Adventures in Busing

Last week at our lunch with Marti, she told us about the new(ish) CM Transit bus system. There are four routes, two of which basically circle the city, one clockwise and one counter-clockwise. The other two are on the north side of the city, going between a large mall and the far northwest.

So on Sunday my neighbor and friend Barbara and I decided to try out the bus, planning to ride the red circuit and see where it went. There is a bus stop very near us on the moat road and the sign says the bus comes there every 20 minutes. We got there at 10:09; were about to give up at 10:45 and it finally arrived at 10:50! The bus is very nice, air conditioned and spacious. We were almost the only ones on it the entire trip. We headed south with a stop at the Airport Plaza Mall and then the airport. The driver told us we had to get off and go to the other bus that was parked there, so we did (he gave us transfer slips). We got settled on the new bus and soon realized that it was going the opposite direction and we would shortly be right back where we started. We talked to the driver, got our transfers back, and headed back onto the first bus. The driver probably thought we were a bit crazy, but oh well.

After a bit of a wait we headed off again, past the Airport Plaza Mall and up the west side of the old city, which is just over a mile square. We turned on Suthep Road as expected, but then had terrible traffic. After sitting for quite a while (thank goodness for air-conditioned buses), we saw students walking down the sidewalk wearing academic robes and hats. It was Chiang Mai University graduation day and we were right in the middle of it! It took at least 45 minutes to get through there and to the Maya Mall.

After the Mall we did a turn into the old city and came out near Tha Pae Gate. Usually the route goes through the Chinatown and Night Market area, but because it was Lunar New Year weekend, we headed straight back to our starting point, almost two hours after we started. I will definitely use this bus again, probably to go to one of the malls.

We went to the Cozy restaurant and had lunch; mine was a club sandwich on good bread and a mango yogurt smoothie.

Monday evening we tried a new restaurant, the Organ Bar (not sure if that is the instrument or a body part...). Dan had garlic shrimp and I had broccoli with shrimp. Both had rice, too, and were very good.

Thursday Food

Today we went to a Middle Eastern restaurant called Hummus over near Tha Pae Gate. It was my first ride on the motor scooter during this visit, but it's farther (and hotter) than I care to walk. We met up there with Marti, a former student from Woodstock. Marti lives in Australia (where we visited her six years ago) but spends a lot of time here, where she worked for many years. She regularly comes to Chiang Mai for her dental work and we usually manage to meet up at some point.

I ordered the house drink, a lightly flavored minty lemonade. It came in a clever bottle.

We ordered quite a few dishes; they all sounded great and they all tasted wonderful. This picture shows the hummus plate, falafel (very light and tasty), pita, condiments and a pickle that tasted somewhat Indian.

These fried eggplant slices came with a creamy cheese, delicious. A tabouleh salad barely shows in this photo. Dan also ordered shakshuka, a tomato dish with eggs. We brought home the leftovers; they will make a tasty meal tomorrow.

We've been eating pretty lightly for supper. Dan often goes to the nearby market and picks up ready-made rice or noodles, sausage or chicken, and salad. These are pad Thai-flavored noodles and a Chiang Mai sausage.

The salad I like best comes in a bag, has lettuce, fruit pieces like apple, and grated carrot. It has a small bag inside with beans, barley and corn to sprinkle on top. The dressing is lemon-flavored, light and good. The bag has enough for two decent servings.

Dan prefers the cucumber salad, shown here in its bag. I would like it better if it weren't quite so spicy hot; you can see all those flecks of red pepper.

Miscellany (again)

I try to keep my eyes open for unusual or interesting things to photograph. So here are a few I've caught in the last week. (Plus, I know you all like food pictures!)

One evening I had a beautiful shrimp pad thai.

Chiang Mai Gate Market has so many things; here are a group of ready-made spice mixtures for the various Thai curries. When I took a cooking class, we had to make these masalas from the raw ingredients; it's good to be able to buy them freshly made by someone else.

I walk by this shop daily; they sell stands for vending of almost anything.

Did you see the sandal I posted earlier sticking up out of a grate? Well, I found its mate a few blocks away, not so easily removable.

Here's some fruit from one of my early morning forays. The bananas are quite small, about 4 inches or so, the mangoes are large (big enough for two for lunch), and the pomelo is skinned and sectioned.

