Thai Craft Beer

Sometimes I forget that there is more to beer than just Chang, Leo, and Singha. Went to a big supermarket, and they had a massive selection of imported beers, as well as local craft beer. Went with Maha Nakhon and was not disappointed. Followed that with dinner, which was bok choy, a boiled egg, and roasted duck over rice.

Weekend in Chiangmai

Heard about a rugby match, so I decided to go with friends. Definitely not what I thought it would be. No bleachers, no concessions, just a giant field, and we were entirely unprepared. We sat on the grass for a bit and then decided to bail. Picture with red lights is from a market, and the “Go China” graffiti is from a bar, and it looks like someone added “Corona” but not entirely sure if it is supporting China in the fight against COVID, or making fun of them.

Sunday Around The Town

Started off with bagel breakfast sandwiches, went shopping at the mall where I ran into a TON of middle school kids all getting vaccinated and with that, a big outdoor food festival to keep them well fed. And yes, there was also a clown. Ended the day with Netflix and some classic Thai food — Grilled chicken, spicy papaya salad, a spicy vegetable soup, and some minced pork with herbs. Nice relaxing day until back to the grind tomorrow.

"Status Update"

Not a whole lot going on these days. Here’s where I’m at:

• Picking up a new 1-year education visa on October 20th

• Novel is being edited. Will be returned to me around the 1st week of November

• Working with a graphic designer to figure out a cover for my novel

• The last piece is to get someone to do internal formatting after it has been edited, and then I’ll put it up on Amazon

• I'm still working my four jobs. Saving most of it since not a whole lot to spend it on these days

• Tourists are set to return to Thailand (vaccinated from a set number of countries) on November 1st, so we should see some more life breathed into Chiangmai over the next few weeks

• My birthday is in 3 weeks, but no plans yet

• Fighting off the existential dread of being 31, in a rocky relationship, and feeling isolated working from home all day (only 4 hours, but nothing to do when I finish work around 4 pm)

• Looking to sign up for Thai classes once in-person teaching resumes

• I’ve taken to not being involved in the bar at all. I didn’t personally invest, and GF is turning it into a girl bar, which is the opposite direction of what I wanted it to be. There’s also no role there for me. I can either go there at night and spend money, drink (which I don’t want to do), and watch my GF drink and flirt with customers, or I can stay at home while she works all night. She already has a bartender and a cook, and I’m not a hot girl, so can’t talk to customers. I knew it wasn’t going to be good for our relationship, but it’s turning into a headache, and I’m evaluating if this is how I want to spend my time, both alone and with someone who is working in that line of work

• Looking at doing some traveling within Thailand once quarantine is dropped for domestic tourists

That’s about it. I'm almost finished reading Killing Commendatore by Murakami, and I’ll look to finish a few more books before the end of the year.

Doitiddow Mon Jam

Mon Jam (ม่อนแจ่ม) is a mountain community/village about 1 hour from Chiang Mai, near the town of Mae Rim. It’s famous for being home to the ethnically diverse Hmong Tribespeople, and the cold weather combined with gorgeous mountain views.

Around $100 for 2 tents, and then we had a big hot-pot / bbq for dinner. It didn’t get too cold, but it was strange to want to put on a sweatshirt compared to the constant heat down in the city.

I’d recommend going for just 1 night. Would get pretty boring if you stayed any longer than that

Unsure of Name, But Delicious

I have no idea what this is, but it was a mildly-spicy broth with chicken and bits of liver, and on top is cabbage and pickled something (I think cabbage). As odd a combo as it seems, it really was tasty.

Bar Food & Rotee Stand

Chef at the bar is amazing. Khao Soi Gai, fried pork, and spicy glass noodle salad with veggies. The stand was on the side of the street and makes rotee, which are like sweet crepes. I got banana and honey, and it was amazing.

