Hot & Spicy Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai...Part 3

The bridegroom's cousins took us back to the hotel however, we wanted to go get eye-more, couldn't find any in local pharmacy then I suggested to go to d BIG C...yes, u can find a lot of things there. It is Thailand's hypermarket.I always love to go there whenever I am anywhere in Thailand. I usually get some of my toilettery supply here..It is cheap like tooth paste, lingerie detergent & Loreal range of product. I even get Thai chilli paste here for fried rice, Tom Yam paste & Tom Yam instant noodle. ...crazy huh!


After Big C, we went back to hotel and we got out again (without the cousins as they went back to the village). This time we went to walking street bazaar which open only every saturday.Just don't want to miss it. It is very near the hotel however we need to take a tuk tuk there.Got the receptionist to call for us . Cost abt 80THB. (fyi ,the return trip was only 60THB).Heard that tis walking street bazaar is better than the daily night bazaar and this is where the locals would go & prices are rather reasonable.

And the moment we enter the bazaar is about abt food food food..and yeah we couldn't resist them. As we walk we bought food. And it was cheap. The price was abt 20 -25 THB. And lot's of clothing and souvenirs (you name it) ...better than our pasar malam. And not so many repetitive of each stalls.I love it. Weather that nite was a bit chilly but pleasant to walk around with fresh air. U just wanna grasp the air as much as possible.Just feel good abt it. And u don't sweat either. And the bazaar is never end and it was hive of activities. FYI, it was 2 days before Loy-Krathong.And on the street vendors were selling "Gong Ming Deng"- the white huge latern and also bouquets of flowers for offerings and to be released into the river.

We didn't buy any that cos we wanted to wait ...hoping prices would go down and fresher flowers....LOL! Clothings were cheaper than BKK. As u don't need to get wholesale price of 3 pcs like Platinum mall (prices were between THB100 -190) depending on what you want. Sellers here don't go down the prices that much).I tried and they will just ignore you. You can do it at the night market.A lot of ppl sell winter clothes like from China which I don't think that they will be that cold compare to China which is freezing cold during winter. Chiang Rai was quite mild for me that you only need a shawl with a long sleeve top. (may be it was too early in Nov that the winter has yet to set in).But I saw the locals were wearing winter jacket & I was only on T shirts & jeans. even Cameron Highlands or Genting are colder. Guess coming from my previous experience in Shanghai, this is so mild.

Half way thru the bazaar, we saw a huge field....OMG...FOOD AGAIN! this is big area for food only.Lot's of food that U probably never seen before.I bought 2 drumstick with soya sauce ("si yau gai')...Guess how much ?U will never get the price in our pasar malam..It was only 50THB for 2 pcs (FYI, it was the drumstick including the thigh).Ayam percik in our pasar malam would cost RM4.00 - RM4.50 for one pcs.And it was so tasty....so yummy!Only one stall that sells that. They have got wings as well as chicken feet if u love them. We were looking for a place to sit down n to enjoy the food however we could find any. The locals were like just picnicking on the grown with just a mat or newspaper and they truely enjoyed the food and chatting & drinking...nice weather.So syiok!

Well, since we couldn't find a place to sit, we continue to walk and we saw huge latern nearby (for loy -kratong) and ppl were doing line dancing there...so happening. And there was also a Top competition (Gasing) .Wah..it has been donkey years I see ppl spinning top with such a great skill.Then we walked further down I saw flower hair clip which I wanted to buy so long however, KL is expensive and it cost more than RM10 @ the Curve flea market. Guess how much I got it there....120bath for 3 pcs (different style) and the girl gave me one free clip (not the flower type). And the seller was a beautiful lady, she demostrated on her beautiful hair and passers by just couldn't help themselves but snapping pictures of her non stop. She look so beautiful to be at the bazaar. A lot of ppl buy from her too. The bazaar seems so long that we were so tired and called it a day. So we made a u turn, the bazaar was long way to go & never end. And we continue to shop on d way back...bought a few more T shirts...LOL!Very tired indeed....To be continued

Hot & Spicy Chiang Mai /Chiang Rai ..Part 2 (the wedding day)

Later in d evening,the wedding organiser came the decorate the house for the big day and was rather reasonable fees that they charge. Came with lot's of fresh flowers,backdrop,props,roman pillar, wedding ceremony stuff and they even decorate the bed with rose petals

Backdrop


Event organiser for the wedding who is a he/she

Oct 31,2009 - The wedding day. Woke up at 8am and really dunno what to wear. I guess i don't need to dress to kill in a vilage.After having b'fast at the hotel,we depart from d hotel to bride's house which took us 45min.

