An American in...

The Great Pumpkin

2009-10-12T07:59:00.004+07:00

OK, so we're not Charlie Brown and Lucy, and this pumpkin probably wouldn't qualify as "great" to other people, but it's great to us!

My friend Jennifer is having a pumpkin carving contest at the end of this month. Jennifer is serious about this contest, and Julio and I tend to get just a wee bit competitive. Last night while we were grocery shopping we found a pumpkin carving kit and pumpkins in the produce aisle and decided that it would be prudent to practice before the actual event.

We bought the kit and a smallish pumpkin (we live in a small apartment, after all) and broke out our mad carving skills this evening. After perusing the book of patterns so handily included in the kit, we decided on the witch cut out- it rated 2 out of 4 pumpkins (4 being the most difficult).

If you've only ever carved pumpkins the "old fashioned" way- you know, with a marker to draw the pattern and a kitchen knife- let me catch you up to speed with how the kids do it today.

First, pick a pattern. (We're already brainstorming ideas for our own pattern for the contest instead of going with a store bought one). Make a photocopy of said pattern and tape it onto your pumpkin. (The pumpkin should already be scraped out at this point. If you want, you can use the handy scraper that comes with most kits.)

Using the enclosed poker, poke along the lines of the pattern (through the paper and the top layer of pumpkin shell- is it shell or skin?).

Remove the pattern, and use the carving saws (our kit had two, one for the bigger areas and one for the smaller spaces) to carve out the pattern- connecting the dots. There is also a scraper enclosed if you want to only scrape off the top layer for that cool solid, yet semi-transparent effect.

This all sounds relatively simple, but it is time consuming and somewhat taxing on the shoulders and neck from bending over the pumpking and carving the intricate details. And wielding the carving saws isn't exactly simple, but we managed to get in a groove and carve what we think is a very acceptable first effort. We've learned some valuable lessons along the way and are looking forward to kicking some butt in the upcoming contest.

Labor Day Showers

2009-09-08T09:41:00.008+07:00

Julio and I both flew to Texas over the Labor Day weekend to attend two baby showers- one on Saturday with my close girlfriends and one on Sunday with my church family.

Before all of the madness, I had to register. Since I have absolutely NO CLUE about any of this baby stuff, I did some reading and had decided that I was NOT going to be one of "those women"- I would be practical: no need for a nursery theme, I decided that I would just buy plain sheets for the crib, etc. However, one look at this ladybug bedding set in the store and I was smitten! Not only did I register for the bedding set, but then I went for the wall decals, the lamp shade, the baskets, etc. Then, to make it all worse, when I got home and got online to complete the registry I discovered that the bedding was going out of stock. Oh NO!!!!

So my girlfriends took the ladybug theme and ran with it on Saturday- we had ladybugs on everything, and they even managed to find the aforementioned bedding as their gift to me. The shower was fun and lovely and filled with all good, "girly" things- sweets (homemade chocolate cheesecake and these out-of-this-world petit four type things we could only call "cake balls"), shower games (guess the baby food, and the oh so popular guess the melted chocolate in the diaper), and great conversation with good friends.

Sunday's shower was incredible as well. 16 families hosted a guest list that was probably the size of a small town's phone book! When Allyson, the coordinator and "chief" hostess, asked what I was craving and how I envisioned the shower- I requested BBQ and that couples be invited. I simply could not imagine celebrating the day without my ENTIRE church family: wives, husbands, and children. We gathered at The Swingin' Door, a great BBQ joint in Richmond, TX, for just that- BBQ, Beer and Baby talk. It felt like a family reunion, which was exactly what I hoped it would be.

A Capital Capitol Fourth

2009-07-06T06:59:00.006+07:00

This was my first Fourth of July in our nation's capitol, and what an event it was! After 3 Independence Day celebrations overseas, I was looking forward to being back in the good ol' U S of A for a change.

Julio came in town for the weekend, which was great. Friday we went down to the Mall- and the crowds on that day were already pretty insane. We had lunch at the Native American museum (the best lunch on the Mall), went to see the Star Spangled Banner exhibit at the Museum of American History and then visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It was a great afternoon, but the number of people wandering around the Mall and using the Metro confirmed that we did NOT want to be part of that on Saturday (the city of DC estimates that 500,000 people used the Metro on Saturday alone).

On Saturday we went to a friend's house in the Capitol Hill area. His building has a rooftop deck, and around 8:45 we went up to the roof in anticipation of the 9:10 Capitol Fireworks show. We were treated to, literally, 360 degrees of fireworks. We could see every small and large fireworks display in the Virginia, Maryland and DC areas- from bottle rockets set off by the neighbors to what were clearly larger community shows in other areas. It was wonderful. And then, right on schedule, the Capitol show began. While we didn't get to experience all of the music and the cannons for the 1812 Overture, it was an absolutely amazing sight.

Now, those of you who are reading this in Texas and Bangkok will especially appreciate what I have to say next. What probably amazed me the most was the weather. Up on the roof, I was actually a bit chilly. In JULY! It was most certainly the first time that's ever happened to me.

It was a great evening and I'm glad to have been here in DC to celebrate my first Independence Day as a member of the Foreign Service. Next year- Mexico! (I tried to upload a video of the fireworks here, but it doesn't seem to be working. Oh well!)

Friday: Jail; Monday: The Morgue; Tuesday: Crisis

2009-07-02T07:56:00.002+07:00

Summer has hit DC, but it seems as if we've had it pretty easy compared to a lot of the country. We've had a few days in the 90s, but that's it so far. Julio will be here for the Fourth of July weekend, and we're going to a friend's house to watch the famous DC fireworks show from his rooftop balcony.

Tomorrow marks the last day of my consular training, which has occupied my time over the past 30 days. During my training I have learned about Passports and Nationality, Immigrant Visas, Non-Immigrant Visas and American Citizen Services overseas. We've had exams along the way and I'm proud to say that, out of the 100 total questions on four different exams, I only got one answer wrong (and I'm still kicking myself because I originally had the right answer and changed it!). However, the past 4 days have proved to be the most interesting.

Throughout training we've participated in role plays to practice our skills- mock interviews with clients, etc. Friday's role plays were visits to American Citizens (AmCits) who have been arrested and are in jail (we even have a jail cell at the training center to make it real). I played one of the incarcerated AmCits, and if I may say so myself, did an excellent job of portraying this woman who was off her rocker. Wait, should I be proud of this?????

Monday proved to be even more interesting- we were treated with a visit to the Morgue. Now this was the real thing, not a simulated morgue in our training center. We went to the Washington DC office of the Chief Medical Examiner where we met with the staff to learn about their mission and responsibilities. We had the opportunity to see the autopsy suite, learn about the autopsy process, and view a deceased individual. This was all to prepare us for the possibility of having to identify a deceased American overseas- so that our first visit to a morgue is not when we are in an official capacity.

Then, to top it all off, Tuesday we had the mother of all roleplays: A plane crash in our country with injured and deceased AmCits followed by a bomb/terrorist attack with even more dead and injured. We were the consular section and had to respond to the crisis, which included taking calls from concerned Americans inquiring about their family members, fielding questions and orders from the Operations Center in Washington DC, dealing with local military and police authorities, and caring for not only the injured and dead AmCits on the plane and at the bomb site, but accounting for all of the AmCits in our region (including how to eventually evacuate them all out of the country). The role play lasted a little over an hour but it felt like 5. By the end, I was frazzled, stressed out and had a headache- and this was just pretend! I now have a much greater respect for my colleagues around the world who have responded to these same types of crises in real life.

Today was tame, all in all. We had our last exam and a lecture on ethics in Consular work. Tomorrow we have a few more lectures in the morning and graduation in the afternoon- then most of my class is off to their posts. I, however, will start language training on Monday. I'll be learning Spanish in preparation for my first assignment in Matamoros, Mexico. I'll have language training through December and will leave for post in May, 2010.

That's it from now. Maybe my next post will be in Spanish!

A Few of My Favorite Things

2009-03-25T04:16:00.003+07:00

When the movers came to my apartment in Bangkok- WAAAAAAY back in early February- I had the opportunity to separate my belongings into two groups, the HHE (Household Effects) which would automatically go into storage and my UAB (Unaccompanied Air Baggage) which would be shipped via air cargo to my apartment in DC.

I sorted carefully and put what I wanted to go in my UAB in a separate room to make things easier for the movers. However, the UAB has some weight and size limitations, so I did not get to have everything I wanted packed. Basically, the movers brought in some really big boxes and I had to quickly decide what would go in the boxes and what would be shifted over to HHE.

My UAB arrived today (over a month after I packed it) and I eagerly unpacked it to discover all the treasures that I so desperately need while training in DC.

There were some non-negotiables: the clothing and shoes that wouldn't fit in my suitcases, my guitar, computer printer, digital photo frame, and video camera to name a few (Does the rabbit corkscrew fit into this list also?). Then there were some comfort items that I thought would just make life easier here: the t-shirt quilt that I love to lie under while watching TV, my newly acquired pillow that I love so much, my teddy bear (yes, I sleep with a bear!), various clothing hangers and shoe organizers (why buy new when I have perfectly good ones already?), my "Pride and Prejudice" DVD set, and...ahem....personal care items (including 7 tubes of toothpaste, 5 sticks of deodorant, and 15 razor cartridges- not to mention to "super size" boxes of playtex).

And then there's the rest of the shipment. These items clearly show that, while I was functioning at a fairly high level in my last few weeks in Bangkok, I was most certainly affected by the stress that naturally comes when quitting one's job and moving halfway around the world to start a new life and new career. These items include: two beach towels, a new set of twelve cloth napkins I purchased in December, one calculator, one flashlight, pens and pencils in their ceramic holder, my AMCHAM coffee mug (my former boss would be so proud!), my giant yellow SU plastic cup, an insulated wine carrier, and three bamboo coasters.

Now, for those of you who don't already know, my apartment is a studio. It's basically a hotel room with a kitchen, and not a terribly large hotel room at that. It was starting to feel small before my UAB arrived. I have no idea where I am going to put all of these "essential items" now.

The good news is that I get to start over when leaving DC and moving to wherever the government sends me. I'll have the opportunity to pack another UAB then, and hopefully will have learned from this one. I am confident that I will be able to foresee my needs at post and pack my UAB accordingly. By that I mean I'll be sure to pack plenty of chocolate, Diet Coke and, of course, my beloved teddy bear.

A Stranger in a Strange Land

2009-03-02T20:01:00.004+07:00

Today is my first day of training in DC- and there is 3 inches of snow on the ground! The federal government is working on a 2 hour delay, so my colleagues and I are scrambling to figure out what to do. Let me start at the beginning:

I arrived in DC yesterday afternoon and checked into my apartment around 3:30. I'm staying in corporate housing and the government is billed directly, so I don't have to worry about paying the bill or getting reimbursed for my housing costs. It seems like there are about 30 of us in my class who are staying here (the class is about 90 people, so we're a good portion of the group).

There was a welcome reception last night, so those of us here met in the lobby and took the metro together. It was fun to meet some fellow students and some of the people in our welcome committee- they have finished their training and are heading out to various corners of the world. We were given the address to check in the morning to see if the government would be closed or not.

I left the party somewhat early concerned about the snow and how I was going to get back to the apartment. I found a fellow classmate and we came back together. I unpacked, starting making a mental list of what I need to buy, and fell asleep on my murphy bed (yes, an actual murphy bed!).

I woke up this morning to 3 inches of snow on my balcony and the notice of the two hour delay. We were scheduled to leave the lobby on a shuttle at 7:30, so everyone was there. However, as a group we decided that even if we got to the building on time, since we don't have badges yet we are subject to other people's schedules to even get in the building and to begin our training. As a group we decided to meet back at 9am and shuttle together then. I think many of us are secretly hoping that the government will announce that it has closed by then!

Here's the really funny part. Apparently a few weeks ago President Obama made fun of the government's inclination to close when there is snow on the ground- remarking that it would never happen in Chicago! Hmmmm...

More to come soon, I'm sure!

Bangkok-The Final Days (Part 2- The Dedication)

2009-02-18T06:57:00.004+07:00

I recently made another dedication to AMCHAM's Adopt-a-School program, and they were able to schedule the dedication so that I could be there before leaving town.

This school was in Saraburi, about an hour and a half drive outside of Bangkok. Two friends and I gave money to build a new playground. We arrived at the school and were greeted by the children, as usual. We went through all the ceremonial stuff- speeches, presentations, etc. Then, I asked if we could take a picture on the playground, so we walked over there and all the adults got in a big group to take the picture- while the kids stood on the side and watched. Well, a picture on a playground with no children just seems depressing, so I called the kids onto the playground. They hesitated for a moment, then all ran onto the playground with such force, it was amazing. I later found out that the playground had been finished for about a week and the kids weren't allowed to play on it, so they had to sit in school all day long and just LOOK at it. Talk about torture!

We took pictures, played on the playground, and they practiced their english. The practice went something like this. Liz: Hello! 25 Children: Hello! Liz: What is your name? 25 children, one by one: My name is *insert really long unpronouncable Thai name here*! Liz: My name is Liz! 25 children: LIZ! Liz: How old are you? 25 children, all at the same time: I am ten years old! Now, I can promise you that about 5 of them were probably 10, and I'm sure the rest were anywhere from 6-12 years old. It was cute.

One child decided that they wanted my autograph, so then they all desperately wanted it. I was signing my name on scraps of paper, on hands- anywhere. Then, when I started to walk across the school yard to go to the restroom, about 20 kids decided they would walk with me, wait for me while I, ahem, did my business, escort me to the sink, turn on the water, hand me the soap, turn off the water, then walk me across the school yard again. It was simultaneously hilarious and exhausting.

I now know how Angelina Jolie must feel!

We finally pulled ourselves away from the children long enough to get on the van. One little girl was sobbing, so we asked what was wrong, and she was sad because she didn't get an autograph. Wow. So we signed something for her.

It was a great day, and although it was fun to feel like a rock star, I am glad that this is not something that I would have to live with on a regular basis. They can keep their fame, as far as I'm concerned! I'll just take the free clothes that come along with it...

Bangkok- The Final Days (Part 1)

2009-01-28T15:29:00.002+07:00

This is my last week of full time work. I decided that it would be nice to have a little time off to get organized before getting on a plane and flying to the U.S. I still don't know when I'm leaving or what my schedule will be yet- all of that hinges on my official appointment letter and my orders. I'm hoping something will happen this week, but we'll see.

Today was my last Montly Luncheon for AMCHAM. It was a good one, too. Khun Pichai, the Editor of the Bangkok Post, was our guest speaker and gave his opionion on the state of Thailand. It was probably the most frank I have heard a Thai be on the subject, which was refreshing.

At the luncheon, Dave Carden, our President this year, acknowleged my work for the past few years and gave me a certificate. We give a lot of certificates at AMCHAM. I have designed almost all of them and usually print them. They are supposed to be signed by our Executive Director and President. A lot of times, neither are availble when we have to present the certificate so I do the signing (I've perfected my boss's signature at this point- which could be a very useful thing!). I am proud to say that I did NOT create this certificate, and both the signatures are genuine. :) It's the little things in life, right?

Documentary Filming

2009-01-25T17:17:00.002+07:00

A few months ago I was contacted by Karen, a Canadian journalist who had read my story in Acclimate magazine. She's producing a documentary on expats and divorce and asked if I would be willing to speak with her.

We met this week for lunch and, because I'm leaving Bangkok soon she decided it would be best if she could film me now while she was in town. Yesterday we met at her hotel and she interviewed me on film.

It was a fun experience- I, of course, worried about what to wear and how I was going to do my hair and makeup. Was I even slightly nervous about the fact that I will be telling the entire world all the gory details of how I moved to Bangkok and was separated less than a year later? NAH! As long as I looked good while telling it!

Since we had already met once, she knew what parts of my story she wanted to hi-light and asked certain questions to guide me in the right direction. I worried that I spoke too fast (I know that will come as a shock to those of you who know me), but she assured me that I was fine. We finished the interview with some stock footage of us just generally talking, then me walking in the gardens, etc.

She told me that she had hoped to get some footage of me on the street, maybe getting food from a street vendor, to emphasize the daily life in Bangkok. I told her that I was planning on taking a motorcycle taxi to the BTS, so she could film me getting on that and riding away. She loved the idea, and the camera man took it one step further. We hired two motorbikes and, after he filmed me getting on mine he hopped onto one, zoomed in front of us and filmed me riding down the street.

There I was, being filmed riding side saddle on the back of a motorbike through the streets of Bangkok. I can only imagine what the people who passed us in the cars must have thought was going on!

If all goes well, the documentary will be shown in about a year on the Canadian Television Network. When I have more details I'll be sure to share.

As I mentioned above, I'll be leaving Bangkok soon to enter the US Foreign Service. I will first head to Washington DC for training and then will be posted to another country. I am quite sure that I'll have stories to fill these pages for quite some time to come!

Christmas in Bangkok

2009-01-11T20:24:00.010+07:00

My brother Greg, his wife Brooke and their children Jacob and Kathryn came to Bangkok this year over Christmas. They were here for just under two weeks, and we crammed so much into their visit that it will be hard for me to put it all in one blog entry.

