Arrival in Hong Kong

After a 30 hour journey, we have arrived in Hong Kong. We began our trek in Chiang Mai and took the overnight sleeper train (13 hours) to Bangkok. We then spent the entire day in the airport and took an evening flight to Hong Kong. We'll be staying in our friend Nick's apartment for the next month, as he will be back in the USA for the holidays. As soon as we arrived last night, we headed out on the town with Nick and his friends. We're suffering from a serious case of sticker shock after our dirt-cheap three months in Thailand and Laos. Drinks in bars are as expensive as in New York or San Francisco (if not more so). Though we probably won't be frequenting the bars, we're glad we got to see some Hong Kong nightlife. Later (or rather, around 2:30 this morning), we went to Nick's friend's house, which is a gorgeous four-story building overlooking the harbor. His dad works for Wachovia and they have clearly taken good care of him. We'll be spending the next couple of days sleeping, probably trekking no further than to the grocery store. Once we're rested and ready to explore, we'll be sure to post our photos. We're looking forward to upcoming Hong Kong adventures, and to seeing Richard and Debbie in less than a month!

Let's all have a hot air balloon chase!

Hi everyone!

I'm agent double-oh charlie, and I've got a license to watch movies and eat candy! This is my first movie review but I'll try to write good like an ebert roper.

We saw the new james bond movie. I forgot to write down the title but i think it was kwantamovsolis, which is a city in russia or south australia or maybe jupiter. Before the movie everyone stood up to watch a short film about the king of thailand. He looks like a really nice guy with his glasses and big ears. Then we watched james bond!

Charles stands to respect the king.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!! Milk goes bad if you forget to put it in the fridge and then it can smell like blueberries or even worse. Also i am going to write about a movie you maybe haven't seen before so don't read it if you don't want to.

I closed my eyes whenever there were guns or explosions or yelling or kissing, so i maybe missed a few things. OK here goes:

First there was a car chase and then a rooftop chase and a boat chase. Then they all went to the opera and the singing was so bad that they started shooting each other. Next james visited an italian man and drank a lot of juice from a funny shaped glass and then he can't find the hotel stationary so he goes to a fancy party instead. James has to leave the party early so he's not late for the airplane chase, and then there was a BIG LIZARD in the desert. I am scared of deserts because they are really hot and dry and people can go crazy and try to eat a nice ice-cream kid instead of giving him laffy taffy and high-fives. Anyhow, james bond drops his necklace and they run out of things to chase each other with so the movie ends.

Rating: 2 stars, one thumb, and half a maraschino cherry.

Chiang Mai: Wats, Wats, Wats

In its "Sights and Activities" section, our guidebook lists no fewer than 30 "must see" wats in Chiang Mai. So far, we've visited two.

Wat happened to this one?

And how did the elephants get stuck in that wall? Was it a conservative plot to end the elephant suffrage campaign?

One: cut a hole in the box. Two, stick a monk in that box... The Thais love these wax monks. It's pretty creepy to walk down the street and think someone is watching you, only to realize it's a wax monk in a box. Wouldn't you like one for your home?

One wat had this park with inspirational sayings posted on all the trees. They were the most cliched sayings too, like "Time and tide wait for no man." Next we'll be seeing those "persistence" and "teamwork" office posters taped to all the Buddhas.

Ian Ate Rodents

The results are in, 8 (66%) of you decided that I ate rodents, though not necessarily rats, while 33% of you said I definitely ate rats. In a surprising show of trust, no voters called me a rotten liar.

As promised, I now wholly believe that I ate rodent flesh, and am 33% suspicious that I ate rat. Thanks all for simplifying my mental life!

In other news, Charlie asked me to let you know that he has an exciting movie review coming out on the 9th. Don't miss it!

Cooking Class

I've really been wanting to take a cooking class, and Chiang Mai is the place to do it. We signed up for a day at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School. We made six dishes - they're all pictured below except for the Tom Yum Kung, which I forgot to take a picture of. It was one of the best things we made too. The course was very professional and well-run. We were a little disappointed that they did most of the prep work in advance, so basically all we had to do was chop ingredients and cook them. For example, we didn't make our own curry pastes or shrimp stock. But, it sure does make Thai cooking easy when you don't have to shop and someone else does your prep for you. The final results were really good. Our food was delicious and we had a great time.

And now, introducing the chefs:

And the dishes (minus Tom Yum):

Fried fish cakes, a la Ian.

Pad Thai and Green Chicken Curry, a la Ian. You can see a corner of Pad Thai a la Tiara, but Ian's was much prettier.

My green curry was beautiful, though.

