Morning Market with Manuel: an April Adventure in Asia, Remembering QingMing

The other morning I had an occasion to spend some time at one of the Chiang Mai markets, Warorot, with my friend Manuel. It's a wonderful place to take visitors because it is a very Thai, typically Asian experience. As one of the largest markets in town, it draws locals as well as tourists and has an amazing, some might say overwhelming, mix of goods and services on offer. 

Long lines of the local transportation, a cross between a taxi and a public bus, the red truck called a "Songtaew", wait nearby to ferry shoppers to and from all points of the city.

Warorot is the best known flower market in the city and many of the stalls were set up to sell their arrangements for the upcoming Songkran festival. (More on that later…)

For westerners who have spent most of their lives in shopping malls or big box stores, the size and scope of the market can be incredible. I have no good images of my own from inside the main market so I borrowed this one from yaychiangmai.com:

A visit to markets such as this is not recommended if you suffer any claustrophobic tendencies. The amount of items the vendors can cram into a tiny stall is unbelievable. Here is one of my sister Victoria's pictures from her visit:

The vendors are packed into the main market hall, but then all of the goods and services spill into the surrounding streets for entire city blocks, heading east towards the old historic downtown. Again, a picture I have "borrowed" from my sister's visit:

You can truly find anything here: clothing, electronics, household goods, plastics, packaged food, preserved food and countless souvenir items, from the completely mundane to the culturally extreme. We bought some yummy fresh fruit but I am sorry to say I missed getting a photo of the stall where the lady was selling dried grubs. Bushels and bushels of dried beetles and roly polys, whatever your heart might desire. I'll pass, though; you can have my helping too! At least these were already dead, unlike the poor scorpions seen in Beijing.

As we wandered the market, we passed a stall selling certain items that reminded me we had recently missed one of the prime Chinese festivals, "Qingming", pronounced Ching Ming, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day. This is another one of those ubiquitous "More on that later" topics that I never did seem to get back to, have a few unfinished blogs in the drafts folder! I cannot believe we have lived in Asia for over 6 years and I am just now getting around to writing about Qing Ming! In my defense, though, it is not widely celebrated in Thailand, so it has fallen off my radar these last few years.

Qingming, also known as Chinese Memorial Day or Ancestor's Day, "is a traditional Chinese festival on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either the 4th or 5th of April in a given year." (Wikipedia.com) In Chinese, the word for 4 and the word for "die" are very similar, leading to the belief that 4 is unlucky and very taboo, much like the number 13 in Western society. Having experienced Qingming as a public holiday in Kuala Lumpur (where the buttons in the elevator of our 24 floor apartment building had no 4's, only 3A, 13A, etc…) and Shanghai, I admit I always thought the date for the holiday, most often 4/4, was more directly related to that superstition. I guess not and I don't really get all this X day of the Y phase of the moon, yadda, yadda, yadda business! Regardless, "people commemorate and show respect to their ancestors by visiting their graves, and offering food, tea, wine, incense, joss paper (representing money), etc. They sweep the tombs, removing weeds and adding fresh soil to the graves, stick willow branches on the tomb and burn incense and 'paper money'." (Chinahighlights.com)

A few years ago I had occasion to write a bit about my exposure to the Chinese approach to the afterlife and ancestor worship in this entry about my own experience with loss in Asia, but until last week I had not come in direct contact with the accessories one might need to participate in the festival. (Although I did take these photos of a creepy cemetery in Malaysia that I finally get to share:)

Our recent trip to Warorot changed all that as we found the stall selling everything one might need, beginning with the paper money.

But your ancestors need clothing too, so we could have bought some shoes.

We did not see the iPads and iPhones or any electronics for that matter, not sure if they had them, but why not set your dead ancestors up to ride in style? An SUV will do, except this one can only be offered in Thailand or Malaysia, I guess, as the driver is on the wrong side of the car for China. Does that matter in the hereafter? My further understanding of the Chinese afterlife, via Lisa See's version in "Peony in Love" is that ghosts cannot travel around corners but must travel in straight lines or change course through a wide arc so I guess handling is really not a limiting issue….