You can get their side of the story on Greg's blog- http://dadsrule-wa.blogspot.com

They arrived on Monday and Tuesday we headed back to the airport to go to the beach. We went to Khao Lak, a town about 45 minutes north of Phuket. Khao Lak is where the 2004 Tsunami hit Thailand the worst. From what I understand the town was utterly devastated. They've done a lot to rebuild in the past 4 years, but there are still reminders of the Tsunami throughout. We were there on the 26th, the four year anniversary of the wave. There were several families at the hotel and on the beach who were there remembering loved ones who died. It was powerful to be there with them.

Besides playing on the beach at our resort, we rode elephants, rafted on bamboo rafts down a river, swam in a (freezing cold) waterfall in the jungle, took a boat to the Similan Islands for snorkeling, ate, drank, and ate some more. Santa even managed to find us at the beach and everyone woke up Christmas morning with a stocking stuffed to the rim with candy and all sorts of good treats.

I must admit that the highlight of our time in Khao Lak was the hotel's gala Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. There was a wondeful buffet set up outside by the beach and we were treated to an entertainment lineup that included an Australian pop singer, traditional Thai dancing, a Katoey (transvestite) cabaret show, games for the kids, and a beer chugging contest (for the adults). Yes- nothing says Christmas like men in drag lipsyncing to Whitney Houston, followed by chugging copious amounts of beer!

We came back to Bangkok and spent a week "doing the town"- the Grand Palace and Wat Po, a longtail boat ride through the canals, afternoon tea at the Oriental, the Jim Thompson House, trips to Ayutthaya and the Tiger Temple, Chatuchak market, Lumpini Park, foot massages, etc.

It was fun for me to experience Bangkok as a tourist again. It's so easy to get caught up in daily life and work and to forget that this is quite an amazing city to live in.

Elizabeth and the Elephants

2008-12-18T14:28:00.004+07:00

My sister-in-law Elizabeth came to visit me this past weekend. Unfortunately, I had to work for much of the time that she was here, so while she saw plenty of Thailand, I was not able to tag along and take photos on my camera. However, we did make it out to the Pattaya Elephant Village on Saturday (along with my friend Isabel) for a fantastic day of elephant riding and so much more.

Our "combo package" included a one hour elephant ride, followed by a "jungle trek," visit to the silk house where we saw silk being spun from the coccoons of silk worms and woven into cloth, a boat ride, an oxcart ride back to the village and then lunch and a show with traditional Thai dancing and a display of sword fighting. Tourism is down a bit right now (no surprise there, if you've followed any of the recent headlines about Thiland) and we were the ONLY people on the tour. I'll admit it was a bit surreal to have all of this hooplah just for us, but we felt like VIPs and quickly embraced it.

Ever since my first trip to Africa I have admired elephants, and loved the opportunity to get this up close and personal with a few of them. They're amazing creatures. And while I would much prefer to not have elephants kept in captivitiy like this, I do appreciate the work the Pattaya Elephant Village is doing (they don't make the elephants paint or play soccer or anything like that).

My other brother and his family are coming to Thailand next week, and you can be sure that a day with these elephants is now on their agenda as well.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T22:08:00.003+07:00

Thanksgiving this year was at my friends Meredith and Doug's apartment. Meredith made the turkey and stuffing and each of us brought food to share. As is usual with Thanksgiving, there was a TREMENDOUS amount of food- far more than anyone could consume in one meal. So, after we had dinner we all were given paper plates to fill with leftovers to take home!

We played board games and drank wine and were generally thankful for all of our blessings- as one should be on Thanksgiving. I was especially thankful since I had the day off (I shouldn't have to explain to you that Thanksgiving is NOT a holiday in Thailand- and no one goes shopping at 6am on Friday morning, either).

For those of you who are wondering about the current political situation, I am fine. Please don't let what you're hearing on the news alarm you. The protestors are far away from where I live and work, and their actions have little bearing on my day to day life. That being said, there are many people I know who have had to cancel their travel plans to and from Thailand, and I'm not sure if my sister-in-law is going to be able to make her visit here as planned next week. However, that's my biggest worry- I'm perfectly safe and in no imminent danger.

So, unless you hear otherwise from me, please don't panic!

70s Birthday Bash

2008-11-10T21:52:00.005+07:00

My 34th birthday is next week, but because of timing issues I had my party last weekend. I realized that this is the fourth birthday I've celebrated in Bangkok, which is quite a milestone for me given my record of moving around.

Because I was born in the 70s I decided this year's party should have a 70s theme, and a lot of my friends got in on the act and dressed up with me. I had an outfit made here, based on some pictures I downloaded from internet. As he was fitting me, my tailor remarked that he used to make a lot of those kinds of pant suits back when the Air Force was based in Thailand- I'm sure he did!

My friend Steve hosted us at his apartment (it's a great place for a party) and we finished the evening at Quake, a new bar where a Bangkok favorite band, the Big Boy Band, is now playing. It was a fabulous evening, and I still have 8 more days between now and my actual birthday to keep the party rolling!

Marine Corps Ball

2008-11-03T15:31:00.005+07:00

November 10th is the birthday of the Marine Corps and, no matter where they're stationed around the world, Marines take the time to mark the occasion. Sometimes the event is a simple as a cake cutting ceremony, but in Bangkok the Marines host a ball. This year's ball was Saturday. I went with a group of friends and, as expected, had a fabulous time.

I have official pictures from the event that I will eventually post, but wanted to get my candids up on the blog right away.

The evening started with a cocktail reception. After we entered the ballroom, the Marines played a video from the Commandant of the Marine Corps and presented the Colors. The Ambassador spoke, as did a former Marine who is now in the Foreign Service posted here in Bangkok. They had a cake cutting ceremony- and the Ambassador, the oldest Marine in the room and the youngest Marine each participated. If you know me at all, you know I love a little pomp and ceremony, so it was great to be a witness to the event. Whether we agree with what's happening in the world today, these men and women are putting their lives on the line for us, and it's nice to take an evening to say "thank you."

After the ceremony we ate, drank and danced the night away. We were even graced with appearances from Thai Elvis and Thai Tom Jones- who could ask for more!

Around 450 people attended the evening including the Marines currently stationed here, former Marines who are living in Bangkok for one reason or another, active duty Marines who are posted in other places and joined in the festivities here, Embassy staff, and just "regular Joes and Janes" like me, who know this is an event not to be missed!

I was so proud of my hairstyle that I just had to include a picture of it as well. I told Cris (my friend and stylist) that I wanted something "funky, but not too over the top," and I think she most definitely succeeded in that.

It's events like these that make me appreciate just how good it is to be an American overseas.

Next week is my birthday party- It's a 70's theme, so you know there will be good pictures and stories to post from that!

PAD Outside My Window

2008-10-20T16:42:00.002+07:00

You might have heard about massive protests in Bangkok over the past weeks and months. In short, there's a group called the People's Alliance for Democracy that thinks the current government is corrupt and all the members of the ruling party (the People Power Party) should resign. The PAD staged the massive protests that occured before the coup in 2006 (see my Coup Day entry from that year).

I'm not going to get into politics here. I don't pretend to know any of the intricacies involved and just stay out of the way and go about my life here, which is quite easy to do since the protests are usually confined to one place in the city. However, today the protests came to me! (Don't worry mom and dad, I was 7 floors above it all, tucked safely in my office.)

The PAD marched down the street where I work, presumably because the U.S. Embassy is here. What they expect the Embassy to do, I don't know, but I guess it's as good a street as any to march down. I snapped some pictures to show you just what exactly goes on during these protests.

You'll see people cheering, using those plastic hand-clapper toys that are just OH so cute, wearing yellow (because they love the King) and chanting things. You'll also see fruit and drink vendors with their carts weaving through the crowds, making sure everyone has their daliy refreshment. We even saw some sort of tuk-tuk rigged with something- a water tank, maybe?

All in all, it's very peaceful and, excpet for the signs that read "Murderer!", quite cheerful. Everyone came to their windows to watch, and the lucky employees at the building next to ours that has a balcony, got to go outside to get an even better view.

The whole thing lasted ten minutes.

So, the long and the short of it is this: these protests have been happening since before I moved here, and I have never, ever, ever felt unsafe. Of course, I wasn't in the middle of the protest trying to get a great picture, I am keeping my distance. However, unless you hear otherwise from me, assume that things in Thailand are safe and sound and, as the Thais say "same, same!"

And, if there is another coup by chance, it just means it's the perfect day for a mani/pedi, a great lunch and a massage- all while zipping through the traffic-free city streets!

USA Fair Press Visits

2008-10-17T16:37:00.002+07:00

The USA Fair is in a few weeks, and Kittie (my colleague) and I went along with the PR company to visit the press and promote the fair- believe me, it's much less fun than it sounds.

The fair begins on October 31st, so we're having halloween activities for the kids that night. We had kids join us on the press visit semi-dressed for Halloween, giving out candy and fliers to the reporters. They were so cute! Apparently these are kids who make appearances on some sort of game show- I'm not really sure of the whole story, but I guess they're semi-famous. My role was to look like an American (not terribly hard for me to do, I guess, then stand around in the offices while everyone spoke to each other in Thai. Oh well, I guess there are worse ways to spend an afternoon or two.

Perhaps the highlight of the day was the van that we rode in. The PR company uses it to drive around the famous people that they bring to town, and they've all autographed it. They've driven the Black Eyed Peas, George Benson and Al Jereau, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, etc. I told my friend, "I'm sitting where Fergie sat!"

AWC Gala- Broadway

2008-10-06T20:59:00.009+07:00

This weekend was the American Women's Club Gala dinner- with Broadway as the theme. About two hundred people gathered to dine, dance, and raise money for a needy foundation which supports orphaned children in Thailand. It was a great evening.

I sang the National Anthem and served as the emcee for the evening. Each of the tables were named for a Broadway show. Ours was Gypsy- and our table certainly won the prize for having the most fun!

The Ambassador and his wife were there, which was a wonderful treat. Mrs John is the Honorary President of the AWC, and they both gave speeches to kick off the event. Markings, an organization that has the rights to distribute archival quality prints from the US Library of Congress, had an exhibition entitled "Best In Show" with framed prints all centered around the themes of Broadway and New York. Some of them are quite spectacular.

I hosted the live auction, where we raised several thousand dollars for the foundation. This is the second time I've hosted an auction, and it was so much fun! There was a silent auction as well, with great prizes, including costume jewelry from a designer who's work is all the rage in Hollywood (and has been seen in the "Sex and the City" movie and on "Lipstick Jungle").

The Marines were on hand for the presentation of the colors, which is always wonderful. We had a lot of fun with them in front of the camera, as you can tell. :) My friend Cris is a hairstylist. She did my hair for the evening, and was then there that night to fix it when it started falling down!

All in all, it was a fantastic evening. And, yes, this is the first of 3 or 4 black tie events that I'll be attending this year. Such is the life of an American in Thailand...

Cousin Chuck Comes a Callin'

2008-09-26T14:36:00.002+07:00

One of the really great things about living in Thailand, or anywhere overseas for that matter, is the realization of just how small the world really is. Here's a great example.

Over Labor Day my mom went to a family reunion in Pennsylvania. While there she got to talking to her cousin, Chuck, whom she had not seen in years. When giving the report on her children, she mentioned that I am currently living in Thailand. Well, it turns out that Chuck regularly travels to Asia for work, and was planning on being in Thailand at the end of the month. "Oh, you have to email Elizabeth," mom says. So, a few days later I get an email from Chuck saying that he was going to be in town.

We had lunch earlier this week, then met again for a drink before his flight left last night. Chuck remembers meeting me when I was a small child, but I don't remember meeting him- I was too young. But it was wonderful to spend some time with him and hear some of the good stories from that side of the family- all while sitting in a 5 star hotel lobby bar in the center of Bangkok! What a small world, indeed.

As usual, the invitiation for you to come visit is always open!

Acclimate Magazine Launch

2008-09-10T14:52:00.004+07:00

I'm back from my trip to the states, finally over the jet lag, and back to work. But, all work and no play makes Liz a dull girl, so I have made sure to fill my calendar with plenty of fun as well, like my lunch today...

Ever since Junior High, Tracey Starr has wanted to publish a magazine. Today, her dream came true. Tracey is the Editor-in-Chief of Acclimate, a new magazine geared specifically for western expat women living in Bangkok.

Volume 1 is hot off the presses, and Tracey had a launch party of sorts to thank all the women (and there are a LOT of them) who were involved in getting the first issue to print.

This is one of the great things about living in Bangkok (or anywhere) as a "trailing spouse-" you literally have the chance to start over. Many spouses leave jobs and careers behind when they decide to support their partner in his/her decision to work overseas, and it can be a bit frustrating. However, it's also the chance of a lifetime- to go back to school, to write that novel that's been in the back of your mind, to start painting, sewing, running, crafting- whatever it is that you keep meaning to do but never can because of time, money and, well..... LIFE.

There are three "Inspiring Women" featured in this issue, and I'm one of them. I tell my story of coming to Bangkok, getting divorced and choosing to make a life for myself here on my own. Another woman, Anita, relates how she's had twenty three expat relcoations in less than twenty years (yes, you read that right- 23!). Kate recounts her experience of living in Jakarta when President Suharto was ousted and how her family feared for their lives during the unrest. Inspiring, I'd say!

The only negative I can think of about the magazine is that we have to wait until December until the next issue is published!

Texas, Our Texas...

2008-08-04T09:50:00.004+07:00

...All Hail The Mighty State!

I'm back in Texas for the month of August. While I consider eating superfluous amounts of Tex-Mex and Bar-b-cue and drinking as much Diet Coke and Shiner Bock blog-worthy events, I realize that you may not. So, I am giving official notice that it may be a while before I post again. Hang in there, faithful readers (all two of you). I shall return.

Adopt-a-School Dedications

2008-07-22T21:18:00.006+07:00

Instead of gifts last Christmas, I teamed up with friends and donated money to AMCHAM's Adopt-a-School program. The money we donated supplied books, shelves, furniture and a/v equipment for two needy schools in Lop Buri, a few hours outside of Bangkok.

Friday we drove to the schools to see the finished projects and have the dedication ceremonies. What a fantastic day!

At the first school, which is also an Army training center (yes, it was a little strange to pull into the school and see men in uniforms with guns and tanks) we were greeted by the children and then shown the library. There was no formal dedication ceremony, so we spoke to the children for a few minutes, then Molly and I read to them from some of the English-language books we donated. After, we got to hear some of the children perform on the drums and percussion, and we had a great time showing off our dancing skills.

Overall, the first school was in great shape, except that it has no access to running water. They bring in their water everyday from the nearby village. What a difference.

The second school was much smaller, and in much greater need (although it does have running water). We were greeted by the children and shown the library, where they had put together a powerpoint presentation using the new A/V equipment we donated. One brave 10 year old read through the presentation- I don't think she took a breath as she read through all twenty or so pages of the presentation! It was all in Thai, but the Thai-speakers among us sort of translated along as she described the school and it's activities. We had lunch at this school and took a tour. This school is set on a few rai of land and has room to grow their own vegetables. They mentioned that they grow morning glory- which is one of my personal favorites (it's a leafy green vegetable that I can't really describe, other than to say that it's delicious when stir-fried with garlic in oyster sauce!).

We had prepared "goodie bags" for the students at both schools- pencil bags filled with colored pencils, pens, erasers, etc. We also brought along bags of chips and snacks. At both schools we gave the children the gifts. Every once in a while, a brave one would yell out a "thank you" in English, which would make us smile.

It's amazing to realize what a tremendous difference a relatively small amount of money can make in the lives of others. This is definitely not the last time I will make a donation. In fact, we're already discussing projects needed at both schools that we can contribute towards.

Independence Day

2008-07-10T09:51:00.003+07:00

I know it's been frightfully long since I've posted anything, and I apologize. May and June are simply the busiest months of the year for me work wise, and everything else just sort of slipped. If it's any consolation, I haven't really been up to much of anything that's blog-worthy. Until last weekend, that is...

As you all know, last week we celebrated Independence Day. For years now there has been a huge picnic for the American community in Bangkok (I wrote about it last year as well). It's now being oranized by AMCHAM, which means my involvement in it keeps getting bigger and bigger.

This year's picnic was on Saturday, July 5th at a local football (soccer for you Americans) field. We estimate that about 2,500 people attended. The picnic was a great success! We had games for the kids, live music, field games (when was the last time you participated in a three-legged race or egg toss?), great food, live music and a HUGE fireworkds display at nightfall. It was everything a Fourth of July Picnic should be.

This year, I sat in the Dunking booth for about a half an hour. While my butt was sore from the hard landings at the bottom of the tank, it was nice to cool off after a long, hot morning spent setting up for the event. I also had the priviledge of singing the National Anthem again, along with the Ambassador and the Marine Color Guard. This was the fourth time I've sung it an an event in Bangkok, so I guess I'm one step closer to my goal of singing the National Anthem at a major sporting event. Of course, that would necessitate moving back to the states, so it might be a while!

I have several "blog worthy" activities coming up in the next few weeks, so I promise you'll have plenty of updates from my life. Until then...

