Chiang Mai Part III
Oh wells. Shall continue from where I stopped... We are still at Karen Village, I guess... Me, Xinxin and an endless rice padi field...
In front of the entrance to the long neck tribe...
Alas! The legendary women with extraordinary long necks.
She is the woman with the longest neck in the tribe. Meaning she's the prettiest of all.
I had a try on the gold bangles, and it was bloody heavy. I can't imagine having to wear that for the rest of my life. *shakes head*
I was told that the girls from that tribe have to wear the bangles at the age of 5, and one bangle will be added to the girl's neck every year until she's carrying 20 of them.
The day we visited the tribe was also the official opening of the church, which was located at the highest point of the village. You have to walk a rather steep slope to reach it.
After the long neck tribe, our team split up because some of them wanted to play Paintball while some wanna go shopping.
No prize for guessing my preferred activity.
And no prize for guessing how the team was split up.
Anyway, the 6 of us went shopping at the market and then chilled at B-Bloomz - a nice, relaxing and cosy little cafe that offers yummylicious frappes.
Headed back to school and took some photos with the students.
Woohoo! Another yandao. I call him Goalkeeper cos he has a goalkeeper look. *hahah* So cute! =)
The President of my fanclub. I dunno why, but he's like super attached to me. Always try to act cool in front of me, although he's only like 8 years old? I can't remember exactly his age, but he's super young. =)
We then went out with the Thai teachers and some of the students to a place that looks like Chinatown...
Love shopping at Thailand, be it Chiang Mai or Bangkok, cos the things are so cheap! A million thanks to the two pretty Thai teachers, Joy and Ann, for bringing us shopping and showing us around and waiting so patiently for us (cos we spent like an hour in one store that sells accessorises and stationary).
Back at school in a flash.
Lian Jia caught up with me at the staircase just so he could take a photo with me. *hehs*
The next day, I suppose.
Played checkers with these older students, and man, it was so fun! I didnt know checkers can have so many different versions! But I was thrashed badly by the girl whom I forgot her name but know that she's 18 and a very diligent student. So let's just call her...Hardworking.
Anyway, I was thrashed even badly by the guy on the second right, who became a good friend of mine over the days. He was given a nickname by the previous team, called Steven Gerald cos he's good at soccer. So I call him Stevie. Shuai hor?!?! He's like, my favourite lah (*ahem* we all have our own favourite, not just me okie). Oh, I forgot to mention, I won him in one of the games can!!! So happy. *lalalalala*
The guy in white is a Chinese who can't speak/understand Chinese cos he was brought up in Thailand from young. Also another yandao. *heehee* But I still support Stevie. *hah!* Oh, did I mention that Stevie is only 16? Unbelievable. He's like the tallest guy in the whole school and looks mature and he's only 16??!?!?!!!! *tsk tsk*
More Stevie and other yandaos later.
Another day for R & R. This time round we went to Doi Pui and Doi Suthep. Just normal sightseeing. But because the villages were high up in the mountains, the car ride up was long and brrrrrr cold. But the scenery was worth the dizzy ride.
Dunno how I ended up with them, but ya, that's the other group that I'm referring to. But I have to say, one or two of them are okie. They actually helped us alot on our wall murals. So many thanks to John, Fizah and Moiz. =)
What a coincidence. I merely turned around while walking and saw this car and the carplate number. It's exactly the same as my house telephone number. So amazing.
Saw an injured but very beautiful moth on the ground.
Our next destination was to visit a temple at Doi Suthep, if I'm not wrong.
That's the long long staircase we climbed in order to reach the temple. There is actually an elevator beside it, but you'll have to pay to ride it. So we chose the FOC way. And I will no longer complain about the NIE library staircase after climbing this one.
Oh the view from the top was breathtaking. The tiring climb was definitely worth it. =)
The golden pagoda that is still under construction. But nevertheless, it is magnificent already. Can't imagine its grandeur when everything's done.
