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Post 2007
- 8 years and 10 days since I started this blog -
- 8 years and 10 days since I started this blog -
This was never a tourist trip to Chiang Mai.
In the early '90s, thinking that there was a good chance I would come into some money from the dot-com boom, I began to think about early retirement. Now, I wasn't expecting to join the 1%, but I'd had some financial hard times and they were turning around, and I was seeing it happen for some others (I worked next to Red Hat. When they IPOed, I saw the employees dancing in the parking lot), and thought I might be in for a piece.
And I thought about moving overseas. I did some research, and made a list of the top five places I thought I could retire to and live off the dividends. Things went bust (again!) and that didn't happen, but the list, and the dream, remained.
Chiang Mai was on the list. Over the years, it has been the only place on the list that never dropped off.
While I'm here, you can bet I'll enjoy some of Chiang Mai's attractions. I'll hang with elephants for a little, I'll visit temples, I'll explore Thai cuisine, and so on. Of course I'll do that. But what this is, is round 1 of auditions for the next place I live. There aren't any places in the US that match all my needs for retirement. Syracuse is where I am, and I'm having a great time living there, but to maintain my good life, I have to have a certain modicum of health, and I have to be a driver. Changes that affect my ability to participate in the music scene would mean I need another place to live.
That's why I'm here: To get a preliminary reading on whether Chiang Mai is that place. (So far, so good).
OK: Back to today:
I got my massage, ate some food. and chilled a bit.
I went back to Tikky Cafe. I'm liking that place a lot as well. I ordered two dishes, the classic tom yum soup (with chicken) and a dish called rad naa soup. I don't know why I wanted two soups, I think maybe I didn't realize they were both soups when I ordered.
I started with a coffee, an Americano. The Thai do coffee well, and it was a good cup. Tom yum is one of Thailand's classic dishes. It is a sweet and sour soup, it is complex and was incredibly delicious. The version I had lived up to my wishes, flavor-wise, and the twist on this version was that half the ingredients were not for eating, just for seasoning - when I finished the bowl, it was half-full of inedible stuff that was included for their essence, not their 'meat'.
But the rad naa was the star of this show.
I ordered the seafood version (shrimp, oyster meat, fish, octopus, squid, conch) and it took me back to the first time I ever had such a mix of delights, in a roadhouse on the Southern coast of Spain, almost sixty years ago. The surprise for me then was baby octopus in that Mediterranean version. The surprise this time? Lying under the surface of the soup, hidden in the broth? A 'whole' squid.
That was some incredible eating. The depth of flavor in every bite, every slurp made me smile (and reach for a napkin to wipe off the dribble that happens when you grin while you eat). Best squid ever, I savored every bite. I put this on my short list of repeatable dishes.
I finished off with a freshly juiced mixed fruit shake - more deliciousness.
Later, I met up with my new friend David at another expat bar, Marlboro House. It's a gathering place for two somewhat distinct but mutually tolerant and respectful groups: Older expats living in Chiang Mai and the endless stream of backpackers that swing through.
It had a familiar feel, in the best way. Kind of reminded me of when I hung in Negril forty-plus years ago. And those are fond memories. But there were more musicians last night than back in Ja, and we did what musicians do when they meet and hang out: Swap stories, look for common threads, connections, laughs.
The community of musicians: Everybody brings a little seasoning to the pot.
There's rock on the juke, mostly classic. Some reggae. Some blues. The locale is exotic, the vibe is chill. Everybody's a character - the place is full of them. Everybody brings a unique history, everybody brings a common experience. The one thing you know about all the people you meet, all the friends you'll make: Whatever their past, the most important thing is that they've ended up with you and them in the same bar as you. It's worked out.
You know this kind of place - it isn't regional. It's got a neighborhood bar feel, but different, because it's not your neighborhood. It's not a place where everybody knows your name, but it feels like a place you know, a place where they do know who you are.
It's meaning to me? Chiang Mai has places I can hang. It has places that click, places to live life.
