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, February 21, 2009
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
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