Update

Greetings from Chiang Mai!

I thought I would be polite and post a little something, since you haven't heard from us for a few days now.  We successfully arrived back in Chiang Mai.  Our poor rental car suffered tremendously for the time we drove it.  Everyday we put some serious kilometers on it.  When we returned it the entire car was red from dust.  (It was originally silver)  No dents or scratches though.  We have checked into our new accommodation.  We have a beautiful traditional Thai house.  No pictures at the moment, but I will post some before we leave.  What I mean by a traditional Thai house, is that it is on stilts, is completely wooden (with the exception of the hand made clay roof tiles), and consists of one large room.  We are lucky to have been able to get the only house with a bathroom on the same floor as the bedroom.  Most Thai traditional houses are too fragile to support the weight of plumbing.  The only downside is that there is NO heat, insulation, or glass!  Meaning the temperature outside is the temperature inside.  No big deal right?  We are in Thailand!  But, the temperature here has been dropping down to the 12 Celsius range, which is quite a shock for our Bangkok adjusted bodies.  (In hot weather there is a fan, and they spray water on the roof to keep the house cool).  As I write I am wearing a sweatshirt, long pants, and a toque!  (Winter hat for you Americans.)  Fortunately during the day it warms up, and we have been practicing Thai massage, so we've been working hard.

Our massage class is fantastic!  We are both enjoying it very much.  Our class begins at 7:00 AM with Thai Yoga.  Very easy movements that go along with the massage movements.  Very beneficial.  I can even touch my toes!!  From there we eat breakfast, family style.  Yogurt, "Musley," fresh fruit, coffee, eggs, and toast.  Massage training is from 9-12, break for lunch, and then back to work from 1-4.  Lunch is excellent Thai food, followed by fresh fruit.  Usually lunch is a little lighter so we don't fall asleep during the massage.

Everyday one lucky student gets to be the model for demonstration.  It feels so wonderful!  We watch the demonstration of the positions first, and follow along making notes in our workbook.  Then we get to work massaging our partner.  Fortunately I brought my partner with me, so it is great fun.  Christelia and I have managed to impress our teacher.  Massage is hard work!  By the end I am worn out and ready to lie down.  Fortunately, that is exactly what happens.

Our evening routine is an herbal steam bath from 6:15-7, followed by a short sit by the fire, and finally dinner. After dinner we all sit and talk around the dinner table, and usually everyone calls it a night before 9 PM.  Christelia and I usually head back up to our house, sit out on our porch sipping wine and playing Rummy.

Well, enough for tonight.  It is late and yoga starts early in the morning.  Good night, more to come.

Eduardo

Christmas Day in Chiang Rai

Christmas day started with a delightful family breakfast on the porch.  The same old favorites from the past few days with the addition of Christmas bread.  Mmm mmm good.  After finishing off my last cup of coffee, we headed off for the day.  The plan was to visit the "White Temple," "Black House," and maybe the flower festival that opened today.  First the temple and the house...

The White Temple and Black House are both creations of local Chiang Rai artisans.  They are just as they sound.  The White temple is, well, white.  The Black house is, well, black.  The story goes slightly deeper in that the creator of the White Temple is a devout Buddhist, whereas the artist of the black house is an atheist.  The White temple is essentially just a gallery, whereas we found the black house to be the artists home, studio, and gallery in one.  Quite cool.  Both locations (which are located on opposite sides of the city as well...) were perfect for pictures.  We spent quite some time wandering the grounds taking photos to our hearts content.

From the Black house we decided to check out the flower festival.  On the way we discovered it was not what it was cracked up to be and opted for a short 130 km journey out the Phu Chi Fam where there was a "warm waterfall" for swimming.  We came back to the homestay to pick up the necessities before heading out again.  It was once again a race against time.  With masterful skill, we managed to take a wrong turn, and missed the easy chance to get to the waterfall.  Perhaps it worked out for the best though, as we were fortunate enough to enjoy yet another amazing sunset in the mountains of Northern Thailand.

Well, enjoy the pictures from the past few days.  Tomorrow we travel back south to Chiang Mai for our massage class.  Stay tuned for updates and painful stories!

Merry Christmas!

Eduardo and Christelia

Christmas Eve Day

It's Christmas eve. To celebrate, we are sitting outside in the crisp air drinking strawberry wine, eating Gouda, a fresh baguette, and delicious almond filled cookies from the Dutch bakery in Chiang Rai, while we listen to Christmas music. Here is a recap of our Christmas Eve day...

We rose earlier this morning than yesterday and enjoyed our breakfast at the homestay. Eggs, bacon, tomato and cucumber, coffee, French roll, and fresh fruit. Sounds like a lot doesn't it? It is. This morning we ate our breakfast with another Canadian couple here on vacation. Retired Air Canada pilot and stewardess. Nice chatting with friendly people...

We discussed our plans and decided to head off toward Mae Sai and the Golden Triangle (more later). Mae Sai is essentially the Northern most border crossing, so it meant a short drive North to the border. Getting out of the city here is much easier than in Bangkok. Here, 15 minutes. Bangkok, 1.5 hours and that is the Expressway. The Golden Triangle was first on the list. Taking the short cut route through Chiang Saen we traveled the secondary highway. The first stop we made was at the Opium Museum. For those who don't know, Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos were all heavily involved in the Opium trade. The museum was rather small but had an extensive collection of Opium weights, pipes, and legends. We learned Opium most likely came to Thailand from the Greeks, as the writings of Hippocrates told of its many benefits. We also had the chance to read about some Hill Tribe legends concerning the origins of Opium...

One tribe had two separate origins for Opium. The first told of a beautiful girl who had seven suitors. One day all seven asked for her hand in marriage. Not wanting to break any hearts, she decided to lay with all of them. The legend went on to say that when she had "had enough," she wanted death. On her grave grew a flower that was very beautiful, but would give both great pleasure and sadness.

