Back in the Land of Smiles

Sawasdee kaaa friends and greetings from Thailand. I have to say that even though I adored my time in Africa I am super psyched to be back in Asia. Bangkok has served as my home base throughout my travels so returning here always feels like a bit of a homecoming. I actually love Suvarnabhumi airport, mainly because of the Boots, which is the closest thing I can get to a Target on the road. I realize most guys won’t really understand this, but the ladies certainly know where I’m coming from, right? While on the road I frequently find myself in a toiletry deprived state so each time I am in the vicinity of a Boots I take it to Crazytown and load up on fresh supplies. Of course carrying everything on my back prevents me from going too overboard, but suffice it to say that I’m willing to sacrifice some of my moisture wicking gear for a real deodorant and some facial wipes.

With my bag full of fresh supplies, I headed into town, giddy with excitement for a Guinness Book of World Records shower as well as a nap in a proper bed. Oh yeah, it is on!!!

After luxuriating in my hotel, I hit the streets to fill my belly with super spicy and insanely delicious Thai food. After gorging myself on a scrumptious meal, I headed to Siam Square where I treated myself to a much needed facial. I actually felt sorry for the aesthetician who was assigned to me. She definitely had her work cut out for her after 2 months in the African heat.

I rounded out my day of pampering with a visit to the hair salon where I decided to change things up a bit and get some bangs.

Woo Hoo! Someone is getting all fancy and she likes it. I actually ran into Sandy from Mae Sot at the salon. How crazy is that? I only know a handful of people in Thailand and none of them live in Bangkok, but here I am running into Sandy at this hair salon. Amazing! Of course you know we screamed our faces off for about 5 minutes, laughing and hugging incessantly. Sandy was actually headed out to grab some lunch for a crew of Mae Sot peeps in town for a business meeting including my nong lek (lil’ bro), Rob. No way!!!

The next day I met up with Rob. Tiff and Rob in the house…bring it on, baby!

It was awesome to see him and catch up on the past few months. Of course we had to see a movie, which is pretty much mandatory whenever we are in Bangkok. Going to a movie is like a special treat for both of us since we rarely are in locations with movie theatres. Simple pleasures, folks.

The next day we caught a ride back up to Mae Sot with Greg, Sandy, and Sarah. As per usual, Sandy had a bag full of fun snacks and tasty treats. That plus Greg’s lead foot made for a super speedy and enjoyable ride back to the Sot.

I had not been in Mae Sot since December or 2009, but everything felt familiar and it was great to be back. I was super excited to see Rob’s new digs. As you may recall, his last house, while palatial, was also right next to the temple and surrounded on all sides by megaphones,

making sleep without the aid of these babies difficult.

Rob’s new house was much closer to town, and most importantly, extremely close to the grocery store. Oh yeah, someone is moving on up for sure!!!

Without further adieu, I present to you Rob’s Crib…

Rob’s house is the one on the right. Notice the spotless porch. Rob’s landlord and next door neighbor, Charoen, is fanatical about sweeping the porch,

frequently cleaning it more than once in a day and always in his extremely short booty shorts. I know this because my bed, AKA the couch, overlooks the porch.

As you can see I have front row seats to the porch with the door offering full length views of the OCD booty shorts sweeper.

I realize I have digressed from the tour of Rob’s house, but I’m back on track now. Here’s my bed, office, and the living room.

The wrap around couch is pretty sweet and where I spend the majority of my time.

Here’s a view of the dining room and kitchen.

Notice the deer in the back left of the picture. Charoen apparently likes wooden deer because this isn’t the only buck in the house. We also have an extremely lifelike deer hanging in the stairwell.

I don’t know what the deal is with these random wooden deer, but they seem to be quite popular among Thais. I say this because Rochelle has one hanging in her home as well. Random, but whatever floats your boat…

Here is the laundry area.

Rob has a washer, which is a major luxury. After washing my stuff in the sink for 2 months, it’s a huge treat to have a proper washer. As my mom would say…hot diggity dog!!!

Here’s the bathroom.

Here’s his office, the room that made him sign on the dotted line.

Those doors slide open and these windows line the wall to your right.

Here’s a view from the sliding doors.

Here are some more images from Rob’s favorite room in the house. This could quite possibly be the cutest trash can ever.

And here’s the belly of a Vietnamese water puppet. Man, whoever gave Rob that gift rules.

Do you recognize this artwork?

