nocturnal yellow bird

here's jessie q. fixing the rice cooker.

the yellow bird was packed last night. i stayed around and helped until like midnight. there was green curry galore. and tons to do, so i didn't get too many pictures.


david cleaning up the dishes.

i made orange juice, chopped veggies, served rice, and drank gin and tonics like it was my job.
which it kind of was.

wine, french fries, and the yellow bird

today was sunday.
and i decided i would have a day of indulgence.
i had wine on my mind.


so i sat at this little place and drank wine.
and ate french fries.
and read my book.
and it was good.

BUT, before that, i took some pictures of things that i see often, walking around the little area where i live, just outside the city.


like tons of these flowers.


and this beautiful dog.
she's always asleep in the shade.


a truck. rusted and exhausted.


flowers that remind me of ribbon candy.


a lonely pomegranate, high in the tree.

THEN, it was off to the city, to enjoy my classy lunch of french fries and wine.
what usually ends up happening when i go to the city is that i wander around, and i turn down whatever streets i haven't seen before/look interesting.
eventually i get lost.
and then, eventually i stumble upon something i recognize, and i'm able to gain some sort of orientation. lather, rinse, repeat.
today,i ran into a huge market, got totally turned around somewhere, and found my way back to the yellow bird cafe somehow. so i hung out for a minute and took some pictures.


this is the wondrous place i've been ranting about.
that's santhia, in her sacred little kitchen area.
and there's two of the regulars/unofficial employees, david and jessie q.


this is the little seating area inside. we moved a shelf out of there, so things are kind of all over the place.
at night, it's so atmospheric. nothing quite like lounging on the floor with some comfy pillows.


this is the bar, where i've made plenty of juice, and learned to make a few cocktails.

anyways, i met up with my friend sebastien after that. we got some food at this vegetarian place he knew of.


he got kao soi, the signature dish of chiang mai. kinda like the philly cheesesteak?


i got a proper veggie burger and, yes, more french fries.
deeeeeeeelightful.

today was a great sunday.

a day in the old city

chiang mai is a northern province of thailand, which shares it's name with a major city in that province. the part called the "old city" is surrounded by a moat and some crumbling brick structures which used to be fortress walls.
over time, the city has over flowed out of the little area within the boundaries of the moat, and now extends pretty far in any direction. the old city is a square, with four main "gates" where there used to be entrances through the walls.
one for each cardinal direction.
now there are quite a few roads that lead into the old city. but each gate is where the taxis that are headed in that direction hang out. the city is relatively small too. it doesn't take more than 20 minutes or so walking to get from one end to the other.
anyway, i was wandering around for a while today, so i took some photos.


here's a little part of the moat, taken from the middle of a bridge. this is in the southwest corner right near the public park.


this is the statue right in front, when you walk into the park. no idea what it's for or about.


the park is small, but there's plenty of space to lay around under a tree.


this little pavilion had some water underneath it, FILLED with fish.
and apparently some of the park (or at least the benches) were funded/donated by the lion's club international branch?


these birds were cool. we hung out.
even though i didn't have any food. we were talking about sports and politics, until THIS lady showed up:


she bought a bag of fish/bird/whatever food from a park vendor, and as soon as she tossed the first handful in, not only did about a thousand of the biggest catfish i've ever seen show up, but the birds FREAKED OUT.


they came from all directions...there was no stopping it.
i watched in horror...


the poor woman never stood a chance.

actually they just climbed all over her feet, and she, for some reason, picked one up at one point. not really sure why you would want to handle a wild pigeon, but, hey, whatever floats your boat.


this is a little bit of the crumbling walls around the city. they are most apparent in the four corners, but the main gates still stand tall, as well.

and THIS...

is the legendary durian fruit.
its a monstrous looking thing, covered in spikes.
and it smells foul.
actually its worse than foul.
to say it smells bad is to be very kind to the fruit.
i have yet to taste it myself, but i will.
and i've heard it's delightful.
those who can get past the smell are rewarded with a sweet treat, a creamy texture, and a melt-in-your-mouth dream of flavor.
so it's a must.

i would like to leave you all with some important information.

there is a place in thailand called The Puping Palace.
i know a few people who would certainly want to be informed of the existence of such a place.
you know who you are.
you can thank me later.

i found the roof

i wandered up to the roof of my guest house a few minutes ago with my camera, and found this:

of course, the picture doesn't do justice to the real thing.
it was fiery and clear. and it quickly cut into the mountain top.

so i decided, after much thought, to stop training in muay thai.
at least for now.
i realized that, while i love the physical challenge of it, and the mental determination the training takes, it's not for me.
i've never enjoyed hurting people, even in sport.
and i think i would rather focus inward, with something more health centered.
i'm going to take some yoga courses, and just relax with the rest of my time here.
i'm going to get up and run with a classmate at 6AM, and keep up with some strength training, but no more fight training.
it's been fun, but i'm going to go a different direction.