The other origin was almost the opposite. Many years ago there was an ugly old lady whom no men wanted. She had never married. She said that when she died a beautiful flower would grow on her grave and they should take care of it, as it would give both great pleasure, and sadness.

Now the government has stepped in to turn the Opium plantations into coffee and tea plantations, which is just wonderful. All over the countryside we passed through plantations. Mostly tea, not sure about coffee, but we also saw a lot of tobacco.

From the opium museum we had a quick bite to eat along the river. Apparently we were at the Golden Triangle, the location where Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand meet. Unfortunately all I saw was a big river so I assumed we weren't there. We took no pictures. I think the area may more aptly be named the Golden Rectangle, as there was no clear triangle visible. Oh well, C'est la vie.

We took a side trip through a construction zone full of red clay (trying to get the rental car as dirty as possible...). On the way we encountered some cattle on the road. One had a very long leash, and had obviously escaped. The others blindly followed. It seemed a lot like school children in a way... Marcus did always tell me it was like training small animals. Trying to make up for the lack of pictures at the Golden Triangle, we took pictures of these.

Onward to Mae Sai! It seemed like this city was mostly only a border crossing, and a rather busy one at that! We decided it wasn't a good idea for us to head across the border and make more paperwork for ACT and turned around to find a different route to Mae Salong. We opted for Mae Salong to attempt to get some good photos of the sunset. It is supposed to be very beautiful at sunrise, so sunset would be the same right?

Along the way we made a few more detours. First to a waterfall which turned out to be a small stream, next was a hot spring which was nothing more than a big pool under construction, and lastly was another waterfall that truthfully involved too much walking if we were going to make it to Mae Salong for sunset. We got back into the car and continued along the way. Once again the beautiful mountain roads twisted all around and we had stellar views of the valleys below. Finally we arrived in the little village of Mae Salong.

Mae Salong is home to the descendants of Chinese nationalist soldiers, who fled and settled in Thailand in 1940. They were kicked out of China by Mao Tse Tung, escaped to Burma, were kicked out, and fled to Thailand where they stayed and aided the Thai government in the fight against communism for many years. Interesting influence in the village.

While in Mae Salong we found a little tea shop and factory where there were tea leaves being dried. We stopped in for a cup of local tea and ended up buying a small tea set and some of the local tea to go along with it. We enjoyed learning the proper technique for selecting tea, and enjoyed a few cups.

As we left the tea shop, the sun was going down. We hurried up the hill (walking... we can all stand to exercise a little.) and found that the road up was much longer than we anticipated. As I ran back down to the car, Christine was taking some pictures of the landscape. Two ladies from the local hill tribe who cultivate the tea plantation happened to be walking up the hill and took an interest in what Christelia was doing. (Darn Farang!) They happily obliged a few pictures in return. It was amazing to see real hill tribes, as most of them are really just for tourists. Please see the picture below.

At last we reached the top of the hill for pictures, once we got a few pictures it was time to head home (in the dark, back through the mountains...) We finished off the evening with dinner at the night bazaar of salted fish, hot and sour soup, and pork toast, before retiring back to the homestay for our wine, cheese, baguette, and blog.

Merry Christmas!

Eduardo (and Christelia)

Pictures posted this evening... Merry Christmas!

Rural Chiang Rai

A lovely day in the country. After a delicious breakfast at the homestay, we headed out for the surrounding country. Our initial goal was the local hot spring, but we got sidetracked. On the way to the hot springs there were signs for "Toy Ngoon." We had no idea what this meant, only that on the blue sign was a white tree. Why not check it out?? We followed the signs are were quickly off the secondary highway onto the one lane local road. Up and down we went as the road twisted around the hills. In time we arrived at a small village. Here we decided to park our car and walk. Walking through the village was worse than a meat market; calls coming from left and right. Resisting the calls of the chickens we continued along the path. As we got to the edge of the village, there it was... the giant tree. It was HUGE! We took some pictures and wandered around the tree. See the pictures below.

On the way to the tree, I saw a sign for a waterfall. When we left the gigantic tree we decided to check it out. More local roads barely wide enough for one car, but very beautiful countryside. We passed through tea fields and mountains before coming through another small village. At the far end was the waterfall as well as a hill tribe village. First we hiked up to the top of the waterfall. Wonderful green mossy boulders, red clay, and very tall bamboo. When we arrived at the top there was a rickety old bamboo walkway over the rocks leading to a large boulder in the middle. We paused for a breather and also some time for some pictures.

The trek down lead us back out to the main road and a sign that read "Hill tribe house 150m." What the sign neglected to say was it was 150m upward. It was a very steep hill that lead to the hill tribe house. It turned out to be a small village, guest house, and satellite dish complete with farm animals. Hiking back down was just as difficult as the trip up... very, very steep. Maybe flip flops weren't the best decision???

Back to the car and out on the road. We stopped for some Som Tam (Papaya Salad, nice and spicy) at the village. We ate noodles, som tam, and had a nice bottle of water all for 50 Baht. There were only two roads leading out of the village... one had a sign placed in the middle. I asked for the best way to get to the hot springs from the village. The lady from our lunch stop told us to o up the road with the sign and turn left at the T. Why not?? If she says we can do it we might as well, right?? WRONG! We made our way up the mountain on a road with no shoulder. One side was mountain and the other was jungle after a small drop off. We got up about 1 km before we ran into construction. They had just poured the concrete for one lane, the other was only sand after a 6" drop off. Needless to say our Toyota Vios (like a 4dr Yaris) wasn't going to make it. What could we do?? The road wasn't wide enough to turn around and I couldn't go straight. I decided the back up... all the way back down the mountain to where we started. It must have been quite a sight for the construction workers and local children seeing two white people backing up down the mountain road... I managed to impress my wife with my driving. Mission accomplished.

We back tracked our way back to our original highway route. Made it to the hot spring and were a little disappointed. We had hoped to swim, but the pool was empty. No problem though, we soaked our feet and headed back to Chiang Rai. There are still more hot springs throughout Northern Thailand, so we will try to find another one in a few days.