News Updates

2008-06-09T12:53:00.003+07:00

Well, my life in the Land of Smiles has quieted down quite a bit. I'm knee deep in projects for work, so I come home and veg out of the sofa at night, just trying to recover! So, I haven't had any more of the adventures that I've blogged about in the past few months (Julio being in the states probably doesn't help that, either!).

Today, for your reading pleasure, I thought I would give you a glimpse into the Thai culture, thanks to the Daily Express- a daily free newspaper. Two of my favorite stories follow:

DIRTY MAN FOUND CLUTCHING COBRA
"The body of a 40-year-old man ws found on a roadside in Ayutthaya yesterday. Wiroj Banlen was wearing trousers and a condom. No semen was found. He had suffered several snake bites to the leg and face and had apparently bitten the cobra several times."

Hmmm....a condom? I can only wonder. Wait, I'm not sure I want to go there.

This next story offers a solution to the shortage of police officers in high drug-traffic areas. Why didn't we think of this first?!

I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE
"Police worried about the rise in teen crime and drug abuse are encouraging youths to become "spies"- they even get an ID card.

They hope being involved in real crime-fighting will stop teenagers getting on the wrong side of the law themselves.

About 160 Mathayom Wat Thatthong School students attended spy school this weekend. There they learned the dangers of drug use.

They were told how they could help by letting the police or teachers know about lawbreakers they see.

"The more I know about the bad effects of drugs, the more I avoid them. Besides, I'm a little spy now, and if I see anyone committing a crime, I'll call the police right away," says P, 14.

Klong Tan superintendent Colonel S. says the training camp scares children away from drugs and encourages them to "help the nation" by telling officers about drug use they have witnessed.

"Police officers can't look after each and everyone all the time. About 100 officers take turns working around the clock in this area. It's not enough," S. says.

The students discuss things they don't want to see at their school and how they can help prevent crime. They were taught the virtues of punctuality and responsibility, too.

One of the students will be appointed as a liaison between the junior spies and school administrators.

The spy camp was arranged by the school and police from Klong Tao adn Kannayao.

S. says another camp will be held at Kasem Polytecnic College soon."

Do I really need to comment?

Until next time...

Hua Hin

2008-05-26T17:54:00.005+07:00

This was Julio's last weekend in Thailand before moving back to the states, so we decided to take off for the beach for a few days. Hua Hin is a few hours outside of Bangkok. While it's not as nice as the islands down south, it's close and an easy getaway. We were there Thursday- Saturday, and we had the beach to ourselves.

We spent the days walking the beach, watching the sand crabs and collecting shells, and at the pool at our condo. I even managed to make friends with the local cat, who just decided that my lap was the place where he needed to lay.

Notice the pictures of the fishing boats. When we arrived Thursday they were on dry land, but by the time the tide came completely in, they were rocking on the waves, ready to be taken out for the evening.

I must admit that I feel a bit like a tourist. I opted for no sunscreen and am STILL paying the price with a sunburned stomach. Oh well.

It was a great few days away from the hustle and bustle of the city, sunburn and all.

Gene's Visit

2008-05-07T08:19:00.005+07:00

My brother Gene came to town this past weekend. His ship docked here for a few days, and he took leave. I'm sure he enjoyed having a room to himself with a big bed and his own bathroom! I enjoyed having my first overnight guest in my new place (hint, hint!).

It was a whirlwind weekend, filled with just about everything a person should experience when visiting Bangkok. We started with a reception onboard the ship, which was fantastic. I got to meet his co-workers and the Admiral, and had the chance to introduce Gene to the Embassy folks here that I know- the Ambassador, the DCM, etc. The only person I didn't introduce him to was the Prime Minister, so I guess that will have to wait for another trip (that assumes, of course, that this one is actually going to be in office for a while-we'll see about that!).

The next day I had to work in the morning, so Julio took Gene to get a haircut and to Pantip plaza, a haven of electronics (both real and "faux"), DVD's, computer equipment, etc etc etc. We had lunch, then Gene and I set off for the Grand Palace and Wat Pho, two "must sees" for anyone visiting the city. That night we started with Happy Hour at the Marine House, then went to RCA (an entertainment plaza) and drove go-karts.

These aren't your ordinary run-of-the-mill go-karts, either. The "small" ones have 160cc engines, and the bigger ones are 240ccs. It's tons of fun, but anyone who finishes without some sort of bruise must have super human strength. We moved on to a few other night spots, and finished the evening eating burgers at Nana Burger, a food cart that serves what some call the best burgers in Bangkok. While I don't necessarily agree totally with that statement, I will agree that they are the best burgers at 2 or 2:30 am after a night of drinking!

We slept in the next day, then did some geocaching in Lumpini Park. This is Gene's hobby, and he likes to do it in as many cities around the world as possible. Basically, you use a GPS to find small caches which people hide. There is a website where coordinates and hints can be found. After the hunt, we had lunch at a favorite restaurant, then went to the river to hire a long-tail boat for a canal tour. After an hour on the water, which included a "stop" at the mini-mart (or rather, a Thai woman pulling alongside us with her boat filled with drinks and souveniers), we took the train back to my part of town, where we stopped at my favorite massage place for Thai massages. The day ended with dinner, and Gene left around 10 that night to get back to his ship. I think I'm still exhausted from it all!

It was so fun to hang out with Gene and show him my neck of the woods.

Oh, and yes, that is Gene riding a mechanical bull. Only in Bangkok, right?????

China

2008-04-26T23:43:00.006+07:00

It's been a week since we returned and I'm still having trouble finding the words to describe our trip to China. In short, it was fantastic.

April 13-15 was Songkran, the Thai new year. Bangkok shuts down and anyone who's sensible leaves town to avoid the water wars. We actually stayed for a day of water, but left for China early Tuesday morning.

We arrived in Beijing, met our driver at the airport, and immediately went to the Great Wall, at a town called Simatai. It's a bit less congested than the main tourist area, which is what we wanted. We were there to see the Great Wall, after all, not a bunch of people with cameras. The Wall was incredible. It's truly an engineering feat. These pictures don't do it justice. I only wish it was less hazy, but we discovered that the haze would be a constant during the entire trip.

We spent the morning at Simatai, then went back to Beijing to our hotel. We were then treated to a driving tour of the city, which included the various complexes being built for the Olympics. Beijing has experienced 20 years of development in the past 3 years- and the results are stunning. The streets are wide and clean, many of the buildings are new, every major street has a separate bike lane and there are trees and flowers everywhere. China would have a first-rate city if it wasn't constantly covered by a thick layer of haze. You can literally look directly at the sun without any problems. They say it will be gone by the Olympics, but I have no idea how.

Wednesday was spent sightseeing within Beijing- Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and, naturally, a trip to Wal-Mart. We started the day at Tienanmen Square, the beacon of Chinese Communism, and finished the day at the beacon of American Capitalism- Wal-Mart. What a study in contrasts.

Wednesday night we took the overnight train to Xian, which was quite the adventure. Our original tickets (the only ones we could get) were simply seats on the train. Then we were able to get 2 tickets in a "hard sleeper," a small room with 6 bunks. However, thanks to the Lonely Planet, I learned that, once on board, we could upgrade if there was anything available. I asked, and we soon found ourselves in the first class "Deluxe Soft Sleeper," a private room with 2 berths and our own toilet! It made all the difference in the world.

In Xian, the highlight was most certainly the Terracotta Warriors- 6,000 statues, each different, that were buried near an emperor's tomb to protect him in the afterlife. They were discovered by a farmer digging a well in the late 1970's, and are quite a sight to behold.

Friday morning we flew back to Beijing for one last day. We took in an Acrobat show, which puts Cirque de Soleil to shame. We finished off the day, and the trip, with some shopping at the Silk Market.

I was probably most nervous about the food- having heard some real horror stories. However, when we ate Chinese food, it was amazing. Everything we had was delicious. We most certainly did not go hungry while on the trip.

Saturday morning we flew back to Bangkok, exhausted and glad that I had a day and a half to recover before returning to work!

The Balmy Bahamas Cruise

2008-03-30T21:43:00.002+07:00

This weekend Julio and I were invited aboard the Balmy Bahamas Cruise, where I found myself to be a suspect in the murder of a washed-up singer who was trying to re-claim his fame.

OK, we were guests at a murder mystery dinner party, if you must know. My character was Sandy Frosty, an Academy Award winning actress/producer/director who's been in the business since I was three. We had all sorts of characters there- all celebrities, naturally. The host of the cruise was Tilly Song, a famous country singer, then there was Cosmo LuvLuvLuv, a Croatian tennis player, Gerardo Martini, a Latin Pop Star and, lest I forget, Twinkle Fingers, the ghost of a Liberace-esque entertainer, to name a few.

Not everyone was a suspect- we had 2 detectives, a handful of witnesses and then just some observers along for the ride.

It was a fun night, filled with hilarious characters, good margaritas and lots of laughs. Oh, and if you're wondering, I didn't do it. I was climbing the ship's observation tower at the time of the murder (in my three inch heels, no less!).

On another note, I just finished baking the first batch of my famous chocolate chip cookies in the coveted oven in my new apartment. Yeah for Nestle chocolate chips! (They're the one thing I truly miss and ALWAYS bring back from the states. I have a few bags in my freezer.)

My New Digs!

2008-03-17T09:50:00.005+07:00

This weekend I moved to my new apartment. My old apartment served me well for my first year on my own, but I was ready to move to something a little bit bigger. Also, my old apartment did not have an oven, and I complained bitterly througout the year about the lack of one. So, I decided to bite the bullett and upgrade.

My new place is still in the same part of town, close to my office and the park where I walk in the mornings (well, try to walk...). It added about 4 minutes onto my walking commute to the office, which is not so bad.

My new place has an oven, naturally, and an extra bedroom, so I can now officially say that any and all visitors are welcome to Bangkok! You will have your own bedroom and bathroom and, if you bring me Nestle Chocolate Chips (we can't get them here), I'll even bake you chocolate chip cookies!

These pictures are from my last night in my old apartment and first day in the new. We toasted the move with a bottle of champagne, of course!

Another Typical Weekend (???!!!!)

2008-03-07T15:55:00.002+07:00

Last weekend was just another in the typical life of an expat (hee hee).

Friday night we went to a "Dinner Dance Extravaganza" marking the end of Black History Month. The Black History Month Committee in Bangkok did a great job of organizing activities througout the month, and the dinner was a nice end to it all. However, I didn't stay too late since I had to wake up early Saturday morning.

Why, you ask? Saturday I took the Foreign Service Officer Test. I am applying to be a Foreign Service Officer, so I can work in Embassys around the world. (What can I say, I'm hooked on the overseas life, if you can't tell already!). The test was alright. Part of it is subjective, so it's always hard to tell. I'll know in 8-10 weeks if I passed and then, IF I pass, another 8-10 weeks before I know if I've been invited to the next phase of the process. We'll see.

To celebraate, we went to the Club Canada Snow Ball Saturday night (yes, #5 if you're keeping track). It was a fun evening, courtesy of my friends at BNH Hospital (we sat at their table for free). What could be better than champagne, dinner and dancing all night long?

I really do think this is the end of the black tie affairs, but who knows what the future holds?

Black Tie Event #4- The AMCHAM Ball

2008-02-19T15:39:00.003+07:00

Our AMCHAM Installation Ball, the event where we install the newly-elected Board of Governors, was this weekend. As promised, this was the fourth black tie event I attended since October. This time I recycled a dress instead of going through the fuss of having a new one made- how many ball gowns does one woman need, after all? (Well, in my case, I guess the answer is 4!)

I was the Emcee for the evening and also sang the National Anthem. The one photo is me onstage with the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand and Sandra Mavro, who sang the King's Royal Anthem as we're toasting the King of Thailand and the President of the United States. The Marine color guard was there, and I joked that I was just going to start having them follow me around wherever I went!

This event also serves as a fundraiser for the AMCHAM Thailand Charitable Foudation, which supports education in Thailand through an Adopt-a-school program and a Student Scholarship program. The ball featured a silent auction with some amazing prizes- all a little too rich for my blood. :)

Our theme was "South of the Border" and the event featured tex-mex food, latin music and about 100 pinatas imported from El Paso, Texas! There was salsa dancing for those who were brave enough to get out there, and the margaritas flowed all night long.

We had a costume contest, and the winners were dressed like Fidel Castro and Carmen Miranda- what a couple.

It was a fantastic event- evidenced by the fact that my feet still hurt on Sunday night- even after a one hour foot massage!

The Most Fun I've Had Getting Bruised

2008-02-04T21:38:00.000+07:00

This weekend I was either brave or foolish enough to go and play paintball with the Marines. I've never actually played paintball before, and it's something I figured I should check off "my list." We went out to a field in the suburbs. We were supposed to be joined by a group of people from the Embassy, but it had rained a little that morning and most of the others cancelled. There were 10 of us playing, so we were 2 teams of five.

We suited up in Air Force jumpers (after giving the Marines a hard time about it), were given our instructions and divided into teams. Basically, for those of you who don't know, paintball involves shooting these guns (which were originally used as markers in forestation projects) which are loaded with balls of paint at each other. There are tons of violations on the theme- last man standing, capture the flag, every man for himself, etc etc. There's a field with baracades of different shapes and sizes to hide behind.

So, there I am, the lone woman, trying to prove that I'm not a wimp. This is not looking good for me.

We start to play (we're playing a basic elimination game- whichever team eliminates all the other team's players wins) and I have no clue what I am doing. I just sort of run, hide behind a baracade, peek out and just fire randomly at people. Two others from my team got eliminated pretty quickly, so I was relieved to not be the first one out. I was hit pretty quickly after that, and our team lost the round soon after. We took a break, regrouped and went out for Round 2.

In Round 2, I got hit in the hand and it bruised pretty badly. For about a minute, I was ready to give up. I like my body, after all, and don't generally run around intentionally trying to ruin it. However, as soon as the guys finished and were ready for Round 3, I was ready to join in. Call me a glutton.

We played 8 or 9 games, and by the time we were finished I was drenched in sweat, covered in paint, and feeling the pain. After we took off the coveralls, we all had a "show and tell" of sorts, comparing bruises. I must say I held my own and managed to get a few reactions from the guys. I came home feeling exhausted, but in a good way.

Hopefully the bruises will go away before Black Tie Event #4, the AMCHAM Ball, which is in less than two weeks!

Me and Pantene

2008-01-18T10:12:00.000+07:00

Last night I went to the Worldwide Book Launch Party for "How YOU Are Like Shampoo" a personal branding book written by Brenda Bence, a colleague and AMCHAM Member. It was the first book launch I've ever been to, and it was a fun evening.

The cover of the book features the author leaning up against a bottle of shampoo, so as we checked in we all got to pose for a picture as if we were on the cover. This is me with friends Tracey and Darrell.

Having never been to a book launch before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. There was lots of food and drink which I couldn't partake in because of my 30 Day Cross Continent Detox Challenge (see http://crosscontinentdetox.blogspot.com for more details) but it didn't stop me from having fun. There were a few testominals about how great the book and the author are, then the author spoke for a few minutes. I am friends with the emcee, and he approached me earlier in the evening and told me that, after the author spoke, they were going to open the floor for questions. He gave me a slip of paper with a question on it and requested that I ask it at the appropriate time. It was fun to be the "plant" in the audience, and I was glad to see that many people asked additional "non-planted" questions after mine.

In case you're wondering, my question was "So, tell me Brenda, what are some things we should avoid when building our personal brand?" She gave one example, which we all probably already know- avoid the wimpy handshake. Be firm and confident when you shake someone's hand, and that will set the right tone!

It was a great evening. It's events that this that keep me excited about living in Bangkok- they just simply don't happen to ordinary people in other parts of the world!

Ayutthaya Again

2008-01-13T22:43:00.000+07:00

My friend Helene came back to town after moving away about 6 months ago. While she lived here she never made it out to Ayutthaya, so a group of us decided to go. Because I've been a few times, I was the unofficial tour guide for the group.

My godmother used to be a tour guide in New Orleans, and she told me that, when she was asked a question that she didn't know the answer to, she would make something up, but would always begin the answer with "Legend has it..." I felt like every other sentence coming out of my mouth should have begun with "Legend has it..." My answers went something like this: "Yeah, that's a...you know.....carving that's holy....." or "yeah, that's part of a ruin that fell to the ground...." I guess my second career as a tour guide isn't such a great idea after all.

Even though I've been a few times, I don't think I will ever grow tired of seeing the ruins in Ayutthaya. There's just something so peaceful about wandering through the grounds, walking in the same places that people have walked for hundreds of years. We did go to a temple I had never been to before, so I managed to see some new things.

The weather was perfect and it was nice to just get out of the city for a while and enjoy the sunshine, fresh air, and great company.

Christmas in Texas

2008-01-09T21:28:00.000+07:00

Egad! It seems like only yesterday I was recovering from my birthday party and posting those pictures to the blog. So much has happened since then, and I had every good intention of reporting it faithfully- yet somehow the time just sort of slipped away. My apologies for not posting anything in 6 WEEKS! I'll try to do better in the future. I know, I know, you've heard that before. :)

I managed to get away from Bangkok and sneak off to Texas for two weeks during the holidays. Two weeks that seemed to just fly by. I spent some great time with my family, managed a trip to Atlanta to clear out a storage unit (thanks, Abi) and even rung in the New Year with friends that I have known for over 10 years.

