Cool Commie Art

Not really into the CPC celebrating centenary, but thought the art was cool.

Palm Tree

Things have been pretty quiet lately in Chiangmai. Will head to immigration tomorrow to renew my visa for another two months, and then I move into my new apartment on Friday. Excited to have my own place with a proper kitchen, as well as a big pool. Several international schools in Chiangmai and around the country have cancelled classes or gone online (their choice, not government mandated) though many fear that another lockdown is imminent amidst Thailand’s “third COVID-19 wave.” We’ll see what happens.

Quiet Sunday in Chiangmai

Thai Curry

Quick Lunch

Pad Thai with shrimp, and chicken kebabs with lightly-toasted bread

O2 Gym - Chiangmai

Gyms are finally back open, and restaurants should be able to serve alcohol starting tomorrow, June 21. The city is slowly starting to open again. Thailand announced that it plans to officially to open to everyone October 1, though that date is likely to be changed, as more things in Thailand are never too set in stone.

Wat Muen San

Wat Muen San is the “less cool” version of the temple posted below.

Fun Fact: During World War Two, Japanese troops occupied Thailand and thus also Chiang Mai. In 1944 though Allied forces defeated the Japanese, they retreated through Burma to Thailand. One of the routes of retreat ended in Chiang Mai. The compound of Wat Muen San became a Japanese field hospital to take care of wounded soldiers.

The red building is some sort of Thailand-China significance, though not sure what exactly.

Wat Sri Suphan

Wat Sri Suphan is also known as the Silver Temple because of its impressive handcrafted silver decoration. The temple is completely covered in silver, from the walls to the roof, and display some detailed silver carvings of Buddhism legends.

Wat Sri Suphan was originally built around 1500 to serve as the main temple for a silversmith village. While over the years parts of the temple were repaired with silver from the local village, the process of completely covering the temple in silver only began in 2008. The inside of the temple is even more interesting with silver decoration, mirrors and bright colors. However, due to old Buddhist rules, women are not allowed to enter the inside of the temple and must remain outside.

Food and Rain and Pool

Winner Winner

Last month, the Dtac app (service provider) had a mini-game for Songkran festival that you could play to earn points. You played it with coins you earned from topping up for your phone. It was dumb, but the top 100 winners would win one year of unlimited data, so I gave it a try. App informed me this morning that I had won, and now I’m living that free data for a year life. 13,320 baht is around $425.

No Idea What This Is

Downtown Chiangmai

Lots of places are still shutdown - either for good, or until Chiangmai officially opens.

Learning to Let Go

Letting go is never easy. It’s especially difficult when the thing, or person, you held on to in the first place was a source of great comfort and stability at a time when everything felt like it was crashing down around you. Times though, as they often do, change, and so do people. Plans get altered, possibilities for the future unfold, and what seemed like a good idea 12 months ago either is no longer a viable option or now doesn’t hold as much weight as something new. Or perhaps, in some cases, not sticking to your original plan is the best option, even when there’s nothing to replace it.

Moving on is unquestionably hard. You’re leaving the known, the familiar, the comfortable, and though you might believe it to be the best choice, knowing that your future self will thank you, nothing anyone says makes it any easier. It’s hard, gut-wrenching, and makes you second guess yourself, both about the decision you’re making as well as what it says about who you are as a person. Am I hurting someone else in order for me to be happy? Is that fair? Is it justified? Am I breaking commitments that I made to someone at a time when I felt fully convinced that I would follow through with them?