And finally, if you really want to set your ancestors up to live luxuriously, it would stand to reason that you must provide a house too. Why not a pink one? Save your money on the SUV, this one comes with a cute little sports car! And a pool. And some electronics inside. Done.

I am left to wonder, do you have to assemble the gifts before sending up your burnt offerings or can you leave it in the package, unassembled and send them the Ikea version?

Life in Asia is never dull. I particularly enjoy the beginning of the year, specifically the western year, as there are so many holidays to celebrate, so many cultures to honor, starting with our Thanksgiving, through Christmas and New Year, followed by Chinese New Year, and then the Thai New Year: Songkran. And now that I know where to get all that I might need, next year I can also celebrate Qingming, right in the middle of it all. Fire up the grill, we've got some ancestors to support!

Halloween 2015

So I'm not sure who had more fun with Halloween this year, me or the kids. In the week leading up to the big day, a Saturday this year, we really got into it with our holiday activities. The Internet abounds with all kinds of suggestions of things to do to decorate and get into the spirit and here are just a few of the ones we adopted as our own.
With a few bottles of cheap nail polish Vivienne and I got creative, even on her tiny little nails. (Thanks to Auntie Moe for that tip).

Vivienne's nails

Mommy's nails (I could only decorate my own left hand…)

Feetloaf for dinner? But of course! Except Vivienne did not seem convinced. It was however, once you closed your eyes, quite delicious.

 A few carrot tombstones seemed appropriate with this meal.

About midweek Conrad started commenting that he really wanted candy corn, that it's not Halloween without candy corn. As he has never actually had candy corn, I think this was prompted by some of his older American friends who have been talking about it but, being a candy corn lover myself, I tended to agree with him. Of all the things we amazingly can find here in Thailand, candy corn, sadly, is not among them. As any expat worth their salt knows, sometimes if you really want a certain something, you just have to make it yourself. I mean, really, how hard could it be? So I found myself a recipe on the internet, went to the local baker's mart, found all of my ingredients and got busy. While it certainly wasn't complicated, it was hard, sweaty work in a kitchen with no air conditioning but I was quite pleased with the finished product. 

The recipe called for corn syrup which I switched out for honey and in the end the honey taste was a bit stronger than I expected. Next time (if there is a next time?) I might adjust that a bit. But my friend and neighbor Ann, an American, was there at the finish to sample the final product and declared it to have a very authentic taste. I couldn't wait for Conrad to try it but as I know he does not like the taste of honey, my expectations were low. When he saw it, he was so excited and said "Yay! Candy Corn!" He popped a piece in his mouth and said, with a big smile on his face "This is awesome! I'm in heaven!" But as he chewed his smile faded and turned into a decidedly "Yuck" face. "Ummm, I don't like it" he finally said. Bless him, at least he tried it and he certainly gets extra points for enthusiasm. The good news is that everyone else who tried it really liked it so it was definitely worth the effort. Perhaps next year we can share some with you Aunt Jenny. 

Saturday finally arrived and while out running some last minute errands I popped into the nearest Starbucks. I was excited to see that the baristas there were having some fun with the day. Halloween, American style, is truly beginning to enjoy international status.

Finally an update on Conrad's mask: it turned out pretty well and he was very excited about it. Off go Witchy and The Wolf to our friends' for a pre-trick-or-treat potluck and then the main event.

My friend Angela has such a gorgeous sense of style and decorates for every occasion with an amazing flair. Having missed Halloween last year, her family made up for it this year and we all enjoyed her decorating skills at the pot luck that she hosted.

 Scary!!

Everyone brought snacks and yummys but we brought Mummies! Pizza mummies, that is.

And potatoe-wrapped hot dog mummies that didn't quite turn out the way I planned…as Conrad would say: "Fail!"

But all the kids couldn't wait to get started trick-or-treating. The mean mommies (Mummies?) made them pose first for a photo.

Witchy Poo is ready to go!

I thought I had taken pictures of us out and about but apparently not. We have a lot of consulate families living in our neighborhood, our "Mubaan", so every year the American Consulate advertises it as THE neighborhood kids should come to if they want to participate in trick-or-treating. Word gets around and it puts a bit more stress on the residents here as we then have to provide for about 2-3 times as many visitors as live in the neighborhood, but it really adds to the authentic feel of a good 'ole American Halloween with lots of kids in costumes running everywhere and having a great time. It took us about an hour to hit every house in the mubaan and then we headed back to Angela's house where the party was still going on. Next step: the age old practice of dumping out your haul and sorting and inspecting your stash.

