Pictures, videos, and more pictures

That's been my day: uploading, editing, and sharing. Honestly, it's somewhat exhausting sorting through vacation pictures, if you also want to edit them, upload them to Facebook, comment on them, tag people, and mark where they were taken. This is especially true if, as today, Facebook tells you with some regularity that you don't have permission to edit your own albums, for some bizarre reason.

Anyway, here's the fruits of my labor, in the form of my first Thailand album and the link to my Youtube page, where you can find my videos chronicling dancing elephants and elephant ridie in Chiang Mai, and hundreds of thousands of terrified crabs and a gorgeous sunset with the sound of a muezzin call at Krabi.

Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2644331434819.2114580.1451610020&type=1&l=04c4bfe453

and video:
http://www.youtube.com/user/grahamcrackersarecoo?blend=1&ob=0

More pictures are forthcoming.

But also, today's one new thing!

Thing 10:
I ventured outside my restaurant comfort zone today and began my exploration of the streets behind my apartment. Today, that meant a nice stroll along the backside of the street reading menus until I got to the oven-baked pizza place which throws its garlic-and-cheese smell out into the street for all to covet. Once there, I was able to ask in Chinese whether or not they could do take-out (they could) and then used my standard point-and-say method to order myself a Margherita pizza, one of my all-time favorites, before sitting down to await it. I was the only person in the shop when I went in, but I seem to have brought the customers with me, as two or three people trickled in as I sat there. Interesting phenomenon...going to have to keep an eye on it.

Armed with my pizza, I walked back by way of a busy little restaurant I've been eying for a while now, for its juice stand section. (My favorite juice stand went out of business a few months ago.) So I stopped in and ordered a watermelon juice, only to discover that the staff is all but surly, and there is absolutely nowhere to stand in that restaurant without being in someone's way, especially while holding a pizza box. Maybe I'll try again--it is the only juice stand I know of nearby--but it was supremely awkward. At least the juice was tasty.

When I got home, I discovered that my pizza was not, in fact, Margherita, but something else altogether, with shredded cheese, sliced cherry tomatoes, and not a basil leaf in sight. Very sad, and odd since I heard the waitress repeat my order twice, both to me and to the pizza maker, yet he somehow still made it wrong. Oh well, it was still decent, just not terribly awe- or trust-inspiring for this particular shop.

Anyway, here's what I got for my adventures in dinnertime. You win some, you lose some.

Chiang Mai

We rode elephants today! And I drove an ox cart! (Really, the driver got down and just chilled way behind us/fixed things back behind us!) And bought an elephant-made painting! (Spendy...slight buyers' regret but not, because it's a painting of an elephant DONE BY AN ELEPHANT.) And went to handicraft markets! And a night market! And bought a new Starbucks Chiang Mai mug and a gorgeous green Thai bag! And ate SO MUCH DELICIOUS THAI FOOD!

So yeah, long, amazing, expensive day. And glorious.

Wish I had time to tell the whole story, but I don't...so...now it's off for an impromptu Thai language and culture lesson with Melanie and Marissa.

Retrospective, added 2/1/12:
I posted pictures! Here's the public link to them:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2644331434819.2114580.1451610020&type=1&l=04c4bfe453

And here's the videos I took today, one of the elephants dancing at the elephant show at Mae Taeng, and one of Karina and riding the elephants. Good times.

In Thailand!

And writing this from Melanie's computer after a FANTASTIC (and fantastically long) day. In essence, I've been up for 2 days as we traveled here, and then had the best first day in Thailand ever.

So, after our 16 hour bus-and-multiple-flight journey (which involved a cold but swanky bus with a not-so-nice transfer, a very nice EVA plane, a very crappy AirAsia one, and an almost-missed connection in between), we were thrilled to see Melanie, Marissa and their dad, who picked us up from the airport in Chiang Mai, and immediately began being the best hosts ever.

Seriously. After they took us to the best money-changing place in town, telling us the city's history as we drove along, they served us a scrumptious traditional northeast Thai dinner, and then Melanie, Marissa, Karina and I set out for Night Safari, a zoo/wildlife preserve which included a nice walk, two tram rides through animal enclosures, and a laser light show. It was a blast!

So now we're back, it's 10pm local time (11pm Kaohsiung), I've been up for two days (Karina's been up longer), and we're headed out early tomorrow morning for a day with the elephants. All that to say, I'm gonna go catch some long-overdue Zs, uninterrupted by cold bus air or flight attendants bearing food. Good night, Thailand!