BKK Murals

Today I woke up, had some hot coffee, listened to "Impressions" by John Coltrane and checked out an art gallery in downtown Bangkok near National Stadium.

Here are some murals on display:

Bangkok City

Photos from Chinatown and downtown Bangkok, 6/10/2552

Myanmar visa run

Today I took a van to Messei (the northernmost point of Thailand) to reach the border of Myanmar for a visa extension.

The van driver only gave us an hour to go through immigration, cross the border, complete the whole procedure, and then come back. So I was in a rush, but made it happen.

Last month I met a guy from Oslo, Norway. He has been traveling for about 10 months; before Chiang Mai he spent time at an intensive meditation retreat in India.

We share a similar taste in music, and he ended up exchanging a lot of music (so I had a lot of new stuff to listen to on the van ride). He gave me some really good Scandinavian / European / American metal, jazz, folk, rock etc. Among the highlights are:

FAITH NO MORE, JOHN COLTRANE, EMPEROR, OPETH, DEATH (discography), JIM STARK, KAADA, KAADA / PATTON, BACH, DEAD KENNEDYS, AT THE GATES, etc. I especially like the albums "Individual Thought Patterns", "Symbolic", and Coltrane "First Meditations"

I move out of my apartment tomorrow, and then I'm headed to BKK on an all-night bus. Earlier this month I had a conversation with my Thai neighbor as she was leaving. She is a traveling nurse that relocates all over northern Thailand. Mostly she works with Burmese people and refugees in Thailand who are victims of landmines on the border of Myanmar.

I'm finishing up my time here in Chiang Mai. I feel good, confident that I'm making the right decision at this point in my life; but there are many things I will miss about Chiang Mai (riding my motorbike around the city, Northern Thai food, Lanna music school, my amazing students at AUA Chiang Mai, etc). I will always remember my time here, and I'm happy to be returning to California.

Transitions

Tomorrow I will have my final piano recital at Lanna Music school.

I'll be performing Chopin and Rachmaninoff pieces (Etude in F minor, Revolutionary 10-12, and Etude 3 No. 2 in C sharp minor) alongside some really promising young Thai musicians like Nong June and Nong Fang.

This will be the last recital before I return to California, and before my music teacher Kruu Jeab moves to a new music school (after 12 years at Lanna).

This is definitely a turning point in my life. I taught my last weekday term at AUA Chiang Mai yesterday. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to teach these students. They are so bright, energetic, and joyful. My J2, L5 and L7 classes this term were awesome. I will always remember them.

I have mixed feelings, but overall I feel a sense of accomplishment, content with what I have and have done and ready to face what the future holds.

(Photo: Wat Rong Khun, Chiang Rai, Thailand)

Wat Suan Dok

Yesterday morning I went to Wat Suan Dok on Suthep Road. Vivid white clouds shifted in the striking blue sky as I walked past the tombs of ancient royalty of the Lanna Kingdom.

An old monk in an orange robe led me into the temple. We selected two yellow candles wrapped with a paper scrawled with a prayer in Thai.

The monk asked me where I was from (his assumption was Germany) and then asked for the names of my parents and my family. He inscribed my family name on the candles in the ancient Lanna language.

The sky has been bright blue during most days the month of August this year, with giant pure white clouds.

But out of nowhere, it usually starts to pour rain on most days - tropical rain for about 10 to 15 minutes - which stops as abruptly as it begins.

The rain also localizes to certain areas - for example, the rain may have stopped near Nimmanhaemin while it's still pouring in the old city.

The electrical systems of Chiang Mai have been having a lot of problems these days. After a brief downpour of rain, the traffic lights at major intersections often go out. Occasionally a policeman jumps into the intersection to restore some semblance of order, blaring a whistle and giving directions by hand while the traffic backs up - but other times it's complete chaos, especially when the power goes out on the traffic lights at busy junctions like the intersection of Suthep and Canal Road.

This month was the birthday of the Queen - a major Thai national holiday. Her birthday is associated with the color blue, so there are still blue flags flying high next to most Thai national flags. The week of her birthday Huay Kaew street was draped with a canopy of cascading lights, which was very beautiful while cruising by on my motorbike.

8/6

I just finished watching an interview with NEUROSIS on Swedish TV, and now I’m listening to Sigur Rós Ágætis Byrjun in my room.

This is a short break in between terms; I’ve been cruising around on my orange motorbike through the city, making some progress on the piano, and reading.

