October Break in Phuket: Part 1

Phuket and Coral Island

Left Bangkok on Sat Oct 23 and flew to Phuket, a tropical island in southern Thailand. At the airport we were roped into a “free tour” which sounded too good to be true…and it was. The first part was an island tour on Sunday to “see” the island and a few key tourist traps. However, we managed to squeeze in our first elephant ride.

Phuket
Saturday- arrived at Aquamarine hotel completely impressed or actually in awe of the 4 pools, 2 of which were built in to the side of the hill, with 180 degree views of the sea and complete drop off- straight down. One of these pools was of lap pool length and 3 of us did lap at least twice to an amazing view- absolutely gorgeous. It was hard to keep swimming, just wanted to stop and look at the view.
Sunday-
Glimpsed part of a traditional Thai wedding at our hotel:
Simulated parade of groom to meet his bride’s family in the town center, offering to Budda, traditional attire and during the ceremony 5 orange clad monks were at the front of the room sitting on tables, praying, chanting etc.
Then…. “free tour” of island, included key viewpoints (spectacular) and too many touristy streets, seen by van only, then a trip to a cashew processing plant. Did you know cashews grow outside of a fruit that looks just like a red or yellow pepper? Lots of free samples.
Another stop: biggest jewelry store in the world, somewhat interesting however …we were clearly in the wrong store. We knew it and the sales people knew it.
Next: oyster/pearl showcase where we were educated in the qualities of pearls of all shapes and sizes…again no purchase
One quick stop at a gift store…then…
ELEPHANT RIDE- our first, very interesting! They are truly gentle giants, and were all pets it seemed. Ahnika and Gary lucked out with the famous “Mary” elephant. The guides all just kept calling “Mary….Mary…Mary….” til a guide climbed on-literally by holding onto an ear and climbing up as if rock climbing. The are so darn big! The elephant/guide relationship really reminded me of my sister on her horses- name cooing, scratching and patting. It seemed that they loved their elephants, therefore we are trusting that they are taking good care of them. Did you know that an elephant can eat 300 kilos of food every day?
While riding/guiding Ahnika’s elephant, the guide grabbed a piece of bamboo and fashioned two different rings for her- out of a leaf! Of course she shared one with her sister who was riding a different elephant with her mom.

Returned to hotel, walked down to the beach to have great Thai meal cooked in a hut; don’t really want to know about sanitary conditions in Thailand, just want to eat when hungry.
Then walked back to hotel to attend evening of wedding celebration (we were invited by the groom himself Sat night) more good food. This wedding ended promptly at 10 just after a private fireworks display for the wedding couple.

Monday-
Snorkeling tour- picked up at 7 am, hour long van ride to dock to jump on crowded boat. Beautiful boat ride with free food (thank goodness) to Phi Phi island. Apparently Leo D’Caprio’s movie “The Beach” was filmed here. The color of the water was breathtaking. We were on the boat for quite a while, going all around the island then stopped to snorkel….but only had 45 minutes! (Never referring that tour group to anyone).
So glad I could be with the girls on their first snorkeling adventure- they were squealing with delight! It was very exciting, just not long enough. Long boat ride back- perfect view for reading. Mikayla has started reading the “Clique” series, such high quality literature, it makes her mother so proud.
It was during this boat trip I starting pinching myself to be sure it was all real. We are so incredibly lucky to be going on this adventure as a family.
Ahnika is happy because watermelon is served everywhere and most places will blend her up a watermelon juice- “no problem” or “mai pen rai” in Thai.
Monday evening- just hanging by the pool. However, since we are so close to the equator is completely dark here by 6:15. This is hard to adjust to because it always feels like summer to us so we expect long, northwest, sunlight days until 9pm.

Tuesday-

Did you know you can’t eat a banana leaf? But you can cut them into plate size circles and use them as decorative coasters for various serving pieces. “no eat, just “de-COR-ate” we were told at dinner.
The fruit still amazed us; mangos daily, watermelon juice, dragonfruit, papaya. There was quite a selection every morning at our buffet breakfast. Nice way to start the day, ended Tuesday with 2for 1 drinks at the poolside bar…which were basically fruit and alcohol.

