A tuk tuk to the temples to take silly pictures and learn about Thai history. After, head to dinner at Cabbages & Condoms and chow down on some great Thai food where proceeds go towards providing sex education and promoting birth control. Instead of an after dinner mint- you get an after dinner condom!
The picture of the guy and doll are wearing only condom/birthcontrol clothing!
In 4.5 hours I'll be jet-setting back to the US of A! :) It's been a great trip, but I am definitely looking forward the moment I get home and can share all these great Asian finds with you online! The past handful of days I've been getting my Thai fix of eats(from Panang Curry to Tom Yum Goong- I recommend it all!), drinks (the fruit shakes here are to die for!), markets (the search never ends looking for the best jewerly and decor!), art (oooooh I met a guy with the most beautiful pottery!), fun (it's not quite Thai, but Mahjong is a fun game to play all over Asia) before I jump continents!
I could go on forever about how delicious the food is and I will definitely share some Thai recipes in the future, I'll make you a fruit shake if you're ever in San Diego, and I hope to be able to share the pottery with you in the future, but for now I want to talk about Mahjong.
Have you heard of it!? Remember a silly game on the computer with funky Chinese tiles which you had no clue how to play when you were younger!? Well (the real version- not on your pc) is a really fun (and easy to learn) game! Check out this super authentic looking game set I found on Ebay! I can't wait to teach and play mahjong with friends at home!
Here's a bit about it: It's of Chinese origin and some people actually believe that Confucius developed the game long long ago! This is a myth, but the meaning behind every tile is very Confucian. No one actually knows who invented the game, but regardless it's a hit in many countries. The game is played with 144 tiles which are divided in to families called: bamboos, characters, dots, winds, dragons, and flowers. You can play for points or money, but I recommend just for fun! The goal is to combine tiles to make a 'hand'. There are various hands and different levels of difficulty. The game is definitely part skill or strategy and part luck! We played for 4 hours today! Yikes! Though I'm still very much a beginner, I won a couple games!! Needless to say it's been a fabulous time!
Besides playing Mahjong, I found one addition to the store which I'm very excited about! Wine holders! I was able to find the VERY last day of my travels! About a year and a half ago, my friends(in the silly picture at the top) were visiting Thailand for the first time and I was very excited take them shopping! However, I still had a lot more traveling to do and not a lot of room in my backpack, so they did most of the spending! When you are tight on cash, there is nothing more fun then having your friends do all the shopping and you just going along for the ride, helping them scout out the best gifts to take home! I was going along for the ride on this shopping spree until my eyes landed on the coolest wine holder I've ever seen in Thailand... maybe even in South East Asia. They were so great we all (5 of us total) had to have at least one! We found a guy who had made (and by made I mean carved) these really great and unique wood elephants which was made to hold a bottle of wine.
Coming back to Thailand, I knew, after the tons of compliments these wine holders get, I had to have them in my store, I was unable to locate this guy again- until today!!! I had given up and that's when I looked up and BAM! There they were & the same great guy who makes them!
I was so happy! I promise you'll love these and your guests will too! The guy who makes them is from Chang Mai, Thailand, which is in the northern regions of Thailand.
His name is Somchai and he is a very nice Thai man. If he were in a more high traffic zone, I think these elephants would be all over Bangkok. However, he comes down on the weekend to sell all of his handicrafts in a relatively low traffic area, so they are indeed a hidden treasure! I was so happy to tell him about Elefante Imports and how excited I am to bring these back to the states for wine connoisseurs! I didn't have my camera on me (sigh) today, so I wasn't able to get a snapshot of him and his other great creations, but I definitely will next time! And a sneak peak of the Elephant wine holder soon!
Until then, I must upload some new jams to the ipod before this long journey back home!
I'm going going back back to Cali Cali! :)
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