Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Let Them Eat Pie


 

I’m having a terribly difficult time remembering this past week- probably because I was doing nothing that could overshadow the ABSOLUTE AWESOMENESS of this past weekend.  LIKE WHOA.

 

Before I get to describing my weekend though, let me first list a few important details:

1)      Thai soap operas are terrible.  Cheesy, way too dramatic, girls being abused, the lighting is awful…I feel like I’m glimpsing at shots of The Power Rangers sometimes.  These things are constantly on in the common room while I’m trying to do homework and drown out the drama with my music.  Currently, Hellogoodbye- hello again, seventh grade musical taste, goodbye temporarily to better musical preferences.

2)      I can totally go without food and drink for an entire day. I did it people! As some of you may know, last Wednesday was Yom Kippur, the last day of the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah.  On the last day, the Jewish people fast from sunset until sundown, and go to services to pray and sing and reflect on all of the things you wish you had done better in the past year. 

So anyway, my friend Rachel is the only Jewish person here and so I figured I’d fast with her for moral support.  Also, I’ve wanted to try fasting because it’s supposedly spiritually cleansing.  I definitely felt a change in my mindset- it was quite interesting.  I recommend trying it- you’ve more will power than you may ever know.  Just drink water- it’s much healthier that way. 
Me and my fasting buddy!
 
 
After our fast, we ate at this crazy buffet place  called Sukontha Buffet where there were a million different kinds of food; all you can eat for 200 baht! Some foods were prepared, but others were raw, so you cooked them on the hot pot/griddle.  I stuffed myself to oblivion.

Please notice the imitation crab characters up top next to the raw chicken.  I collected all of the shapes, but did not eat them.

3)      Game of Thrones.  Just started. I damn the fact that I have homework because all I want to be doing is read that book.  ALL I WANT TO DO!

4) This is a really good movie; it's called Lost in Paradise, and is about two gay men living in Saigon.  It talks about homosexuality and the sex industry in Vietnam.

Ard. Let’s get down to business…to defeat…my current lack of a new blog post. So, on Friday, I went on a magical journey with my good friends Emily, Laura and Maia to Pai, a backpacker’s haven!  We departed from the Arcade Bus Station in a bus, where we would stay for the next three hours. Luckily, I bought some yellow motion sickness pills and took them…there are about 780 curves through a windy mountain to get to Pai.  The ride was great- I was asleep for most of it.

When we emerged tired, and stiff-knee’d, we found ourselves in a quaint lil town where white people were roaming the streets, and nary a Thai person was to be found.  That is, until we stumbled across the high school, where a festival was being hosted.  It was a multiple-day festival of constant music, regardless of whether or not there was an audience.  We got to witness Thai pop singers belting out songs whilst girls in traditional Thai costume danced around them.  It was…interesting.
 

We went on a hunt for our hostile- Spicy Pai Backpackers.  Dude, this hostile is awesome.  It’s a bit out of town, across a couple of bridges…and on your right is a lovely set of bungalows. Just beauteous.  I’d never stayed in a hostile before- and I’m so glad that this one was my first.  The mindset and personalities of backpackers are so wonderful- and these backpackers were the greatest people ever.

 I swear, our hostel was a mini taste of Europe (and other white people countries)- people from Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, Denmark, Australia, and yes, folks, we befriended more Americans.  We spent the weekend with our short-term newfound friends- they acted as hosts, caretakers, and family.  My favorite person, Uncle John, was a bright green gumdrop in my day- he never failed at cheering everyone up or adding a laugh into the conversation. His favorite video was this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMS2VnDveP8.  It was only hilarious because he laughed at it so hard.

We slid down Slidey Waterfall, we jumped off of Jumping Waterfall, and we climbed an incomplete Buddha statue to watch a sunset, and we chilled in some natural hot springs. (OMG the roads to get to the hot springs are awful and treacherous and slightly resemble a rollercoaster.  It was like being in a video game…but in real life.  I was on the back of a motorbike [rent for 140 baht per day with insurance-cheap!] the entire time, so you can imagine how terrifying that was…not really, since I didn’t describe it, but I shouldn’t because it could deter people from going.  Just do it…it’s an experience.) But, I think my ultimate favorite thing that we did was go to a bar with the hostile peeps.  They decided that Saturday night was lady’s night, so the guys all dressed up as women.  It was the most hilarious thing ever.  They were enjoying it way too much, and Andreas especially was amazing at being a girl.

