We Love You, Chiang Mai! – Part 1

We’ve been in Thailand for going on 3 months and are now in Chiang Mai. We started in Patong, Phuket (during the Covid-19 Sandbox) and stayed there for just over 6 weeks; we really loved it there, especially the water, but it was really humid and hot (plus, we were acclimatizing). But by the end of our stay, we were ready to move on.

Then we went to Bangkok where we stayed for 3 weeks. We’re not city people, and while we certainly didn’t *dislike* Bangkok, neither were we overly fond of it. There’s a lot to see and do, and we did and saw a lot! We especially liked Chinatown and Lumphini Park 🙂 But we were glad to move on.

So we came to Old City, Chiang Mai, and it felt like coming home.

It’s charming and quaint and quiet, but there’s always some activity. It’s busy in some spots, but not noisy. There’s a lot you can do, or you can just relax and wander or bicycle around. It’s friendly and laid-back and just wonderful.

Plus, you can’t walk anywhere without coming across a vegetarian/vegan restaurant nearby!

Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, we love you, Chiang Mai!!

Blogging Notes and Self Care

We arrived in Chiang Mai on December 14, and right now it’s Dec 27.

I am so tremendously late and behind in recording our days and writing these posts, but it’s sort of on purpose…we’ve decided not to focus so much on the blog. And that decision has had a very positive effect on our lives!

I do like writing these posts and I think they’re a great record of our journey that, sometime in the future, we’ll enjoy looking back at. We also hope that some readers may find them amusing at the least, and helpful in some way at best.

However, I’ve also found it quite stressful, feeling as if I *have* to post at a certain time, at a certain frequency, etc. etc. Any structure has been self-imposed, but it’s hard for me to not do that. It actually takes a surprising amount of time to finish a blog post…there is a *lot* more to blogging than either of us knew! Even with Wayne helping with photo organization, it’s time-consuming and, honestly, a lot of the time there’s other stuff we’d rather be doing.

So, we decided not to worry so much about it all. I’ll still write posts, but they won’t necessarily be weekly, or in perfect chronological order. And I’m fine with that! Being able to release the pressure I put on myself has been great for both of us, and is allowing me to enjoy the time that I actually do spend writing.

As I mentioned, it’s now the 27th of December and I honestly don’t know when I’ll finish this post….but that’s fine.

The Baba Pim Villa, Chiang Mai

So, when we arrived in Chiang Mai we stayed at a small guest house in the Old City, the Baba Pim Villa, for 5 days. It’s an adorable spot that surrounds a cute courtyard where you can have meals or just sit and enjoy the birds.

We had a private room and bathroom (although we had to leave our bedroom to get to our toilet and sink, which was just next door); the shower was in our room. It was nice but dark: painted dark grey and only one window close to the ground. We knew that when we booked it, but still, neither of us enjoyed it too much. I actually had headaches for much of the time, possibly from straining to see the computer and phone (there wasn’t a whole lot in the way of electric lighting either).

We didn’t take any photos of our room. The Baba Pim is an awesome and amazing little spot and you can’t beat the price, but we did learn that a well-lit, bright room is not just a preference for us; it’s a priority.

On the plus side, it was very clean, and (surprisingly to us) very quiet! And you couldn’t beat the location. The owners were friendly and absolutely great to deal with, and they made the most delicious avocado sandwich and salad you could imagine! We highly recommend them!

The Fuji Apartment

While we stayed at the Baba Pim we looked for a spot we could book for a month…and we found it in a day!

The Fuji Apartment is the best spot we possibly could have picked! It’s located in the Old City and is only a 5-minute walk to both The Vegan Society Cafe and Restaurant and the Nong Buak Haad Public Park, a green space with ponds, koi, cats, outdoor gym equipment, and a very affordable Thai massage!

Our building is off the main road, backs onto a large green space, and sits alongside another green space, so is incredibly quiet except for the birds. And there are so many birds!

It’s awesome! We’re on the top (second) floor, we have a kitchenette with a sink, and have access to a microwave, fridge, dishes and a washing machine downstairs.

Our apartment is incredibly bright and spacious, we have a tub (!!!) as well as a separate room for a toilet. We honestly could not be happier here.

Nikki’s Horrible-to-Amazing Hair Experience, and the Olaplex Christmas Miracle!

On Christmas Eve, I coloured my hair. It had been 12 weeks, the same as last time I coloured it. And according to my roots it was definitely due! I’d brought my usual Herbatint 10N dye from home and everything went as normal.

Now, my hair had been getting a bit crunchy, split, really frizzy and definitely not shiny, but it wasn’t horrible – although it sounds it when it’s written! I’ve been blaming the state of my hair on the weather and possibly the water. When I rinse out the dye I lost a fair bit of hair, which is normal for when I colour it. However, I left the bathroom telling Wayne that this would be my last dye because I think it’s damaging my hair too much.