And WOW the house had some transformation for the wedding.Just loved the flower decor.
The wedding ceremony started abt after 1 hr we arrived. Before that I was snapping pictures all the way before the ceremony start. And so many relatives came also wanna take pictures. I heard that villagers came as early as 4am to the house to start cooking for the day.

Then the bride appeared before my eyes....so beautiful so THAI...LOL!what m I taking about. Couldn't recognise her. With her body hugging wedding dress, she look like hour glass...Actually the wedding dress material don't feel like the western wedding gown which is normally...feel like satin. This is thick, sort of non breathable material...very hot. Same goes for the man...very hot material. But it looks smart & neat like the navy man.And the bridegroom actually had some lite makeup on the face...KEKEKE

And finally all are called to the front of the house and all parents are seated beside the couple. Invited guests seated right infront of them. First, parents put on jewelleries for the bride.Then a man came to bless the couple ....was rather a long chanting, then they have this long white thread going round the couple's hand with cash or "ang pow" to bless the couple. And it could go up to 100packets on their hands...very loaded....LOL!

After the ceremony,the bride got to wash the husband's hand before entering the house and then to the room...and here's come the funniest part, relatives & friends would join the couple in the room as well. And what they do is to put the couple on bed and ask the couple hug each other, kiss & also lie down on the bed with body hugging each other....isn't it interesting. Well for our chinese custom, when the couple enter the bedroom, all of us must get out (it is the "tong fong), we must leave them alone. So different for Thai. And I noticed that Thai had very little pantang larang...and I don't notice any! Or may be I don't understand any..LOL!

At noon we were served lunch...the bride's mom came to me and said "khao"..I obviously have no idea. They only speak Thai and we speak "head" , hands & shoulder language back to them....whatever sign we could produce in order to communicate...LOL! Then later she showed her hands to the mouth then only I understand she asked whether we wanna eat. And I just shook my head....And voila...we got our delicious food.. It was very local home cook food unlike 5 star course by course. It tasted very very good and you don't need shark's fin or prawn or suckling pig...their food were simple and simply delicious. Northern Thai ppl ususally eat steam glutinuous rice however being Malaysian, they cooked for us steam rice. And the rice itself tasted so good. It is actually homegrown rice. The surroundings of the village are paddy fields.The dishes consist of laap (pork salad-similar to Laotion salad), kerabu tang hoon with black fungus, vege,etc.

And the wedding reception actually started in the morning and till late eveving and the ladies in the kitchen will continue to cook and bring out the food as long as you sit there whole day and alcoholic drinks all time. The ladies be it old or you and the man as well will drink non stop together.They have Karaoke till 5pm and the old ladies were drunk & dancing...just funny to see them drunk and dancing the whole day. Very entertaining indeed.







Well at 3pm, we left the place together with the bride's relative's who drop us at Chang Mai city and the party continue till late evening.

To be continued...

Hot & Spicy Chiang Mai /Chiang Rai..Part 1

Haizzz....2 days before the flight, received an sms that AA flt to Chiang Mai will be earlier from 10.30am to 7.30am...Can u imagine, I have to leave d house by 5am d latest. Wake up by 4am

Goshhh.. always pack my back last minute.So I packed till 2am...i have got only 2 hrs to sleep comfortably before boarding AA flt.

Well, this is my second trip to Chiang Mai.Been to most places by motorbike (within Chiang Mai)and infact I have travelled to outskirt like Mae Sa,Mae Hong Song & Pai district by 4 WD.It was indeed interesting and adventurous. One should try this. It's very beautiful & worth the money .Paid around 4500THB 2 years ago for this trip.Inclusive of 3 nites accomodation,2 meals, 4WD with driver (you can drive yourself too) plus all the entrance fees to where ever we go.

