Photos: Zebra

Camera: Olympus XA

Locations: Thailand, Laos 

Film used: forgot

 

Taking a Little Break

I am at my neighborhood cafe

drinking iced-matcha tea. 

(It is mainly cream and sugar) 

I thought I would write a little 

since I have finished my work VERY early today.

....though I think I will work more 

so I can go on a motorcycle adventure

this weekend. 

Evan and I are excited that we have 

our own coffee grinder now. 

We used to have

not-so-smoothe cup of coffee

every morning because the shop 

we go won't grind the beans coarse 

enough for a French Press. 

So here is our Suma coffee grinder. 

Evan thinks that it is a copy 

of Puma,

well, I don't know...

maybe? 

It's got a lion or something 

with a Suma logo.

If it was a copy of puma,

that's kind of very SE Asian-y. 

But why on coffee grinder?

It only costed us like 3 dollars 

in Laos. 

We were skeptical if it actually worked 

 or not, but to our happy surprise,

it works wonderfully. 

Mmmm....happy.

I think this is our Best-Buy item 

from Laos. 

Coffee tastes so much better

when you grind your own coffee.

Mmm....happy.

Oh, so I my new job is going 

pretty well,

but one bad news is that,

I crave so much SUGAR 

after working for 2 or 3 hours. 

This is dangerous...

I wonder how much calories 

brain uses. 

Do any of you know???

This is my attempt 

of snacking healthier thing.

Sesame snaps! 

I think it's slightly better 

than having cookies? 

Please somebody say yes. 

want a little nap.

Ciao.

Laos Trip

Laos was a little bit sentimental place.

I don't know if 'sentimental' is the right word.

It's not like the people there

seemed unhappy,

but I felt like there was

something unfulfilled.

It seemed like the country had

so much more potential to

be happier.

Of course I have only seen

VienTiane

but that is the impression I got.

A cow staring at Mekong river

that has no water anymore.



I wonder what they

are doing with the river.

I hope they are planning on bringing back

the water into the river.



A striking view of a sunset

at Mekong river.

It didn't make me happy

like the one I saw at Koh Chang, though.


************************************

I sure didn't feel like

I would be able to live in

VienTiane but

the place did have its own charm.

The people there were really nice,

and their smiles felt real.

I really liked how people there

(especially tuk-tuk drivers)

don't pester you.

The food was good,

especially I was happy

I got to have bunch of sandwiches.




The first thing

starving Evan & Yoshi had....

**********************************

Nappy collection.

「邪魔しないでよね。」

サンドウィッチ屋さんの
看板犬も、昼寝。

後ろのミニーとキティが
ちょっと危ない感じ。

おじちゃんだって、 眠くなるよね。

********************************************

A little bit moldy hotel

we stayed at.

************************************

ちょっと怖い…
this temple was full of
lion things.

***********************************

リラックスしすぎだよね（笑）。

足ふぇち。


******************************************

The trip was a lot of fun.

We took 12-hours freezer-cold

bus ride,

We got ripped off a little,

we had many sandwiches,

we walked until our legs felt sore,

I ordered White Russian and

what I got was Margarita (...why? and how?)

etc etc...


It was a lot of fun,

but I am glad to be back in Chiang Mai.



But *sigh*

on the bus back from

Udon Thani,

something went wrong

and now I am sick....again.

(I feel like I am saying

that I am sick all the time....)

I guess I am lucky though,

since I didn't get sick in Laos.


P.S.

Oh yes, the main reason we went

to Laos was to get the visa.

It ended up being a success.

Good bye JJ

Yesterday, the owner of Jid-joy

told Evan and I that she died.


Sad but glad.


Jid-joy doesn't have to deal with the pain

on her leg any more.


I kind of knew she was going to die soon.

I just didn't want to say.


She was being very very active.

I would go say hi to her like I always did,

and she would be walking around,

or she would be looking outside.


I just kind of felt this

last bit of her energy that she was

trying to use up before she goes.



I wonder what she was seeing outside?

It's a little bit sad that

I don't get to say hi to her

before Evan and I go on a bike ride.



Rest in Peace JJ.

I guess it is a little bit weird
writing about JJ's death and food on a same blog
but I guess I will....

These is this noodle dish called

Kao-soi

in Chiang Mai.



The base is yellow curry soup

and it has egg noodles,

and on top of that, it comes with crunchy noodles

It usually comes with pickles nappa-cabbage,

onions, and limes.

I usually add some sugar in it.

(I was skeptical at first

but I decided to give it a try,

and oh my,

it made it even tastier.)



Visiting new kao-soi places is

Something Evan and I have been doing lately.

(Oh no, we are doing it for you

so you can have the best one

when you come to Chiang Mai!)



Anyways, I just wanted to write about

the place we went yesterday

because the restaurant was cute.



There are many places

that use old sewing machines for a table

but it was my first time seeing

an actual sewing machine still being attached

to it.

I really love the idea,

and I might do the same thing

when I get an old sewing machine.

Old sewing machines' designs are

so beautiful.....

Well, tonight we leave for Laos.

Wish us some luck.