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

 

Doi Pui Campgrounds

Sawadee Khrap

IMG_3182On Friday, a school holiday, we went to see and take pictures at Doi Pui.   Doi Pui is right behind Doi Suthep and has the Queen’s palace and flower gardens – and about 3Km past is a public campground. There is also several Tribal villages but that we will leave for another post.  

 If IMG_3183you can read in Thai here is the that version too.    Looks like a great place to camp – they have tents you can rent and a eating facility with a small restaurant.  There are a lot of great orchids and other flowers in the main campgrounds.

—- VIEW SIDESHOW —-

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We didn’t have time to visit a Tribal village nor to stop by the Queen’s Palace this time but we are planning another trip soon and will have many pictures – there is a GREAT flower garden there. Maybe next weekend.

On Saturday, 10th, we went to the Expats meeting to hear a presentation by the hiking club – great photos and very entertaining.  We are planning on joining the group to go on some walks – hopefully better photographic material – no cars, motor bikes or people to scare away the animals, so we are really looking forward to capturing what the local jungles in the area look like.

Also, Nu’s birthday is coming, 27th, but he was bugging me about getting a laptop – so he got a early birthday present – a ASUS dual core Vista laptop.  I set up a wireless network in the house so he can use it anywhere.  He has Lightroom & Photoshop installed and will be presenting his own photos shortly,  In addition he has started a blog (blogger.com) and is setting it up – when he gets it ready to go online I will post the address.

Tonight we head for dinner at Bert’s house and then Nu starts school again Monday.  Back to normal.

Ciao

 

ChiangMaiChimes

Sawadee Khrap

ChiangMaiChimesLogo1CHIANG MAI CHIMES     Here’s a site you don’t want to miss or lose the link – bookmark it for sure. 

 www.chiangmaichimes.com   I have just been asked by the owner Peter, to help promote his new site.  Here’s what he told me about himself:

  “I come from Scotland and have been living in Chiang Mai full time for 18 years, and for the last 10 years I have been with my boyfriend Sa, who also does the photography for the site. I’m retired now so I have a lot of time on my hands, and needed something to do instead of losing money on Forex! The idea for chiangmaichimes came about because I was unhappy with many of the existing sites that were not updated frequently enough or were commercially orientated. Having lived here for a long time with a Thai partner I thought we could put our combined experience to some use. I had never designed a website before so I decided to take up the challenge and try to design a site with a simple clear navigation system that looks good and has real content. It took me 3 months to prepare through trial and error (mostly error!) My ultimate aim for the site is to expand it to become a reference for Chiang Mai and things Thai, not just a travel guide for tourists and there are quite a few projects on the go just now.
Many thanks indeed for your help in promoting the site. This may be the hardest part of the whole project.”

 

 Great site – lots of detail and growing – Thanks Peter and Sa.

Ciao

 

 

Doi Angkhang – Fang

Sawadee Khrap

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What to do in Fang – well first I suppose is to visit Doi Angkhang (1936 elevation, comparison Doi Inthanon-2590, Doi Suthep,1685)  Not the tallest but a great place to see some great views.  We didn’t have any traffic until we started up the mountain – no traffic going up but a constant stream of the people leaving the campsites. Car after car – down they came – and yet when we got to the top camping area it was still crowded – with a heavily armed soldier on duty –

First question I had is why the automatic weapon – but then I checked the map and saw we were right on the Burmese border. 

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IMG_3134Everyone had their jackets on – naturally I have just a light shirt – stupid farang – it was cold, I think about 10–11 C with a slight wind so it did feel cold even to me.  Just like the States – tent next to tent – no privacy – I have never figured out why people will go and camp this way.

I had just had new brakes installed before we left – and I am really glad I did – when we drove up it didn’t appeared that steep and certainly nothing like what we saw when we started back down.  Wow – all along the road were cars stopping to let their brakes cool down – before we thought they were just camping  – not cooling their brakes – we came down almost all the way in low gear and our brakes were almost gone too. – now that was scary.  But the view was worth it.

