Greetings from Chiang Mai! Things just got interesting. We were originally scheduled to visit Bangkok, but cancelled and re-routed due to ongoing violence at the time. Things seem OK in Chiang Mai though, the only noticeable impact of martial law is a 12am curfew, after which we are not technically supposed to leave our hotel rooms until 4am. Not sure how hard that is enforced but we probably won’t be trying too hard to flout it. Anyway, I am super psyched because it is my first new Asian city in a while.
Have been highly anticipating this trip back to Asia but things have been nonstop since arriving nearly 2 weeks ago now! took flights in 9 days after rushing back to NYC from Boston, where I was punched in the eye at my college reunion and spent the day before my flight to Hong Kong at the ER at Mass General. My body hates me right now, but jetlag finally caught up…enough to at least take some pics documenting the whirlwind that’s been Hong Kong, Singapore and now Chiang Mai.
Sneaking a selfie with one of Chailie Ho’s beautiful sample dresses at her studio at the newly opened PMQ. Find her designs, including this scarf on ZAOZAO.
Peering down one of the roads in Singapore, lined with old school shophouses. Most have been renovated into modern commercial and residential establishments, but the government won’t allow for any changes to the colourful facades in efforts to preserve history. That sweet building in the back is supposedly government housing - bet you’ve never seen projects that nice in any other city.
As we head into progressively sketchier parts of Asia, we are quite fortunate to be traveling with a filmmaker who is a 2-meter tall former college basketball player. We lucked out, having Reid with us for the content creation process as well as bonus body guarding!
Snapped from the sa paper umbrella & handicrafts centre today. Sa paper is made from mulberry tree bark, and goes through this elaborate process of being soaked in water, getting boiled, re-soaked, and strained in this wooden frame. it’s what makes up the coverings of the umbrellas, which ultimately get painted all sorts of beautiful patterns.
Blowing off some steam during lunch break while waiting for my tom yum soup. More updates on our adventures to come, but in the meantime will be posting regularly on my ‘gram. Sawadee ka!
