Well, sad to say the journey is over, and I have returned home!
I said goodbye to the boys in Malaysia, then headed back to Thailand for 2 days. When I arrived I ran into Rachel in the middle of the street in Bangkok, so we spent the last day together eating our favorite Thai foods, and shopping for last minute gifts.
The plane ride was about 20 hours, but not too bad. I got stopped for special questioning at customs (must have looked like a terrorist) but they finally let me through!
It is great to be home, even if my life is about to be a lot more boring! Thank you to all of you who actually read this for 8 months!
Until my next adventure....
-Tami
p.s. put up the last round of photos from Bali, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019913&id=83901952&l=6007260d5a
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
cess pools and pictures
KL is a cess pool...not much else to say about it...but since the sicty sucks, I had time to put up photos from Vietnam!
enjoy them here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019780&id=83901952&l=00c0c46d05
Tomorrow I head back to Thailand...then Home on Friday!
enjoy them here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019780&id=83901952&l=00c0c46d05
Tomorrow I head back to Thailand...then Home on Friday!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
The rest of Bali, Singapore and KL
Hello from Malaysia!
Sorry I haven't updated...but to be honest the rest of Bali, nothing interesting happened. I really just layed on the beach and ate mass amounts of ice cream. It was wonderful!
We arrived in Singapore on the 6th (after being heat scanned for swine flu). Singapore was a BEAUTIFUL city. Everyone lives in these giant high rise buildings full of apartments. The city has 4 million people, but doesn't feel like it because it is so compact, and the transportation systems are used by everyone. There are tons of parks and gardens all over the city. The people really take pride in their home! That beaing said, there are some STRANGE rules! You cannot eat or drink on public transport ($500 fine), You can't smoke ($1000 fine), you can't chew gum (I am not kidding...they dont sell it anywhere and if you are caught chewing...$500), and if you leave a toilet unflushed there goes another $500. The city also has cameras EVERYWHERE. You are always under surveilance...so you can never jaywalk, chew gum...etc. It is a bit "big brother"-esque, but overall I think it actually made the city more pleasant (in a friendly/oppressive underlying way?).
We stayed wilth Glenn, a guy we met through Couch Surfing (http://www.couchsurfing.com/), a website where people offer to host travelers and give them a place to stay / show them around. Glenn was an awesome host! He even gave up his bedroom for us! He has lived in Singapore his whole life. He picked us up from the airport, showed us around the city, even payed for all of our food and bus/subway passes, and wouldn't let us pay him back. He really took care of us, and made our trip a million times easier and better. He was such an interesting guy...used to be a body builder, has travelled all over the world, and is moving to Shanghai in a month. It was great to see the city with a local, and we took him out for drinks and got him a present to thank him for his hospitality!
When in Singapore, we saw everything we wanted to...we really packed it in since we only had about 3 days total. We went to the night safari (which is a zoo open only at night and contains one of the only patches of living rainforest left on the island). We went to several parks, several museums (which are all free after 6 pm), saw forts and the battle box, saw the financial district and the Quays (which were beautiful bridges over the river lit up at night). We saw the singapore flyer (the largest ferris wheel in the world, very similar the the London eye). We took the monorail over to Sentosa island, where we rode the luge (you take a chairlift up the the top of a hill then ride a go cart/bobsled down the hill). We went to the Changi prison and China town, and basically rode the buses and subway over every inch of the city.
I don't usually like big cities but I loved Singapore. It was very multi-cultural...people were friendly...it was clean...easy to navigate. Overall a great experience.
Today we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after our flight being delayed (partially because of Matt...they found a shell casing he had brought back from Vietnam and questioned him severely in the Singapore airport, and partially because a couple on their honeymoon were found with fuzzy handcuffs in their carry on...no joke...the couple actually got detained longer and missed the flight). KL is gross and big and dirty...most of the hostels look roach and bed bug ridden (ours looks the least bug-infested...yay?) Can't say I love the place so far...but I am trying to get out to the rainforest that you can hike through for a day trip. Tonight we are just relaxing (Scott is pretty sick with either a flu or Dengue fever...hope its not the latter, and Matt just found out that they had to put down his dog)...so everyone isn't exactly chipper...but we're making the most of it. Matt and I just had some indian food out of a suspiciously dirty bin...we will see how that goes in a couple hours.
I will be flying back to Thailand in 4 days...have 2 days there to pick up my stuff, and get some last minute gifts (I am trying to smuggle home a "7 year old egg", and some cobra wine...we will see how that turns out), then, I fly home on the 15th! Hopefully I will update one last time before I head home, but if not...I will update when I get home safely (hopefully not quarantined with this swine flu thing), and will put up the remainder of my photos (be prepared for hundreds!) I am looking forward to going home but will miss Asia and traveling and most of all Scott and Matt!!
See you soon! And if anyone wants anything cool from Asia...speak now! xoxo
-Tami
Sorry I haven't updated...but to be honest the rest of Bali, nothing interesting happened. I really just layed on the beach and ate mass amounts of ice cream. It was wonderful!
We arrived in Singapore on the 6th (after being heat scanned for swine flu). Singapore was a BEAUTIFUL city. Everyone lives in these giant high rise buildings full of apartments. The city has 4 million people, but doesn't feel like it because it is so compact, and the transportation systems are used by everyone. There are tons of parks and gardens all over the city. The people really take pride in their home! That beaing said, there are some STRANGE rules! You cannot eat or drink on public transport ($500 fine), You can't smoke ($1000 fine), you can't chew gum (I am not kidding...they dont sell it anywhere and if you are caught chewing...$500), and if you leave a toilet unflushed there goes another $500. The city also has cameras EVERYWHERE. You are always under surveilance...so you can never jaywalk, chew gum...etc. It is a bit "big brother"-esque, but overall I think it actually made the city more pleasant (in a friendly/oppressive underlying way?).
We stayed wilth Glenn, a guy we met through Couch Surfing (http://www.couchsurfing.com/), a website where people offer to host travelers and give them a place to stay / show them around. Glenn was an awesome host! He even gave up his bedroom for us! He has lived in Singapore his whole life. He picked us up from the airport, showed us around the city, even payed for all of our food and bus/subway passes, and wouldn't let us pay him back. He really took care of us, and made our trip a million times easier and better. He was such an interesting guy...used to be a body builder, has travelled all over the world, and is moving to Shanghai in a month. It was great to see the city with a local, and we took him out for drinks and got him a present to thank him for his hospitality!
When in Singapore, we saw everything we wanted to...we really packed it in since we only had about 3 days total. We went to the night safari (which is a zoo open only at night and contains one of the only patches of living rainforest left on the island). We went to several parks, several museums (which are all free after 6 pm), saw forts and the battle box, saw the financial district and the Quays (which were beautiful bridges over the river lit up at night). We saw the singapore flyer (the largest ferris wheel in the world, very similar the the London eye). We took the monorail over to Sentosa island, where we rode the luge (you take a chairlift up the the top of a hill then ride a go cart/bobsled down the hill). We went to the Changi prison and China town, and basically rode the buses and subway over every inch of the city.
I don't usually like big cities but I loved Singapore. It was very multi-cultural...people were friendly...it was clean...easy to navigate. Overall a great experience.
Today we arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after our flight being delayed (partially because of Matt...they found a shell casing he had brought back from Vietnam and questioned him severely in the Singapore airport, and partially because a couple on their honeymoon were found with fuzzy handcuffs in their carry on...no joke...the couple actually got detained longer and missed the flight). KL is gross and big and dirty...most of the hostels look roach and bed bug ridden (ours looks the least bug-infested...yay?) Can't say I love the place so far...but I am trying to get out to the rainforest that you can hike through for a day trip. Tonight we are just relaxing (Scott is pretty sick with either a flu or Dengue fever...hope its not the latter, and Matt just found out that they had to put down his dog)...so everyone isn't exactly chipper...but we're making the most of it. Matt and I just had some indian food out of a suspiciously dirty bin...we will see how that goes in a couple hours.
I will be flying back to Thailand in 4 days...have 2 days there to pick up my stuff, and get some last minute gifts (I am trying to smuggle home a "7 year old egg", and some cobra wine...we will see how that turns out), then, I fly home on the 15th! Hopefully I will update one last time before I head home, but if not...I will update when I get home safely (hopefully not quarantined with this swine flu thing), and will put up the remainder of my photos (be prepared for hundreds!) I am looking forward to going home but will miss Asia and traveling and most of all Scott and Matt!!
See you soon! And if anyone wants anything cool from Asia...speak now! xoxo
-Tami
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Bali
Hello from Bali!
Bali is AMAZING. I really love it here. Beautiful beaches, perfect water, green rice paddies, cocnut laden palm trees, perfect blue sky!
We crossed over the equator, so now we are in the Southern Hemisphere (though I don't know if the toilet flushes the opposite direction). It is VERY hot here since we are so close to the equator. We are staying in Kuta/Legian beach area.
Yesterday we went white water rafting down a large river in the center of the island. It was level 4 rapids, and was pretty action packed the whole 2 1/2 hour trip! The rafting culminated with going over a 5 meter waterfall. It was really scary, but awesome! I absolutely loved it! Other than that, we have been laying on the beach, swimming, surfing, and eating really yummy food! The Balinese people are so friendly and fun. I would really like to teach here someday!
We are thinking about heading to the Gilli islands next, but may stay in this area...then onto Singapore, then Kuala Lumpur...and finally in 2 weeks I will be home! It's been almost 8 months since I left for Asia!
I am taking lots of pictures and having a great time! Miss you all!
Bali is AMAZING. I really love it here. Beautiful beaches, perfect water, green rice paddies, cocnut laden palm trees, perfect blue sky!
We crossed over the equator, so now we are in the Southern Hemisphere (though I don't know if the toilet flushes the opposite direction). It is VERY hot here since we are so close to the equator. We are staying in Kuta/Legian beach area.
Yesterday we went white water rafting down a large river in the center of the island. It was level 4 rapids, and was pretty action packed the whole 2 1/2 hour trip! The rafting culminated with going over a 5 meter waterfall. It was really scary, but awesome! I absolutely loved it! Other than that, we have been laying on the beach, swimming, surfing, and eating really yummy food! The Balinese people are so friendly and fun. I would really like to teach here someday!
We are thinking about heading to the Gilli islands next, but may stay in this area...then onto Singapore, then Kuala Lumpur...and finally in 2 weeks I will be home! It's been almost 8 months since I left for Asia!
I am taking lots of pictures and having a great time! Miss you all!
Friday, April 24, 2009
In Saigon!
Hello everyone! I am in Saigon now, or Ho Chi Minh City I guess! Vietnam has been a whirlwind, but it has been great.
My last update, I believe was in Hanoi. SInce then, we have gone all the way down the country and done so much. After Hanoi, we went to Cat Ba island, which was beautiful! The whole bay was limestone cliffs and emerald green water. We went out on a junk for a day trip around Halong Bay, which was incredible.
After Cat Ba, we went to Hue on an overnight bus....let me tell you this was probably the worst time of my entire life! This bus was ridiculous! First of all, there are rows of beds (if you can even call them that) along the whole bus. I had a top bunk. These things are built for people about 4 feet tall and 80 pounds. You couldn't straighten your legs all the way. To make it worse, they BLASTED vietnamese music on full volume all night, and the driver swerved and honked every 30 seconds. I am not exaggerating. He was horrid! To top it off, the bus gets pulle dover and they find a bunch of stolen phones. So we are stopped for 4 hours while they search all the bags. Needless to say, we arrived in Hue about 7 hours late. I think I wanted to die by then.
