Sunday, November 30, 2008

Mia and Adam do Chiang Mai (Part 2, with Robin!)

Adam returned to Chiang Mai with his mom, Robin. We spent another week doing fun stuff. A few highlights:

Karaoke. Asian Karaoke is much more sensible. Instead of having one annoying person sing a bad early 90's song in front of an entire bar of people, you can have just a few select people singing in a small room, bothering only those who choose to join in on the fun. We rented a room and had a few brave souls come and meet us for some singing. The room was like a colorful cell with a TV, keyboard, and a couple of microphones. Two large books of song choices, most of them Thai, we browsed throughout the night, finding a few gems. I would never never perform karaoke in front of a room full of strangers, but I clearly had no problem singing to my friends when they didn't know the words. The next day they said I hogged the microphone, but don't believe them. They refused to take it when I passed it on. They must have loved my voice. My favorite song was Adam's choice: Beauty and the Beast. We sang the appropriate verses for each gender, ending with a nice duet.

More Rock Climbing. Spent a few days at the rocks and it never fails to be a nice day. I am impressed with Robin because she climbed a route like a champ. Not many moms can say they've climbed rocks in Thailand. I'm still learning, but being out there with great climbers is the best way to do it. I am continually impressed with my friends. I am completely spoiled to have this amazing climbing spot not far from home. Such a beautiful place, and it's that much more motivation to get to the top and look around at some incredible views. The views are always better when you have to work for it.

Cooking Class. I tagged along with Adam and Robin at a cooking class here in Chiang Mai. We started by going to a market in town where our teacher taught us about all the different ingredients we'd be using and what to look for to make these dishes at home. Then we went to the Thai style house where everything was set up for us. We were the only three students in the class that night, which made it that much more fun. We sat in a classroom that was set up like a cooking show. We watched our instructors prepare the dish first, and then we got to go outside to our own cooking stations and give it a try on our own. The beautiful part was eating our own dishes right after we made them. It was a five course meal. First we made Tom Yum Kun, which is a hot and sour soup with shrimp. Then we made hand made sping rolls, followed by green curry with chicken, pad thai, and a Thai pancake for desert. The instructors were great and everything was set up very nicely. We spent a lot of time eating, laughing and making messes. There are lots of good cooking pictures, including photos of each dish. Check them out and then go out for Thai food, because you'll be hungry.

Photo Shoot. There is not a whole lot to say about this, because the pictures speak volumes. Adam and I spotted a few of these Glamour Shots-style photography shops around town and based on their sample photos, knew that it was an opportunity not to pass up. We went to the one in the night bazaar, and Adam sprang the idea at his mom at the last minute, and then when I caught up with them, they coaxed me to be a part of the photo shoot too. We got to pick out our outfits from a big book, and then they did our makeup and hair for a good half hour. The photo shoot took all of about 10 minutes and I had to use my meditation practice to keep from laughing out loud at the absurdity of what we were doing. Thai people do this for weddings and other special occasions and here come in three foreigners dressing up like we're Thai royalty. They must have thought we were crazy, but at 10pm at night, their service was quite excellent. After the photo shoot, we had the pleasure of walking around the market in our makeup. Adam and Robin have a poster sized print of them that will likely be hung above their fireplace. Or made into Christmas cards. Or both. I've already blown up my photo and hung it above my headboard. Who wouldn't?

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