In this blog we are going to cover:
- Food (ALWAYS!)
- More Gigs (with a full band!)
- The Corona Virus
- Visiting the Town of Pai
- Getting Ready to Hit Vietnam
Food!
I have been visiting the same restaurant for lunch every single day and it hasn't disappointed me even slightly. In my last post, I talked about hanging out with Noi and her nephew, A (that's his name) each day at lunch time with my buddy Scott. We always ask for a surprise and they have never cooked the same thing twice.
A knows we like food nice and spicy so he's been putting in a bunch of chili for us. However, when they serve us the dish, we always add more chili to bring up the heat and flavor. Well, this week, he had it with us! He whipped us up a dish and threw in some very interesting chili I'd never seen before. He handed us each a plate full of delicious chicken, vegetables, rice and two different types of chili. One bite in and I was dying! However, as many of you know, the only way to eat spicy food is to keep shoveling it in bite after bite so that's what I did!
I felt the heat kept ramping up with each bite but I couldn't stop! I had to have more and more and before you knew it my plate was empty and my brow was drenched. I stood up and bowed down before A signaling my defeat. He laughed and I could tell he found satisfaction in knocking our socks off.
I'm really happy that we have developed a little community here in our neighborhood of Chiang Mai and it's great to always see friendly faces. Everyone smiles when you walk by and greet them and we've even had one family invite us to their evening meal a few times. Unfortunately, we have always just eaten and are so full that we can't possibly fit another bite. Kindness and love transcend languages and they are both in abundance out here. I'll be sad to leave this community but it will stay with me for the rest of my days.
Scott and I have been eating at several other restaurants and we have a few go-to dishes we really enjoy including panang curry. It's absolutely delicious! Here's Scott enjoying his.
It's a coconut curry with potato, chicken and other veggies in it. Served over rice (and with a healthy does of chili) it makes for a filling and delicious meal. Next time you're at a Thai restaurant, give it a shot if you haven't already!
More Gigs
I've been playing about twice a week at the C.U. Corner Bar that I talked about in my last post. The owner enjoys my music and she likes that the crowd also enjoys it all. It's been a blast to see familiar faces and meet new people on a nightly basis. In fact, When I was on the plane from Taiwan to Thailand, I was sitting next to a nice gentleman named Ollie who was telling me all about his past experiences in Thailand. I gave him my card and told him to shoot me an email so we could grab dinner one night and explore the city.
Two weeks went by and I didn't hear from him so I figured that he had either forgotten or was just being polite on the plane and didn't want to follow through. Well, I was playing a gig at the bar one night and who happened to stroll right in and take a seat?! You guessed it! It was Ollie and he gave me a big smile when I went up to chat with him during a break.
It turns out that he has been having crazy electronic issues and can't connect his phone, his email or anything of the sort! He said everything else was going fine but he was really glad that he caught me while I was playing a gig because he wanted to catch up. We had a nice chat about what he's been up to and I found out that he's Czech. I told him I am headed back to Germany and he said he'll be back in Prague when I'm in Germany. He invited me to come out so he can show me around his home town. I just might have to take him up on that.
One of the things I've enjoyed most out here is meeting new people and getting to a point where I see familiar faces at the bar whenever I play. I'm a bit of a people person and I love making new friends and having great conversations. Although the bar is a little small, there's always a good crowd and good people from all over the world.
I've made a couple of musician buddies at C.U. Corner and one of them named John told me to come by a coffee shop one night to jam out. I brought my guitar and signed up to play a few songs then hung out with Scott and a few other musicians at a table. The owner talked to me as I bought a beer for Scott and I and said that after I finished my performance he would give me a free small beer. I thanked him and went back to the table to enjoy some music.
There were five acts before me and a couple of them were really awesome. There was a boyfriend/girlfriend duo who tore it up as well as a guy out of Philly who had an incredible voice. After a couple of low-key Irish tunes were played by another group, it was my turn. I tuned up, plugged in and was just about ready to start my first song...
All of a sudden two gentlemen walked up and said, "John told us to jam with you." Right after they said that, John walked up to me and told me to jam with the guys and have some fun. I was delighted to say the least! I've been playing as a solo act for quite some time now and it was a blast to have other musicians jump in. One played bass and the other sat in on the drum kit. I decided to play some easy sing-alongs that were only a few chords so it would be easier for the bass player to follow. We ripped through 3 songs and I thanked the bar for my time. John came up and told me to keep playing and who was I to say, "no"?!
I played a few more songs and the crowd was having a blast. I was having so much fun too that I really got caught up in the moment. It was refreshing as this is something that admittedly doesn't happen too much anymore when I'm playing the same covers for the 500th time. After I finished a couple more songs, John wanted to get up and jam so I passed the baton and went to post up for his set. He's an incredible musician and rips on the guitar and has a great voice. I hope I'm still living the dream when I'm 70 just like him!
