Prubangboy

Austin is the Asheville of the South West. And CM is the Asheville of Southeast Asia. Rich hippies, a proper selection of restaurants, so Southern Indian restaurants, not just Indian ones. A smattering of culture, not just Methodist tyranny. If I had to live in Texas (at gunpoint), it would be there. The whole southwest's many problems with electricity and water make me grateful to be in Chiang Mai. Mexico might well refuse to take it back.

I'm a new arrival (one year) who's been here a dozen times. Just had lunch at the venerable Dada Kafe in the old city, another beautiful interior that has its decor layered over the years serving up pick-your-curry/pick-your-protein to a good-sized crowd. Very solid vegan menu too. The Kat Cafe was heaving too. Across the road from Nimman1 Mall, The Hong Tauw Inn has lots of antiques and a waiter will even chat about them a bit. They also do the comprehensive range of N. Thai dips, which seem to be on the endangered food list (as per Mark Weins).

Down by the night market, the very retro Gekko Garden is a masterpiece of the Chiang Mai/Lonely Planet style: Tons of big old growth plants, lots of cowboy/buffalo horns/wagon wheels. Where are other lost in time restaurant interiors (partic of the tourist kind)? Top North Guest House with its huge teak elephants is another example. Writer's Bar in the OC too.

What about the Austin sound like Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovitt etc. Few places in the world are so musically famous.

The frequency of these discussions means that people value this venue. I do too. To talk to someone about their life here or get practical advice is great, partic for free. I enjoy doing the same. If someone wants to fight all of the time, they're some version of not right in the head and I give 'em a miss. I just parma-nixed someone today. If I had the technical acumen to block him.....I still wouldn't. It's all part of the unique mix. If people want to post about their elbow, I have no problem with that. If I have a passable elbow joke to toss out, I will. If not, I'll sticker on a few emoji's supporting other elbow-mockers and then go back to Slate. I can't think of a fourth rule for Internet behavior. I mean, duh.

My English teacher friend there tells me that companies stopped subsidizing English classes. And that like most of Asia, Japan has become more inward-looking and nationalistic. English-speaking also became less fashionable. This is sad only on the women side of the equation.

Bloom Cafe was the best Cam food I ate. It's NGO etc so has the tasting platters with all the bits and bobs. If it were in Chiang Mai, I would eat there every week. https://wp.avondale.edu.au/ytravel/2020/08/05/when-eating-becomes-giving-a-guide-to-feasting-at-cambodias-best-ngos-and-ethical-cafes-loren-russell/

Okinawa is #4 on my bucket list so I would like to hear your Okinawa stories.

You should just keep bumping this thread. Remember to really hose your horrible, old man butt before hoping into a group hot tub situation. They think you're like a dog anyway, and they will really appreciate that extra blast up your crack. Bringing a bottle brush along would also not go amiss.

And yet, and yet, you come from a country renowned for having amongst the beautiful women in the world. And yet, and yet, you ended up with a Thai woman as the love of your life. -What was lacking, babe-wise, back home? -Were you attracted to Thai women in general or was your wife a special situation? I'm not dissing you, I'm wondering what in your background evinces such strong reactions to other people's harmless goings on.

A lot of guys just want to commune with a non-complaining, thin woman. 'Can't fault it. Not even as a life plan.

Wait a minute. Are you saying that sex workers are actually not that into you? Because this iconoclastic new revelation is going shock AseanNow to its very core.

Chav, Bogan, Yob. Please draw a Venn diagram so that others can tell you Brit and Commonwealth drunks apart.

Jomtien and The Darkside were high on our retirement list due to the amenities and proximities you describe, partic the medical ones. If I were a beach person, I'd happily do it or Cha Am. Maybe Cha Am for the smaller scale. We like the idea of a western community to access here in Chiang Mai, but we never get around to it. It's just so easy to meet people on the fly here. They come and go, and after small town living, we really like that too.

My wife prefers to refer to herself as the ham sandwich that got brought to the picnic.

Bob, would go 30 baht more for a Beer Lao IPA? And have you ever ordered one of those bubbly beer towers at a night market? Beer Lao had a merch store in Vientiane (pre-Covid). I carried home a surprisingly well made Beer Lao cafe umbrella. Still in use a dozen years later. It's a great logo, they really should milk their brand.

Since he did give exact location of the shop for verification, I believe that puts him beyond reproach.

On average, we smell bad to Asian People. So now you're advocating for tastes bad too? As the brits say: 'not 'affin' it.

I have a friend with a 35 years younger Thai wife. Who does he lust for? My 60 year old wife. I came home once and found that he had taken her out for sushi. Just to bask in her educated whiteness. I want to set my wife up on OnlyFans where she can keep her clothes on and just talk to lonely drunks in Issan about Brexit. He asks me -a lot- if I go to massage parlors for happy endings. I told him I don't even happy ending-myself; she takes care of that -and that I regard a hand job as the American cheese on Wonder bread of sex-sandwiches. I know people who have great Thai relationships, but for me, it's a case of water, water everywhere, but not.......

After The Grand Canyon and The Taj Mahal, Angkor Wat is the biggest bang tourist thing I ever saw. But you really have to like ruins. Typically, I do not. I was a tad bored at Machu Piku, Petra, and The Roman Forum. I felt no need to see the further afield Khmer ruins this time around, tho I have seen every last one when I was a newer, hungrier tourist. I did Angkor 3 times and that was enough. My post-covid visit of last year to Angkor, where I wandered thru it without seeing another soul still haunts me in my dreams and is among my best travel memories. If it feels like a forced school trip to you, there's no reason to suffer through it. Nor is there much need to go north of the capital. Unless you want the eco-lodge experience for 30% off of Thailand prices (Laos does it better for even cheaper). Kampot is just as nice as Battambang, closer, and you can then transit to one of the lovely Thai Islands of the eastern seaboard in half a day. Deciding via Youtube is very valid. We decided not to try a Khao Soi place based on the look of the fried noodles. 'Can't imagine what in the Battambang video's is so compelling, 90% of the time, YouTubing veto's a place for me rather than makes me want to go.

Battabang had a little hey day ask a old Frenchie building/foodie spot like Luang Prubang. But like LP, Covid has crushed that and it will not soon return. No longer worth going out of your way for.

that thread:

The hotel is a bit more, but they're practically giving away the food -which I rate over Thai food. A taxi mafia that would shame Phuket too. Still, it was hard for us to spend $80 a day in Vientiane, and that was with taking people out.

Do a search, I linked to an article saying just that about 4 months ago. If anything, you sound a little on the low side.

Just killed a 2 liter sake carton with 3 other people over a couple of parma ham and artichoke pizza's. Can't fault it.