Warorot market, spirits and fortunes

Feb 7: Also an eventful day! Started out lazy but by early afternoon we were with Gig and Aum at this great place for lunch – we had like six plates of various food we shared. One was a fried fish roll of some sort, spring roll, a mix of things to roll up and eat (pictured), rolled up yummy mystery stuff with fried garlic (pictured also), beetle leaf (pork wrapped with rice in a black leaf) and a spicy cold salad mix. It was a huge feast and only cost us like $1 or $2 a person.

The eating out philosophy here is very different. You are asked your order almost immediately after arriving. Sometimes you even order before you sit down. Those with difficulty making decisions would find Thai dinning very difficult. Also, there is bottled water at every table with a bucket of ice and they charge by how many bottles you open (everyone here drinks bottled water). When you eat you eat with a spoon in your dominant hand and may use a fork to help shovel food into the spoon. Eating with one utensil, and especially just a fork, is bizarre. Finger food you pick up with your right hand (supposedly – but I haven’t really paid attention). Almost everything has fish or pork in it but vegetarian fare isn’t too hard to find if you look.

After lunch the five of us went to this market I read about in my tour book. It’s several stories high and right by the river. It was crazy busy but Aum and Gig knew their way around pretty well. The inside portion smelled like a combination of livestock and food (a bit overwhelming) and had beautiful wrapped candies and bags of mysterious colorful things. The upper floors on the inside were mostly fabrics, clothing, shoes and other necessities like bags and socks.

The outside also had clothes and food and such, more mixed. There were also a lot of trinkets and handmade things like purses and bags. We walked by women making traditional Northern Thai embroidered bags and live fish flopping on market stands. I bought a couple of t-shirts (I only brought two with me) and a pink silk tie. Tanya bought these elephant pajamas and Chris got a broom. After several hours at market, digesting the foods, we went to the mall across from Tanya and Chris’ apartment and had yummy Swensen’s ice cream.

That evening we went out to this pasta place for dinner and passed a number of spirit houses along the way. I love the spirit houses – they are these little houses on stands that are supposed to provide housing for spirits so they don’t come into your house. They are usually very decorated and have incense and flowers and some even have little miniature people inside – kind of like a dollhouse. I took a few pictures of them - each one is so different. I hope the spirits don’t mind. Here's one right next to where I'm staying.

We had intended to go to a drag show but Tanya was really tired so we will probably go tonight. I also keep forgetting to tell about the fortune I received in Wat Phra Singh. Tanya described the fortune telling, or ‘siam sii’, on her blog: “Originally derived from a Chinese practice, it entails shaking an open can of sticks with different numbers on them until one falls out. Once a stick falls out, you go to a shelf where you find your number and take the fortune corresponding to that number.” You can see Tanya’s blog here: http://chiangmaichic.blogspot.com. My fortune was the following. Tanya insists it is very good and promising for residency! However falling out of the sky seems a bit daunting.

(also, don't forget you can click on a picture to get a closer look)