I love that my kids are growing up abroad, experiencing the diversity of an international community, but I am always so grateful when they are able to experience some of our home culture's traditions in such an authentic way.
What extra things did you do this year to make Halloween more exciting?

Halloween Prep 2015: A Costume for Marshmallow

It's nearly the end of October all over the world. For we Americans, that means only one thing:

HALLOWEEN!!!

Having a multicultural family brings many colorful layers to everyday life, whether one is living abroad or in one's passport country. For me, living as an expat with the kids in a foreign school, when the American holidays roll around I often feel the need to really make an extra effort to be sure the kids get the full flavor and effect of the event. Sometimes it feels that with only one American parent and no acknowledgement of the holiday in their German School, perhaps the enormity of Halloween, and what it meant to me as a kid, is passing them by. 

As the holiday takes on more International recognition, decorations have been easier to come by, even in Southeast Asia. To get in the mood today we hung up some of the fun things we have been able to collect over the years. 

With a little help from one of our resident black cats the giant spiders took their place on the front gate. Some of the classics are our centerpiece. Thinking of you Aunt Vickie!

With some ancient props from the closet and a trip to the local (Two) Dollar Store, we have all that we need for Vivienne's costume. Conrad's costume will be a bit more complicated this year and I spent nearly 6 hours today putting together a mask for him. Watch this space for updates on the success or failure of that venture! I think my efforts were inspiring to Vivienne as she got into the game for one of her own.

Meet Marshmallow.

Marshmallow the cat has lately been enjoying a bit of favored-stuffie status, spending a lot of time outside of the toy box and beyond the confines of Vivienne's room. I think it is safe to say that Marshmallow is exploring his American roots because apparently he has decided to participate in Halloween this year as….

a horse! Using the head that some of you may recognize from her birthday piñata last year, she designed and built his costume all by herself. This proud Mama thinks maybe, just maybe, I'm raising 'em right!

But you really can't have too much Halloween, can you? Red pepper and carrot bats and cats waged an epic battle on dinner plates this evening over sautéed chicken mountains. 

One week to go. Lots more fun to be had! How have you prepped for Halloween this year?

A Treehouse Adventure

I've been pretty quiet lately in the blogosphere, mostly because in our second year of living in Thailand, we have experienced a lot of second-time-arounds, which generally are not as blogworthy as the first-time experiences. But lately we have had some great new adventures which I am hoping, eventually, to share with you all here, the most recent being our weekend excursion to kickoff the kids' 3 1/2-week long 2015 Spring Break.

We had heard and read about "treehouse resorts" in Thailand and had been wanting to check them out. Turns out there is a pretty great one about 90 minutes drive outside of Chiang Mai so we made our reservations. After a few weeks of air quality readings in the near 200 range, (that's extremely hazardous, for those of you fortunate enough not to have to be familiar with such things) we had our fingers crossed that the air outside the city might be clearer. School was out and the kids were so excited so we packed the car and headed for The Rabeang Pasak Treehouse Resort.

A family owned and run business, the first treehouse on the property was built in 2010 as a vacation home for the owners. The property opened to the public as a resort in 2012 and has expanded to 9 cottages/
treehouses, the most iconic and memorable being Tamarind House.

We arrived late in the afternoon and checked into Coconut House, the newest of the units, so named for the coconut tree reaching tall beside the stair. If you look closely at the second picture below you may see the cuts made into the side of the tree. These form a ladder that the staff uses to climb up and cut down the ripe coconuts. Conrad wanted so badly to climb it himself!

Our cozy little cabin slept 5, starting with a king size bed in a nook on the first floor. An elfin staircase led to a second floor loft.

The loft had twin beds and an overlook down to the nook below. 

Vivienne and Conrad especially liked the loft and the opportunities it presented for picking on Mom and Dad.