Minced chicken salad and jellied water chestnuts in syrup and cream, a la Tiara. Yes, that dessert tasted as weird as it sounds.

And, finally, a shot of me not paying attention in class. We got step-by-step instruction in creating each dish before we were set loose to try it on our own. There was an angled mirror over the instructor's station so we could see exactly what was happening in the pots and on the cutting board:

Mae Sai

Last week we went to Mae Sai, Thailand's northernmost city. We've been in touch with someone who lives there, and he gave us the good advice to climb the "hill of the five scorpions." There were, in fact, five sculptures of scorpions at the top of the hill, including this large one that overlooks the city:

The hill also offered spectacular views of Myanmar:

There's Myanmar, nestled into those lush hills. It looks like Lucas Valley in the spring.

The blue wat is right at the border crossing.

This bridge is the official border crossing. It costs about $15 US to cross, be it for one hour or two weeks. We didn't cross, as you can't go very far as a US citizen.

Pak Ou Caves

Our second, and less exciting, day trip from Luang Prabang was to the Pak Ou Caves. These caves are filled with 4,000 buddhas in varying states of disrepair. The caves would have been more enjoyable had they not been crammed with tourists. Then again, as we are tourists too, we probably shouldn't complain. We did spend an enjoyable couple of hours on a boat in the Mekong, and we stopped at the very touristy "whisky village." We were told we'd get to see how the whisky was made, but instead we saw how the bracelets and tapestries were sold by little children.

It's dark inside caves!

Standing in the cave and looking across the Mekong.

I think all the snakes and scorpions in the whisky bottles are supposed to make men extra strong and virile. I do not want to drink this whisky.

A beautiful rooster at the whisky village - hopefully it won't be winding up in one of those bottles.

A truly spectacular sign educating the Lao people about hygiene. Can I get one of these for my classroom?

Tat Kuang Si Waterfall

One of our day trips from Luang Prabang was to the stunning Tat Kuang Si waterfall. We ate fried rice at the base of the waterfall, and then hiked up a perilous trail and stood in the rushing water at the very top (don't worry, mom and dad - there was a railing...sort of). On the way back down we stopped in one of the myriad pools for a swim. The water was crisp and very cold, but very refreshing. This was the best day trip we took from Luang Prabang, and was another of those wonderful "gee, life sure is rough" moments.

I took this picture! You can call me Tiara "Ansel Adams" Grayson from now on.

Looking down from the top.

Ian, boldly going where I would not go.

We jumped from this tree into the water below - so fun!

Mind Your Edibles Part 1: Rat Soup?

In the first part of our two part series, I present to you a mystery.

Exhibit A: The Soup

The above picture was taken after I finished a meal of soup on a road-side stop of a long bus ride. The dish was advertised as noodle soup, the animal content was not specified. The meat in question can be seen at the top of the bowl. It tasted gamy, sort of but not exactly like rabbit.

I had reservations about the soup before taking my first bite, after someone walked through carrying a piece of Exhibit C (below). Why did I continue eating the soup? Let the record show that it was very late and I was very hungry, and let's leave it at that.

Exhibit B: The Guinea Pig Cage

This picture did not come out very well, but I think you get the idea. These fine furry critters were piled up in a crate about five feet away from where soup was being served. They were still alive, as far as I could tell.

Exhibit C: BBQ Rat

Perhaps the most damning evidence was the presence and service of BBQ rats. As mentioned above, I did see one of these come through the dining room before I ate my soup, though I had already placed my order.

Thus concludes the evidence for the question: Did Ian eat rat soup?
Amateur sleuths are invited to submit their opinion in the poll at the top right corner of the page.
Ian will abide by the prevailing opinion in concluding whether or not he ate rat soup.

Luang Prabang

We spent a wonderful week in Luang Prabang. Luang Prabang is the historic and cultural capital of Laos. This was a great place to just relax for a week and enjoy the night markets and riverside views. We did take a couple of day trips, which I'll post about later. The city is a really interesting mix of Southeast Asian and Western influences, resulting in some good deals on delicious food. We could have easily spent a month here. Here are some highlights:

Phu Si, a woodsy hill in the middle of the city topped with a wat and many Buddhas.

Ian with his new monk friends. Look, they match!

View of Luang Prabang and the Mekong river from Phu Si.

Riverside views

Night market food. One stall let you fill your bowl for 5,000 kip (approx. 65 cents)

Cooking our own lunch - grilled meat and egg flower soup. Sooo delicious.

The answer to "what the hell was that incessant banging at 4:15am?" = monks playing the gong.

Bike traffic. If we survive this trip without getting hit by a motorbike we will be extremely lucky.