Chiang Mai, Thailand, December, 2017 –Located in the north of Thailand, surrounded by mountains. Unlike Bangkok, Chiang Mai is enveloped with tranquil atmosphere, instead of a bustling capital. It is considered to be an ancient city full of temples, escape from the buzzy. Ideal for solo travelers to wander in the ancient and former Lanna Kingdom.
‘’Hey Dev, Are You Willing to Attend My Wedding in Chiang Mai?’’
July, 2017, I was surprised to receive Boo’s text even she mentioned when she was in Taiwan. After considering for few days, I said “Yes! I want to attend and celebrate.” Sure that would definitely be an unique experience in my life. Six months later, I arrived at the downtown of Chiang Mai, stayed at a hostel. Boo told me that her friend will pick me up early at 5 AM, because her house is far from the downtown. I woke up at 4 something, wrapped up all my belongings and jumped into her friends’ cars. Few hours later, I saw Boo, the lovely bride stood in front of her house, welcomed her friend and me.
A Whole-Day Wedding with Exotic Memory
In Thailand, there are two main kinds of wedding ceremony: traditional Buddhist and civil union. Boo’s wedding combines both. In the morning, it is a traditional wedding. At night, it turns to a civil wedding. Boo provided me traditional costumes with delicate but trendy fabric for the wedding. Actually it is Thai traditional bridesmaid costumes. And I am the only foreigner of her bridesmaids.
【Thai bridesmaid costumes】
Similar with Taiwanese (I guess most of the Asian countries have this custom.) The bridegroom has to bring his wife from her room to the engagement ceremony. Of course, the bridegroom will face several challenges set by the bride’s family and bridesmaids. The bridegroom will be accompanied with his best man squad. The bridegroom may be questioned or asked to do some “activity” like push-up…etc. Then the host of each obstacle will decide the bridegroom pass or not. In order to get the ticket to the bride’s room, the best man squad has to prepare “toll” to the bridesmaids. The toll is packed in an envelope. Usually, it is 100 Baht. But when the bridegroom approaches the last obstacle, the bridesmaids can ask for more tolls. I was assigned to be the guard of two obstacles. Boo reminded me gave the bridegroom easy tasks. To be honest, it’s quite nervous, when the bridegroom and everybody are watching you for the task that came from your mouth.
Once the bridegroom successfully takes his bride from the room, the wedding ceremony can proceed. The beautiful bride Boo and her lucky husband sat in front of a small stage to receive the blessing from relatives and friends. Guests queued in front of the couple, picked up one white-cotton string on the desk, tied on the bridegroom and the bride, then said the blessing to the couple. In the end, the wrists of the bridegroom and the bride are full of tied strings. I guess that’s the symbol of “blessing are tied to the couples.”
【Preparing the bridal bed】
Another lovely custom is “preparing the bridal bed”. After the ceremony, Boo and her husband were sent to their bedroom. The bed were decorated with lovely items: petals were placed as a heart shape, a bowl of water (I googled, it should be rain water, as a symbol of harmony). All the decorated items represent the blessings to the new couple.
The wedding went until night. I was assigned as reception. Boo’s friend taught me some easy Thai language such as Sa-wa-di-ka to welcome the quests. At night the bridegroom and bride changed to western dress. I guess half of the town of the people came to their wedding. It looked like a small concert. Performers sang and danced on the stage. I was in an exotic and energetic wedding!
Terroir Gourmet of Chiang Mai
The outstanding food no matter is affordable street stalls or fancy restaurant in Thailand represent the terroir of this country. Mango sticky rice, Pad Thai, Thai tea, Thai banana roti, Tom Yum Gung, green curry…all show a rich range of diversity includes taste of sour, sweet, spice and aroma. Chiang Mai inherits Thai food culture with a wide range of delicacy. But part of it is distinct from other regions of Thailand. The food culture of Chiang Mai is influenced by Lanna dining, heavily uses Khao Niao (sticky rice) as staple, which is easy to grab with bare hands, and considered as a healthy food. Accompany the staple is the meat. Pork may be a common dish in Chiang Mai. It is common to see pork in a meal, pork with stir-fried, grill, braised. The regional-culinary culture perfectly expresses local, ethnic, healthy and family-gathering terroir.
【Khao Niao (sticky rice)】
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