Fish Spa and Massage

I have a little video of foot massage in Bangkok and Fish Spa treatment as well.
Let me know what you think.

Flight information

We have moved out of our bungalow and moved into Pop House.
It was emotional leaving our neighborhood. Will asked our landlord to translate a goodbye to our neighbor, Yo (that's him in the picture helping load the truck) as well as Pe Tim (Our laundry lady). There were lots of tears.









Today, Friday, Will is finishing up the pizza oven he built for a family here. I've added a few of the pictures, but will be sure to show you the finished product.































We've picked up a few last minute gifts and the rest of the clothes we had made.
So today is wrapping up. I have to work for Airclaws and then go to a goodbye lunch at Bucket Khao Soi. Our bus leaves at 9:00pm. This weekend we are hanging out with J in her hometown of Bangkok.
We fly home March 2. I've attached our itinerary.

Japan Airlines	708	BANGKOK SUVARNABH	TUE 02MAR 8:15 AM	TOKYO NARITA	4:00 PM	T
	OPERATED BY JL FOR JO CHECK-IN WITH OPERATING CARRIER
	William Tevis		FF#: 00V34M4	Economy
	Natalie Tevis			Economy
American Airlines	154	TOKYO NARITA	TUE 02MAR 7:00 PM	CHICAGO OHARE	3:50 PM	T
	William Tevis		FF#: 00V34M4	Economy	Seat 34A	Dinner/Breakfast
	Natalie Tevis			Economy	Seat 34B	Dinner/Breakfast
American Airlines	4287	CHICAGO OHARE	TUE 02MAR 6:20 PM	COLUMBUS OH	8:35 PM	T

Kalare Night Bazaar

Saturday after the wedding we rode to Kalare Night Bazaar for shopping and a foot massage.
We are on a mission to find gifts for as many as we can back home. The trick is how to carry it all back. :)
If you haven't had Banana Roti with Chocolate, you are missing out. Click the link for a recipe.
I find shopping for girls to be easy. There are dresses, purses, earrings, blankets, you get the idea. Boys on the other hand.... ties.... ??? It's harder. So when I saw the salesman in this clip I thought I had found the perfect presents. Until I found out what the price was. So...still searching for presents for guys.

Oh Ye of LITTLE Faith!!

Look, I know that I can at times elude being pinned down. I didn't eat the termites that S referred to when we were in Honduras while making people think I did. (I didn't lie. I dissembled)
And truth be told, if Will hadn't been there to FORCE me to do it (he had the camera, you see) I don't think I would have done it.
HOWEVER, please note the following pictures which show me with three of the big cats. Sticky Rice and Spicy Sausage are the first two cats. I can't remember the third one.

Did I or didn't I?

WARNING! WARNING! DANGER! DANGER
These signs are on every enclosure.



For a very good reason. The tigers we were in with are 17 months old and weigh well over 200 pounds.






I must admit I was NOT easily convinced to get close to the tigers.













After all look at the TEETH and the size of those PAWS
(claws are trimmed but still there)













So what do you think?
Did I lay on top of the tigers?? Or was I very much afraid and decided that the chicken the tigers eat wouldn't be me?

Cooking School

Monday Will and I along with six others were picked up in a retro sky blue, VW bus and taken to A Lot of Thai Cooking School. It's owned by a couple. Yui is the chef and entrepreneur and Kwan is the driver and heavy lifter.


We started with Pad Thai then moved on to Green Curry and Tom Yum Gai (Hot and Sour soup with Chicken).













We took a break half way through and made a trip to the market. There are some amazing sights in the market. For example: Bee Larvae, Chicken Blood Patties,





heaps of fresh veggies and fruit.


































Here is a clip from that adventure.




After a refreshing Cafe Bun (Coffee Shake) we drove back to the Cookery School and made Spring Rolls, Cashew Nut Chicken Stir Fry and finished with dessert, Steamed Banana Cake. YUMMY!!
We have a cook book from the school if you want to borrow it. Or better yet, call me and we can make a date to cook together!

A Lot of Thai

With less than two weeks remaining in Chiang Mai, we are finally going to take a cooking class at A Lot of Thai.
We are going with friends so the class is all ours! We selected additional things to make other than what is on the schedule. Mmmmmm mango and sticky rice anyone?

