The year of the tiger
Chun Jie Kuai Le! Happy Chinese New Year! The year of the tiger has now begun, and I have quite purposefully avoided its beginning in China. The few days leading up to Spring Festival are some of the craziest travel days in China as millions upon millions of people head home to celebrate with family. Instead of dumplings stuffed with candy and money, red lanterns, and fireworks, I rang in the New Year with a lazy day on a quiet beach on a small island off of Thailand. Today I took a boat back to the island of Samui and tomorrow I fly to Bangkok and then Beijing. By Tuesday evening, after what will seem like a tortuously long train ride, I will be back home again. I am beyond excited to not live out of a suitcase again, and after six weeks of eating out, I can’t wait to get cooking!
Speaking of tigers, yes, in the previous post that is a real live breathing tiger that I’m hugging. One afternoon during conference, a few friends and I decided to rent motorbikes/motorcycles and drive outside of Chiang Mai to the Tiger Kingdom, a park dedicated to giving people a hands-on experience with tigers. Most of our group chose the (expensive) package to see tigers of all ages. My friend Kirsten and I went the cheaper route and just bought a ticket for “the big one”. We had about 25 minutes to cuddle up to and take pictures with three tigers in a cage. We were a bit nervous and excited before entering…
But Kirsten warmed up quickly to the first tiger, named Meatball.
After I took my turn with Meatball, we moved on to meet Spicy Sausage. I never thought I’d be this close to these magnificent creatures.
Lastly, we met Sticky Rice. Who gave me a bit of a scare when he decided to change positions.
Kirsten and I posed for one last picture with Sticky Rice, and then headed out with all limbs intact.
After that, we sped into the mountains for one last drive on the bikes. Luckily (ummm…mom, you can stop reading), my chauffeur for the day had chosen to go the more expensive and powerful motorcycle route in his rental, which made for quite the fun ride through winding mountain roads. All in all, it was a day to take care of all the risk taking whims in me for awhile.
wow that’s awesome. ive seen pics of people up close with tigers in chiang-mai. looks like fun! happy lunar new year to you! good to know you’re living the life in china still!