Pre-New Year's Eve Party in Chiang Mai

Things are heating up here in Chiang Mai at the Tha Phae Gate - the big plaza area very near our hotel. Originally it was one of the 5 gates that opened into the walled & moated city of Chiang Mai & is now a large area used for all kinds of things - like the New Year's week long festival. There's a large food stall area at one end, big stage in the center & craft vendors at the other.

Here's part of the stage with a kid's game in progress.

And here's part of the audience & milling crowd with the food area in the background.

This area has been a steady week long party! Several days this week we were treated to loud music & announcements from 6-9am! The vendors are there from about noon to midnight, & the entertainment goes on all evening, it's always loud, and sometimes it gets LOUDER! Also, just to make things even jollier, the boxing stadium on the far side of the hotel was in full swing a few nights this week. So, between the boxing announcer, all the shouting & whistling of the audience, AND all the noise from the Gate festival, and of course, the usual traffic noise & a policeman whistling his head off, the level of sound was just freaking unbelievable!!!

Last month at the crescent moon & 2 planets lined up making the sky appear to smile down on Asia, this month only one planet remains in alignment, so - a Big Wink for the New Year! 

Sada is eating one of our new favorite fast foods! We call them Rice Sticks - a hollow length of bamboo is stuffed with sweet sticky rice cooked with coconut milk & beans, & the end is plugged with a bit of coconut husk. To eat, you pull the plug & peal it like a banana!

Earlier in the day we noticed this sign-maker finishing this New Year banner. It says: 'Wishing you all happy physically and mentally all new year long 2009'.

Here's the food court area, the food stalls continue up the center aisle. It's usually jammed with people looking, choosing, paying & eating - fun!

Here are some things on offer:  dim sum,

Huge pans of noodles,

and Ancient Ice-Cream! this night we tried Panadus flavor! (an asian plant with many uses)

Here is a short video I took with my little camera - click the little arrow & it will take a few seconds to load.  The pancake maker is fascinating to watch! I'll try to do more of these.

It's 8pm as I'm finishing up this blog & it's absolutely hopping out there! A loud band is playing & firecrackers big & small are popping constantly. We'll go out to the Gate again in a while, (with earplugs!) & then when we are tired of the swirl of humanity & noise, we'll go up to the roof of the hotel to watch fireworks & continue to enjoy the party from a short distance away!

So, from us to you, the best of everything in the New Year!

Where ever you are & whatever you're doing: ENJOY!

XXXXX,

jill & sada

Merry Christmas from Thailand!

It's Christmas time in Chiang Mai!  

Forecast: high 83°, low 61° - generally lovely! 

Suddenly all sorts of holiday decorations have popped up, like these poinsettias we saw on our way home from the fruit market,

Santa hats are the latest rage...

This old gal with the huge grey afro showed up in this snazzy decked-out 3 wheeler tonight - you should see her regular motorcycle - 

I'm dying to get a picture of it!

There are lots of trees, too - a weird airport model,

A nice looking one in a fancy hotel lobby,

This one is pretty sweet,

I like this pair of bar trees & a santa.

Have a seat & santa will serenade you!

OK - the last dog in a coat picture, but really - he's wearing a santa suit!

And ta-da! The tree in our hotel lobby, 

yeah a bit odd looking - and it flashes - a lot.

Doesn't the moat look pretty all lit-up?

And the biggest tree around - with a Star of David on top!

And so we toast you with a pair of holiday drinks from one of our favorite places, Juicy4U (carrot-beet-ginger & cucumber-celery-wheatgrass, in case you're wondering, it tasted like mowing the lawn. Once was enough.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL! 

Have a wonderful Holiday season & please keep in touch! It's our first Christmas away from home, away from Liz and our Fairbanks Family. We miss you all wherever you are, we wish you health & happiness & the best of everything in the New Year! Enjoy!

Peace & Love,

jill & sada

Night Street Markets

We love the night markets! They open up after the heat of the day & are an amazing social scene where you can buy almost anything & see things you've never imagined.  The Night Bazaar is east of us a few blocks & is set up each afternoon. Here's a guy moving his stall up to the street - by hand, foot & motorcycle - very effective! The Night Bazaar is a very close affair, lining the sidewalks on both sides of the street - it can get very tight & claustrophobic - get there early - lots of good stuff to see!