I had way too many Mai Tais and ended up having a drunken political talk with all the Europeans.  We also had a contest to see who was better at geography- guess who lost…RIGHTO- this girl!  And for those of you who might think I can’t possibly fail, well…*blush* why, thank you, but I really suck at geography…and politics.  I did know when the French Revolution started (1789!), which impressed Cory…I think that was his name.  Anyway, the Europeans are very impressive, and very into politics, so it was fun to have a conversation with them. They did acknowledge the fact that they were uneducated about Africa, a lot of Asia, and some other things- same as America.  Come on Western countries- let’s fix this ignorance.
LADIES NIGHT! :)
 

The town of Pai.  Well, basically, there are streets upon streets of stores with some pretty cool stuff for tourists, and restaurants.  We made this weekend our escape from Thai food- it was beautiful.  Some recommended places are Witching Well, The Good Life, and Coffee in Love.  But we didn’t go to any of those.  We went to a place that I think is called Cake Go.  OMG.  I had THE BEST sandwich that I’ve ever tasted in my life.  Just look at it.  I have never been happier after eating a sandwich.  This could be because it’s been a long time since I’ve had a decent sandwich, decent bread, decent cheese, decent raw veggies….mmmmm I am slobbering.  Just look at it.
I'd go back to Pai just for this sandwich.
 

We also went to the Curry Shack.  The guy who works there is over 30 years old, but looks 25.  Aaaaaand he’s an amazing cook.  Best durn curry I’ve had in a long time.  I recommend the Green Curry, the Masman Curry, the Khao Soy Curry, and the Panang Curry.  Woof woof awhooooooo!

The Thai food there is absolutely delish as is the street food.  There are a million possibilities for eating at this place, but apparently the Italian food is crapola.

Lemme get back right quick to the motorbikes.  It’s super easy to rent a motorbike- super risky, but super easy, and super cheap.  If you are good and comfortable at riding a motorbike, I’d recommend it.  You’ll fall in love with Pai that much quicker.  There’s something amazing about riding down the roads on the back of a motorbike, taking in the lush scenery, and conquering fears and roads.  Emily brought up something she’d read in a book about “the zen of motorbikes” (or something like that) where the writer said that riding in a car is like watching a movie, but riding on a motorbike is like being in the movie.  Definitely sums up how I felt.  Incredible. 
Laura and Maia riding up ahead of me and Emily on our little Kirby.
 

So, Pai.  If you are looking for a break from your culture shock in Thailand…definitely the place to go.  A lovely haven for travelers, who are mostly white people, where your only encounters with Thai people are at the shops.  I bargained for a skirt there and the shopowner complimented on my Thai skills. HELLZ YEA!
Oh! On the way to town from Jumping Waterfall, we stopped at this lovely little place called the Land Crack.  It is called this because it's a family-owned farm with a giant land crack in the middle of it.  So, they can't produce enough food to sell at market.  Instead, they feed us backpackers some delicious fresh peanuts, sweet bananas, tasty passion fruit, cut up potatoes with salt, refreshing roselle juice, and some of the best red wine in a tiny bottle.  Oh my goodness- it was so delcious.  These people run off of donations, so EVERYONE WHO VISITS PAI SHOULD VISIT THE LAND CRACK AND GIVE EM SOME BAHT!
The yummy snacks...

 


and the crack!
 
Now, enjoy my photos…or else.

Slidey Waterfall
Hot springs.  Where it was quite warm, and quite nice.
The Buddha where we saw our beautiful sunset.

Jumping Waterfall. Where the jump was nowhere near as intimidating as the cliff-jumping experience.




 

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Nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun BATMAN


I promised you in last week’s post that I’d be EXTRA BUBBLY! But, I discovered that Bubble Letter font does not exist.  Quite unfortunate.

 

Hmm this week has been filled with a lot of schoolwork, and thus not much exciting to tell you.  Lemme tell ya what though- I’m excited for this 20-page research paper due at the end of the semester.  I’m thinking about doing it on women’s roles in Thai Buddhism.  There’s this whole thing about not being able to be officially ordained.  There’s only one nun in Thailand, and she’s not recognized by the state.  More on that another day, after I’ve done my research and whatnot.