The land of the roosters

Today we are taking the bus to Lampang.
There is a zone visit in Bangkok on Sunday and it will be broadcast at a university in Lampang at 2:00 Sunday.
We have a friend who lives and works there so we are visiting him for the weekend. He is a basketball enthusiast. So GAME ON!

Here is a bit of information about Lampang:

About 100 kilometers south of Chiang Mai, Lampang is an ancient city founded in the seventh century, supposedly by the son of Lamphun's founder, Queen Chama Devi. In the nineteenth century the city was fortified with walls, and later became an important center of the teak industry. The city and its monuments has escaped much of the modernizations that have left many of the north's temples with little of their original decorations.

Like all of the former northern kingdom of Lanna, Lampang was occupied by the Burmese for nearly 200 years. Much of this influence can still be seen in the temples of the city.

Although the city has the usual tuk tuks for transportation it also has it's trademark pony carriages. We are planning to ride around in one of those. I'll get pictures to post later on.

There are also heaps of roosters. Our friend has difficulty sleeping at night because of all of the crowing. A giant statue of a rooster is also in Lampang. I can't wait to see it! (haha)

Shangri La

Shangri La
Tonight we went out to eat at a beautiful hotel. I attached the link so you can see it.
Nat

Tiger (Lions and Bears) and Cheers

Tiger Kingdom or not? (check out the link)
I have heard some pretty cool things about this place. Like you can walk in and be right with a Tiger. Now, that sounds a little weird to me. My first question was "Are they drugged?"
Hmmmm
But it would be so cool (if I'm not contributing to the delinquency of a tiger - hahaha)

This is a funny commercial for a new beer Will "discovered"
Cheers

Fish Spa

So I need your help.
Have you heard of Fish Spas?
I have stuck my hand in to try it out. It is ticklish and a little creepy feeling. I can't decide if I should jump in with both feet... Any thoughts?

Busy, busy, busy

Saturday was full on. Service in the morning.















Lunch at the Bucket Kow Soy (Chiang Mai Noodle) place.


Planting a tropical garden.
Rugby. Dinner at the Canadians. We drove home in 60 degree weather on our bikes. That is COLD when you are driving 70kph!

Getting ready to leave for service

Will recorded me loading up my bike and heading out for service.
There are questions a driver of a car never has to consider.
1) How do I deal with helmet head?
2) Where do I put my service bag (or meeting bag depending on the day)?
3) How do I carry groceries and other purchases?
4) How do I keep my dress from flying up around my waist?
5) How do I remove dead bugs from my person after driving 90kph down the highway?

Hot enough to boil an egg

Sankampaeng Hot Springs is about 23 miles from Chiang Mai. We rode our motorbikes out into the foothills of the eastern range of mountains to see for ourselves how hot is hot.














Will came prepared to soak in a mineral hot tub.
Swim suit, beer, water. There was even a cool breeze
to keep us from becoming over heated.
OH if ONLY we had something to
eat!
How about eggs, you ask?
Can you already smell the egg scented air?
It's really whetting the appetite.














So grab your little
basket of eggs














and check the conveniently
located sign to determine
how long to boil your eggs
while you are
boiling your legs.

Will's question of the week

Can you tell Will has been reading Judges?
Whoever guesses the answer 5th gets a prize. (lol)

Mobile phone and shopping centers

On Wednesday I lost my mobile phone. I don't know how it happened but when I opened my purse to pay for some purchases at Central Airport Plaza my little bag with my credit card and my mobile phone was missing. I thought I might be having a senior moment and had left the phone at home. However, it wasn't there either. I tried calling it to no avail. Then this morning a friend of mine here shot me an email saying that a woman had called her from my phone. This mystery woman said she had found the phone at KFC in Central Airport Plaza. Now I rarely eat at KFC in Ohio so do you think I would be eating it here? The correct answer is no. (hahaha) I have no idea how my mobile got out of my purse and made its way to KFC, but there you have it.
I do have a new phone that I purchased yesterday at Kad Suan Kaew.

HANG ON...I'm heading out the door!!!!