Painted Electrical Box

All the electrical boxes in Chiangmai are painted with in the same sort of “pop art” style , which is a lot cooler than just having some big grey or green box. Not sure why more cities don’t do this

Terminal 7 Grand Opening

A friend from my crypto job in HK sent me the giant bouqet of flowers. The bar is up and running and officially open! It will take some time for the name to get out and constantly improving things like buying toilet bowl brushes for the bathrooms and hand sanitizer for the tables. We’re also working on getting the food menu sorted out, so we’ll be experimenting with bar food with Thai flavors this week and then sorting that out. Opening day yesterday was fun, but mostly with friends and people we already knew. It will be interesting to see how things play out once Thailand (major cities) open to vaccinated tourists without quarantine on October 15th. Though I’m not convinced that date won’t be pushed back yet again.

Final touches

Everything we’ve needed to do has been done. New frosted decals went up on windows, furniture was moved in (at least partially upstairs), and the mural is being finished, though not sure why he went with brown and not green for continents. You can’t see it, but inside the letters will be a Chiangmai icon, or something famous in the city. Will take pictures tomorrow during the grand opening.

Not really sure what to expect going forward. Lots of bars have been busted for serving alcohol (right now, “restaurants” can be open until 11, but technically aren’t allowed to serve liquor/beer) so everything over the next two weeks will be served in paper cups. Cops are usually pretty cool. Lots of bars I’ve visited said they just paid them off, but that’s not gonna be something I’ll deal with — that’s a “boss” issue for GF.

Tables will be moved to a better position after the cleaning crew comes one last time tomorrow. Looking forward to the grand opening, but we’ll have to see if the bar is good or bad for our relationship. I can’t see it working out too well but let’s just… play it by beer.

And don’t mind the picture of me sweating in my pink soccer jersey overlayed with a super white filter commonly used by Thai girls. It is what it is.

Terminal 7 is Almost Open

The new mural painter drew up the design in an hour, featuring iconic scenes / images from Chiangmai. He and his buddy came today and started drawing it on the wall in chalk. They should have it finished by Friday.

The cleaning company came today and we told them to take the Muay Thai stickers off the glass doors in the front, but they ended up removing ALL of the frosted decals we had paid to put on there 2 days earlier. The cleaning company agreed to pay decal company to re-do them, and that will also happen on Friday.

I painted the black stripe yesterday, and then went back today and touched up the black drips with white.

Pool table goes in tomorrow, shopping for bar supplies / general items (ashtrays, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc.) happens tomorrow, and some of the furniture will arrive tomorrow as well. Grand opening is Saturday!

Update on Terminal 7

Painting is now finished (top of bathroom is still drying). Guy who did downstairs painting wasn’t feeling up for the mural, so I went on Facebook, found 2 guys who worked at tattoo shops to draw designs, and hired one of them to do the giant mural upstairs. Bathrooms now have new fixtures (toilet is around corner in 1st floor), alcohol and drinks will be bought Thursday, licenses are now up and framed on the wall, cleaning company comes tomorrow, and pool table, WiFi, and tables & chairs come Friday. Hired 2 bartenders and worked with them to come up with 3 signature cocktails. It’s been a pretty wild ride so far, but Friday will be hectic. Will also be getting all the small stuff, like printing menus, organizing glasses, installing the POS system and making sure everyone who works there knows how to use it as well as run the cash register.

The grand opening will be on Saturday! Luckily I got it listed on Google easily, so now I'm just waiting for Google to mail a postcard to confirm address. Will post more pictures as things progress. Busy working during the day, so I go after work to help out. Today I painted a giant black stripe on the 2nd floor wall. Will post pics later.

Weekend Food

Korean BBQ is so delicious no matter how many times I stop during the meal and think: “I can’t believe I’m paying to cook my own food.”

Small meal I ordered from Grab amid bar reno.

Terminal 7 - Renovation

Helping girlfriend open a bar is a ton of work, but it’s exciting to see everything come together. The bar was built today, along with new lights, new toilets, a new sink, mirrors, TVs were mounted, and signage. Busy busy. W’ll post more pics throughout the week, though not sure how many “in progress” I’ll get because I’m only able to help out after I finish work in the evening and on weekends. Made the menu on Canva today and met with the new bartender to come up with 3 specialty cocktails using Thai flavors. Named them “The Layover”, “Full Flight”, and “On The Way”. I’ll see if I can get some “promo” shots of them once we buy everything and get them tested. Aiming for a private party next Saturday to test out all the kinks. Company will come deep clean on Wednesday, furniture and pool table go in Thursday, and Wi-Fi, POS system, and liquor/beer will go in Friday. Exciting week ahead!