 

Speaking of nuns, Buddhist nuns have 311 precepts, or rules, that they have to follow.  Crazy right?!  Buddhist monks have something like 247 precepts, novices have 10, and laymen have 5.  I learned all of this from the monks I visited on Wednesday.  LauraSA volunteers at Wat San Prahkha (spelling?) teaching English to two monks, M and KK.  She really enjoys it, so she invited me and Emily to go with her and meet them.  They are really super sweet.  KK got us all journals, pens, and plastic bags (for shopping at the market in Bo Sang where we explored later) as presents.  AND he wrote us a message in the journals with the most wonderful penmanship I have seen in a while- he even has different font styles. 

 

Emily asked KK about his daily routine, and whether or not he will disrobe.  It is common for males to enter the monkhood in order to attain an education because it is free, they get to travel, and they have a lot of time to study- there are none of the material, worldly distractions that plague all of us other students.  Then, after they have learned a satisfactory amount, they disrobe, and enter lay life.  Historically, the Buddhist religion and the temples were the center of community life in Thailand, so entering monkhood was pretty much the only one could gain an education for a long time.  But, I’m not going to write up a history paper.  I do enough of those.

M is the monk on the left, KK is on the right.
 

Hmm, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant for Maia’s birthday.  I tried these slimey wrap things, which are her favorite, and they were slimey, but OH SO DELICIOUS.  I regret not knowing what they are called.  We got her a cake, and Emily bought her an over-the-shoulder-strap bag from her volunteering place Healing FamilyFoundation!  It’s an awesome place, and I’d like to go at some point.  It is an organization that serves as a community for disabled people.  They make the most beautifully weaved things, and I think everyone should buy something from them (some of you will get Christmas gifts that I bought from this foundation).

 

Food.  We also went to Birds Nest Café.  Which is amazing- the murals are done by a local artist who also plays an instrument and writes, the books are awesome (I started reading The Little Prince) , and the food is crazy good.  The Friendship Cake tastes like tea, and the banana and black sesame seed shake was so good.  The first night we went, we were there for the viewing of the movie The Lady, which is about Aung San Suu Kyi.  I highly recommend the movie 1) because it’s a great movie and 2) because she is a freakin amazing, inspiring person.  I know now what to write when asked the question about who my role model is.  Just read about her, everyone.  And for those of you in America right now, you should go see her speak because that’s what I would be doing if I were at home.

Maia in front of the sweet mural at Bird's Nest.

 

The other night we went to Birds Nest, there was Indian food! Oh how I kind of miss India.  It’s such a magical and puzzling and horrifying place.  But I loved it.  BUT I’M IN THAILAND! So I’m gonna continue to focus on the fact that I’m here for the time being, until I travel somewhere else.
On a scale of 1 to 10. How delicious does that look? That's right, 17.

 

Friday night, I took more people to a Muay Thai fight at the Kalare Night Bazaar Boxing Stadium. This time, we got to see International fights, and women fights!  People kept making  jokes about me being up there…oh heck no.  I am not nearly ready for any of that.  Especially after watching this 20 year old women from Canada beat the crap out of this 40/50 year old Englishwomen.  She just went after her face like a banshee bridezilla after discovering the baker didn’t put buttercream icing on her wedding cake instead of chocolate.  It was awkward and awful to watch. The ref stepped in twice, and the fight didn’t even last 2 minutes.  In the middle of one of the fights, the power went off, which was super amusing, but I felt bad for the fighters because they had to wait for about 20 minutes before they could finish their fight.
The scary fight.

 

Later, we went to Zoey’s where I met one of my trainers at the Reggae bar.  Lemme tell ya what.  Zoey’s while completely sober is not fun.  It is a shit show- everyone is super drunk, foreigners everywhere while poor Aka villagers selling bracelets try to sell their stuff.  My friend ran into a pimp too- there are prostitutes everywhere.  I saw two Thai people dressed as Pikachu and Yoshi, and I got to watch my trainer kinda make a fool of himself on stage while the reggae band was playing music, and he gave us free beer…so, I guess Zoey’s wasn’t terrible.  

 

The most exciting part of this week is that I got to see the stars one night.  It’s a rare and special treat to see the stars in a city-ish area.  I want to go to Mauna Kea Observatory just for the stars.  But I’m in Thailand.  And I’m lovin’ it, folks.