There are also the regular daily markets, and the Saturday & Sunday Evening Walking Markets - major streets are closed down & vendors line the sidewalks, and the street is open for walkers. They're a lot of fun! They are all in easy walking distance from our hotel - the Sunday one is around the corner! The atmosphere is very happy, friendly & casual, and you hear great music of all sorts as you wander thru. 

So what can you buy? Well, RICE - I need a lesson!

All kinds of snacks, roasted this & pickled that - but strangely, I'm having a hard time finding my favorite - regular old rice crackers!

Carved & decorated soap sold in beautiful boxes,

Buy a live fish, have it filleted & take it home to cook.

Wow - the silk is wonderful! Haven't bought any - yet!

Here are some silk scarves & cotton shawls,

Rope animals sculptures are fun & funky,

Young (& old) musicians are lovely to see & hear all along the street.

Don't forget food! 

We got brave & tried an assortment of things. These little packets are a soft coconut candy wrapped in banana leaf. We tried some and also another wrapped packet of a very spicy veggie mixture - a good combo.

Sada said "Ahan Jaae?" (Vegetarian?) & she nodded saying "Very spicy!"  A sort of juicy pickled veggie appetizer, sold in a plastic bag with a wooden skewer with one very sharp end. 

Verrry spicy!

Time for something sweet again. This is called Chow Guai, no idea what it means, but it's a black herbal jello kind of thing, served in a bowl with lots of brown sugar & lots of ice! You sort of chop up the jello & mix it all around. It's good - and one of the weirdest things I've eaten!!

Another Chow Guai stall - couldn't resist a pic of that huge chunk of black jello! She's a master of slicing off a long strip & slinging it up & onto the bowl of ice (add sugar - lots)

How about French Fries? Very popular - big catsup & hot sauce squeeze bottles at easy reach.

Grubs? No thanks.

CASHEWS! The motherlode - raw, roasted, chili-lime & more. I liked those glass jars of colorful fruit, too. We took home a kilo of cashews.

This little girl was a beautiful dancer.

Just off the street, we entered the grounds of one of the many Wats in the area. These Buddhist temples are a big part of everyday life & very welcoming to visitors. The main buildings are exquisitely beautiful & highly decorated. We had peeked into the grounds of this Wat one evening when a solemn event was underway, & altho we didn't stay, did we notice many empty picnic tables on the open grounds & wondered when they were used.

Well, we found out the night of the Walking Market! The grounds of the Wat turn into a big 'food court' - and what could we do!?! Here's what we tried: a small plate of ramen style noodles & veggies, mango with sweet sticky rice - a popular dessert, a very white, very soft pretty bun kind of thing - one filled with a veggie mix & one with a sweet taro mix - good! Then an order of banana rolled in a thin pancake, deep fried & served with sesame seeds & sweetened condensed milk, a plate of phad thai & a cooling Milo drink (sort of like chocolate milk).

 The beautiful Chedi (shrine) is a glowing centerpiece of the Wat.I'm not sure why, but i was very surprised to see many busy Tarot Card readers set up right at the foot of the Chedi.

Here are some things we didn't eat: artistically arranged bite-sized sausage,

beautiful sushi - but I will another time!

and quail eggs - they are very popular!

We wandered the magnificent grounds with big grins on our faces, trying things here & there until we were full. We would join a picnic table where there was room, eat our treat & then mosey around some more. The atmosphere was very happy & homey, relaxed & fun! 

It was a wonderful experience!

More stuff on the street: very cool shoes made from old blue jeans. 

(sorry the pic is a bit blurry - operator error.)

Ahhh - great time for a foot massage. I had one - 60Baht for a half hour. About $1.75.

Hairclips! Aren't these adorable? Too bad Liz isn't 8 years old anymore!

I think this is a platter of sweets, like marzipan, I'll have to look into it. 

More quail eggs in the foreground. Looks like 10B for 5 - a good deal!

These are very cute feather & wood spinny things.

Really, really BIG moths & bugs. 

...don't think about it too much.

This is called "Ancient Ice Cream"  I don't know why. 

Sada had coconut, I had chocolate (of course) it tasted fruity - ? 

But, hey, it was ice cream!

When we got home, we went up to the roof of the hotel - this is a small bit of the market from a block away! It's a fun, happenin' place!

We were totally worn out when we got home & thought we'd just head to bed - it was 7:45 pm! Hahaha!