It’s one of Sandy’s pieces. If you aren’t familiar with Sandy’s work, I urge you to visit her website and check it out because it’s gorgeous.

www.sandyshum.com

Heads up that Sandy is getting ready to do some new pieces so be sure to check back in a few months for the latest additions to her inspiring collection.

Here are some pics out of Rob’s bedroom. For some reason I don’t have any pics of his room, but it’s big and spacious with a wall of windows.

Here’s Rob’s neighbor to the right

And here’s the neighbor to the left, otherwise known as a sweatshop…literally. These folks are working from the crack of dawn until at least 11 PM every day. In their rare moments of not working they like to congregate around Rob’s front porch and shoot the breeze.

All in all, a great house and I’m happy to call it home for the next 6 weeks or so…

Now that you’ve seen Rob’s house, how about a little tour around Mae Sot? Of course I can’t give you a tour until I get a bike. On my second or third day in town I was returning from the grocery store on foot with a backpack full of goodies when I met Rob’s landlord, Charoen.

In his limited English and my limited Thai we exchanged pleasantries. He inquired about the duration of my stay and upon hearing my answer of a month or two promptly turned on his feet and walked into his house. I took this to be the end of our conversation, albeit a strange one, and proceeded to unlock the door to Rob’s house when he suddenly reappeared with a shiny, new bike.

I asked him if I could rent the bike from him, but he shook his head emphatically and told me I could borrow it. Wow, how generous and kind! His only request was that I get a lock for it, which I did that very day.

I decided to pimp his ride a bit more by adding this snazzy basket.

Sweet! Now that I’ve got some wheels, how about a tour around Mae Sot? Here are the streets surrounding Rob’s house.

Rob’s house is right by the temple, but not as close as the last house so we can sleep without the air traffic controller headgear.

These geese like to hang out around the temple along with a few dogs.

I absolutely adore dogs and find it almost impossible not to throw myself down on the ground and smother them with hugs and kisses, but Thai dogs are just gross. They all seem to be suffering from mange and they are downright mean. The word for dog in Thai is maa and it’s a rising tone so you say it kind of like you are asking a question. Anyway, we refer to them as vicious maa because come 9 PM they form packs and attack anything on their turf. It’s actually pretty scary when riding your bike because they are fast and race along side your bike barking, foaming at the mouth, and trying to bite your leg. One of my friends from Chiang Mai who was visiting Mae Sot was actually bitten by a vicious maa and had to undergo the brutal series of rabies shots. No gracias.

Rob gave me a useful tip in dealing with the vicious maa while on a bike, which basically entails screeching your bike to a halt and I’m talking tire lifting off the ground because the screech was so abrupt, standing up off your bike, and staring down the maa to establish your dominance while backing away from them. Never turn your back on a vicious maa or you have lost dominance and are just asking to be bitten. Sometimes one must even take it a bit further by yelling at the maa. It’s crazy and must look absurd, but it works. One night I had to pull this trick on 3 separate occasions on my way home. It’s scary each time, but so far it has worked for me.

Enough of the scary talk. Let’s talk about lighter topics like food. Here’s our primary grocery store, Tesco. It’s the bomb and even has a small Dunkin’ Donuts kiosk within. Yummy!!!

Hong Long is the other grocery store, which also has some nice imported goods.

While we can get some imported goods in Mae Sot, the best stuff is generally purchased while in Bangkok or Chiang Mai, or if we are really lucky, transported from the US via our family, friends, or a friend of friend’s second cousin removed. We’re not too proud to ask, and by ask I mean beg and plead and promise our first born child, and as a result our snack box is full of some pretty precious contents. This plastic box has a sealed lid to keep the ants away. Ants are a huge problem in tropical climates and enemy number 1 around our house. One of Rob’s Thai friends, Dao, introduced us to this magic chalk, which keeps the ants away.

They hate the powder and will absolutely not cross a chalked line. As a result Rob and I have chalked almost every single surface in the downstairs area. At long last we thought we had secured a victory against these insidious foes, but we were sorely mistaken. The ants were about to launch their most deadly strike. Yes, you guessed it, the cherished treasure chest of snacks was under siege. You can imagine my horror and dismay upon hearing the news from Rob on his way out the door to work that the ants had infiltrated our snack box. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

I raced to the box only to discover that our Mexican stash, perhaps the most precious contents in our collection, were infested with ravenous ants. Obviously this meant war. It was me against the ants and this time I was not going to lose. Notice the thick line around the box. Mwahahaha…no ants will dare to cross this line.

Victory was mine for less than 1 day. Somehow the ants were back for round 2. I took my chalking up a notch and even chalked the box itself.

