The Great Dopamine Rush of 2025

What a day today has been, an expensive day, A day full of involuntary expenditures, but with so good times and good food too.

I started the day with the realization that I wasn’t having issues with my Esim, Its just that my phone was well and truly fucked, Thankfully phones are relatively inexpensive in Thailand. After a couple hours at a phone shop I now have a brand new phone fully cloned from my old one, YAY! Problem solved. No more brick of lava in my pocket that went from 100 to 0 battery in less then half a day.

I was able to find the type of scooter I needed to do the mountainey road to Pai that I will be driving in a couple days (one of the most curvy sections of highway in the world) 300 corners in 50 kilometers here I come. And I got it for a great price, much better then what I was quoted yesterday. Almost half the cost.

I was able to pop in to Kats for any early lunch as I was pretty hungry after a morning of spending most my Thailand budget, and the food did not disappoint. Who would’ve thought a fried egg salad would be one of the highlights of my day, that and the fat noodle pad Thai I had were both sublime and totally budget friendly, washed down with a sweet lemon tea and a video chat from my partner, I will definitely be back there.

After lunch I made my way up to the Crazy Horse Buttress, (The whole reason I came back to Chiang Mai) to do some climbing. The climbing partner i had arranged bailed as I was enroute so I showed up solo which to my surprise was not a problem at all as I met a small group of awesome climbers on a wall called the furnace, aptly named as it was in the sun and hot as hell. I climbed 2 routes, a 5c and a 6a, Both were super fun and flowy with lots of cool limestone features. when I attempted my third route of the day (6c+) I slipped on the crux and realized I had blown out my big toe of my left shoe. On the FIRST day of a climbing trip, You gotta be kidding me. I attempted the route a few more times but with my left shoe mangled it was not a fair fight. So I said goodbye to my new friends and went off to find a new pair of shoes. With some information from my ne friends, I was able to find my same shoe and right size for cheaper than in Canada at this awesome little climbing wall/store so that was cool. I cant wait to get back out to the Buttress tomorrow and tackle the main wall.

To Finish off my day I decided to go to a slightly fancier restaurant called Dash then id normally go to as I try to stay away from places that really cater to tourists, And I was reminded why I stay away from places like It, The food was mediocre at best, the bill was 3 times more than id pay from less touristy restaurants and all the people seated around me sucked. That’s my bad for not sticking to holes in the walls. My meal wasn’t the best BUT, THE MANGO STICKY RICE DUDE. That shit was FIRE, best I’ve ever had. most expensive I’ve ever had but Definitely the best.

After the day I had today I am beat, but not beaten. Heres to hoping I’ve gotten the biggest pains out of my way for this trip and its smooth sailing from here!

“Be the stone cliff against which the waves constantly break, standing firm against the fury of the sea. Am I unhappy because of what happened to me? No. I remain happy because regardless of circumstances, I am free-neither crushed by the present nor afraid of the future. Storms befall everyone; but not everyone can stand firm against them.” – Marcus Aurelius