Dan started getting passion fruit to add to our breakfast. It is a bit sour, but very flavorful, goes well with muesli, yogurt, and banana.

This house is just down the street from us. I noticed it today because there were Chinese tourists posing and taking their photos in front of it. The bougainvillea is amazing.

Walking Market Food

Here it is Friday and I didn't post my photos from last Saturday's Walking Market. I'm sorry to be so neglectful of you, my readers! So here we are, one day before we head back to the market again. It is so much fun to see all the interesting things for sale. The market has expanded a lot in the past two years, and the food options have grown as well. We like to buy several different things to bring back and eat for our dinner.

Fresh fish and shrimp for sale (gigantic shrimp!)

Lots of sushi

The bull statute, so we know we are near the road we take to come back to our apartment

Three kinds of lasagna; it was good

Kabobs - pork or chicken, also good

Fish grilling

My strawberry smoothie, absolutely delicious!

Back to Doo Dee

If you have followed our times in Thailand, you may remember how much we enjoyed the Doo Dee restaurant, not far from where we stay. For three winters, it was one of our regular dinner places. It had an interesting and varied Thai and western menu and we watched motocross and equestrian contests on the TV. Two years ago we went once and found a completely new menu and only one previous employee that we had known. We didn't go back. On Friday we decided we would try it again. Pro basketball was on the TV, not our thing, oh well. The menu was very extensive and looked good. We each had a curry that was delicious. As we were finishing, the owner, Andrew from Australia, stopped to visit with us. He was friendly and seems to be making a good thing of the Doo Dee.

I had Massaman curry with chicken. Notice the star anise on top. It also had a stick of cinnamon and a bay leaf that I eventually fished out. Potato and onion accompanied the chicken. These curries are based in coconut milk, so slightly sweet.

Dan had the Panang curry with pork. It was very pretty and tasty, too. Both dishes came with rice, a mixture of red, brown and white.

Saturday evening we went to the Walking Market, which is quite near us. Fortunately, my back has improved enough that I could walk quite well. I will put up another post with some of the food we saw, but I have to include this picture of the leechees I found. One of my favorite fruits when we were in India, it is rare to find them in the US and it's the first time I've seen them here. Dan doesn't care for them, so I have lots to eat in the next few days! By the way, this fruit is spelled in a myriad of ways because of transliteration from the original Chinese. One web source:  

Lichi Lychee Litchi Leechee Lichee Litchi

Walking to the Market

I've been getting out and doing the shopping early -- 7:30 or 8:00. It is much cooler and more pleasant walking, even with the rush-hour traffic. My back is improving, so I am trying to get out more.

Most of the streets have a sewer with concrete blocks as a cover. I prefer walking on the asphalt, but when a car comes through, I walk on the blocks. They are mostly flat. Along our street someone left a sandal tucked into the hole.

As I turn off our street onto the main thoroughfare, I pass this ancient pay phone. I'm pretty sure it is not in service any more, as is the case in most places now. (Yes, I'm old enough to know a touch-button phone isn't truly ancient; I grew up in an area without dial until I was an adult.)

I walk on the sidewalk as much as possible, but this photo shows why I sometimes end up in the street. 

An ancient stupa sits right among the shops.

When I get up to the market area, there is a pedestrian crossing. The light across shows a countdown of the seconds until the crossing light turns green. Once I get across the plaza (filled with clothing sellers in the morning) I have to take my chances getting across the street going the other direction. It narrows right there, so it is pretty easy to find a gap and the drivers are patient. I often look to see if there is another person wanting to cross so we can go together.

Marketing

We've been here a few days now and are settling in. I've had several massages, which have been painful but beneficial. 

It is interesting to see small changes along the streets I frequent. In the past two years, there have been quite a few. Restaurants have disappeared, combined, and changed names. One restaurant I used to pass on my way to IDI (where I get massages) is now a shop selling only jackfruit, both whole and prepared.

On Saturday evening, we walked up to the main square where the Saturday Evening Walking Market starts. I wasn't up to doing the whole thing yet, so we browsed the plaza. This booth had a variety of vegetables and meat/seafood ready to be grilled.

Once a customer chose their food, it was put on this small charcoal grill and basted.