Hue was amazing, which made up for the ride there! We went on a tour of the DMZ where among the things we saw were the beginning of HO Chi Minh trail, Khe San military base, and the Vinh Moc tunnels. It was really incredible to see all of this stuff!
After Hue, we took an all day train down to Nha Trang. This is supposed to be the most scenic railway in the world...and it did not let us down! It took about 13 hours to get there but it was worth it. Nha Trang is probably my favorite part of Vietnam. It was gorgeous, the people were so friendly, and the weather was nice. We went to the beach all day, then went to the mineral hot springs. We had a mud bath in these mud pits, then layed in hot mineral water, and swam in mineral waterfalls. The water was very hot, but after your skin felt so good. It was really fun to splash around in the mud, and swim in the pools. The whole process was very unique including high pressure jets to wash all the mud off.
Yesterday we flew from Nhat Trang to HCMC (instead of taking another hellatious bus ride) and now we are here for 2 days. We are going to the CuChi tunnels tomorrow...then its off to Bali (which I am SUPER excited for!)
ALl in all its been a great trip and the boys and I are having so much fun!
I have managed to get up pictures from the south of Thailand, but they are poorly labeled and out of order....but it will have to do for now:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018994&id=83901952&l=0054f5a0e7
I will update again in Bali!! Miss you all!
Can't believe I will be home in 3 weeks!
My last update, I believe was in Hanoi. SInce then, we have gone all the way down the country and done so much. After Hanoi, we went to Cat Ba island, which was beautiful! The whole bay was limestone cliffs and emerald green water. We went out on a junk for a day trip around Halong Bay, which was incredible.
After Cat Ba, we went to Hue on an overnight bus....let me tell you this was probably the worst time of my entire life! This bus was ridiculous! First of all, there are rows of beds (if you can even call them that) along the whole bus. I had a top bunk. These things are built for people about 4 feet tall and 80 pounds. You couldn't straighten your legs all the way. To make it worse, they BLASTED vietnamese music on full volume all night, and the driver swerved and honked every 30 seconds. I am not exaggerating. He was horrid! To top it off, the bus gets pulle dover and they find a bunch of stolen phones. So we are stopped for 4 hours while they search all the bags. Needless to say, we arrived in Hue about 7 hours late. I think I wanted to die by then.
Hue was amazing, which made up for the ride there! We went on a tour of the DMZ where among the things we saw were the beginning of HO Chi Minh trail, Khe San military base, and the Vinh Moc tunnels. It was really incredible to see all of this stuff!
After Hue, we took an all day train down to Nha Trang. This is supposed to be the most scenic railway in the world...and it did not let us down! It took about 13 hours to get there but it was worth it. Nha Trang is probably my favorite part of Vietnam. It was gorgeous, the people were so friendly, and the weather was nice. We went to the beach all day, then went to the mineral hot springs. We had a mud bath in these mud pits, then layed in hot mineral water, and swam in mineral waterfalls. The water was very hot, but after your skin felt so good. It was really fun to splash around in the mud, and swim in the pools. The whole process was very unique including high pressure jets to wash all the mud off.
Yesterday we flew from Nhat Trang to HCMC (instead of taking another hellatious bus ride) and now we are here for 2 days. We are going to the CuChi tunnels tomorrow...then its off to Bali (which I am SUPER excited for!)
ALl in all its been a great trip and the boys and I are having so much fun!
I have managed to get up pictures from the south of Thailand, but they are poorly labeled and out of order....but it will have to do for now:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018994&id=83901952&l=0054f5a0e7
I will update again in Bali!! Miss you all!
Can't believe I will be home in 3 weeks!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Greetings from Vietnam!!
When I last updated, we were in Koh Tao celebrating "Songkram". Songkran was a blast! The whole day was essentailly a giant waterfight on the whole island! Nowhere was safe, and EVERYONE was soaked by the end of the day! It was a blast and we bought supersoakers to fight back! You would even get doused sitting in a restaurant eating lunch! We walked to a big beach and water-fought all day!
After songkran, we left koh tao and started traveling for 2 days straight. Unfortunately I got a horrid sinus infection...which didn't make it much better. We took a 3 hour boat, then a bus, then an overnight train to Bangkok. From there we took another bus, then waited at the airport, then flew in to Vietnam. I was a bit sad to leave Thailand...after being there for about 7 months. I will be back for a couple days before I fly home.
We arrived in Hanoi yesterday. I can't say this is my favorite place in the world. It is a HUGE city. There are way too many people, and crossing the street takes about 30 minutes...nobody stops for you and there are millions of cars and motorcycles at all times. It is really scary, dirty, and smoggy. The people are not friendly like the Thais. It's pretty much a concrete jungle packed with people to the point where you feel like you can't breathe. I don't know if I was just experiencing culture shock, or if I really dislike this place, but I semi-freaked out walking down the street.
Despite this, we have done a lot. We went to Ho Chi Minh's masoleum and saw his preserved body (creepy but cool). We went to the army museum. We walked around the lake, and we saw a vietnamese water puppet show (which was way cooler than it sounds). We also ate pho (noodle soup) and bun (noodles with salad and grilled meat all mixed together with a yummy sauce)...both of which were quite yummy! Everything is really cheap here (the money is called "Dong" (hehe) and 2 million is about $115. The boys went to the "Hanoi Hilton", but I refrained. Overall it's been ok, even though I am not a big city girl.
Today we are heading to Halong Bay and Cat Ba island. Then on to Hue, and Danag (to see the DMZ), then onto Nha Trang, and finally HCM city (Saigon). I am happy to be getting out of the city and hopefully will like vietnam a lot more than I do.
If you can believe it (I can't) I will be home in about a month! Seems like this time just flew by! I am very excited for the rest of my travels, but will be happy to return to civilization and experience the inevitable "reverse culture shock". I will update again soon when I do more in Vietnam!
After songkran, we left koh tao and started traveling for 2 days straight. Unfortunately I got a horrid sinus infection...which didn't make it much better. We took a 3 hour boat, then a bus, then an overnight train to Bangkok. From there we took another bus, then waited at the airport, then flew in to Vietnam. I was a bit sad to leave Thailand...after being there for about 7 months. I will be back for a couple days before I fly home.
We arrived in Hanoi yesterday. I can't say this is my favorite place in the world. It is a HUGE city. There are way too many people, and crossing the street takes about 30 minutes...nobody stops for you and there are millions of cars and motorcycles at all times. It is really scary, dirty, and smoggy. The people are not friendly like the Thais. It's pretty much a concrete jungle packed with people to the point where you feel like you can't breathe. I don't know if I was just experiencing culture shock, or if I really dislike this place, but I semi-freaked out walking down the street.
Despite this, we have done a lot. We went to Ho Chi Minh's masoleum and saw his preserved body (creepy but cool). We went to the army museum. We walked around the lake, and we saw a vietnamese water puppet show (which was way cooler than it sounds). We also ate pho (noodle soup) and bun (noodles with salad and grilled meat all mixed together with a yummy sauce)...both of which were quite yummy! Everything is really cheap here (the money is called "Dong" (hehe) and 2 million is about $115. The boys went to the "Hanoi Hilton", but I refrained. Overall it's been ok, even though I am not a big city girl.
Today we are heading to Halong Bay and Cat Ba island. Then on to Hue, and Danag (to see the DMZ), then onto Nha Trang, and finally HCM city (Saigon). I am happy to be getting out of the city and hopefully will like vietnam a lot more than I do.
If you can believe it (I can't) I will be home in about a month! Seems like this time just flew by! I am very excited for the rest of my travels, but will be happy to return to civilization and experience the inevitable "reverse culture shock". I will update again soon when I do more in Vietnam!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Island hopping continues!!
I think I last updated from Krabi....since then, the adventure has continued!!
Scott and I met up with Rachel, and saw her rock climb in Ton Sai. The weather continued to be crap...monsooning every night...btu we managed to make the most of it!
After Krabi, we headed up the andaman coast to Ko Lak...a diving mecca. It continued to pour, but Matt dove on the Similan islands, and Scott and I managed to geta few hours of sun in.
After Krabi...we headed back to the Gulf of Thailand where we went to Koh Samui. The island was pretty nice, and we stayed in Bo Phun beach for 2 nights. We then headed to the next island, Koh Pagnan. We met up with Rachel again, and also Courtney, and her boyfriend Chris. We stayed on a gorgeous beach called Thong Nai Pan...and there was plenty of sun for once! Our bungalows had a pool and were surrounded by plumeria and orchids! The night of the 9th, we went to the full moon party. If you haven't heard of it, it is supposed to be one of the biggest parties in the world (google it...well, not you mom because it will probably scare you). It was right on the beach, and had body painting, fire limbo...and general craziness. To add to that, it rained the ENTIRE TIME! The 6 of us had a blast, and made it back safely! We said goodbye to Rachel, and Courtney for good :( on the 11th.
We are on Koh Tao now...the last of the islands we are visiting int he gulf. It is GORGEOUS! It has been sunny the whole time (yay). I went scuba diving today and saw a barracuda, and a sea snake!! I did 2 dives, and my dive instructor looked like Paul Walker (yum).
Tomorrow is songkran (a HUGE Thai holiday). Essentially the whole day everyone throws water at each other or gets giant super soakers, and there is a day long water fight! I am so excited!
After Koh Tao, our trip of Thailand is over. All in all the south has been great! Heading to Vietnam on the 15th!! I am trying to put up pictres now...we will see what happens!
Scott and I met up with Rachel, and saw her rock climb in Ton Sai. The weather continued to be crap...monsooning every night...btu we managed to make the most of it!
After Krabi, we headed up the andaman coast to Ko Lak...a diving mecca. It continued to pour, but Matt dove on the Similan islands, and Scott and I managed to geta few hours of sun in.
After Krabi...we headed back to the Gulf of Thailand where we went to Koh Samui. The island was pretty nice, and we stayed in Bo Phun beach for 2 nights. We then headed to the next island, Koh Pagnan. We met up with Rachel again, and also Courtney, and her boyfriend Chris. We stayed on a gorgeous beach called Thong Nai Pan...and there was plenty of sun for once! Our bungalows had a pool and were surrounded by plumeria and orchids! The night of the 9th, we went to the full moon party. If you haven't heard of it, it is supposed to be one of the biggest parties in the world (google it...well, not you mom because it will probably scare you). It was right on the beach, and had body painting, fire limbo...and general craziness. To add to that, it rained the ENTIRE TIME! The 6 of us had a blast, and made it back safely! We said goodbye to Rachel, and Courtney for good :( on the 11th.
We are on Koh Tao now...the last of the islands we are visiting int he gulf. It is GORGEOUS! It has been sunny the whole time (yay). I went scuba diving today and saw a barracuda, and a sea snake!! I did 2 dives, and my dive instructor looked like Paul Walker (yum).
Tomorrow is songkran (a HUGE Thai holiday). Essentially the whole day everyone throws water at each other or gets giant super soakers, and there is a day long water fight! I am so excited!
After Koh Tao, our trip of Thailand is over. All in all the south has been great! Heading to Vietnam on the 15th!! I am trying to put up pictres now...we will see what happens!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
South of Thailand travel begins!
