Chinese New Year

On Tuesday I attended another course at Payap University Life-Long Learning Center. We were to learn about the Chinese New Year, which falls on February 10. The speaker was a Chinese man who has lived in Chiang Mai for some years. His translator was a lively young woman who is a student at the university, studying Thai language and culture. She did a great job (I guess, since I understand no Chinese).

We learned that the festival goes over a number of days, leading up to New Year's Eve, this year on February 9. From the 10th on there are many customs, including passing out red envelopes of money to children. In China, a seven-day holiday begins on New Year's Day. Many of the countries around Southeast Asia celebrate it as well, because of large populations of Chinese ethnicity.

2024 is the year of the Dragon, one of twelve zodiac animals. I learned I was born in the year of the Monkey. Not sure what that means about me!!

Speaker and translator

After the presentation, which was about a half hour, we were invited to help make dumplings, a traditional new year's food. The dough had been prepared ahead of time, and when I arrived early for the session, the cooks were chopping ingredients for the filling -- pork, Chinese chives, ginger, and more. It was not spicy.

Rolling out the dough

Translator showing the filling that had been prepared

Everyone worked to fill the circles of dough with the filling and pinch them tightly closed

There was a large steamer and several batches were made. I had one and it was tasty. I left soon after that to meet my ride back to our place.

Visit to Hua Hin

In all the times we've been here for the winter (this is number 7!), we've never been to a Thai beach. There are many places to go, and we chose the village of Hua Hin. It is not on an island, as many are. It is on the Gulf of Thailand about a three-hour drive south of Bangkok.

Thanks to our membership with World of Hyatt, we had a lovely club room at the Hyatt Regency Resort, a fancier place than we normally choose. But it was wonderful. The service was impeccable and the grounds were amazing.

Looking toward the beach from the club area

Our first evening we walked out to see the low tide, which leaves a very wide beach

The next morning it was high tide and the waves came right up to the wall

One of the many lovely areas around the huge grounds

Our club room included breakfast and "canapés" and drinks in the evening (the canapés were so many and varied that it made a whole dinner).

Tea was loose leaf, in a pot, with hot milk. Yea for me, a tea drinker! 

In the evening, this young man played a xylophone-like instrument in front of the pool while we noshed

We thought we might do some sight-seeing in the area, but in the end I never left the resort. Dan did walk into the town area a couple of times. It was so nice to lie in the shade near the ocean with the breeze. There were quite a few people on lounges, but it was never crowded. I only saw two or three people in the ocean -- the waves were quite strong and didn't appeal to me.

Handy changing hut near the beach

The only boat I ever saw was this lone fisherman. The boat bobbed up and down quite a lot.

On Friday I met with the concierge to arrange a taxi to the airport for Saturday afternoon. She quoted me a price 20 times what we had paid to come from the airport on Wednesday. I balked and she said she could find one for less, but I still was stunned. Finally we both laughed when I said we were going to the Hua Hin airport; most people staying there took a car to the Bangkok airport! So the price was about $10, not $200+. She also arranged for us to have a late checkout, as our flight wasn't until 5:30.

The flight was just over an hour and was full both ways (nonstop Chiang Mai-Hua Hin). It only goes a few times a week. The Hua Hin airport is very small. Ours was the only flight going out and we didn't see any arrivals. The security line and access to the gate area didn't open until 4:00, but there were places to sit in the main area. (I'm pretty sure there was just the one gate.) 

I was looking forward to swimming while we were there and I did go in twice. The pool was lovely, plenty deep and large. But by the third day it was very cold (the sky was cloudy most of the time) and I couldn't do it. It's been cooler and cloudy here in Chiang Mai, too, and I'll be waiting a few days for some sunshine to warm up the pool here. I love to swim, but I like to be feeling slightly warmed up after one or two laps!

More Food

Eating seems to be one of our main activities here! I get more comments on my food posts than any others, so here are a few more pictures to pique your appetite.

Mango sticky rice, a staple dessert (about $2, very large serving)

Dinner from Kom Market - sausage, noodles, cabbage, eggs

Omelet with mixed vegetables - served on a leaf

Pineapple fried rice with shrimp and chicken - enough for two meals 

A favorite snack - slightly sweet, fried, crunchy, easily broken

Neighborhood Walk

The other day I didn't need anything from the market, so I decided to take a walk around our neighborhood again. Every time I go out it seems I see something I hadn't noticed before.

This pink house sits kitty-corner from our building. I was newly built after we started coming here, but has been sitting empty with a "For Sale" sign for the last several years. It looks really nice.

This is a common type of little alleyway into a set of rooms. There is a large, more modern apartment block behind this building.

Someone has a nice entryway into their home.

The question is, what will be built in this place after the demolition is finished?

A private home has a fancy display near the road.

I've mentioned before that most homes have a spirit house. This one is quite decorated and protected from the sun.

Saturday Again

On Saturday evening we once again headed toward the Walking Street market. For our supper we got two curried chicken spring rolls (fine, but the regular veggie ones probably would have been better), three veg samosas (very good and authentic), an order of chicken pad thai, and a baked potato with cheese and corn.

