January 23, 2008

Seems like we’re doing a weekly blog now. That seems to work except I have trouble remembering what we’ve been up to. Not that it’s been much. Tom and I are both getting over colds so spent most of last week just vegging. I’m perfectly fine now but Tom is still coughing his head off. So, let’s take a walk down memory lane…………

January 18^th – Decided it was time to get off our back sides and take a walk. Had written some letters and had some pics to send to family and friends without computers – if you can imagine – so walked to the post office. Seeing as how we’d walked to the sky train we thought we might as well consider going to town centre and checking out an old theatre to see “Across The Universe”. This is a new movie much along the lines as Momma Mia but with Beatle tunes. It was actually quite good. Tom really enjoyed it. The characters were named Jude, Lucy, Prudence (who actually “came in through the bathroom window”), Sadie, Max and JoJo. I think the write up said there were about 30 Beatle tunes covered. Came home and stopped to pick up fruit shakes and wraps for supper. I had falafel and Tom had BBQ lamb. We really lack for nothing here.

January 20^th – Met up with our friends Lee and Harvey and had a really great day. Left here at 8:45 am and got to their hotel just after 10:30. That’s with taking a bus, train, water taxi and then walking, all for a cost of not even $3.00. Lee and Harvey were staying in the tourist area so we walked around there for awhile, stopped and had a shake and then just headed out walking and talking. We managed to figure out how to take the cross river ferry so went to the Royal Barges Museum. That was an adventure in itself. We obviously look like tourist and a fellow called out to us to tell us the way to the museum. He then proceeded to lead us on a twisting path for a small fee……. He could have been leading us down a path to be beaten and robbed and we wouldn’t have been any the wiser. The barges were fascinating to see. So ornate and colorful. It must be incredibly amazing to see a procession with 52 of these boats floating down the river. There are five rows of barges that measure 1,110 metres long and 90 metres wide and are propelled through the water by 2,082 oarsmen. We might just have to come here some year at the end of October when the king makes his visit from the palace to the temple – a distance of 3 kilometers. I just can’t begin to imagine what it must be like. After that we made our way back across the river and wandered down streets and through university grounds and then stopped for lunch at a restaurant along the river. Again had shakes and the guys had spicy prawn soup and Lee and I had fresh spring rolls. We had fruit punch shakes and Lee and Harvey had lime shakes and we forgot to say no salt or sugar. Unfortunately there definitely was salt added to the lime shakes. That seems to be fairly normal - salt

with fruit. A useful piece of info for travelers – remember shakes – no salt no sugar!! We were all pretty tired by the time lunch was finished so we walked to the park and then parted company. Tom and I did a total of 22,500 steps that day. Lee and Harvey were meeting up with their small tour group (about 12 people tops) the next day before heading out on their tour of the most popular places in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. It will be an awesome trip and I can’t wait to hear all about it. Did you all watch the finale of Amazing Race – we did!! I was cheering for the Asian girl and her father but alas they came in second. On Thursday we also watch Amazing Race – Asia. I don’t think it’s quite as good as the other and the tasks seem to be somewhat easier. Tom would say a lot easier!!

January 21^st – Didn’t do too much today. I actually wasn’t feeling too well stomach wise. Probably a combination of too much sun, beer and greasy food – Jenny made fries and we also had nacho’s and guacamole dip. We decided to take the plunge and get our hair cut. I always do this with great trepidation – only because Thai people aren’t used to cutting curly hair. It actually was a wonderful way to spend some time. They spend about 20 minutes shampooing and massaging your head. Tom thought his guy was a little too good at it. Then after they cut your hair they wash and massage again. Then they love to make my hair straight and that takes awhile – not a curl anywhere. What do you think??? Of course once the kids came home from school it was off to the pool and a wet head. It was beautiful for a bit though. Tom wanted his cut a little shorter on top but the guy just couldn’t bring himself to do it. And for some reason they don’t seem to know anything about making your ‘sideburns” or whatever you call it the same length. I meant to check some guys out to see if maybe Thai guys just don’t grow hair in that area.

