Plastic Doll Man

I had a very strange experience today. I've mentioned before that Chiang Mai is starting to feel smaller and smaller, but when you have a day like today, you start to feel like you're in a twilight zone or a land filled with hourly deja vu's. I was sitting in a cafe enjoying the morning with an iced coffee and a book when I see a bundle of colors bobbing out of the corner of my eye. I look up and there is an old man carrying two large baskets balancing on a long flexible pole like a scale with his shoulder the fulcrum. You see folks like this strolling around here and there selling fruits or other goods, but usually near a market. There isn't a market nearby, I thought to myself. Then I look in his baskets. They are filled with plastic dolls and shiny colorful cartoony animal figures. How odd, I think.

Later that day I see him again hanging around near the mall, still with his colorful toy-filled baskets that seems to keep bobbing even when he's standing still. Who is going to buy plastic dolls from this guy, honestly?

I pass him again in the afternoon. I walk right by him and step a couple feet out of way so I don't knock over his mobile Toys 'R' Us. This is starting to get weird. I look at his face and if there was a Thai version of Home Alone and they needed to cast the old creepy guy with a beard, I have the perfect man right in front of me.

Here is the last straw. I see him again hanging around another part of town. In a school yard. For Pete's sake, what is going on? I want so desperately to see a sweet little girl come up and buy a plastic doll from this plastic doll man, for the sole purpose to see him smile and pat her on the head and not look like the total creeper he has appeared to me all day. No such luck.

Really, what are the odds of running into a man selling plastic toys out of baskets on his shoulder in four different times in four different parts of the city in one day? These are the moments that horror films are made of.

Max and Pia: A Tribute

These two ridiculously cool kids are leaving Chiang Mai to go on an amazing trip around SE Asia and then head back to the states. Time flies, and I feel like I just met these two, but at the same time it feels like I've known them for a long time. Chiang Dao, Doi Inthanon, Sudsanan, Dancing Tigers... All good times. You guys will be missed! I hope you have an amazing trip and a good start with school and new job adventures in the states. Count me in on some Thai cooking lessons and beer cap collecting when we reunite again. I will be eating lots and lots of Turkish kebab sandwiches. If Max isn't around, then someone has to keep the guy in business.

Suburbia?

This might be the most disturbing image on this blog. Even more disturbing than the t-shirt with obscenities below. (No, this is not a stock photo of Maple Grove, MN. Don't be fooled.) Americana-Suburbia is spreading like a virus. If it's appearing in Chiang Mai, there is no stopping where it may spread next. There are dozens and dozens of these identical homes in this area. Whyyyyy?? Next thing you know, there will be neighborhood competitions of who has the fanciest lawn mower or the biggest Hummer. Makes me want to sing the "Little Boxes" song.

Chan roo seuk chohk dee mahk mahk.

Means: "I feel very lucky." I have the greatest amigos in the world. Ah! What a great surprise, you guys! I got a package today filled with mix cd's, peanut butter, an amazing card and an ipod shuffle loaded with more great songs. Too much! I am going to be enjoying all of this great music for a long long time. Lisa, you are the absolute best. I love your mix, we really are the same person. Ilya, Adam, Grace, Paul... you guys are awesome. Thank you for all the good tunes. I'm a happy girl. The card and all the pictures cracked me up. Miss you all and I'll talk to you soon. Kahp kuhn kaaaaaaa!

Mountain Biker Babe

I met a guy who is trying to start up a mountain biking tour company and he needed some people to ride the trails with him as the guide so he could get feedback before he starts taking on real customers. I was able to give him some feedback and I got a free day of mountain biking. Not a bad deal.

It was pretty intense. I've done some "Minnesota" mountain biking before, but never on an actual mountain and never changing altitude so quickly. Let's be honest. I'm used to flat paved roads in the Twin Cities area. Rarely have I done any off-roading. This was the most fantastic way to start. We drove to the peak of Doi Suthep and descended nearly 3000 feet. Strangely, I would have felt 110% more comfortable biking up the mountain rather than down. I'm not afraid of the physical endurance; it's about being mentally ready for some tricky trails. Going downhill means you're going fast, and you have to keep momentum so your front tire doesn't stick in the rocks or roots or mud.