Again, the ants returned, decimating the newly replenished stock. I give up. The snack box is no longer a safe haven. Everything must now reside in the fridge. Some things aren’t as great cold (insert honey, cereal, peanut butter), but it’s better cold than not at all.

While we are on the topic of food, I’d like to show you my favorite fruit stand.

My favorite thing here is the pomelo, which is kind of like a grapefruit. It’s the end of the season now so I’m loading up as much as possible before they are gone.

Here are some more street scenes from the Sot.

Yeah, that Popeye is kind of random. There’s no Popeye’s restaurant or anything even remotely related to Popeye, but he serves as a sweet landmark and a good reminder to eat plenty of spinach.

Right behind Popeye is a cute coffee shop called Hazel, which steps it up big time in the foam decoration department.

Popeye may be awesome, but I think the coolest mascot is the Mae Sot Terminator.

I mean, is this sweet or what? I drive past this guy every day on my way to and from Rob’s house so one day I finally had to stop to meet the man behind the Terminator. He was thrilled to hear that I loved his work and equally as happy to pose for a pic with his masterpiece.

Here’s Weave, one of the fair trade shops, after it’s makeover.

Do you want to know what I’m getting everyone as their souvenir from Thailand? Obviously, these Elvis dolls. I mean, does it get more Thai than this?

Here is a pic of my favorite dinner option from a cart. They serve up the best noodle soup with pork and dumplings.

I discovered this gem one night when Rob was out of town. The curb was packed with diners, which is always a good sign. The locals seemed happy to see a farang (foreigner) eating there. We exchanged huge smiles throughout the meal and even attempted some conversation. I got some serious props when I threw down “aroy mak mak,” which means very delicious (a shout out to my jungle yoga peeps for the mak mak), resulting in one of the men picking up the tab for all of us there at the table. No way! How sweet. I cannot get over the Thai hospitality and kindness. What a great night!

As you can probably tell by now, eating is like a religious experience for me and my family. We love food and always have our finger on the pulse of the best spots in town. Rob is fanatical about the chocolate balls from this place with the frog.

I think the best place in town for dessert is Casa Mia. Banoffee pie…don’t mind if I do.

They also have the best Burmese tofu salad ever! I’m generally not a huge fan of tofu, finding it kind of boring compared to all the other delectable options out there, but whatever they do to this tofu is out of this world. I’m going to see if they’ll teach me how to make it so if I get it, I’ll be sure to share it.

Many of the restaurants where we dine have Thai names, which we cannot read so we give them creative names like the Green Restaurant

or the Steak Place. Yummy! Here are Rob, Rochelle, Sarah, and I gorging ourselves on as much meat as our bodies can possibly handle. You can’t tell from the pictures, but this restaurant’s outdoor seating also features AstroTurf to create that special ambiance.

One of the nicest restaurants in town is Chicago House.

Rob and I have our favorite meal here, which consists of a sushi roll combo and curry chicken. Kind of a strange pairing, but both dishes are fabulous and all together it’s the perfect amount of food. Chicago House also stands out for me because it’s where I got my first lesson about how not to be jai ron (hot tempered).

In Asia, saving face is paramount so one must be hyper vigilant about not losing face or allowing another to lose face. To a Westerner, this is kind of a strange concept because even the tiniest thing can result in the losing of face. Allow me to illustrate this for you with a personal example.

I ordered a sushi roll by pointing to the picture on the menu. The lady came back and gestured that it wasn’t available. I pointed to another dish, which was apparently also not available. She pointed to a third option written in Thai without a picture. Having no idea what this dish could be I tired to think quickly on my feet and came up with what I thought was a clever solution. On the wall was a laminated picture of the various pieces of sushi. I pointed to the various pictures to ascertain which fish were actually in this dish. She understood and provided me with the information I wanted to know. Once she left the table Rob looked at me with a horrified expression and notified me that I had just been very jai ron/hot headed with my actions. I was a bit confused because I didn’t exhibit any signs of frustration such as rolling my eyes, forcefully exhaling, or raising my voice. All I had done was try to communicate creatively given the language barrier, but by not just smiling and accepting the mystery dish she had suggested, which is known as the philosophy of mai pen rai (it’s nothing, no worries, it’s cool), I was very jai ron/hot hearted and therefore lost my face. Really? Did I seriously lose my face through sign language?