The main reason, I was in Chiang Mai was to travel to Chiang Rai to attend a wedding. I always love to see the local culture. and ...yeah dreams come true.

I reached Chiang Mai around 9.30an (local time). There was a delay of 20 min as announced by the captain.And he also informed us that there was a military exercise and the plane has to stay out from the Chiang Mai Air space.My heart was pumping when I heard this cos I thought there was a riot going on in Chiang Mai and the plane has to stay out

Finally when the captian announced "Cabin Crew, please be seated for landing"...it was such a relieved. We took a taxi (approx 2300 THB).We sat comfortably in something like Toyota Innova.Made a stop in Chiang Mai City to grab some food.Driver took us to eat thier famous congee...real yummy indeed. We had some Thai version Dim Sum...no chili or sweet sauce but gave us black vinegar...taste funny but OK.

Chicken Congee ala Thai (very smooth like cantonese porridge)

It says Roasted Pork Rice..I guess this is Thai style

Thai Dim Sum

It took us abt 2 1/2 hr to reach Chiang Rai. On the way, we saw many small stalls selling grilled corn and grab 2 sticks...YES stick they have got this bamboo thrust into the corn. Very easy to eat instead of holding the corn itself that made it hard to eat like our version.Hands got dirty and messy.Love it very much.They don't grilled it at the stall and they kept the corn hot in a styrofoam box.FYI, the corn tasted DAMN good...very sweet and not dry like ours.It is a MUST TRY. The scenery to Chiang Rai was awesome...reminds me of going to Kedah via the coastal road.

Finally we reached our hotel - Palm Garden http://www.thepalmgarden.com/ . Paid abt 767THB per nite with bbf. Very clean (room & bathroom -m very particular), friendly staff including the GM who is an American married to local Thai wife.They will greet us whenever they see you of course with Amazing Thai hospitality. They are a bit out fr the main city however I really don't mind since m staying in the city already and I just don't want to land myself in the city again. Tuk tuk is easily available.Just get the receptionist to call for you.The hotel is over looking the paddy field .What a view! Basic facilities.Only 1 restaurant that serves b'fast every morning. FYI, No elevator.Choose to stay on the 1st floor.

At around 3 pm the bride & bridegroom (bro in law) came to the hotel...bought us some local food (kuih)...macam macam ada.Like some only. Then took us to Wat Rong Khun which is just 10 - 15 min to from our hotel. It was WOW!Just take a look at the pix. It is all white.Still under construction.They are building something beside which is GOLD in color. A must go place.

Wat Rong Khun

Then later we head to outskirt which took us 45 min to reach. It was the bride's house. Errr...can't recall the name.Is a simple village. And directly outside the house is a market. So easy if you wanna grab anything.And there's mini mart beside the house.Behind the house is a river. The bride's father breed cat fish there. There were lot's of ppl at the house helping out to get ready for the big day. All the villagers came voluntarily to help out. They were bz cutting veges, pork, beef etc.When we reached there,we had a lot of food to eat but what it is I had no idea. Then they served hubby some spirit (HOMEMADE)....GOD KNOWS WHAT IS THE ALCOHOL CONTENT...I guess is worst than tuak...it is made of glutinous rice.

Some kuih muih ala Thai

Neighbours & Relatives came to help on the pre-wedding day

The bride's mom make us BBQ pork with special chili sauce.Then later in the evening the aunty made us cat fish soup and had it with glutinous rice (sticky rice) They hardly eat steam rice.The fish was fresh and the soup tasted like Tom Yam but it wasn't spicy...specially tailored made for us. Mind you Chiang Rai people eat EXTREMELy spicy food. M a fan of spicy food however I couldn't take it. It felt like the volcano is going to errupt....yeah! Because of the spiciness, I had gastric pain for 2 days and lucky me to have brought along Zantac and restrain myself from eating chili for the last 4 days I was there. Drink milk every now & then

Grilling Pork

Cat Fish Soup.

Their Som Tam too tasted different...very salty & spicy, they used fish sauce and prawn sauce/paste (very strong smell of belacan & Kelantan's budu. I do eat belacan however I have stay away from this one). I prefer the one I had in BKK or Hatyai. Sweet, Sour & Spicy.

Zzzzz...To be continued.