Driving down a busy road today I saw an anubahn baby Thai girl and her mother sitting inside a makeshift metal side-car crudely fastened with a few bolts to a motorcycle the father was driving. The baby girl was sitting in a small plastic chair not secured to anything, not wearing a helmet. It looked so dangerous!

My music teacher is going to be moving from Lanna Music to a new school in late September, and today I checked it out for the first time. It’s close to the Ping River, near the Nawarat Bridge. This is where Atsuko Seta – an incredible pianist from Osaka, Japan currently living in Chiang Mai – occasionally teaches master classes.

The performance room doubles as a Tae Kwon Do studio, with walls covered with full-length mirrors, padded floors, and Thai and Korean flags displayed prominently above the windows.

I practiced Debussy on the Yamaha baby grand piano. The delicate feel and dynamics of this piece are polar opposite to the dark intensity of Rachmaninoff Op. 3 No. 2; but I like the contrast.

(Photo: R. Zoey Setiawan)

Wat (Under Construction)

This is a temple currently being renovated near the 3 Kings Monument in Chiang Mai.

121

I'm listening to Miles Davis Milestones live in Berlin 1964. Lanna Music just closed, and I had some fresh kaow neo and mu ping from the vendor on Soi 8. The vendor's son used to always be in the neighborhood, but he was drafted to become a soldier and he's already gone to a new city.

I feel like I am gradually gaining a better understanding of the wider geography of Chiang Mai. Last week I took a motorbike adventure north on the superhighway up north to Mae Joe Plow. It was sprinkling rain in the morning. I was able to confirm my directions using basic Thai. Then I took a bike ride down Canal Road 121, riding around the lake as the clouds transformed from white to dark gray. Last night I rode across Suthep and went south on canal road and came back up to Sirimankalajarn past midnight.

The traffic can really be a headache sometimes, especially on busy roads like Nimmanhaemin. The traffic flows continuously and nobody slows down or stops to let you in if you are trying to merge into another lane or cross the street. It's extremely dangerous, especially with motorbikes bombing down the street without being aware of their surroundings.

Even if there were more traffic lights I don't think it would really solve the problem, because the red lights here seem to be the equivalent of yellow lights in the States, and even the police officers run them all the time.

On Huay Kaew the songtaews are the cause of most of my stress. The large red trucks belch smog and drive slowly, drifting into and out of lanes and occasionally driving into the middle of the street, stopping abruptly and without warning. Meanwhile motorcycles and the regular flow of traffic swarms around the red cars.

I'm going back to Sirimankalajarn to have a cold Singha and read Bukowski.

(Photos: R. Zoey Setiawan)

View of Doi Suthep - Day and Night

This is the view of Wat Doi Suthep during the day and at night. The view is looking west out from my apartment on Sirimankalajarn.

Today skies were blue and it was warm during the morning. I got some coffee, jumped on my motorbike and cruised over to Lanna Music school. I practiced Rachmaninoff Op. 3 No. 2 through until the end and then took a break. Suddenly gray clouds started closing in and it started pouring rain, out of nowhere.

I went back to practice for another hour, and then rode out of the old city to Nimmanhaemin Soi 17 for my favorite kwoi tio tom yam gai noodle soup at Khun Mor. I had a cold Singha and listened to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew.

Op. 3 No. 2

I'm taking a short break from practicing Rachmaninoff's Op. 3. No. 2 at Lanna Music school. I am about three-quarters through the sheet music (which can be a headache to read, with all the accidentals). I love the contrast in dynamics and the rising tension to massive, crushing chords.

The music is extremely intense. I've been listening to interpretations by a Russian pianist and a Japanese woman pianist. Both have tremendous grace and power.

I'm still putting the finishing touches on Chopin's Nocturne in F Minor. The arpeggios towards the end are the most challenging part.

It's rainy season again, so it's been pouring rain in Chiang Mai. I went to the temple across from AUA to purchase some hot cappacino from my favorite Sunday Walking Street vendor, which warmed me up.

There are traffic jams on Huay Kaew and Nimmanhaemin, because a Buddhist holiday is approaching and many Thais from other provinces are coming to visit the Lanna Kingdom. So riding a motorbike is a headache.

I just finished reading Miles Davis' autiobiography "Miles" for the second time. I deeply admire his conviction, and respect his outlook on life and music, his dedication to constant artistic and creative evolution.

I started a new book by neurologist Oliver Sachs about the correlation between music and mental and psychological processes.