Scott, Matt and I have been traveling now for almost a week! We left for Bangkok, then flew to Phuket in the south of Thailand. Phuket was pretty nice...though we only stayed for 2 days. You can tell the Tsunami of 2004 wiped out quite a bit but they have recovered extremely well!
After Phuket we headed to the Phi Phi islands. Koh Phi Phi was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life! We went on a boat/snorkel trip...saw this lagoon called PiLey bay on Phi Phi Leh island...so beautiful (google pictures of it). We also went to the beach where they filmed the movie "The beach" (but believe it or not, that was probably the least beautiful)! I took TONS of pictures that I will put up when I get back to the states. Scott and I hiked up the tsunami evacuation route/viewpoint and it was spectacular! We staed 4 days on Phi Phi Don (the bigger island) but spent a lot of time on Phi Phi Leh (the smaller and more beautiful island only a longboat ride away). On the cliffs they have "swift nests", that they use to make bird nest soup. I guess people have to scale these cliffs and steal the nests and make a ton of money, though it looks extremely dangerous. We also saw a viking cave, where pirates had made drawings on the walls. What else? Had some great food, saw some Muay Thai boxing, got an awesome sunburn...everything was great!
We are in Krabi now...a place called Ao Nang. It has been rainign all day. but tomorrow we are meeting up with Rachel in Railay beach (in Krabi) and hopefully doing some kayaking.
On saturday, we are heading to the similan islands (on the andaman sea). Scuba diving is some of the best in the world there so I think I might splurge and do a "fun dive"...you dont get certified and a guide goes with you (its through PADI so its safe mom), plus its less expensive. You go no more than 25 ft. so if something goes wrong you can swim up. I feel like it would be a shame not to when its the best in the world! Matt went diving the other day on Phi Phi and saw 3 sea turtles and a shark!! The dive I do counts toward part of a certification if I find that I love it. I have always been a bit apprehensive of diving, but I am pretty much a waterbaby and LOVE snorkeling, so I will probably LOVE it and be addicted. The snorkeling alone has been AMAZING! The visibility is about 12-18 meters from the surface and there are so many unbelievable fish swimming around (rainbow colored even!!) The water is so clear and warm (about 80-85 degrees)
The south of Thialand is very different...and A LOT more beautiful. There are huge cascading limestone cliffs, and turqouise water. I really love it down here!
I am having a blast! It is HOTTER THAN HECK, but we are dealing!
Miss you all, and I will try to update again soon!
After Phuket we headed to the Phi Phi islands. Koh Phi Phi was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life! We went on a boat/snorkel trip...saw this lagoon called PiLey bay on Phi Phi Leh island...so beautiful (google pictures of it). We also went to the beach where they filmed the movie "The beach" (but believe it or not, that was probably the least beautiful)! I took TONS of pictures that I will put up when I get back to the states. Scott and I hiked up the tsunami evacuation route/viewpoint and it was spectacular! We staed 4 days on Phi Phi Don (the bigger island) but spent a lot of time on Phi Phi Leh (the smaller and more beautiful island only a longboat ride away). On the cliffs they have "swift nests", that they use to make bird nest soup. I guess people have to scale these cliffs and steal the nests and make a ton of money, though it looks extremely dangerous. We also saw a viking cave, where pirates had made drawings on the walls. What else? Had some great food, saw some Muay Thai boxing, got an awesome sunburn...everything was great!
We are in Krabi now...a place called Ao Nang. It has been rainign all day. but tomorrow we are meeting up with Rachel in Railay beach (in Krabi) and hopefully doing some kayaking.
On saturday, we are heading to the similan islands (on the andaman sea). Scuba diving is some of the best in the world there so I think I might splurge and do a "fun dive"...you dont get certified and a guide goes with you (its through PADI so its safe mom), plus its less expensive. You go no more than 25 ft. so if something goes wrong you can swim up. I feel like it would be a shame not to when its the best in the world! Matt went diving the other day on Phi Phi and saw 3 sea turtles and a shark!! The dive I do counts toward part of a certification if I find that I love it. I have always been a bit apprehensive of diving, but I am pretty much a waterbaby and LOVE snorkeling, so I will probably LOVE it and be addicted. The snorkeling alone has been AMAZING! The visibility is about 12-18 meters from the surface and there are so many unbelievable fish swimming around (rainbow colored even!!) The water is so clear and warm (about 80-85 degrees)
The south of Thialand is very different...and A LOT more beautiful. There are huge cascading limestone cliffs, and turqouise water. I really love it down here!
I am having a blast! It is HOTTER THAN HECK, but we are dealing!
Miss you all, and I will try to update again soon!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Goodbye Ban Phe
Well, my journey as a teacher in Thailand has pretty much come to an end. It seems like just yesterday I landed in Thailand...it really flew by! I teach tomorrow and Friday, then I begin my travels! I won't be able to update much, as I will have limited access to computers and the internet...but I will try to update and add photos while traveling! I leave Saturday morning for Bangkok, the fly out early Sunday morning to Phuket (in the South of Thailand).
Overall this experience has been pretty great. I am sad to say goodbye to Ban Phe, and the friends I have made here, but I am ready to travel. I will miss this place...who knows, maybe I will be back someday?
I have uploaded photos from Graduation into my old album (they begin on page 9)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&id=83901952&l=49f9c18982
I also added photos of Ban Phe...where I live, places I go here, and people I have met (and all my favorite street dogs too!).
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018509&id=83901952&l=1c85ca0488
enjoy! Hopefully I will update soon! I will be back in the U.S. May 15th!
Overall this experience has been pretty great. I am sad to say goodbye to Ban Phe, and the friends I have made here, but I am ready to travel. I will miss this place...who knows, maybe I will be back someday?
I have uploaded photos from Graduation into my old album (they begin on page 9)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&id=83901952&l=49f9c18982
I also added photos of Ban Phe...where I live, places I go here, and people I have met (and all my favorite street dogs too!).
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018509&id=83901952&l=1c85ca0488
enjoy! Hopefully I will update soon! I will be back in the U.S. May 15th!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
the best of the last...
This past weekend was my second to last in Ban Phe :(
I am starting to get a little sad about leaving, but more excited to start traveling on the 28th!
Friday, a bunch of us went into Rayong to eat pizza and go bowling. After, we went to a club where they had live music. They stuck us right in the front (so everyone could stare at the white people). We had a great time until all of a sudden the lights came on, and the music stopped. We turned around to find the club surrounded by hundreds of Thai police. We were pretty scared so we went to the door. They let us out, because we are foreigners, but they wouldn't let any Thai people exit. We still don't know what was going on, but I have heard horror storeis of people getting arrested on false drug charges just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time...we were pretty lucky!!
Saturday, we went to Rache's school's graduation! This thing was a HUGE deal. The kids did a bunch of performances on a huge stage. Rachel even had to give a speech! Of course, since we are the only white people for miles, they gave us a VIP table (literally there was a sign that said VIP"), right at the front of the whole thing. They then proceeded to videotape us and put it up on the jumbo screen so everyone could look at the foreigners. Anyway, it was pretty funny. The performances were so adorable (preschool age kids dancing), and they kept beinging us all different food. They would walk up with a fruit plate, or a giant fish, or a duck, or a big plate of rice...and just when you thought you were done eating, they brought another.
The next day, we decided to take our last trip out to the island of Koh Samet. We took a boat tour around the island, and snorkeled, swam, fished, and layed in the sun. It was really nice and relaxing. When we got back, we went for one final dinner at Shaam's. We found someone to drive us the 20 minutes out to his place, and we ate all of our favorite foods. I am so sad that was my last Shaam's meal, because his food is the BEST Thai food I have ever had (maybe some of the best food in general that I have ever had). Shaam drove us back, and we said goodbye to him.
I have this week, and next to finish teaching, and then we start our S.E. Asian traveling adventure (yay). I won't have a computer with me while I travel so updates and pictures will be few and far between (if at all), but I promise very detailed entries and tons of pictures upon my return to the states! I am going to miss Thailand, but I am ready to see the world!
I am starting to get a little sad about leaving, but more excited to start traveling on the 28th!
Friday, a bunch of us went into Rayong to eat pizza and go bowling. After, we went to a club where they had live music. They stuck us right in the front (so everyone could stare at the white people). We had a great time until all of a sudden the lights came on, and the music stopped. We turned around to find the club surrounded by hundreds of Thai police. We were pretty scared so we went to the door. They let us out, because we are foreigners, but they wouldn't let any Thai people exit. We still don't know what was going on, but I have heard horror storeis of people getting arrested on false drug charges just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time...we were pretty lucky!!
Saturday, we went to Rache's school's graduation! This thing was a HUGE deal. The kids did a bunch of performances on a huge stage. Rachel even had to give a speech! Of course, since we are the only white people for miles, they gave us a VIP table (literally there was a sign that said VIP"), right at the front of the whole thing. They then proceeded to videotape us and put it up on the jumbo screen so everyone could look at the foreigners. Anyway, it was pretty funny. The performances were so adorable (preschool age kids dancing), and they kept beinging us all different food. They would walk up with a fruit plate, or a giant fish, or a duck, or a big plate of rice...and just when you thought you were done eating, they brought another.
The next day, we decided to take our last trip out to the island of Koh Samet. We took a boat tour around the island, and snorkeled, swam, fished, and layed in the sun. It was really nice and relaxing. When we got back, we went for one final dinner at Shaam's. We found someone to drive us the 20 minutes out to his place, and we ate all of our favorite foods. I am so sad that was my last Shaam's meal, because his food is the BEST Thai food I have ever had (maybe some of the best food in general that I have ever had). Shaam drove us back, and we said goodbye to him.
I have this week, and next to finish teaching, and then we start our S.E. Asian traveling adventure (yay). I won't have a computer with me while I travel so updates and pictures will be few and far between (if at all), but I promise very detailed entries and tons of pictures upon my return to the states! I am going to miss Thailand, but I am ready to see the world!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
fireflies, floaties, and festivals
I had a great weekend! The boys went on a "Man trip" to Kanchannaburri, so I decided to go on a "girl trip" to visit Courtney. On Friday, I took a bus down to Trat where Courtney teaches. Trat is a small town, near Cambodia, and close to the island of Koh Chang (where I went in October and rode elephants). Trat is adorable, full of cute little buildings, and friendly people. This weekend there was a festival in the town, and the street was full of delicious food stands and performances. We walked around the festival eating everything that looked good (which was a lot)! There was a shadow puppet show made with ornate cutouts of Thai figures (hard to explain but I took pictures), there was singing, dancing, playing of instruments...it was really fun! We tried all kinds of new Thai foods and desserts (using the phrase "what is this" in Thai was helpful haha you never know when you are eating fermented fish guts or mango sticky rice). There were TONS of people at the festival, mostly locals. We were some of just a handful of white people, but the Thai people in Trat were so friendly and helpful letting us try foods for free and tolerating us trying to ask what they were.
On Saturday we went to the island of Koh Chang. One of Courtney's students' family owns a restaurant on the island, so they told us to stop in that night and have dinner. The restaurant was right on the bank of a small river and had delicious food! Courtney's student came and she was adorable! After dinner, she asked if we wanted to go see the fireflies. We got into a boat, and went down the river to a grove of trees. There were tons of fireflies in the trees, and it looked like blinking Christmas lights. It was beautiful. After that, we went and found a place to stay, then went out to "Treehouse" the bar in the woods. We danced and met a lot of travelers, and had a great time!
Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to the beach. We layed in the sun and rented floaty rafts to lay on in the water. It was really nice. We walked around the island in the afternoon, and then headed back to Trat on the last ferry boat, catching an amazing sunset over the island!
When we got back to Trat we went to the festival again, and ate more delicious street food. Then we came to a CD stand of Thai pop music. I have a favorite Thai song that I hear all the time, but never know the name of. Courtney and I asked the guy if he had it, and we sang it for him. He then got his friend, and we sang it again for him, then this guy got another friend. This went on for a while until FINALLY someone recognized it and found us the CD! It was hillarious, but now I am the proud owner of a CD containing 183 Thai pop hits (oh yesss).
Monday morning, I caught the bus back to Ban Phe, and made it back in time to teach my classes and get noodles with Rachel. All in all it was a very relaxing weekend.
This is Rachel's last weekend in Ban Phe :( and then it's just me and the boys. I am bummed because I will have nobody to get noodles with or bounce around at aerobics with anymore...but we will meet up with her again in April to travel a bit in the south! I will finish teaching in about 2 weeks. It seems like this just flew by! I can't wait to start traveling in April. We are making plans now. The first leg will be Phuket island, the phi phi islands (where they flimed "the beach"), the similan islands, and Krabi in the south of Thailand...then off to Vietnam (Hanoi to Ho Chi Mihn for 2 weeks), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Singapore, and Indonesia (Bali and the Gilli islands for 10 days)! If any of you have traveled these places and have reccommendations, let me know! Or if you have researched them and come across anything you think I need to see please tell me!
The only drawback is taking 1 large backpack , which I have to keep under 25kg for the flights...(yeah not gonna happen), and one carry on! I am putting my non-traveling big suitcase in storage in Bangkok (they have a Uhaul like storage facility run by an australian expat that you can store things in really cheaply and for long periods of time. That will be good for me to fly back into Bangkok grab my stuff and head home, and not to have to worry about carrying a HUGE suitcase around Asia)! It seems surreal that this is almost over, and yet the fun is just beginning! I will be home in about 2 months! eeeek.
Anyone have a job for me when I get back?
xoxo
On Saturday we went to the island of Koh Chang. One of Courtney's students' family owns a restaurant on the island, so they told us to stop in that night and have dinner. The restaurant was right on the bank of a small river and had delicious food! Courtney's student came and she was adorable! After dinner, she asked if we wanted to go see the fireflies. We got into a boat, and went down the river to a grove of trees. There were tons of fireflies in the trees, and it looked like blinking Christmas lights. It was beautiful. After that, we went and found a place to stay, then went out to "Treehouse" the bar in the woods. We danced and met a lot of travelers, and had a great time!
Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to the beach. We layed in the sun and rented floaty rafts to lay on in the water. It was really nice. We walked around the island in the afternoon, and then headed back to Trat on the last ferry boat, catching an amazing sunset over the island!
When we got back to Trat we went to the festival again, and ate more delicious street food. Then we came to a CD stand of Thai pop music. I have a favorite Thai song that I hear all the time, but never know the name of. Courtney and I asked the guy if he had it, and we sang it for him. He then got his friend, and we sang it again for him, then this guy got another friend. This went on for a while until FINALLY someone recognized it and found us the CD! It was hillarious, but now I am the proud owner of a CD containing 183 Thai pop hits (oh yesss).
Monday morning, I caught the bus back to Ban Phe, and made it back in time to teach my classes and get noodles with Rachel. All in all it was a very relaxing weekend.
This is Rachel's last weekend in Ban Phe :( and then it's just me and the boys. I am bummed because I will have nobody to get noodles with or bounce around at aerobics with anymore...but we will meet up with her again in April to travel a bit in the south! I will finish teaching in about 2 weeks. It seems like this just flew by! I can't wait to start traveling in April. We are making plans now. The first leg will be Phuket island, the phi phi islands (where they flimed "the beach"), the similan islands, and Krabi in the south of Thailand...then off to Vietnam (Hanoi to Ho Chi Mihn for 2 weeks), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Singapore, and Indonesia (Bali and the Gilli islands for 10 days)! If any of you have traveled these places and have reccommendations, let me know! Or if you have researched them and come across anything you think I need to see please tell me!
The only drawback is taking 1 large backpack , which I have to keep under 25kg for the flights...(yeah not gonna happen), and one carry on! I am putting my non-traveling big suitcase in storage in Bangkok (they have a Uhaul like storage facility run by an australian expat that you can store things in really cheaply and for long periods of time. That will be good for me to fly back into Bangkok grab my stuff and head home, and not to have to worry about carrying a HUGE suitcase around Asia)! It seems surreal that this is almost over, and yet the fun is just beginning! I will be home in about 2 months! eeeek.
Anyone have a job for me when I get back?
xoxo
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
pictures (finally)
I finally got pics up from the monkey temple and our weird foods dinner!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&id=83901952&l=49f9c
they are in the same album as before so scroll through the one's you've seen! I think the new ones start on page 5 towards the middle!
enjoy!
I am off to Trat this weekend, a small town south of here, near cambodia, and then Koh Chang with Courtney! Should be fun!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&id=83901952&l=49f9c
they are in the same album as before so scroll through the one's you've seen! I think the new ones start on page 5 towards the middle!
enjoy!
I am off to Trat this weekend, a small town south of here, near cambodia, and then Koh Chang with Courtney! Should be fun!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
allegedly monsoons cause plagues
Hello everyone!
This weekend, a few of us went over to the island. Courtney came up from Trat to surprise us which was awesome! We rented a blow up raft and played in the sun. Sunday morning, we got up to go home, and as soon as we left our bungalow it started to rain. It hasn't rained here since November, and boy did it POUR.
We got on the ferry boat home (remember these are shanty wooden boats that are falling apart). It was raining so hard we couldn't see. The boat had to stop in the middle of the ocean and look for the harbor. It was so scary. The lightning and thunder were right no top of us, and it was so loud. We finally got to shore after the treacherous boat ride, when the clouds opened up and dumped more. It was like I had jumped in a pool with all of my clothes on. We stopped in a coffee shop to wring out our clothes and warm up, then we walked home once it lightened up.
Apparently once it starts raining again, every bug on the planet hatches. In the middle of the night, a million mayflies swarmed the school. They took over the downstairs, covering the walls. Literally millions of them. They took over everyone's room but mine! This morning, the bugs were all dead but were being carried away by billions of ants. It's really quite disgusting. I have no idea what is going on, but it is reminiscent of the 10 commandments plagues. ick. Maybe the mass amounts of geckos will kill the ants and flies?
Speaking of geckos, in the kitchen is THE BIGGEST GECKO I'VE EVER SEEN! Most of them are about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. This one lives behind the fridge and is a foot long and 4 inches wide! It is ridiculous. I have a theory that he is radioactive...or is the alpha gecko who fathered the millions that live in the school.
Scott is back (and brought with him tortillas and poptarts and other such amazing goodies) and Matty is doing much better after the bike accident , although he removed a chunk of asphalt from his foot the other day. that's it for now. I got a lax teaching schedule this month, so I have time once again to do things like go to Thai aerobics, and write in this blog about bugs and geckos...awesome. I am trying to upload pics of the monkey temple but the internet is sucking lately. They are coming soon!
Miss you all!
This weekend, a few of us went over to the island. Courtney came up from Trat to surprise us which was awesome! We rented a blow up raft and played in the sun. Sunday morning, we got up to go home, and as soon as we left our bungalow it started to rain. It hasn't rained here since November, and boy did it POUR.
We got on the ferry boat home (remember these are shanty wooden boats that are falling apart). It was raining so hard we couldn't see. The boat had to stop in the middle of the ocean and look for the harbor. It was so scary. The lightning and thunder were right no top of us, and it was so loud. We finally got to shore after the treacherous boat ride, when the clouds opened up and dumped more. It was like I had jumped in a pool with all of my clothes on. We stopped in a coffee shop to wring out our clothes and warm up, then we walked home once it lightened up.
Apparently once it starts raining again, every bug on the planet hatches. In the middle of the night, a million mayflies swarmed the school. They took over the downstairs, covering the walls. Literally millions of them. They took over everyone's room but mine! This morning, the bugs were all dead but were being carried away by billions of ants. It's really quite disgusting. I have no idea what is going on, but it is reminiscent of the 10 commandments plagues. ick. Maybe the mass amounts of geckos will kill the ants and flies?
Speaking of geckos, in the kitchen is THE BIGGEST GECKO I'VE EVER SEEN! Most of them are about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide. This one lives behind the fridge and is a foot long and 4 inches wide! It is ridiculous. I have a theory that he is radioactive...or is the alpha gecko who fathered the millions that live in the school.
Scott is back (and brought with him tortillas and poptarts and other such amazing goodies) and Matty is doing much better after the bike accident , although he removed a chunk of asphalt from his foot the other day. that's it for now. I got a lax teaching schedule this month, so I have time once again to do things like go to Thai aerobics, and write in this blog about bugs and geckos...awesome. I am trying to upload pics of the monkey temple but the internet is sucking lately. They are coming soon!
Miss you all!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
this involves a lot of strange animals...
This weekend has been interesting, to say the least. On Friday, Matt, Andre and I took Kelly's motorcycle to a restaurant called "classic rainforest". Matt had a gift certificate there from the 'white person competition'. This place was really cool. THere were trees and waterfalls everywhere. There were pools with swans and giant fish. The menu had strange food items, so we decided, what the heck...let's try something new. We had fried frog, Barbequed Ostrich, and Stir fryed crocodile. We all shared, and it was suprisingly delicious! Maybe my palate has changed from all the Thai spices burning off my taste buds, because I can't say I would have tried any of this before!!
Saturday, Andre and I had to go on a border run to Cambodia to extend our Thai visas. Every so often we have to exit the country and re-enter. It only took a few hours, and we walked around a bit in Cambodia. It was pretty funny because they make it so confusing trying to make foreigners give up and hire a guide. We kept asking people how to get to the border, and they would point. Little did we know we had already crossed the border and had been walking in Cambodia for 45 minutes. Finally we got our new visas, hopped back over the brder and came back to Ban Phe.
Sunday, Matt, Andre and I got up early to go to the monkey temple. This is a temple that was abandoned and overrun by local monkeys. We drove the motorbike there with bunches of bananas. As soon as we got out, the monkeys surrounded us with mean looks on their faces. Some growled and hissed. We threw the bananas and ran. About 8 of them chased Matt down the road! It was scary. Then they hopped on our motorbike...a hostile takeover. Eventually after realizing we were out of bananas they allowed us to walk around a bit, and gave us back our bike. It was fun, but I was too scared to go near any of them!
