#2415: 'Bye, Chiang Mai, On my way, LA

Post 2415

- 9 years and 25 days since I started this blog -

  

Journal
(written Jan 8-10, 2020)

Read this once (it won't change for the rest of the trip(s): I'll be linking this post to Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: About 9 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical situation and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, but lately it has become infrequent. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling, except for the occasional food shot when I've eaten something interesting. And that's where we find ourselves now.

I'm in LA.

I can't fully assess my Chiang Mai trip yet - it's too soon, but there are a lot of things that happened in the last few days that will stick with me.

I had some truly memorable jams. Ate some truly memorable food. And, of course, met some truly memorable people. There's nothing else like traveling to put you in the way of new experiences.

Even when you fall back into the same routines that you have at home, as I did this trip, the context you're operating in makes it all different, if only subtly.

There is a good deal of exoticism, there are always surprises, and there's the different feel of different places, no matter where you travel, and what you do.

The driving patterns are different. Which means, even if you're on foot, something like crossing the street is different.

The background sounds are different. The scenery, the horizon, all different. You do the same things, but the context is different.

That makes the same old things seem new, and I for one am grateful.

My drummer friend Oo takes me, Dave, new friend Matthew up to a restaurant in one of the hills that surround Chiang Mai.

The place is beautiful. The food is good. There is a wonderful band playing dinner music, with a good and pretty vocalist doing a great job on the standard American songbook.

Oo apparently knows the bandleader, and Dave takes to the upright bass and accompanies for a song. Then I get on upright and do a rendition of No Expectations. By the time I get to the second verse, I'm being accompanied on guitar. Good times!

It's a beautiful dusk overlooking the city as we start the first of many, many courses.

Matthew, Oo's wife, Oo, me, David. We're happy, and the food hasn't even come yet.

David on upright!

Night overlooking Chiang Mai.

Next day, I went for lunch at Tikky Café and had the Tikky Salad with chicken and bacon (first time ordering that kind - the other three or four times I've had it, I ordered the seafood version).

The thing about Tikky Cafè is that they do Thai food more beautifully than any other Thai restaurant I've ever eaten at, anywhere. Scroll down to the picture below to see what I mean. The Tikky Salad is, quite simply, the most visually beautiful salad I've ever eaten.

The other thing about Tikky Café is that they have, in their new location, been discovered by middle-class (and presumably those above them, socioeconomically). At my lunch, among about 80 diners, I was one of only three farang (European-flavor white foreigners). This is an incredible testimonial to the restaurant, and probably the only validation necessary for the new location. Thai consumers are very picky and value-conscious. That they're spending their money at a moderate-priced place like Tikky Café means they believe the food is worth the asking price. 

In every respect, I concur.

One extraordinary and beautiful day later, I visited the wots (Buddhist temples) closest to me. Every wot is different, but every one seems so attractive to me. Some wots are also like little shopping centers, they have stalls and shops in them, but I tend to avoid those. No particular reason, but there are so many in Chiang Mai, you have to be selective. 

The three wots I visited were near each other and near my AirBnB. I had passed them many times coming and going, but not really stopped in, even though they looked interesting and beautiful from the street.

They were both. I took too many photos to upload to this blog (more than 50). Here's a link to that album of photos I took that day: Chiang Mai Wots, Jan 22, 2020.

That night, I went to David's Kitchen, one of the best restaurants in Asia, and consistently ranked the best restaurant in Chiang Mai, and the best restaurant in Thailand.

And it was a wonderful dinner, from beginning to end. We were in the piano room, and a very good, very accomplished Thai woman played classical music the whole night. It was lovely.

The service, too, was excellent. Perfect, in fact. We never had to wait for anything - water, wine, whatever; yet there was no feeling of 'hovering' - the staff was never intrusive.

Here are the photos from that night: David's Kitchen, Chiang Mai

David, Harry, and Ollie have organized a going-away party/jam for me at Freedom Bar the night before I leave.

It is triumphant. Very well-attended, including some players that are among Chiang Mai's first-ranked.
We start with a set by the Dudes including a drummer, Jim, who's only just back in Chiang Mai a couple of days. The set goes about three-quarters of an hour, and all the songs come out very well and are well received. Then I get to do four songs, subbing Dave for Harry on guitar, and the results are just as good, which is very gratifying to me.