Back from the mountain we stopped at the local Tesco/Lotus store for lunch – I am amazed, we were there for over an hour and I only saw 3 farangs – and the place was really crowded.  Fang would be a lonely place for a farang to live – few to talk to. 

Well, back to Chiang Mai – a farang’s heaven.

Ciao

Nooky’s Guest House and Fang trip

Sawadee Khrap

IMG_3121Nu and I just had to get away for a while so we decided on a short trip North to Fang.   We wanted to go Thursday but the traffic was really bad and a lot of people celebrating New Years on the road might have been dangerous – so we waited till Friday and off we went. 

First stop – Nooky’s Guest house – see my other post – just 15Km before Fang on Hwy. 1249.  He came out to the Hwy to meet us and show us the way.  Wow – nice little guest house – quiet rustic but very very clean.  Here are some shots I took – I really loved the Jasmine tea  – really fresh  – I mean he just picked it and made the tea – great taste and such a clean taste.  First time I’ve seen wild Jasmine so we brought back a sprig so we can raise some too. 

If you plan to be in the area be sure to give Nooky a call and stay for a night – he will show you the local area and the small Chinese community just down the road. – next time we go up we are going to take the tour too.  Great pictures I am told.

His rates are excellent – 250 Baht each person per day – approx. US$ 8 , includes breakfast & coffee/tea and you can also rent a motorbike to see the local sites at 150 Baht a day. Can’t beat these rates.

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Nu has planted the sprig and we will see how it grows – this will be the start of our herb garden to give us fresh herbs for cooking.

Traffic was mild and made for a very pleasant trip so far.

Next we headed to Doi Angkhang

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Sawadee Pee Mai    –  Happy New Year

Nu and I want to wish all a very happy and prosperous new year.   Sorry I didn’t make up a fancy graphic or the like  – I still haven’t got my computer working as it should  – at least that’s the excuse I have used so far – it’s hard to admit that maybe I am also a bit lazy. 

Christmas Happenings

Sawadee Khrap

IMG_1078 First on Christmas night we went to dinner at Tusker’s .

We arrived early 4:30 and had a great dinner – met a few friends and then went home to watch a movie.  Here are a couple of other shot I took with my small Canon one-shot.  Sorry I was so hungry I forgot to shot the food.

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Then on Saturday 27th, we went to the Ex-pats Christmas Brunch.  Our friends, Jim, Bert, Lek, Ron were at our table and again we had a great meal – I really stuffed my self, but the food was perfect and and all you could eat – .

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Ciao

Nu’s Update

Sawadee Khrap

Everything seems OK now – the infection of the wisdom tooth is gone and all the stitches from the extraction have been removed.  No more antibiotics are needed.  What a relief.

Nu’s Health Insurance policy has arrived and with it we went down to the hospital for the stomach check – I didn’t expect the cost would be high so we just checked in as usual – not emergency – and wow – the doctor issued medicines, apparently he has a small peptic ulcer   – 1475 Baht — standard out-patient coverage 400 Baht.  Still costing me – next time book in as an emergency – covered up to 1500 Baht.  Live and learn!

But as far as Nu is concerned – they got the stomach under control now and hopefully healing.  Two weeks on the present medicines and back next year for what we hope is a clean check up.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to a great New Year.  I’ll post on our Christmas happenings next.

Ciao

 

Fang guestroom – Nu’s infection continues

Sawadee Khrap

FangGuesthouseNookyJust had lunch with Max – I spoke of him before in posts – he is from Germany and vacations in Thailand about twice a year.  He was telling me about his boyfriend’s (Nooky) guest-house outside of Fang.  Lovely mountain scenes and very peaceful.  I am hoping that Nu and I can drive there next week and check it out and get some pictures.  First I need to have the car checked over but I think I’ll do that on Friday or Saturday. We haven’t had a trip in a long time and it would be a nice mini vacation for us even if it’s only for a day.  Fang is north of Chiang Mai about an hour and half drive – I’ll have a map and recommendations in a future post.

