Best Restaurant

I had lunch today at the greatest restaurant in the world. I dare you come here and eat at this place and tell me I'm wrong. I've already been to some incredible restaurants here in Chiang Mai, and this one today was right up there with The Waterfall restaurant I went to a few weeks ago. (The Waterfall is at the base of the mountain and it overlooks a huge waterfall. The entire restaurant is a bamboo style hut meets Swiss Family Robinson tree house. Complete with white lights and palms and the best green curry in town.)

The restaurant I went to today is called Pun Pun. It's located on the temple grounds of Wat Suan Dok, one of the most beautiful temples I've yet to find. The restaurant was created to help support an organic farm with the same name. Everything is vegetarian, organic, fresh and local. I have to admit I don't always think about where the food I eat comes from (very few people do), but it really is a good feeling helping support this farm and support an advocate for sustainable agriculture. Most importantly, it was the tastiest food I've had in Chiang Mai. I split an avocado salad with my lunch date. This salad was as aesthetically pleasing to the eyes as it was pleasing to the palate. It was a (giant!) avocado halved and in the little space where the pit was a pile of pureed veggies and a sweet dressing. I thought about taking a photo of it, but by the time I had that brilliant idea it was already in my belly. It's the kind of dish that belongs in those fancy food magazines. (Speaking of avocado, Lisa, I read your card again today. Miss you!) The other dish I had was a sweet and sour stir fry with lots of mushrooms, cucumber, pineapple, ginger, peppers, and served with brown rice. It was really refreshing to find a place that serves brown rice rather that the starchy white stuff. So so good. Their teas are quite tasty too. We ran into some good company so we just oooh'd and ahhh'd over each other's dishes. I can't wait to go back. Good food really puts you in a good mood.

There should be more restaurants like this in the world. If you want to read more about the idea behind the restaurant or the farm itself, check out their website: http://www.punpunthailand.org/ I think it's a fantastic thing.

After lunch I stopped into the temple to confirm my reservation for the meditation retreat. A monk helped me with my paperwork then starting asking questions that weren't related to the retreat at all, and that's when I realized he just wanted someone to talk to and perhaps practice his English with. It's always a little awkward when he pauses about 10 seconds in between each question as he's probably checking his grammar in his head before he speaks. We had a nice conversation and I finished my paperwork and stood up to hand it to him while he just stood there and looked at me. That's when I realized you aren't supposed to hand something directly to a monk so I kind of gasped and set it on the table in front of him. I have a few things to learn. I am excited because he said this secret location of the retreat is about a 40 minute drive north of the city. I can't wait to see what it's like. A friend at lunch was very excited for me that I was doing the retreat tomorrow and he kept saying in his British accent "ah! great fun great fun!" Not necessarily an adjective I would have come up with. He must have a party going on in his mind all the time. He also gave me lots of great info on local yoga and weekly meditation groups. I can't wait to get involved with all these great things. (I do actually have a job by the way. It might not sound like it, I know.)