Last Saturday, I spent the last minutes of fading light cautiously navigating back streets of Chiang Mai. We haven’t spent much time thoroughly exploring the different areas of the city yet, there’s so much to see everywhere you go, even just driving down the main highway shows you a ton of sights.
In Thailand, everything seems to have sprung up in a tangle. The buildings, water tanks, power lines ~ all these man-made structures grow just like a concert jungle, and yet the real jungle never seems to go far away either. It all blends together in a massive labyrinth of lush leaf and bright, cheerfully flaking paint.
Unique to Chiang Mai are the towering mountains that surround the city, overlooking the bustling streets. They are untouched by civilisation, as the government wisely made them a nature preserve. Wherever you are in Chiang Mai, you can see them dominating the horizon, often shrouded in mist and rolling clouds as the thunderstorms come and go. They are my favourite thing about the city, always present, silently stretching high above all the noise and chaos. Serene and unmovable, the mountains remind me just to take a moment to stop and breathe.
Life has been rolling along with the usual daily routines ~ you wouldn’t think each week could slip by so fast, but here we are! Two months gone since we moved in our house, and only two months more before we are flying back to Australia to spend Christmas with everyone.
It seems too surreal for me as I type that out, but it’s true and I must say, I’m really looking forwards to seeing everyone again.
I have been loving our life here in Chiang Mai, but what has kept me going through the sharp attacks of homesickness is knowing that we will be coming back soon for a visit. It will come very quickly, and I can’t wait!
I’m even more excited for Christmas this year than I have been previously. Which sort of seems not possible, but is totally true. (ᵒ̤̑ ◁ ᵒ̤̑)৹ᢄᵍᵎᵎ
Though, it will be strange to see so much brown after all this endless green I’m sure… Haha! You don’t see as much of the sky here as you do at home, and I miss the infinite blue, and the golden stretches of rippling grasses.
I find it interesting that with all this green surrounding me, and the jungle rising high above, Thailand has really forced me to change my style of photography. So far it’s been a lot of experimentation, trying things that I end up not liking, and others that I do. Over all the pictures are turning out richer and darker than I used to do. I will always and forever love pastel hues, but you just can’t do that here! A least, if you can, I don’t know how to do it… (⌒_⌒;)
But the light is different, it’s trickier to work with as more often than not it’s either way too bright and harsh for photography, or it’s cloudy and dull.
I’ve been learning to embrace more saturated hues ~ I’ve had to because basically everything here is either bright green or dark green but it’s almost always green!
Maybe that’s why Thai people love to paint their houses such brilliant hues? A bright blue, rose pink or lilac purple house is not uncommon around here, and they really do pop against the swathes of verdant green, green, green everywhere!
I also find it interesting that my wardrobe colour palette has changed a lot. I don’t think that’s because my taste has changed so much, as more like I just find certain colours work better over here? An example being yellow.
Normally, I don’t like yellow. I don’t have any of it in my wardrobe at home, except in accessories {I think there’s one exception ~ but it’s a creamy, pastel, butter yellow dress...} But over here, I have the very yellow lemon print dress I’m wearing in the pictures, and that I find myself wearing all the time. I love it! I have a yellow skirt with black swans on it that I bought in Malaysia.
And the other day, I picked up a dusty gold skirt at a second hand shop. It’s a colour I’d never wear as a dress or top as it makes my skin swallow and jaundiced. Not a good look! But as a skirt, it pairs wonderfully with blue, so it’s slotted in quite neatly when worn with my blue blouses and tops.
I’m wearing a lot more green than I used too, and I have found myself shying away from pink and red like I never would have before. I am also choosing darker colours, like navy or azure blue to wear, whereas previously in my mind, navy and dark, saturated colours where for winter only! Certainly not a tropical summer…
I find it all interesting because even though those don’t seem like big things, overall it adds up to a definite change in my style. I’m embracing more colours, {though white and pastel will always be my preferred aesthetic} and I’m exploring different shades which was harder for me to do at home. I know what I like and it takes a lot to break me out of my instinctive choices ~ both artistically and fashion-wise!
But I guess if anything will do it for me, a move overseas to a whole different place will!
I’m wondering if you find it hard to change up your style or do you just make up your mind and do it? I think that might be one of the draw backs of having such a strong sense of what I like, I tend not to explore other things that could be good too, but make the same choices over and over again.
Not that I’m bored with my choices, I just think it is fun to have the chance to explore other looks and styles too. I definitely get to do right now though, so that’s nice. I wonder whether or not it will change my taste in the long run? I guess we have to wait and see!
xox,
bonita
P.S. ~ After these photos were posted to my blog, I realised that they are being heavily compressed by Blogger and they look absolutely terrible! It has taken me wayyyy too long to realise this, but hopefully they won’t look as bad this time round as I changed the size of the photos beforehand. Let’s see if it makes a difference!
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Glamour Sunglasses | Zenni Optical
Lemon Leaf Dress | Zaful
Erstwilder “Mississippi Marvel” Magnolia Brooch | Erstwilder
Fresh Lemon Rilakkuma Handbag | Big C
Rose Petal Mary Janes | Friendly Panda Shoes
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