It was a wonderful trip- and I haven't even mentioned the seven pair of shoes and countless articles of clothing I managed to purchase while I was there (have I mentioned before that it is IMPOSSIBLE to buy shoes and clothes in my size here? I now shop twice a year, when I get back to the States).

I love the New Year. While I've never been one for resolutions, I always manage to feel refreshed and recharged and love the idea of starting fresh again. My calendar is clean and neat, I've just cleaned out my closets and I've started back on the healthy habits I somehow managed to toss aside during the two week mexican-barbecue-Shiner-anything else I can't get in Thailand BINGE.

Happy New Year to you all!

My Birthday Party

2007-11-22T16:11:00.000+07:00

Last weekend, around 30 of my friends came together to celebrate the 8th anniversary of my 25th birthday with me. It was a great night. We started with food and drinks at my friend Cynthia's apartment. Cynthia lives across the street from one of my favorite pubs, so we eventually crawled across the street to Admakers, where the band serenaded me with "Happy Birthday." Eventually, a smaller group of us felt like dancing (I know, that's shocking!) so we went to another one of my favorite places- Spasso at the Grand Hyatt Erawan. My regular waiter was there, found us a table, and even brought me birthday treats.

I stopped taking pictures at Admakers- you can probably guess why. However, a friend took plenty of pictures at Spasso, so if I can ever get them from her I'll post a few of those as well.

I received some lovely gifts, which was so thoughtful and unnecessary. However, the greatest gift (and I realize how cheesy this is about to sound) was everyone there together. I have different groups of friends from different aspects of my life here, and to have them all in the same place getting to know each other was so great to witness.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band Gala Dinner-New Pictures

2007-11-12T21:43:00.000+07:00

Since I started my job in February, I have been working on the details of this event- our chance to honor the King on his 80th birthday. As you all know from previous entries, the king was born in Cambridge, Mass, making him the only monarch to be born on US soil. So, to honor the King, we brought the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Thailand for a Gala dinner and a series of concerts.

The Gala dinner was Saturday night. Unfortunately, His Majesty was unable to attend, but his son the Crown Prince and his wife (and their poodle "Foo Foo") came. The week prior to the event was filled with last minute headaches as we all struggled to meet protocol requirements. Frankly, by Friday afternoon, all I wanted was for the event to be OVER.

However, on Saturday afternoon as I sat in a taxi in my ball gown it dawned on me that I was about to attend a black tie event with the Crown Prince of Thailand, a chance that few people rarely get, and all because I happen to be an American living and working here. How kooky is that?

The event itself was wonderful. We had a fabulous meal and the band played wonderful music. The video I gave the voice over for was played. It was strange to hear my voice as the narrator. I'm my own worst critic, but I received lots of compliments after the fact, so it seemed to go over well. If I can figure out how to post it on youtube, I'll let you know.

I don't have many pictures because, once the Crown Prince arrived, we were not allowed to take pictures with our personal cameras. The first group of photos are from the official photographer. The 3rd picture down is the Crown Prince giving Ben Jaffe, the band leader and son of the founders, flowers.

The one downside of the evening was that the crowd was fairly reserved. Because of protocol, people pretty much had to stay in their seats while the prince was there. However, after the prince left, the band played one last song, and everyone in the room was up out of their seats, clapping and dancing and cheering and just having a grand old time. The band even came off the stage and led a conga line through the crowd and dragged some of up on stage with them. It was a great ending to a fantastic evening.

So, for those of you keeping track, this was my black tie event #3 (the third in five weeks, to be exact). I'm scheduled to attend one more, but that won't happen until February, so my hair will have a chance to recover from the copious amounts of hairspray sprayed on it in the past few weeks!

My birthday is this coming weekend and I'm gathering 30 or so of my favorite people for a party. I'm quite sure there will be good stories and great pictures to come out of that, so stay tuned.

Black Tie #2- The Marine Corps Ball

2007-11-05T09:17:00.000+07:00

Every year in November Marines around the world celebrate the birthday of the Marine Corps with events as simple as a cake cutting ceremony or as elaborate as a ball. Fortunately for us in Bangkok, the latter is the case.

About 380 people gathered to help the marines celebrate on Saturday night. The evening began with the presentation of the Colors, a video from the Commandant of the Marine Corps, speeches from the U.S. Ambassador and the special guest (he was a really high-ranking Marine, but I can't remember who he was!), and the official cake cutting ceremony. It's tradition for the guest of honor, the oldest Marine and the youngest Marine in the room to each be served a piece of cake. After the formalities, the celebration began, and what a celebration it was- dinner, dancing, a band and a DJ- even a guest appearance by the King of Rock and Roll himself. People were on the dance floor before the first course was served and stayed out there until well past 2am.

My friend Orn and I had a great time getting ready- we got our hair done at a salon and her friend did our makeup for us (complete with false eyelashes), it was the perfect girly afternoon. Incidentally, I was the first "farang" (foreigner) that her friend had ever done make-up on, and he seemed pretty excited about it. He told me I looked like Natalie Gerbova, who won the Miss Universe pageant when it was here in 2005, so I decided I would keep him around!

The evening was a lot of fun, and it made me proud to be an American and thankful for the men and women who serve in the armed forces around the world.

Black Tie Event #1- The AWC Gala Dinner

2007-10-24T22:06:00.000+07:00

One of the cooky things about the expat life is the regularity with which we attend Black Tie functions. It seems that every expat organization in town has at least one gala function each year, and they all fall somewhere between October and March. This year, I plan on attending 4 such events, some for work and some for just plain fun.

The American Women's Club Gala Dinner was the first on my schedule, held a week ago at the Four Seasons Hotel. It was an absolutely amazing evening. For those of you who have been following along, you may remember my post from last year's Gala. This year was even bigger and better.

The evening began with a champagne and scotch reception with the opportunity to view the items available at the silent and live auctions. Dinner started around 8 with the presentation of the colors by the US Marines. I was honored to once again sing the Star Spangled Banner during the presentation.

We had dinner, the live auction and then the music began and we danced all night long. I finally found my way home around 2am!

The next morning I met up with many of the committee for a celebratory brunch at the Four Seasons- arguably the best brunch in town with every kind of food imaginable on the buffet and lots of drinks to wash it all down with. Brunch at the Four Seasons takes time, about 3 hours to be exact, and we enjoyed every minute of the meal. It was the perfect way to finish off an amazing event.

You'll notice 3 pictures of me and my friend Rachel (the tall blonde). They are taken before the event while we were setting up, during the gala and the morning after at brunch. We called them our before, after, and after-after pictures. It's amazing what a little make-up can do for a woman!

A Lovely American Voice

2007-10-05T20:52:00.000+07:00

December 5 is His Majesty the King's 80th birthday. HM was born in Cambridge, Mass, the only monarch to be born on US soil.

To mark this occasion, AMCHAM is co-hosting a Gala Dinner in November. We've invited the Preservation Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans to come- they were here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the King's ascension to the throne and were thrilled at the idea of returning to Thailand to play for him again.

A media company is putting together a video for the event which tells the story of how the King's parents' met while his father was a medical student at Harvard. The head of the company called my boss Judy today and told her that they needed a "lovely American voice" to narrate the video. Judy happened to be standing next to me, and suddenly I was in a car on the way to the recording studio to lend my voice to the project.

When I arrived at the studio, we went through the script and I practiced my Thai pronunciation. All this time I had been pronouncing His Majesty's name wrong, I quickly learned. When Thai is written in the Roman alphabet, it gets a bit confusing- there are letters that never get pronounced and consanants that you'd never expect to come from certain letter combinations. For example, "Mahidol" (the name of the King's father) is pronouced (Mah-i-don).

I donned my earphones and started to read the script. After a few paragraphs, I was asked to stop and start over again. My instructions were to be "more lovely"- oh, and also to speak more slowly (for those of you who really know me, that won't come as a surprise at all!). So, I cleared my throat, thought lovely thoughts, smiled and started over, using my lovliest, most charming American voice and made it through the script with only a few re-takes. I also managed to NOT finish the session with a "y'all come back now, y'hear?" I didn't think that would quite be appropriate.

Who knows, maybe this is the start of a new career for me. Watch out Pixar and Disney, here I come!

Sports Sunday

2007-10-02T21:48:00.000+07:00

Sunday was filled with sports that are just taking hold in Thailand. First, I went to the finals of the Thailand Open tennis tournament. Just getting there is a story in itself. The tickets said that the finals started at 1. At 12:35 I called my friend- I had just gotten home and was wondering if it was too late for me to go. No- in fact the person who was driving us hadn't even called him yet. She picked us up at 1:30, and we were joking that the match would be over by the time we got to the arena ( a good 20 minute drive with no traffic). "It won't start at 1," she kept saying. Why she thought that, I had no idea! But she seemed convinced and I had nothing else to do, so I was along for the ride!

We arrived around 2:15 to catch the end of the men's doubles match. The winning team were twins from Thailand, and they most definitely had the home court advantage. Every time they scored a point the crowd would go WILD. It was fun to get caught up in the moment.

After the doubles award ceremony the men's finals began. I immediately noticed that the had changed ball girls and line judges, and sure enough the announcer informed us that the ball girls were the runners up for the Miss Thailand World competition. From the looks of it, the little bit of running and chasing after tennis balls was all the cardio they ever got. For a group of beauty queens, they were frighteningly uncoordinated! It was downright comical to watch them. I tried to take pictures, but the flash wasn't great and they were too dark.

We watched the men's final, continued to make fun of the Miss World runners up, and headed home when it was all finished. Then, later that evening, I put on my jeans and a t-shirt, dug a sweater out of storage and met my friend Kathy to go to a hockey game. Yes, hockey in Thailand!

The Flying Farangs (Farang is the word for "westerner") is a local hockey league, and Kahty's hospital sponsors one of the teams- the BNH Blades. Walking into the ice rink was like walking into America- that ice rink smell (a combination of sweaty skates and dirty clothes), having to put on a sweater, being surrounded by loud Westerners. All I needed was a beer- which I quickly got!

The hockey game was fun to watch, and while we were there Kathy and I brainstormed all sorts of ways that we can promote the team- from the hospital mascots riding the Zamboni to getting extra jerseys, recruiting people to come to the game wearing said jerseys and creating the BNH Booster Club. The hockey season is 6 months long, so we have plenty of opportunities to put these great ideas to work!

More "Tinglish"

2007-09-28T18:22:00.001+07:00

Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen in our office and our driver, Ko (pronounced "Go"- great name for a driver, huh?) was reading the newspaper. He had reading glasses on. I said hello, and he looked a little sheepish, like I had caught him doing something embarassing. I think he doesn't like the fact that he has to use glasses to read.

He pointed to his glasses, then to the paper. He told me that he can see things that are far away, but not things that are close up.

"I've got the long eye," he said.

Far-sighted, long eye- I guess aging is universal!

Another day in Bangkok...

Economic Forcasts? Elections? Who needs 'em!

2007-09-14T12:57:00.000+07:00

In the middle of Bangkok sits a giant red swing, appropriatel named the Giant Swing. In the good old days, the Giant Swing was the center of an annual ceremony where teams of young men would try to swing high enough to retrieve a sack of gold tied to a pole about 75 feet (25 meters) in the air. So many men died in the attempt that the ceremony was banned in the 1930s. However, the frame of the swing, originally erected in 1784, still stands.

A few years back the city determined that the swing needed to be replaced and Wednesday was the dedication ceremony. I now give you the report straight from the Bankgok Post. The comments in brackets are mine.

New Era of Hope

"The inauguration of the new Giant Swing has given rise to hope the trouble-ridden country will be more harmonious and prosperous from now on. [Oh, the swing was the problem! If only someone had told us a year ago, this whole coup could have been prevented!]

Thousdands of people gathered at the Giant Swing compound in front of Bangkok City Hall yesterday to take part in the historic event and to show respect to Their Majesties the King and Queen, who presided over the inauguration ceremony at 5pm. [I wish I could have been there, I think it would have been a cool sight to see.]

Many believed the new Giant Swing, two red wooden pillars, would bless the country with luck.

"The situation in our country will improve as we have replaced the old Giant Swing with a new, healthy one," said XXX, 37, who took leave from work to attend the ceremony. [I'm omitting names to protect the innocent.]

Mr X was among the first group of people to arrive at the compound, about 6am. he brought food and drinking water with him as he did not want to miss one moment of the celebration, especially the King and Queen.

YYY, 40, a shop owner, believed the new pillars would bring better times.

"Many bad things have happened since restoration of the Giant Swing began," he said. "From now on, our country will be strong and stable like the Giant Swing." [I refer you to the front page of the business section on the same day, where the second headline reads "Zero expansion predicted this year on weak confidence." We don't need elections, we need a new swing! Now things are sure to pick up!]

ZZZ, 54, travelled from the southern province of Songkhla with four family members to pay respect to Their Majesties in the sacred ceremony.

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin was also hopeful Thailand would enjoy greater stability now the new Giant Swing was installed. [Do I really need to add a comment here?]

Mr Apirak, who had an audience with the King at the ceremony, said His Majesty was happy to see so many people turn out for the event. His Majesty also welcomed the city's plan to clone one million teak saplings from the 99-year old tree used to make the Giant Swing pillars, for distribution to people to create a sense of harmony.

"His Majesty told us to plant some of the cloned teak at Chitralada Palace," he said.

The Giant Swing is one of the country's most significant objects and is regarded as a symbol of prosperity and stability. The pillars were first erected by King Rama I in 1784.

In 2003, the city found the Giant Swing had deteriorated beyond repair and a panel responsible for its restoration decided to replace it with a new swing made from teak trees harvested from forests in teak-rich Phrae province. The restoration was completed last December. [So the economic downturn we're currently in could have been prevented if they'd only had the dedication ceremony sooner!]

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration plans to keep the old pillars at the museum of the Department of Fine Arts in Pathum Thani province to ensure the precious objects are well preserved."

True Value

2007-09-01T10:31:00.000+07:00

One of the things I love most about my job (besides the fact that they pay me) is that I end up going to places and seeing things that I never would go to and see on my own. Friday was one such example.

True Value Hardware is a new member of the Chamber and they are hosting a DIY Fair this weekend, which means they have all of their products set up under tents in a location in the middle of the city, just ready and waiting for people to shop to their hearts' content. They asked if our prsident would give a short speech at the opening ceremony. After the speech they would present our president with a check for a donation to our Foundation. I attended to take pictures for our in-house publicity purposes.

The opening ceremony was a sight to behold! It started with a group of Thai dancers in costumes from the 1920's dancing and holding DIY tools as props- a guy with a drill, a woman with a spatula, another guy with rolling pin. I must confess I have never seen anything like it, and I was thoroughly amused.

The ceremony continued with speeches from some VIPs (including our president), and then additional VIPs were invited to the stage to officially open the event. They all pushed a button at the same time, which released a wall of balloons into the air- very dramatic. After the official opening, the emcee invited this couple to the stage and started talking to them in Thai. I asked one of the organizers who the couple was and he told me they were a very famous couple- both actors or something, and they always shopped at True Value stores. Well, since they were famous, I had to take their picture, right?

That's actually one of the things I find fascinating about living in Thailand. I have no idea who is who. I could be in the grocery story, picking up my Diet Coke, standing next to the biggest movie or TV star in the country and have absolutely no clue. It's a bit surreal to know that this celebrity culture exists all around me, and yet to not have an inkling of knowledge about it.

So, that's my life for this week- Flappers dancing with power tools and celebrity DIYers being interviewed to open a shopping festival. Try to find that in the States!

New Zeland Society Pub Crawl

2007-08-26T17:08:00.000+07:00

Imagine 70 or so Kiwis's and assorted other Westerners all wearing idential black t-shirt wandering around in a mob-esque group through the skyways and byways of Bangkok, stopping at occasional pubs to embibe and eat copius amounts of fried pub food and you have my night last night.

My friend Belinda, who played Marco in "The Emperor's New Clothes," invited me to join her for the New Zeland Society's Annual Sky Train Pub Crawl last night. Mind you, I'm not from New Zeland (neither is Belinda), nor have I ever been to New Zeland (can't speak for Belinda about that) but that didn't seem to matter. As long as I was willing to pay my fee (slightly higher since I'm not a member of the New Zeland Society- which I am free to join, by the way) I was entitled to a free t-shirt, a sky train pass for the night, and food and drink at pre-selected pubs. For those of you who have never participated in a pub crawl, here's the basic format:

60 people show up at the first spot, we all check in and are given our t-shirts and cupons for the evening. At this first pub our first beer is free and we're entitled to discounted prices on subsequent drinks. We stay there for a while, drinking beer, eating chicken wings and waiting for everyone to show up. I'm sitting at a table with a Canadian, 2 Brits and an Aussie, but no Kiwis. There's a lucky draw and I actually won! I never win at Lucky Draws, but this time I won a bottle of wine. The evening was off to a good start.