I'm teaching 2 Level 5 classes, 2 Level 8 classes, and a Level 12 class (the most advanced level I've taught yet) at AUA Chiang Mai. The students are very sharp and motivated.

(Photo: R. Zoey Setiawan)

Pai

The environment is always different every time I go to Pai, Mae Hong Son. The soil, rice paddies, mountains, and cloud formations all change with the seasons. The majestic clouds on the horizon even change depending on the time of day.

Zoey and I went to Coffee in Love, sipped espresso and sat overlooking the incredible view. A blanket of gray clouds covered the horizon, and an island of snow white clouds hovered in the sky. A veil of rain was transparent in the distance.

I read a chapter in Kerouac's Dharma Bums - he was scaling the Matterhorn with 2 of his friends.

We rented a Honda motorbike. It rode so smoothly through the rolling hills and countryside of Mae Hong Son. With Zoey on the back of the bike, we rode for about 20km past Pai Canyon, World War II Bridge, and to the temple on the hill.

This is where my friend Khun Alex from Stockholm, Sweden taught me to ride - and ever since, Mae Hong Son has been by far my favorite place to explore on a motorbike (gorgeous surroundings, and nowhere near as hectic as Chiang Mai city traffic).

We stopped at an art commune built into the surrounding nature; Thelonious Monk's “Straight No Chaser” was playing on old speakers. Paintings were displayed on the walls, including my favorite - a human figure huddled in the middle of a swirling red vortex.

As night descended we rode in the dark to the Chinese village. Eventually the night became pitch black and we could only see into the distance as far as the headlights, so we headed home. Crickets sang peacefully as we drifted off to sleep in our cabin inside the small town of Pai.

In the morning we had fresh coffee, eggs, and toast at the Muslim bakery and talked before taking one last cruise around Pai.




Currently listening to:

Beethoven - Emperor
Scriabin - Preludes
Rachmaninoff - Etudes

(Photos: R. Zoey Setiawan)

Wat Umong

We took a songtaew to Wat U Mong to the east of the old city, a site that a monk from Laos described to me as the “forest temple”. The whole environment was much different from how I remember it from the dry season. Everything was lush and green, and jakkajahn insects no longer shrieked up in the trees.

Walking along the winding paths, we paused to read passages of Buddhist wisdom inscribed onto the trees. We continued through centuries-old tunnels with a damp musky smell leading to Buddha images surrounded with incense. Finally, we went to a pond where we fed popcorn and bread to the catfish and turtles.

Wat Rong Khun

Finally, we went to Wat Rong Khun. It is famous all throughout Thailand, and I have been so anxious to see it.

It is one of the most epic works of art I have ever seen; unlike any other temple in Thailand. Every aspect of its construction is symbolic of human existence, from hellish despair and suffering to ultimate enlightenment.

The artist has been designing and building it for 12 years straight, and it's still a work in progress.

He considers it his life's work...he has provided a vast majority of the funding from his own finances, and even lives right outside the temple in one of the adjacent structures.

He claims that he will continue working on the project until his dying breath. He has even trained a group of disciples to follow on in his style on this and similar projects in the future after his death.

He has set a timeline until 2070 for all his plans...he wants to create 8 similar temples around the area.

Mae Salong

We continued northeast towards Myanmar to a town called Mae Salong, a village of Chinese settlers who cultivate tea. The lush rolling green hills were spectacular, especially as the transparent mist of cool rain hovered over the mountains.

We sat down at a local tea shop, sheltered from the rain. I spoke Thai to the Chinese woman who was eager to pour us all kinds oolong, jasmine, and local Mae Salong tea. We sipped hot tea in the rainy morning air.

Chiang Rai

We took a van to Chiang Rai. We got off near a market, where we walked around and explored. All of the fruit in Thailand is ripe this time of year, and the local “lang ley” Chiang Rai pineapples were sweet and delicious.

We continued on through the streetside markets of Chiang Rai. A woman was slicing up a durian on the side of the street, and I bought some. We split it up and shared it amongst ourselves, and then gave the rest to a woman begging on the side of the street.

As dusk fell we walked towards the Chiang Rai night bazaar. It was not very crowded, but many merchants were still out selling fresh food.

Gray rain clouds began to close in on us. We bought some som tam and even a hot pot, which we put in the middle of the table, adding vegetables and raw meat and making a delicious soup that kept us warm in the raging thunder storm.