The day started at Bed Addict, a nearby hostel and cafe I noticed the night before after exploring the night market. Sipping iced Thai tea, I worked for a couple hours until I met Morgan and Joseph for breakfast at Manifreshto. This place has really great fruit and vegetable smoothies, which paired nicely with an egg, mushroom, and cheese scramble. After fueling up with the tasty breakfast, we went next door to R8 cafe, a place that proudly displays their award winning coffee and was packed with digital nomads. I prefer tea over coffee, but this place was hardcore about their coffee because their 7 page menu only had coffee beverages and no tea. I ordered their “unicorn in the woods” latte, and as the name suggests, the cream artwork on the surface of the coffee was so impressive I had to take a photo.
On my walk back to the Air BnB, I stopped by a small boutique clothing store and purchased some gifts for friends (and something for myself). After dropping off my bag and new purchases at the Air BnB, I returned to the Maya mall close by. This time, I made my way up to the 5th floor and secured a day pass at the Max professional fitness gym. I took my time with a long workout, talking to locals and enjoying city views throughout. I finished up, dodged the sales pitch from the front desk on my way out, and cleaned myself up back at the Air BnB in time for dinner.
Both Morgan and Joseph have friends that either live in or were currently visiting Chiang Mai, who we met up with for dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Salsa Kitchen. Morgan’s friend, Catherine, joined us for a celebration of her birthday the following day. Mexican food in Thailand wasn’t something that really crossed my mind, despite missing the tacos, burritos, and margaritas us San Diegans are blessed with. In San Diego, the California burrito is a Mexican burrito with French fries wrapped inside. To my surprise, Salsa Kitchen had on their menu “San Diego style burrito” with fries! It’s funny how in Thailand it’s called a San Diego burrito, and in San Diego it’s called a California burrito. The food and margaritas did not disappoint!
The next stop after dinner was THC bar, where we hung out for a little while. Catherine called it a night due to big birthday hike plans commencing early the next morning. The rest of us continued onwards Jazz Club, where we enjoyed a couple more drinks and some tasteful live music before everyone called it a night. Like Catherine, Morgan, Joseph, and I had a two day hiking excursion beginning early the next morning.