Tuesday morning I'm leaving at 8:45 for the Milo Shop Girls on Nimmanhemin Road!

ENJOY THE BUGS EYE VIEW!
I clipped out a lot of the vid because it takes about 10 minutes to get to the students. But I left in the sounds and me weaving in and out of traffic. I love riding a motorbike here! I can make my own lane (haha)
PS: Kids you can't try this at home. However, you can try it in Thailand!

Sunday Night Walking Street Market II

Sunday January 31 was the last meeting at noon. Next week we change to 1:30. Yay!! Will gave the talk Decisions you Face, How do you make them? The yeartext is in Lahu, the language of the Hill Tribe Congregation. (To the right is Thai and to the left is English.)

After the meeting we ate burritos and drank Margarita's at Miguels. Then on to massage and the Sunday Night Walking Street Market. We recorded a few of the scenes. This market is enormous. We've never seen the end.

Any more suggestions?

I have four responses to the question regarding what we should do for our super nice neighbors. (The picture is the front of their place. They have a litte store/restaurant. They feed monks every day too)
1) Cook a meal for them
2) Buy them beer (if they drink-we're not sure they do)
3) Buy them a very high quality rice
4) Buy them a gift set of tonics. Apparently there is some special vitamin drink that is a bit expensive and Thai's love to get it as a gift.

Any more ideas??

Polling

Early on I created an opinion poll regarding where Will and I should eventually end up. There were 17 votes.
12 for Athens
2 for Chiang Mai
2 for Phuket
1 for Other ( who wrote other and where did you have in mind??)

Now, I want you to know that I am very touched that you want us to stay in Athens. And we love Athens! Our favorite restaurant in the world is in Athens.







The BEST dogs are in Athens.













And of course so much of our family is in Athens. (or at least a car drive away)





But since you have now had time to see a bit more of Thailand, Chiang Mai specifically, here is another chance to voice your opinion. So refresh your memory by re-reading our experience and cast your vote again!

Thanks,
Natalie

Thursday

So today started out great, didn't it? I got up early, went for a run, left the house for service.
And that's as far as we got. Check out my bike and our neighbors gathered around.


Some things don't need translation, do they? If something is broken or possibly might be broken, you will find guys trying to fix it. Will and I both tried to get it to start (More Will than me. I was ready to quit trying fairly soon). The neighbors heard our attempts and joined in. Our neighbors really are great. They brought in a mechanic (who also tried and failed in starting the bike). And tools (to take the battery out of Will's bike and try on mine-good idea but the batteries are different so no go). Finally everyone gave up and our neighbor went out to the main road and negotiated a Songthaew - (pronounced song-tow as in cow) A large pick-up truck used as a local bus service. Song means "two" and thaew means "row".
The guys loaded the bike into the back of the Songthaew and we set off for town. We had to go to the bike shop today anyway to renew our rentals. I have a new bike now. It's pink! So now there is no way to miss seeing me flying by you at 95kph.











I wish there was a way we could communicate to our neighbors how much we appreciate all of the help they have been giving us. Does anyone have any good ideas? We would like to do something for them, but aren't sure what to do.

Since we missed the group we witnessed at a few coffee shops and chatted with a fellow American from the east coast. Isn't this a beautiful coffee shop?
( And yes I am eating fresh pineapple, drinking freshly squeezed Orange Juice while sitting on my ADORABLE pink bike-I know you were wondering)



This area is part of the Thai Cooking School area we explored last time we were in Thailand. There are some amazing schools such as Baan Thai. Hopefully we will make the time to take another cooking class.

Early morning run

This morning I woke up with all kinds of energy. It was so unusual I decided to go for a run. I grabbed my music, popped a piece of gum in my mouth, double knotted my Mizunos and hit the road. I ran a loop that took about 30 minutes. After leaving my soi, I turned north on 107 then east on 1st ring road then south on a cool little road by the river then turned west to watch the sun hitting the tops of the mountain. It was beautiful. And cool. The only drawback with that time of day is that there isn't adequate light for my phone to take great pictures. Oh well....That's not a very big drawback.

Email

Hi
I sent a group email. If you didn't get it let me know. I may need to add your address to my Thailand list in gmail.
Thanks,
Nat