I am full of gratitude for what has come my way here, shaking my head at the tangled web of coincidences that are involved in creating every bit of 'Now'. Tomorrow: More music!
In the early '90s, thinking that there was a good chance I would come into some money from the dot-com boom, I began to think about early retirement. Now, I wasn't expecting to join the 1%, but I'd had some financial hard times and they were turning around, and I was seeing it happen for some others (I worked next to Red Hat. When they IPOed, I saw the employees dancing in the parking lot), and thought I might be in for a piece.
And I thought about moving overseas. I did some research, and made a list of the top five places I thought I could retire to and live off the dividends. Things went bust (again!) and that didn't happen, but the list, and the dream, remained.
Chiang Mai was on the list. Over the years, it has been the only place on the list that never dropped off.
While I'm here, you can bet I'll enjoy some of Chiang Mai's attractions. I'll hang with elephants for a little, I'll visit temples, I'll explore Thai cuisine, and so on. Of course I'll do that. But what this is, is round 1 of auditions for the next place I live. There aren't any places in the US that match all my needs for retirement. Syracuse is where I am, and I'm having a great time living there, but to maintain my good life, I have to have a certain modicum of health, and I have to be a driver. Changes that affect my ability to participate in the music scene would mean I need another place to live.
That's why I'm here: To get a preliminary reading on whether Chiang Mai is that place. (So far, so good).
OK: Back to today:
I got my massage, ate some food. and chilled a bit.
I went back to Tikky Cafe. I'm liking that place a lot as well. I ordered two dishes, the classic tom yum soup (with chicken) and a dish called rad naa soup. I don't know why I wanted two soups, I think maybe I didn't realize they were both soups when I ordered.
I started with a coffee, an Americano. The Thai do coffee well, and it was a good cup. Tom yum is one of Thailand's classic dishes. It is a sweet and sour soup, it is complex and was incredibly delicious. The version I had lived up to my wishes, flavor-wise, and the twist on this version was that half the ingredients were not for eating, just for seasoning - when I finished the bowl, it was half-full of inedible stuff that was included for their essence, not their 'meat'.
But the rad naa was the star of this show.
I ordered the seafood version (shrimp, oyster meat, fish, octopus, squid, conch) and it took me back to the first time I ever had such a mix of delights, in a roadhouse on the Southern coast of Spain, almost sixty years ago. The surprise for me then was baby octopus in that Mediterranean version. The surprise this time? Lying under the surface of the soup, hidden in the broth? A 'whole' squid.
That was some incredible eating. The depth of flavor in every bite, every slurp made me smile (and reach for a napkin to wipe off the dribble that happens when you grin while you eat). Best squid ever, I savored every bite. I put this on my short list of repeatable dishes.
I finished off with a freshly juiced mixed fruit shake - more deliciousness.
Later, I met up with my new friend David at another expat bar, Marlboro House. It's a gathering place for two somewhat distinct but mutually tolerant and respectful groups: Older expats living in Chiang Mai and the endless stream of backpackers that swing through.
It had a familiar feel, in the best way. Kind of reminded me of when I hung in Negril forty-plus years ago. And those are fond memories. But there were more musicians last night than back in Ja, and we did what musicians do when they meet and hang out: Swap stories, look for common threads, connections, laughs.
The community of musicians: Everybody brings a little seasoning to the pot.
There's rock on the juke, mostly classic. Some reggae. Some blues. The locale is exotic, the vibe is chill. Everybody's a character - the place is full of them. Everybody brings a unique history, everybody brings a common experience. The one thing you know about all the people you meet, all the friends you'll make: Whatever their past, the most important thing is that they've ended up with you and them in the same bar as you. It's worked out.
You know this kind of place - it isn't regional. It's got a neighborhood bar feel, but different, because it's not your neighborhood. It's not a place where everybody knows your name, but it feels like a place you know, a place where they do know who you are.
It's meaning to me? Chiang Mai has places I can hang. It has places that click, places to live life.
I am full of gratitude for what has come my way here, shaking my head at the tangled web of coincidences that are involved in creating every bit of 'Now'. Tomorrow: More music!
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