I enjoyed watching the vendor prepare the potato. He had many already baked in aluminum foil jackets. He slit one open, mashed it around, and added some butter. 

Next he added grated cheese and some corn.

And then he used a butane torch to finish it off.

We ended up with so much food we had enough for Sunday evening supper, too.

Lifelong Learning

Last year my friend Barbara told me about a series of programs at Payap University. I decided I would attend some this year. Friday was the first one (for me), a presentation about a jazz musician. The presenter was Benjamin Tausig, an ethnomusicology professor at SUNY Stony Brook, who specializes in music of Thailand. The topic was Maurice Rocco, a gay black jazz pianist whose height of fame in the US was in the 1930s-1940s. He lived and performed in Bangkok from 1964 to 1976, when he was murdered in his apartment. It was interesting to hear about this musician who has mostly been forgotten in the US.

Wikipedia about him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Rocco

One of the outstanding features of his performances was that he played the piano standing up, often dancing along to his music. This video shows his amazing abilities. It was made in 1940.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xBx5nmnGXA

The room was fairly small and there were about 20 people in attendance. Interestingly, two women in the audience had seen Rocco perform in Bangkok back in the day.

When I was at the Woodstock School reunion in Phoenix in October, I talked with Xina Kingshill, a student I remembered from the early 1970s. It turns out that her father was the founder of Payap University, which is a large institution offering liberal arts and pre-professional courses of study. 

I'm signed up for two more sessions while I am here. More about those later!

After the presentation, I headed out with Barbara to have lunch and visit. We ended up at Duke's, a well-known Chiang Mai institution serving excellent Western food. We had a Greek pizza and pumpkin quesadillas. There was enough pizza left for Barbara's breakfast the next day and Dan's supper that evening.

Restaurants Nearby

There are restaurants everywhere around us. We have certain ones that we tend to frequent. I have my favorite dishes at each one.

Last year we discovered a new one (to us), a sports bar called The Travelers Arms. We went there one evening last week. It's about a 12-15-minute walk into the old city.

My favorite drink - mango shake (just pureed mango and ice, no sugar)

We started with prawn spring rolls. Yum!

My favorite - cashew chicken with vegetables.

Dan's first Pad Thai of the season

Another nearby place is called the Organ Bar and Bistro. It is tiny, but we've been happy with their food. It is only a 4-5-minute walk from our place.

My shrimp with broccoli - rice on the side

Dan's favorite here - garlic shrimp

Takeaway Food

We frequently eat in our room. We have a small kitchenette and a decent-sized refrigerator. Breakfast is fruit with yogurt and muesli. Lunch is a cheese sandwich and more fruit (usually mango). I shop for the fruit about every other day. On Saturday I got bananas, precut pineapple, one mango, a papaya, and a large avocado. The total came to just under $4 US. I used to always get precut papaya, but last year it didn't seem to be available. This year I'm seeing it again, but I'm in the habit of getting a whole one and cutting it up myself.

About every other evening, Dan goes down the street to a nearby market and brings back an assortment of things for our supper. This dish is pad thai noodles. On top are some hard-boiled eggs that come in a plastic bag in a sauce.

I really like this salad. It has lettuce, cut up apple, grated carrots, and one tiny tomato. It comes with a small bag of kidney beans, barley, and corn, and a nice lemony dressing. One bag is enough for two people.

The Saturday Walking Street market is quite near us and we like to go to sample the various food vendors. Last evening we brought back this fried pork on rice (with a fried egg on top) for Dan. I had a Thai omelet, also on rice, which wasn't very photogenic. It had bits of meat, tomato, radish, carrot, and onion cooked in. Delicious!

Around the Block

This morning I took a walk in our neighborhood. On a nearby street, we used to enjoy eating at the Blues Bar. But last year when we were here, the owners had closed down and moved back to their village. They were getting older and I suspect the lack of tourists during the pandemic finished off their business.

I think this empty lot is the place where the restaurant was. Maybe something interesting will be built there. 

This sad building was a hostel that was shiny and new just a few years ago, but it is obviously deserted now.

An old pickup truck is parked on that street, and has been for as long as we've been coming here. It has been pretty thoroughly picked over -- I suspect there is no engine under the hood, either.

Back in Chiang Mai

After leaving Chicago at 10:30 AM Sunday, we arrived in Chiang Mai about 10:30 PM Monday. The International Date Line was involved! It took about 24 hours, two flights, one short layover in Seoul, South Korea, a few naps, and (for me) quite a few movies. Tuesday was a blur from lack of sleep, but a lot got done anyway. We unpacked our two bins that were in storage -- and got our fan. We are very happy to be on the north side of our building after always being on the south. The south side gets direct sun all day. It's so nice to have shade instead. I think the temperature will be a lot more comfortable.

The view from our room

View down to the lawn

Dan went off to rent a motorbike, change money, and get a few groceries from a place too far for walking. I went to the market to get fruit (mango, banana, pomelo, papaya, pineapple) and other necessities (milk and sugar for chai, soap, paper towels, etc.). It made quite a load in my two string backpacks. 

Here are a few random shots:

100-baht note, just under $3

A small neighborhood shop with a few necessities

Winter hats for sale (highs in the 80s/30C, lows about 60/15C, cold here!)