Dinner twice tonight

       I went to a driving range today.  $6 for unlimited buckets, chipping, and putting.  After a couple hours, a neighbor and I stopped at a local restaurant for my second lunch of the day.  It was about 3:30. My neighbor speaks great thai and knows the place, so he ordered two tall sweet teas and two dinner plates of rice with pork, vegetables and an overeasy egg on top.  Total price with generous tip-60 BHT = $1.85 per person.  At 6:30 I had spaghetti and a salad cooked by Ahnika.  Then at 7:30 headed out to a restaurant with about 10 others for what I thought would be drinks.  This place was on a busy local street.  It had a sheet metal roof with cheap 4 foot double fluorescent lights all around and no side walls.   There was no atmosphere except all the locals and the pouring down rain (while still about 80 degrees).  It's all about the food and drink at this place.  The blackened halibut was $1.10 and a 22 ounce beer $2.25.  So here I am blogging after midnight to digest some of this food. 
       I realized today while at the restaurants and on the taxi ride there, that I was learning thai.  After my second lunch today I was able to tell the cook that I had a happy tummy.  I could tell the taxi driver to take me to Chai raan ahaan, yuu thii soi samakee (Chai restaurant on street Samakee).  I was able to tell him where and which way to turn or when to go straight or slow.  I was also able to ask for change at the restaurant, trading 500 bht for sii loy, and haa, yii sip (4 hundreds, and 5 20).  When I came here, I had doubts that I would ever pick up the language.  Now I know that this will truely be my second language. 
     Ahnika swam in the swim-a-thon last night.  She swam for two hours, taking only about 6-30 second breaks to drink water.  About 3.5 miles and goodness knows how many calories. 
     This morning Micki ran her first cross country race.  As an 11 year old she finished first in the girls under 13 group.  It was fun watching her last 300 yards as she reeled in several people including a few boys.  I'm sure you can tell the boy in this picture got toasted.
     What a great start to the weekend!

3 Days in Hua Hin (Head of Stone)

     How much would it cost to hire someone to drive you for three hours, drop you off, drive three hours back home, then pick you up three days later and drive you the three hours back to your house?  Could you get someone to do it for $160?  This is why we don't own a car.
     Our latest adventure was a three day trip to Hua Hin, a long white sandy beach with a huge stone rock that apparently looks like a head at the end of the beach.  We stayed at the Marriot.  It was fabulous.  We splurged, spending about $150 a night.  The rooms were well appointed with two queen sized beds.  The hotel workers were very courteous and the free breakfast was more like something you would find at Anthony's on a mothers day morning.  I ate so much each morning that I didn't need to eat lunch either day.  Even the girls went back for seconds and thirds. 
     Our first day there we had lunch while the room was readied, then had beers in a bucket of ice by the pool while we read and swam with the kids.  We finished with a lavish meal at a restaurant on the beach. 
     The next day we had a driver take us to Pa Lu A falls and then to the giant Buddha.  We hiked up to the forth of five levels and went for a swim in the river.  The coldest thing I've experienced yet in Thailand but nothing like the rivers in Washington.  The river was loaded with fish.  If you look carefully at the picture of me and the girls standing next to the falls, you'll see a carp trying to jump up the falls like a salmon.  Nice timing Kristy!  We finished that day with dinner, drinks and shopping at the Hua Hin night market.  No beer gardens here.  Just walk around with any drink or beer as you please.  The hustle and bustle, along with seeing how low you could get a vendor to go on a cd, jewelry, fake designer hand bags etc. was a blast.
     The last day we finished with another huge breakfast and more hanging around the pool. 
     Over the course of the three days, Kristy and I did manage to get in plenty of exercise.  I twice rode bike and lifted in the workout room along with a mile swim in the ocean.  While Kristy and Ahnika got in a yoga class and a run on the beach. There was a family of 4 girls there from ISB that hung out at the pool a lot, so Micki was pretty much swim, swim, swim.

Work For 3 Weeks - Get a 3 Day Vacation

       So how many of you have accepted a job, worked for three weeks, and then taken a three day vacation?  On Tuesday I left for Penang Malaysia.  After an easy morning, an hour and a half flight, and a taxi drive, I was in my hotel room relaxing and unpacking.  Oh and my room was in a smoking area so I got upgraded to the the only non-smoking room available, the top floor.  I've always wanted to get in an elevator with other people and push that top button, as if to say "hey look at me, I'm on the top floor".  After some calls to the concierge and figuring out the combination to the safe etc. I headed out for some wonderful Indian cuisine with five lovely ladies.  The meal was great but the others where party poopers, so I walked them back to the hotel and headed out to the Soho pub.  They had a foosball table that was in great shape.  Those of you that know me well know that I couldn't resist.  Luckily after 20 years of not touching a table I had a chance to warm up on a few lackeys before the real competition showed up.  By then there was quite a crowed watching.  It went to the final ball of best two out of three but I lost.  Anyway, I met some chaps that where great to drink with and had a good time.  I met two younger guys from Liberia.  They were soldiers at the age of 12, escaped to Morocco, and then with the help of extended family made it to Penang.  You may have read the book ":A long way gone".  These two young men haven't haven't read the book but I have.  I highly recommend it, but it will tare your heart out.

