Happy Chinese New Year!

To ring in the Chinese New Year, we took advantage of Andy's days off and got out of town with a trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Originally, we were thinking of going to Bangkok, but a few wise friends advised that we go to Chiang Mai because it's more laid back and has more outdoorsy things to do.  Having done quite a bit of travelling lately (and having more trips to take in upcoming months), we decided to take it easy and just enjoy the city.  As you may know, Thai massages are amazing and amazingly cheap in Thailand....so our trip involved some sightseeing, a few massages, lots of shopping, and some learning.

We arrived Friday night and checked into our guest house - the Pak Chiang Mai.  It was right on the edge of the southern side of the Old City.  

Night time tea Pak left in our room.  This one was called Butterfly Pea Flower, and when I brewed it, it was blue colored but tasted like chamomile.  A bit interesting drinking blue tea.

Our room

The lobby


Our favorite spot to relax and read in the lobby.  This place was awesome!


Breakfast was included with our room - delicious fresh fruit juice and Thai tea every morning!

Each morning we ate a wonderful breakfast before heading out to see the sights.  We'd sit out in the lobby, enjoy a hot cup of coffee or Thai tea and plan for the day ahead.  Energized  by breakfast, we set out to explore the city.  

Thailand is predominately Buddhist.  In the Old City area, there is literally a Wat (Buddhist Temple) on every corner.  I wondered why Buddhists would need so many temples in a city for one religion, and Andy pointed out that this was probably equatable to TX where there's a church on every corner.

Monks walking by the ancient city pillar of Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Chedi Luang

This was one of the statues at Wat Chedi Luang,
you must read the story behind it below, it's pretty funny

We did a bit of shopping and checked out a store selling handmade papers.  The most interesting was definitely this one:

Further down the street, we came across this shop:

The majority of Asians are stick thin, so a shop like this is quite a find!

While waiting for the bus, some students who were studying English approached us (well really Andy only) and asked if they could ask some questions for a homework project.  Basically, they just grilled Andy and I sat on the side taking pictures.  Guess I'm not American-looking enough.

Andy and the students

This happened twice with two different groups of students! Afterwards, they presented Andy with a holographic picture of the royal family.  They also presented me with a holographic picture of the King of Thailand so I wouldn't feel left out.

We visited a few wats and saw many Buddha statues.  The pictures below are from Wat Phrathat, which was up on a mountain called Doi Suthep just outside of Chiang Mai.

One of the many Buddhas at Wat Phrathat    


Thai dancers at Wat Phrathat

       
Happy kid and Happy Buddha


In front of one of the buildings at Wat Phrathat

At the wat, here was a wall of donation boxes.  There was a box for every kind of donation imaginable.  There was Donation for Building Temples, Donation for Students, Donation for Foundation, Donation for President, and my favorite, Donation for Oldster.

Now, I must take a moment to highlight how we got around to see all the sights (and a few other types of transportation we saw around town).

Exhibit 1 - Songthaew (Local Bus).  To ride, just flag down any driver and tell him where you want to go.  If it fits in his route, he'll take you, otherwise, try another one.

Exhibit 2: Rickshaw - I need to rig my bike up with an umbrella to keep me in the shade!

Exhibit 3:  Tuk Tuk - which is basically a Taxi

Exhibit 4: Segway - yes, they offer Segway rentals to tour the city....

Exhibit 5: 3 Wheeler - do you notice something funny about this one?

Somehow, they rigged the controls for the motorcycle so the person in the side pocket is steering the vehicle. So, I guess, people actually sitting on the motorcyle are just passenger....weird.

Exhibit 6:  Good old fashioned bikes - our guesthouse provided free bikes for us to borrow and we spent a day riding around town.  I tried to convince Andy to take the pink one, but he wouldn't budge.

Now, for the best part, the glorious food!  Andy and I took an all-day Thai cooking course.  The morning started off with a tour of the market

Suthim, our instructor, educating us on Thai produce

Our cooking class

Chef Andy

Gearing up for my cooking show, Jen can cook! Back in college, my roommate and I would pretend we had a cooking show - Jen can cook, Jo can clean.  Boy, I miss those days!

Here are some pics of the dishes we cooked:

       
Stir fried Holy Basil Chicken and Red Curry with Eggplant


Glass Noodle Salad

       
Ingredients for Tom Yum Soup and the finished product


Best. Pad. Thai. Ever. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Another fun episode in the Adventures of Jennie & Andy!  If you want to check out other pics - you can view this album.  Oh, and one more wonderful thing I forgot:

Thai Iced Tea!