AT LAST

Fee and I celebrated two years of wedded bliss yesterday, dancing to Etta James before heading out to a fish restaurant that we remembered fondly from an outing last summer.

I’m happy to say we’re still very much in love… though we may just skip the baked Tubtim fish next time – even knowing that it is intriguingly served inside of a fresh coconut.

FUNEREAL HOW-TO's FROM 7-ELEVEN

Fee spotted this book on the rack in our neighborhood convenience store, and couldn’t resist spending the 50 baht (about $1.35) to add it to her library. Subtitled “Everything you don’t want to know, but should know”, it describes the myriad aspects of a Thai funeral.

We have conjectured that perhaps because they perform funerals just a block away (we’ve recently heard the traditional monks’ chant followed by karaoke) the books are a impulse buy item…come in for a Coke, leave a more informed mourner.

In all, further proof of two things: 1) we don’t really understand everything that goes on around us and 2) that, indeed, 7-Eleven has just about everything: total convenience, from Alpha to Omega.

ITALO-THAI

Had a great welcoming visit from our friends Claudio and Futura , who came up this past weekend from Bangkok after spending the summer all over the Malaysian peninsula. As a bonus, we met their friend Amaglia, a new anthropologist friend in town - another Italian, who is preparing to head out to do research in Nan province, close to the Mekong River and Laos.

A few of the highlights of the visit:

1) EXPLORING DOI SUTHEP BY MOTORBIKE during a (mercifully) rain-free Saturday. A beautiful ride that took us past the temple, up to the Phuphing Palace – the winter retreat for the royal family, whose scatological name brought out our collective inner-12-year-old. After a delicious roadside repaste, we followed a series of single-lane roads down the mountain to a Hmong village, then back up to a lookout point, then down a mossy side-road that led to a remote temple, then a bit too far down an unpaved section of road, before Fee and Claudio (the fearless drivers to whom I and Futura clung, respectively) managed to slog our way out of il fongo with only one muddy sandal and one bruised calf (on Fee’s leg – no cows were harmed). Ultimately, we glided back down the mountain, stopping at a waterfall or two, back into town and a well-earned dinner.

2) COMPARING IMMIGRATION POLICY between the U.S. and the European Union, over beers at a new neighborhood bar. Also discussed the ‘projects’ that are the United States and a United Europe – more on that, I’d highly recommend Henri-Levy’s American Vertigo, where the French author takes a trip around America ala de Touqueville – last thing I read before our trip here.

3) FOOD ! Claudio possesses an extensive Thai food vocabulary, and we marveled at the veritable font of delights that is the nearby food stalls. Certainly more elaboration is due (hopefully with Technicolor photos to whet appetites stateside). The food stalls serve university students almost exclusively, and might therefore qualify as the world’s greatest student cafeteria. Also on the weekend menu was the sushi place next door – Japanese food has recently caught on here in Thailand, and all the better at Thai prices (!)

NAAM DUUM

Sometimes it gets so hot, even our poor glass of drinking water starts sweating. The above is a self-portrait taken though the condensation left by a glass of water on our coffee table. Looks like something by a more free-spirited Chuck Close.

OUR ALARM CLOCK

Most mornings start with the enthusiastic chirping of our friend shown here. He and his winged cousins perch atop our balcony railing at least a dozen times each day – and tend to be keen on conversation. Their eyes betray a sense of ownership as they stare at me, cocking their head slightly as if to say, “And you are…?”

If there are any capable ornithologists out there – we’d love to know our friend’s name.

*update: thanks to Nicky D, who passed along this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Myna
looks like the common myna is often considered an invasive species - i realized we're in no position to throw stones on this issue ;) -km

LOOKING WEST

The above is our lovely western view, 14 floors above the city with Chiang Mai university (covered in trees) abutting the foothills of Doi Suthep. Along the mountain ridge, those with keen eyesight may see the outlines of Wat Doi Suthep (just left of center). The temple glows at night and, sitting atop the darkened mountain, seems to float in the night sky.

(Will work on that posting that night photo, though it may be awhile. During the rainy season- right now- the mountain is most often blanketed in fog)

BLUE IS THE NEW SILVER

Without belaboring travel details...

Sat next to a very nice ceramic engineer from upstate New York on the flight from JFK to Taipei. He was en route to Indonesia, where he does interesting work with low-tech, hi-result ceramic water filters.

Strange thing was that, from the first glance, all i could think was 'this guy's face is blue'. After chatting for a while, that initial notion subsided a bit. Subsided until his end-of-flight plug for the wonders of silver solution (AgNO1- silver nitrate?) in fighting bacterial infection. After heaping praise upon silver (shown to cure AIDS, etc), he lamented that the FDA would not approve it due to some outlandish belief that it turned users blue. Thanks in large part to jetlag, Fee and I somehow managed to stifle our laughter (later released in the airport).

I seemed to recall one of Garcia-Marquez' characters in Love in the Time of Cholera taking silver for medicinal purposes and turning a slight shade of blue. Though our seatmate did not get his in some small Colombian port town, the bottles label was in spanish, purchased from a Mexican apothecary.

JFK - *TPE - CNX

*with a much needed stretching session in anchorage, alaska

All's well that ends well. And even better when it begins well.

It's certainly not China Airline's fault that the world is as large as it is. After 24 hours of travel we went from eating tacos in Fort Greene, Brooklyn (thanks Tom & Rachel) to clutching fork in left and spoon in right hand to savor our first fish with garlic and shrimp soup (bplaa gratiam & tom yom gung) with Fee's research sponsor and friend Linchong.

My guess is eating should develop rapidly into a major theme of this humble blog ;)