happy new year [again]

it's officially Chinese New Year here, the year of the snake. we haven't done much in celebration. one, we don't know where or if there are any public festivals going on. two, we are enjoying relaxing back at home and stuffing ourselves with tasty tasty foods we have missed [fried chicken + mashed potatoes, burgers from Rick's, a big pot of chili, mexican, a feast of italian meats, cheeses and wine...]

I went for a walk today to pick up eggs + water, thank goodness 7-11 is always open. most everything else seemed to be closed. the streets were all but deserted. kindof creepy, actually. it was misty out and hazy from all the firecracker smoke. the smell reminded me of being up north on a cold fall evening.

last night firecrackers were going off non-stop, and so Husband and I climbed up to the roof of our building to see what we could see. it was like a 360 guerrilla fireworks show. we would hear something being let off, then try to find it before it exploded. there didn't seem to be any one main display going on, but a hundred different people around our neighborhood, shooting things off at random. from the ground, from the park, from the temples, from rooftops. I got a few lame photos and decided to just sit and enjoy the warmth of Husband's arms and the scotch I brought up in a travel mug.

we had one of those "we're really here, living in Taiwan, doing this. this is our life." moments.

but mostly we sat in the chill and hazy air, and enjoyed the show. I'm not sure if there's anything going on in town [can't find any information on the internet, at least not in English] but it's barely dusk and already I'm hearing firecrackers from the nearby temple. I did find out that the Taiwan lantern festival will be in Hsinchu this year, starting in 2 weeks. but for the start of the new year at least, it seems to be more about spending time with your family than at organized celebrations. [though I could be completely wrong and there's something crazy going on that I'm missing. but honestly, it's rainy out and I think I've got enough photos to edit for the time being.]

the cats of Thailand

we encountered a lot of cats in Thailand. a lot. and being a cat person, I of course stopped to go "awww" whenever a furry feline happened to cross my path. and occasionally whipped out my camera. this first one, we encountered one morning while walking through the night market in Bangkok. [morning in a night market = empty] this cat, like many others, hangs out around restaurants and food stalls, eating scraps from the kitchen and friendly travelers.

pizza cat. our first night in Railay, we were eating dinner and having a few beverages beachside. there were a few cats wandering around in the sand, including this one. and then this girl [who I assumed was drunk, sorry if you weren't] walked up to one of them with a slice of pizza. I thought no way was the cat going to be interested... but I was wrong. this cat devoured that pizza. it batted at it a little, but mostly just chomped on the cheese and gnawed on the crust like a sauced-up college student at 3am.

you may also have noticed that pizza cat has a stubby little tail. well. one unfortunate thing we discovered about Thailand, is that some people believe that having a cat's tail is good luck. which means... they chop off the tails of wild cats. it kindof makes me sick to think about, but all the tail-less cats I saw seemed to be adjusting ok. I did see plenty of cats with tails, so hopefully this isn't a common custom.

market cats. this kitten and it's momma live in one of the mini-marts on east Railay. the first time I saw them [I swear, I have kitten radar] they were hanging out under a food stand by the market. I was a little concerned seeing how small the kitten was and thinking it was wild, but was relieved to stumble upon them when I was making a shopping run for some wine + rosemary potato chips. it looks like they live a comfy life in the mini-mart... I spotted some food bowls in the back room.

zebra cat. we spotted this guy our last night in Railay, walking down the path from the east beach to the west. I've never seen a cat with these markings before... maybe some kind of bengal? but he looks more tiger than leopard. he clearly belongs to someone, as he has a collar and some kind of red charm or bell. and he's still got his tail, so bonus points to him.

restaurant cat. ok, so this one is actually from Boracay. but nearly every restaurant we ate in on our trip had a cat or two wandering through the tables as we ate [especially the beachside places]. our hotel in Railay had a cat that I think lived in the open-air lobby... he was there every morning for breakfast and snoozing on the front steps each afternoon.

so, there you have the cats of [mostly] Thailand. I wasn't sure where to start with these vacation posts, and cats just seemed the easiest thing to tackle. sorry if you aren't a cat person. next time I'll give you some pad thai or temples or sunsets, ok? ok.