I wanted to buy some fruit this morning, so I went to the back area of the Chiang Mai Gate Market, where all kinds of vegetables and fruit are available. This woman was preparing pomelo and I bought a packet of segments already peeled.

On my way back to Smith Suites, I got this shot of the street we use to cross over toward the main markets. As you can see from the cars, there isn't much room for the two-way traffic. Fortunately, everyone is very polite and it works out without a problem.

Back to Chiang Mai

Last year we missed spending some winter time in Thailand as we had done the previous four years, due to Dan's recovery from a stem cell transplant for multiple myeloma. This year the doctor gave us the go-ahead and arranged for an oncologist in Bangkok to see to any of Dan's medical needs while we are here. He has a consultation scheduled there next week.

For the first time, we flew Qatar Airways, which turned out to be an excellent choice. It's the first time we traveled east from Chicago to get here. We left on December 30, passing through the 31st in the air, and arrived early on January 1. We were pleased to get right into our one-bedroom apartment in Smith Suites, where we have stayed each of the winters we've been here. 

As we arrived in Doha, Qatar, it was late afternoon and the sunset view from the plane was lovely.

We had about three hours until our next flight; we spent it in the business lounge, which had a pool in the middle. There was a wonderful buffet available, but we had been fed well on the flight and only had a small snack. 

As we headed toward the gate for our flight to Chiang Mai (it's so great that Qatar flies directly here without a change in Bangkok), I realized that my aching back had returned in force. Fortunately, there were moving walkways. As I was making my way along, a Qatar Airways employee noticed me struggling and offered to help. When we got to the gate, he ordered a wheelchair for me in Chiang Mai and got us checked in and boarded right away. We slept on both flights, which is always a good thing!

Our plane had to circle for about 20 minutes to wait for the airport to open; we were due in at 6:00 AM but arrived early. There were no lines at immigration and we got our luggage and were outside at the taxi stand in record time. I was indeed grateful for the wheelchair!

We got unpacked and settled and Dan headed off to do some business -- rent a scooter, get SIMs for our phones, and purchase some basic food items at Kasem's. When he got back, we headed to the nearby Blues Pub for a lunch of Pad Thai.

For supper, Dan went to the market and came back with some fried rice and cucumber salad. 

It is always hard to stay awake when we arrive early in the day; it is a 12-hour time difference from Indiana. I did take a nap, but we both slept until nearly 4:00 this morning, which is actually pretty good! The picture below is the sunrise from our balcony on the 6th floor.

My Books of 2019

I read a lot of books (around 90 a year) and usually forget them once I’m finished, except for the few real standouts. In January I decided that I wanted to remember them better, as well as increasing my brain’s memory power. So before I went to sleep, I recited the books by title, adding each new one as I finished it. I expected this to last a month or two, but I actually made it well into October, nearly 80 books, before I faltered. I decided to drop it for the rest of the year and start again in January 2020.  Maybe I’ll add the author’s name this time, which probably will shorten the timing! The process did help me remember more about each book. I keep a record on a spreadsheet as well as on the Goodreads website. 

In recent years, I have tended more and more toward historical fiction, to the point where I’m reading fewer novels set in modern times. I have learned a lot about the World War I and II periods in England and Europe (and some in the US), as well as other historical periods. Many of them combine a modern element with the historical part: frequently a descendant delving into (usually) her family’s past.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been more willing to quit on a book that I’m not really enjoying. I had three or four of those this year.

I get book recommendations from my daughter (her monthly book blog at anjviola.com is well worth checking out), my neighbor Pat, and other friends. I keep a lookout for new books from my favorite authors, checking Goodreads, Amazon, and my local library.

This year I read a total of 100 books, 15 of them audio. I mainly listen to audio books when I am driving.

The list below doesn’t include books that are from my favorite series and authors: Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs; Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters; Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street, Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency, and others; Deanna Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell; Susan Ella MacNeal’s Maggie Hope; Louise Penny’s Still Life, the first (but not my last) Armand Gamache; and anything by Nevil Shute.

The books that have stood out and made lasting memories for me this year are below:

Kate Morton, The Secret Keeper. A teenaged girl sees her mother murder a man. 50 years later, she is trying to unravel what actually happened. The backstory of her mother’s past during the Blitz in London ends with a surprising discovery.

