weekend

overall, my weekend was nice and relaxing.

saturday was a solitary day, but it was good for me to remind myself that it's ok to be alone and i can actually amuse myself without other people around. i started the day off doing some laundry (yay hand washing) - you pay by the number of pieces you wash here so i just do my own underwear (sorry if this is TMI for some of you :) ). after that, i went to a local spa for a body scrub, massage, and facial. very nice (anyone thinking about coming to visit...definite thailand perk!!)

after the spa, i headed over to this local cafe (wawee coffee) that serves really yummy coffee and has these huge branches with both indoor/outdoor seating and fountains and gardens. i usually get iced coffee there and read the daily english-language newspaper here (the bangkok post)...it's kinda ironic that im often more up-to-date on news here and what's going on in the world than when im back in the states. btw, judy and i found the most kickass article on nyc's oldest bartender, hoy wong, while we were also engaging in similar newspaper-reading activity at said wawee coffee. if you are interested in reading the article, click here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14462796/

after i was all caffeinated and ready for more adventures, i attempted to locate the art gallery where my co-worker's husband was having an opening for an exhibit on abstract seascapes. i thought it might be down this one soi (sois are side roads/alleys off of main roads) that is known for boutiques, antiques, and other fun stuff so i wandered down there and went into a bunch of stores. the whole soi was mostly empty since it was late afternoon on a saturday so i had fun browsing but didn't buy anything. later, i got a text msg telling me that the art gallery was actually 2 sois over from where i was, so headed over there and found it to be packed. the art was really awesome (and also affordable) and there was a good mix of people (all ages and both thai and farang. fyi, farang means foreigner (generally white) ). my colleague introduced me to a cool farang couple that does advocacy work in chiang mai (they're older, but still young - probably early 30's) and i spent a long time chatting with them. we were later joined by vit, who was sporting a green shirt that had a lime with fangs on it. on further questioning, the lime with fangs represented a familiar on this online rpg, kingdom of loathing. we made fun of it for awhile, but vit convinced me to check it out when i got home. i now admit that i am mildly addicted to this game, but you should all check it out too (you can wikipedia it if you want) - it's a pretty kickass rpg that just makes fun of rpg's and pop culture in general . plus, everyone is a stick figure. what's not to love?

i also had some kickass noodle soup at this noodle stand that vit recommended (thai-ish noodles, but all the workers there are shan) on my way home from the art gallery. it was 20 baht (or about 50 cents). if i just ate on the street or in small shops all the time here, i would spend less than $2 a day on food.

sunday:

poo and nui picked me up around 11:30 for a day of chiang mai adventures. first, we grabbed lunch at this thai place a little outside the main city (menu for lunch included cha boran (like thai iced tea), sukhothai tom yum noodle soup, satay (chicken sewers with peanut sauce and cucumber/vinegar sauce), and som tum moo yoh (pork sausage with papaya salad - moo yoh is awesome and eaten a lot in the north)). poo was impressed by my spicy-eating abilities. i was amused because my family is from Southern Thailand (known for the spiciest food EVER) and they always think im a huge wuss. anyway, poo gave me props for being able to eat spicy when compared to non-Southern peoples.

after lunch, we stopped by an ancient monastery, wat umong, to feed fish (they were full though and nothing ate our fish food, but i saw a snapper turtle!) and visit Buddha images, kept in ancient caves. the temple also had wooden signs tacked up to the trees with Buddhist proverbs in both english and thai. one that i remember stated, 'all honest work is honourable work,' which reminded me to humble in my daily life (i feel like docs often get a big head about themselves and why their work is more important than others). the temple setting was really beautiful (ill upload some pics soon) and we were visited by a monk, who gave us a short dhamma talk on how it was less important for us to visit the temple regularly than to try and observe the five precepts everyday in our daily lives (take home message: do good in your daily life to reap the benefits of karma). he also asked us which of the five precepts we found it hard to keep, and nui answered that he still drank beer. (i first thought that the monk asked us what the five precepts were, and i said, 'to not kill people'. then nui was like, no, what ones are we still deficient in? lol). the monk talked about why drinking was no good (losing money, causing health problems, other stuff) and poo later made fun of nui after we left the temple. anyway, im not capturing the essence of it, but it was nice to have a chat with a monk, who urged us to try and make a commitment to keep the five precepts for one day. btw, the five precepts are:

1) Do not kill (or intentionally harm other living beings)
2) Do not steal (or take what is not given to you)
3) Do not commit sexual misconduct (also be respectful in relationships)
4) Do not lie (or speak harmful thoughts)
5) Do not do drugs (other than for medicinal purposes)

poo and i had a short discussion about the 4th precept because she noted that she sometimes had to lie to patients re: their diagnosis when their families didn't want the truth to be told. this is common in asian cultures where younger ppl make decisions for elderly ppl and it might be bad luck/bad form to tell an elderly person they have cancer or some other diagnosis. i dunno how i totally feel about this (growing up in the western culture of autonomy), but i've read a lot about it in the past during my medical anthro/bioethics courses and think it's interesting.

oh, the temple visit also reminded me of a discussion ben and i had with a monk at wat suandok about how buddhism is a way of living and people don't need to be 'converted' to Buddhism. More on that later, perhaps.

After the temple visit, we drove up to this reservoir and got some fruit and drinks at this cafe overlooking Chiang Mai. we also saw a couple in western wedding wear taking professional pictures outdoors, which got us talking about poo and nui's upcoming wedding (next year) and me and chris's love with taking pictures in thailand. lol.

Later in the afternoon, we went into full shopping mode, with stops at Tesco Lotus and Central Airport Plaza. Poo paid some of her telephone bills and signed up for ASDL and UBC to be connected in her room at the hospital, and I picked up a big fan (good to save money on electricity and also :)'er for the environment vs. A/C) and some towels. Exhausted from walking around the mall, we ended the day at this large covered outdoor market (talat in thai) that's actually not too far from my condo. the talat sells everything, but we only went to the food stall part. food stalls here are awesome, and basically sell a bunch of premade food (curries, stir fry, etc) on these huge platters. you pick what you want and they put a serving into a small plastic bag for you and tie with a rubberband (ill also upload a pic of this later). at this talat, a single serving of food is 20 baht (or ~50 cents). i picked up a small roasted catfish (25 baht), stir fried vegetable (kinda like a cucumber, but not) with egg (20 baht) and a single serving of steamed rice (5 baht) for dinner. i ate the leftovers for breakfast this morning, so that was definitely a worthwhile meal :)

yay for chiang mai adventures! i think i will pick up a motorbike soon. :)