My Garden is the Best Garden

This weekend was an introvert weekend.  

And I filled my weekend with the buying of plants.

Now I hear birds chirping around.  

Next weekend, I may go to the Home Pro store to acquire some nighttime mood lights.

This is the view from my seat at the table.  I have a whole selection of plants that bring the joy to my garden.

A second view.  I have plants on the ground, flowers, vines, things hanging, and a plethora of flora and fauna to enjoy.

This is the view as I walk in from a hard day of work.  There are some fragrant flowers that greet me as I walk into the gate.

This is the coolest thing I got today. It has these little pods that (I would guess) trap water in the forest.  It is strictly non-sun.

This tree is the tree that Buddha was born under.  So, I got too.  I need all the Buddha I can get.  He says it gets to be very very large.

I have this orchid and another orchid.  I hope they don't die. 

This is my very fragrant Jasmine flower.  It is called mali, just like in Cambodia.

Creativity for the Week

I found this on the side of the road as garbage at a house near to my own.  I rescued it because, despite being unfinished, I like the vibe and the colors and even the white space.  Now it lives in my garden.

The coffee man here has these coffee cup holders in plastic.  This is everywhere in Asia.  However, the creativity that I noticed has to do with the coffee man's stand.  There is a blue PVC style pipe with all of these on it, so all he has to do is put the cup on top of the pipe and slide it on.  I find that remarkably practical.

At the noodle stand in the market, there isn't a ton of space.  The ladies I go to have their corner for all their food, a couple of tables, and this, the caddy for all the used cups and garbage.  It's very organized.  There's a strainer over the garbage pail... so they can throw in the excess liquid from the bowls.  It catches all of the extra food pieces, possibly for compost, and lets free the liquid so it can be dumped out elsewhere.  I find that quite clever.

My microwave has Thai foods and writing on it.  That may be interesting to someone.

I got tired of my water bottle flying all over the place, and my coffee in the morning.  So, I created a coffee holder on my bicycle that can hold my liquids.  It's made from some wire and an extra planter thing I found.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The purplest bicycle the world has ever seen.

The past couple of days, it has really begun to sink in that I live in Thailand.  I had a weekend that was pretty glorious, though not without it's problems, not without the life involved.  I already had my adventure on Friday, involving my bicycle, my shopping journey.  And the weekend was no different.

She's started to explore outside the house.  It's a
very safe neighborhood at the end of a street.  Cats abound.

Saturday morning, early, I had to go to the hospital for a check up.  Apparently, it is uncommon to go to a small doctor's office for anything; all things involving medicine are immediately directed to these giant structures filled with nurses.  The school had us go for the check ups since they are required for our work permits and visas.  It was a pretty amusing little venture.  I got there early, a little past 7, because I wanted to beat the crowds and the traffic.  I got height and weight, blood pressure.  The nurse laughed because she had to stretch the height stick out a bit farther than usual.  Blood work, chest x-ray (complete with fancy hospital gown), and peeing in a cup.  I had to wait around a bit after the x-ray, so they gave me a coupon for the cafeteria downstairs.  I ended up eating at Au Bon Pain downstairs instead, because there weren't any noodles and I was hangry (yes, hangry, like hungry and angry) after fasting for 6-8 hours.  Once I got back upstairs, the doctor poked and prodded and checked my ears while wearing a face mask, then told me I was anemic and otherwise in great health.  

Not QUITE as cool as my old sarong ones, but these
will do.

By the time I got home, and skyped Aaron, I was disinclined to leave the house again.  I felt very tired, a bit sick, and just not up to an adventure.  That's quite a bit of life overseas for me.  Sometimes, I just don't want to leave my sanctuary and fight to communicate.  Some days, it's no trouble.  Some days, I just can't.  I watched TV on my computer until I fell asleep.  That suited me just fine.  That's the bad.

This whole bag cost me $3.78.

