February 6th was Bruce’s birthday. He celebrated by arising in the dark, at 5:30am, and, map in hand, making his way across the Nakon Ping Bridge and along the Mae Ping River to the Empress Hotel (former location of the British Embassy). There, a crowd of Americans was gathering to watch the Super Bowl game. Naturally, Bruce wanted to watch the New England Patriots, if possible. He had been pleased to learn from a fellow passenger on the van to Mae Sai (see previous post) that there were at least a couple of venues opening very early in order to broadcast the game LIVE from Indianapolis. Sadly, as you all know by now, the Patriots lost – and to Bruce’s frustration, there were religious presentations made at half time. Quite a contrast to Madonna’s performance, needless to say!
Later in the morning, Bruce had hoped to get the paperwork done for our visa application to India. Another frustrating situation. Apparently the office at the Indian Embassy processes these applications only at certain hours on certain days – and it requires all but your first-born child. (Just today, after leaving our passports with the Indian embassy folks for a week and paying a total of $300, we got our visas for India!)
A sports bar where the Super Bowl will be shown - not the Empress Hotel!
US Embassy along the Mae Ping River (Bruce would have passed it on his way to the Empress)
Happily, Bruce's birthday dinner in the evening was great! Even though the setting was not as wonderful as we’d imagined after reading about it on-line - on a tiny little soi, about 3 feet from passing pedestrians and motor scooters scooting by, with a tablecloth that had seen quite a few diners already and music that was rather blaring at first - despite all of this, we loved it! The food was FANTASTIC and the service was efficient and friendly. The music got better and soon we didn’t notice the tablecloth. It was a small place with about 4 tables on one side of the soi and 4 on the other side. The wait staff would dash back and forth. Most of the diners seemed to be quiet Western couples of a certain age, perhaps ex-pats who knew a good thing.
What follows is meant for the foodies among you. We began with an order of fresh spring rolls and a pomelo salad. Pomelos are a large grapefruit-like fruit that we have fallen in love with here in Thailand. This salad was so delicious that the memory will leave our mouths watering for a very long time! It had a warm dressing of ground cashews, lemon-grass, garlic, and an itsy bit of red pepper (maybe other ingredients). Fabulous. Bruce went outside of his usual pad thai range and ordered a spicy beef salad which he enjoyed, and I ordered pineapple and cashew fried rice with cherry tomatoes that was unusual and yummy. Of course, red wine for me and a Chang beer for Bruce. This was a celebration, after all.
Bruce's birthday dinner
After dinner we walked back across the moat that surrounds the old city, where the resto is located, and down Prince Street, across the Nakon Ping Bridge along Narawat Road to Bud’s (love the name), an ice cream place that advertises its roots as being in San Francisco. They also display a quote from Time magazine, touting their ice cream as the best in the world! Wow! Who would have thought? Have those Time folks tasted Beals? Bud’s in Chiang Mai is pretty unpretentious-looking – and very western, with bright lights and “air con” and formica table tops. Think Friendly’s. Quite a contrast to our dinner spot. I really appreciated the glass of water that arrived without asking – just like at home. Bruce’s one-scoop cone of espresso ice cream and my lime sherbet (with bits of authentic rind) were delish and a perfect ending for a 69th birthday. We wonder how we’ll celebrate his big 7-0 next year (God willing). Yikes!
Bud's of San Francisco Ice Cream - in Chiang Mai!
Later in the morning, Bruce had hoped to get the paperwork done for our visa application to India. Another frustrating situation. Apparently the office at the Indian Embassy processes these applications only at certain hours on certain days – and it requires all but your first-born child. (Just today, after leaving our passports with the Indian embassy folks for a week and paying a total of $300, we got our visas for India!)
A sports bar where the Super Bowl will be shown - not the Empress Hotel!
US Embassy along the Mae Ping River (Bruce would have passed it on his way to the Empress)
Happily, Bruce's birthday dinner in the evening was great! Even though the setting was not as wonderful as we’d imagined after reading about it on-line - on a tiny little soi, about 3 feet from passing pedestrians and motor scooters scooting by, with a tablecloth that had seen quite a few diners already and music that was rather blaring at first - despite all of this, we loved it! The food was FANTASTIC and the service was efficient and friendly. The music got better and soon we didn’t notice the tablecloth. It was a small place with about 4 tables on one side of the soi and 4 on the other side. The wait staff would dash back and forth. Most of the diners seemed to be quiet Western couples of a certain age, perhaps ex-pats who knew a good thing.
What follows is meant for the foodies among you. We began with an order of fresh spring rolls and a pomelo salad. Pomelos are a large grapefruit-like fruit that we have fallen in love with here in Thailand. This salad was so delicious that the memory will leave our mouths watering for a very long time! It had a warm dressing of ground cashews, lemon-grass, garlic, and an itsy bit of red pepper (maybe other ingredients). Fabulous. Bruce went outside of his usual pad thai range and ordered a spicy beef salad which he enjoyed, and I ordered pineapple and cashew fried rice with cherry tomatoes that was unusual and yummy. Of course, red wine for me and a Chang beer for Bruce. This was a celebration, after all.
Bruce's birthday dinner
After dinner we walked back across the moat that surrounds the old city, where the resto is located, and down Prince Street, across the Nakon Ping Bridge along Narawat Road to Bud’s (love the name), an ice cream place that advertises its roots as being in San Francisco. They also display a quote from Time magazine, touting their ice cream as the best in the world! Wow! Who would have thought? Have those Time folks tasted Beals? Bud’s in Chiang Mai is pretty unpretentious-looking – and very western, with bright lights and “air con” and formica table tops. Think Friendly’s. Quite a contrast to our dinner spot. I really appreciated the glass of water that arrived without asking – just like at home. Bruce’s one-scoop cone of espresso ice cream and my lime sherbet (with bits of authentic rind) were delish and a perfect ending for a 69th birthday. We wonder how we’ll celebrate his big 7-0 next year (God willing). Yikes!
Bud's of San Francisco Ice Cream - in Chiang Mai!
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