Friends in Ubon

I spent way too much time last year wishing I was back in Ubon, and lot of that was because I missed my friends so much.  I have so many great friends there, and catching up with them was my top priority.

I only had 10 days in Ubon, but they were filled to the brim with stories and laughter and reminiscing.  I ate a lot of good food...

Me and Dayrest

Me and Lalitta
...had a couple of great coffees...

Me, Tuk, and Chris

...and explored Ubon's newest sites.  This became quite shocking.  Ubon has grown so much in the 14 months since I was there last.  Development is pouring into the small city as the government attempts to build it into an international hub that will serve flights to Vietnam.  Some of these new sites were under development when I left, but others were a surprise.  Lalitta (one of my best friends) drove me around, and took delight in watching my stunned reactions to a city that was same same but different.  It felt like my Ubon had grown up and I'd missed seeing it happen.

I don't even really know where these came from...

We took a heap of photos for Andy, our dear friend, who is now living in China.  If anyone misses Ubon at least as much as I do, it's him.

U-Park is a huge square filled with restaurants and surrounded by shops and bars.  It didn't exist last time I was here.  We got some spring rolls and I bought a juice, taking the chance to practise my Thai.  I've had plenty of reading practise on Facebook, but I was thrilled to discover my speaking ability hadn't dropped very far.  I guess I've had arguably more varied input online than I did when I lived there...

 

U-Park

It has a big communal area with live music

Even my favourite food court - the one at Tesco - has had a complete make-over.

Having said that, I walked around and inspected every food stall (about two dozen).  Not one of them had changed.  I felt very proud that I could remember every single one.  They still live on in my memory.

On to the next destination...

These lights never used to be here

Walking Street was another surprise.  I still don't know where all these vendors came from, but they weren't there before...

Then there's Central - the enormous mall that was being built when I left.  Granted, I visited on weeknights, but apart from the restaurants, not a lot else was doing business.  There were people wandering around, but that could just have been for the aircon and maybe a bit of window shopping.  All these expensive developments really made me wonder if Ubon can support so much business.  It may be undergoing a facelift, but its heart and soul still feel the same, like the small northeastern city it is.

The most important thing, however, is that I became a butterfly.

Ever since I saw students taking these photos (thanks to Facebook), I have secretly wanted my own.  It was like a dream come true.

There are new cafes, like this one...

...a new Mexican restaurant a bit further out (and when I needed to get home, I was stoked to learn that my Thai is still good enough to call for a taxi)...

...and this time, I finally captured this hideously named restaurant on camera.  It had eluded me during the year I lived in Ubon, but I refused to forget it this time.  (Yes, this is a KFC-styled restaurant with deep-fried chicken. And no, I didn't try it.)

The best thing about all of this, though, was that I got to do these things with my friends.  Time may be changing Ubon, but it has done nothing to weaken my friendships there.  It was like I had never left.  The cruel thing was that each day there meant another day closer to my departure, and despite the fact that my next destination was going to be Japan, I wasn't looking forward to it.