It’s a 3 story building. The first floor will have a bar, along with 6-7 bar stools and two 4-tops. Kitchen in the back, and a bathroom. Stairs have a big landing area, with a bathroom, and then we’ll have a pool table, 2 large painted oil drums for standing / placing drinks, a 3 seat table at the end, and a 4 seat (high) table running along with one of the walls. Upstairs has an office area, a bedroom with a bathroom, and a big balcony area. I think the plan is to reno that later and eventually get some tables/chairs up there. The rent is $600 a month, which is crazy because I was paying more than $800 in Beijing for a 1 bedroom condo.

Both bathrooms have mirrors and sinks (all new). The kitchen will be used for small bar food, but I’m hoping to do classic bar food with Thai flavors. Spicy/lemongrass chicken wings, maybe fried calamari with local flavors, spicy papaya salad, just quick bites, but full of flavor. It’s definitely a cool learning experience, and girlfriend is 100% owner. I’ve helped buy small things, did the designs, came up with drinks, helped paint, delegated to workers where I wanted street signs hung up (got a bunch of cool signs from airports at a second-hand store that we mounted to the walls), so this bar isn’t mine, and I’m not dependent on it to make money, but I hope it does. So far, it’s been a lot of work, but I have a feeling it’s just the start.

*Don’t judge the painting. We’re just trying to get the base layer in so we can paint the murals, and then we’ll go back and spot paint everything. The finished photos will look a lot better.

Kad Manee Night Market

This is a cool place overlooking a small pond with a fountain. There were a ton of food stalls, and while it was Monday and I couldn’t eat meat, the Pad Thai in the previous post was from here. Sat down at a little table about a foot off the ground, sat on little cushions, and had dinner as the sun set. Nice place, good prices, and great atmosphere.

Night Out in Nimman

Tree in a parking garage // Quirky bar with a cool name // Japanese bbq, which was insanely delicious // The alley leading to the parking garage with lanterns.

Nimman is close to Chiangmai University, so it’s full of quirky little restaurants, Instagram-worthy cafes, and lots of little stores selling knick-knacks. I found a shop selling bags made out of IKEA bags as well as cement bags (sort of like the plastic bags with nylon threads in them). And yes, I bought a bunch. Perfect for traveling and storing stuff in my apartment. Will likely buy more next time I’m there.

Saturday Afternoon In Chiangmai

This is a slightly spicy salad with shrimp, ground pork, lettuce, bamboo, onions, and I think the white strips are watercress, or some type of crunchy vegetable

Khao Soi Gai - Chiangmai

If I’m at a Thai restaurant, and I don’t know what to get, this is my go to. It’s yellow noodles in a curry soup, with chicken, and crispy fried noodles on top. It’s hot, a little spicy, sour, and packed full of flavor. It’s a specialty of Northern Thailand, and I’ll never get tired of eating it.

Got my 2nd shot yesterday and I woke up around 2am last night feeling like i had been hit with a truck. Body pain, headache, light fever, and tossed and turned until finally waking up at 6am. Felt like a hangover from hell. Not looking forward to a “booster” shot down the road, but seeing as how Thailand is struggling to push out the regular 2 shots, I doubt I’ll have to worry about that for awhile.

2nd COVID Shot

Who just got his 2nd shot of a COVID-19 vaccine? THIS GUY! First dose was Sinovac, 2nd dose was AstraZeneca. And for anyone complaining about the size of vaccine cards in the US, just know that Thailand literally printed mine out on a piece of A4-sized paper. Awesome.

Wat Loi Kroh

Wat Loi Kroh was built about 600 years ago, during the reign of King Kuna, the 6th monarch of the Mengrai Dynasty. At the end of this dynasty, Burma captured and ruled the Lanna Kingdom. This temple was then deserted for over 20 years. Later, Banhom people migrated to Loi Kroh and started its reconstruction.