This morning was the good.  I slept in, even though it gave me a bit of a headache.  Once I got up and around, I found my way to the weekend market and acquired a bowl of soup and coffee.  It wasn't just any soup.  This was the soup that I miss the most from my time in Cambodia.  It's my desktop picture.  It was guey tio in Cambodia, here it's guey deeo.  It is rice noodle soup in a galircky broth, with fried garlic bits and spring onions on top.  Although, I accidentally chose the glass noodles instead of the rice noodles, which  only noticed when I began eating them.  They turn clear in the hot water, and my normal rice noodles still retain their opaque white color.  They still tasted phenomenal, especially paired with the coffee from the lovely seller who spoke English and looked far more wealthy than I expected.  

I also bought a sarong, some comfortable shorts, and some veggies for next to nothing.  And then, the plants.  I kept seeing a plant seller on the way to work.  For our commute, we have to go the wrong way for about a mile before we can u turn onto the correct road.  I'm sure I'll write more on traffic at a later date.  I parked my bicycle near the moto stand on my side of the big road, then took the stairs across the top to get there.  The lady was a very stereotypical seller, at least by Cambodia standards.  She had a hat with an over-sized visor and a fanny pack, and she luckily spoke just enough English to make things known.  She told me that if I spent 2000 baht, about 60 bucks, on plants, she would make a free delivery with the car.  60 bucks later, I walked out of there with a beautiful selection of plants that made my driveway look so much more appealing.  I'll get more at the next pay cycle, I think, and a hammock.  

That's the good.

Here's the ugly: Thailand is hard on the system.  Today I was suffering from some major tummy issues.  I barely ate, felt nauseous at both ends, and was feeling the heat in a very extreme way.  I took care of myself.  I ate rice for lunch with a bit of green curry.  I drank some iced tea to keep myself cool.  I bought some Royal D-licious (shout out to all the PCVs out there), and tried to rest and relax.  But my body feels weak and ill.  I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me.  That, or, my body is trying to adjust to the 94 degrees that it was most of the day.  Maybe both.  Plus, it is that time of the month again.  So, the ugly adds up.  

There's a little bit of everything every day.

A Market Kind of Day

This little guy should always be treated with respect.  

After I signed my lease with Khun Gai, he was kind enough to drop me off at the Weekend Market, which was touted to be quite the happening spot for the local villages.  I wanted to get an idea of what local produce and items would be available right down the street instead of trying to rely on the big grocery stores and shopping malls that have become so ubiquitous in BKK.  I'd enjoy browsing through the local market on the weekend and planning my meals based on what I've found.  It has the farmer's market sort of feel to it, which is something I've always admired.  I want to cook, and be able to be creative in the kitchen with more than just flour.

So, to the market I went.  Much of it was clothing, some odd housewares, several prepared food stalls, the usual fare for a small local market.  It was chaotic, and people were moving in every which way.  It immediately reminded me of the markets in Cambodia.  Either way, I was browsing slowly, looking at different stalls, finding my bearings.  I noticed a small shop that seemed to have an odd mash of used dishware.  I saw a Starbucks cup shop.  But what caught my eye was a small shop of Buddhist imagery and icons.

I'm not sure why I felt so compelled to stop; Buddhism was not a huge part of my journey through Cambodia.  I participated in the holidays but felt most in tune with the solitude of the temple as opposed to the statues within in it.  However, I stopped and looked at the fares this man had and was incredibly glad I paused to say hello.

I said the traditional greeting, "Sawadee Ka," with the broad smile I imagine it needs said with.  I was also surprised with the response; the seller spoke quite wonderful English.  I didn't expect that in a small stall that would likely be patronized by Thai people.  I told him I was looking for a token for my friend, which was exactly what had popped into my mind when I saw the stall.

My friend, Lee, is a good friend from Pittsburgh and actually lives with Aaron.  Lee is, in fact, the person I thank when I think about meeting Aaron.  He introduced us and suffered through a few months of both of us asking (him) for dating advice.  I adore Lee; he is a great human.  He also has some of the worst luck I have ever seen in another person.  I attribute some small percentage of this luck to male decision making, but it is also this luck thing.  So, I told him before I left that I would try to find him a charm that could bring some sort of fortune to his life and his car.