January 22^nd – This was a big day. We headed out to immigration to get our Tourist Visa’s extended. It opens at 8:30 so Jenn said to be there for 8:00 so that meant leaving at 7:00. She also said you could spend quite a bit of time there so we brought our books and some fruit and water. We were out by 9:00 AM. Very efficient people……….Now we had to decide what to do. It seemed a shame to just head home. So off we headed. Put on 17,500 steps. There was an “interesting” home to see but once we found it we discovered it was only open on the weekends. We got back on the sky train and headed out for some touristy spots. First hit the Suan Pakkad Palace museum. This was originally the residence of a prince ( a grandson of Rama V and the current king is Rama IX). 4 of the buildings are traditional Thai homes from the 19^th century that were taken apart, transported and then reconstructed on the grounds in 1952. Over the years 4 more homes were added in order to display all the Royal family’s artifacts and their private collection of musical instruments, rocks and minerals, porcelain, crystal, silverware, a private chapel with Buddha paintings, prehistoric shells and fossils, puppet figurines, and prehistoric ceramic wares. This is not only Thai artifacts but also many things given by dignitaries from Europe etc. The prince also had a small temple from the ancient historic capitol of Ayuthaya brought to the palace in 1950 for the Princess’ 50^th birthday. It’s a beautiful peaceful place in the middle of busy Bangkok. From there we headed to Baiyoke Sky Hotel. It is touted as the tallest hotel ever?? The 84^th floor is the revolving roof top restaurant. It costs 200 Baht ($6) to go up to the observation deck but it was still pretty foggy, hazy or smoggy – your choice. So we went up to the 18^th floor and had a bite to eat. Mixed fruit shakes and wonton soup for Tom and deep fried spring rolls for me. Everything was very good and not overly pricey and even came with a bread basket all for about $12. Then we just wandered around a market area and headed for the train home. When we got to the apartment I decided to go into the massage place and see about a foot massage – my first this year but definitely not my last. An hour massage is 250 baht. First they bring you a cup of tea, wash your feet and lead you to a reclining chair. Then I just zone out and they massage my feet and legs. Then when that’s done they have you sit on a little stool and give you a little neck and back massage. She ended up spending about 1½ hours on me. It was awesome. When the kids got home from school they wanted me to take them swimming and I just said no way. My feet and legs felt way too good!!

Today, when I’m done this we’re going to go grocery shopping. Jenn doesn’t have school this evening so I expect Gone will cook. Time for some veggies………….The next couple of days are supposed to be cooler so guess we’ll do the tourist thing again. It’s supposed to rain on Saturday so that could be interesting. Watch, it will probably just sprinkle for a minute. Hope everyone is well back in the western world. Seems “Pleasantville” is not quite so pleasant these days as there have been 17 break-ins in the last couple of weeks. Of course half of the neighbourhood isn’t there for the winter. Fortunately for us we have the best house sitters in the world. Thank you Wayne and Wendy!!

January 14, 2008 Hot as hell

Well, I’m not seeming to have much luck doing this blog on a daily basis. Have really just been spending most of out time doing “stuff” with the kids. They’re back to school tomorrow (Tuesday the 15^th) – hooray – and then we’ll start being tourists again. When you’re this old you forget how tiring kids can be. By the way, we have yahoo up and running again – hooray!! Sure makes life easier for writing. As I said it's hot as hell these days. It's supposed to cool down to 30C in the next couple of days......... The mornings have very heavy fog - enough to affect flights coming and going. It's really bizarre.

January 8 – Happy Birthday Steve. Called but he wasn’t home so spoke to Jenn and Isabelle. Called Steve the next day and had a nice quick talk with him. Spent this day trying to get some paper work done. Pricing of everything seems on the rise so thought I’d better get our flight booked to Siem Reap, Cambodia as well as our hotel. We’d stopped in at a tourist agency but their pricing seemed a bit expensive so decided to do it myself on the net. Booked our flight no problem - that is until I was rechecking the e-voucher. Seems I’d booked the flight for January 20^th and it should have been February 20^th. I almost had a stroke right on the spot. Got on the phone to Bangkok Air and no problem. They walked me through their e-services and I was just able to go in and change the date myself. Is it that easy in Canada? Next, went into a hotel sight for Siem Reap. This is where you stay in order to see Angkor Wat (where a Lara Croft (Anjolina Jolie) movie was made). The trees and vegetation have overgrown the temples – it’s truly amazing to see. We were here about 5 years ago but it will be neat to see again. The town has grown a lot and there were some sights that we didn’t see and some we’d love to see again. We’ll stay at the Borei Angkor for 3 nights before our cruise down the Mekong to Vietnam.

