Wat Wat Wat?

Wat wat wat?

Someone told me a joke which is directions to anywhere is down the street from the Wat and across from the 7-11. This is strangely accruate. I remember begin told that Thailand is obsessed with 7-11s, but I guess I forgot that tidbit. I have to admit they are quite convenient. So those and Wats are everywhere! I walk down the street and check out at least 3 a day and pass up at least 5 others I see. Today I saw a particularly spectacular one.

I ventured out into the new city today and came across a wat with a tall gold buddha outside. There were all these animal statues faced towards the statue in reverence, just like the Lion King, complete with even a donald duck like figure. Even cooler was when you walked up the highly adorned stairs you could look out behind the buddha and feel like you were Simba looking down upon the adoring managare. Inside however was exquisite. Theree were 3 shrines, one on each direction. The left side had 2 center buddhas made of a green luminescent stone I can only guess was jade, and then a bunch of other smaller stone ones as well. Above this shrine was a manadala on the roof and beautiful vibrant paintings of the life of Buddha. The center and right side were gold. Everything was just so beautiful, detailed, vibrant and rich. I was shocked to see that there was no one there though, no monks or guards, just the buddhas. I once again felt inspired to just sit for a bit.

I can't get over how chill it is here. There is so much trust, people are so kind and smiling. The people at my guesthouse trust everyone to borrow the bikes and even motor bikes, we have full use of a kitchen and more.

Ok so now for the food part. Yesterday i took a full day cooking course which was awesome. I think it was really a great choice especially because yesterday morning it raining torrentially. Like the truck we were in had to wade through at least 2 rivers which used to be streets. When i was picked up i was greeted by a truck of European men and they all said "ah our token woman!" they were a fun a group. We all shared all our dishes so everyone got a taste of everything. I have to say I was really impressed at how simple and easy these dishes all were. The most complicated was the curry just because you have to make the paste, and the sticky rice because of the prep time. Everything else is just having he ingredients, which no doubt can be difficult, but I have hope in moving to California that I will able to find the awesome Asian markets.

So i learned how to make a really awesome Penang curry, a rich a vibrant red curry with surprisingly only a few ingredients: coriander seeds, cumin, white peppercorn, chili, shallots, galangal, kaffir lime, coriander root and shrimp paste. I also learned how to make pad Thai! However here they don't use any gooey red sauce, it was really just soy sauce garlic and sugar, and then of course the bean sprouts, garlic chives, peanuts, egg, tofu and prawns. But really you can throw whatever you want in,all done in one wok, 5 min. I also learned how to make spring rolls ( as well as the sauce), chicken and cashew, chicken and basil, an awesome coconut shrimp soup, mango and sticky rice, papaya salad, fried fish salad, toffee bananas, and more. Overall I feel like it was a day well spent. I didn't get the tour of the market cause of the rain, but this morning while wandering around I found the cooking school giving their tour to a new group and they invited me to join. When I get back, I hope to really get a stock of Thai ingredients together, because I love the food so much and it would be so cheap and easy to cook a lot of it if i have the ingredients, and then i can make a Thai feast for YOU as well!

I really love my little street. It is soi 6 off of moon muang road. Every day when I come out of mu guesthouse, there are new stalls or roadside stalls. This morning I found fried bananas, taro and sweet potatoes in a yummy batter that I snacked on for breakfast, I also found some fresh squeezed orange juice. Quick note about the mangos here- they are amazing! I love mangos anyways, but here they have almost no trace of fiber, they are just silky smooth, rich and sweet awesomeness.

I ventured out a little to see where the night market is. I have meant to go every night since i arrived, but I guess jet lag keeps winning the sleeping battle. However, after passing out again yesterday after cooking school, i forced myself to sleep again at 3 am and i slept until 9! So I hope I will solidify my adjustment today. I found the market, though in the day time it is pretty quiet. Maybe I will check out tonight before I go out for the Halloween eve party I was invited to.on today's day trip I found a nice french man at a noodle stall who encouraged me to try the noodles, he said he has been in thailand for 10 years and comes to this stall almost everyday. That was all the endorsement i needed, and indeed they were great, though I have to admit i think my little noodle stall I found near my guest house is better. In fact i am jut waiting to be hungry again so i can go on over and eat some of them again.

So today I just putzed around, but i realize my time is getting short and I need to start doing more things. I found a nice little massage school nearby that i think i will start tomorrow. I am trying to decide if I should do head, foot, or back? I might do two of them, but i don't know if i can afford all 3. Any votes on which I should do? After all YOU will be the ones benefitting from this training, so let me know!

I am also debating whether i should go play with some baby tigers. I am so morally torn. I am just imagining that these poor animals are drugged or tortured like the elephants and i don't want to support any animal cruelty. However I did a little research online and found many reports from supposed European and American vets, zoologists and animal trainers who said that they were actually impressed with how well they were treated and that they showed no signs of being drugged. There are the few reports that claim otherwise as well. That being said...I could cuddle with a baby tiger! I think my compromise to myself is to wait until Tuesday and see how much money i have left, if i have enough without taking out more, i can blow it on the tigers, if not i will not spend an extra $5 service charge to do it. Again if you have any thoughts let me know. I just keep thinking of how cute my new Facebook picture would be cuddling with a baby tiger...

Ok so to recap dear readers: your homework is to let me know what kind of massage you would like/ I should study, and 2 should I go cuddle with some baby tigers and be a totally tourist indulgent? And my homework: to go check out the night market, flower market, and Wat doi soithep ( a beautiful wat overlooking chaing Mai that Keith and Abe studied at).