chiang mai optical
Posted on | February 13, 2008 | No Comments
tonight, on our way to anusarn market for dinner, we stopped at top charoen optical, in the night bazaar.
this was an impulse move….but i have been noticing my reading vision getting a little blurry ever since i turned 41.
they took me directly out the back and began an eye examination with some very hightech equipment.
i merely looked into a sort of a thing at a tiny picture of a hot air balloon and they fiddled around at the other side.
a couple of adjustments to each eye were made and then i tried on a sample pair of glasses.
perfect, first go.
with the reading glasses i was flabbergasted at how crisp and clear the tiny print was, all of a sudden. things have obviously been deteriorating for a while.
i picked out two pairs of frames….one for just reading, and one pair of progressives, with sunglasses (ooo la la, gucci frames, big black movie star jobs with big silver discs on the temples).
they also offered to update my current glasses…..i was thrilled to take up that offer, because i ADORE my beausoleil frames and they still look good after three years of constant use.
i said ok, great, but gee, these are my only glasses and i do not leave the house in the morning without sunglasses.
they asked me to come back at 9pm….3 hours hence.
absolutely incredible service and delightful people to deal with.
my refitted, updated glasses are perfect, of course….and were ready 15 minutes early.
and the total bill is about a third of what i would pay at home.
www.topcharoen.co.th
highly recommended!
we had dinner at a strange little indian place.
glacial service….terribly uncomfortable selection of chairs and tables….oddly written menus (cryptic and terse)…..but o my goodness, the food was lovely.
we had sweet lassis (no beer anywhere to be seen) and chicken biryani, naan bread, lime achar, chicken shasleek barbecued in front of us on charcoals, and spicy chickpeas.
everything was scrumptious and cooked beautifully and garnished with plenty of tomato/cucumber/onion with fresh lime.
we have had such wonderful food on this trip!
after dinner, while we waited for 9pm and the optical pick-up, we wandered a few metres through the market…..i had a terrific hour long foot massage (so soooooothing after a day of walking the mean streets) with a lady from chiang rai who spoke good english…..and maurice sat right next door and had a beer or two.
the masseuses all loll about in the open-air comfy chairs, mainly chatting and napping, and leap up when potential customers go by.
around 8.30 a huge group of germans arrived and were effortlessly absorbed by the system.
nobody had to wait…..the service is quite incredible.
a little later, we took a tuk-tuk home (we are getting adept at hailing these guys and we always agree to their outrageous prices….$2 to get home via tuk-tuk seems like a good deal to me)….the driver had his girlfriend with him…..so the four of us made our precarious way through the crowded streets, powered by a liquid propane 350cc 3-wheeled motorcycle.
when we got home, i watched the devil’s advocate (pacino, reaves, theron) and then had scary dreams all night.
Comments
Leave a Reply