January 9 – Tom and I decided to venture out and do some walking in the Sukhumvit area where we live but a few train stops away. I had 2 maps with me and still we got lost. Could hardly believe where we ended up. We dug out our trusty compass and were able to get where we planned to go. We’d heard about a place to stay in Bangkok called House on the Pond. It looked lovely on line and didn’t seem to far from Jennifer. We had her check it out but she said no way. It’s in the middle of nowhere and forever away. We thought perhaps she was being a little hasty in her judgement but guess what – she was right on!! Then we were making our way around streets (left and right, left and right) and this is when we got lost. Nothing is square here. Put a few steps on the pedometer that day!! Ended up at Bann Kamthieng which is a 19^th century traditional Thai home that has been moved from Chiang Mai and now is somewhat like a museum. It was a lovely spot to enjoy some quiet by a cool fan.

January 10 – Decided we’d all go to the Children’s Discovery Museum. I sort of thought it would be along the same lines as The Science Centre in Toronto but boy was I wrong. The museum is very well done but certainly geared to very young children. Also not everything had English translation and not everything worked. The kids really seemed to enjoy themselves though. There was an extra Disney feature featured as well so we paid the extra to be sure we saw it all. Tom and I are finding we’re getting in some places free or at reduced cost because we’re “seniors” – bonus!! Jenn and family stopped at a street side restaurant for lunch that really wasn’t to our liking so we just wandered around. Seems we were in the middle of aquarium place. Anything and everything you’d ever need or want

and then some.

January 11 – Took the kids to see “Alvin and the Chipmunks”. Obviously not a “great” movie but the kids sure laughed. There was a huge “Lego land” demo going on in the mall so spent some time there with the kids too. Jennifer had her last midterm exam so we delivered the kids to Gone and then went out to our new found Italian restaurant for supper. We weren’t really hungry so Tom had a pizza and I just had a Caesar salad and some bruschetta. It was very tasty. I had a couple of glasses of red wine but I should have stuck to beer. We’ve decided it’s simply not enjoyable to drink wine in this heat.

January 13 – Guess we didn’t do anything on the 12^th……Went to school in the morning with Jennifer to help her clean up her classroom – get rid of all the Christmas decorations etc. She had her lesson planning to do so we decided to cook dinner here. Made a lovely pork tenderloin stuffed with mushrooms, onions and apple in an oyster sauce. Had baked potatoes with sour cream and a home made Caesar salad that can’t be beat. Even bought a package mix of gravy. It was a lovely meal. I must admit I do get tired of vegetables and rice…..Tom thought the pork tasted different but I tell you the potatoes sure did. They really had a sweetness to them – it was good but weird. You know how invariably something goes wrong, Well I wish we could have gotten a picture. Tom was slicing up the meat for each plate and I was trying to finish up the kids food but getting them some yoghurt. Well, I dropped the bowl from about chest height and there was yoghurt everywhere. I knew it was falling but there was nothing I could do and the first place it seemed to bounce to from the floor was both of my eyes. Now I couldn’t even see. I was absolutely covered. Quickly recovered and supper went on. What a mess though……….

January 14 – Spoke on the webcam with Steve, Jenn and Isabelle
this morning. What a nice surprise. Today was the last day of holidays and we all went to Lumphini Park – one of the biggest green areas in Bangkok. Unfortunately the write up in Lonely Planet didn’t mention that Mondays are not good days to see anything. There was nothing going on, no vendors, no exercisers, no people. This park should be a model for some of the “participaction” sights we have in Canada. The equipment was amazing. There was a whole section for weight training. Plus, there was constant patrol by bicycle police ready to fine anyone for smoking or drinking alcohol (2000 Baht). There were loads of garbage cans and no “homeless” people. We just wandered around and looked at the monitor lizards that live in the man made lake. The lake is huge and there are peddle boats to rent if you’d like. The kids played on the toys so they were happy. Jenn and family took a taxi home and Tom and I walked around the streets and then took the train home. Have had an easy evening and watched “Amazing Race”. Tomorrow the plan is to just relax, hang out at the pool and read.

Happy Birthday wishes to Faye, Isabelle and Gary…………….. Friends from home (Lee and Harvey) will be arriving in a few days. Looking forward to meeting up with them for a visit before they head off on their 30 day Indochine Experience.

January 7, 2008 Temp 33

Well here we are back in Bangkok. We left Hua Hin on January 2^nd and came back to cooler temps (27C) but now it’s on the rise again. We’ll be looking forward to some “cooler” time in Chiang Mai later this month. I thought I had a wonderful tan from the beach in Hua Hin and Tom is very tanned. But has anyone else ever noticed that their tan only looks good in the bathroom – something to do with the lighting??? Oh well…

I made what I think is a bit of a discovery. When I’m on the blog page, if I click on a picture it makes it come up on a separate screen in a larger format. Therefore I’m going to input these pics mainly as small pics. Someone let me know if this little experiment works!! Also I do see the comments on the blog page but am unable to respond to them there. And also am unable to compose messages on Yahoo right now – can’t figure that one out yet……….

