me and shaun got a cappuccino and some really tasty carrot cake at this awesome little cafe called “rich”. the cappuccino and slice of cake were 40 baht/under $1.50USD apiece.
different levels and sitting areas and fantastic decorations:
great view of the street:
lots of purty flowers:
yummy food:
me and shaun get our groceries from the tops grocery store in one of the huge malls in chiang mai, the kad suan kaew central mall. it’s just outside of the north-western corner of the old city wall and has a bajillion stores in it. the stores range from some pretty cool, trendy boutiques to venues where you can buy rip-off levis for like $5USD. we passed by a place selling ultra cheap dvds and saw two seasons of one tree hill for $2USD apiece! one tree hill is shot in wilmington, nc, which is where we just moved from.
we took a tuk-tuk there (i’m looking a little cockeyed here, and i think shaun’s trying to play it cool):
the mall is huge!
right inside the entrance is a shrine to (i think) the three kings – king mengrai, the founder of chiang mai, king ramkamhaeng of sukothai, and king ngam muang of payao. according to legend, they worked together to lay out the city of chiang mai:
we then ate at the pizza company, which is pretty much pizza hut in the states, except they have some exotic toppings that i’m too chicken to try. this particular pizza company has a bitchin’ view of the street in front of the mall:
kad suan kaew has a really cool outdoor area:
there’s this crazy dragon fountain… usually it’s shooting water out of it’s mouth but today it was off. there’s some big koi fish in the water, too:
the phra phom (thai representation of the hindu god brahma) shrine is freaking huge! big enough for a children’s playhouse:
the spirit house itself isn’t as huge, but still fancy as far as spirit houses go (i’m not so sure that these are specifically for the landlords, i think that spirit houses are just used to house spirits that might cause problems if they’re not appeased):
damn good burritos! and they’re huge! me and shaun got a burrito apiece with complimentary chips and salsa for under $8USD. el diablo’s is located near the tha pae gate, on the other side of the street. highly recommended! great food, decent price, and good music.
got home, awesome night view from the balcony! you can see wat doi suthep on the mountain, on the right:
we just got back from eating at this place called tanya’s. it’s on ratwithi road, close to the yupparaj wittayalai school that’s on the corner of phra pokklao and ratwithi roads. it’s a decent meal for thai prices… pretty much everything on the menu was under 25 baht (that’s less than a dollar! the menu was a pretty wide selection of fried rice, noodle, and cooked animal dishes. i got pork fried rice, shaun got pork fried rice with chili sauce. we both got mineral waters, and shared a fried banana sunday. the portions weren’t huge, but they definitely weren’t meager either. the whole meal for both of us cost 77 baht, which is under $2.50USD. good deal!
lots of people ride scooters around the city. when we were walking to tanya’s we passed by the place where the school kids park their scooters. so many:
mmmm water:
we’re guessing that the poster boards with slips of paper tacked to them all around the restaurant are betting pools of some kind… lots of football/soccer posters on the walls:
we ate at this place called “the wall” today. it’s full of nice, heavy wooden tables, chairs, and benches. there’s a pool table where you can play free pool. it’s decently priced, with decent food – me and shaun ate for 250 baht (under $8USD), with a 25 baht tip (tipping isn’t really practiced in thailand, but in the more touristy places it’s considered ok). i got a sandwich and fries with water and thai iced tea, shaun got a curry dish with rice with some iced coffee. they were playing beatles and the who on the sound system, at a modest level.
it’s located really close to where we’re staying, on the same street as the u.n. irish pub (a really fantastic place with great, and pricier, food): ratwithi road, between ratchaphakinai road and moon muang road (the canal).
here’s shaun enjoying the view:
here’s me enjoying some damn good thai iced tea:
