Waffle and Muffin like chicken

I live in an apartment whose owners have two dogs: Waffle and Muffin. Both males; Waffle is seven years old, and Muffin is one year old. Hence, he is the hyper one, and sprints to the front door whenever I come in, while Waffle sniffs in his elder-status aloofness. They like to dress smartly in dapper blue diapers and grey ascots.

Muffin has demonstrated mad skills: he can sit, give high-five’s, and answer phones and check-in guests. He likes working the front desk with his person. One morning, I came downstairs just as Muffin and Waffle were getting a treat: grilled chicken on skewers. The manager peeled back the plastic wrap and in one shockingly large bite, Muffin pounced forward and yanked the entire slab of meat—half the size of his face—cleanly off the skewer! Even Waffle came to life and devoured his paleo breakfast.

Monsoon season

Monsoon season has arrived, which means every day there is some flooded stretch of road in which to wade. It’s nothing like the flooding that would happen in Mae Sot, where I volunteered on the Burmese border—eg—the time I had to put my backpack on my head, hitch my skirt up to my hips and carefully keep my feet in my sandals as I nearly swam my way out from my guesthouse to the main road. Oh, and snakes also swam in the flood waters.

However, here in Chiang Mai, it is a much more mundane affair.

Vendor at an outdoor market wearing plastic-bag-hat.

Standing on bus-stop-seats to avoid the storm.

Bus driver chilling before we take off.

Pretty courtyard, fresh in the rain.

Built upon a koi pond.

The secret upstairs

A Nepalese café in the middle of Chinatown. The café is like a hidden secret—an unnoticed stairway at the back of the Nepalese shop—one ascends into a different world. One can sip rich Thai tea while seated on the floor amongst colorful cushions, looking out the window as it rains gently outside.

Thai paper, thick tea, raining outside, it’s cozy inside.

Mystical garden

Wandering one day, I stumbled upon this mystical garden filled with Thai artifacts. Resonating profound peace and tranquility, the grounds house several bungalows and a café. In my mystical stupor, I whiled away the afternoon eating chocolate cake in the café.

Uh-oh, my kawaii sock is posing with another kawaii slipper.