there. It's going to be a long night. But 13 and half hours on the plane would allow me plenty of time to sleep. I am so excited just about anything now. In less than a day, I'd be home.