A Foodie's Paradise

O the food in Thailand. Where do I begin? So many unique, amazing dishes we've had here so far. Thai food is internationally renowned of course and for good reason. Strong flavors clash with rich thick curries & bright spicy salads. Eating seems central to Thai culture as it's standard for Thais to have at least 6 meals in a day! For me, the underlying factor behind why everything is so damn tasty can be explained in one word : freshness. Everywhere we've been so far, incredible fresh, local ingredients can be found in bustling markets. Everything we eat is guaranteed to have been caught or picked a few days before. This dependence on locally ingredients translates into delicious, intense flavors. I also believe that this way of eating is much healthier because chemicals aren't used to preserve the food.

Influenced by centuries of eastern and western culture, Thai cuisine has emerged as something unique. Harmony is the guiding principle behind each and every dish. Balance, simplicity and the juggling of different elements is meant to create a harmonious finish. The four main flavors are present in everything we eat: Spicy, Sour, Salty and Sweet. As a matter of fact, we often find these four condiments sitting right there at the table waiting for us to personalize our meal.

Depending on where in Thailand you are, flavors are bound to be different. The regional & cultural influence can be seen in all corners of the country. That being said, wherever you are, you are bound to find rice. It's the main crop here. Most deep fried & stir-fried dishes are meant to go with rice.
 
Up here in the North, lots of the food has been influenced by the Burmese, Laotian & Chinese culture. I must say, I'm curious about the Chinese influence the most (maybe because I love Chinese food as well). In Chiang Rai, we can find early morning rice porridge's, stir-fried Chinese style pork noodles & steamed Chinese buns filled with sweet and savory fillings called hum bao. In fact, the wok itself (which is a crucial Thai cooking instrument) can be attributed to the Chinese.

I definitely have a list of favorite dishes but not all of them are totally Thai. One of our favorite Thai dishes is Khao Soi. This Burmese influenced soup-like dish is made with a mix of deep-fried crispy egg noodles & boiled egg noodles, pickled cabbage, shallots, lime, ground chillies fried in oil, & meat in a curry-like coconut milk sauce. Ridiculously delicious! Check out some of our favorite dishes:

Infamous Khao Soi Gai (w/chicken)

Tomato Based Pork Noodle Soup called Nam Ngeow (with congealed pork blood on top!)

Spicy Papaya Salad (Som Tom)

Chinese Pork Noodle Soup and Pork Dumplings (Shumai) with Condiments!

Salt Crusted Rotisserie Style River Fish & Fixings

Chinese Wheat Noodles with Roasted Pork and Kale

We Now Know How To Cook Thai Food:)

A Little Taste of China in Thailand

The sleepy hillside village of Doi Mae Salong

Last weekend we decided to take a little weekend getaway with our friend Ashley.  There are tons of little towns nestled in the hills surrounding Chiang Rai each with its own flavor.  This weekend we chose to spend a night in Doi Mae Salong, a mountain town about 2 hours from Chiang Rai.
Mae Salong is a small village that was originally settled by Chinese immigrants.  Members of the Chinese Nationalist Army escaped the communist regime in China, and lived and traveled throughout Burma until settling in Mae Salong.  They fought for Thailand and helped keep Thailand free of communism.  Mae Salong originally was a huge opium growing area.  Hill tribes have used opium for medicinal purposes for years, but in the height of the Golden Triangle era Mae Salong's main crop was opium.  When the Thai government cracked down on opium production and trade, they introduced tea as an alternative crop for this region.  Growing conditions are ideal:  cooler climates with lots of sun up in the hills.  They also produce a variety of mushrooms.
We took a bus headed for Mae Sai (the northernmost city in Thailand) and got off at the bottom of Mae Salong hill.  Then we took a shared taxi truck called a songteaw about an hour up a steep, windy mountain road.  The scenery was beautiful, and differed greatly from the lower hills immediately surrounding our city.  The temperature dropped and although it was still sunny, the air was much crisper.  As we arrived we noticed a huge temple on top of a hill behind the city, so we decided to check it out, but not before a huge bowl of Yunanese noodle soup, complete with wontons!  My Uncle David has made Chinese wontons at every family gathering since my childhood, so I was ecstatic to see authentic wontons in soup.