Next stop was the white temple. After a few U-Turns and stops to check the map we found it. You need to understand the street signs are all in Thai... not easy when you can only remember a few characters. The White temple is just that... a white temple. We are going back tomorrow morning for pictures, as the sun was making it rather difficult to take good pictures.

Dinner was Hamburgers at "World Famous Burgers." Delicious. I know it sounds like we only eat western food, but you need to understand we basically only eat Thai food in Bangkok. Maybe once a week we indulge in Western fare. So, yes we eat western food, but it is usually things we can't find in Bangkok. Dessert at the same coffee shop as yesterday after a short walk around the Night Bazaar. Just as we finished our dessert a group of children came by and serenaded us with some Christmas carols... what a great way to find some holiday spirit.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Eduardo (and Christelia)

Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai

We did it, we left Chiang Mai. To get out of town we rented a little Toyota Vios. Every good road trip starts with a chili dog. If you are ever in Chiang Mai, eat at "Mike's Original" for the best (and possibly only?!) chili dog in South East Asia.

The first part of our journey took us south to Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand. Driving up the mountain side we stopped at a few waterfalls where Eduardo tried to master the art of shutter speed. We stopped at three waterfalls, each more beautiful than the last. FInally we reached the top for a great view point of the valleys below. The temperature began to drop as we perused the gardens and pagodas. As the sun was setting we began our journey north to Chiang Rai.

On paper the trip from Chiang Mai and Doi Inthanon is just a short 182 Km. Not too long of a drive, just enough to make your ass go numb. However, "on paper" does not account for the twisting, winding roads through the mountains. We overlooked that fact during our planning. The trip which should have taken a mere two hours, took six. What better way to enjoy your vacation than a "leisurely" nighttime drive over the mountain roads of northern Thailand??? The road was barely wide enough for two cars, frequently had hairpin turns, was up and down constantly, and had the added pressure of needing to arrive to get into our hotel. Add to that the lack of road signs, and when there were road signs they were only in Thai. Quite an interesting drive to say the least. At times it felt as though we weren't making any headway, and other times we felt completely lost. Nothing is more disconcerting than arriving at a place you thought you had passed to find out you weren't even there yet. WHAT?!?

As we came up the road to the town of Fang in Northern Thailand, we were supposed to have turned just 14 km earlier. Not knowing how we missed the turn or really where we were, I pulled into a 7-11. Fortunately for us, there was a group of three drunk, young Thai men, eager to give us directions. Speaking in broken English/Thai we managed to communicate enough to discover that we were in Fang, but the place we wanted to turn was in fact further into town, not outside of town as the map suggested. Politely refusing to take the beer they offered me for my drive to Chiang Rai, I hopped back in the car and we drove the last hour and a half into Chiang Rai.

Earlier in the day we had called "Homestay Chiang Rai," and made a reservation. It is owned by a Dutchman and his Thai wife. If you are ever in Chiang Rai, stay here, it is wonderful. We were in frequent communication with Tony about our arrival. The plan was he would meet up with us and we would follow him to the homestay just outside of Chiang Rai. We finally met up with him at 11:30. After a six hour drive through the mountains we collapsed into bed and fell asleep.

We slept in. After brunch we decided to go for a walk into town and ended up at the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park. It was originally opened by the Princess Mother and featured a collection of Teak wood artifacts. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in the main exhibit. The building was a beautiful Lanna style wooden structure with a 17th century teak wood Buddha in the middle. Words cannot do it justice, as the architecture was just amazing. We wandered around the park and took some pictures, before heading back to our homestay for some dinner. This evening we headed back into town for dessert (Coffee and cake) down by the clock tower. An enjoyable day.

Chiang Rai is very laid back and not as centered on Western tourists. It is a little more like our local village at Assumption, but with MUCH less pollution. Well, off to bed... tomorrow will be a busy day of Hot Springs, Waterfalls, and the White Temple.

Good night!

Eduardo and Christelia

Chiang Mai #2

Day two of our vacation in Chiang Mai.

Tourist traps, Chiang Mai is full of them. I suppose it is not all bad, but what should have been a wonderful day, turned out to be a mediocre one. We spent some time on the Mae Ping river, and had a good meal with entertainment. This evening we walked the "Night Bazaar" and found our way home. Tomorrow morning we are off to Chiang Rai.. on the way we plan to visit the highest point in Thailand, as well as take some beautiful pictures. See you tomorrow!

Eduardo

Words of Wisdom

While exploring a Wat in Chiang Mai today, we came across an area full of signs with words of wisdom..  take a look.

Eduardo

Chiang Mai #1

This is it!  Our vacation has started.  Last night we boarded the train for Chiang Mai.  Not too bad of a trip.  We had been fortunate to book a first class sleeper cabin, well worth the extra few hundred Baht.  Of course, it could have just as well been called a first class insomnia cabin!  Both of us woke up with each train stop.  Still, the bed was comfortable...

We arrived in Chiang Mai at about 10:30 AM.  Nice "cool" weather here.  Not quite as big and dirty of a city as Bangkok, which is refreshing.  It is quite nice to see a strong Hill Tribe presence and influence at the markets, etc.  We found and checked into a great little guest house.  Our room is cozy and at a great price too... only 450 Baht a night.  It is a family run business with everyone pitching in.

After a short little rest and a shower, we were out on the streets of Chiang Mai.  We wandered around for a bit until finally talking with a Tuk Tuk driver and arranging a tour of some Wat's.  After our Wat tour he dropped us off at the Sunday Market.

What a wonderful influence of Hill Tribe culture!  Such a nice change from our local Bangkok Market and MBK.  Still some very touristy wares, but still some more unique items as well.  There was plenty of art available for purchase.  We found a great "Line Thai" piece done in black ink.  We also bought a great Hill Tribe style embroidered blanket.  Very colorful.