One way to help someone regain their face is to smile at them. Here’s another example Rob used to explain this to me. Let’s say I got into an accident with some Thais. They may smile and laugh as they are helping me to my feet, but it’s not because they think it’s funny or are even truly laughing at me. By laughing and smiling they are helping me regain my face, which I lost when I fell off my bike. Yeah, it’s definitely different from the Western mentality. So, when in doubt, don’t question it, just smile, graciously accept whatever the situation requires, and remember that the mai pen rai philosophy of life reigns supreme here.

It’s always a bit challenging when navigating different cultures to know what is appropriate. I happen to like fresh flowers so one day I went to the Burmese market to pick up some flowers for the house. I decided to pick up an extra bunch for Charoen as a little thank you for letting me borrow his bike. Charoen is retired and always around the house. I saw him lying on the floor watching TV so I was going to put the flowers by the door with a note, but he saw me and came to the door. When I gave him the flowers he got a confused and slightly wigged out expression on his face, looked both ways out the door to see if anyone was looking, and promptly shut the door. I asked Rob about this and he didn’t really know, but thought that maybe if Charoen had a wife or kids that perhaps neighbors would find it weird that some farang was giving him flowers. I asked Sandy who has lived in Thailand for about 15 years and she said that her Thai friends said that the Western tradition of giving flowers to people is strange to the Thai because it’s too high an honor, that they reserve the flowers for offerings at the temple so when presented with them it’s almost embarrassing. Good to know.  No more flowers for Charoen, but I’m still getting them for Rob’s house. 

Ok let’s take this back to the fun topic of food. Another dining Hotspot is Borderline,

but what makes Borderline even cooler is that it’s an art gallery and fair trade shop. In fact, Borderline hosted an art exhibit for Women’s Day related to new beginnings, inviting residents of the Mae Sot community to submit pieces. I think Rochelle captures the spirit of this exhibit so beautifully here.

Obviously this topic resonated with me on a personal level since the past year and a half has been all about new beginnings for me.  I submitted this piece from my travels in Tibet and entitled it, Anything is Possible.

The caliber of work submitted was so impressive. I was bowled over by the talent in this community. Sandy does a lot to cultivate creativity in the community and one way she does this is by hosting collage day at her house on Saturday afternoons.

Creating art isn’t mandatory. Sometimes it’s fun to just go and catch up with people and of course enjoy the smorgasbord of delectable baked goods. As you’ve seen from the drawings during my meditation retreat, I’m not a gifted illustrator, but I have created a few masterpieces during collage day with my most prized creation coming from a collaboration between myself and Rochelle in the form of a thank you card for Rob for letting me crash at his house for so long.

I am pleased to present my greatest achievement from collage day.

Let’s zoom in a bit for a better view…

I know what you are thinking and I couldn’t agree more…it’s sheer genius and worthy of its prime real estate on the fridge.

I know I’ve dedicated a lot of time on this post to eating, but it’s not the only thing I do in the Sot. I actually do exercise, which is so nice after about a year and a half of not exercising. Sure, I do a lot of walking while sight seeing and I have done some hiking and biking, but it’s definitely not with any kind of regularity so it’s been really nice to stretch my legs and get the blood flowing a bit again. As you’ve seen from the pics, Rob’s house has some lovely rice fields behind it, making it the ideal place to go running or biking. Here are some views along the way.

I have met so many lovely people on this road.  I seem share the same schedule as this group of elderly bike riders.  They are always so friendly, shouting sawadee kraps to me and waving their arms with huge smiles on thier faces.  I also sometimes run into children who bike past me a few times before gaining the courage to test their English skills and say hello.  They are so shy and sweet, but once we get going the shyness disappears.  Inevitably we end up singing a song.  They generally sing me a song in Thai and I sing them a song in English.  Head, shoulders, knees and toes is my go to jam because of the fun choreography, which always gets a laugh from them and reinforces some basic English words.  Everyday is an adventure, really, and I try to approach each one with a smile and an open heart and mind. 

This is the road I take to get to Teecha Brooke’s house.  You remember Teecha from my last trip to Mae Sot, right?  She was also with us in Bangkok back in December of 2009, and in my recollection, personally responsible for Rob and I missing our flight to Bali.  Incidentally she did make her flight to China.  How convenient, Teecha. 

Sometimes I’ll take an extended bike ride down the main highway, meeting lovely people along the way.

These ladies run a shop that sells statues and spirit houses.

There are lots of interesting shops along the highway, including this one that specializes in unique lawn art. Rob’s favorite is the giant rooster so maybe I’ll get one for the porch. We’ll see what Charoen thinks about that.

Now it’s time for me to head to Chiang Mai because my girl, Lakisha, and her crew of 25 or so friends are in Thailand and making their way to Chiang Mai in the next few days. Woo Hoo!!!! Let the games begin.