Someone blows a whistle and we're shuffled out the door and all walk, en masse, to the skytrain station where we catch the train to our next stop. We joked about how we felt like we were one of those tour groups where the leader is walking in front with an umbrella with a giant fake flower sticking out of the top of it, shuffling us along from point A to point B. We take the skytrain to our next pub, Coyote Mexican Restaurant, where we feast on free margaritas and beer and enough nachos to feed an army. After about an hour at Coyote (and another lucky draw where my new friend Jim wins a bottle of wine), the whistle blows again we're off to our third pub- O'Reilley's, just a block or so away. By this point we've all had a few drinks and the mob looks more like a single file line than anything else, but we all make it across the street to our new destination.

At O'Reilleys we enjoy discounts on drinks and MORE fried pub food- never mind the fact that we've already consumed what I would guess to be a pound of nachos each, we all dive into the onion rings, fried fish, sausages, spring rolls and french fries with such vigor that you would have thought that it was our first food of the day (as you can imagine, the alcohol has pretty much kicked in by now). After another hour or so (and another lucky draw- none of my friends won this time) we all marched onto our last stop, Mojos where, you guessed it, we were greeted with discounts on drinks and MORE pub food. By this point, I think we all had started to realize the sheer amount of fried food we put in our body because the platters of food didn't empty nearly as fast.

We finished the night at Mojo's dancing off the calories consumed to the music provided by their excellent live band.

Welcome to the World, Sean Everett

2007-07-24T13:46:00.000+07:00

OK, I realize that I have been terrible of late updating all of you on the joys and quirks of living in Thailand. Unfortunately, my life has become quite predictable lately, and there just doesn't seem to be much to write about. However, I do realize that what I consider to be the routine and ordinary "stuff" in my life is still probably interesting to those of you who are genuinely curious about what day to day life in Thailand is like. So, I PROMISE that, after my vacation, I will be more diligent about telling you all about the normalities in my life- motorcycle taxis, the grocery store, the best food to eat on the street, etc.

In the meantime, the newest addition to the Albin family was born last week- Sean Everett Albin- to my brother Gene and his wife Elizabeth. He weighed in at 9lbs, 6 oz and all are doing quite well. I just thought I'd show off his adorable baby face and give my brother's family a little face time on the blog.

Let Freedom Ring! (Updated)

2007-07-05T10:56:00.000+07:00

Saturday was our annual American Independence Day Celebration. This year, AMCHAM took the lead in coordinating the event, which meant the entire office was running at a hectic pace during the weeks prior to the event and we were all on our feet from 8am-9:30pm the day of.

The celebration was fantastic- everything that a Fourth of July Picnic should be. We had great food (burgers, hotdogs, chili, etc), American Beer (it's funny how much more appealing a Bud Light is when you can't buy it every day), Live Music, lots of games for the kids, a dunking booth (I diligently took a turn), hot dog eating and watermelon seed spitting contests- the whole works. This year, the rain even managed to stay away until 7:30pm. Everyone was all decked out in red, white and blue. It was a spectacular day for the American Community.

Tuesday night the U.S. Ambassador hosted a reception honoring Independence Day for all of the other Ambassadors and key people in Thailand. It was quite a contrast from Saturday's event and just as lovely. The Ambassador spoke, we toasted His Majesty the King and the President after hearing both anthems played beautifully. General Sonthi (the man responsible for the coup) was there, and my friend Christine and I managed to snap a quick picture with him.

Wednesday the office was closed (lucky us) and Christine and I took advantage of the day off and booked a spa package at the Oriental Hotel. In the middle of my pamering, I remembered that I had spent the day of the coup surrounded by luxury (see my previous blog entry from September). I guess I'll have to go back to the spa in December on our election day to celebrate the return of a democratically elected government!

The celebrations continuted through Friday with the AMCHAM I-Day Golf Tournament. I tagged along with a team and helped contribute to their winning dead last in our flight- and we have the trophy to prove it. I hit a few good shots, enough to make me want to go back to the driving range and keep tryiing.

The I-Day celebrations were fantastic, and throughout the entire week I was reminded of how proud I am to be an American and how lucky I am to have the lifestyle that I do.

Wat Muang

2007-06-21T21:35:00.000+07:00

Just when I think I've seen just about all there is to see in Thailand, I stumble across something or some place that shatters that thought to pieces. Wat Muang in Ang Thong is the site of the most recent shattering of my illusions.

On the day that we drove out to the Adopt-a-school dedication (see the previous blog entry) we saw this massive Buddha image under construction a ways off the road, and decided that, on the way back to Bangkok, we would stop and check it out. Even though we didn't know where we were going, really, it wasn't hard to get there. We drove until we saw the big Buddha, then turned right and followed the road until we got to Wat Muang.

I must say, what I was expecting to see was another wat and a big Buddha. I thought it would be 5 minutes and we would be finished. What we found was quite the opposite. First of all, the main hall of the wat, supposedly the largest of its kind in the world, or at least Thailand, was constructed so it appears to be in the center of a giant lotus flowers. That in and of itself was something new and different. The murals inside the main hall were also in a different style than in typical wats- very modern adaptations of the traditional Thai stories of the Buddha's life and the cosmic battles between the good and evil gods.

However, none of these prepared me for what I saw when I left the main building and explored the temple grounds. I found what can only be described as a scuplture garden, filled with sculputual images of Thai deities, Chinese deities and scenes from the ancient Thai-Burmese battle at Wiset Chai Chan. It was these battle scenes that, literally, took my breath away.

Now, I have tried in the almost two years that I have lived here to remain culturally sensitive, to constantly remind myself that just because something is different, it doesn't mean it's bad. However, these statues are just downright weird! They depict these incredibly gory scenes- people's heads getting sawed off, people being tortured, people in bizarre shackles. However, unilke memorials that I have seen in other countries, these sculptures are almost cartoon-like in their description. It's almost like walking through a "Torture Land" at Disnyeworld. It's really a surreal experience, like NOTHING I have seen before- in Thailand, or anywhere else for that matter.

I finally found the big Buddha, but I must admit that seeing him was a little anticlimactic after the dizzying array of sadistic statuary.

Now I guess I really have seen it all, at least for now...

Wat Manao Waan School

2007-06-09T17:12:00.000+07:00

The AMCHAM Thailand Charitable Foundation has an Adopt-a-School program where organizations and individuals can make contributions for capital improvements in rural Thai schools. The AMCHAM Young Professionals Committee has been raising money for the Adopt-a-School program, and today a group of us went to the Wat Manaowaan School (about 2 hours outside of Bangkok) for a dedication ceremony. The Young Professionals Committee's money completely re-furbished the library, provided 108 new student desks and 2 new computers for the school.

The dedication ceremony was outside in the shade, and all the students from the school were there. I was again struck at how universal young children are. They managed to wiggle and squirm and look thoroughly bored through the whole ceremony- just like at home!

The leaders of the committee spoke and were presented with plaques of appreciation. We also heard from one of the district government officials. Then the students perfomed two dances. The older students performed a classical Thai dance, then a group of kindergarteners performed what I can only assume was a modern dance. It consisted of about 3 moves- but they were all dressed up with their hair and makeup done and just looked so adorable, although I must admit I was reminded just a bit of the child beauty pageant contestants back home.

We brought snacks for the kids, and after the ceremony they all lined up and we gave them their snacks- sort of like trick or treating I guess. We had a tour of the school- which consists of 3 classrooms, a computer room and a library. We noticed that one classroom had desks facing in two different directions, and we were told that the year 1 and year 2 students share the room. It was amazing to see what the money provided. Everything in the library was brand new, from the floor to the tables to the cabinets and the books in them.

We had lunch and talked with the students for a while. The conversation basically consisted of me asking, in Thai, what their name was and them telling me. Then me asking, in Thai, how old they were, and them telling me. When we got ready to leave, one student shook my hand, and suddenly everyone wanted to shake my hand. I now have a better feel for what politicians feel when they're on the campaign trail!

It was a wonderful day and a great chance to see the impact that we are able to make with what is essentially not a huge amount of money.

Songkran Photos- Finally!

2007-05-16T22:07:00.000+07:00

The Thai new year is celebrated in April with what is essentially a 4-day long water fight. This year, I escaped Bangkok and went with friends to Hua Hin, a beach town about 3 hours south of the city.

We left Bangkok EARLY Friday morning (5AM!) and arrived in Hua Hin around 8:30, just in time for the start of the water fight. We checked into our hotel, bought our water guns, and joined the festivities. We spent the day walking the streets, getting soaked by fellow revelers and soaking our share in turn. In addition to water, the Thais have this paste that they smear all over your face. In Hua Hin, they're very polite, and cautiously approach you and wait for you to allow them to smear it all over you. (Apparently in Bangkok it's a madhouse- quite the opposite).

It started to rain in the afternoon, what a surprise (it's been incredibly rainy this year). We spent the afternoon walking on the beach and then relaxing at the hotel pool. We FINALLY dried out sometime that evening and went for dinner.

Saturday we went to two temples, both on hilltops with amazing views. The second one is a sanctuary of sorts for monkeys and we bought banannas and corn to feed them. The monkeys definitely had their favorites- some would turn down the bananas and wait for corn or vice versa.

Saturday night ended with dancing at the Hilton's bar- to music played by quite possibly the world's worst cover band. They were so bad that the dance floor would be empty when they band played, but as soon as they took their break and the DJ started, the floor would completely fill. Then, when the band started again, everyone would scatter back to their tables. It was quite funny to experience, actually.

It was a great Songkran. Next year I think I'll stay in town to experience the madness that happens in Bangkok, but who knows....

Thai Groundhog Day

2007-05-10T12:29:00.000+07:00

I walked into my office this morning and the staff had the TV on and seemed very interested in what was playing. I looked, and there was a cow draped in beautiful clothing being paraded around. When I asked what it was, at first, they said they didn't have an English explanation. After a little more prodding, I finally got the staff to explain that this is a ceremony that happens every year. The cow will be presented with different things to eat, and what he eats will predict the weather and harvests for the year. "Aha!" I said. "We have something like that in the states!" thinking of Groundhog day.

I dug a little more and discovered the official name for the ceremony, The Annual Ploughing Ceremony. Here's some information and pictures I pulled from online. The brackets are my comments:

"The event, which heralds the beginning of the official rice-planting season, is presided over by His Majesty the King [today it was the Crown Prince], with much pomp and splendor.

The Ploughing Ceremony is thought to date back to the times of the Buddha more than 2500 years ago. The event has Brahman origins and even today Brahman astrologers set the exact date and time for the ceremony. During the Sukhothai period (13th and 14th centuries), the event was a magnificent affair involving long processions led by the ruling monarch. In the current Chakri period, the original rites and ceremonies have been carefully maintained.

His Majesty the King appoints a Lord of the Festival (Phya Raek Nah) to carry out the rites. The Phya Raek Nah chooses from three 'panungs' (a long cloth worn about the hips). If he chooses the longest one, there will be little rain during the coming year. The shortest cloth means plenty of rain, while the medium-length panung denotes average rainfall. [This year's bull chose the medium-length cloth. However, we've already had an unusual amount of rain, so I'm not quite convinced.]

A procession follows with sacred bulls, festooned in flowers, drawing a red and gold plough. Green-costumed drummers, Brahmans chanting and blowing conch shells, umbrella bearers and four 'nang thepi' or consecrated women, carrying gold and silver baskets filled with rice seed, proceed with the plough. Once the bulls have turned a few furrows, they are presented with seven different foods and drinks - rice, beans, maize, hay, sesame, water and liquor. Whichever the bulls choose to eat or drink should be plentiful during the coming year. [This year the bull ate rice, maize and hay. The staff in the office said that it would also be a plentiful year for whiskey- but I think that's every year in Thailand!]

After the furrows have been ploughed, the Lord of the Festival scatters rice seed over the newly turned earth. Once the ceremony is over, hundreds of people will rush to the spot in the hope of gathering some of the precious rice grains to ensure a good crop of rice in the next season."

I only wish I knew about this ceremony in advance, you can be sure I would have attended. I guess I have something to look forward to next May!

These pictures are from online. I'll see if I can find more.

My (New) Favorite "Tourist Thing"

2007-05-05T19:39:00.000+07:00

Last weekend we hired a long-tail boat for an hour boat ride on the Chao Phraya River and some of the surrounding klongs (canals). I have known many people who have done this, but for whatever reason, had never experienced it myself. What have I been missing! For those of you who have already visited me here, you now have to come back for a boat ride!

We boarded a long-tail boat where the sky train meets the river, after negotiating our route and the price. The smallish boat can really move, and we quickly found ourselves bouncing over other boats wakes on the river. Somewhere around the Grand Palace we veered off the river onto one of the smaller klongs, where we spent the rest of our boat time. We rode past some amazing sights- huge, beautiful homes, small shacks, temples, monks, a floating market (where we got out, wandered around and bought some snacks), people swimming and bathing in the river, even a floating 7-11- a woman selling drinks, snacks and souveniers out of her boat.

It's been unusually rainy this summer (April is the hottest month in Thailand, but it's supposed to be hot and dry), so we weren't really surprised when the clouds opened up and it started to rain. Our ever-prepared boat-driver (somehow, "captain" doesn't seem to be the right word!) quickly passed around umbrellas and we ended the boat ride under the umbrellas dodging the raindrops and the spray from the river that kept splashing into our faces.

I love being on any kind of boat on any kind of water, and this boat ride does not disappoint. I may not be able to wait for a visitor before I go again!

On an unrelated note, we had our first 2 performances of "The Emperor's New Clothes" today- they were fantastic! I'll post more about them next time.

Suan Lum Night Bazzar

2007-04-27T15:40:00.002+07:00

The Suan Lum Night Bazzar has been in Bangkok since the late 1990s and is a great place to hang out, shop, eat and watch bands that are so bad they're great. Unfortunately, the Night Bazzar will soon be closing- the owners of the land are going to tear it down and build a shopping mall or something (just what Bangkok needs, another shopping mall).

The shops at Suan Lum carry everything from knock-off designer handbags to top-quality custom designed furntiure. And, as you might have guessed, they're open every NIGHT. Although it lacks the chaos of Chatuchak (the big weekend market) and, therefore some of the charm in my book, it is a nice alternative to shopping in the intense heat during this time of year.

I now live not too far from the Night Bazzar (I'll post pics of my new apartment soon) and I'm taking full advantage of it for as long as it's open. Last night I went with my friend Kathy, her brother Paul and his friend Linda (Paul and Linda are divers and are in town for the Asia Dive Expo this weekend to promote diving on Christmas Island- a great place if you're interested). I had to buy sheets and Linda wanted to shop for souveniers.

After the successful shopping we headed over to the Beer Garden to drink beer and watch the "oh my gosh, they're so bad they're GREAT" singers and dancers perform. It had rained all evening, but by the time we got to the market the rain hand ended- so the air was cooler than normal and the market was relatively empty. It was a great night!

Play Publicity

2007-04-23T13:07:00.000+07:00

I am so sorry I have been remiss in updating the blog. I have moved into my new apartment, and still don't have internet access. Hopefully I'll have it by the end of the week and my semi-regular updates will continue.

In the meantime, here's a scan of an article that ran in Friday's Bangkok Post about the play I'm in- The Emperor's New Clothes. Aren't we just so cute? Rehearsals are going well and I'm having a great time. The play is the first two weekends in May. We will tape it one day, so those of you who want one will receive a CD of the performance.

I'll be writing my speech for the Tony Awards next week. :)

Mrs. Balbir's Cooking Class

2007-03-25T17:08:00.000+07:00

Mrs. Balbir, or Vinder, came to Bangkok 31 years ago, when she was 16, to get married. Shortly thereafter she opened Mrs. Balbir's Indian Restaurant and Bangkok has not been the same since. She is now a television host, is the consultant for Thai airways for the food on their flights to and from India and still manages to run what I believe is the best Indian restaurant in Bangkok. So when the AWC offered a cooking class led by Mrs. Balbir herself I jumped at the chance!

We gathered at Vinder's apartment on Friday afternoon. Our first attempt at Indian cooking was samosas with a tamarind chutney. Vinder showed us how to make them and made it look so easy! Our results were not as beautiful, however, as you can see in the pictures. We did realize that misshapen samosas taste just as good as perfectly formed ones. We fried the samosas and took a break to enjoy the fruit of our labor along with some wine- that's what I call cooking!

We learned how to make Alu Gobi, a dry curry traditionally with potatoes and cauliflower and Chicken Korma. Mrs. Balbir's restaurant is famous for another dish, Butter Chicken, which we were not allowed to learn how to make! Nor were we privvy to Mrs. Balbir's recipe for Garam Masala- a necessary ingredient in many Indian Dishes. It's a mixture of spices- as few as five and as many as 21- and each cook will have their own secret recipe. Many take them to the grave!

We were allowed to invite a guest to come for wine and dinner at 6:30. Vinder supplemented what we made with other dishes from the restaurant (including perfectly formed samosas and, yes, Butter Chicken). However, I think everyone there would have been hard pressed to say which curries were made by the group and which were made by the "pros."

All in all, it was a fantastic evening. I'm looking forward to trying out my new skills soon.

Ewart's Visit

2007-03-18T21:18:00.000+07:00

My friend Ewart Jones came to visit me all the way from Houston, Texas!