Once our feet were sufficiently tired from walking up and down the market, we decided to head for home.  A short walk later we arrived.  Whew!  What a day.  Enjoy the pictures.  Until tomorrow...



Eduardo

Winter

This morning we were informed it was the official first day of winter here in Thailand.  It was actually quite nice and cool when we left the apartment this morning.  A brisk 22 degrees, cloudy skies, and a gentle breeze.  A little different from winter back home.

The downside of course is that it is nearly impossible to get into the Christmas spirit when there is no snow, and no sub-zero temperatures.  It doesn't however prevent the Thai people from doing their best to promote the holiday spirit.  No pictures yet, but hopefully some to follow.  Also, more updates coming soon from our past adventures.

Lastly, we will be leaving for our Christmas vacation this weekend.  We are off to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand.  We have been told this is the best time of year to visit.  Too many plans to tell you all about now.  We will update the blog as we go along.

Merry Christmas!  Check us out on Skype, we'd love to hear from you!

Eduardo

Jim Thompson House Museum

A few weekends back we took a trip to the Jim THompson House Museum.  The short story is...
Jim Thompson was a member of the American military (OSS) who was posted as Bangkok Station Chief until his discharge from the military.  He was architect, but decided after his discharge he wanted to return to Bangkok.  He returned and began a mission to revive the Thai silk industry.  Thompson soon gained international recognition for his success in reviving the industry.  He also had a passion for collecting antiques, including Thai style houses.  His collection of antiques is extensive and contains some very well preserved items.  His house was actually three houses put together to create one large house.  Thompson disappeared in 1967 in the Malaysian jungle and was never seen again...  or was he?

For a better story, check out the Jim Thompson House website.

Unfortunately photography was only allowed in the garden area.  Here are some of the pictures we took, including the ornately carved wooden doors.

Eduardo

Elephant Trek Koh Chang

Pictures above are from our Elephant trek on Koh Chang.  We had so much fun!  Included on our trek was a jungle walk, and also some swimming.  Despite their large size, they really are very gentle creatures...  as long as you are on their good side I'm sure.  The tree that appears to be camouflage is actually a Canadian in disguise, don't be fooled.  Next are a few views from top.  At the skilled hands (and feet) of our Mahout we managed to make it safe and sound through the jungle.  Our elephant was a little famished in the middle of the trek and tried to grab a bite to eat as we were on our trek.  You would too, just think about walking through a buffet line without actually getting something to eat.  In the process of grabbing some leaves, our elephant also grabbed hold of a very long and tough vine.  Christelia and I both agree he almost pulled down the entire jungle around us.  A very enjoyable trip with some incredible animals.  The last picture with two elephant faces is amusing to me.  Sometimes I think Christelia has the same look in her eye when I'm "picking on her."  Enjoy the photos.

Eduardo

Koh Chang 1

Recently (truthfully over a month ago...) we enjoyed a relaxing week on the island of Koh Chang.  The island is located in the Gulf of Thailand off of the Eastern coast, close to Cambodia.  The island itself is small but with a lot of development close to the port.  The Western side of the island has been developed for tourists, whereas the East side of the island is reserved just for locals.  Our beach bungalow was located on the southern reaches of the tourist side of the island.  It was very quiet with a touch of real Thai life.  Everything you read about the island tells you it is ringed with beautiful beaches.  This is a lie.  Fortunately we chose this trip for reasons other than beach.  We did however still stay in a wonderful little sea-side beach bungalow.  Falling asleep and waking to the sounds of waves crashing against the rocks was wonderful as usual.

Take a look at the pictures above and you'll see the view from outside our bungalow, some fungus from a nearby tree, butterflies visiting the flowers from the same tree, and the worst practical joke ever.  Occasionally   someone would brave sitting in the hammock, but you don't dare fall asleep for fear of waking up at high tide!

Our activities on the island were relaxing in the dark, riding and swimming with elephants, and a jungle trek, as well as just enjoying being away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.  Watch for more posts over the next two days about the details of each trip.  Next up, swimming and riding elephants...

Eduardo

Innocent mistakes

We all make mistakes.  There are bound to be problems when living in a foreign country.  Yesterday, I discovered it can even happen when taking attendance.

First I should begin by telling you 95% of Thai children have a nick name. Most are given to them by their parents, but occasionally the child makes changes to it.  It is not unusual to have multiple Win's and Best's in a classroom.  Rather can be amusing to me  to call out Poo, Poo Poo, or Pee in front of a class and see a child eagerly raising their hand.  To the student and parents it is just a name (A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet), the connotation is just a coincidence.  There are however a few students with the name of Fluke that make you wonder.  This however is not the point of the story.

I was innocently taking attendance in one of the grade 4 classes.  Normally I have them raise their hand, smile and wave to me but yesterday I was in a hurry.  Instead, I asked them to call out "here" when they heard their name.  There was some chattering about my request which is not unusual.  I began...

"Pint" I called.  "Here" he responded with a chorus of laughter.  I stopped.  Once again the laughter is not unusual.  It is common for Thai people to laugh after they have spoken English, especially to someone like me.  I waited for the students to settle down before continuing.

"Phan."  "Here" replied the student, again through tumultuous laughter.  I waited again and gave a comment about attendance being a task not a joke.  I continued but always to the same result.  Some students were unwilling to respond here and instead wished only to raise their hands, but I was determined to have this procedure work.  I ignored the laughter until at last a student spoke.  He informed me "here" is a "bad word" in Thai.  I smirked and chuckled to myself.  Finally I understood the laughter.  My attempts to discover the true meaning of the word were in vain and I quickly asked the students to call out present.  Some of the students did this, others did not.

Finally I asked a friend for the true meaning behind the words, although I could already guess.  She explained to me although the word itself is not bad, when said as an exclamation it is loosely translated to a great big FU.

Eduardo?

Here!

