Woke up at like 4am. My sleep schedule is still messed up haha. Today’s goal is to exchange some USD for Thai Baht, get a SIM card with data, and message some used bicycle sellers. I’m probably going to need to extend my stay here at the guesthouse, then start looking for serviced apartments Saturday and Sunday if they are open.
Got my prepaid sim card with 4G/3G from 7-Eleven ($15 for 3GB data). Used my old phone and entered the unlock code, the Thai 7-Eleven store manager helped me with the setup. I'm glad I researched this before I left; my old phone was able to be unlocked for free with a code that I got from AT&T. The 3G/4G works great, but I'm unable to tether the internet from my phone to my laptop. So I need to figure that out.
I’m getting used to the traffic and finding crossing spots and using the crosswalks with the buttons. I really like how the cross walk buttons give pedestrians the right of way. When the buttons work (some are broken), I never have to wait more than 5 seconds for it to give me the OK to walk. Granted these aren’t 4 way intersections, but it is cool that it doesn’t make me wait a long time. Most of the time, you just have to wait for gaps in traffic and then cross.
Successfully exchanged my USD cash to Thai baht at a 35 exchange rate (which is 6% better than I got at the airport). I found a place by searching "exchange" in google maps and looking at the places with good reviews. If you ever travel to Thailand, it is best to exchange $ while here for a better exchange rate.
Went to a weekly meetup that happens every Friday at a coffee shop. This week, there was a guy talking about how he makes money through Fiverr gigs with web design. If you've never heard of the website it is a place where freelancers congregate and sell gigs for $5 and up. You can get things done from people all around the world. For example, some of the top selling gigs are for logo design, animations, video editing, voice overs, and article writing.
Saturday
This morning there was a thunderstorm and it was raining hard. Did some work on the computer. Then, got a pineapple smoothie and waited to take a shared ride up to Doi Suthep.
It was a foggy day and very misty at the top of the mountain, so unfortunately, the view of the city of Chiang Mai was nonexistent. But, the temple itself was nice to see.
10/30
Walked around looking for apartments, went to PunPun restaurant, went to the Sunday night market. There are literally hundreds of small vendors that come out on Sunday night to sell their trinkets, clothing, and food. I didn't buy anything because nothing stood out.
(goes on for literally a mile)
(people getting foot massages)
10/31
Monday morning - walked to a few more apartments, found a Thai style apartment and liked what I saw. It is 1/2 mile to the big Maya mall and 1 mile from the location where I’ll be mostly working from.
(Maya Mall)
Walked to a couple more places that I had saved on my phone through google maps (and a few random places I just walked into), then went to PunPun for lunch again because I was in that area. Went to one more apartment, but there was no one there to help me. I probably went to 15+ apartments, was able to see rooms in 5 or 6, and at the others there was either no one there or they were full. Some of them wanted leases of 3 months or 6 months. But, a few were fine with monthly rentals. In the end, I really only had to decide between two locations, and it was an easy one.
Said goodbye to guesthouse part owner Dennis (from Ukraine) and then got a TukTuk ride with my backpack and suitcase to my apartment location.
(leaving the guesthouse lobby)
Found the landlord and then she explained the details over broken English. She had a laugh at my passport photo because of how much weight I had lost. I think she thought it was fake with the amount of double takes she did haha. Paid 1st months rent and the guarantee (which will be used to deduct water, electric, and moving out cleaning expenses). The room has all the basics and I wouldn't want anything more or less; a shower, toilet, sink, mirror, bed, little desks, closet with drawers, small balcony with outdoor sink, AC with remote control, mini fridge with mini freezer, microwave, bed with sheets blanket and a pillow.
It comes with free internet, and it seems to work alright for the most part. I will not need to be in my apartment much, but I will need to use Skype to make some phone calls around midnight (to line up with the business hours in the U.S.).
Also, still need to get a bicycle and then I’m all set. First meeting for the business mentorship is tomorrow morning (Nov 1). So, I’ll walk there, no problem. Although my feet hurt because of how much walking I’ve done in the past few days.
And no, they don't do Halloween over here.
Nightly food spot comes to life
(before)
(after)
(seems legit)
FOOOOOOOD
(fill up your water bottles here for a couple cents)
(mango sticky rice)
(Thai dishes I forget what exactly, but there's a hot pot with clear noodles and mushrooms, and some rice and veggies)
(good pasta with peppers)
(a popular restaurant for the locals where they cook their meal at the table)
And yes Cayden, McDonald's does exist here. Seems like they serve the same stuff and even have delivery.
Overall I'm having a great time over here. Not too much to complain about, although with the amount of motorbikes that are on the street the air quality isn't great when you're walking on the roads. Also, Google maps is the best app ever. Most of the streets signs are hard to find and there are so many small narrow streets. Google maps is so accurate it is amazing. Blog posts take a good amount of time, so I'm going to do it once every 2 weeks for now. Thanks for reading! Preston.
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