Thai Senses

This semester is finishing in one week. Then, final exams week is coming. I’ve been in Thailand for more than 3 months, and experienced a lot of new things. Those new things used to be new. But after I found the new things, they are not new anymore. Is it a good thing? Of course, yes. It’s exactly a good thing. And there are so many new things around me. That’s why I want to try many things. And that’s why I came here.

I have already experienced some new things in Thailand. And those things became pieces of my mind. Here, I’ll show you 3 examples focused on Thai sense.

 

1. Thai sense of money

   Like I mentioned before several times, everything is very cheap in Thailand. Especially foods. One meal is from 25 to 60 baht, about 150 Japanese yen. 100 baht meals are still cheap, and 200 baht meals are same as “common cheap price” in Japan. I had thought so just after coming here. These days, when I see a menu and the average price of that restaurant is more than 100 baht, how do I feel? Can you guess it? The answer is “I have a special meal today!” When I have more than 100 baht meals, I feel like I am a rich lady.

   

2. Thai sense of taste

   Thai foods are too spicy or too sweet. There is no medium. Before coming here, I couldn’t eat spicy foods. But now I can. Last month, my mother came to Thailand, and we had meals together. She wanted to try Thai foods as many as she could, so she tried a bite of my meals, too. I didn’t feel so much spicy, however she did very much. And she said that my sense of taste has changed.
   Sweets are my favorite. But in Thailand, sweets are too sweet. In the first 3 or 4 weeks, I couldn’t have sweets in Thailand because it is too sweet. Now, I love it, haha. I don’t feel too sweet. They are just sweet.

   

3. Thai sense of time

   For me, when Thai people do something, it always takes very long time. In the beginning, I was so much annoyed at this. When I asked my faculty office to create some documents, when I had a meeting for group discussion, when I moved to somewhere else with Thai people, and when I used public transportations . The officers worked so slowly. The group members were late for the meeting. The Thai people walked very slowly. Traffic jam is a usual thing. However after 3 months, I don’t feel annoyed. These habits are already common for me. And one day, I had to go to the campus for group discussion, which started at 10:00. From my dorm to the campus, it takes more than 15 minutes. I left at 9:55, and I knew I would be late. If it happened in Japan, I felt I should apologize so much. But at this time, I didn’t feel so strongly. It shows me that I’m in Thai time.

   

 

These are just a few examples. But all of this kind of feelings are true. I’m proud of them, because they show that I spent in Thailand for a few months.

Actually I’m worried about one thing. It is about after going back to my country, Japan. Japan is said very busy country, and everything is very expensive. I know I should make myself fitted into Japanese styles, which is my original styles. Because Japanese society doesn’t know Thai society styles. I guess it will be a little bit hard work for me, but I should try hard and I will.

I don’t mean that I should forget these Thai senses. These are valuable experiences, right? I believe I can use them someday in my life.

Same Same in Chiang Mai

Hi! How are you doing? My last weekend was really amazing. I went to north Thailand with my roommate and a Japanese friend. We visited Chiang Mai and Pai. Chiang Mai is said the second biggest city in Thailand, and very famous as a sky-lanterns (Kohm Loy) festival place. Pai is a small village in more north from Chiang Mai. It takes around 3 hours by car from Chiang Mai. And here is famous among backpackers especially from western countries. So we saw many western people in Pai.

In Chiang Mai, I found an interesting thing. For me, the atmosphere in Chiang Mai is similar to the one in Kyoto city. In the beginning, I will introduce a little bit about Kyoto city.

Kyoto, where is my hometown and my favorite city, is very famous. Because Kyoto is an ancient city. It used to be a capital city in very very long time ago. At that time, people built a lot of temples, and have kept those architectures until today. So in Kyoto, you can see the ancient Japanese styles. And many people visit Kyoto for sightseeing not only from inside of Japan, also from foreign countries.

 

Now, I will tell you what I felt in Chiang Mai city compared with Kyoto city.

 

So Many Temples

In Chiang Mai, there are main streets surrounded by one big square street. Many small temples are in the square street. And also in outside of the square, some temples were built.

Kyoto is also famous as “temples city” because so many old temples are there. And most of tourists come to Kyoto for visiting those temples including small ones.

One of the most famous temple in Chiang Mai, Wat Phra That, is located in a mountain called Doi Suthep. This temple’s main spot is this gold monument.