Rain, rain, go away

We awoke this morning in disbelief.  It was cold in our apartment.  There was a certain chill in the air.  To be precise, the current temperature is 22C, or somewhere around 72F for those of you who are Celsius challenged.  Brr!  For the past six months we have been enjoying delightfully warm weather (26C+) which makes me now think there is a cold front moving in.  I might need a jacket.

The downside of this weather is we are leaving the rainy season behind and entering tourist season.  Good bye cheap hotels, half empty buses, and last minute travel plans.  It isn't the end of course, we still have plenty of time to enjoy the sites.  Fortunately we got a lot of our "popular beach destination travel" out of the way already.  It shouldn't be too bad.

Stay warm!

White

Many of you may not realize this, but Christelia and I are both very white.  So much so that you need to adjust the white balance settings on your camera in order to take a picture of us.  Of course, if we were to be showing any more skin than just our faces (the most tanned parts of our bodies) pictures of us would be next to impossible.  Fortunately for us, the Thai people (and I am guessing most other parts of Asia as well) absolutely LOVE white skin.

We enjoyed a week long vacation on the island of Koh Chang in Eastern Thailand not too long ago.  While sitting at breakfast one day, one of the staff came by and poked my arm exclaiming "so white!"  I was wearing a tank top at the time, exposing my upper arms, a part of my body not exposed to the sun very often.  Christine and I had a chuckle, and the staff member quickly wanted to be close to us whenever we were in the area.  Amusing to say the least.

The difficulty we are experiencing regarding the fascination of white skin is most lotions, deodorant, body wash, etc have skin whitening acids in them.  Obviously we don't need the help, so this has become quite alarming.  To be honest, finding products without whitening is almost as difficult as taking a picture of me with my shirt off.

Eduardo

Cooking in Thailand

I just finished my first cooking experience with Thai students! I would like to tell you the name of what we made but I am not sure that there is a name for it so let me describe some of the ingredients. Noodles (much like Ramon)and later glass noodles, for protein we had- minced pork that we minced ourselves, fish balls ( balls of meet much like meatballs, but made with processed fish- it tastes like it sounds), spicy tube of processed pork (i am sure there is a better name for that, but i am just trying to paint the true story of what we were eating), hotdogs both chicken and pork, and later the students (grade 7) added fried fish tofu squares and at some point tuna which was called tuna sandwich on the can...kinda funny. Then for the "sauce" we had sugar, fish sauce, lemons, limes, and chili peppers. Now I will share with you the "kitchen" it was a picnic table outside and a hot plate on the floor of a classroom! I about lost it when she asked me in Thai to help them heat the "meats" keep in mind that the kids (there are only 8 of them right now for October course which is much like summer school) think that I am scared of cooking because I told Ms. Rungnapa that I was scared to cook because I didn't know where and what equipment or what recipe to use and everything is in metric and it scares me a little to give a 7th grader that doesn't understand what I am saying a knife or anything else that they could hurt themselves with. So the kids are really trying to help me and get me to do things. So we have mixed most all of the ingredients above plus some tomatoes and onions together and then they want me to taste it, so I do and they ask what should we add. I have no idea...I have never even seen this before much less tasted it! It was quite the experience! After that they just started adding things in and they ate it- all! It was like a feeding frenzy! They all had a fork and went to town out of the same bowl. Crazy!

Communication Errors

Error Number 1 :Have you ever had the feeling that it taking you a long time to get dinner? A few weeks ago we sent out to get some Pad Thai from one of our favorite places. We had never gone there on our own, but with our friends Jay and Shuchada, so we decided to try to get there by ourself. We knew the general direction and had gotten some directions from another Thai teacher and started off. The first night we had a friendly thai person point us in the wrong direction and rode the red van to one of the main roads. we had dinner there- not Pad Thai, but we still had dinner. The next day we decided to try again. Walked to the correct road, got on a tiny van to find that they were closed. The best part about this adventure was Ed riding on the tiny van. there was no room inside the van so Ed is standing on the back and normally his head would be under the overhang but tonight it was above the roof. He was looking over the van to where we were going. You know the look when a dog has it head out the window enjoying the wind it was a little like that! I am sure we provide some entertaining stories for the people on the van that night! Day three- we took a taxi and went for lunch! Mission accomplished!

Error Number 2: We are currently in part of the rainy season. It rained real hard one night with lots of lightening and thunder. We shared with Suchada the next morning how we were surprised how much it had rained. She said that it would be like that all week and to make sure we had our umbrellas- Later that night we were out getting dinner and it started to rain a little, but we had our umbrellas so no problem until we were ready to leave. In a matter of minutes the street was flooded. It was blowing rain so hard! It took us a long and very wet time to get back to the apartment- The umbrella was not match for this storm. It was one of those time that I wished we could take a picture of what it was like.

Error Number 3: Test questions...On the final exam we found some interesting questions such as What is the meaning of the bolded word? but no words were bolded. Ed tests question was funnier- "Lucy wants to ( ) at a hospital. She wants to be a doctor. A. work B. play C. put out. it was a grade two test so I am sure that nothing was meant by it but it was funny- there was another question about a fire fighter so the answer would make since with that.

Error Number 4: We go to English camp where only Thai was used????? I had a really good time but had no idea what was going on!- the phrase ignorance is bliss explains the camp! I'm smiling because I don't understand what you are saying! The kids were good and no one got hurt so all was okay!

Time flies

Hard to believe, but our first semester at Assumption is coming to a close.  We are currently in the midst of exam week, which of course unfortunately leads to grading/marking.  *sigh*  Next week is English Camp week, then October Course and holiday, then finally back to class for semester two.

From what we have heard semester two is much different.  Just like home there are practices and shortened classes.  Everyone has said time will fly by.  Hopefully we will have some good long weekends to escape Bangkok some more.

This weekend we are going to ride the Skytrain to Chidlom station and wander around in a different area of Bangkok.  We are hoping to visit some interesting shrines (pictures to follow) and get a different view of the city.  Most neighborhoods look the same...  streets filled with shops, carts to buy almost anything, and great food.