       Early the next morning the six of us went to the embassy to apply for visas. This took about an hour and then we had until 2:00pm the next day to enjoy.  I choose a 45 minute taxi ride to a national park.  There I choose a 5 mile hike along the beach and adjacent hillsides.  I saw two different species of monkeys, several lizards, including a relative of the comodo dragon, and lots of cool plants and insects.  Halfway back on my hike I stopped on a beach that had a small oceanography college.  I had brought my swimsuit so I asked the guard at the beach gate (no roads to this place) if I could swim on the beach and leave my bag there by the gate.  He said "no".  Before I could figure out what to do next he said "the monkeys will take it".  So he offered to take my bag into his guard house.  So here in a national park with only a guard at the gate, a few college people out on the dock and an occasional hiker passing by I went for about a mile long swim on the beach.  I made it back in time to meet the ladies and do a little shopping on the streets as we looked for dinner and then a place for some drinks. 

       The next day I got in a good work out in the hotel and then headed out for more shopping before we had to depart for the airport. 

       Oh, and the free hotel breakfast in the morning was fabulous. 

Attached are two pictures from my hike

Our Community

One wouldn't ever need to leave our little community of Nichada Thani, here in Thailand.  Today I visited the clinic, with a friend who had an earache, which is right next to the dentist office and the bank.  I worked out this morning I used the high school weight room, stopped at the small (expensive) grocery store called Villa and discovered a little "weekend market" which apparently occurs once a month.  Venders included local artists, furniture, jewelry and antiques. My snack yesterday was a Starbucks and today it was at "twist" which is a scaled down version of jamba juice.

We live with people from all over the world.  Today in the grocery store there was a family from Holland, the children both had on wooden clogs!  A child's home country is usually the second sentence when meeting someone new.  In my classroom I have students from Australia, Israel, Sweden, Idonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Canada and the U.S. 

Mickey is one busy girl, she had school yesterday, after school choir practice, stopped by for dinner and then went to a friend's house for a sleepover.  She appeared today for 10 minutes- to get some money for a shopping trip with the same friend.  It was good to see her tonight for dinner, and tomorrow she is going to be at birthday party, poolside.

Ahnika and I went to the Home store yesterday to look at paint samples. ( We did have to take a taxi outside of our little bubble) I think we will have her room painted first. I am considering painting our family room a light yellow color and the dining area a gentle orange?  is that possible, a gentle orange? 
One teacher said that she had her family room painted for $35, sounds like the right price to me.


when we were at the Home store, there was an american family walking around, meandering the aisles looking a tad bit overwhelmed.  They were buying the basics, microwave, iron, laundry soap, towels...
I said, Hello, and they all smiled at me quickly and said hello. 
"New here?"
"Yep just got in yesterday, " 

It did make me feel that we have accomplished a lot in the last 6 weeks- think of how we will feel in another 6 weeks- especially after our fall break at the end of October! 

She's A Helluva Good Cook

The squid is to the left

Our mae bhan has been cooking about 4 days a week for a month now.  She has yet to repeat a meal and they all have been good to excellent.  She's a fast learner.  With about 20 minutes using google images and an online Thai translator, I explained how to make spaghetti sauce.  Fresh basil, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, garlic, oohhh it was good.  I'm including a picture of something she made just recently.  About half way through devouring the meal, I noticed something that looked like tentacles.  What do you know, a tiny little squid.  If it's any indication, Mikayla is eating her vegetables every night.  Tonight she loved the asparagus.  That's a first.  Tomorrow our mae bhan is going to visit another mae bhan to learn how to cook pizza (including the dough) from scratch.  Mikayla and Ahnika ate this pizza at our friends house the other night and said is it was fabulous. 

Elephant

Gary and I were in a taxi recently, going out to dinner to celebrate a coworkers birthday.  We were stuck in after work traffic so I was a bit bored.  I glanced out the window and there right beside me was an elephant!  With one person aboard.  Just moving slowly with the cars, taxis, bikes and motor scooters.


Apparently they are trying to reduce this type of sighting, on high traffic roads.  It is also a bit of an attraction for tourist so folks were begging with elephants, so it is illegal.  However, I am curious just how one removes an elephant from a 8 lane highway during rush hour!