This was so beautiful. When we went there, the weather was perfect. So I think this photo is really beautiful.

Well, have you ever heard Kinkaku-ji temple? This temple is also in Kyoto, and one of the most famous temples. And the color is gold like Wat Phra That. So Wat Phra That reminded me of the famous gold temple in Kyoto.

 

Less High Buildings

In Chiang Mai, I felt the sky is very huge. That was because there are much less high buildings than in Bangkok.

And actually in Kyoto, there are less high buildings. But Kyoto city government create some rules about buildings. To keep the valuable beautiful views in Kyoto city with ancient buildings, they created some rules to limit the height of buildings.

I don’t know Chiang Mai city also has some rules like in Kyoto city, or not. But my feeling in this city is the same because of this views.

 

Ping River

In east side of Chiang Mai city, there is a big river. When we joined the sky lanterns festival, we saw those lanterns from a bridge on Ping River.

And in Kyoto, they also have a big river. It’s called Kamo-gawa River. It is located in east side of Kyoto city. So when I walked along Ping River in Chiang Mai city, I got the similar feeling to when I was by Kamo-gawa River in Kyoto city. It’s interesting, isn’t it?

 

Ancient city

Chiang Mai is an ancient city in Thailand. It used to be a capital of Thailand for about 280 years in 13rd century. 

As I mentioned, Kyoto is an ancient city. It is really interesting thing, right? I think that’s why I felt the same atmosphere in Chiang Mai as in Kyoto.

 

 

These things are what I found in Chiang Mai. Also one of the reasons why I like and miss this city now. If you like or be interested in Kyoto, you like Chiang Mai. You should write “Chiang Mai” on your traveling list. Then, if you find interesting things like this, please share with everyone! Including me 🙂 haha.

Thank you for reading my reports! I’m looking forward to reading yours! See ya.

Japan in Thailand

Hello. As I wrote last time, this is already 4th month in Thailand. I looked back my Thailand life. From my country, Japan, to Thailand, it takes more than 5 hours by plane with a direct service. It’s far. I had guessed I could miss my home country after a few weeks or months in Thailand. But I have not so far. The reason is that I really enjoy myself here with great people. And also, because I know that it is possible in Thailand to fix my homesick by lots of Japanese stuffs or things if I become missing home. Yes, there are so many Japanese things here. I always feel that Thai people really like Japan. I already knew some Japanese company had spread their businesses into South-east Asian countries. However, I hadn’t expected such a lot.

When I went to the nearest shopping mall from my dorm for the first time, I was surprised. Because I found so many Japanese restaurants. I felt like I was in Japan.

 

Sukiya, Yayoiken, Cocoichibanya, Yoshinoya, Pepper Lunch, 8ban-Ramen are in that shopping mall. I was surprised by 8ban-Ramen because it is only in a small part in the middle of Japan. I searched the shop location, and found that they also spread into foreign countries. And it is only in Thailand and Hong Kong! 140 shops in Japan, 121 shops in foreign countries (114 in Thailand). You, Thai guys, are so lucky! Hahaha.

Here is one interesting thing. These Japanese restaurants are grouped in “Cheap and fast food restaurant” in Japan. However in Thailand, those restaurants’ location are look like “rich restaurants area”. And a little bit far from common food court area in that mall. It is interesting for me. Actually, the prices are expensive compared with common meals in Thailand. The average of one common Thai meal price is about 40 baht, and in those restaurants, the average is around 120 baht for one meal. The cheapest one is Ramen, and the price is more than 60 baht. But it is still cheaper prices than in Japan.

The taste is awesome. I expected a little different taste from in Japan, but almost same! And rice is not Thai rice, but Japanese rice. Japanese rice for Japanese meals. Perfect.

 

Japanese restaurants in Thailand are not only by Japanese company, but also by Thai. I already found a lot. Inside of my campus, I have tried a Japanese noodle (Ramen) restaurant, “Hako-Ramen”. “Hako” means a box. I don’t know why it is “Hako”. And they have Ramen, Don-buri and Curry-and-rice. At my first time, I had Shoyu Ramen. Noodle was boiled a little bit too much, but yummy.