Fast forward an hour when it was dried: I love my blonde hair! I immediately change my mind, declare that I’ll be blonde forever, and decide to actually start moisturizing and masking my hair (ie/ take care of it instead of just ignoring it, which is all I’ve been doing).

Anyway, bump ahead two days to the 27th. I’ve purchased bananas, avocado and coconut milk for a DIY hair mask (I’m still trying to find a vegan one I can buy). My hair is more tangly and broken than I can remember it ever being. The splits are horrible, and it feels like straw. I am incredibly not happy.

I make my fruity mask and apply it, wait an hour, then wash and rinse it out (with beer, too! I’m going all out, here) and then condition it…except, my conditioner doesn’t work. My wet hair feels like a clumped together matted pile of fur. So I recondition it…same result. I can barely run my fingers through, and when I try to comb it, I feel hairs breaking.

I sort-of-panic. Not tremendously, but yes, it’s a panic. At this point, I’m positive I’ve ruined my hair; it will never recover, I’ll have to cut it and then possibly get a pixie. I never want another pixie! Yes, I’m spiralling over my hair. But, it’s my hair! I’ve been growing it for years, and it helps me feel like Me when it’s long and blonde and healthy.

This, of course, leads to a mad research-fest, in which I re-discover Olaplex. By re-discover, I mean read about it again…I’ve never used it before since I thought it was too expensive (ie/ I was too cheap) to try, and my hair was never *this* bad.

But, now it is *that* bad. I find a hair salon a 20-minute drive away that does Olaplex treatments and booked an appointment for that night. We cancelled our supper plans, had a bite from the fridge, and called a Grab.

The salon, Duo HairStation Chiang Mai, was awesome! I laid down (no chairs here for your wash!), put my head in the sink, and got my wash and Olaplex treatment. Afterwards, they blowdried my hair and I got a bit of a trim.

And my hair is Amazing! Silky and untangled and unfrizzy and remarkably healthy looking! When I hold up the ends, I only see the very, very occasional split…definitely nothing like before. I feel like a Clairol hair model!

Olaplex works, people. I’m a raging convert. Is it expensive? Yes. It cost 2000 baht (just over $76 CAD), and that was a sale from the normal 3000 baht! The trim was an additional 400 baht, around $15 CAD (for an amazing job!)

As a side-note, you don’t *have* to do a salon Olaplex, although it’s the most intensive. You can get maintenance types of Olaplex to do at home for far cheaper, and I probably will. My hair was so fragile that I didn’t want to wait, and the professional Olaplex is definitely the strongest.

This experience was more than I’ve ever spent on my hair in my life in one sitting, and I don’t regret it a bit. My self-confidence was approaching an all-time low, and I’m finally learning to make self-care a priority. Yay me!

And Yay Wayne, who is so incredibly supportive and loving and encouraging as I work on myself to become the most feminine and embodied me I can be, for me and for us!

Miscellaneous: Hospitals, Gyms and Bikes

Wayne’s Eye Issue

If you follow our Facebook page you may have seen the post where we went to the hospital; if not, here it is again!

Wayne’s eye had been bothering him (a bit of a “feeling”, and a lot of floaters) for around 6 weeks, and he finally mentioned it to me at the end of our Bangkok stay. So, we queried the good folk of Facebook to find a good ophthalmologist and took a grab in the morning. After a bit of a mix-up where we realized we were in the wrong hospital building, one of the staff got us a taxi which took us to the correct spot.

The hospital is very large, modern and clean, and the staff are wonderful!

We didn’t have an appointment, but we only had to wait a couple of hours to see an ophthalmologist. After a battery of tests, she discovered that Wayne’s vitreous had detached from his retina. Luckily, his retina hadn’t torn! He has horribly bad eyesight so that’s always a concern. Anyway, nothing to be done but keep an eye on it. She booked him an appointment for a month later for a recheck.

Total cost: 2000 baht (the same as my Olaplex hair treatment!!!)

In the 2 weeks since we’ve been his eye has improved dramatically…he only notices it now when his eyes are tired. Yay!

The Gym

After far, far too long, we’ve finally joined a gym!

The ABSolute Gym is only a 15-ish minute walk from our apartment. It’s very clean and modern and full of awesome equipment. We’re so happy we joined since we’ve both been feeling like we’ve lost a lot in the physical fitness category. I know I’ve lost muscle mass (yes, I did have some!) and I sure can’t do the weight that I was doing when I left home.

Anyway, we’re going around 3 times a week, and hopefully will feel fitter soon!

And that’s it for this post! (It’s the 1st of January, btw). Even slowing down with the blog, I find all the photos overwhelming, and honestly, I’ve had enough for now.

I’ll maybe try to do the Christmas Eve & New Years’ round-up in the coming week, then I’ll do part 2 of this post, which (warning you now) will be photo-heavy because it’ll be photos of the Old City, and we’ve got a pile.

We absolutely love it here! (Did I mention that?)

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season, and wishing you all an amazing New Year!