He was here for a quick trip- came in on a Tuesday night and left on Monday morning, but we filled it with lots of stuff. Wednesday I had to go to work, so I sent him off with a map and a sky train pass to the Grand Palace and Wat Po, and he seemed to navigate the Thai public transport system quite well- and even managed to avoid the scam artists that surround those 2 places looking for gullible tourists. Wenesday night I took him to Raja's Tailors where he was fitted for two suits (a must-do when you're here).

Thursday I went to work and he took advantage of being on vacation and, apparantley, just hung around the apartment all day long! (We should all be so lucky, right?). We headed down to the beach in Pattaya on Thursday night, and literally hung out by the pool all day long on Friday. We only left our chairs to eat lunch and order drinks- notice my frilly drink that came served in a pineapple. Paradise!

Saturday brought us back to Bangkok where we met up with a friend for drinks at Sirocco on the 64th floor of the State Tower for a view of the city and the river (which is best seen at night from 64 floors up). Then we had dinner at the Oriental Hotel and went dancing.

Sunday we went to church then braved the heat and wandered through Chatuchak Weekend Market. After the market we took the klong (canal) taxi to the famed "weiner wat" and then walked from there to the Erawan Shrine- which I've written about several times in this blog (it's my favorite place in Bangkok). We capped off the day, and his visit, with an hour-long foot massage- much needed after a long day of walking in the hot sun.

Just think, if you came out, you could be featured in the blog with your own entry as well! Happy Belated St. Patrick's day to one and all.

The Emperor's New Clothes

2007-03-05T12:33:00.000+07:00

As I said in my last post, I have been cast in the Bangkok Community Theater's children's production of The Emperor's New Clothes. The performances will be the first two weekends in May. Here's our initial cast photo for early publicity (we'll take another one in costume in a few weeks for the papers and such). As our director said, we either look like a group of traveling actors....or serial killers.

We start our rehearsals this week and I think it's going to be a lot of fun working with this group. This experience has already shown me that theater people are the same cooky type wherever you live!

Paul (the man in the middle) is the Emperor, Belinda (upper right) is Marco the tailor, Stephanie (bottom left) is Rosa, the Emperor's neice who hatches the "invisible clothes" scheme, Orlando (bottom right) is Kiko the mime (because every children's play needs a mime, I guess) and I play both Marco's mother and the Empress. When our director told us who she was looking to cast, she mentioned that the Emperor and Empress should be close in age. After being cast, I told her that I didn't know if it was supposed to be an insult to me or a compliment to Paul.

She told me that I was his second wife!

Busy Busy Busy

2007-03-01T23:00:00.000+07:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. My life has become quite busy as of late.

For those of you who do not know, I have recently accepted a job here in BKK as the Communications Director for a non-profit organization. I started work last week, so my opportunities to run around Bangkok and take pictures of interesting sights has diminished somewhat.

I've also recently been cast in the Bangkok Community Theater's production of "The Emperor's New Clothes" which will be performed the first two weekends in May. I've been wanting to do community theater for a while, and finally just bit the bullet and auditioned. I didn't think I would be cast, given as how there are only 5 roles and I'm new to the BCT. Rehearsals begin next week- 2 nights a week and once on the weekend. Giving me even LESS time to run around and take pictures for you, my faithful audience.

However, I promise I will not forget you. I will continue to regale you all with stories and pictures from Bangkok and beyond, they just might be a little slower in coming. Monday is a holiday, so maybe I can get out and find something interesting to report on then. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Chinese New Year

2007-02-18T22:22:00.000+07:00

Today is the Chinese New Year, the start of the Year of the Pig. I decided that the best place for me to experience the Chinese New Year was in Chinatown, so I headed over there this afternoon, not really sure what to expect.

I wandered the streets for a while, first in my usual pattern- down Sampeng Lane where you can buy just about anything in wholesale (see my earlier post on Chinatown) and over through the Indian Market where I love to buy printed fabric. I had a craving for samosas and there's this streeet vendor in Little India that serves the best ones! But I digress...

After my regular pattern ended, I decided that I would just wander and see what I could see, and boy did I see it! The sidewalks off the main street were filled with street vendors selling everything imaginable, from traditional chinese food (I stopped and had a minced pork chinese bun- yummy!) to pigs of all shapes and sizes (plastic, not real) to anything and everything the color red. Naturally, there was also a fine selection of fake purses, t-shirts, sunglasses, shoes and belts available for sale. This is Thailand, after all.

I wandered through the crowds for a while, then joined some Thais taking a break sitting on the street corner. I enjoyed watching the traffic pass by, but soon realized that I was being watched as much as I was watching people! I guess not too many farang (forgeinger) just sit down on the street corner to rest their feet.

I stopped in several shrines to witness people making offerings and saying prayers, I can only assume asking for a prosperous new year. There was even a shrine on wheels- a monk with a buddha statue sitting in the back of a pickup truck taking peoples offerings and blessing them!

I thought I would have the stamina to stay until evening when the parades would begin, but I just ran out of steam. So, I'll include some pictures of a lion dance that I got to witness at an AWC luncheon earlier this month and you can just imagine what it would look like outside on the crowded street.

May your new year be filled with health and prosperity!

Valentine's Day Crisis?

2007-02-14T12:40:00.000+07:00

Apparently, all around Thailand, young teenage girls are choosing today to have sex for the first time. This is such a problem that it has been the focus of newspaper articles and propaganda from the Thai government for the last week or so. The following is an article reprinted from "The Nation" newspaper, one of Bangkok's leading English-language newspapers. This is on page 2, people! Page 2!

(The comments in parnthesis are mine.)

Police Advice to young girls: Don't!

City police launched a campaign yesterday advising firls to adhere to its guidelines- four "dont's"- in a bid to prevent young teenagers from engaging in conventional (as opposed to unconventional?) sex today, Valentine's Day (but any other day of the year is just fine).

Metropolitan Police commander Pol Lt-General Wiroj Jantharangsee said young girls should keep four guidelines in mind. They are: Don't leave an opportunity open, Don't expose "your stuff"(what???!!!!! This is an official flier from the police, people!), Don't give a green light, and Don't disregard prevention (so if you do expose "your stuff" at least use protetction).

Wiroj did not spell out clearly or explicitly what each "Don't" meant, although the tips were published and highlighted clearly (did they illustrate them?) on fliers to be distributed to young girls today.

Pol Colnel Worawat Amornwiwat, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau's Juvenile and Women's Protection Division, called on young girls to heighten their self-protection awareness level when alone or with boyfriends at six types of locations deemed "risk areas": cinemas, public parks, night-time entertainment venues, motels, boy's homes or their own homes (where else is there?).

Meanwhile, an Abac poll released yesterday found that more respondents paid more attention and higher regard to the Buddhist celebration on Makha Bucha Day (March 3 this year) than to Valentine's Day- 57 percent this year, up from 49 percent reported last year.

The poll, which surveyed 1,289 people aged 10-24 from February 10-12, also found 67 percent of respondents agreed with mainstream campaigns aimed at preventing youngsters from having premature or unprotected sex today (but go ahead and have it tomorrow, kids!).

Some 56 percent of respondents said they had no relationships and wanted to give their love to their parents (awwwwww, sweet, huh? would they still give it to their parents if they had a relationship?). Popular activities chosen for the day by those in or not in a relationship (as opposed to.....) were seeing movies (42 percent), eating out (33 percent), making a donation or doing charity work (20 percent), reading and studying (39 percent), shopping (32 percent), going to a park (11 percent) and spending time at nighttime venues (6 percent).

(Does anyone else see that the math adds up to WAY over 100 percent? And how are these activities any different from any other day? And, be careful- many of these activites take place in the above mentioned "risk areas!")

The article goes on to tell how rose prices have increased because of the holiday....no shock there.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FROM THE LAND OF SMILES!

I hope to get some pictures later this afternoon.

Music in the Park

2007-02-04T22:05:00.000+07:00

Today I went with friends Tracey and Darrell to Lumpini Park to listen to the Bangkok Symphony play. They offer "Music in the Park" for 4 or 5 weeks in Jan/Feb when the weather is nice. People come with their blankets, chairs, food, and families to listen to the symphony play. We weren't quite sure what to expect, but it seemed like it would be fun and a great way to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been lucky enough to hold onto for the past week or so.

We arrived at the park to find a cotton candy vendor, and promptly bought our share! We staked our claim on the ground and listented to the symphony warm up. We commented on, with the exception of the palm trees, we could have been in almost any city in the world- sitting on a blanket, listening to the warm up, waiting for the symphony to play. They began with the William Tell Overture, which brought me back to the many Fourth of July celebrations I spent in Houston at the Outdoor Theater there listening to the Houston Symphony. What could be more like home?!

Then, the announcer came to the stage and, speaking in both Thai and English, welcomed the crowd. He explained that the first half of the concert would consist of popular Thai vocal songs and the second half would be instrumental western music. Oh, so much for feeling like home! We spent the next hour listening to what we could only assume were traditional Thai classical songs that everyone seemed to know (except us) sung by a man whom everyone seemed to know (except us). He would start the song and, as people recognized what it was, there would be a smattering of applause- as if you were at an Andy Williams concert and he started to sing his signature "Moon River." After each song the emcee would appear onstage and engage the performer in about 5-10 minutes of conversation- all in Thai!

As promised, the second portion of the performance was a smattering of intstumental performances- from Pachabel's Cannon in D to offerings from "Phantom of the Opera" and a Beatles Medley. It was quite the combination of orchestral pieces.

All in all, it was a fun evening filled with interesting (at times) music, GREAT people watching and even better company!

Lumphini Park

2007-01-27T13:00:00.000+07:00

Set in the middle of Bangkok, Lumphini Park offers a haven of grass, trees and flowers and a chance to relax and unwind and get some fresh air. Ok, maybe not FRESH air, but it is a nice big park in the middle of the city that is a fantastic place for people watching. The best time to hit Lumphini is early in the morning- from around 6:30 until 8:30. On your walk around the park you'll encounter people on their morning run or walk, older folks eating breakfast and enjoying each other's company, ballroom dancers practicing their art, hundreds (and I am being literal here) of people practicing Tai Chi, and pockets of people engaged in all sorts of activities- from martial arts to fan dancing and everything inbetween. At 8am, however, everyone stops and stands completely still as the National Anthem is broadcast throughout the park on a sound system, as if Samantha from "Bewitched" has wrinkled her nose and frozen time. At 8:01 (or however long the song plays for) the activity resumes.

While the park is best enjoyed early in the morning, I took advantage of our lovely weather today and ventured out for a mid-morning stroll. I arrived around 10:30, convinced that all the "good stuff" would be gone and this blog entry would be filled with pictures of flowers. I was pleasantly surprised to find the park filled with plenty of good people watching moments- from the boy scouts running laps (in their poly uniform shorts, knee socks and brown leather shoes) to the parents and children taking the swan paddle boats for a spin through the lake to check out the monitor lizards. There were still a few pockets of ballroom dancers and martial arts practitioners to stop and watch as well as plenty of Thais and farang just out to enjoy the beautiful day. Oh, and, of course, the pile of urinals and toilets that were obviously uninstalled from some bathroom and just left on the ground. I can only assume that someone is planning on picking them up. I'll have to come back in a few weeks to see if they're still there. Only in Bangkok!

Enjoy the view!

Singapore

2007-01-11T20:13:00.000+07:00

If Disney had built a city in Asia, it would be Singapore.

I had to make a "visa run" at the end of last year (basically, I had to leave the country and re-enter on a new 30-day visa). Singapore is a relatively short flight away and is somewhere that, while not at the very top, was at least somewhere on my "list."

I took the early morning flight and arrived around 10am. My friend Linda (see "Coup de wha?......) used to live there and gave me an itinerary of what all I should see and where I should go. I took a taxi from the airport to the heart of Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping district. Wandering the city, it was easy to forget that I was even in Asia. The streets are clean and wide, people are orderly, there are no street vendors or animals and there's just about every store imaginable, from Borders to Old Navy.

My day included going to the movies (there was a film that I knew would never come to Bangkok), eating at McDonald's (so I can say I've eaten at one in every country I've been to), browsing through Borders, drinking a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel, visitng the Anglican Cathedral and having drinks at Boat Quay.

I took the last flight back to Bangkok at 8pm. It was a great day and sure beat sharing a van with 12 strangers to cross over the Cambodian border and come back.

The Texas Bowl

2007-01-04T10:34:00.000+07:00

Greetings from Texas! While enjoying my vacation in the Lone Star State, I had the chance to attend the inaugural Texas Bowl and watch Rutgers play Kansas State at Reliant Stadium in Houston. My friend Ewart served as a host for the Kansas State football team while they were in Houston, which basically means he got to stay in a hotel for a week and answer any questions that the team might have had- which numbered about 3 in total. Oh yeah, and he got to drive a rental car for a week. What a tough job.

Ewart played host with three other friends of his and we all went to the game together. Unfortunately, Kansas State got their butts kicked, but we watched the slaughter from the comfort and luxury of the Brazos Suite high above the field. It was so fun to see an American Football game again- I can't think of the last time I went to one.

The rest of my visit to Texas has been equally enjoyable- lots of visiting with old friends, eating copius amounts of Tex-Mex food and shopping for all those things that I just can't seem to find in Bangkok- Nestle Chocolate Chips, clothes that fit and shoes that are an actual size 10. It's been fun, but I am suffering from a bit of sticker shock and am ready to get back to the land of $2 meals and $8 pedicures.

Happy New Year!

Christmas in Bangkok

2006-12-18T04:46:00.000+07:00

Ah, Christmas in Bangkok-

The lights, the music.......

The credit card promotions...

The seven dwarves...

My friend and I were walking home one night past one of the big malls and stopped to admire the fabulous lights they had put up for Christmas. Mind you, Bangkok is 95% Buddhist, 5% Muslim and less than 1% Christian, but we celebrate Christmas! Anyway, we stopped to admire the lights and the live music that was being played by this musical ensemble (seated in chairs on the sidewalk outside of the mall so that all the passersby in their cars can enjoy the music while they're stuck in traffic, I guess). We commented on how nice the music and light display were.

Then we noticed the giant pink Christmas tree. It seemed like something right out of "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown." You know, when he goes to buy the Christmas tree for the school play and they're all pink and purple aluminun trees. The giant pink tree was as big as the mall and was completely decorated in slogans from a particular bank's credit card. We also noticed girls dressed in skimpy santa costumes walking around as some sort of promotion for the said credit card. We couldn't resist. We walked over to where the girls were to join in the fun. After all, nothing says Christmas like scantily clad thai girls in white wigs and santa costumes hawking a credit card, right?

We played the games that the girls had and each won an HSBC Visa keychain!

After the festivities, I took the skytrian home. I got off an exit early so I could walk past all of the hotels and enjoy their beautiful light displays. Not to be outdone, at this corner, Visa had erected it's very own gigantic blue Visa Christmas tree! HSBC can't have all the fun! I didn't see any midriff-bearing thais offering to give away keychains, so I kept walking.

Imagine this scenario. First, I walk past the Erawan Shrine (I've written about it in a previous entry- it's one of the most revered places for buddhists and hindus in Bangkok), then past the Hyatt with its beautiful lights. Then I come to a high-end shopping center, Peninsula Plaza, which is all decked out. At first glance, it seems like they have a wonderrful montage with Santa and his elves and the reindeer. However, just look a little closer and you'll see that the elves are not elves at all- they're the dwarves from Snow White! Like we say in Thailand, "Same Same.....but different."

Christmas in Bangkok is, indeed, a surreal experience.

I'm now back in the states to celebrate Christmas here where I'll be relieved to see that the commerical aspect of the holiday does not overshadow the religious. Ok, maybe not. Well, at least the Thai's don't try to pretend that Christmas is anything but a chance to spend money and give gifts. The honesty is a bit refreshing. Surreal, but refreshing.

I'm not sure when I'll post again, so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Gala Dinner

2006-12-06T11:03:00.000+07:00

This past weekend was the American Women's Club's Gala Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel. We've been working on this event since the summer and it was fabulous.

We started the evening with a champagne and scotch reception. We had a silent auction with rugs and a few accessories from Eastern Carpets of Singapore. The rugs were stunning. We also had about 10 pieces of artwork from our scholarship students that were framed and available for auction- all proceeds to pay for English Camp expenses (see my last blog entry).

After the reception and before dinner was served, the US Marine Corps Color Guard presented the colors, which was such a wonderful touch of home. I sang the Star Spangled Banner, and was honored to be asked to do so. The Color Guard was the perfect way to begin the evening. The marines stayed and ate and danced with us, and it was fun to get to know them and to learn about what they're doing here in Bangkok. One friend commented that he needed to get one of those uniforms because the poor Marines never had a chance to sit down. The ladies of the AWC kept them dancing all night long!

Dinner was fabulous- the main course was a filet with a gorgonzola sauce and the wine flowed all evening. We also had a live auction, with 4 rugs from Eastern Carpets, 4 prints from the scholarship program and a vacation at the Four Seasons' newest resort in Koh Samui. We danced almost until dawn, and were finally kicked out of the ballroom at 2:30am!

The pictures are: Linda and Vicki, The Marine Color Guard (Sgt. Hernandez, Sgt. Rychlik, Sgt. Joerger and Cpl. Brouse) and Carla (my date for the evening).

It was an incredible evening. Does anyone wonder why I like living here?