In the second time, I had Curry-and-rice. Amazing. I was moved. That was perfectly what I wanted. Curry has a lot of tastes and it depends on countries or areas even inside of one country. But in this restaurant, they copied Japanese curry so well and this is not produced by Japanese company. It’s really amazing, isn’t it? The price was 70 baht. It is much cheaper than in Japanese companies’ restaurant; a little more expensive than other common Thai meals. Anyway, it is super great for me.

 

My favorite thing is Matcha. So I have tried lots of Matcha flavor in Thailand. And I found the best one in Thailand. It is in a cafe in Bangkok, which is named Fuku Matcha. I ordered Matcha latte with Hoji-cha ice cream. Pretty good. Because the taste wasn’t the closest one to the real, rather the real. And also, it says it is from Kyoto, my hometown. I was so excited. 

 

 

In Siam in Bangkok, there are some department stores, and they include ISETAN, which is a big Japanese department company. I’ve not been there yet. My Japanese friend went there and bought a book written in Japanese. ISETAN has Kinokuni-ya book store, one of famous book stores in Japan. I want to read books because I have a lot of free time here, but I didn’t find any Japanese books. So this was good news to me.

 

 

Thai people like Japan, and Japanese companies like Thailand. It is good for Thai people and Japanese people who stay in Thailand like me. That is one of my reasons why I don’t miss home. I can get everything I want even Japanese stuffs. It is kind of strange, but exciting. When you go abroad, I guess you think you don’t need to go to places organized by your home country. However it is also good and interesting thing. You can compare something you’ve not seen with original styles, which you already know, and enjoy finding differences. Try it! Your staying must be more interesting, I think. Have fun 🙂

Chinatown in Thailand

How are you doing? Time flies so fast. It’s already November, the 4th month in Thailand. My friends in Japan told me Japan is already like in winter and very cold. But yesterday, I had ice cream in Thailand. Hahaha. It’s interesting.

Well, this week, I had a free day so I went to Chinatown in Bangkok. Actually this is my second time to visit there. I still remember the first impression about the Chinatown, so I will write about my feelings in first and second time.

 

Chinatowns. There are a lot of it all over the world, and every town has each characteristic, right? In Japan, we have three main Chinatowns. Those three are located in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki, and all of them are near each town’s ports. Of course, cultures in those three Chinatowns are based on Chinese culture, but those were already mixed with Japanese cultures. For example, in Japan, Champon noodle is very famous food from Nagasaki Chinatown. It is one of local foods in Nagasaki although it is a kind of Chinese meals. It’s already Japanese noodle. You can see the mixed culture from this example.

In Bangkok Chinatown, I found some characteristics, too. My first feeling in Bangkok Chinatown is…

“It’s Thailand town.”

Everything in this Chinatown is really like what I had seen as Thai cultures, especially foods sold on the street. My feeling was just like being in night market of Thailand.

I think the reason why I felt so is that the Chinatown is very old and they have mixed Chinese culture and Thai culture since a long time ago. The oldest Chinatown in Japan was founded in 1850s in Nagasaki. On the other hand, the Bangkok Chinatown was founded in 1780s. The older Chinatown is, the more local cultures they could have in the Chinatown.

 

On one of streets, people sell many foods; local Thai foods like in markets, fruits, and some ingredients for cooking. 

I could see that there are not only tourists but also many local people to buy what they need in their life. Actually it surprised me. Because Chinatowns in Japan are almost just sightseeing spots. It is the same in Thailand, too. But I think the Bangkok Chinatown is still in Thai people’s life style. That is good. Tourists also can enjoy to see local people’s life easily.

 

I had lunch in Chinese restaurant located on the main street. It was quite expensive in Thailand. But tasted so much nice. And it was Chinese taste what I had known; not too much Thai style. My favorite one was this.

It is something fried with shrimp. I want to eat it again until leave here in this about 2 months.

 

Well, here is Thai style again. On the road.

Yes, as you can see on these photos, traffic jam. And there is traffic jam all day. Pedestrians have to walk on the narrow streets. In addition, many small shops are on the streets. 

So it is very crowded even in weekdays. This is also an interesting point for me. Thai style streets. I hope you can feel positive like me in this situation when you visit here.

 

In Bangkok Chinatown, you can see local Thai lifestyle. But I recommend to visit here with somebody else, don’t go only by yourself especially girls. Actually it’s a kind of dangerous.

Hope you can enjoy in Bangkok Chinatown and please try to compare with other Chinatown you know. Then, see ya 🙂