As we left the temple, there was alarge hill, so Mat drove us down one at a time. At the bottom, Matt was goofing off with the bike by himself, and fell off of it. Dre and I ran down the hill. The bike was on top of him, so we pulled it off. He had road rash all up and down his sides, and his ankle looked broken. Nobody was around, and Andre and I couldn't drive the motorbike. Luckily a nice Thai woman came and drove us on our bike to the local doctor. She drove, I sat in the middle and Matt was on the back. During the ride, Matt went into shock. He started shaking, biting his fist, rocking back and forth and looked like he was going to pass out. I grabbed onto his legs, and held him on the bike until we got to the Dr. The Doctors didn't speak any English, but they cleaned him up and we think he got a sprain. While they were cleaning him up he was still in shock. It was so scary to see him crying and freaking out. Andre met us at the Dr. on another Thai person's bike. They gave Matt medicine and the same Thai ladies drove us all the way back to our place. I don't know what we would have done without them, they were so helpful. Matty is fine now, all cleaned up and a mild sprain. He was pretty lucky!
This is the 2nd accident I have avoided, I feel like I have dodged a bullet. Anyway...he will be ok! We are taking a taxi to go to Shaam's tonight for dinner. It will be nice to see him, and have a great meal!
I have pictures of the monkey temple and the strange food dinner which i will put up sometime this week!! miss you all
Saturday, Andre and I had to go on a border run to Cambodia to extend our Thai visas. Every so often we have to exit the country and re-enter. It only took a few hours, and we walked around a bit in Cambodia. It was pretty funny because they make it so confusing trying to make foreigners give up and hire a guide. We kept asking people how to get to the border, and they would point. Little did we know we had already crossed the border and had been walking in Cambodia for 45 minutes. Finally we got our new visas, hopped back over the brder and came back to Ban Phe.
Sunday, Matt, Andre and I got up early to go to the monkey temple. This is a temple that was abandoned and overrun by local monkeys. We drove the motorbike there with bunches of bananas. As soon as we got out, the monkeys surrounded us with mean looks on their faces. Some growled and hissed. We threw the bananas and ran. About 8 of them chased Matt down the road! It was scary. Then they hopped on our motorbike...a hostile takeover. Eventually after realizing we were out of bananas they allowed us to walk around a bit, and gave us back our bike. It was fun, but I was too scared to go near any of them!
As we left the temple, there was alarge hill, so Mat drove us down one at a time. At the bottom, Matt was goofing off with the bike by himself, and fell off of it. Dre and I ran down the hill. The bike was on top of him, so we pulled it off. He had road rash all up and down his sides, and his ankle looked broken. Nobody was around, and Andre and I couldn't drive the motorbike. Luckily a nice Thai woman came and drove us on our bike to the local doctor. She drove, I sat in the middle and Matt was on the back. During the ride, Matt went into shock. He started shaking, biting his fist, rocking back and forth and looked like he was going to pass out. I grabbed onto his legs, and held him on the bike until we got to the Dr. The Doctors didn't speak any English, but they cleaned him up and we think he got a sprain. While they were cleaning him up he was still in shock. It was so scary to see him crying and freaking out. Andre met us at the Dr. on another Thai person's bike. They gave Matt medicine and the same Thai ladies drove us all the way back to our place. I don't know what we would have done without them, they were so helpful. Matty is fine now, all cleaned up and a mild sprain. He was pretty lucky!
This is the 2nd accident I have avoided, I feel like I have dodged a bullet. Anyway...he will be ok! We are taking a taxi to go to Shaam's tonight for dinner. It will be nice to see him, and have a great meal!
I have pictures of the monkey temple and the strange food dinner which i will put up sometime this week!! miss you all
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
productive
I put up pictures from my trip to chonbburri, plus some random photos of Matt and I at the local beach! They are mixed in with the last album I put up, so you have to scroll through the pictures you have already seen (I think the new ones start on page 4 of the album). Here is the link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&id=83901952&l=49f9c
Also, I helped Matt apply for "the best job in the world". We created a video submission (can you tell we were bored) and this is the final product (the outstanding camera skills are a product of yours truly).
http://www.islandreefjob.com/#/applicants/watch/3dFpi67mJM4
enjoy! You can also look at what "the best job in the world" entails at this website. I told him if he actually wins that I get to move there with him!
Things are the same around here for now...just got back from the gym, teaching this afternoon, and then getting some delicious street noodles with Rachel (thus defeating the purpose of the gym and allowing the maid to call me "fat-fat" again). This weekend, the boys and I are going to attempt a trip to the monkey temple in Ban Phe (a temple which got overrun by monkeys... allegedly the monkeys get pretty feisty unless you bring them an offering of ripe bananas). Let's hope I don't get bit and infected with monkey rabies!
Miss you all.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&id=83901952&l=49f9c
Also, I helped Matt apply for "the best job in the world". We created a video submission (can you tell we were bored) and this is the final product (the outstanding camera skills are a product of yours truly).
http://www.islandreefjob.c
enjoy! You can also look at what "the best job in the world" entails at this website. I told him if he actually wins that I get to move there with him!
Things are the same around here for now...just got back from the gym, teaching this afternoon, and then getting some delicious street noodles with Rachel (thus defeating the purpose of the gym and allowing the maid to call me "fat-fat" again). This weekend, the boys and I are going to attempt a trip to the monkey temple in Ban Phe (a temple which got overrun by monkeys... allegedly the monkeys get pretty feisty unless you bring them an offering of ripe bananas). Let's hope I don't get bit and infected with monkey rabies!
Miss you all.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's day and overheated gyms!
I had a great weekend! I went up to Chonburri (about 2 hours north) to visit my friend, Laurie. Our friend Courtney came up from Trat to spend the weekend as well!
Getting there was somewhat of an adventure. Chonburri has no bus station, so I had to guess where to get off. I kept asking the driver "Chonburri, Chonburri?" Finally he said YES! SO I hopped off. I had Laurie's address written in Thai, so I got a motorcycle taxi to take me there. The man takes me to a dark shady alley, and then tells me "100 Baht"! The ride should have been about 20, but at this point I was so scared I just hopped off, and handed him the money (granted it's only about 3 US dollars, but he literally just took me about 1 mile. Luckily a nice Thai lady came by on a motorbike and rescued me from the dark alley. She took me right to Laurie's door. It was an adventure to say the least!
Courtney arrived a short time after, and we all caught up and exchanged Valentine's gifts, then went to bed pretty late.
The next day, we woke up and headed to Bang Suan beach. There was a cute little boardwalk where people rented 3 and 4 persn bicycles. We tried to rent one, but couldn't find where you do it, so we walked up and down the path for a while. I also got the best Som Tum (papaya salad) I have had in Thailand yet!
AFter the beach, we walked to the movie theater. ON our way, Thai people kept walking by with little Valentine treats! It was so cute, they take the holiday seriously here. We saw a movie called "Before Valentine". It was completely in Thai, with English subtitles. It was adorable, a really cute romantic comedy, even though we were the only white people watching it!! Afterwards, we went out to dinner and got PIZZA! It was spectacular! Then we decided to go bowling. I actually WON (with the outstanding score of 85)! I don't think I have ever won a game of bowling.
We decided to go out for ice cream and had a coupon for this ice cream fondue thing, so we all shared it. It was SO YUMMY, and really pretty (we took pictures which I will post later). We headed back to Laurie's where we relaxed and hung out. Sunday, we woke up and decided to go swim inn her local pool. We walked there (pretty far in the HEAT) then climbed 4 flights of stairs, only to find the pool was under construction. At that point, we were by the bus station, so I decided to head home. I managed to get on the correct bus back to Ban Phe, and arrived in the evening. It was great to see the girls, and to get out of Ban Phe for a bit!
This morning, I decided to go to the local gym in Ban Phe to work out. The boys go a lot, but I hadn't been yet. This place is pretty average, except that there is NO air conditioning. It is about 100 degrees outside, and humid so you can imagine what the inside felt like full of people working out! I got there about 8:45 in the morning, and it was SO HOT!! Needless to say I lasted about 45 minutes before I felt like I would pass out. My clothes were soaked through with sweat when I left (hey I guess I can do half the workout and sweat twice as much).
I am teaching today, and then tonight I will probably meet Rachel for the best Tom Yum (noodle soup) in Ban Phe. A woman sells it off of a cart, and it has some strange mixture of everythign you can imagine, in a large pot. It's incredible and costs about 50 cents for a huge bowl!!!
Ok thats all for now! Pictures to come soon! Hope everyone's valentine's day was full of love!
Getting there was somewhat of an adventure. Chonburri has no bus station, so I had to guess where to get off. I kept asking the driver "Chonburri, Chonburri?" Finally he said YES! SO I hopped off. I had Laurie's address written in Thai, so I got a motorcycle taxi to take me there. The man takes me to a dark shady alley, and then tells me "100 Baht"! The ride should have been about 20, but at this point I was so scared I just hopped off, and handed him the money (granted it's only about 3 US dollars, but he literally just took me about 1 mile. Luckily a nice Thai lady came by on a motorbike and rescued me from the dark alley. She took me right to Laurie's door. It was an adventure to say the least!
Courtney arrived a short time after, and we all caught up and exchanged Valentine's gifts, then went to bed pretty late.
The next day, we woke up and headed to Bang Suan beach. There was a cute little boardwalk where people rented 3 and 4 persn bicycles. We tried to rent one, but couldn't find where you do it, so we walked up and down the path for a while. I also got the best Som Tum (papaya salad) I have had in Thailand yet!
AFter the beach, we walked to the movie theater. ON our way, Thai people kept walking by with little Valentine treats! It was so cute, they take the holiday seriously here. We saw a movie called "Before Valentine". It was completely in Thai, with English subtitles. It was adorable, a really cute romantic comedy, even though we were the only white people watching it!! Afterwards, we went out to dinner and got PIZZA! It was spectacular! Then we decided to go bowling. I actually WON (with the outstanding score of 85)! I don't think I have ever won a game of bowling.
We decided to go out for ice cream and had a coupon for this ice cream fondue thing, so we all shared it. It was SO YUMMY, and really pretty (we took pictures which I will post later). We headed back to Laurie's where we relaxed and hung out. Sunday, we woke up and decided to go swim inn her local pool. We walked there (pretty far in the HEAT) then climbed 4 flights of stairs, only to find the pool was under construction. At that point, we were by the bus station, so I decided to head home. I managed to get on the correct bus back to Ban Phe, and arrived in the evening. It was great to see the girls, and to get out of Ban Phe for a bit!
This morning, I decided to go to the local gym in Ban Phe to work out. The boys go a lot, but I hadn't been yet. This place is pretty average, except that there is NO air conditioning. It is about 100 degrees outside, and humid so you can imagine what the inside felt like full of people working out! I got there about 8:45 in the morning, and it was SO HOT!! Needless to say I lasted about 45 minutes before I felt like I would pass out. My clothes were soaked through with sweat when I left (hey I guess I can do half the workout and sweat twice as much).
I am teaching today, and then tonight I will probably meet Rachel for the best Tom Yum (noodle soup) in Ban Phe. A woman sells it off of a cart, and it has some strange mixture of everythign you can imagine, in a large pot. It's incredible and costs about 50 cents for a huge bowl!!!
Ok thats all for now! Pictures to come soon! Hope everyone's valentine's day was full of love!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
apparently I used to be fat-fat
I was in the kitchen this morning, with several of the Thai staff at my school. I was making some oatmeal for breakfast, and noticed they were all staring at me and then talking rapidly in Thai, then looking back at me. In Thailand people usually look at me like I am a circus freak anyway for being white, and somewhat tall...so I am pretty used to it, but the staff are used to my whiteness and tallness by now.