Well, that is all for now, I've got to go supervise a final exam.  More later,

Eduardo

Pictures from Singapore zoo

Well, I think I'm finally getting caught up with some photos.  As the title says, these are from our trip to Singapore (when was that again?!?)  You will see a lot of primates, including one with red hair... look carefully, she is trying not to be seen.

Amazing Thailand

Since we have not been doing a lot of really exciting traveling we thought we would share some of the interesting things that we have been seeing that you would not normally see back home. All of these these things really happened, but we were usually not ready with the camera or it was just not right to take the picture. Pictures would make this so much funnier!!

• A man riding a bike with a can of beer in the water bottle holder.
• People wearing plastic bags on their heads when it rains.
• A child pooping on newspaper outside.
• A sleeping cat in a food display case.
• People drinking soda from plastic bags.
• Signs that read "Don't Smoking"
• Ladyboys (lots of them!)
• People riding scooters while...holding an umbrella, talking on the cell phone, or forging the most resent downpour.
• There is a river that runs though the neighborhood. There are houses that back up to the river and a small (about 2 feet wide) side walk bride to get to them. After a huge rainstorm it was covered. We watched two women in the dark walk down the sidewalk without being able to see it. Talk about Faith!
• Scooters also drive down this side walk also- not usually while flooded but it happens!
• 25-30 people on the back of a small pick-up (it's only 5 baht you'd hop on too!)
• Whole pigs lined up on tables ready for sale

Well that's a little picture into out day to day life here in Thailand. I'm sure there will be more. Everyday is a sensory experience!

Marching Band

Whew!  The last few weeks have been rather long.  Late nights, early mornings, and lots of work to do.  Final exams have been submitted, and I had the opportunity to work with the ACT marching band.  What a wonderful group of students.  A few weeks ago I watched them rehearse and was asked if I could come help on the following Saturday.  Surprisingly enough I actually miss band (*gasp*), so I agreed.  The students work very diligently for me, and we had great fun.  The band is made up of students not just from Assumption, but the surrounding schools as well, grades 3 - 11.  I'm pretty sure they were the hardest working 3rd graders in all of Thailand.

We competed last weekend in the "1st Thailand Marching Band Competition."  In the preliminary round they placed 1st with a score of 85.25, and then we unfortunately made some costly errors in the finals and placed third.  What a great experience though!  They had such a great sound.  I will try to post the video, but I fear it is too large.  I tried to take some pictures, but working with students and being a photographer doesn't work too well.  Below are some of the pictures.



I tried to caption the pictures, but I'm not sure it will show up.  Feel free to look at them on the web album.

More adventures to come!

Eduardo

Koh Tao

We can sum up our weekend in one word...  fabulous.

Snorkeling right from our beach, crystal clear water, being surrounded by hundreds of fish.  All of the bright colors of marine life, and some coral with color!  (Our first snorkeling adventure in Fiji was a let down...)

I guess it wasn't all perfect.  Our bungalow on the beach didn't have hot running water, but it did kind of feel good once you got used to it.  We also found a Tokay Gecko in our bungalow the second night.  Truth be told we just couldn't find him the first night.  For those that aren't familiar with the Tokay, Christine took a video that I will post here later.  FYI...  Tokay Gecko's have teeth.  lot's of teeth.  Despite the minor inconveniences, I would happily go back.

We returned to school just in time for reality to set in.  Final exams are due to the office on Monday, and there has been a lack of communication on what is actually expected.  (Seems to be developing into a common theme...)  No big deal though, it is all just part of our adventure.

Plans are in the works for our next long break.  We have one week off in October that we will be heading into the jungle for.  Tigers, snakes, frogs, and crocodiles!  (Yikes!)  More details later.

This weekend we will be working on getting final exams ready on Saturday, and then heading to a snake farm on Sunday.  Maybe a market too?

Eduardo

Weekend Plans

Dear blog readers,

I thought I would try something different for a change, and post about what we are GOING to do.  Tomorrow (Thursday) is the Queen's birthday, and we have yet another long weekend (Thursday - Sunday).  We have decided to take advantage of this, and go have some fun in Southern Thailand.  We leave tonight on an overnight bus to Koh Tao, a gorgeous tropical paradise in the Gulf of Thailand.We will be staying in a quiet cove in a bungalow on the beach, so we can get up and walk down the beach to swim or soak up the sun.  Of course we could also just relax and have an oceanside massage...  life is tough.

We will be enjoying one of our new favorite hobbies, snorkeling!  There are whale sharks, as well as some good coral reefs to check out in the area.  Should be fun.

To make you a little more jealous...  the weather will be between 26 and 33 Celsius, gentle breezes, and did I mention a bungalow by the beach?

Video to follow later...  for now just enjoy these pics from the web...

Jealous?  (sorry...)

Sin City

We spent some time in Pattaya recently.  Not really many pictures to share, as we spent most of our time on the beach or out on the ocean.  Pattaya is really just one big red light district.  Filled with massage parlors, bars, and never ending game of guess which one is a man, Pattaya was a treat for the senses.

We stayed at a nice little resort just outside of the city.  I say resort, but it was really a Best Western.  Breakfast was included in the price, and it looked safe, so we stayed there.  I also used one of the free nights we had earned from Hotels.com, so it made the price very reasonable.  There were plenty of rooms available in Pattaya that were VERY cheap, but I read numerous warnings about hotel staff, etc so we opted for the safe route.

The only problem with the hotel is that it was so far outside of Pattaya.  There was a hotel shuttle, but it on the hour, and involved the picking up and dropping off of numerous hotel staff, and friends.  One night the driver decided to make a quick stop at 7-11 as well.  Okay, enough about the hotel.

We went to both the Alcazar and Tiffany show in Pattaya.  These are essentially musical acts with an entire cast of drag queens.  Some were very convincing, others were not.  Good to see, but thankfully I think we've both had our fill.