Time for dinner! I forgot how the entire team got split up again, but luckily I was with my own group of babes. *hehs* Who needs the rest?
Dinner at Black Canyon Coffee was yummy. I ordered American Fried Rice, and my eggyolk is in a love shape! All of them fought to take a photo of it, cos it is a rare sight. =)
After dinner, we headed to Walking Street for more shopping. The place is humongous lah! The entire street was buzzed with shoppers, vendors, tourists, locals and all sorts of products. I forgot what I bought, but I bought a lot. *hehs*
The next day was also a free day for all of us, because the school brought the students to another school in Lumpang for competition, and we were invited to join them.
There's drawing, cooking, aerobics and dancing competitions. All the participants were disabled, like hearing impaired, mentally inclined, on wheelchairs etc. But they all shone brightly during that day, because they were able to do something you and I can't do.
Like drawing...
Cooking...
I've tried this dish before, and it's uber nice. The skin's like our soon kueh here, and the fillings are mostly pork and shrimp. Something like hey bee hiam.
The principal later enthusiastically invited us to a university, where there was a carnival going on.
We walked around randomly and came across this bu qi yan stall that was surrounded by many children.
It turned out that the auntie was making pancakes but it was something you'll never get to see in Singapore. The auntie is super talented lah! She can draw many different cartoons and turn them all to edible, tasty pancakes that even McDonald has to kowtow to her, at least in my opinion lah. And the best part? One pancake only costs 5 baht, which is around 20 cents. *gawks*
On the way back.
An uncomfortable ride cos tall me had to crunch low at the back of the school van. And because it wasnt airconditioned, we left the back door open so we wouldnt die from lack of ventilation. But then again, the air from outside was pretty bad. By the end of the 2 hour ride, I felt my nostrils are blocked with pisai. Still, it was an experience that the other 8 people would never get to have because they were all seated comfortably in a mini school bus. Heaven is soooo fair.
Enough of play. Time to get started on our wall murals. The basic drawings were up, and what was left were the Thai words. And Stevie came to help me! *muahaha*
Concurrently, Eleanor conducted the kite workshop that proved to be the most popular art workshop of all. All the students, whether they are down for art lessons or not, dropped by the art room and began to make kites for themselves, meanwhile using up all our materials. *tsk tsk*
Back to wall mural painting. Erm, I think we were waiting for paintbrushes, so we spent the time role-playing. *hehs*
Me as the teacher, Eleanor and President as my students. *hah!*
Xinxin's turn to role play. And I'm so fit to be a teacher, right?!?! *hahah* I looked so qian da.
Oh, more helpers!
I was on my way to the art room when Stevie asked me to look up, and I saw this.
The boys were flying kites at the rooftop lah! No wonder Eleanor was so angry that her kites were missing. So I asked Stevie to bring me up so I can take some pictures.
My 21-year-old peer and his kite.
The labour of the art team and many many students... we were almost halfway through. Mind you, we painted 8 walls with the theme of Life Cycles, cos the school wanted the drawings to be science-related.
And mind you again, the art team proved the leaders and his cronies wrong by successfully completed all the drawings, paintings and washing up WITHOUT any of their help. So yes, it was a huge sense of achievement.
And thank YOU for stupidly throwing the scrubs at me. That was a huge motivation for me to strive to get everything done sui sui. Not for you, but for the school and the students. And oh ya, we didnt go out at all until we have finished all our work. Unlike you and your cronies. That's why I didnt get to buy my soft toys. So, thank you very much.
(I didnt get to take our final masterpieces, which are all nicely touched up. Still waiting for someone to give me her photos... So make do with what I have here...)
At night, we spent the time rehearsing with the students for their puppet presentation. Btw, the props that you see were all handmade by the students and us.
KK posing with my specs. He's quite good-looking you know, but tsk tsk, he's feminine. I got another hao jie mei! =)
This dalmatian followed one of us into the school and refused to leave. Heard that it went into the guys' room and slept with them for the night. *shakes head*
posted by happiejacie at
5:41 pm
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