Chiang Mai Birthday Blog

Thursdays are my day off!!


Set off this morning taking Mr. Teera's Taxi to visit Chiang Mai. I got him to drop me off at the night market as I wanted to walk the route between the there and the Old Town to try and get an idea of the layout of the place.

Wat, near to Night Market

One of the hazards of looking so obviously like a tourist is getting asked every five steps along the road if you want taxi, song taos, or tuk-tuks, however, if you're looking out for one......
I soon picked up a freeby map and found a landmark that enabled me to get on the right road.


I replied to a well dressed man about my age who wished me "Sa-wut dee krup" (good morning) and after a good laugh about my lack of any other useful Thai words, went on to have a good chat about teaching; him being a primary school teacher in the town. He marked on my map 2 or 3 places to see and parted like old friends.
I wandered around the old walled city looking in on market stalls, music shops and various hardware shops. There was even a scientific glassware shop for when we need to set up the lab!?

Moat or canal around old town

By walking under the trees it was possible to stay cool for most of the morning. 
I was looking at guitars mostly though I have the use of one that belongs to the Juniper Tree during my visit. The prices varied from between 2,500 Bt up about 5,500 Bt for a Thai copy (the usual Fender/Gibson models) You get about 50 Baht to the Pound.
My only purchases were a bottle of water (18 Bt) and a capo for the guitar.


When it got too hot I grabbed a Tuk-tuk which took me back to the Juniper Tree for 150 Bt; the Taxi out was only 100Bt so I don't know how far I'd walked.
This evening we (Simon, Melanie, Elliot, Jemima and I) went out to celebrate my birthday. We had a lovely meal that was mainly paid for by a gift from guests who had stayed many weeks at the JT following the birth of their 3rd child to have been born there!

There were fireworks blasting off around the town, not for me, but we think because the Prince is in residence at the Palace nearby. They close a road near the Juniper Tree whenever he stays there to keep it nice and quiet for him! They sometimes let only quiet vehicles past; turning back motorbikes and big cars. The roads swarm with army and police and the local point duty policeman has his sun shelter commandeered by the road-block commander!

Wat Chedi Luang

Pest Control, Tesco & Rusty Frogs

Tesco's in Thailand!

.........
I knew there was something to look forward to today........


This morning a gang of men looking just like the original "Ghost Busters" jumped out of a pick-up truck and started to spray everywhere!
The termites would soon demolish the traditional wooden buildings of the Juniper Tree without this monthly treatment. The durability of aged Teak is legendary, but a termite can make mincemeat of it.
Everyone has to leave the site for a few hours whilst the poison disperses, but the good news is, I got a morning off!

Chiang Mai

I decided to cadge a lift into town and after a iced frappuccino with Simon and Melanie, went off to see what a Thai version of Tesco looks like. Well, you can see from the pictures!A bit basic, as far as the building goes; no darkened glass panels, manicured gardens or regimented parking.The surprise came to find such things as "Tesco's Finest" Earl Grey tea bags and other oddly similar British brands jostling for position with distinctly different, traditional Thai foods and products. I could get "in store" baked bread, Cheddar cheese and English butter as easily as the 57 varieties of Soy Sauce on offer! One other bonus is it's air conditioned; unlike my planned transport back to work.

I grabbed a tuk-tuk back which cost 100 Baht (about £2.00) for a 15 k trip. I nearly fell out of it when the driver blipped his horn at a cyclist, it sounded like a rusty frog!

The School run is probably the same the world over: Madness ensues as rushing parents do their  best to get the little darlings safely ensconced in the playground before doing battle with the rush hour. Add to the usual blend, the tuk-tuks, mopeds (3 up no helmets) and open pick-up trucks overflowing with kids and you get an idea of early morning Chiang Mai!

