Yan Can Cook!

It is official, Christina and myself are the best cooks in the world.
The good news is that between yesterday and today we made so many great tasting treats. (including, but not limited too, Coconut soup, green curry, red curry, yellow curry, jungle curry, fried spring roll, Pad Thai, drunken noodle, morning glory, holy basil and pork, papaya salad (hot), steamed shrimp in banana leaves, banana spring roll, sticky rice with mango, and more that I cannot even remember right this moment)  We even made our own curry from scratch.  The bad news is that although we will bring home a cooking book with all the recipes, we will probably not be able to duplicate the flavors of Thailand in our own kitchen. Plus some dishes required 4 feet of fire rising from the pan, and I am sure that most American kitchens will not have the proper insurance to let us practice that art again.  All in all it was a tremendous experience and we both found it a good use of vacation time. Also, after we have been gone for two months, Christina might not remember how much she loves our cat and I think the Jungle Curry recipe could be purrfect for a little dinner party.

Yesterday my watch broke. It cost $5ish dollars in Bangkok and lasted 4 days.  I was able to get it repaired for $3.50.  I laughed as I told the repairman he was ripping me off, because the new band he was installing was almost as much as the watch. His response was classic, "Not same same... different."  A common phrase in all of Asia is "Same Same" If you want a banana, they might sell you an orange and say "Same Same, but different."

The city of Chiang Mai is amazing. It was constructed around a very old city that still exists in the center of town.  "Old City" (as it is referred to) is a rectangle of 1 mile x 1/2 mile surrounded by a moat and brick walls that are at least 500 years old.  The temples here are numerous and are as old (or older) than the city walls.

The people are charming and we have yet to meet a bad apple in the bunch. The amount of dogs and cats running free on the streets is unbelievable.  The best part is the Buddhists just seem to work around them. Never is a dog moved or kicked, they are allowed to lounge where ever they choose.  Today at the food market, we saw a dog riding on the back of a scooter. Thai's are crazy about their scooters. Little kids frequently ride between the mom / dad and the handlebars. No helmets, no stop signs, no worries. Just how they do it.  I have noticed a serious degradation of my English. I am not always speaking in complete sentences anymore. All the Thai negotiations are making us soft. 

After an exhausting day of cooking and temple hunting, myself and Christina decided to get our first true Thai massage. 200 baht for one hour. That is roughly ($6.70) for an hour of amazing massage. We were so relaxed, we almost couldn't make it back to our hotel room.  We are not sure what is on tap for tomorrow.  I have no doubt, it will be more adventure. 
James