Welcome back to "Genevieve's dog parade", A.K.A. "Rice Noodles". Lately we've been laying low in Chiang Mai, "Thailand's Jewel of the North" or something. The charm of the city is undeniable, as is it's traffic problem and poor air quality. Riding around on the main road for an hour can feel like smoking a pack of Lucky Strikes. Despite this we decided to settle down for a while here. We found a nice little two bedroom house near the old city and near a sort of hilltribe ghetto on the outskirts of the city. It should be a nice place to live as it's in a very Thai neighborhood, but within walking distance of the more cosmopolitan, Falang-ridden city center. All are welcome to come stay in our guest room.

Staying lately in the city center has been interesting, as the multiplicity of nationalities and influences present make you feel like you are in some Worlds-fair pavilion. Within a few block of our hotel you can find Thai, Chinese, French, Italian, Greek, Israeli, Japanese, German, American, Mexican, and even British restaurants.

British food was a new one on me, and here's my impression of it--take a few stoned university students and put them in a kitchen with only the elemental basics of western food: white bread, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, onions, butter and eggs, as well as a spice rack filled with only dry rosemary, cumin, mustard powder etc. Then take all the creative arrangements they can come up with using these items and give them obscure names. A slice of white toast with fried onions, bacon, cheese and tomatoes sprinkled with mustard and rosemary will be a "Welsh Rarebit", while a plate with cheese, bread, tomatoes and mustard will be a "Ploughman's Lunch". Tomatoes cooked in bacon fat with a side of bacon, fried eggs and fried white bread with onions is a "Full English", while all these items put in the blender with a side of beer and cigarettes is called a "Vicar's Tickle".

The other interesting thing about Chiang Mai, and a surprising development since the last time I was here is that there has been a large influx of Italian and French expats who have opened restaurants and brought their usual aura of continental sophistication, glamour, bad attitude and cigarette smoke. They can be seen zipping around on Honda dreams like they are Vespas, cheek-kissing and pretending like the wine here is good. It gives Chiang Mai's narrow, ancient streets an added allure that British and Australian tourists wandering around in beachwear cannot. In fact, it seems so much like Europe that I wasn't surprised to see recently a troupe of juggling clown playing gypsy music and riding tall bikes. That is until I realized that the kid playing the violin was my friend Raffi from high school. Apparently he had been living in Europe for awhile busking and ended up joining a bike circus that has traveled overland from Europe to Southeast Asia. On tall bikes! They have lived and played in Turkey and Cypress, Russia and China, Mongolia, and most recently Laos and now Thailand. Now they are staying a local hipster guest house for free and doing shows. I'll soon post pictures from there show, which includes Italian clowns, Juggling, Shadow Puppets, Magic Gypsy swing music and a hilarious lack of professionalism.

We move into our house next week. Who's coming to the housewarming party?

WRITTEN BY EMERSON