OK, Ok I'm a bit smitten with Rosie. It is 8pm and I am waiting for her to pick me up. I have had two stiff GnT's and feelin' pretty good. Anyway, it is hard to describe. Thai girls are just old fashioned. They are very feminine and old school in the way they treat men. At dinner last night she would pour my beer into a glass as it started to get low. She Wai's me sometimes, it is just so endearing. It is the little things and the respectfulness towards a male that just melts your heart. One doesn't realize how different western woman are until you have been around an Asian woman. I know I am going to be accused of sexism but I don't care. It just feels more natural to me, a better balance between the sexes. One of the best things about traveling to asia is the perspective you get about your own life and culture. It is very different here. I feel more attuned to Buddhism and Asian values of community than the individualism of the west. Did I mention I have been drinking;)
I walked around town today to get a better feel for the place and some needed exercise. CM has some similarities to Mexico. The overall prosperity level seems similar, maybe higher in TH because there are more high income farang tourists and expats. Thais definitely are more concerned with cleanliness and order.
Rosie just drove up...so got to go.

Chiang Mai - Day1

Rosie stopped by the guest house to pick me up for dinner on her scooter.  It was a pleasant surprise to see that she was even more attractive than her picture online.  She speaks good english and we hit it off from the start.  Drivers in Thailand are aggressive and dangerous.  Due to the English influence at the time of the introduction of autos, they drive on left ala UK.  We take a brief tour of the moat surrounding the 700 year old city center.  There are brick walls on some parts, the remainder of the fortress walls.  Thailand and Burma had a long history of conflict during the period of time when the kingdom was based further north in the CM area and south was still relatively unpopulated by comparison. 

   There is a mountain on the west side of town called Doi Suthep and we ride up its base.  Chaing Mai University is located here and we pass an area where students are out and about in the evening.  Having a hefty farang on back the little 110 scooter barely gets us up the hill to our destination, a lovely outdoor garden restaurant.  Its a big place under some tall trees that reminds me of visiting a well stocked tropical nursery.  Flowers are everywhere and the whole place is illuminated with string lights.  The seating is beer-bar style with big tables and benches.  There is a large pond on the lower side and looking over it you can see the lights of the city.  Mui romantico.  We walk along the path around the pond to get a better view of the city.  I have noticed that it is not as illuminated as one would see in the west.  I have heard that the Thai are very frugal with their use of electricity due to its high cost and their low income level.  It is new moon tonight and a dark sky and we are overlooking a city of 1.8M people and I can see the stars quite well.  There are young Thai couples along the path getting to know each other.  Thai are usually quite shy about displaying affection in public.  M/F handholding is even rare.  The younger generation being influenced by western media are pushing the envelope somewhat by their outward display of affection.....holding hands!!  Of course the late night prostituition districts are a completely different story, more on that later.  

  We sit and since both of us have eaten earlier we order a simple fruit plate and some cashews.  Cashews are a big crop here.  Rosie is very health conscious and doesn't drink alcohol or eat beef/pork.  I order a beer.  We discuss each other's lives and countries.  She has an 11yo boy nicknamed Tiger with a Thai man that she never married.  They have joint custody and he has married someone else and they are all friends.  She was raised north of Bangkok and has two younger brothers, one of which is an electrical engineer.   She attended CM University and studied foreign languages, business and tech.  She worked for most of her career as a translator, business assistant at a Japanese firm.  She speaks Japanese as well as English.  She fell in love with Norther TH when she went to University due to the cooler climate and closeness to nature.  She spent 6 months in Japan as the company she worked for moved their manufacturing from Japan to Thailand.  I asked her what she noticed most about Japan and she responded by saying that everyone is hard working.  I tell her about the USA and Colorado.  she has been to NYC three times and has a girlfriend who married an American and they live in Denver, she hears that it is really cold there!  

  I pay the tab and we head out to the Sunday night market in the old city.  The guest house is actually close by so I can walk to it in the future.  Riding through town is seems like it is very slow for the high season.  Rosie confirms this.  The closing of the airport, political turmoil and the collapsing work economy has really affected tourism here.  Reading the Bangkok Post you get the impression tourism is only off by 10 or so percent, but in CM it feels like 50% plus.  The night market is mostly knock-off watches, shirts, and misc crap, not my cup of tea.  Rosie is being very nice and a good hostess/tour guide but I can't hide my lack of interest.   We call it an early night and plan on meeting Monday morning to get a phone before she heads in for work.

  

My favorite Wallyism

clipped from bigpicture.typepad.com "My life's goal is to transport large quantities of liquid from the coffee-maker to the urinal."

stars

clipped from www.google.com Looking up at the stars, I know quite well That, for all they care, I can go to hell But on earth indifference is the least We have to dread from man to beast. How should we like it were stars to burn With a passion for us we could not return? If equal affection cannot be, Let the more loving one be me. Admirer as I think I am Of stars that do not give a damn I cannot, now I see them, say I missed one terribly all day Were all stars to disappear or die, I should learn to look at an empty sky And feel its total dark sublime, Though this might take me a little time. - W.H. Auden