Metro Bar, Chiang Mai – Open – fantastic

Sawadee Khrap

Metro Bar 2

WOW – The Metro Bar is open for business and what a delight.  Todd and Pia have out-done themselves on this place.  I was going to take some pictures to show but Peter West & Sa  from ChiangMaiChimes has done a great job so I’ll just post their link here.

 

I went down last night to see the place and have a Sprite.  beautiful decor, great bartenders, and reasonable prices – I assume they will be a little bit higher in the busy season, but Todd assures me that he has no intention of gouging his customers – be prepared for a great evening and not emptying your pocketbook – that is concerning the club but of course you can always approach one of the cute boys in the bar and things may change.  And there were several cute guys in the club while I was having my drink and that was before 9 PM – I wish I could have stayed to see who came in later in the evening.

I am told that Adam’s Apple is expected to be open in about a month – Thai time, that is – we’re hopping – then hit the “Metro” for a drink, trip upstairs to watch the show, and back for a night cap.  Todd also promises that Metro will not be a place where you have to fight off the money boys – no pressure, great atmosphere and good parking (that’s a major difference too)  Be sure to stop by – Opening month – free snacks too.

Ciao

 

 

Pool Party Saturday eve 23rd

Sawadee Khrap

If your in Chiang Mai don’t miss the Liam Suan Dok Mai Belgian Restaurant & Guest-house “Pool Party” on Saturday the 23rd evening starting at 5 PM.  I went there for dinner last night and it was great.  And to my sunrise Narin was there. Valere Geurts & his sister opened their new Belgian restaurant and Narin is Valere’s boyfriend.  Here’s the restaurant flyer:

LiamBelgianLiamBelgian2

Should be a lot of gay boys enjoying the pool – so come , have dinner, swim or just mingle.

I’m going to go and promise to have some pictures for those of you who are too far away to join in or were unable to make it.

Ciao

 

Adams Apple opening soon

Sawadee Khrap

Just talking to Todd and Pia, the new owners of Adams Apple and they say the Metro Bar & Lounge should be open for business in about a week and the Second floor – Adams Apple Club will be in about 2 months – 

If the new Club looks anything like the Lounge (Designed by Mohammed) it will be a instant success – I know the line-up of boys will be the best in town and I am told the the “Boy Scout” skit will be the only one they are keeping from the old AA routines. Can’t wait to see the new talent.

Check out their web-site and be sure you don’t miss the opening, or for that matter any show, if you are in Chiang Mai   I’ll get some pictures to show for the next post as it opens.

Ciao

 

Medical Services in Chiang Mai

Sawadee Khrap

Nu was just at McCormick Hospital for his motorcycle accident and I have used Chiang Mai Ram 1 several times,  Here is a great list of Services for Chiang Mai.  but from what I am told by the locals is that: 

Maharaj Hospital  (Suan Dok Hospital)

should be the first place to go. 

Many Expats have told me of the great service they have received at Maharaj and that they also have the best pricing available. 

For example, my friend, Toivo and his partner Thip say;

 “I have (unfortunately) had a lot of experience with them, and have to say that the service has been top notch.  Thip’s stay last week with two Doc exams, two injections, hourly BP checks and a Private room with AC, Fridge, Bathroom, and guest beds was under a 100 bucks USA.  Amazing……  OH, and that included breakfast and lunch for the both of us. 

If you go to the 13th floor of the building with the emergency entrance  (The one nearest Suthep Road) at Maharaj Hospital, you end up in the Special Medical Services Center where lots of people speak English.   For a tour or an appointment, contact Kuhn Kessini at:

marketingcmed@cmed.cmu.ac.th

phone:  081-681-1616 after 9 AM.”

MaharajMap

 

Here’s some links to a little history of the hospital – and an Expats discussion group on the subject.  And a map  (also shows other Chiang Mai University sites).

I will set an appointment after Songkran to take a tour and set this as the primary hospital we use.

 

(Ya, that’s right – Songkran will be this 13,14,15th Thai New Year – Sawadee Pee Mai  and the famous “water festival”.  I’ll be at Central Shopping Center to capture the action  – stay tuned for more photos.)

Ciao

 

 

Miguel’s New Site – Grand Opening Party

Sawadee Khrap

Hey, you guys in Chiang Mai be sure and visit the original Miguel’s on the moat before Thapae Gate (Chaiyaphum Rd.  082–897–6427) and get your free INVITATION to the Grand Opening Party April 25th for the new location at Nong Hoi.  Here’s ours, we will be there for sure  – hope to see you there too.