Back to Jan 2^nd……After an early morning walk on the beach we headed to the train station at 11:30. I think I mentioned that the 1^st class air train was fully booked (that cost about 400B per person). Tickets for the 3^rd class, open window, hard seats (at 44Baht per person) went on sale at 1:00 PM. You don’t actually buy a seat so we started out with only 4 seats. Gone and I stood for awhile and then I sat with Oliver (held him while he slept). After a bit Gone got a seat only to give it up to a Thai lady with 2 babies. He did manage to find another seat though. Tom was sitting with what we both thought were 3 young backpackers. Imagine his surprise when the lady introduced her 16 yr old son and her husband. They’re from Russia, came to Thailand to go to English school for a month - so they talked for 4 hours!! The man was an electrical engineer and she was a teacher. Life isn’t great in Moscow, they left and now think they’d like to open up a business in Asia. They gave Tom their email address should we ever decide we want to visit Russia so for all you travelers out there, keep that in mind. The kids played musical chairs with the adults so there was no reading or dozing off………… Got into Bangkok around 7:00Pm, hopped on the subway for a bit and then caught a taxi home. Had a rum and orange juice with a tuna sandwich and went to bed! Spent the next couple of days cleaning the apartment, getting groceries and doing laundry.

On Saturday (the 5^th) Tom and I grabbed the sky train and traveled to the river. On Sundays there is a “Koh Kred” cruise and we decided it might be fun to do with the kids. But of course we had to get the tickets first – I didn’t want to just leave it to chance. While at the waterfront we decided to do a little walking. We were just standing looking at a huge decrepit building when a gentleman approached us. I must have answered his questions right because he didn’t try to sell me anything – just gave us info. The building was only 7 years old, was supposed to be a huge first class hotel but then the money ran out. You see signs of that all over the place. Sure would be painful if it was a condo you’d bought in to……….Then visited Wat Yannawa which means Temple of Junk. Seems there was a lot of trading with the Chinese so Rama III wanted this monument built to resemble a Chinese trading ship. We just wandered the streets watching the merchants and Thai people doing their daily business. Caught the train back home and spent the evening with Jenn and family with Gone making supper of course.

On Sunday (the 6^th) we were up early and ready for our adventure. It’s a ½ hour walk to the sky train so off we went, Gone and Nicky leaving later by motorcycle taxi. We arrived at the pier at 9:00 AM for a 10:00 AM trip so it was a long wait for the kids. We traveled for 1 ½ hours upriver to Wat Chalermpakiet also built in the reign of Rama III. There was also a 40 acre park here. It was beautiful but once again, being on a tour, you don’t have much time to walk around.

Next it was off to Baan Kanom Thai (House of Thai Sweets). We had lunch here and observed ladies making Thai candy treats. The candy is made from eggs and mung bean paste. This is formed into a shape, covered with gelatin, painted and sold as miniature candy fruit and vegetables. I’m not a big fan but Jennifer loves it.

Our next stop was Koh Kret to see a 200 year old ethnic Mon-style temple and to visit an ancient Mon pottery village. Now, for all you Amazing Race viewers, this was the place where contestants (Rob and Amber) had to carry pottery on a plank from point A to point B. It was very interesting to see the winding passage ways and all the little shop and food stalls. Jennifer tried some deep fried flowers but wasn’t very keen on them. I was tempted to try a fried orchid but didn’t. Imagine, we can hardly grow them in Canada and over here they’re eating them as a snack. Then it was a journey back down river. Everyone had a little snooze except Oliver and I. Didn’t feel much like eating so Jennifer brought the kids up and they had hot dogs and French fries and we had tuna salad toasted bagel sandwiches and beer (that goes without saying)!! Haven’t been up to much today. Went for a walk, checked out a new book store. Actually bought a new Thai cook book and a book for the boys on what do I want to be in Thailand – a monk, a tuk-tuk driver, fruit seller, farmer, fisherman etc. It’s really very well done. Very different stuff here. Will have to search for something different for Isabelle. Also checked out an Italian restaurant called ‘Bacco”. It’s only been open 3 months. The owner walked us through. The meats and cheeses come right from Italy, the décor was beautiful, the pizza oven amazing and the prices looked right too. Think we’ll be making a stop there very soon. Made our way to the grocery store and now here I sit writing this up. Heard there were 3 earthquakes off the coast of BC – didn’t sound too serious - hope our home is still standing!!