Oh, I did other things this week, like go on a field trip to a cemetary for Westerners, go to this crazy fancy Chedi Hotel, which used to be the British Consulate, and an awesome museum that is family-owned and is basically a disorganized collection of antiques that people donated to it.  It's awesome, but I have to do a project on it...which is due Tuesday.  So, I don't feel like talking about it right now. So, I'll end with a picture.
The boys are rubbing it in that I am not allowed to climb the pagoda. Jerks.

 

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Too Exhausted for Real Title


I am tired and have a crap ton to do this week.  So, I will make this a quick and dirty ketchup and new sauce post- meaning, I have some general things I have neglected to say about my trip in past posts, and I have some new exciting experiences to share.

 

Movies:  Spirited Away is awesome- watch it.  Adam, the head of the SEAIGS program, has set up a weekly movie screening in which he features documentaries and films that highlight a bunch of human rights issues happening around Southeast Asia.  Who Killed Chea Vichea is about the political killing of an important labor rights leader in Cambodia, and At the Horizon is a film that gives a voice to the Lao people in the face of a corrupt justice system.  I encourage everyone to watch them, despite the feelings of world-loathing, sickening anger, and incredible sadness that might be experienced.  The hard facts of life have to be faced so that changes can be made and more light can be brought into the world.

 

Here are pictures of my room! Pictures of my Thai roommates may come later- you’ve already seen Alex.  It bothers me that the walls are so bare and white.  Tis why I hung up my favorite Yugioh cards and my Lego men in my corner of the room.  I basically sleep and dump my shit in the room, and hang out in the common area all day long.  So there’s not too much to say about that. 
 

 

The bathrooms.  The bathrooms are fun- I will refer you to this blog post about the bathrooms because it is well-writ, and because Rachael is also in the same program! So read on, fellahs!

 

My budget- lemme tell ya what.  Getting rides to places is by far the most expensive thing that I am doing here. I have to spend money every time I want to go somewhere, and it is frustrating.

 

Ethnic identity.  People are obsessed with appearances.  They say, “where are you from?” I say that I’m from America.  And then they ask me my origins again, gesturing to the face.  Sometimes, people just assume that I am Thai, and proceed to ramble in really fast Thai to me, until they realize that I have absolutely no idea what I’m saying.  I need to master the Thai language so people will believe that I’m Thai, and will not rip me off because I’m a foreigner.

 

School work is starting to happen.  Just a few hours ago, I finished writing two mid-term essays for my Social and Cultural History class.  I know I am here to study, but sometimes I wish that I weren’t.  There is so much more to do here than read textbooks and write essays, although it is fascinating to do schoolwork about another country while residing there.

 

New stuff.  Cliff-jumping! Umm I don’t feel like re-writing this, therefore I will use an exerpt from a message that I sent an hour ago:

i went cliff diving/jumping in this awesome quarry.  the first jump was fine because it was a reasonable height that i've jumped before cliff-jumping in hawaii, but the second jump- it was incredibly scary, and i almost didn't do it because not only was it super tall, but the cliff angled out and i was afraid i would hit the rocks. but then a thai girl i didn't know said "jump with me". so i did! and i landed on my ankle, which made swimming hell- my ankle is swollen now. and i have a gash in the bottom of my foot. which is annoying and should make muay thai (which is done barefoot on concrete floor for some of the training) interesting. so hopefully my ankle heals up by wednesday. later that night we went to an arabian restaurant slash hookah place. and i tried hookah. matt and i switched shirts because he wasn't dressed properly for the black and white party he was going to afterward (i went home). i was wearing a white overshirt. i walked out of the restaurant before he could say he wanted to switch shirts, which was hilarious. the boob lines on the shirt were evident and he looked like a gay european. i was proud of myself.

My foot gash as a result of my jump.


 
People jumping off the smaller cliff.

 
Sweet atmosphere and food at Babylonian.
 

As you can see, this message also includes other escapades about Saturday’s adventures!  I had a good day.  Today (Sunday) I went to the Chiang Mai Zoo and Aquarium with some friends.  That zoo is enormous and absolutely beautiful.  It’s funny because there are tour busses that take people from station to station.  I love the zoo- and the animals inspired me to do some art projects eventually when I have the time and materials.  I highly recommend going to this zoo.  And, if you are a Payap student, remember to bring your student ID so you can get a discount.  Forgive my grumpy tone- next week I shall make up for it with extra bubbly-ness.
Mickey holding a lemur at the Chiang Mai Zoo!

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