Above is a good view of the third tiny room in our cabin, the uppermost pair of windows, with sleeping quarters for one. It is accessed from the loft, up a little ship's ladder but was too far removed from the rest of the cabin for the kids to want to sleep there. They were happy enough in the loft. (Mommy considered locking myself in there with a good book but, well, it WAS a family vacation...) In this view you can also see a bit more clearly the steps cut into the coconut tree.

We had our first meal under the trees and settled in for the night with some games and some books.

The first morning luck proved to be on our side as the air quality had improved tremendously. We unloaded the kids' bikes, borrowed some bigger ones for Heinz and I and headed off, following the map 3 km to the nearby attractions, starting with the Red Sands Field.

The Thai are a superstitious people by nature and the owners told us that this area is often called the "Spooky Sands" as the locals consider it suspicious that nothing seems to grow in this small ravine. The forest floor is of the same red sand for many meters in every direction and the vegetation is thick and healthy elsewhere, except in this patch of 100 square meters or so. The locals blame the spirits in the area. Creepy!
Back on our bikes to find the Bat Cave!

 Wait for me!

 Inside was the strong smell of guano and a very interesting altar.

The sunlit part of the cave wasn't very deep and we couldn't go very far in but we saw some bats, had a snack and headed back to the resort for lunch.
The stream that runs through the property has a limestone bed, fun waterfalls and awesome pools deep enough for me to be underwater up to my shoulders. A swim after lunch was the perfect follow up to the dusty morning.   

Nets and buckets provided by the owners make for an interesting afternoon fishing adventure.

 Pollywogs and tadpoles!

A five minute bike ride down the lane before dinner brought us to Sunset Point.

A recent litter of kittens provided much entertainment for Conrad and Vivienne. Watching them chase each other and test out their "hunting" skills together was great fun for all of us. Cuteness overload.

My soon-to-be 6 year-old lost her second tooth!

The next morning the air quality was improved even on the day before so we got on the bikes again and headed north to the small lake. It was trying at times for the one in the bunch with the shortest legs and smallest wheels but she's a strong little muffin and she soldiered on.

A stop on the shore for a drink and a snack and then it's back down the dusty road towards lunch.

A certain 8-year-old I know loves to slam on his brakes and lay patches of rubber on the streets in our neighborhood. His Mom can tell him until she's blue in the face that it's bad for his tires but most will agree that nothing teaches a lesson quite like first hand experience.

A loud *POP* and someone was left to walk the rest of the way home, his tire flat as a pancake. Good thing it was only a kilometer or so. But a slower pace can be a good thing; it gave us an opportunity to see some fun things like this lizard on a pole as we walked by.

Time for lunch and then to explore some more of the limestone pools. 

 A splash fight is a great way to cool down and clean off the dust.

The owner's daughter, Pinn, was such a fabulous hostess. With a beautiful smile, she is the heart of the place, always ready with answers and recommendations and she was really wonderful with the kids. In the afternoon she had some crafts for them to do. Conrad especially loved the wire art.

A pre-dinner drive down to the Mae Kuang Reservoir; a bit shocking to see how low the water level was.

In the evening Pinn outfitted the kids with gear for night "fishing".

They had such a good time. She helped them find more tadpoles, crabs, crayfish and snails.

She gave them sparklers!

At the end of the long, exciting day everyone was ready for bed. That is, until....

Mr. Praying Mantis decided to make a visit on the ceiling of the loft. Refusing to come back upstairs after Heinz and I shuttled him safely outside, Conrad and Vivienne slept downstairs with Daddy while Mommy braved the loft alone. (Does that prove that I am actually an adult now? I am not scared out of the loft by the bugs? It was a really neat looking one, I have to say!) But alas, all good things must come to an end and the next morning after breakfast it was time to bid a farewell to the lovely Pinn and the staff at the Resort. 

On our way out, we stopped in at the last cave, the one farthest from the resort, which we had missed the first day on the bikes. 

It had some very interesting limestone formations inside, sparkly and white, the kind that take thousands of years to form.

A modern-day Hansel: Who needs breadcrumbs? Is my GPS working??

We are back home now but the discussion continues: next time we go to the Rabeang Pasak Resort, which cabin will we reserve? Perhaps Star Family House?

Or maybe Longan Family House? 

We had such a wonderful time that it's pretty much a given: we will go back!

Maybe sometime soon you can come too! We highly recommend it~