I’m still reeling from today’s crazy delayed flight to Chiang Mai.

I had a 1 PM flight to Chiang Mai via Thai Airways/Thai Smile, which got rescheduled multiple times. Initially, I planned to take the 12-hour train ride to Chiang Mai from Bangkok. I’ve read tons of reviews about how the ride isn’t that bad and if you plan your trip well, you save money by not having to check into a hotel for one night. However, I’ve done the entire journey from Ha Noi to Ho Chi Minh by train (it’s a 32-hour train ride split into multiple spots) and it wasn’t the best experience of my life – which is why I opted to book a one-hour flight instead. It was pretty cheap too! I got it for $25 which I think is a steal given that it’s their flag carrier airline.

A few days before my flight, I got an email that said my flight was rescheduled to maybe 15-30 mins later than the flight I had booked. Hey, that’s not that bad. I timed my flight to get to Chiang Mai around 3 PM and booked a food tour that starts at 5 PM. I used google maps to find out how far my hotel is from the airport and it was not that far at all (30-ish minutes at peak hours). I didn’t want to rush so early in the morning – and with the unpredictable Bangkok traffic, I was better off taking a flight past noon.

I left the hotel around 10 AM, expecting to get stuck in traffic for about 2 hours but voila, the Bangkok traffic gods deemed me worthy and I got to the airport in 45 minutes. Check-in was a breeze. There were even barely any people at the security gate. I had around 2 hours to burn so I went to find myself some lunch, then a chair to sit in until it was time for boarding.

When I checked my boarding pass, my flight was now scheduled for 2 PM. Alright. Cutting it a bit close, but still manageable. I went down to the boarding gate around 1:30 to line up, only to find that still, everyone on my flight was still seated. No announcements. Nothing. It was then that I knew I had to ask if I can reschedule my food tour to whatever available date they had while I’m in Chiang Mai. That was a good call too because the plane ended up leaving past 4 PM and I got to my hotel at almost 6 PM.

The entire time I was stuck at the boarding gate (you go past another checkpoint when going to the boarding gate), I was pissed and just wanted to rebook my flight back to Bangkok to the first flight out of Chiang Mai on the off chance that my flight gets delayed again. I only have to spend 25 baht to change my flight, but somehow, my payment won’t push through the payment portal. Ugh. Frustration!!

On my nth loop of Midnights album, I always skip over Sweet Nothing because I was already frustrated as fuck and I’ll never forget hearing that song for the first time, and having a visceral reaction to it. It was probably the most straightforward song in the entire album with no overwhelming production, BUT THE LYRICS. The only song in the album that made me cry at first listen. Joe Alwyn literally says “what a mind”, as if fascinated by the things that go through Taylor’s mind??? On the way home??? And it happens all the time??? Can’t relate. I’ve never met anyone who has made me feel like loving me was easy. Or that my mind is a good place. And after going through so much therapy to unlearn and gain back my self-esteem after my previous relationship, I don’t know how I’ll ever get to a point or if I’ll meet anyone who’ll never make me feel like I’m too much and not enough at the same time. But that’s irrelevant lol.

I checked in to The Inside House where there is no price list at the mini bar because everything is free!! I went and munched on all the snacks and drank all the soda before I went on my merry way. This room is actually quite lovely – so much better than where I stayed in Bangkok, that’s for sure. I was planning on staying here for my last few days in Chiang Mai but it was already fully booked. This hotel is a 5-star hotel – and so far, that rating is well deserved. This room even got an outdoor bathtub (with curtains for privacy) which I’ll probably use every single day while I’m here. My favorite bathroom aesthetic is marble and gold, so this was one of the things that drew me into booking the hotel. The staff was pretty helpful and made sure I knew how to get to the Sunday Night Market – their version of Chatuchak, only so much colder and less dense. I personally enjoyed this night market more than Chatuchak Night Market lol.

I went and grabbed a shit ton of food that I’m working on finishing right now while I write this. But today’s been pretty uneventful so I guess we’ll end this here.