We spent an entire day out on the water snorkeling, fishing, and just relaxing.  It was so much fun!  At one point we had a very small yellow and black striped fish swimming with us.  It wouldn't leave us alone!  At first it liked Christine and kept swimming underneath her.  Everywhere she went it followed, less than an inch below.Finally she lost it and it found me!  Very cute and made us laugh a little through our snorkels.  Unfortunately the water was quite green, but we managed to see a little.

The same night, I had my cheeks pinched walking past a bar.  The ladies (or men??) were rather forward.  Christine was not impressed.  Pattaya easily puts Las Vegas to shame.

All for now...

Thailand overview

It is hard to believe that we have been living in Thailand for more than six weeks now and summer is half way over in the states! I feel like we are just getting started. Our students are taking mid-terms this week and it is very different as you will see later. We have done a poor job of blogging as we have worked to settle in here so I feel a recap is in order.

Week 1: We spent this week adjusting to being on the other side of the world. We also learned about our responsibilities as teachers here at ACT. These looked a little different than what we originally thought. Ed did not have a Thai teacher and my teacher spoke very little English. Also I found that my modest clothes were not quite Thai modest. I needed a white collared button down shirt. Ed and I searched the mall (a huge mall at that) but there is nothing about me that is like a Thai woman! I have curves! Ed and I spent our second first wedding anniversary getting Thai massages and walking around Chinatown. I think we should have a video of Chinatown- who said scooters didn't belong at the market? Sunday was spent preparing for our first day of school teaching in Thailand.

Week 2: Teaching- everything that could go wrong did go wrong for me. I didn't save my ppt to the right format, I only filled 3/4 of my 100 minutes, the kids were crazy, I spent hours looking for information on the internet because I don't have a text book, and so on. After much frustration I sat down and talked with Jay and my teacher and came up with a plan for the moment. It would still be a few weeks before I realized that I only needed to teach about half of the units given to me. This would change my stress level greatly! Ed's teaching experiences were a little different but let's just say that grade 1- Thai teacher = frustrating!! We can't remember exactly what we did this weekend but I think we went to Sanam Luang Son. It is a huge market with many different shops. There is a huge garden section, a huge pet section, and then many other clothes and electronic shops. Pretty much anything you could want. It rained on us, but we had our umbrellas and backpack raincoats as well. Also this weekend we went to see the "A team".

Week 3: Teaching is getting better, there are however some fundamental differences that we are learning.

1. It is okay to copy. Why not look at the Thai market- they copy everything.
2. Thai students have no self control! You wouldn't either if you were studying form 8:00 until 9:00 pm Monday through Saturday.
3. Rules on hitting are very different. They constantly have their hands all over each other.
4. It is okay to have white out and box cutters in class. If these classes were in the U.S almost every kid would be suspended.
5. Students have marks not grades...100 marks for each semester. I am not sure I understand this but I will just go with it for now.

This was a fun weekend! We went to a mad made island in the middle of Bangkok. It is called Ko Kert. We had tried to go here last weekend but didn't know where we needed to go. The people of the island specialize in pottery. We have lots of really cool pictures from this trip. We walked the long way around the island ( there are no cars on the island only a few scooters) to get to the pottery village. It was a very humid day and rained a little at different points. We found a plant that Ed learned about when he was growing up. It is called the sensitive plant. When you touch its leaves they curl up. We also saw our first durian tree (this is a very smelly fruit), some very unsafe wires with vines and ants climbing on them, banana trees, and coconut trees. This was the first time I remember feeling "wow, I live here" I made my first pot. Some of the locals were making pots and let me try. I'm not sure who took more pictures us or them. We bought coffee mugs there. It was a suited souvenir.

Rain Storm: One day it started raining before we woke up. It does that a lot, but this day it did not stop all day. It pored...like one of our really hard pours for HOURS!!! Half way down the street my shoes were soaked and they started to flood. There was water everywhere!!! And deep water at least up to my ankles. It also flooded the roundabout closet to the school. It was flooded up the curb which is about a foot high and stayed there for about 3 days. Welcome to the wet season.

Week 4: WE are settling in nicely. Ed has been playing badminton after school and everywhere we walk on campus people will wave to him and he says "I play badminton with them" I have started swimming- not everyday, but some. It took a while to find a suit that fit and would be okay to swim at the school pool. They have an Olympic sided pool so I get a pretty good workout.

We are enjoying the food and finding our favorite places to eat around the school. After dinner we enjoy some of the wildlife Bangkok has to offer. There are lizards everywhere. It is fun to point them out and see how well they blend in. I still like it better when they are outside and not in our apartment. One day there was a baby one in the shower and Ed called me in to see it. Then he started chasing it around with his hands and it fell...almost on my head. I screamed! A while later we found it and Ed caught it to take it outside. He sat it on the ledge and then moved toward it and it went flying off the side. No more lizard until...we went into the bathroom. This weekend was mostly boring for me, but Ed loved it! Ed and Jay want to go play BB guns- air soft guns. Like paint ball but without the paint. It gets expensive to play a lot and not have your own gun so they went to the market with boy toys- guns, model cars, things like that. We were gone ALL day. They loved it; I was board. Ask him if you need more details of the days excitement. Once they were done he took me to see Eclipse so it was okay in the end!