Times change. Ideas change. Feelings change. It’s inevitable, but even knowing that doesn’t seem to make it an easier pill to swallow. The biggest challenge, however, is the feeling of regret. You question whether you’re making the “right” decision, both for yourself and for other parties involved. And that feeling is difficult to come to terms with because it’s only in the future that we realize whether it was or wasn’t the “right” decision. And on top of that, perhaps your definition of “right” has changed along the way. It’s all very complicated and theoretical, and for most people, including myself, it manifests as “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

But eventually, you will move on in your own way, and you’ll fill the void that you swore would always be there. You’ll have changed in the process, for better or for worse, but you won’t be the same. And that’s life. It’s about growing as a person, making the tough decisions, and learning in the process so that you make better choices in the future. Letting go doesn’t mean you’ll lose the memories, the love or the feelings, or that you won’t think back fondly on your time together. It simply means that whatever or whoever you let go of will no longer be an active part of your life. And the hard truth is that it’s going to be ok. As many parents often tell their children: “It’s not the end of the world.”

Being a human is hard, and choosing to be with another person is even harder. Conflicts of interests, culture, personality, hopes, dreams, ambitions—they all come out at some point, and either you adapt, or you compromise, or you find someone that better aligns with the way you see the world. And the same holds true both for relationships as for the question of whether you made the right decision—only time will tell.

Thai Shrine

Technically, I’m not certain if these are shrines, or mini-temples, or “designated prayer areas” but they’re all over Thailand. I’m at the point in Thailand now that things that would have seemed unusual at first are now commonplace, so bear with me as I try to find photo-worthy things to post.

Chiangmai is still locked down, though it recently did open up swimming pools. Gym, bars, and “entertainment venues” are still closed, so things have been pretty quiet lately. Despite that, it’s cool to live in a city that is proud of its culture and displays it publicly. Certainly more colorful than Beijing.

Too True

Source: https://xkcd.com/2474/

The State Of Gyms In Chiangmai

Though I did manage to find a gym that’s still “open”, I thought I’d check out some others and they were all locked up similar to the one in the photo. There’s an energy about the city that gyms and bars will open on June 14, but it’s just a waiting game to see what government says.

Tom Yum Goong - Sour & Spicy Lemongrass Soup

Tom yum or tom yam is a type of hot and sour Thai soup, usually cooked with shrimp. Tom yum is characterized by its distinct hot and sour flavors, with fragrant spices and herbs generously used in the broth. The soup is also made with fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, and crushed red chili peppers.

My favorite, as pictured above, is made with chicken wings. I could eat this all day everyday.

Sunday Funday / Finally Found an "Open" Gym

Hungout with my buddy this weekend, and his friend joined, saying he had just come from the gym. My immediate question was, “WHAT GYM?!” He told me that Hades Gym was “open” despite the city’s measures stating that gyms were not allowed to operate until the provincial government allows them to do so. I drove there this morning, and although the metal shutter by the entrance was only open about half a meter from the ground, I ducked under, opened the door, and found a fully open gym. The cost for 1 day was THB 70 (USD 2.3), and it was the first time I was able to exercise in a gym in over a month.

Do I risk being fined if the police find out the gym is open? Yes. Do I think it’s worth it? Absolutely. The gym itself was pretty basic but a lot better than the two plastic dumbbells I have at home.

Includes:

Squat rack - smith machine - bench press - incline press - cable machines - plate machines - cardio bikes - treadmills - free weights - weighted straights bars - leg press - lat pull down - shoulder press - back pull machine - TRX ropes - monkey ladders - & much more.

I doubt Thai authorities are reading my blog, so I’m not too worried about blowing up my spot. I’m hoping gyms across the city will get the green light to open on June 1, but I’m happy knowing there’s still an alternative if they don’t.

Tuesday Meat Day

Two different soups and minced pork with basil over rice with some pork broth.

Dog Day Afternoon

Gyms and bars are still closed, and restaurants can’t serve alcohol, so there’s not a whole lot to do on the weekends except play with the dog. Did some shopping, cooked lunch and dinner, read a bit, and then Netflixed. Sometimes the monotony of my schedule gets to me, especially as I haven’t really been able to integrate myself into the city as I usually do when staying somewhere for an extended period of time, but I’ve got some plans in the pipeline that will come to fruition in the next few months.