Your plane is boarding
Language butchery by redhotknitter on 18.3.06 @ 18:18
Hey all,
We will be boarding in about 15 minutes, so this will
be short and sweet.
Thai cooking school was fabulous. We learned to make
curry paste from scratch which is a huge pain in the
butt! Afterwards, we braved the Sunday Walking Street
Market. They close off major streets in downtown
chiang Mai and open it to street vendors! Over 50,000
people show up! It is intense, insane, and
delightful--especially when you realize that you need
to walk with the flow of traffic rather than against
it! I purchased some last minute gifts. We stopped
in a bar for some beer and cooling off and met a
charming couple from AUS. We spent about 2 hours
chatting with them which was great.
the next morning was our last in Chiang Mai. We went
up the mountain to Doi Sut Tep. A huge temple. It was
stunning. I got blessed by a monk. Rich lost his
favorite hat. He's still upset about it. may whoever
stole it come back as a cockroach. I found it rather
ironic. The Buddha preached against love of worldly
goods and focused on finding enlightment. Of any
place to lose something you hold dear, a Buddhist
temple is ironic!
We left that afternoon for Bangkok, after one last
massage at the Heaven Hut. It was traditional
massage-not the special kind that Rich kept getting
offered everytime I wasn't around! Prostitution is
rampant here. It was heartbreaking to see young
(YOUNG) girls plying their trade. Families are so
poor they sell their daughters to brothels to survive.
The HIV/AIDS rate in Thailand is the fastest growing
in the world. It was really difficult for me to see
this all around.
We returned to Bangkok, where it was so humid, our
glasses fogged up! It is intensely hot and humid
here. Tuesday we spent the day exploring the city via
the Skytrain. Thank god it is airconditioned. We saw
three huge malls. They made American consumerism pale
in comparison. One was at least 7 stories and packed
with people and shops. Insane. I finally wore out
and had to leave Rich alone. I went back to the hotel
and found a massage parlor. Then had some of the best
street food. A extremely fresh/spicy chicken soup.
they use the whole chicken. But I ate it.
Yesterday, we took it fairly easy. We did some lazy
shopping and went to high tea at the Oriental Hotel.
The Oriental is world-renowned for its service. It is
definitely the classiest hotel I've been in. The tea
I had sold for $50 for 100 grams! Needless to say I
didn't buy it!. We were stuffed from the experience,
but I went on to eat dinner anyway. Bad shrimp.
Lorie warned me not to eat the shrimp. I ate the
shrimp. I'm still paying for eating the shrimp.
Never eat the shrimp!
I got one last massage. Rich packed my bags. And now
he's telling me to sign off so that we can catch our
flight.
I wish I had time to tell you of the traffic rules
here. I'll try to post to Rich's blog about them in
Tokyo.
Aimee
We will be boarding in about 15 minutes, so this will
be short and sweet.
Thai cooking school was fabulous. We learned to make
curry paste from scratch which is a huge pain in the
butt! Afterwards, we braved the Sunday Walking Street
Market. They close off major streets in downtown
chiang Mai and open it to street vendors! Over 50,000
people show up! It is intense, insane, and
delightful--especially when you realize that you need
to walk with the flow of traffic rather than against
it! I purchased some last minute gifts. We stopped
in a bar for some beer and cooling off and met a
charming couple from AUS. We spent about 2 hours
chatting with them which was great.
the next morning was our last in Chiang Mai. We went
up the mountain to Doi Sut Tep. A huge temple. It was
stunning. I got blessed by a monk. Rich lost his
favorite hat. He's still upset about it. may whoever
stole it come back as a cockroach. I found it rather
ironic. The Buddha preached against love of worldly
goods and focused on finding enlightment. Of any
place to lose something you hold dear, a Buddhist
temple is ironic!
We left that afternoon for Bangkok, after one last
massage at the Heaven Hut. It was traditional
massage-not the special kind that Rich kept getting
offered everytime I wasn't around! Prostitution is
rampant here. It was heartbreaking to see young
(YOUNG) girls plying their trade. Families are so
poor they sell their daughters to brothels to survive.
The HIV/AIDS rate in Thailand is the fastest growing
in the world. It was really difficult for me to see
this all around.
We returned to Bangkok, where it was so humid, our
glasses fogged up! It is intensely hot and humid
here. Tuesday we spent the day exploring the city via
the Skytrain. Thank god it is airconditioned. We saw
three huge malls. They made American consumerism pale
in comparison. One was at least 7 stories and packed
with people and shops. Insane. I finally wore out
and had to leave Rich alone. I went back to the hotel
and found a massage parlor. Then had some of the best
street food. A extremely fresh/spicy chicken soup.
they use the whole chicken. But I ate it.
Yesterday, we took it fairly easy. We did some lazy
shopping and went to high tea at the Oriental Hotel.
The Oriental is world-renowned for its service. It is
definitely the classiest hotel I've been in. The tea
I had sold for $50 for 100 grams! Needless to say I
didn't buy it!. We were stuffed from the experience,
but I went on to eat dinner anyway. Bad shrimp.
Lorie warned me not to eat the shrimp. I ate the
shrimp. I'm still paying for eating the shrimp.
Never eat the shrimp!
I got one last massage. Rich packed my bags. And now
he's telling me to sign off so that we can catch our
flight.
I wish I had time to tell you of the traffic rules
here. I'll try to post to Rich's blog about them in
Tokyo.
Aimee