December 31, 2007

Merry Christmas and Happy NewYear from our little piece of paradise in Hua Hin. Hard to believe it’s all coming to an end. Think we’re in for a pretty rowdy evening from some of the sound system’s I’m hearing being checked. Our plan is to be on the beach for midnight as there are a number of hotels doing fireworks.

Left Bangkok on Dec 23^rd at 8:05 on the express train. It’s two air conditioned cars, clips along at a good speed and took about 3 ½ hours to get here. There was constant carts going up and down the aisle with free drinks, snacks and lunch. Took the drinks and snacks but said no thanks to lunch. We called Job (our manservant) when we arrived and he sent along a van to pick us up. Our place is called Ocean Breeze and it’s absolutely wonderful (same place we stayed last year). It’s just outside of Hua Hin in a place called Khao Takiab (Chopstick Mountain). We have an A-frame home with a large air con bedroom, bathroom and an air con sitting room. There are a couple of sitting areas outside as well as a splash pool and a BBQ area. The gardens are lovely too. We have a little fridge, TV, dvd, movies and books at our disposal. Jennifer and family are across the road in their own little 2 bedroom house with a small garden and a splash pool also. The staff are wonderful. Job speaks English very well but the other two wait/cleaning staff don’t speak any English. Sure is helpful having Gone here. If we need anything at the store they pick it up for us ie: beer. They take Gone to the market on a motorbike to pick up groceries when we want to BBQ or simply lend him their bike. For breakfast every morning you can have whatever you want. Tom usually has yoghurt, bacon and eggs, toast, juice and tea. I have yoghurt, fruit and croissant. In the afternoon when we get back from the beach there is always a glass of fresh juice and 2 refreshing towels waiting for us. The rooms are cleaned every day and every evening they come to bug spray inside and to set out candles outside as well as mosquito coils. It’s all so very civilized!! Every morning we walk down to the beach and there are loungers and umbrellas waiting for us. Tom and I usually go for a walk and then back to read, play, swim or whatever. Lunch is at the beach and is either a shared tuna sandwich and fries and beer or BBQ’d corn on the cob on a stick and a beer. Dinner we BBQ or go out but it usually entails shrimp in some form for me.

Christmas Eve Gone went to the market and picked up some shrimp, squid, fish and chicken. Jenny and I went to the grocery store and got veggies. We had the most lovely BBQ here at our place. Then Christmas morning we also had our breakfast together here. The kids opened their presents and as usual Oliver was looking for something ”bigger” and Nick wanted what Oliver got. Santa did leave a letter though to say he’d left some “bigger” toys in Bangkok.

My birthday was on the 28^th and I actually had a really nice day. I told the kids I wanted hugs and kisses so that’s exactly what I got first thing in the morning. In Thailand the birthday person hosts their own party so that’s what I did. Last year we had found this restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Thailand called La Mer. They even had entertainment – a Thai Elvis impersonator. Well, this year he’s not Elvis but the BeeGees. We had a great time. Before we left, the hotel staff came over and gave me a present – a lovely blue silk scarf/wrap. I was so surprised – what a nice thing to do. Then a bit later there was a knock on the door and it was Nicky calling me to come to a “pizza party”. They had a little birthday cake with candles that even said 59 –how cruel was that!! Gone and Jennifer gave me a lovely bottle of Chardonnay – Long Neck – South African which I saved and then polished off last night. I did share a glass with Tom and sips to the other two……. We had it with some bread, cheese and fruit.

A few days ago we decided to go into town to book our train tickets home – the express at 4:00 PM.. Guess what, the train was fully booked. There is another regular train at 2:00 but tickets don’t go on sale till 1:00. The total cost will be 400 baht as opposed to 2300 baht so don’t know quite what to expect. Think it’s hard seats, no air just open windows and makes all stops. Could prove to be very interesting…………….

The beach is wonderful. The boys absolutely love it. At first they complained about the salty water but now you can’t keep them out. There’s always a breeze but the last few days have been very breezy. The waves are wicked. Much like we experienced in the Outer banks of North Carolina. Looking at the sky you’d think there was a big rain storm coming – but what do we know??

Tonight it’s out to dinner around 7:00, then home for a lie down so that we can go out later to the New Years events. That is if we manage to set the alarm and actually get up. Tom’s already gone in for a sleep and I think I’ll be joining him shortly

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. We think of you often and drank a toast to all at Christmas and will do so again this evening. We wish everyone all the best for 2008. Stay in touch………………..