 

Right now Nu is still not feeling well – the wisdom tooth was impacted and he is having trouble with the antibiotics – the first one they gave him attacked his stomach and raised holy hell – the last on seems to be doing the trick now but he has lost several days from school – tomorrow he will go to school but a 5 PM we will go back to the dentist for a cleaning – at lest the newer antibiotic seems to be working and not really upsetting his stomach so far – we will see tonight – Damn – nothing is really smooth – always some thing.

 

Ciao

 

Miss Tiffany Queen 2008

Sawadee Khrap

Here is Nu’s dream – to be “Miss Tiffany” – or at least to be able to be a contestant – he has to be 18 or older so he will have to wait till then – but as you can see by some of my earlier posts he may stand a chance of doing good.

171208_out01This year “Nong Poyd”  Treechada Malayaporn was crowned Miss Tiffany Queen 2008 in Pattaya  – Here’s the Bangkok Post article.

One thing about her that impressed me  immediately is that she is what I would say is “natural”  – not like the typical “katoey” you will find on the streets.

When Nu was in Puket, he did meet her.  Now she is Miss Tiffany – maybe he can too one day –

I’ll see if I can find additional pictures or links and add them here for you to check out.

 

 

Ciao

 

Cable Down – Wisdom out – Democrats in

Sawadee Khrap

Just a clip from Thai-Visa.

Thank God it isn’t the cable to the States – so I still have connections, abet slower now.  It was slow before so this can be really annoying especially in the rush hours  – 8–9 AM and 4–6 PM as they route all traffic through the US cable.  They say until the New Year it could remain cut.

 

Anyway – Nu just had a wisdom tooth removed last night – so needless to say he is in a lot of pain today – we have ice packs on his jaw to reduce the swelling and a lot of Paracetamol.  The antibiotics are helping too.  Cost – can you believe, 2,300 Baht – $67 US – oral surgery, drugs and extraction (1 hr.) – complete with followup.

Sadly, We won’t be at the concert we were planning to film and Phillip’s party which we were set to attend later in the evening tonight, but we will be able to attend and enjoy the special Christmas dinner at Tusker’s Bar and Grill on Christmas Day.  So we are looking forward to that.

 

C1_8378Bangkok Post – And it also appears we may finally have some political stability here in Thailand – appears, but not certain – but a good start at least – time will tell on this.  I really wish them the best of luck – and a Great New Year of stability and change – closer to that “Justice for All” idea.

Ciao

 

City Life Garden party

Sawadee Khrap

Well I had my picture in the local papers again – thought I’d post it here too.

Thanks Chiang Mai Mail – for the writeup.

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CityLife Magazine opened its gardens on the last day of November for their 3rd ‘Garden Party’, held in aid of the Charity Rooftop Party. The event was the biggest so far, with more stalls, more visitors and more money raised than ever before.

I brought the monks from Wat Suan Dok to collect the non-sold clothes for the Lak Teang Project.  Nice article.

Ciao

 

Great Dental work

Sawadee Khrap

My newly fitted lower plate is wonderful – great dental work and a great price. – I did have a minor infection so I have been taking some antibiotics and I am eating anything I like.

Had to take Nu to the hospital yesterday morning – stomach ache again – seem he has an infection and the checked to see if he had appendix problems – X-Ray, Ultrasound, and medicine – out patient stay for the day just to make sure and the whole thing came to just under 4000 Baht – that’s about $120.  He will have a follow up but it seems that it was a minor but annoying problem and now it’s gone.

Does piss me off a little  – we had applied for a health policy and it has not been issued yet – so I had to pay cash – damn – bad timing.  Well on we go.

Ciao