As I walked past the bar, the owner beckoned me over and asked me what kind of beer I wanted. I told him Chang would be just fine and he pulled out a big bottle and told me, "You get a big bottle tonight because your set was awesome!" I blushed pretty hard and felt very flattered. I wish I was going to be in town a little longer so I could play some gigs for him. Next time for sure!
Speaking of traveling through Asia...
The Corona Virus
I'm sure many of you have seen the news of an epidemic happening out of China called the Corona Virus. There are indeed confirmed cases in Thailand and Vietnam but they are low in number and have been quarantined up to this point. The amount of tourists out here has dropped quite a bit and in fact, many Chinese tourists can't return home because China is on lock down. Almost all flights in and out of China have stopped and public transportation is also on hiatus for at least several more days. I've been texting my friends in China and they tell me it's like a ghost town with everyone staying home.
Considering Scott and I travel by taxi, bus and soon by air, we bought masks to help lower our risk of exposure. It's definitely not a guarantee by any means but a large percentage of the population (domestic and foreign) is wearing them which helps overall. This is what I look like most of the time I'm in a confined space with others.
Overall I'm not too worried about exposure but I'm doing my best to stay healthy. Hopefully the epidemic will peak soon and then start to decline. If you'r interested, you should check out news articles about how they are building hospitals in WuHan China in less than 10 days! It's nuts!
Anyway, let's move on to something a little more uplifting.
Visiting Pai
Scott and I had heard of a lovely little town called Pai that lies to the west of Chiang Mai. The best way to get there is by bus which is very cheap and quite scenic. However, there are over 280 curves along the route so it is not for those who easily succumb to motion sickness. I quite enjoyed the ride but some passengers had a tough time. We passed many people on motorcycles and scooters as it's a dream to carve up the curves on two wheels. Makes me miss my Harley back home!
When we arrived in Pai, it was much more isolated than what we are used to in Chiang Mai. It doesn't have as much of a city vibe as it does a small town vibe. We walked along the main street for awhile looking for lunch and then made our way to where we were staying. Our spot was a nice little modern cabin with great views of the mountains and we were close to a really cool temple and Buddha statue.
The town was full of foreigners (in fact I think I saw more foreigners than locals) and they mostly seemed to be around the ages of 18-24. It was a younger crowd and it had a big hippie vibe to it as well. We chatted with some other travelers and many people say they only planned to stay for a couple days but then ended up staying for a month or more. I really enjoyed the serenity of the town but it wasn't quite my cup of tea. However, we hit up a couple really cool bars and had some fun walking around.
We made the hike up to the Buddha and it was quite the trek! There were several staircases we had to summit before we even got to the one pictured above. I really love the style and architecture of the buildings and staircases as they are very colorful and detailed.
Here is a view of Pai from the Buddha Statue.
It was a very peaceful place and many people brought incense to burn as they pray. I reveled in the fact of how huge it is and how much effort it must have taken to build. Scott and I found a shady place with benches that had a great view and we did our daily meditation there adding only further to the serenity of the environment.
We only planned to stay for the one night... and that's what we did. We ended up coming back the next day as we just wanted a little day trip out of the city. We hopped on the bus the next day for another dose of 280+ curves and then arrived back in Chiang Mai. We stopped by Noi and A's restaurant for dinner, chatted with them about Pai and then made our way back. We decided to call it an early night so we could wake up at 6am to watch the Super Bowl.
Getting Ready for Vietnam
I can't believe that our time is already coming to a close here in Thailand but I'm excited for the next part of the journey. I'll be going to Hanoi, Vietnam for a month and Scott and I also booked a trip to Halong Bay which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and from the pictures and personal testimonies I've seen/heard, it's astoundingly beautiful. Vietnam is just a touch cheaper than Thailand so we booked ourselves some awesome looking rooms for quite cheap. I can't wait!
We've been reading up on some spots to check out in Hanoi, what to eat, what to see and what beer is the best. There are lots of conflicting stories so I guess we're just going to have to find out for ourselves! Oh darn...
Final Thoughts
As January has now come to a close, I hope that you are doing your best to live up to your expectations in this new year. I've been hit or miss as of late so I'm trying to get myself in the right mindset every day. That's all we can really ask of ourselves isn't it? As you are working to become your best self, here is some advice I received from my therapist: "Something is better than nothing." I always remember that when I feel hard-pressed to commit to my daily routine. I'll start with just a little something and even if it doesn't lead to more, I'm glad that I've committed even just a little bit. I hope that this mantra helps you as well.
Until next time, I hope you have a fantastic week!
Bye bye
Tony G
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