So, I acquired for him a small statue of a monk that went on a journey and had some bad luck that he turned around.  The seller was able to give me a brief background, write for me a prayer, and say it a few times so I could write the English phonetics that accompanied it.  And all of that was for such a low priced statue.  I ended up buying a second icon for my own home after he gave me a few suggestions about where to keep the stone and how to treat it.  He was patient with me, answering questions and teaching me about his culture and these things that were important to him.

It will be Halloween every day.

I believe I made the right choice by deciding to live in this village.

Another thing I found as I walked near the market was a pet store that sold cheap pet clothing.  Which Rizza will absolutely hate very, very quickly.  I'll be sure to update you on this.

I went into the main town center after I left Sammakorn, the name of this village.  I walked around some of the main city centers and found myself even more happy that I chose to live where I did.  The hussle was a hassle and I'm glad I'm far away from it... near a calm lake and a quiet street and a pleasant market.

Oh My God, Shoes.

Something magical happened today.

The school offered a trip to the Ikea and Mega-Bangna complex for the new teachers, as a way for them to get the things that they need as they begin to set up their house.  I decided to go along, mostly out of curiosity and a desire to survey the things available at Ikea.  I'd only ever been to the Ikea in Pittsburgh, which I'm certain is a fraction of the size of this one.  It could be one of the biggest malls I've ever been in... second to the mall complexes at Siam Center in the middle of town.

The store I didn't expect to see.

So, I took the taxi to the school, got the bus, and found my way into the mall with a few of the other teachers.  We stopped for a bit of chow in the international food house.  I had some Chicken Korma, from a nice little stall with some very nice Indian men.  And then, I went off in search of the wonders of the mall.  I walked around, briefly glancing at the store names and just looking around.  I got distracted by lego sets for a moment, glanced at the price of a Jansport backpack, browsed through the pharmacy for a certain hair product, and then.... there it was...

A Payless Shoe Source.

Boat Sized Shoes Sold Here.

You may need some background to fully understand the weight of this blog.  I lived in Cambodia for four solid years, and the only shoes I bought were flimsy flip flop pieces of plastic that cost mere pennies.  It was useful, considering I lived in flip flops almost, no all the time.  And the flats that I acquired, or other fancier sandals, were all from home, usually from this store.  I have what my mother calls "canoe feet."  They are size 11. Massive.  Which, actually, is why I couldn't ever find shoes in Cambodia.

Petite Asian women don't typically have feet the size of watercraft.  

This, it turns out, is going to be an advantage for me here though.  I was looking about in this store, trying on some shoes, for the better part of twenty minutes.  The mall was packed, the store had plenty of traffic.  But this aisle?  This aisle.... was empty.  Well, there was one other girl there, but given her outfit and the things she was doing, I'm guessing she worked there.  She shot me a sideways glance when I first walked over to the far side of the store looking for that magical 11 and exclaimed in joy when I found it.

I tried on some pairs but didn't end up buying anything.  I don't need any shoes and none were too good to pass up.  I was drifting through the stores feeling much too overwhelmed at the size of the complex that I was in.  I'm also constantly reminding myself of the goals that I have in place; saving money and not accumulating unnecessary things are both key factors for my life here.

It was an interesting experience, though, to go through the Ikea and look at the various goods and how they were being perceived by the Thai folk.  I personally considered everything there to be a bit pricey, but that's coming from a few years of thrift and Craigslist shopping.

But, still, there I was... walking through the Ikea maze finding awesome house thing after awesome house thing, the solutions for problems I didn't know I had (and no solution for the one problem I'm still considering).  I acquired a few things that I enjoyed immensely back home.  A cool dish rack.  An Ikea box, bright blue.  Two magazine files, hot pink.  Two pencil cups, also hot pink.  Tupperware set.  Lint roller.  All pretty reasonable purchases, in my opinion.  Plus I found some lady products and a Thai phrase book in others stores.

I'm exhausted, though.  Shopping really does take it out of you.  It's such an overstimulating environment.

On the plus side, I Skyped with Aaron mostly successfully this morning and just finished getting a massage since my neck has been all achy.