Week 5: I had 1/2 my classes for the week Monday and Tuesday, then off to Singapore. We had to make a visa run to Singapore this week. English sub plans for a Thai teacher???? We left early in the morning on Wednesday. The taxi ride was exciting as always. We were flying"first class" or hot seats for Asia Air. We had to take a bus to our plane and walk up the stairs to get into it. It was funny. Our hot seats were in the first row and had just enough leg room...it would have been very uncomfortable anywhere else. It was well worth the extra 250 baht or $8.00. Once in Singapore we exchanged 20,000 baht for 850 Singapore dollars and headed to our hotel. We stayed in the Hotel M, a very modern loft style hotel. Unpacked our backpacks (yes I took a backpack for 4 days...what is the world coming to?) Repacked for the beach and went in search for something to eat. We were quite close to the nightlife area so nothing was really open. They did have a Burger King Bar and we had lunch there. Yes it was really a BK and really a bar..wow! Next we figured out the public transportation system and headed for Sentosa. This is the Southern most point of South East Asia. They had beach and that is where we spent the rest of the afternoon. Once we were sufficiently burnt and had enjoyed all that we could for the day we headed back. On our way we found a National Geographic Store and mini museum in the mall. Anything done by them is pretty cool! Day 2 The Zoo and night safari. This was one of the coolest zoos I've been too. We spent hours taking pictures...mostly of the monkeys, but still lots of pictures. The night safari was really cool also. So many animals are nocturnal, now we could see them in their environment. The highlight was the flying squirrel that came flying at my head. I'm not sure what it is with animals flying at my head but I don't like it much. By the end of the day we were VERY tired of walking and day 3 needed less of it! Day 3 we went on some sight seeing tours. We saw the Merlion, Little India, Sky Park, helix bridge, a show (Songs of the Sea) and went up in the Singapore flyer. For dinner we decided to have the Singapore dish which was chili crabs. Let me paint a picture for you..Ed and I (very slow eaters) eating crab legs with chop sticks. It was very mess. We only had a hour until they closed, but we could have been there all night!

Week 6: This was Ed's last week as a P.E teacher. He will be moving to being a music teacher after mid-term. This means we need another computer! We all your work is done on the computer we can't share any more! So we spent the week looking for one. I am looking forward to after mid-term and a fresh start. A lot of my units were messed up from coming late and my teacher not taking scores. Also this gives us lots of time to plan! This weekend we went to Wat Arun. It is one of the really old temples. You can hike 1/2 way up the temple. These were the biggest stairs ever! We got some really cool pictures. We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, doing laundry(I never knew I could miss a dryer so much and appreciate clothes pins) , and Ed played so BBall. He will be playing on the school teacher team when we have sports day. I am also on a teacher team. I will be playing boccie

I think this finally brings us to the present week and our upcoming long weekend. Be looking for our pictures and videos from this post and a much sooner and shorter post of our long weekend.

Christelia Earhart

Teaching

My apologies for being a poor blog author, I will get more regular updates soon.

We have finished our first (and almost second) full week of teaching.  Quite a different experience from America.  We've had our fair share of frustration and small victories, but are still adjusting to life here in Bangkok.

The students are the run of the mill typical students.  Some days I feel like a first year teacher, and others I feel pretty good.  Yesterday for example, I had eight students crying by the end of a class.  The downside of being in a foreign country is that we can't always communicate...  needless to say, I have no idea what they were crying about.

In three weeks time I will be abandoning my dream of being a P.E. teacher to once again teach music.  The current music teacher has resigned, and I was offered the spot.  It will once again present new challenges, but I'm excited to be going back to the subject I love.

This weekend Christine and I will be going to Koh Kret, an island to the north (???) of Bangkok.  It is known as an old colony of Mon people, famous for pottery.  The island itself is actually man made from the clay gathered from dredging the canals through Bangkok.  The potters use this clay in their craft. 

So far we have been exploring the markets and city life of Bangkok while familiarizing ourselves with the city.  It can be a challenge to go places when the taxi driver doesn't know where you want to go, or you don't know what bus to take.

The best part so far has been the food... very tasty.  Come visit us in Bangkok and I will take you to my favorite places.  (mm mm!!)

All for now...  need to teach.

Ed

Up and running

Dear friends and family,

We have arrived in Bangkok!  Sorry for our delay in posting our arrival, we had some technical difficulties.

Here is a quick recap of our week so far...

Our flights were great!  Christine and I had an exit row seat from LAX to BKK.  What a plus!  The only downside was a few screaming children.  Our in flight meals were okay for the most part, but we caution you not to get the Thai Air omelet, definitely go for the fried rice if you get the chance.

Jay successfully met us at the airport.  It was rather nice to arrive early in the morning instead of late at night like the last time.  We got to see the sights of Bangkok instead of falling asleep in the back of the van.

Our room is one floor below where we stayed over Christmas.  To our surprise we already had visitors upon our arrival!  Two small lizards were calling our apartment home.  We did our best to take some video, but those little buggers are quick!  Unfortunately we think one of them may have come to an untimely demise after running into the air conditioner to escape the flash from my camera.  No smell yet, but we are eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Teaching:  Not much to say about it yet, we haven't started! Monday will be our first day in the classroom.  The planning has been going well, but can be frustrating when trying to clarify translated documents with Thai teachers who don't speak much English.  Fortunately there are others around that are willing to lend a helping hand whenever possible.

Our biggest adventure (other than our surprise guests) this week was a good ol' fashioned snake wrangling down at the local market.  We had just finished dinner and decided to explore our new neighborhood.  We found a small market close by with lots of fruit, chickens (sliced, diced, and boy do the insides look nice... gross!), fish that were still breathing, and all sorts of things I couldn't begin to describe.  After some browsing around and finally settling on some freshly cut pomello, we began to walk back home.  We didn't get far before seeing a group of scooter taxi drivers all yelling and jumping around.  You can imagine that this peaked my interest, so I wanted to move in for a closer look.  All of the yelling and jumping was over a 4' snake with BIG fangs.  I'm not sure how it got loose, or where it came from, but it was big and out in the open.  The scooter drivers corralled the beast and fought it into a garbage bag, but it was a tense few minutes.  Afterwards Christine and I had a good laugh about our snake experience as we walked back home.

Get this!

I've flown half way around the world, and I still can't escape!!  When we got back, the Assumption Marching Band was practicing...  I must admit I had to stop and listen.  Who knows, I may even get involved!

Tomorrow Christine and I will be heading out for wonderful adventure in the touristy area of Bangkok.  Stay tuned for pictures and updates (including video).

Until next time...