I arrived in Chiang Mai a few days before they did and was thrilled to discover that Rami and Line from my Africa trip were in Thailand and headed to Chiang Mai in a few days so we could catch up. They were bringing a friend who they met in India as well as her brother. Wow, we’ve got a real party on our hands here. I love it!!!

Chiang Mai is one of my favorite cities in Thailand. There are tons of temples throughout the city, offering a serene respite from the hustle and bustle.

Glad I got in some down time because Lakisha and Co. have arrived so it’s time to get this party started!

Yay! It’s so wonderful to have Lakisha here in Thailand. I love having friends visit from overseas. So fun!!! I also have to thank Lakisha again for making Rob’s day and hooking him up with his obsession, the Caramel Peanut Fusion Triple Threat Powerbar. She didn’t scrimp either…my nong lek got massively hooked up with an entire box. Three cheers for Lakisha!!! You seriously made Rob’s month. She also brought me some moisture wicking socks. I know I’m a freak about this moisture wicking stuff, but it’s hard to find over here and oh so necessary in this tropical heat. Thanks again, Lakisha, for our gifts from the States. You are awesome!

Of course no night on the town with Lakisha is possible without a few jagerbombs.

We found this sweet car that is actually a bar. Bottoms up!!!

Rami joined the party as well.

Sadly, Line was suffering from parasites she picked up in India so she was back in the room, unable to be away from the toilet for longer than 1.5 seconds. Poor Line! She actually had to go to the hospital a few days later, but with about 15 medicines in hand, she should be back to normal in about a week.

It was so much fun to have friends from around the globe in one place. I love all of these small world experiences I have had on the road. It’s so much fun and makes the experience that much better.

Lakisha, I LOVED seeing you in Thailand and hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. I’ll see you in DC in June. Huge hugs.

After saying goodbye to Lakisha, I hopped on a flight to Kuala Lumpur so I could renew my 30 day Thai visa. My visit to KL coincided with the end of the Chinese New Year and since I was staying in Chinatown I got to see the celebrations in full effect.  Unfortunately I didn’t have my SLR on me at the time so these pics are crap, but you can still get the gist of things. 

What do you think this man is urging us to try?  These fashionable pants, perhaps?  Happy birthday, Uncle Wally, these babies are now part of your ever increasing ethnic wardrobe. 

Do you like my new shades?

Having spent 2 weeks in KL last summer I didn’t feel compelled to do any sight seeing.  This time I was content to walk around town and eat at some of my favorite restaurants.  I also hooked Rob up with his favorite peanut butter crackers made by the one and only Julia.  We can sometimes find these gems at the Rim Moi market on the border between Thailand and Burma, but without a car it’s a bit of a hike.  Incidentally, the Rim Moi market is also where Rob and I hooked up the fam with those super stylish and totally practical face masks.  Here are Drew and Maggie enjoying their thoughtful and oh so fabulous gifts.

The market also sells a variety of useful items for those desiring to declare themselves insurgent generals.  I’m in Thailand for a few more weeks so if you are in need of any supplies, let me know.  I’ve got you! 

KL is a great city and very easy to navigate.  It was a fun and relaxing few days, but I’m ready to get back to the Sot and catch up with my family there.  After being there for a month I have to say that it really does feel like a family.  It’s a very nice quality of life, riding your bike to get to places, meeting up for casual lunches and dinners, participating in movie night and collage day, doing yoga at Gecko Gardens, running errands, and just taking things as they come.  I love the people I have met there and look forward to being a part of the Mae Sot mix again. 

I returned to the Sot in time for Pi Non’s big housewarming party. She pulled out all the stops, including an artist’s rendering of her family for the invitation.

The party was a massive success with several hundred people in attendance…yes, I said several hundred. It was insane!!!

She even had a stage for musical performances, including some impressive singing by her beautiful daughter.

　

So as you can see, life in the Sot has been great.  I still have a little over a month before I need to be back in the United States so I’d like to end things with a bit more travel. 

Next on Tiff’s travel itinerary…New Zealand.  Woo Hoo!  New Zealand was always on my list for this trip and as luck would have it my fave Kiwi, Amar, was up for the journey as well.  Like me, Amar is at the end of his extended travels so we’ve decided to join forces again for one last hurrah. 

New Zealand, get ready because here I come.  I’ll see you soon and I promise this time I won’t take forever with my updates.  (insert crazy Haka face and aggressive thigh slapping)  It is on, my friends.  Talk soon!