Phra Boromathat Chedi

After lunch we climbed a total of 718 of the steepest stairs I've been on to get to the top.   But it was definitely well worth it.  The views were incredible!!  Once we got to the top we realized there was a road that went up, which would have saved my quads of the burning sensation going both up and down the steps, but we welcomed stretching our legs after a cramped ride up the mountain.  The inside of the temple was really unique, and we haven't seen anything like it yet here.  The first level was an open square room, with nothing but a set of stairs on one side.  We took the stairs up, which led to another empty square room, except for a small shrine to the Princess' mother in the corner.  Then we headed up yet another set of stairs (my legs were screaming at me) which led to a tiny room with a small Buddha statue in the middle, adorned by coins people had left as offerings.  What was really special about the place was definitely the views from the patio, and that's where we spent most of our time after the hike up.

Beautiful view from on top of the temple.

 From the top of the temple we saw a GIANT tea pot statue in the distance and decided to go check it out.   We explored the narrow windy streets as we walked about 2km past tea plantations and shops with signs in Chinese to the open field with giant tea pots.  It was a really strange place, and almost felt abandoned...we weren't really sure what the point of the complex was, but it was a unique site.

Tea leaves drying

Processing the tea leaves

On our way back we stopped at a few tea retailers who offered tea tastings.  Unfortunately the people serving tea didn't speak any English, so we didn't learn about the process much.  However, as we started to walk back to our hostel to get ready for dinner we passed a warehouse where tea leaves had been drying on the ground earlier in the day.  The tea leaves had all been picked up, and a man in a straw hat was loading them all into different machines.  We stopped to watch and he invited us into his shop to have a look.  First the tea leaves are left out to dry in the sun.  Then they are loaded into a machine that shreds them into smaller pieces.  Once that is done they are loaded into giant dryers to make the leaves into what we know as loose tea leaves.

That night we wandered back to a restaurant that Scott had noticed as we were walking earlier in the day.  We had a wonderful authentic Chinese dinner - it reminded me of Chinese dinners we had as a kid: huge round tables with lazy-susan spinners in the middle.  We ordered black chicken with ginger and other delicious dishes, complimented by Thai beer.  That meal definitely stands out as one of the best I've had here!

There isn't a lot to do in the town at night, so the three of us shared a bottle of whiskey and chatted on our little patio, realizing what an awesome life we are living here in Thailand!  The night got cold, so cold in fact that I slept in my fleece jacket and Ashley slept in her slippers.  It was almost as if we were in an entirely different country!

Ooling tea for breakfast :)

The next morning we ate breakfast at a cafe that overlooked several hill tribe villages across a large ravine.  The SweetMaeSalong Cafe offered awesome food and even better views, and we spent the morning relaxing with oolong tea before heading back down the mountain to Chiang Rai.  It was the perfect weekend getaway, and a trip I definitely recommend taking if you're visiting Chiang Rai.

English Mutterings

Some of my students participated in a 1 Day English Camp last week.  There were 7th, 8th and 9th graders.  The activity that I did focused on practicing writing, so each student started with a piece of paper with the first sentence of a story written on it.  Every student had to write 2-3 sentences, then pass the story to their neighbor, who wrote 2-3 more sentences, and so on.  Some of the stories turned out to be pretty entertaining by the end.  Below are a few of my favorites.  (I've made some corrections in parenthesis to help you understand.)

"Once upon a time there was a mean witch who lived in Chiang Rai."
She is old and fat.  She look like a pig.  She has short legs.  She like to go to sea because she like to swim.  She like to eat the seafood.  One day, she went to find a big fish in the middle of the sea.  Suddenly, a shark swims near her and then she's eaten by shark.  She (does) not die because she has a magic, so she (makes) the shark become a handsome prince and they are marry.  One day the shark is falling in love with the mermaid.  The witch (is) very angry and (makes) the shark to be a girl but (the) mermaid is lesbian.  The witch scream very loud and (creates) an earthquake and a tsunami wave.  Everything is clear and the witch (goes) back to (the) Magic World and eats Peter (a student in the class) then dies on fire.