Great Authentic Mexican Food and Drinks

MguelsGrandOpening

Mark says that there will be some “sunrises” – I can’t wait to see what that means – I asked him would it be some beautiful boys.

He just laughed and said that it would be hard to beat Nu – thanks Mark for the compliment, I know Nu appreciates it.

I think, Randie, his sister, will be the manager.  We meet both Mark and Randie at the last Expats meeting where they came as a new sponsor for the club.  I hope I have the spelling of her name right. 

SEE YOU ALL THERE !

Ciao.

MapJack – Your City Online

MapJackClipWOW, here is a site I just saw and it’s amazing.  MAPJACK .   Check it out – and it needs your support to grow.

Here is a snippet ! 

(made using Vista’s neat program they don’t tell you about “snipping tool” – click Start-Run– type snip <Enter> )

I went to San Francisco, down to Bush & Market and saw the panoramic virtual photo of the front door of Ikon, my old office and ten down Geary Blvd to where I used to live before I moved to Chiang Mai. – Beautiful photos !!!!!!!!   . 

 I also took a walk up Huay Kaew Rd in Chiang Mai past Sithana College (Nu’s old school – but back next year) and up to the front door of Hillside4 (our old condo) – just as exciting – You have to see this to believe it.

Here’s what they say about thier site – “Mapjack.com showcases a new level of mapping technology. What others have done with NASA budgets and Star Wars-like equipment, we’ve done on a shoestring budget, along with a few trips to Radio Shack. Specifically, we developed an array of proprietary electronics, hardware and software tools that enable us to capture an entire city’s streets with relative ease and excellent image quality. “  

And BOY O Boy they are not kidding.

Please check out their site.

Ciao

 

Centre of Universe – Chiang Mai

Sawadee Khrap

Well we finally made it to “THE REAL CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE”.  At least to the private swimming club and resort with that name.  We went to a BBQ featuring Tuskers Bar’s famous BBQ ribs and other great offerings. 

We didn’t swim but did watch the others and had a good time – another new place to visit when your hot and want to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai.  The resort is a new sponsor of the Expats Club and this was a get acquainted day, and Tusker’s provided the food.

Beautiful place to swim, cool down, relax and enjoy time with friends:

*** SLIDESHOW ***

_-2_

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ciao

 

Golden Ball Restaurant – Chiang Mai

Sawadee Khrap

Bon, a friend of ours is opening a new restaurant in Chiang Mai.   Tasanai just designed his new business cards and when you are in Chiang Mai be sure and stop by.  Many cute boys as waiters and excellent food – both Thai and Farang.  GoldBall-Front copy

 

 

 

 

GoldBall-Back copyGrand Opening scheduled for August 1st

Here is the map for the local boys –

See you there !!!!

 

Their web-site should be up and running soon – They tell me they will have pictures of the staff – be sure and check it out too.

Ciao

Setting up the Expat’s Photo Group

Sawadee Khrap

Several guys from the Expat Club of Chiang Mai are revising the Photographic Group and I am helping out.  We are planning on having evening meetings about twice a month, with time for critiquing photos, tutorials (film & digital, lighting, processing, editing, and framing) , and live product presentation by local businesses.  So far plans are to have the first full meeting about  mid September at Tusker’s Bar & Grill.   I plan on helping out where I can  – great group of guys and some professionals as well.  Great learning experience.Best party in Chiang Mai

 

 

 

We really like Tusker’s —– so if you are in town make sure you don’t pass it by.  Next month they are having a BBQ party, sponsored by ThaiVisa and Tasanai and I plan on attending – August 18th.  This should draw people from all over Thailand. I’ll try and get pictures of the festivities.

Ciao

 

 

Video – Sabadchai – Drum Special

Sawadee Khrap

Here is the full length presentation of “SABADCHAI”  performed by the School For life boy’s drum team.  This was the opening act for the dedication of the new boys dormitory from funds received from the 2006 Hillside4 Condo Roof Top Charity Night.

This is a Thai ceremonial drum song used in various observances from welcoming guests to the preparation for war:

 

Video – School For Life Boy’s Dorm Dedication

Here is video clips that Tasanai took for the domitory dedication for the School For Life. It also seems that we didn’t include a shot of the dormitory itself – a plain brick building to house the younger boys. We are going back and I will get some better shots of the full school layout.

 

School for Life

Sawadee Khrap

Tasanai, I and a friend, Mike, attended the ribbon cutting dedication of the new dormitory for boys at the School for Life, on the Suan Suoi Fha Sai (clear skies over beautiful garden) Farm deep inside a royal forest in the Doi Saket Mountains.   Our Condo held a fund raising party on the 15th floor last Dec and raised over 1 Million Baht  so they could build the new dorm.