English Camp

2006-11-20T19:40:00.000+07:00

The other weekend I went with the American Women's Club to Phrae in the northwest part of Thailand for English Camp. The AWC sponsors over 400 high school girls each year with our scholarship program, and each year we put on and English Camp for the sponsored students.

In Thailand, education is free but attendance is only mandatory through the 9th grade. Unfortunately, many families who can't afford the uniforms, books, food, transportation and other expenses often take their children out of school after 9th grade. $125 a year provides a girl with the supplies and other items she needs to attend school instead of working or finding other less-desirable means of making money.

So, back to English Camp. About 40 AWC and Peace Corps volunteers descended on a local school to help the 140 girls and 30 teachers who attended practice their English skills. The participants went to classes where they practiced different skills like shopping, letter writing, pronunciation, etc. We started Saturday morning with aeorbics and ended the day with cultural exchange- the students all danced in traditional costumes and then the Americans square danced!

It was a fantastic weekend and I'm so glad I had the chance to attend. It will definitely be a priority for me in the future!

Hanoi

2006-11-08T12:05:00.000+07:00

Last week I went with my friend Carla to Hanoi, Vietnam for a few days. What an amazing city!

The architecture is reminiscent of the French colonial times, the streets are wide and clean, the sky is much less polluted and the city is filled with motorcycles. We learned that there are 4 million registered motorcycles in Hanoi. I thought Bangkok was swarming with them, but I had no idea.

Crossing the streets in Hanoi is not for the faint of heart. We eventually realized that if you just start walking, the motorcycles will judge your speed and just zoom around you without really stopping or slowing down. It's quite the harrowing experience.

We spent most of our time in the Old Quarter, which sort of reminded me of the French Quarter in New Orleans. The streets are named after what the merchants used to sell there- silk, shoes, spices, etc. Now it's less organized (or every street would be called "lacquer street") but it's still fun to wander through the quarter and see everything that's being sold. The sidewalks in the quarter are filled with parked motorcycles, shopkeepers sitting outside eating and drinking, street vendors selling fruit out of their baskets, and goods for sale that just can't seem to fit into their designated shops. We took the Lonely Planet's Walking Tour of the quarter, which led us down streets and alleywas where we never would have gone. It was funny to see other westerners following the same route we were, carrying their trusty Lonely Planet guides with them!

We ate amazing food- from Pho in a streetside cafe to French food in a fantastic bistro and everything in between. We went to a disco filled with 3,000 young Vietnamese dancing the night away. We saw churches and temples and had some clothes made. We even went to the Museum of Women's History and learned all about the role women played in the revolution against the Imperialistic Americans and their lackeys. :)

I never quite mastered the currency or the language, and I now have a much greater sympathy for my friends and family who have come to visit (hint hint!) and just seem lost when it comes to converting Thai baht to dollars or dealing with the vendors in the markets. I understand now what it feels like!

All in all, Hanoi is a fantastic getaway- perfect for a quick weekend break away from Bangkok. Hopefully some of you will get to join me when I go again!

The Motorcycle Diaries

2006-10-19T15:06:00.000+07:00

Motorcycles are everywhere in Bangkok. They are cheaper than cars and you can dart in and out of the traffic (oh, the traffic- that's another blog!) easily. On the major streets, the traffic lights can be incredibly long, so it's not uncommon to see 15 or 20 motorcycles inch their way through the stopped cars, waiting at the front of the pack for the light to turn green. Motorcycle taxi are in abundance in Bangkok- men (and occasionaly women) in orange vests sit at corners, playing chess with bottle caps or sleeping on their bikes or hammocks until their next fare comes along.

Pizza and McDonald's are delivered by motorcycle drivers. Packages are messengered by motorcycle drivers. I've seen entire families riding on one motorcycle. It's not uncommon to see a motorcycle with 5 or 6 boxes stacked ontop of each other, bungeed to the back seat being driven through the stopped cars on Sukhumvit road. In short, motorcycles are a necessity for many people in Bangkok.

I've been living here over a year and had never actually ridden on a motorcycle. I know so many people who use them daily for transport, but I always just felt like I could walk, take a taxi or the skytrain or use the driver wherever I needed to go. Besides, having never actually sat on the back of a motorcycle before, I was somewhat (ok, VERY) hesitant to just hop on the back of the next motorcycle taxi that I saw. How would I hang on? Where do I put my hands? Would I sit side-saddle like so many of the women here do?

At dinner one night with my friend and her husband, we got to talking about motorcycles and how I had never ridden on one. He owns a motorcycle and drives it around Bangkok all the time. He offered to take me home that night on the back of his so I could experience what it was like to ride one. Then, he offered to teach me how to drive one. How could I turn this fantastic opportunity down? If nothing else, it would make a good story for all of you! He took me home that night on the back of his bike (what a rush!) and we made plans to meet early that next Sunday morning for my driving lesson.

Rick picked me up on Sunday morning, on the bike of course, and we drove to his street. He got off, showed me the basics of how everything worked, then let me loose to drive on my own. Now, those of you who remember my late teens will surely appreciate his naievete in just letting me loose on his precious motorcycle! However, I did manage to drive up and down the street several times, each time becoming more and more comfortable with how it all worked. It was such a rush- and I was probably only driving 20 miles an hour. I never quite mastered how to turn, however, so I would drive to the end of the street, stop, walk the bike in a u-turn, get positioned again in the opposite direction, and drive to the other end of the street. There were a few Thais out and about and I'm sure they just thought I was the silliest woman around, driving up and down the street going 20 miles an hour with a goofy grin on my face.

After the driving lesson, Rick had to go to the store. I rode with him and practiced riding side saddle, just in case I ever have the need to catch a ride on a motorcycle while wearing a skirt.

In the weeks to follow I kept looking for the right time to try out my newly-acquired skills. I didn't want to ride in a lot of traffic or have to dart through many cars. Finally, on my way to a friend's house the other night, I seized my chance. Traffic was at a stand still, and I was only going a few kilometers. Instead of sitting in a taxi letting the meter run or walking (and breaking a sweat in my new shirt and jeans) I found an orange-vested man, hopped on the back of his bike and made it to my destination in about 5 minutes. It's a new day for me in Bangkok!

Cambodia

2006-10-09T17:02:00.000+07:00

Last week I went with my friend Kelly, her daughter Kate and Kelly's friend Nancy who was in town visiting to Siem Reap, Cambodia, home of the Angkor temples are (where Toomb Raider was filmed). We left Thailand from our brand new airport on Monday morning. We arrived in Siem Reap and wasted no time getting to the temples to explore them. We hired a guide for the trip, Mr. Borrey (but his namecard reads "James Powers!") who was fantastic at leading us through the complex temple grounds. He even managed to lead us in such a way that we avoided the crowds wherever we could.

Mr. Borrey fell in love with Kate at first sight and insisted on carrying her whenever Kelly would allow. At the entrance to a temple, he'd say "lady, there are many steps. I will carry the baby" and just wisk her away!

The temples at Angkor are beautiful, and I even managed to wake up before dawn on our last day to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. We wandered the grounds in awe of their sheer size and workmanship. The buildings were built in the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries and were abandoned a few hundred years later. Eventually the jungle took over and many of them are covered in growth. There is one in particular, nicknamed the Jungle Temple, that is a stunning example of how the trees just grew, literally, on top of the stone walls.

We also spent some time wandering around Siem Reap. There is a large lake with hundreds of people living in houseboats on the water, nicknamed the floating village. They have a floating church, floating schools and even a floating hospital to meet their needs. While we were on the boat, we saw vendors selling everything you could possibly think would fit in a small boat- like floating 7-11s! We also saw children paddling through the water in large plastic tubs. They constantly have to bail the tubs out, but manage to not only stay afloat but paddle in a straight direction.

Siem Reap is a great change from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. It's growing and is not the backpacker haven that it used to be, but it still has retained some of the charm that originally drew that crowd. The streets are filled with bicycles and motorbikes instead of cars and we saw people swimming and fishing in the river that runs through the city.

It was a fantastic trip and I'm so glad that I had the chance to go before I leave Thailand.

Coup de Wha????

2006-09-21T16:01:00.000+07:00

As you all know, the government of Thailand was overtaken by a bloodless Military Coup on Tuesday. We watched the news unfold on CNN, like the rest of you, and kept looking out our window hoping to see a tank in person (which never happened, by the way). Frankly, I was surprised that we had access to satelite TV and, by around 11:30 or 12 the government had cut off access to all TV. We went to sleep.

We woke up Wednesday morning at 6am. I had to send an email out to the American Women's Club letting them know that, because the government had declared a school and bank holiday for that day, the AWC would be closed. Many of the foreign companies closed for the day and told their employees to stay home.

Linda's and my first question was "It's a coup! What do you wear for a coup?" Linda put on an army green skirt (for the military) and a yellow shirt (for the king) and I wore my MASH 4077th shirt all day! We spent a few hours checking and responding to emails (thanks to all of you who expressed concern), then went to Starbucks to meet with a friend about some AWC business.

Normally, traffic in Bangkok is horrendous. Imagine rush hour traffic in the busiest city you can imagine and that's Bangkok on a Saturday morning. It only gets worse during the week. However, there was ABSOLUTELY no traffic on the roads yesterday! We got to Starbucks in 10 minutes, when it normall would have taken 20-30. Everyone was wearing yellow to support the king and the conversations that we overheard were all about the same thing- how funny it is that we're sitting at Starbucks the morning after a military coup!

We met Mary at our nail salon for a manicure and pedicure, then went to the Oriental Hotel for lunch. Our waiter overheard us talking about getting a taxi when we left and said, "you don't need a taxi, you need a tank!" We laughed and laughed at the image of 3 women riding down Silom road in a tank! We left the restaurant and asked the doorman in the lobby to please call a tank for us. Unfortunately, the joke didn't seem to translate as well this time and he just looked at us blankly. Oh well, at least we had a good laugh!

Linda and I left Mary and went to a day spa for a sweedish massage. After the massage we went home, showered, changed and went to dinner at the Four Seasons, where we were 2 of 3 people in the entire restaurant! After about a 30 minute chat with the restaurant manager, we realized that we had at least a 2 to 1 staff to customer ratio. I think they were never more glad to have customers than they were last night.

All day long, we never saw a tank, but we did see solidiers with guns standing guard around various bridges. Other than that (and the deliciously light traffic) nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Well, except for the fact that we got to spend the entire day pampering ourselves instead of working hard for the AWC!

We have decided that every September 20th we need to mark the occasion of this day with a high tea- a coup de TEA, if you will!

I can't seem to upload any pictures right now, but I will as soon as I can.

In all seriousness, I know that this coup is no laughing matter. However, life here seems to be going on as usual. The schools and banks (and the AWC) were all up and running today, and the traffic is back to the normal heavy levels. If anything should change, I'll keep you posted. Thanks for all of your concern.

The Bridge Over the River Kwai

2006-09-11T18:29:00.000+07:00

When my mom visited in July, we went to Kanchanaburi for the day, a few hours' drive outside of Bangkok. Kanchanburi is home to the Bridge Over the River Kwai, immortalized by a WW2 movie of the same name. The Japanese used thousands of POWs to complete a the Thai-Burmese Railway (now known as the "Death Railway"). The allies continuously bombed the bridge, which meant the POWs were continually rebuilding it.

Going to the Bridge and the JEATH (Japan, England, Australia, Thailand, Holland) war museum is a powerful experience. It was created by a monk on the banks of the Kwai river. The museum itself is a reproduction of the bamboo huts that the POWs lived in and is filled with photos and artifacts from the time period. There are also numerous letters from camp survivors who survived and returned to re-visit the site. It is stunning that anyone survived the conditions at the camp.

The bridge that spans the river now was built after the war and is a replica of one that the POWs built. We also took a train ride on the actual railroad that was built and crossed over another bridge that the POWs built. We visited one of the war cemeteries and spent some time walking through the gravesites. So many men so young died. It's sobering to realize that, as terrible and devastating this place is, it is only a very small piece of the total history of the war. Hopefully this story, and the countless other "small" ones, will never be forgotten.

Check THAT off the list!

2006-08-30T15:21:00.000+07:00

I think I've mentioned in the past that Thailand is filled with Katoeys, or transvesites. It is a common warning for men that, if you meet a beautiful woman in a bar, she's more than likely a man. There are several Cabaret shows in town featuring all-katoey casts, and a group of us went to one last night- the Calypso Cabaret.

The show was an interesting mix of beautiful and not-so-beautiful "women" lip-syncing (not very well, I might add) to songs in English, French, Japanese, Thai to name a few. I think the general effort is to be a Las Vegas-style revue, but it somehow misses the mark. We saw just about everyting- dancing chorus girls, dramatic songs reinacted, a tribute to a french cabaret singer from the 20's (who I had never heard of, but what do I know?)- we even had at one point 3 Marilyn Monroes, 3 Michael Jackons and 3 Tina Turners all on stage at the same time.

At the end we could take pictures with the performers- but what woman wants to take a picture with a man who looks better in a ball gown than she does? My friend and I took our picture with the Carol Burnett of the group. This guy had 4 different hilarous songs througout the show where he did a great job of making fun of the katoeys and the cabaret performances.

While I wouldn't call it a "must see" in Bangkok, it certainly made for an interesting evening. Now I can say I've seen just about everything!

Renovation

2006-08-14T17:25:00.000+07:00

We have new tenants moving into one of the units on our floor, so the apartment is being prepared for their arrival. Here are some pictures of what our hallway currently looks like, along with a note of explanation (in "Tinglish," of course) from the management.

"Dear Tenant,

This is to inform you that there will be renovation work for an apartment on 21 Floor during 15 August 2006, working hour 9.00am to 4.30 pm.

The work can be noisy and with smell. We are trying our best to do protection for smell and dust. We are very sorry for the disturbance and any convenience. However, if you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

And Thank you very much for your understanding.
Management"

Does anyone else chuckle just a little bit at the phrase "noisy and with smell" or is it just me?

Jean and Nan's Visit

2006-07-31T09:29:00.000+07:00

My mom and my godmother came for a visit this past week. We saw the "requirements" of Bangkok (The Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Jim Thompson's house, Chatucak Market, etc), did some fun things with the American Women's Club, took two day trips out of the city to Auytthaya and Kanchanaburi (to the bridge over the River Kwai), had fantastic food....and more food, and shopped, literally, until we dropped. It was a great visit. Here are some pictures from their visit which will hopefully entice the rest of you to cross the pond!

The Erawan Shrine

2006-07-28T16:25:00.000+07:00

One of the great things about living in Bangkok is that you never know what you might encounter just around the corner. Having lived here for almost a year, I tend to forget that what I see everyday and think of as "normal" is exciting and different to a first time visitor's eyes and I am able to see things again for the first time. Such is the case with the Erawan shrine.

The shrine was originally built in the 50s or 60s to ward off bad luck during the construction of the Erawan hotel. Since then, the shrine has become a gathering place for locals to come and ask for good luck, health, wealth and love. When wishes are granted, the worshippers show their thanks by paying to have shrine dancers dance on their behalf. The shrine is always bustling with activity- vendors on the street sell flowers, incense, candles, gold leaf and birds to release as offerings, worshippers kneel and ferventley pray to the Hindu god of creation in the shrine, dancers and musicians offer ritual dances on behalf of grateful receipients, and tourists snap pictures and take video footage of their surroundings. The shrine is almost always cloaked in a could of incense because of the sheer number of offerings that are being made at any given time. The shrine sits on the corner of 2 of Bangkok's major streets, so the street noise is a steady backdrop to all of the shrine's activities. It's a wonderful treat waiting just around the corner for those new to town and those who are seeing Bangkok again for the first time.

Yes, It's What You Think It Is...

2006-07-17T17:33:00.000+07:00

Last weekend Derek and I set off to find a shrine that my friend affectionately calls the "Wiener Wat." It's a shrine that a hotel erected (pun intended) to house Chao Mae Tuptim, the goddess that lived in the hotel. Somehow, and no one can really explain why, people started bringing (in addition to the standard offerings of flowers, incense, etc) phallic symbols. They're in all sizes and shapes, from the abstract to the VERY lifelike, large and small. They are, literally, all over the shrine. While the obvious assumption is that they are offerings for fertility, we have also discovered phallic symbols in bars and restaurants to bring good fortune. Whatever the reason, they are fun to look at!

Old Bangkok

2006-07-10T17:29:00.000+07:00

I went walking with a few friends last week through the Banglamphu district of Bangkok, which includes Kao San Road where the backpackers all hang out. What is so great about this district is the myriad of really cool buildings which date back to the beginning of the 1900's. Bangkok has lost so much of its charm and it's refreshing to come across interesting old buildings like these and catch a glimpse of what the city used to look like.

The first 3 are on the campus of the UNs World Food Programme's offices, the 4th is the UNICEF office, and the 5th one is on the grounds of the temple where the king spent his time as a monk.

Independence Day Celebration

2006-07-01T20:49:00.000+07:00

Today we went to the Annual American Independence Day Celebration. It was held at the field of one of the schools. We got there, and the first thing we notice are guards armed with machine guns, which was our first reminder that we were not at home anymore! Then, as we walked in the grounds, we heard music being played by a brass band. I don't know about you, but to me, nothing says "Fourth of July" more than a Thai Military band (in full uniform) playing "New York, New York!"