"Once upon a time there was a mean witch who lived in Chiang Rai"
She has long nose, black hairs, thin black eyes and she is short.  She don't like any flowers (that have) many colors, but she like black color.  She like to go to Central Plaza everyday.  She like to make everything dark.  One day she go to the forest and she find flowers (that) have many colors.  Suddenly her nose become so bigger.  She's very angry and went to the hospital.  She saw a handsome doctor and fall in love with him.  She give the doctor poison then she (makes) the doctor into a gecko because she don't like doctor with another girl.  Then her husband is a gecko forever.

"Once upon a time there was a mean witch who lived in Chiang Rai"
The witch is a beautiful woman but she has ugly nose.  One day, she drive a car and has an accident, and her nose is broken.  She (is) very sad and cries everyday.  Her friend visit her and see her cry.  Her friend advice her to have surgical operation, so that she would be more beautiful and have many boys love her.  Every day many boys come to her.  She love everybody and she flirt (so) much and make every boy angry with her.  The next day everybody go to kill her.  The witch go to space and talk to the alien to come help her.  But the alien don't help her and don't know the way.  And she doesn't have food, water, oxygen and she dies in space.  Everyone forgets her.

"Once upon a time there was a mean witch who lived in Chiang Rai"
One day she is very hungry.  She go to eat the food at Big C.  She wants to study in Damrong School.  Teachers in Damrong School tell her (she) cannot study in Damrong School because (she) is an old girl.  The witch thinks of how to become a young girl again.  She forgets something.  She has magic.  Then she comes back to school again and she change her body (to) a young girl.  And then she can study in school, but she (is not smart.)  And she comes to school but doesn't have a uniform to wear.  And she is sad and she goes to the river and jumps into the river and dies.

"Once upon a time there was a mean witch who lived in Chiang Rai"
The witch like to kill people in Chiang Rai.  And one day she catch the King of Chiang Rai.  She ate the king.  People in Chiang Rai want to kill her.  But Chiang Rai people die and there is one boy who (doesn't) die because he hid in the sky.  (The witch) changed her body to a bird.  Nobody knows the bird is a mean witch.  Then an airplane fly in the sky and kill the mean witch.  So, the witch die.  And the sky change color to black.  People in Chiang Rai are very happy.  The sky changed to color pink.

A Trek Well Worth It

Yesterday, Jody and I went exploring a little bit. We drove west of town 15~20 minutes & came across a cool looking rock mountain. We could barely make out a golden Buddha on the top and there seemed to be an adjoining temple on the ground-level. The mountain (if you can call it that) was about 500 feet tall with super steep rock cliffs. It was stunning and we decided to stop and check it out.
























There was more to the complex than we originally thought. Surrounding the mountain was a main temple, creepy caves, ancient Stupas, cool statues & a big white Buddha where two people were praying when we got there. We spoke to the resident monk and tried to communicate that we wanted to climb the mountain. Despite not speaking a word of English, he proceeded to draw us a map and gave us 3 bottles of water for the hike! So nice and welcoming. We watched a cat torture a recently caught snake for a few minutes, and finally arrived at the entrance up the mountain.

What an ascent! The trail definitely wasn't well trodden which made for a dangerous, difficult climb especially in our sandals. It was so steep. We climbed straight up step after step & reached the summit in 30 minutes. Our efforts were immediately rewarded. What a fantastic view! We could see the entire area in a 360 degree view. Rolling mountains, Chiang Rai city in the distance, the Kok River winding through rice fields. It was beautiful especially as the sun started to set.

Towering over the landscape stood a big Golden Buddha on the highest point. I think it may be a protector of the city because it was facing directly towards Chiang Rai. We relaxed in the little courtyard & soaked up the peacefulness & amazing views the mountain had to offer. It's a special place.

What an awesome, unexpected experience! Definitely off the tourist track. Apart from the few resident monks at the bottom, we were the only people at the place. We'll have to return soon.