Of course I assume I have something gross on my face and nobody told me, so I brushed it off and returned to the office, where I saw Matt. Since he didn't say anything weird to me (and I know he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to make fun of me if I DID have something on my face), I figured I was normal looking.
I went back into the kitchen, and noticed it again...so I said "what". Ay (the maid) said "you look thsin thsin, you diet?" I told her no. She then says "ooooh when you come here you used to be fat fat, now you thsin". Great...guess I used to be "FAT FAT".
Mystery solved...they were just gawking at the fat chick eating breakfast!
Of course I assume I have something gross on my face and nobody told me, so I brushed it off and returned to the office, where I saw Matt. Since he didn't say anything weird to me (and I know he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to make fun of me if I DID have something on my face), I figured I was normal looking.
I went back into the kitchen, and noticed it again...so I said "what". Ay (the maid) said "you look thsin thsin, you diet?" I told her no. She then says "ooooh when you come here you used to be fat fat, now you thsin". Great...guess I used to be "FAT FAT".
Mystery solved...they were just gawking at the fat chick eating breakfast!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
unfortunate events, and a new pet.
Hello everyone!
Sorry I haven't been updating much...my teaching schedule has been pretty hefty, and in addition to that I am trying to save money for my upcoming travels so I haven't been doing much in the way of exciting.
I switched rooms at the school, and now have a lukewarm shower (that actually works sometimes), much more space, a bigger bed, and working air conditioner!! It is right above Matt and Andre's rooms, and is much better than my old place!
That being said, I still haven't been payed for January (even though I took on extra work from the accident), and they keep "accidentally" shutting off my electricity and water at inopportune times (i.e. me taking a shower at night). I have sent an email to "the boss" to straighten this mess out. Needless to say I have been in a less than great mood this past week...(working more, not getting payed and getting my shower shut off with shampoo in my hair is not a great way to start the day).
Teaching is going well, I have some new students who are absolutely adorable and make the aforementioned crap bearable. It is getting A LOT hotter here...(stifling would be an accurate description) and 85 degrees + humidity is about as cold as it gets now.
There was a bit of commotion the other day. A little Siamese kitten fell into the air con unit next to our office and got banged up pretty bad by the fan. Matt found her trembling in a corner, bleeding. Her eyes didn't blink at the same time, and she looked pretty out of it. Kelly (one of the staff) took her to the vet in Rayong, and they stitched her up and gave her medicine. Since then she has healed a bit, and is doing much better. She is eating and using the litter box now, and takes her medicine through an eye dropper (also takes milk and honey this way) which she seems to like. She actually started playing today! Anyway, our little rescue was successful, and we are taking good care of her. We decided to name her AC because of where she was found (too soon?). Anyway...she is our new little pet. She lives in Kelly's room, but Kelly has to leave the country a couple times in the next month, so cat-sitting duties fall on me (Matt is allergic). I am happy to take her, and hope she continues to get better!
Scott has been gone for almost a week now, and he got his nose checked up at home. he has to have another surgery on it in July which will have about the same recovery (and icky nose packing) as the previous one. I am glad he went home to get everything checked, but we miss him.
There's really nothing too interesting going on here...besides the cat rescue and not getting payed when I am supposed to. I will be sure to keep you updated...I know this was just so suspenseful. Until then...
Sorry I haven't been updating much...my teaching schedule has been pretty hefty, and in addition to that I am trying to save money for my upcoming travels so I haven't been doing much in the way of exciting.
I switched rooms at the school, and now have a lukewarm shower (that actually works sometimes), much more space, a bigger bed, and working air conditioner!! It is right above Matt and Andre's rooms, and is much better than my old place!
That being said, I still haven't been payed for January (even though I took on extra work from the accident), and they keep "accidentally" shutting off my electricity and water at inopportune times (i.e. me taking a shower at night). I have sent an email to "the boss" to straighten this mess out. Needless to say I have been in a less than great mood this past week...(working more, not getting payed and getting my shower shut off with shampoo in my hair is not a great way to start the day).
Teaching is going well, I have some new students who are absolutely adorable and make the aforementioned crap bearable. It is getting A LOT hotter here...(stifling would be an accurate description) and 85 degrees + humidity is about as cold as it gets now.
There was a bit of commotion the other day. A little Siamese kitten fell into the air con unit next to our office and got banged up pretty bad by the fan. Matt found her trembling in a corner, bleeding. Her eyes didn't blink at the same time, and she looked pretty out of it. Kelly (one of the staff) took her to the vet in Rayong, and they stitched her up and gave her medicine. Since then she has healed a bit, and is doing much better. She is eating and using the litter box now, and takes her medicine through an eye dropper (also takes milk and honey this way) which she seems to like. She actually started playing today! Anyway, our little rescue was successful, and we are taking good care of her. We decided to name her AC because of where she was found (too soon?). Anyway...she is our new little pet. She lives in Kelly's room, but Kelly has to leave the country a couple times in the next month, so cat-sitting duties fall on me (Matt is allergic). I am happy to take her, and hope she continues to get better!
Scott has been gone for almost a week now, and he got his nose checked up at home. he has to have another surgery on it in July which will have about the same recovery (and icky nose packing) as the previous one. I am glad he went home to get everything checked, but we miss him.
There's really nothing too interesting going on here...besides the cat rescue and not getting payed when I am supposed to. I will be sure to keep you updated...I know this was just so suspenseful. Until then...
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
photos
I finally put up [photos from about the last month...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&l=49f9c&id=83901952
enjoy, even though they aren't exciting, and are poorly labeled!! There are some from Tom's trip to Koh samet, and some from Ban Phe, and some from Bangkok for Alex's play!
xoxo
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2017270&l=49f9c&id=83901952
enjoy, even though they aren't exciting, and are poorly labeled!! There are some from Tom's trip to Koh samet, and some from Ban Phe, and some from Bangkok for Alex's play!
xoxo
Sunday, February 1, 2009
weekend in Bangkok
HI everyone!
This weekend, I headed up to Bangkok to see my friend Alex in her schools play. Alex works at an inner city school in Bangkok, and has horrid students. They often throw firecrackers at her while she is teaching. Anyway, this school volunteered her to be in their production of "Romeo and Juliet", which also happened to be a musical complete with fabulous dance moves. Of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to watch her humiliate herself, and neither could Scott, Matt, or Rachel, so we went up to Bangkok Saturday morning. This play was ridiculous! It was half in Thai, half in English...and the English was "special"...One of the songs went "Verona...so happppyyyyy", just to give you a taste!! The costumes were gold and shiny and the makeup resembled tranny hookers. Alex was the only white person in it...It was awesome.
After the play ended, and we finally stopped laughing, we headed to "Cabbages and Condoms", to meet some of our friends for Gabby from our group's birthday! It was great to see everyone, and the restaurant is so much fun! Basically it is a non-profit AIDS awareness group and they have art made out of condoms and birth control all around. (You can read about it here: http://www.pda.or.th/restaurant/).
That night, we all went out for drinks, and then went to bed. The next day I walked around Khao San Rd. with Scott, while he got gifts for his family. He flys home to Canada for 3 weeks tomorrow morning :(
I headed back tonight, and am waking up at 6 am tomorrow to go to the superbowl party in Ban Phe!!
OH!! I forgot to mention, that I finally can speak complete sentences in Thai! My first was a couple weeks ago (Where is the bathroom...hey at least it's useful)...and this weekend I was able to successfully give directions to a Bangkok cab driver completely in Thai!! woooo hooooo! I decided for the month of february I am going to try to use complete sentences more! I can at least have a basic "hello...how are you...i am fine" convo, and ask where the bathroom is, tell someone I don't want something, thank someone, tell someone I am a teacher, ask how much somethign costs, and give directions!! I guess I can get by here now!
Sorry I have been lagging on the photos...I will try to upload some tomorrow or the next day...
Miss you all! xoxo
This weekend, I headed up to Bangkok to see my friend Alex in her schools play. Alex works at an inner city school in Bangkok, and has horrid students. They often throw firecrackers at her while she is teaching. Anyway, this school volunteered her to be in their production of "Romeo and Juliet", which also happened to be a musical complete with fabulous dance moves. Of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to watch her humiliate herself, and neither could Scott, Matt, or Rachel, so we went up to Bangkok Saturday morning. This play was ridiculous! It was half in Thai, half in English...and the English was "special"...One of the songs went "Verona...so happppyyyyy", just to give you a taste!! The costumes were gold and shiny and the makeup resembled tranny hookers. Alex was the only white person in it...It was awesome.
After the play ended, and we finally stopped laughing, we headed to "Cabbages and Condoms", to meet some of our friends for Gabby from our group's birthday! It was great to see everyone, and the restaurant is so much fun! Basically it is a non-profit AIDS awareness group and they have art made out of condoms and birth control all around. (You can read about it here: http://www.pda.or.th/restaurant/).
That night, we all went out for drinks, and then went to bed. The next day I walked around Khao San Rd. with Scott, while he got gifts for his family. He flys home to Canada for 3 weeks tomorrow morning :(
I headed back tonight, and am waking up at 6 am tomorrow to go to the superbowl party in Ban Phe!!
OH!! I forgot to mention, that I finally can speak complete sentences in Thai! My first was a couple weeks ago (Where is the bathroom...hey at least it's useful)...and this weekend I was able to successfully give directions to a Bangkok cab driver completely in Thai!! woooo hooooo! I decided for the month of february I am going to try to use complete sentences more! I can at least have a basic "hello...how are you...i am fine" convo, and ask where the bathroom is, tell someone I don't want something, thank someone, tell someone I am a teacher, ask how much somethign costs, and give directions!! I guess I can get by here now!
Sorry I have been lagging on the photos...I will try to upload some tomorrow or the next day...
Miss you all! xoxo
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Boring
Hey everyone...
The last week or so has been pretty boring, in a good way. The boys are all doing much better after the accident. Andre got his stitches out today, and Scott got his nose unpacked. They are still recovering, but doing better every day!
I have been VERY busy...Korea upped my schedule just before the accident, and now I have taken on all of Scott's classes, and some of Andre's. I teach ALL DAY, every day now. I am pretty tired, but its ok.
Tom has been having fun, despite my absence. We went over to Koh Samet last weekend and Laurie, Morgan, Alex and Courtney came! It was great to see all of them. We had a blast on the island. Tom really liked it.
Tom leaves tomorrow to go back home! I feel bad because I couldn't do much with him from working so much. But I have great friend here who have adopted him. Rachel had a day off and came over one morning to take him windsurfing, and Andre took him to the night market once he was feeling better. He said hes had a great time, and we did get to go to Cambodia!!
Things are going to continue to be busy for the rest of the month. Next weekend, we are heading up to Bangkok, because Alex's school is putting on a Thai/English version of Romeo and Juliet. The best part: it's a musical, and she has to be in it singing and dancing! Of course I wouldn't miss this kind of public humiliation for anything!
Scott has decided to go home for a couple weeks. He leaves Feb.2nd. I am bummed, but he needs to see his family and get checked by doctors at home. He will be back at the end of February.
