Day 3 (6th Jan)

Day 3 is what some will term the ‘play day’. Apart from a trip to Doi Suthep in the morning, the rest of the day was essentially free and easy.

As the tour guide said, Doi Suthep was the place to visit on a trip to Chiang Mai. It was truly a magnificent sight, the golden tower standing proud and tall in front of our eyes. While I was never a religious person, I was still impressed with the place. Being located on a hilltop, a viewpoint allowed us to gaze upon the entire of Chiang Mai city, perhaps akin to the role of Buddha.

Our first stop on the free and easy programme was lunch at a local Thai restaurant, which served excellent Thai food that left everyone satisfied.

Our next stop was one that was full of ‘youth culture’, MAYA lifestyle shopping centre. To be honest, when I first came to Chiang Mai, I was not too sure what to expect regarding the state of development. Upon arrival at the area, I was greeted with cafés, international shopping brands and rooftop bars. This mall could compete with any of the shopping malls back in Singapore, with facilities that suit people of all age group. Not surprisingly, CMU students could be spotted all around in the mall. Our student guide from CMU, Fye, told me that MAYA mall is her favourite hang-out spot because of the proximity to school and the wide range of facilities. Despite cultural changes, it seems that the arms of globalisation has reached far and wide, where youths of different cultural background can enjoy the same thing. To end off our stay at MAYA mall, we had a friendly game of table hockey with our Thai friends.

One of the must do things in Thailand is a Thai massage, and that is where we headed afterwards. Fye brought us to her favourite massage parlour, where we could just relax for the next hour as the masseur work their ‘magic’. To end off the day, we feasted on a sinful meal of mookata, before heading back to our hotel. However, no day is complete without a trip down the night bazaar located literally just right outside the doorsteps.
Overall, today was a day where we got a chance to relax and refocus our efforts for yet another work day tomorrow at CMU.