Thai New Years Island Style

This year we wanted to ring in the New Year in a special place. We decided to head down south to

one of the Thai Islands and spend a few days relaxing/exploring with a few friends. What an awesome weekend it turned out to be! Thailand is a crazy place for New Years as loads of tourists & locals escape on similar getaways. This congestion made for quite the travel experience combined with our budget-friendly travel modes. We left on Friday night from Chiang Rai and finally got to our bungalow resort an exhausting 24 hours later! After a 10 hour overnight bus from Chiang Rai to Bangkok, and then a 6 hour bus from Bangkok to Trat, we arrived at a taxi stand and were told that all of the boats to our destination (Koh Mak) were full! We didn’t believe it so we went to the pier anyways and explained that we wanted to go to Koh Mak. Fully aware that we might have to spend the night on the mainland or go to neighboring Koh Chang for a night, we were worried. It turned out that there was still a boat leaving for Koh Mak so the ladies at the taxi stand were lying to us. Unfortunate because we haven’t experienced deception many times in Thailand so far. Up to this point, everybody has been so accommodating and honest. We were lucky to catch the last boat out to Koh Mak at 4PM and one hour later, we were finally at our beautiful destination.

Reppin that Thai Beer

Koh Mak is still relatively new and undiscovered as far as Thai Islands go. It’s very small at only 16 KM and flat. It’s a great place for people looking for a tropical relaxing holiday away from the hoards of tourists that flood to neighboring Koh Chang. There are still beautiful sand beaches & stunning crystal clear coves. The Island only has about 20 resorts and the majority of the land is filled with palm trees, rubber plantations and coconut/pineapple fields. We loved it because of this unique landscape combined with the tranquil environment unspoiled by mass tourism. There weren’t clubs, western restaurants & 5 star resorts everywhere. We spent the days soaking up the sun on the white sand beaches, exploring the island on our rented bicycles & swimming in the stunning clear blue water. Some stand out moments are when we swam to a shipwreck and jumped off, rum with fresh coconut picked minutes before, & brunch at an awesome coffee shop on the opposite side of the island surrounded by FAT local pigs (I had to get the bacon :)

View from our room

We loved our little beach-side bungalows! Beautiful, rustic and secluded. A perfect place to relax after the chaos of a 24 hour commute. Yes, we didn’t have A/C, hot water, or even a flushing toilet, but we did have beautiful, beachfront property at a very reasonable price. The night we arrived happened to be the owner’s birthday. They threw a huge complimentary feast followed by hours of karaoke on the beach. Such a special place run by a wonderful Thai family: www.baaningkao.com. We managed to meet a few interesting people during our stay. A traveling expat from Canada and an Italian Executive Chef from Bangkok stand out. We loved waking up to the sounds of waves on the shore then going for a morning swim before breakfast to refresh ourselves. A special place indeed.

Koh Mak Crew - Eric who was sick :(

Great Company on New Years

New Years Eve we partied at our resort with the 20-30 other vacationers. We played beer-pong, set off fireworks, socialized around a bonfire and let off lanterns with wishes for the New Year written on them. It was a new years we’ll never forget and I hope this experience is an indication of what 2013 has in store.

Crossword Fun!

Getting my students interested in English can sometimes be a huge challenge – case and point, my last blog post about teaching.  I spend a lot of time thinking of fun English games that will get them interested.  Most of the time this includes intense competition and or bribery, which I am not above offering if it keeps them entertained.  During Christmas our class schedule was crazy due to random activities around the school, so some classes only had 15-20 students, and some classes didn’t meet at all.  Instead of trying to plan a lesson, I brought a bunch of Crossword sets (a game almost exactly like Scrabble) into class, thinking that at least it will keep them off their iPhones for a while.  I was not at all expecting their reactions:  cheers as I held up the Crossword box!  They went crazy, and in a good way!  I passed out the games and started explaining it, but as I was explaining the students said, “Yeah yeah, Teacher.  We know, we know.”  I no more than set down the board I was using as an example before a student snatched it up to take to his group.  Most of the words were pretty elementary, but some would make even Uncle David proud!  I let certain rules slip by as long as the students were participating, and even let some words in like Maxim (I just didn’t feel like fighting that battle.  It’s the effort that counts, right?!) 

After class as I collected the games I explained that students are always welcome to come to the English office to play Crossword whenever they want.  Not expecting any of them to come, I was blown away when a group of 5 boys came in asking to play Crossword.  As word got around that students can come in whenever they want, we saw more and more students come in to play.  Crossword is apparently an academic competition in Thailand, and the students really enjoy it.  It was really fun to see the students so enthusiastic about something other than Doraemon or football.  Anything to get them to practice English!

Mathayom 6 (12th Grade) playing Crossword

Mathayom 6 girls

Hanging out in the English Department office playing Crossword