Greetings,

I’ve been living in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the last month as many of you know. Doing nothing touristy and not even living in a guest house, just living here like I could be anywhere in the world. I’ve learned a few things that I will share with you, now.

1) a $4 haircut is usually a $4 haircut. If the lady is the jack of all trades chances are you’ll end up looking like a jack in the box after she is done with you. Worst hair cut of my life that I can remember.

2) Street sushi is NOT your friend 8/10 times. I’ve had it countless times and have paid countless hours for the sellers crimes against proper refrigeration. Anything with mayo is a double whammy, so to speak.

3) A $17.50us teeth cleaning is a d@mn good deal, if you’re here get your teeth cleaned even if you think they are clean… Think they are clean? Take a small mirror and check behind your front top teeth. Now get your teeth cleaned.

4) Once you have an apartment this is one of the few places in the world where a cocktail at a bar will cost you more than your daily rent.

5) Never raise your voice, it’s considered very aggressive. Just smile, be polite and don’t interfere with other peoples business and you’ll basically get along with everyone you meet. Thai people are some of the friendliest I’ve met on this planet.

6) Put on mosquito repellent. A few more of my friends got Dengue fever or had it and supposedly it really sucks. Think of it as the younger brother to Malaria and Malaria is wanted on the FBI top 100 list. You’re probably fine without it but why risk it?

7) Never take a tuk tuk unless you have to, for some reason their prices are totally out of line with the cost of living here. Take the red trucks you see everywhere. Don’t worry anyone will do, none of them have a set route.

-8) Unless it is high season, do not expect the expat night clubs to be “going off”. They usually do once a week and it’s usually a Friday when all the teachers get off. That being said, any night “could be good” but if you were a betting man you’d be shorting the excitement factor 5 nights a week and winning tidy profits.

9) When buying any type of grilled meat, ensure they have a grill and it just came off the grill. If not ensure they can put it back on the grill. Only times I’ve gotten sick from skewers are when some lady is just sitting there with them, we should all know better.

10) The Night Bazaar is a rip off and is open 7 days a week. It really has very little that the Sunday Night Market doesn’t, if anything. Expect to pay more.

11) The Sunday Night market is fun once or twice, after that it’s a good place to go meet some people or get cheap food. You will pay for the food by fighting mass crowds donned in hippy attire blocking traffic by watching someone do something like balance a bottle in the middle of the street, it gets old.

12) If you live alone, there is seriously no point in doing groceries, ever.

13) This place is incredibly fun and boring wrapped into one northern Thai city.

After living here for 1 month I have concluded that “daily life” is basically the same everywhere in the world. If you think your city is boring, go stay in a hostel during high season for a week and you’ll see it in a totally different light. Living in an apartment here is a VERY different trip than living in a guest house.

Tips hat,

P.S: Here another month, stay tuned for some videos.

Random Search: “Wallpaper Cockroach” – huh?