Then we open it up to other jammers. I alternate with Dave on bass, but get to play a bit with every player. Chiang Mai's star trumpet player, Roddie Lorrimer, who has toured with Eric Clapton, and played with seemingly everybody, is on hand. It is a thrill to play with him - he's as good as it gets.

Sadly, nothing was recorded. Too bad. But here's a couple of pics:

The scene at the Freedom Bar, where I was holding forth on bass at my going-away party/jam. You can see Harry on guitar in the window on the far left. Outside the window (seated) is Phil, who inserted vocals from the street. Inside was full, and just as much fun.

Going-away jam scene: The singer is Johnny, I've written about him before - he is such a talented singer. Until this trip, I didn't know that he also played guitar and bass. But the main feature is his singing - so expressive, so technically good and soulful. That's Ollie up front on guitar, and Jim on the kit. It was just awesome playing with these guys.

The night ends when the police as Freedom to shut it down, about fifteen minutes before midnight. Apparently, a neighbor has complained about the noise, and now they're threatening to check everybody's papers, because it is illegal for anybody to work on a tourist or retirement visa. That nobody's getting paid apparently doesn't matter.

No big deal. We are about two songs short of ending the night, anyway.

It takes me about the same length of time to say my goodbyes to everybody. It is very heart-warming. There are laughs and hugs and maybe some tears.


New friend Matthew, along with Harry, Aum, Mai, David and I then went up the street to Midnight Chicken (not its real name - that is something in Thai. No idea whether or not 'Midnight Chicken' is a translation or just a farang nickname). There, 100 Baht buys you a couple of dishes when almost nothing else is open (by law, all entertainment in Chiang Mai ends at midnight, so that's closing time for most bars and restaurants).

Aum, Matthew, Harry, Dave, Mai, and me at Midnight Chicken.

That is pretty much the end of Chiang Mai for me, this year. 

Next morning, I packed, called a GrabCar, dropped off my room key, and departed.

I was sad. Like I said, it seemed like the time raced by, was too short. I didn't really leave anything undone, and I discovered some new attractions, but also became aware of some real downsides.

More than anything else, my lack of language skills, and zero Thai language ability really inhibited me this time more than any of my other visits had. The majority of my friends are other farang, sure, but I do have some Thai friends, and their limited English and my non-existent Thai make communication difficult. I am bothered by this.

And the air quality. It was getting annoying towards the end of my trip in February of last year. Then, it seemed the annual crop-burning that creates terrible air pollution, which I had always been told started in March, started earlier, and just as I left, there were a lot of people, Thai and farang, who were wearing face masks to go about their day-to-day business.

This year, it started even earlier. I soon developed dry-eyes and a cough. Next time I go back, it will be in November, I think.

Those two things aside, I love Chiang Mai. I intend to keep coming back for visits as much as I can, forever.

When I get to the Chiang Mai airport, there is little fuss and not-too-long delays for Immigration and the normal security checks. My flight is delayed a half-hour. Not a problem for me, I have plenty of time to get to my connecting flight in Taipei.


I eat three of the ten pot edibles I've brought with me. I'll eat the rest when I get to Taipei. This creates a very relaxed, short flight for the more-uncomfortable smaller-jet first leg of my journey back to LA.

I'll end up sleeping for about six hours on the flight from Taipei to Los Angeles, a real blessing for me, as I have never been able to sleep on planes. I'm wasted, but I wake up feeling refreshed and surprisingly good, not hungover.

Something else to be thankful for, among the multitude of grace I feel every day.

Food Comment

Tikky salad with chicken and bacon. Tikky Café never disappoints, and they make the most beautiful food...

Scrambled tofu at Goodsouls Kitchen. This is an incredible-tasting breakfast that deliciously satisfies. First scrambled tofu I've ever really liked.

Finally, my last meal at Goodsouls Kitchen was this wonderful and tasty falafel salad. Dessert is that coffee-banana protein shake on the left. Pea protein is used. Although it sounded unpromising, I was assured by the waitress I would like it. She was right, of course.

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