CHIANG MAI, THAILAND • OLD TOWN, PART 3

So, obviously we took a little break from the moat hopping. What can we say, things got busy, fast. This past weekeng Becca stayed the night with us and since she's been short on photos of downtown, we picked it back up, this time venturing to the east side of the moat and starting at Wat Phra Singh.

Wat Phra Singh was one of the first Buddhist temples that I visited when I moved here. I hadn't been back since, and this time there was more time to spare. Of all the temples I've seen, I would say this one has the best gardens and the most color around its grounds. We saw so much orange that our eyes hurt, and so much green that I felt like I was hiking.

After the temple tour, we headed down the main street and stopped at Akha Ama café for a pick me up and some A/C. I'd heard about this place as the best place to go in Chiang Mai for coffee, and of course, I didn't even order coffee. Becca's macchiato was good, but I had a peach tea. Either way, there's motivation to go again.

We wandered tither and thither, passing the Chiang Mai police station, seeing plenty of pretty homes and cool patterns. The moat is full of 'em. We checked out another wat, a few hipster stores and discovered a beautiful little guesthouse called Inn Oon Chiang Mai. I may be booking a room there soon. Absolutely adorable, affordable, and the owner loves to speak Thai with foreigners. Check!

We finally stopped for lunch at Jane's Kitchen, a healthy restaurant about a block in from the moat. Jane's was cute and fresh, the owner had switched summers with a friend and was covering her restaurant in NYC while her friend relaxingly ran her café in Chiang Mai. Talk about a set up. This place was simple. Becca ordered the Green Goddess juice and a panini, and I had the Funky Monkey smoothie (SO much peanut butter) and "The Special," a delicious plate of fresh vegetables and soft-boiled eggs. We then proceeded to haggle a songtaew driver down to 30 baht for a cross-town ride. All in all a pretty good hop, and it didn't rain until we were through!

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND • RUSTIC & BLUE

A little while ago I had a birthday. It seems that the trend for my birthday (which I am by no means complaining about) is dinner and a movie. That happened again this year, but in a new country, with friends I had met all in the past twelve months, and fresh everything. Fresh food, fresh fruit, fresh flowers. You betcha.

Katie did a lot of the planning so that much of this was a surprise to me. We headed to Rustic & Blue for dinner, enjoying the beautiful flower arrangement they provided for our table. The place was airy and bright, the backyard filled with cute tables and teepees. Yes, teepees. This place does all of it's food farm-to-table so you know it's local and it's fresh.

To start off I ordered a mocktail and some others followed suit. Katie's was a fruity thing, I think it was cranberry? Mine was kinda like a mint frappe. Any drink is always better in a stemmed glass, and you only turn 24 once, right? Then the ordering of food began. I took a few pictures, but Rustic & Blue's extensive menu changes on the reg, so I couldn't even begin to capture all that they offer. There was the Rustic Warm Brie Salad, the Duck Fries and the Waffle Bacon Burger. I ordered and aboslutely adored the Pumpkin Gnocchi with Local Sausage. I hope they bring that one back soon. Spicy and delicious.

Not only did the staff arrange flowers for us, but once we had finished eating, one of our servers headed to the fridge to bring out the flower crown they gave me as well as a beautiful creme tart with fresh fruit and nuts.

This place was the perfect birthday spot, and I am looking forward to going back sooner than my 25th birthday. It's a bit of a ways across town from us, but worth it! We left to go back home to watch Leonardo and eat more cake. My thought process: It's my birthday. And we're gonna eat more cake.

CHIANG MAI, THAILAND • OLD TOWN, PART 2

Our second moat-hoppin' Saturday came with a bit of wizening due to what did and didn't work the week before. This time we were completely new to the block In the morning we prepared for the day by planning our route almost completely, which sois to take which way, what turns to make.

One of our favorite spots for the day was near a restaurant called Wrap & Roll. The cute place could only seat six guests and was closed when we walked by, but the little tribal shops around it were the main draw for us. It seemed that this area of town was a big hit with the hippie-type foreigners, little half-naked white kids with rat tails running around in tribal garb was proof.

We walked past Graph Table, a new bougie restaurant (that we tried later and fell in love with: amazing breakfast, delicious coffee and fabulous service), to get to a market near the main road. I wish this were more easily accessible to us considering the incredible selection of produce!

For a late lunch we ate at Da's Home Bakery, a small shop with a ton to offer. Katie ordered an avacado sandwich, myself the bruschetta. This place is obviously more than a bakery. It's sister restaurant, Blue Diamond Breakfast Club, sells organic beauty goods and other similar natural products.

We finished the day up by spending a couple of hours reading and chatting at The House at Ginger, a boutique café and set of shops that would put Anthropologie to shame. The café's seating was several different posh couches, and the menu boasted some really nice dishes like stirfried crab over organic rice. We ordered chai tea and botched up the making of it ourselves considering we'd never had it this way. They served my latte in a bowl (yes, a bowl) and we browsed the shops wistfully knowing our wallets couldn't take the hit.