I didn’t get any pictures of the grounds – we will go back to present the school with copies of the pictures we took and then I will get better images of the site.  It is much larger than I thought.  I am going to offer to take more images, especially of the children, if they want, so each can have their own picture.

Here are some random shots of the children and the afternoon:

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Don’t your heart go out to these kids – Here are some dedication images

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Then we were treated to Drum and Dancing by the children:

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The dedication by the monks:

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And finally a Soccer game with the Farangs and school teams:

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Then I ran out of memory – more games followed, cucumber swing and hit the ball – wish I had gotten shots of this – It was great fun,  and the chili, coke and power game – I won’t try to explain these – leave that for your imagination.

We had a great day and will go back again –

They are looking for Sponsors for the children and I will post another time on how and what it involves

hope you can help.

 

 

Chiang Rai – The Beach

Hi again

Now lets talk about Chiang Rai “Beach”:

CRai-RiverPark2CRai-RiverPark-longboat

 

 

 

 

 

The water front area is lined with vendor food stands  – here are some shots ( No names are used  – just candid shots) but aren’t these some beautiful people:

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CRai-RiverPark-vendorsCRai-RiverPark-vendors4

We stopped for lunch here and watched the vendor next door build the bamboo constructed eating area over the water’s edge – both his sons were helping out – and then were treated to a diving show put on by some boys on the other side to us. — what a great lucheon show.

CRai-RiverPark5CRai-RiverPark3CRai-RiverPark6

CRai-RiverPark-swim3CRai-RiverPark-swim2

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the next picture you can see where they were building the new sitting area.  Sorry Tasanai was cut out of the image– you can just see his hair in the left of the picture.  Jerry and Art in the foreground.

Tas and Art had “Spicy Dancing Shrimp Salad” – live shrimp in a pot with spices – the spices cook the shrimp but they still jump when you open the bowl lid so they call them “dancing” – ha ha.  Jerry and I passed on this one.

CRai-RiverPark-lunch1CRai-RiverPark-dancingShrimp

Ciao

 

Chiang Rai – The Trip

Sawadee Khrap

What a great trip to Chiang Rai with Jerry and Art.  We had a HOT time, both figuratively and physically.   Lets start with the trip there:  First as we left Chiang Mai, they were working on the freeway over-pass,

Thai-CalTransThis is a private contractor’s workers finishing a typical over-pass – I thought it looked like Thailand’s CalTrans – but here everyone is working

This is just for California residents– LoL.

It costs far less for manual labour than for heavy equipment – so most projects are labour intensive.

I also spotted this soldier apparently going home – in the heat today it’s far more enjoyable using a Doi Saket Yellow-Cab than braving the hot wind alone.  

Going HomeIt was very hot today – near 40C (that’s about 104F)  and the wind can be brutal.  We spotted him on the way to Chiang Rai – looked like the thing to do.

CRai-RiverPark1

When we got to Chiang Rai, we stopped at the “Chiang Rai Beach”  actually a public park on the Maekok River before it flows into the MaeKhong River.  In the next post I will show more pictures of the park area.   I am going to split this into several posts to keep each post shorter.

In the evening, Jerry and I went to “Little Patpong” – LoBo Bar (Go-Go boys featured) and after the show we went to the Regency Bar – a local gay bar, while Tasanai and Art went to the “Par Club” – largest Disco in Northern Thailand. 

All of us had a great time – Tas & Art said the Disco was more of an older crowd, but the music was good, not overly loud – they didn’t get to “The Sperm” (now doesn’t that bring up some images  LoL )a smaller Disco down the street that caters to a much younger crowd – you can tell by the number of motorcycles in front and the ground shaking from the music inside – ha-ha   

Our visit to the clubs was very exciting, great shows, great eye candy, meet some special boys (hopefully we can get some to model for Tasanai ).

We are now planning to make a special trip to Chiang Rai and feature a special post on the activities available, bars, clubs, other night life and events that Chiang Rai has to offer – we are definitely going back.  Don’t miss this one.

Ciao

Back to the masks

Sawadee Khrap

Well, we’re back to the masks today – apparently it’s been a weather thing, wind pattern concentrating the smoke and particles in the Chiang Mai valley – and it’s back again.

Not as bad as before but you can smell and taste the stuff in the air – visibility has really gone down this morning compared to last night and no rain in site.

Computer time, Computer time — thank God for the computer – now it is really a blessing – something to do when you can’t go out.  Photography is out of the question – too hazy.  Not a good effect, although it does make some rather great RED sun shots – just a big red ball now glowing in the grey sky – uggggghhhhhh

Ciao