I only know this as I joined the Carey's on their school run so that I could learn the ropes of the weekly supermarket expedition for the Juniper Tree. Apart from having to stop everything and stand respectfully silent, whilst the Thai National Anthem played at 8.00 O'clock; their Makro is like any of our Cash and Carry stores. Except the fresh food: Frozen whole turtles, fresh grasshoppers in all sizes and various bugs all side by side with the usual mince, chicken fillet, and pork tenderloin! Now, fish; that's something to see! Huge aerated tanks containing live tilapea, sun fish & dogfish; mountains of prawn, lobster and crabs all firmly trapped by rubber bands look fantastic. Most noticeable to me was the lack of smell unlike the fish counters in European supermarkets. So with 8 gallons of milk 50 kilos of rice, 15 Kilos of chicken, pork & Mince, mops, buckets, soy sauce and 101 things that filled 2 massive trolleys we headed back to the centre, breakfast with another week of meals in hand.

This is the view of the "new" grounds, behind our house. The gardener takes enormous pride in keeping the hedges trimmed. He was dressed up in a dust coat + leather apron+toe-capped wellies+ head scarf+ straw hat in temp. of 40C to do the strimming for hours today!

Saturday is Simon and Melanie's day off so Lily and I were left in charge. It's a good job she was back because there are 101 things I've either been told and forgotten or we haven't covered yet in my induction training.

Sunday we only open the office for one hour and we don't serve an evening meal. I am joining Simon and family at their church at 4.30 pm. Simon is leading worship!

I've a couple of free hours now and I can feel a "rest" coming on.

Tim

Power cuts, jet-lag and a stolen crutch!

Awoke abruptly when all the power went off! It's a good job it did or I would have seriously over-slept: my head still thinks it's on UK time!
Simon and Melanie were delayed in leaving for the Embassy so I didn't have too long to care-take the office. One call from the kitchens left the Thai lady & I both wondering what on earth the other meant and so the next day she arrived with the bill for the eggs complete with a picture of an egg drawn in the corner!
Getting better at the routine admin but booking out the motor cycle was an impossible task as no one  could find the keys.
When Lily arrived on her moped this morning, she couldn't get to the office because one of the children had run off with her crutches!
We have a lot of guest here for an "International Member Care Conference", including a couple from near Battle in Hastings. They run a Christian Retreat there.
Animal night noise is bizarre! a lizard sounding like an irate cuckoo make a regular contribution to the ambiance!
Managed a very short swim before breakfast this morning, how long that can be maintained is doubtful.....

Getting going!

A day of getting to grips with  the office systems: Booking in guests, email replies to various enquiries and checking the houses are ready for new arrivals. Had to make my 1st announcements in the dinning room too. (after years of addressing 100's of noisy students you'd think I wouldn't be nervous?)
The "genial host" role that Simon does so well will need a lot of work to emulate. Guests are very grateful for whatever we do for them, however the old hands are still recovering from a recent rather unpleasant outburst from a disgruntled lady (Elliot and Jemima handled the situation brilliantly, apparently!)
The weather is as expected (very sunny) but we had a brief downpour in Town this afternoon.
Getting overlapping time to communicate with home is a challenge; between 7am-4pm (UK time) are the hours when I'm awake here!
Tomorrow I will be left in charge of the office. I'm wondering what havoc I can cause?
Cheerio!

Safe and sound

Unexpectedly comfortable flights from London to Bangkok and Bangkok to Chiang Mai, empty seats next to me so room to spread out!
Met by Simon, Melanie, Elliot and Jemima who had noticed the early arrival of my flights so no waiting around at all.
The Juniper Tree looks stunning. The blossoms, grass and site in general look splendid under the blazing sun.... Day time temp 40 ish, so difficult to rush about!
Our flat has been set up beautifully and I've got everything I need now that I can email & Skype etc. I have already been involved in some "Training" and done some carefully supervised booking and correspondence with guests. Hope I don't leave too many headaches for Simon to deal with later.
Going off to "do" the Post Office etc with Simon this p.m. then prayer meeting after dinner tonight.
Cheerio for now, Tim <><