time to go get some dinner. i'll post some stuff about the yoga course when i go check it out.

may kaidee

today i took the vegetarian cooking course offered at May Kaidee restaurant. the lady that runs this one, (there's another in bangkok) is named duan.
i was the only student for the day, so i got a one-on-one cooking class!
it was awesome. it started out at about 9AM, when i showed up, and we headed out to the market.


this is duan, holding a little arrangement of kaffir lime leaf, basil, ginger, and turmeric.


duan led me around the market and explained about a lot of different items.
like the difference between ginger and thai ginger, or galang...


as well as a huge variety of spices and teas...


and types of beans and rices.

the spices and rice were all in this tiny little shop run by this guy:

he's the classic example of the sweet old shop owner. he just hangs out and talks to people all day. and loves every minute of it.

after the market, we headed back to the restaurant with the basket full of ingredients.


we prepared them, as well as some soy protein things, some tofu and spices, and headed into the kitchen.





duan's kitchen fits her.
small.
so i end up looking like a giant in comparison to her, and her mini kitchen.




ridiculous.

anyway, she taught me how to make about 14 different dishes in total.

these were the first two. tom kha and tom yum. coconut milk soup, and a clear soup.
this was where we used the herbs and spices in the arrangement from the market.


this was one of the last dishes. vegetable spring rolls.
i also learned how to make peanut sauce, massaman curry, green curry, pad thai, mango with sticky rice, papaya salad, thai stirfry, and pumpkin hummus.


there's all my dishes. i gave some away to one customer, and took the rest home. i'm gonna give a lot of it to my friends in the guesthouse here.

anyway, i have to thank my cousin kath for giving me the idea to go take the course there. it was totally worth it. i can't wait to try and recreate some of these dishes at home.

apples and peanut butter.

that's all i have to say about that.

last night i went out with a friend of mine who was leaving chiang mai today. so we went out to celebrate, and went to this little cafe he knew of on this quiet side street, called "the yellow bird cafe." a young woman named santhia cooks up random dishes everyday, depending on what she gets from the market, and what she feels like cooking. so it's something different all the time. she's a wonderful cook, and a really great presence. her cafe is just her living room with pillows and mats on the floor, and big double doors fold open into the street, with dishes and drinks written on them in chalk. she only has a few customers a night, but everybody is encouraged to stick around as long as they want.
the dishes take FOREVER. we waited for probably an hour. but in the mean time, we are served pineapple and rum, fresh fruit, spinach and mushroom spring rolls, and plenty of good music. so it's never boring. the food is so hearty and comforting, tons of textures and flavors all crashing together. last night i had some sort of curry, with rice and three kinds of mushrooms, with a myriad of veggies thrown in.
after dinner, we all just sat around, talking and drinking and hanging out. till about 2 AM when the police rode by on motorcycles, and told santhia that she should be closing up for the night. she said okay, and when they drove off, we started packing up. but santhia told us, "i'm just gonna close these doors. you guys are more than welcome to stay as long as you want."
that's some serious hospitality. i've never been to another restaurant where the owner invites random customers to just hang out in her house/cafe as long as they want. we were served some more fruit plates, and some more beers, and everyone helped wash dishes and clean the kitchen.
by the time we were headed out, it was almost 4AM. too late to find a taxi home, and i certainly wasn't riding passenger on a drunken motorbike cruise. so santhia said i could just sleep on the floor. plenty of pillows and mats, she brought out a mosquito net for me, and i was a happy camper.

i woke up at like 11, and realized there was a pretty big mess from everyone hanging out, and my sleeping there. so i started to just pick stuff up, throw out bottles, and straighten out the room. santhia heard me, and came out with a totally confused look, and says "YOU'RE CLEANING? WHY!?"
she insisted on giving me some coffee, and so we cleaned the whole place up. she showed me how to make fried rice with veggies, pineapple, cashews and raisins. while we were making it, two customers showed up, and santhia starts telling me to do things around the kitchen. it was great, i got to work in a restaurant for the morning, in exchange for some cooking lessons and a free meal. i made fresh orange juice, and helped with a papaya salad.

i had a huge pocket of coins when i left, just from spending throughout the week, and she even gave me a little coin pouch to carry them.



i think restaurants and cafes all over the world should take lessons from her.
her place is so cozy and welcoming.
she's leaving the restaurant at the end of the month though, to be with her son. he's 14, and lives with relatives in a town a few hours away. chiang mai is going to lose one of it's greatest hostesses (or people for that matter), i'd say. but more importantly, santhia has had her fun here, and knows that it's time for her to bow out gracefully, to spend her time with the people that she loves. i'll be headed back to that place until it closes, for sure. next time i'll be sure to take my camera. it's one of the most unique places i've ever seen.