In other news, we booked plane tickets for our travel when work is done. April1-15 the boys and I are going to the south of Thailand (all the islands) and will go to a full moon party and the songkran water festival. April15-27 we will be in Vietnam. Fly into Hanoi, and out of Ho Chi Mihn, seeing all in between. From there we will go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...then onto Bali and the Gilli islands in Indonesia for 10 days. Finally, we will head back to Malaysia and see Singapore. On May 13th I will fly back into Bangkok, and the boys will continue on to Australia (I would love to join them, but its so dang expensive!). I will come home May 15th. All in all it's about a month and 1/2 of traveling! All 7 of my flights came to a total of $350 US!! AMAZINGLY CHEAP! Should be fun! Then in June, Scott is coming to CA for about 2 1/2 weeks (he's never been). I will take him all aver from San Fran, to San Diego.
All in all, there's a lot to look forward to. February should be kind of boring. I will be saving (or trying to save) most of my paychecks for traveling, so I am sorry to say most of the updates will be travel-less for a while!
Hope everyone is doing well at home!
xoxo
The last week or so has been pretty boring, in a good way. The boys are all doing much better after the accident. Andre got his stitches out today, and Scott got his nose unpacked. They are still recovering, but doing better every day!
I have been VERY busy...Korea upped my schedule just before the accident, and now I have taken on all of Scott's classes, and some of Andre's. I teach ALL DAY, every day now. I am pretty tired, but its ok.
Tom has been having fun, despite my absence. We went over to Koh Samet last weekend and Laurie, Morgan, Alex and Courtney came! It was great to see all of them. We had a blast on the island. Tom really liked it.
Tom leaves tomorrow to go back home! I feel bad because I couldn't do much with him from working so much. But I have great friend here who have adopted him. Rachel had a day off and came over one morning to take him windsurfing, and Andre took him to the night market once he was feeling better. He said hes had a great time, and we did get to go to Cambodia!!
Things are going to continue to be busy for the rest of the month. Next weekend, we are heading up to Bangkok, because Alex's school is putting on a Thai/English version of Romeo and Juliet. The best part: it's a musical, and she has to be in it singing and dancing! Of course I wouldn't miss this kind of public humiliation for anything!
Scott has decided to go home for a couple weeks. He leaves Feb.2nd. I am bummed, but he needs to see his family and get checked by doctors at home. He will be back at the end of February.
In other news, we booked plane tickets for our travel when work is done. April1-15 the boys and I are going to the south of Thailand (all the islands) and will go to a full moon party and the songkran water festival. April15-27 we will be in Vietnam. Fly into Hanoi, and out of Ho Chi Mihn, seeing all in between. From there we will go to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...then onto Bali and the Gilli islands in Indonesia for 10 days. Finally, we will head back to Malaysia and see Singapore. On May 13th I will fly back into Bangkok, and the boys will continue on to Australia (I would love to join them, but its so dang expensive!). I will come home May 15th. All in all it's about a month and 1/2 of traveling! All 7 of my flights came to a total of $350 US!! AMAZINGLY CHEAP! Should be fun! Then in June, Scott is coming to CA for about 2 1/2 weeks (he's never been). I will take him all aver from San Fran, to San Diego.
All in all, there's a lot to look forward to. February should be kind of boring. I will be saving (or trying to save) most of my paychecks for traveling, so I am sorry to say most of the updates will be travel-less for a while!
Hope everyone is doing well at home!
xoxo
Friday, January 16, 2009
update
Hey! The boys are ok! I got over to the hospital yesterday morning, and didn't get back until a couple hours ago...needless to say I haven't slept for a few days. Yesterday, I was getting the boys clothes, passports etc. getting gready to go to the hospital when I saw my Korea boss. He said he was covering their classes, and then complained about it! He then told me I couldn't go to the hospital because I had to teach at 2 (prick). I looked him square in the eyes and said "THEN FIRE ME...My friends are more important than this or any job will ever be." I think he got the message...though not sure I have a job anymore.
I got Natt (one of the Thai staff) to take me to the hospital. When I got there I found Andre first. He looked awful. His eyelid was sliced in half. The nurse said he might not be able to shut his eye again, and that he was going into surgery in 20 minutes. I found Matt then and he filled me in on the accident. Apparently it was dark and foggy. Bruce took a turn too sharp and they careened into a ditch. The car flipped on its side. Matt said he felt blood everywhere but none of it was his own. The boys crawled out of the car, managed to flag a van down, and that person brought them to the hospital. As you know, there are no seatbelts in Thailand, so they are pretty lucky to be alive.
I saw Scott then, and it was horrifying. He didn't look like himself at all! He broke his nose pretty bad and his face was swollen. he also sliced open his head. He looked like Rocky (at the end of the movie) ewwww. I tried not to look as scared as I felt. He too had to go into a surgery to re-break his nose. We told the doctor that if they needed blood to take it from either Matt or Myself. Luckily they didn't need it!!
The boys left to surgery and were gone for a couple hours. I finally cried, and a nice old Thai woman gave me a hug! 2 hours later, Andre was wheeled back in. He looked a million times better, and could shut his eye! He will probably just have a minor scar. (I told him chicks dig scars so it's ok).
Scott came back very groggy, and in a lot of pain. He actually seemed worse than before he went in. His nose was now 1/3 of his whole face. I held his hand while Matt called his parents to let them know the surgery went ok. A few hours later he was feeling better.
Matt and I both spent the night in the hospital, trading rooms every so often so that one of us was always with one of them. The nurses and Doctors were so nice. This is one of the best hospitals in Thailand, and funded by the queen. It was built during the Vietnam war by the US army...and everything seemed very old...all the monitors and even the beds were hand cranked, and nothing was computerized.
In the morning, Scott woke up looking (and feeling) better...although it will be a while before he can do normal stuff. Around 5 pm they finally discharged the boys and we took them home. I helped Scott wash his hair (there was still blood in it), and got them some mushy food (Scott can't chew) from the grocery store. I AM EXHAUSTED!!
Tomorrow Courtney and Laurie and Alex are coming down for moral support and a relaxing trip to koh Samet. That should be nice. The boys can't go, but Matt will try to come, and we will b e back to make sure they are ok. Tonight I am just going to make sure they are comfortable and medicated. Thanks for all the well wishes!!
I got Natt (one of the Thai staff) to take me to the hospital. When I got there I found Andre first. He looked awful. His eyelid was sliced in half. The nurse said he might not be able to shut his eye again, and that he was going into surgery in 20 minutes. I found Matt then and he filled me in on the accident. Apparently it was dark and foggy. Bruce took a turn too sharp and they careened into a ditch. The car flipped on its side. Matt said he felt blood everywhere but none of it was his own. The boys crawled out of the car, managed to flag a van down, and that person brought them to the hospital. As you know, there are no seatbelts in Thailand, so they are pretty lucky to be alive.
I saw Scott then, and it was horrifying. He didn't look like himself at all! He broke his nose pretty bad and his face was swollen. he also sliced open his head. He looked like Rocky (at the end of the movie) ewwww. I tried not to look as scared as I felt. He too had to go into a surgery to re-break his nose. We told the doctor that if they needed blood to take it from either Matt or Myself. Luckily they didn't need it!!
The boys left to surgery and were gone for a couple hours. I finally cried, and a nice old Thai woman gave me a hug! 2 hours later, Andre was wheeled back in. He looked a million times better, and could shut his eye! He will probably just have a minor scar. (I told him chicks dig scars so it's ok).
Scott came back very groggy, and in a lot of pain. He actually seemed worse than before he went in. His nose was now 1/3 of his whole face. I held his hand while Matt called his parents to let them know the surgery went ok. A few hours later he was feeling better.
Matt and I both spent the night in the hospital, trading rooms every so often so that one of us was always with one of them. The nurses and Doctors were so nice. This is one of the best hospitals in Thailand, and funded by the queen. It was built during the Vietnam war by the US army...and everything seemed very old...all the monitors and even the beds were hand cranked, and nothing was computerized.
In the morning, Scott woke up looking (and feeling) better...although it will be a while before he can do normal stuff. Around 5 pm they finally discharged the boys and we took them home. I helped Scott wash his hair (there was still blood in it), and got them some mushy food (Scott can't chew) from the grocery store. I AM EXHAUSTED!!
Tomorrow Courtney and Laurie and Alex are coming down for moral support and a relaxing trip to koh Samet. That should be nice. The boys can't go, but Matt will try to come, and we will b e back to make sure they are ok. Tonight I am just going to make sure they are comfortable and medicated. Thanks for all the well wishes!!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Freaking out
So the last week, we have been commuting to Pattaya for online teaching. Every day the boys and I get a ride from our boss, Bruce 1 hour each way. We teach very late at night, so come home around 11 pm. I only teach T/Th, while the boys teach M-Th.
Today (wednesday), I didn't go to Pattaya because I wasn't teaching. I had been asked to take a class tonight, but had said no to spend more time with Tom.
I talked to Scott around 10 pm on skype, and he said they were leaving then. 3 hours later I was still waiting downstairs. I had a horrible feeling and knew something must be wrong. I tried calling Scott's phone, but no answer. I figured Bruce had forgotten to pick them up, and went to bed. I couldn't sleep.
At 4 am I got a knock on my door, t was Lucky, Bruce's wife. From what I can gather through a broken English/Thai mixture, she said they got in a bad car accident on the highway. They are all alive, but Scott is pretty badly injured. Matt is ok, and Bruce and Andre are hurt too. They are at the hospital but she wouldn't take me until tomorrow morning. I tried to call Scott again and he answered, but said he was in too much pain, tried to pass the phone to Matt and we got disconected. I will try again in a few minutes. I hope they are ok.
I know I should feel lucky that I didn't take that class tonight, and wasn't in the car. Who knows what could have happened...there are no seatbelts in Thailand. AT least I know they are all alive, but I have no cue how badly injured they are. I feel awful that I can't do anything. I will keep you all posted as soon as I find out what happened at the hospital tomorrow. It's about 4:30 now...no sleep for me!
Today (wednesday), I didn't go to Pattaya because I wasn't teaching. I had been asked to take a class tonight, but had said no to spend more time with Tom.
I talked to Scott around 10 pm on skype, and he said they were leaving then. 3 hours later I was still waiting downstairs. I had a horrible feeling and knew something must be wrong. I tried calling Scott's phone, but no answer. I figured Bruce had forgotten to pick them up, and went to bed. I couldn't sleep.
At 4 am I got a knock on my door, t was Lucky, Bruce's wife. From what I can gather through a broken English/Thai mixture, she said they got in a bad car accident on the highway. They are all alive, but Scott is pretty badly injured. Matt is ok, and Bruce and Andre are hurt too. They are at the hospital but she wouldn't take me until tomorrow morning. I tried to call Scott again and he answered, but said he was in too much pain, tried to pass the phone to Matt and we got disconected. I will try again in a few minutes. I hope they are ok.
I know I should feel lucky that I didn't take that class tonight, and wasn't in the car. Who knows what could have happened...there are no seatbelts in Thailand. AT least I know they are all alive, but I have no cue how badly injured they are. I feel awful that I can't do anything. I will keep you all posted as soon as I find out what happened at the hospital tomorrow. It's about 4:30 now...no sleep for me!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Cambodia!!
Tom arrived in Thailand on Wednesday, and Friday He and I went to Cambodia! The trip took about 12 hours, but was worth it! We are lucky to be able to go to Cambodia at all. The Thais and Cambodians are not exactly friends, and it is difficult to enter and exit. Because of the turbulent history and the recent genocide in Cambodia, tourists have not been able to enter the country for a while. In fact, up until the late 90's tourists were being murdered there. Angkor Wat just reopened to foreigners in 2001!! I have a feeling after being there that pretty soon things may turn sour again, and people may not be able to enter the country like we got to!