I got my first fall out of the way right away in the first two kilometers. The top of the mountain was wet since we were in a cloud and I took a turn too fast. I was a little shaken up, but nothing more than a scratch. When I caught up with Jess he pulled some pine needles out of my neck. Now it just looks like I have a hickey. That's what happens when you fall throat-first. I did have some other bad luck with my bike. My chain broke and Jess (the guide) didn't have the proper tool to fix it (better he learns this now). Amazingly, he offered me his bike and said he would ride mine without a chain the rest of the way. Think about that... Luckily we were near a village and there were some off-road motor bikers who had a shop with some tools and offered to help us fix it. They repaired the chain using nothing but a pliers and the blunt end of an ax. And they offered us food while we waited.

The views were amazing. It was hard to focus on the trail when you've got mountains, rice fields, the view of the city, all on a clear day. We'd come around a bend and in a clearing I caught myself gasping more than once. The really cool thing about the work Jess has done is that he has been on all the trails on this mountain, and knows them like the back of his hand. These trails are 400 years old and the Hmong villagers originally paved them for trading. Here's the cool part: He is the first person ever to map these trails using his GPS. Talk about having an edge on the competition. Very few people know about the advanced trails he's been on. He tried to get more information from the villagers, but they just say "You want to know where to go? You must go figure it out." So he did.

My second fall was pretty gnarly. I wish I could have seen it from a different angle than I already did. I do know my tire caught something and I went over the handle bars into the rocks. Pretty sweet, eh? I got a nice battle wound from it too. (Everyone's got to show off a wound once in awhile). The back wheel was completely disconnected from the bike after the fall. Even Jess and the other riders were impressed with that. I guess when I fall, I only go hardcore. No broken bones thank goodness, but I'm looking forward to seeing the sizes and colors from the bruises I'll have. Despite the falls, it was such a fun time, and I learned so much in just one 4 hour ride. He invited me back to do the same thing next Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. Julie, does this count for doing something brave like you said? I've added more pictures to the link on the left.

Not for Children's Eyes

Does she look like the type of girl who knows what her shirt actually says? For the sake of her pretty face, I hope not.

Hindu Temple

Last week I attended a Hindu temple service. It was like nothing else I've seen before. The temple itself is beautiful and has two stairways - one for men and one for women. I went up the ladies staircase and walked across a crowded room of people sitting on a red carpet. I snook over to the women's side of the temple and took a seat. The first two things that struck me were the music and the colors. Everyone was singing a song while the man in the front played bongo drums and the sari clad women were clapping tambourines and the lack of physical movement in the room did not match the sound of it whatsoever. The colors of the temple, the colors of the scarves and flowers draped on the statues of the gods (which I found interesting that they were made of porcelain and had white white skin), and the colors draped in what I would normally call Christmas lights all over the room, but I guess they would be Hindu lights? Either way it was certainly festive and to be honest, it was a lot of stimuli to take in for a girl like me. I sat down and took everything in for about five minutes. I'm sure my face was like a lighthouse in a watchtower scanning the room back and forth trying to get used to the sounds and the sights, then trying to relax and enjoy.

The songs and tambourines and drums continued and I tried my hand at meditating to it all. It was a very different experience; invigorating. I was taken over by the language and the songs and the smells. It was fantastic. I was passed a tambourine and rocked out for a bit. Then the cutest little children sat next to me and wanted so so badly my tambourine. I could see it in their big brown eyes and their little grippy pudgy hands. I handed it over and let them go wild. They certainly went wild. The children have free reign to run around, which only adds to the commotion.

At the end of the service, you choose one of the 7 gods or so to pray to and you go and stand in front of that statue. I am not familiar with the gods or what they represent, so I chose the one with the most beautiful outfit (bright pink). I stood in front of her and stared her down thinking about the possible prayers that have been prayed by others who have looked in her eyes. At the end of the service as we walked out of the temple we were handed a carton of milk and an orange. Not sure why, but it was nice. Then downstairs there was a full Indian dinner buffet which was delicious. I haven't had Indian food in a long time, and 'comfy' is the only way I can describe it. Hooray for new cultural experiences. I plan on going back.