We've spent the last 9 days here in Chiang Mai on the grind looking for work; luckily we've struck out as we're slowly beginning to realize that the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai city- living is not for us - consequently we will push onward into the less tramped upon countryside. Here, nonetheless, are the highlights of our stay:
So we checked into this hotel for a long-stay and one of the big perks was "daily breakfast included!" On the first day (see this delightful picture for reference) we were tickled purple to discover the breakfast included an eclectic assortment of treats: tea or coffee, pineapple smoothie, sliced watermelon, two pieces of toast, an egg, and two chicken curry skewers. On morning 5, we were not as excited to find that the breakfast menu does not change -- not even a little. Today, day 9, we've skipped this breakfast in favor of some street vendor noodles. Never underestimate the power of variety.
I couldn't help but jump at the chance to join the kids at the Thai-style arcade - yep, those are pay- to-play playstations (I couldn't find any baht, and so I just pretended).
The view from the top story of the Chiang Mai mall.
I hate it when golden serpent statues sneak up on a guy. Gave me the willies. 
Okay, so we finally decided to check out the Chiang Mai music scene. The bar who performed that night (and every other night since we've been here with the same playlist - kind of like breakfast, but at nighttime) ironically played only Seattle Grunge music. Mud Honey, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots etc. It was actually quite fun and they were pretty darn good too.
The next day we checked up on job leads, filled our some more applications, and then went to the zoo. Those elephants are not real by the way.
My favorite part of the zoo was it's surprises. In Thailand, Seven Eleven's are more ubiquitous than Starbucks in the States - look closely at the Ostrich exhibit. 
Another fun surprise is when we approached the Panda exhibit and found that for just 200 extra baht per person (that's about 6 bucks each) you could not only look at the pandas but even have a picture taken with them!
Here the "Panda handler" is gently positioning the "Panda" into this nice albeit confused couple's lap. Yep, they paid extra, extra baht for this once-in-a-lifetime encounter with a real life panda. 
Smile! You got hustled. Isn't he cute? At the end of the exhibit you could buy your digitally enhanced green-screen panda pics for a nominal charge. Check out the super realistic finished products on the display wall.
To be fair, there were real-life pandas in the exhibit...
and so we decided to go with the boring low-tech approach and just snap a couple photos of the real ones (no extra extra charge necessary). 
You will not see pictures of us petting this one. He looked hungry.
This is Chiang Mai Aquarium.
Not sure why there were spiders and scorpions in there.
But alas, they had fish too. Yes!
Ty's close encounter with a blurry Sting Ray...
and mine with a Great White (shhhh! just make believe it's a Great White).
One trip to the zoo got me all worked up and so I decided to join the conservation efforts.
Not amused by the blatant mockery.
Yesterday, we decided to continue our animal exploits with a trip to the Tiger Kingdom. Here, you could watch tigers bathe, play etc. and you could even hang out with the tigers! We chose the cubs as Ty fell in love with them pretty much immediately (this one in particular). 
So I was like "okay, I'll go hang out with baby tigers with you!" the things I do for love. 
So what's next? Tomorrow, we are celebrating out 5th wedding anniversary (one day early) in style... You'll see.
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