We arrived in Siem Riep and checked into a guest house called "coconut villa". We went to get dinner, and found a restaurant with traditional Cambodian food. The staff was so friendly, and the food amazing. We ended up talking to them about Khmer culture for hours! We also met a German guy who we went to the local bar, "Angkor What" with!
The next day we woke up early to go to Angkor Wat. We had met a Cambodian, Johnny, who took us! We went to the main temple first. There is no way to describe it. The whole thing was breathtaking! These temples are almost 1,000 years old. We saw many of the temples (there are tons, covering many many miles). My favorites include Bantay (with easter island like faces in the towers), and Ta Phrom (with trees growing out of the temple and overtaking the stone). Overall each temple was individual. The experience was almost overwhelming. Pictures will not do it justice. We finished in the late afternoon, and came back to go to the night market. Afterwards, we had dinner at the same restaurant as the night before, and then met up with our Cambodian friends. They killed a chicken and made Cambodian wine. Unfortunately I was so tired I fell asleep, but Tom partied with them all night.
The next morning, we were up at 5 am to go see the sunrise at the main temple. It was FREEZING cold! The sun finally came up, and the cold was worth it! It was a spectacular view. The rest of the morning, we went to the other temples we had not seen yet. We even climbed on the roof of one. One large temple had very small doorways, and I hit my head on one HARD in the afternoon. I suffered a minor concussion (I was very dizzy and Tom and Johnny said I was walking crooked). I really don't remember much of the temples after that, and I went home in the late afternoon and slept. I woke up feeling much better, although had a HUGE goos egg on my head! You know me...super klutz.
That night we walked around town, and went to bed early.
This morning we woke up at 4 am to head back to Thailand, and made the 12 hour journey. I am exhausted, but really Cambodia was one of the coolest places I have ever seen! Their history is very sad, and much of the country is still feeling the affects of it. I am afraid that Angkor wat may not survive another century. You have to be very careful where you walk because there are still active land mines, and although they deny it, the Khmer Rouge is still active, as is apparent by the numerous checkpoints. the country is very poor, and communist. There are children begging almost everywhere. It is heartbreaking! Despite this, the people are so friendly and eager to share their history and culture. I found Cambodians to be much nicer than the Thais! The country was beautiful, and I wish we had more time to see more of it!
All in all great trip!
I have been teaching much more lately, and have to commute to Pattaya to teach twice a week, so things are kind of hectic here...but good! Tom is having a blast, and I am taking him to Koh Samet this weekend.
I am uploading photos from cambodia...but I took way too many so it may take a while. In the meantime, here is an album of Christmas, new years, and our trip to Hua Hin:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016498&l=b054b&id=83901952
hopefully I will get up the others soon!
miss you all!
UPDATE: 3 hours later...180 photos up! Too Tired for captions...if you have questions about what the pictures are, ask me and I will explain when I haven't been up for 24 hours!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016686&l=5cc85&id=83901952
We arrived in Siem Riep and checked into a guest house called "coconut villa". We went to get dinner, and found a restaurant with traditional Cambodian food. The staff was so friendly, and the food amazing. We ended up talking to them about Khmer culture for hours! We also met a German guy who we went to the local bar, "Angkor What" with!
The next day we woke up early to go to Angkor Wat. We had met a Cambodian, Johnny, who took us! We went to the main temple first. There is no way to describe it. The whole thing was breathtaking! These temples are almost 1,000 years old. We saw many of the temples (there are tons, covering many many miles). My favorites include Bantay (with easter island like faces in the towers), and Ta Phrom (with trees growing out of the temple and overtaking the stone). Overall each temple was individual. The experience was almost overwhelming. Pictures will not do it justice. We finished in the late afternoon, and came back to go to the night market. Afterwards, we had dinner at the same restaurant as the night before, and then met up with our Cambodian friends. They killed a chicken and made Cambodian wine. Unfortunately I was so tired I fell asleep, but Tom partied with them all night.
The next morning, we were up at 5 am to go see the sunrise at the main temple. It was FREEZING cold! The sun finally came up, and the cold was worth it! It was a spectacular view. The rest of the morning, we went to the other temples we had not seen yet. We even climbed on the roof of one. One large temple had very small doorways, and I hit my head on one HARD in the afternoon. I suffered a minor concussion (I was very dizzy and Tom and Johnny said I was walking crooked). I really don't remember much of the temples after that, and I went home in the late afternoon and slept. I woke up feeling much better, although had a HUGE goos egg on my head! You know me...super klutz.
That night we walked around town, and went to bed early.
This morning we woke up at 4 am to head back to Thailand, and made the 12 hour journey. I am exhausted, but really Cambodia was one of the coolest places I have ever seen! Their history is very sad, and much of the country is still feeling the affects of it. I am afraid that Angkor wat may not survive another century. You have to be very careful where you walk because there are still active land mines, and although they deny it, the Khmer Rouge is still active, as is apparent by the numerous checkpoints. the country is very poor, and communist. There are children begging almost everywhere. It is heartbreaking! Despite this, the people are so friendly and eager to share their history and culture. I found Cambodians to be much nicer than the Thais! The country was beautiful, and I wish we had more time to see more of it!
All in all great trip!
I have been teaching much more lately, and have to commute to Pattaya to teach twice a week, so things are kind of hectic here...but good! Tom is having a blast, and I am taking him to Koh Samet this weekend.
I am uploading photos from cambodia...but I took way too many so it may take a while. In the meantime, here is an album of Christmas, new years, and our trip to Hua Hin:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016498&l=b054b&id=83901952
hopefully I will get up the others soon!
miss you all!
UPDATE: 3 hours later...180 photos up! Too Tired for captions...if you have questions about what the pictures are, ask me and I will explain when I haven't been up for 24 hours!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2016686&l=5cc85&id=83901952
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Happy 2552?!?
Wow, can you believe it is 2009 already? I have officially been in Thailand for 3 months now, and despite the occasional cultural frustrations, I still love it here!
For New Years, we decided to head to Bangkok, and Hua Hin since we had about 5 days off. We arrived in Bangkok the afternoon of the 31st, and stayed with our friend Nick from our program. The best part about sleeping on his tile floor...he had a HOT SHOWER! It was heaven!
At night, we met up with Andre's friend from home, who is working in Bangkok. His name was also Scott, and both Scotts looked eerily similar. They even ordered the same food at dinner! Together we all headed to Central World plaza, where there were thousands of people and a ball drop! We met up with Matt D., Erica, Lindsay, Anna and Thea from our group, and counted down together! The place was so packed you couldn't even move! Someone stepped on my toe, and completely cracked it in half diagonally (yes I have half a toenail now...ouchie!). The funny thing about Thailand, is that they use the Buddhist calendar, so here it was actually the year 2551. The Thai New year is in April, but they celebrate this new year too, and actually change the date at this time. It is confusing, I know. I almost go cross eyed trying to figure out calendars! Despite the confusion, we rang in 2552 with a bang!
The next morning, we got up early to catch the bus to Hua Hin, about 3 hours south of Bangkok on the opposite side of Ban Phe. Andre decided to stay in Bangkok with his friend, so it was just Scott, Matt, and I. Hua Hin was an adorable town, very clean and pretty! We stayed at a guest house on a pier over the ocean! This too had A HOT SHOWER! We walked around the town and layed on the beach. It was very relaxing!
Saturday morning we caught the 6 am bus back to Bangkok, and then another 3 hour bus to Rayong. Matt had won a free hotel stay at this place in Rayong from the "white person competition". Unfortunately on the bus ride down, I was once again struck with food poisoning (or some other ungodly stomach bug who really knows at this point). I actually puked in a bag while running down the aisle of the bus, then arrived at the hotel in Rayong only to spend the rest of the afternoon puking. The boys once again took care of me (scooping me up and throwing me in the shower, force feeding me sprite, etc.). The free hotel was very nice, although most of my time in it was spent in the bathroom.
This morning, we headed back to Ban Phe, and I am feeling human again. All in all it was a great little trip.
I got my schedule for Korea...I pretty much work 3 hours a day, 2 days a week...but they are pretty late at night. Oh well, more travel time :) We all have different schedules, which kind of sucks, but its not too bad! I can't complain about only having to work 6 hours a week! The only bad thing is I spend more money traveling than I do staying here working. I still make the same amount of money, no matter how many hours I work! We will still do stuff on the side for TEFL, like this Saturday we are putting on a camp for Thai kids with fun games.
Tom should arrive here in 2 days, and hopefully we can head over to Angkor Wat in Cambodia! I am very excited to see him! All in All, life is good.
xoxo
For New Years, we decided to head to Bangkok, and Hua Hin since we had about 5 days off. We arrived in Bangkok the afternoon of the 31st, and stayed with our friend Nick from our program. The best part about sleeping on his tile floor...he had a HOT SHOWER! It was heaven!
At night, we met up with Andre's friend from home, who is working in Bangkok. His name was also Scott, and both Scotts looked eerily similar. They even ordered the same food at dinner! Together we all headed to Central World plaza, where there were thousands of people and a ball drop! We met up with Matt D., Erica, Lindsay, Anna and Thea from our group, and counted down together! The place was so packed you couldn't even move! Someone stepped on my toe, and completely cracked it in half diagonally (yes I have half a toenail now...ouchie!). The funny thing about Thailand, is that they use the Buddhist calendar, so here it was actually the year 2551. The Thai New year is in April, but they celebrate this new year too, and actually change the date at this time. It is confusing, I know. I almost go cross eyed trying to figure out calendars! Despite the confusion, we rang in 2552 with a bang!
The next morning, we got up early to catch the bus to Hua Hin, about 3 hours south of Bangkok on the opposite side of Ban Phe. Andre decided to stay in Bangkok with his friend, so it was just Scott, Matt, and I. Hua Hin was an adorable town, very clean and pretty! We stayed at a guest house on a pier over the ocean! This too had A HOT SHOWER! We walked around the town and layed on the beach. It was very relaxing!
Saturday morning we caught the 6 am bus back to Bangkok, and then another 3 hour bus to Rayong. Matt had won a free hotel stay at this place in Rayong from the "white person competition". Unfortunately on the bus ride down, I was once again struck with food poisoning (or some other ungodly stomach bug who really knows at this point). I actually puked in a bag while running down the aisle of the bus, then arrived at the hotel in Rayong only to spend the rest of the afternoon puking. The boys once again took care of me (scooping me up and throwing me in the shower, force feeding me sprite, etc.). The free hotel was very nice, although most of my time in it was spent in the bathroom.
This morning, we headed back to Ban Phe, and I am feeling human again. All in all it was a great little trip.
I got my schedule for Korea...I pretty much work 3 hours a day, 2 days a week...but they are pretty late at night. Oh well, more travel time :) We all have different schedules, which kind of sucks, but its not too bad! I can't complain about only having to work 6 hours a week! The only bad thing is I spend more money traveling than I do staying here working. I still make the same amount of money, no matter how many hours I work! We will still do stuff on the side for TEFL, like this Saturday we are putting on a camp for Thai kids with fun games.
Tom should arrive here in 2 days, and hopefully we can head over to Angkor Wat in Cambodia! I am very excited to see him! All in All, life is good.
xoxo
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