It all started from a wonderful love story between Melanie's parents. Her father was a retired German man who moved to Chiang Mai and joined a tour to visit a hilltribe village at Doi Lan, in Chiang Rai. The man fell in love at first sight with a beautiful Lisu girl and asked her parents for permission to tie the knot. However, they refused' saying the girl was too young and told him he must wait several years. Truly in love, the man waited until she was old enough. Than, wedding bells rang and the couple settled down in a house on top of the hill. "At that time, there was no paved road to the village. But my father kept visiting my mother's family until she was 19 and allowed to get married," said Melanie. "I was born not too long after that and grew up there, before moving to Chiang Mai to study.