Rhys Bowen, The Victory Garden. During World War I, a young woman defies her parents and falls in love with an Australian soldier. She becomes a “land girl,” working with plants and healing herbs.

Sofia Lundberg, The Red Address Book. The story of a Swedish woman through entries in her address book. She has an amazing life, stretching from Stockholm to Paris to the US. 

Hazel Gaynor, A Memory of Violets. I’ve read several books by this author; this one is about two orphaned girls in London who try to make a living by selling flowers. They are separated and can’t find each other. Years later, another woman finds a diary and tries to unravel the mystery of what happened to them.

Gabrielle Zevin, Elsewhere. Although far outside my usual genres, I loved this YA about a teenage girl who is killed on her bicycle. She wakes up on a cruise ship headed to Elsewhere, the place that dead people go to live backwards until they can be sent back as a new baby in a new family. Absolutely charming with a wonderful main character.

Alan Brennert, Daughter of Moloka’i. A long-awaiting sequel to Moloka’i, this book follows Ruth’s daughter Rachel who was adopted by a Japanese family through a WWII internment and the search to find her mother.

Mary Roberts Rinehart, The Amazing Interlude. It came up as a freebie on my Kindle and turned out to be wonderful. Written in 1918, while WWI was still raging, it is about a young woman in Philadelphia who feels such a strong urge to help that she goes to France to run a soup kitchen for soldiers.

Helene Tursten, An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good. This tiny book was absolutely hilarious. Maud lives in a rent-free apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is resented by her neighbors. She cheerfully murders those she disagrees with.

Lisa See, The Island of Sea Women. A novel that follows the lives of Korean women on the island of Juju who dive for a variety of seafood, focusing on the friendship between two divers. The details of their diving right through winter were fascinating.

Kate Quiinn, The Huntress. This takes place after WWII, when Nazi hunters were working to find and prosecute former Nazis. They are on the trail of a woman who has disappeared into mid-century America. One of the hunters is a Russian woman who left Siberia with a fierce desire to be a pilot.

Davis, Fiona, The Address. An Englishwoman working in a London hotel is hired to become the “manageress” of the new Dakota apartment building in New York.

Lena Manta, The House by the River. One of a group of free international books in 2018, it is about a Greek woman who raises her five daughters in a village. They each leave and we follow their life stories. In the end they all return home (spoiler, but pretty obvious from the beginning).

Esi Edugyan, Washington Black. Another unusual book for me, about a young slave on Barbados. He is given to the plantation owner’s brother, who is a scientist. They travel the world and his life is amazing.

Kate Quinn, The Alice Network. A complicated story of both WWI and WWII. A female spy from WWI is contacted by a pregnant young American woman searching for her French cousin in the aftermath of WWII. They end up traveling to France together.

Lisa Wingate, Before We Were Yours. A tragic story of children taken from their home to be adopted by the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in the 1920s-30s. The granddaughter of one of the sisters is tracking down her family’s history.

Quinn, Perinot, Kamoie, Dray, Knight, Webb, Pataki, Ribbons of Scarlet. Part of the History 360 Project, this book has six sections, each focusing on a specific unforgettable woman during the French revolution. Very engrossing, and I learned a lot about that time period. The project has other similar books in progress.

Diane Chamberlain, Dream Daughter. Pregnant Vietnam war widow’s brother-in-law assists her to time-travel to 2001 to have fetal heart surgery. It works, but complications with return travel arise (surprise!).

Allison Montclair, The Right Sort of Man. Promising debut of a series about two women in post-WWII London who start a match-making agency; one of their clients is murdered.

Jojo Moyes, The Giver of Stars. Women become Appalachian horseback-riding librarians in Depression-era Kentucky. Strong women, great story.

Ann Patchett, The Dutch House. A brother and sister are abandoned by their mother, sent away by their stepmother, but can’t forget the mansion they lived in.

Ruta Sepetys, The Fountains of Silence. Spain under Franco, young American falling in love, entanglement with stolen babies. Great characters and setting.

Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy. This book has been on my shelf for 15 years. I started it once or twice, but at 1400+ pages, it won the battle. In December I decided I must read it and delved back in. It is a vast and complex story of several families in 1950 northern India. It touches on a wide range of social issues as they deal with marriages and other life events. Excellent, but requires quite a commitment!

Here’s wishing you lots of wonderful books to read in 2020!