I was amazed at the sheer number of Americans who all came out to join the festivities. The AWC ran the beer and hotdog booth, and I helped sell for them. It was fun to see people that I knew and meet new people. We had Budweiser beer, which is a rarity here, and it sold out very quickly. Can you imagine people being disappointed to hear that we're out of Budweiser?

The rain held off for most of the day, but started around 6 and never quit. It didn't stop the festivities, though. The Marine Honor Guard was there and the Ambassador gave a touching tribute to the Americans who have given their lives for their country. The evening ended with the National Anthem and an impressive fireworks display- yes, in the rain! it was a fun afternoon and I look forward to it becoming a tradition for us while we're living here.

Happy Fourth of July (a few days early)!

What I did on my Summer Vacation

2006-06-30T10:49:00.000+07:00

This June, I went back to Augusta, GA and helped out my former church with a few of their summer youth activities. First of all, I led music and worship and helped on a worksite during the Jr High Mission trip. Imagine 75 6th-8th graders and adults all sleeping on the floor, working on homesites and having a great time together. It was terrific- despite the blisters on my fingers from playing the guitar every morning and evening! The 1st picture is my work site group standing by the railing that we built- one of many projects at our worksite that we completed.
After the mission trip, I got to go with the Sr High youth on their pilgrimage to Greece. We traced the journey of the apostle Paul on his second missionary journey. It was amazing to stand in the same places where Paul stood and walk where he walked. The pictues from Greece are: Abi and I at the river where Paul baptized Lydia, the first European convert to Christianity, Me in front of the jail in Philippi where Paul was imprisoned, Me on Mars Hill next to the Acropolis where Paul preached to the Greeks about their statue of the unkown god, and Abi and I swimming in "illegal" waters (not anything to do with Paul, but a really fun adventure- the Agean sea is COLD!).
The experiences were fantastic, but I'm glad to be back home and not living out of a suitcase anymore.

Greece is the word

2006-06-14T01:10:00.000+07:00

I'm sorry it's been so long since a post, but I've left the country (again!). I'm currently in pilgrimage in Greece with the youth from my last congregation in Augusta. You can check out our pilgrimage blog at http://paulgrimage.blogspot.com. I'll update more later! Liz

Royal Barge Procession Rehearsal

2006-05-27T17:13:00.000+07:00

This June, in celebration of the King's 60th coronation anniversary, there will be a royal barge procession. This is a rare occurence in Thailand, and the actual procession will be very difficult to see in person. However, Derek and I had the opportunity recently to have dinner at a restaurant on the river and watch one of the rehearsals. There were 50+ boats (the same boats from the Royal Barge Museum post earlier this year), each with a group of men rowing. Each of the crews were rowing completely in sync with each other. There was a man leading a chant, with a group response from all the men. The song was about the barges themselves and how great the king and his work through the years. Even though it was only a rehearsal, it was still a magnificent sight to watch. I can only imagine how much more spectacular the actual event will be.
These pictures are not that great, but if you look you can make out the barges and the men rowing them. It was very dark, and our restaurant was the only one on the river not shining a light on the procession as it passed by! This was the best we could do with our little camera.

Phil and Elaine's Visit

2006-05-12T09:36:00.000+07:00

My dad Phil and his wife Elaine were here for a visit last week. We had a fantastic time. We went to Jim Thompson's house (he's the man solely responsible for re-vamping the silk industry in Thailand who mysteriously disappeared 50 years ago and was never heard from again), Wat Pho, the Grand Palace, cruised the Chao Praya River, cruised the river around Ayutthaya (the ancient city), went to Chatuchak market and Chinatown, saw classical Thai dancing and ate a TON of great food (Thai and otherwise). Dad and Elaine even had time to squeeze in a trip to Kanchanaburi, home of the famed "Bridge Over the River Kwai." (I asked them if they whistled the song while crossing the bridge, but they said they didn't.) Now that tune is in your head, isn't it?
Their week-long visit just flew by and it seemed like only a day or two had passed when we were saying goodbye and sending them off to the airport. After visiting us, they flew to Japan to visit my brother Gene, his wife Elizabeth and their son Elliott, only one of the cutest 1 and a half year olds you've ever seen! Maybe Gene will send me recent pictures that I can post to prove my point!
Here are some pictures from their visit. Check out the picture of the VERY small long tail boat that we rode in around Ayutthaya, and image 6 adults all riding in it! We said that, if we managed to get around the river without somehow capsizing the boat, it would be a grand adventure- and that it was!
Remember, you could be looking at pictures of yourself on this blog-we're currently accepting visitors for Fall 2006!

Africa Part 5- Victoria Falls

2006-05-05T17:37:00.000+07:00

The last leg of our journey took us to Zambia (by way of ZImbabwe) to the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls. Our hotel was about 200 meters from the falls, which were absolutely spectacular. We walked down to the falls right after we arrived, but realized we were not prepared for the full Vic Falls experience! The closer we got to the falls, the more wet we got! There were raincoats for rent at the start of the trail, but that wouldn't be any fun. We stayed a safe and dry distance away on our first visit. The next morning we put on our swimsuits and walked back down, over a bridge that crosses the gorge to get the full experience. If you've ever been at an amusement park that has a waterfall ride, there's usually a place where bystanders can stand to guarantee to get splashed. This bridge is like that- only the water is on all the time! It was just amazing.
That same day we joined with about 40 other brave souls and went white water rafting down the Zambezi River. The Zambezi is a class 5 river, so I was both excited and nervous about the ride. I had been rafting once before a long time ago on a less dangerous river and Derek had never been. After our orientation at the hotel, we drove through the bush to the edge of the gorge. We then hiked about 1000 meters down to the bottom of the gorge to get to the river. I was tired, and we hadn't even started the actual trip! We got in our rafts and headed down the river. We stopped at some rocks, and everyone who wanted to could climb up and jump into the river. Derek jumped from the highest point and I jumped from the middle. We continued down the river and, on the second set of rapids we came to (the Terminator) our raft flipped over! It was quite the adventure. The rest of the trip was flip-free, and by the end of the trip we were asking to go back to Terminator so we could re-conquer it!
At the end of the trip we had to re-climb up out of the gorge- all 1000 meters (no, that's not a typo!). At the top, we had some well-deserved beer and then a nice lunch. It was a great way to end our African adventure.
The next day we flew from Zambia to Johannesburg to Hong Kong to Bangkok. It was a long trip home, but well worth everything we got to do and see.

Africa Part 4-Safari

2006-04-29T18:11:00.000+07:00

We had a total of 8 game drives while we were at Ulusaba. The first 2 drives we were on our own, then we were joined by John and Allison, honeymooners from England, and KT and Louie, a mother and son also from England.
We woke up each morning at 5:15am, met at the lodge at 5:30 for tea and left on the drive no later than 5:45. The mornings were cool and crisp- and there's nothing like seeing the sun rise over the bush (except maybe seeing it set...) Since this is an animal reserve and not Disneyworld, we never knew what we could come across. We would start driving, perhaps in the direction of where a certain animal or group of animals were last seen, and Wez and Kaiser (the tracker) would look for signs of recent animal tracks. When a ranger comes across a sighting, he radios out to the other groups to let them know. If they are in the area, they can either come to the spoting or request a stand-by (only 2 jeeps are allowed around a group of animals at any time).
We'd drive for a few hours, then stop for tea, coffee and hot chocolate (along with delicious cookies) out in the bush. We'd drive for a while longer, then come back to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast, we had a number of options. On 2 mornings, we went for bush walks. Another morning we went down by the watering hole to a special blind that's been set up. Our first morning, however, we chose to take advantage of the quiet and sleep!
Lunch is at 1:00, and we had the afternoons free until 4:00, when we would meet again for tea and leave for the afternoon game drive by 4:30 or 4:45. After a few hours, we'd stop again for sundowners and snacks in the bush and enjoy the settling dusk. We'd get back to the lodge aroun 8:00, shower and change for dinner, usually around 9. At dinner, everyone is seated at one long table and it's a wonderful opportunity to get to know the other guests at the lodge. After dinner, and possibly some drinks at the bar, we'd head for bed exhausted but ready to do it all again the next day.
Wez is a fantastic ranger. We'd stop for all creatures great (rhino, elephant, lion) and small (spiders, mongoose, birds). His enthusiasm for the bush and all of the creatures that live in it is catching and we came away with a renewed sense of awe and appreciation of God's creation.
Any wonder why this was our second trip in 13 months?

Africa Part 3- Ulusaba

2006-04-25T18:15:00.000+07:00

We left Cape Town the next morning and flew back to Johannesburg (Joberg) where we rented a car and drove about 5 hours to Ulusaba, Richard Branson's private game reserve in the Sabi Sands Reserve, on the border of Kruger National Park. We were at Ulusaba last March, and returning felt like coming home.
Ulusaba is an amazing place. Since I can only post 5 pictures at a time here, I thought I'd first show you some pictures of the actual resort. Ulusaba has 2 lodges- Safari Lodge and Rock Lodge. Safari Lodge is located close to the dam, so there are always animals walking past the lodge on their way to water. Most of the lodge is up on stilts, and everything is connected by rope bridges. It is not uncommon to come out out of your room and see Elephants, Impala, Babboons, or other animals making their way through the bush. In fact, all of the rooms at Ulusaba have interior latches- so the babboons can't open the doors and steal the stuff inside! We spent 2 nights at Safari Lodge and then moved to Rock Lodge for 2 nights. Rock Lodge is, as the name suggets, perched high on a rock offering spectacular panoramic views of the bush. This time, we stayed in a suite, complete with its own plunge pool on the balcony. Derek says he prefers Rock Lodge to Safari Lodge, but I don't know that I can say if I have a preference. The bottom line is, any room at Ulusaba is better than nothing!
I'll tell you about our game drives in the next posting.

Africa Part 2- Penguins!

2006-04-22T13:09:00.000+07:00

While on the boat, we talked with some people who are temporarily working in Cape Town and asked them what we should see in the 12 hours we had free. "Go see the penguins! You have to see the penguins!" He told us the town where they were, we found it on the map, and off we went. After getting a little lost, we finally find the town and followed the signs with Penguins on them to a National Park called The Boulders. If I remember correctly, there are 4 species of penguins in the world, and one of them, found only in this one part of South Africa, are called African Penguins (go figure!).
While at The Boulders, we ran into a Thai tour group that we had sat close to on the airplane. What a small world! As we passed them, Derek said "Sawaddi kap" (hello in Thai) which gave them a bit of a start. For the rest of the trip, we kept looking out for the Thais, convinced that we were going to run into them over and again. However, the rest of the vacation was Thai-free. We drove back to Cape Town, stopped and ate at a McDonald's (Derek has eaten at McDonald's in every country he's traveled to) and spent the night at a hotel by the airport so we could easily make our 9am flight back to Johannesburg the next morning.

Africa Part 1- Great White Shark Dive

2006-04-18T22:01:00.000+07:00

We left for South Africa on Friday afternoon Thailand time and landed in Johannesburg on Friday afternoon SA time. From Joberg we took another plane to Cape Town, then drove 2 hours west to Gansbaai, a small town on the coast. We found the crewhouse that serves at the headquarters for the dive company and would be our sleeping quarters for the evening. Liz, one of the administrative staff, reccomended a restaurant in town- Farango's, where we had a lovely dinner and were surprised to find several thai options on the menu! After our late lunch/early dinner, we came back to the crewhouse where we were asleep by about 7:30.

The next morning came bright and early. We met the rest of the people who were going to be on the boat with us (about 15 in all) and had our briefing. The night before Derek and I watched a video from another trip, so we had an idea of what we were getting ourselves into- and were still willing to go! We boarded the boat and made the 20 minute trip out in the bay, close to "Seal Island" and "Shark Alley."

The crew cut up huge chunks of tuna to chum the water. The sharks are attracted to the fish oil from the tuna that is released in the water. After a few minutes, a HUGE shark took the bait and started swimming around the boat. It was amazing to watch this creature swim under and around the boat looking for the tuna. I still couldn't believe that I was going to get in the water with that thing!

We let the shark get used to the boat and the cage, and then Derek and I and 3 other suckers suited up in wetsuits and dropped down into a rectangle steel cage that was in the water tied to the boat. The water was SO COLD- it took me about 5 minutes to calm down and relax. We would wait at the surface while the crew chummed the water. We weren't using regulators (the bubbles scare the sharks) so we could only stay under for as long as we could hold our breath. When they saw a shark coming, Tthey would tell us "OK, go down and look to your right!" and we would. It was really something to be under water in a cage less than a foot away from these gigantic creatures- looking them right in the eye.

After 20 or 30 minutes, we were cold and climbed back in the boat to let the other members of the group have a turn and to warm up a bit. When they were finished, Derek and I got back in the water (now I know I'm certifiable!), which seemed even more freezing than before. We stayed for a few sightings, and I kept telling myself, "One more, and I'm coming up." They spotted another shark and we went down in the cage. The chum was floating right by the cage (in front of Derek's head) and the shark, in an attempt to get to it, managed to bite the cage and get his fin stuck in the steel bar. We sat there watching it struggle to get free, literally inches from our bodies, and then finally swim off. What a sight! I decided it was as close as I needed to EVER get to a shark and I climbed out of the cage after it was gone!

When everyone was done we took a trip to Seal Island, home to thousands of seals and surrounded by Shark Alley. Here the sharks just wait for a injured seal who isn't fast enough getting out of the water and just pick them off one by one. You might have seen it on TV before. It was cool to see so many seals, but the smell was absolutely terrible. Seals are cute, but too many in one place make for one nasty scent in the air!

We came back to land satisfied at the start of our African Adventure and excited about the 8 days that lay ahead.

We're Off!

2006-04-07T15:28:00.000+07:00

We're going on vacation- back to South Africa. We'll be back April 18th with plenty of stories and pictures to share. Happy Songkran (Thai New Year)!

Willy Wonka and Me

2006-04-06T09:25:00.000+07:00

Yesterday I went with the AWC on a visit to the Duc de Praslin Chocolaterie. We started the day with a chocolate set (2 croissant, coffee or hot chocolate, and 2 pieces of chocolate) then had a tour of the facilities by the owner. We had a great time and learned a lot. Because he has to maintain a high sanitation level in the factory, we all had to don these lovely coats, masks and shoe covers. Walking through the factory, we were reminded of that classic episode from "I Love Lucy." While we didn't see any conveyor belts going haywire, we did see chocolate eggs, mini tart crusts, and pieces of white chocolate that are used for decoration being made. We then had a chocolate tasting and got to sample different types of chocolate to taste how levels of cocoa changes the flavor. Afterwards, we went for lunch and, I think for probably the first time in my life, I refused a chocolate dessert! Who knew!

The Royal Barge Museum

2006-04-03T21:10:00.000+07:00

After visitng the Temple of Dawn, Pak told us that we were close to the Royal Barge museum, so we decided to go and check it out. However, like the temple, the museum is best arrived at by River Taxi, a fact we quickly realized. We parked on the side of a street under the expressway and found the "entrance" for the museum. Basically, we walked through a maze of small, somewhat run down houses-definitely off the beaten path and not a place where tourists usually wander around. It seemed like we were headed to nowhere, but every wall we came to had a sign clearly telling us the way to the museum.
We finally reached the museum which houses the collection of the Thai royal barges (duh!). We just walked in then entrance and made our way around the museum. The barges are long ornamental boats used in ceremonial processions on the river. The King's barge is the most important, and was not there because it's being prepped for the barge ceremony that will happen in June (a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the King's ascension to the throne).
On the way out of the museum, we saw a sign that read "Entrance fee- 50 baht. Camera Fee- 100 baht. Video Camera Fee- 200 baht." Oops! We never paid, and no one ever asked us for money. I guess that's one advantage of not coming in the way that tourists usually come!

I've Got Rhythm

2006-03-30T17:17:00.000+07:00

For the past 3 days I've been taking a training course on Photoshop in an office on Silom Road (basically the business district in Bangkok). Today as we were getting ready to leave for lunch we heard drums coming from the street. Because of the current political climate (protests about the Prime Minister if you don't watch international news) we automatically assumed that a protest was gathering in the street below us. So, what do we do? We run downstairs to get a better view! Downstairs we found a group of men banging on drums in the back of a pickup truck parked at the curb with women handing out fans and holding large signs- it was looking promising. However, we soon realized that, instead of protesting, they were promoting some cell phone service or something. It was probably for the best that we weren't swept up in some larger-than-life protest, given that we only had 30 minutes for lunch before the class began again!
On a different note, Derek was caught up in one of the protest marches this weekend. They were in front of the building where his Tae Kwon Do class meets, and the only way out was to walk with the crowd until he came to our street. He took pictures with his camera phone, but we can't seem to get them off the phone and onto the computer (a lot of good that does us!). If we ever figure it out, we'll let you know.

Wat Arun- The Temple of Dawn

2006-03-27T15:20:00.000+07:00

The other day we ventured across the river to one of the few tourist attractions "over there," Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn. Wat Arun was named after the Indian god of dawn, Aruna. Ironically, it is most spectacular when viewed from the river not at dawn, but at sunset. We decided to drive to the wat, and quickly discovered that it's much better to take a river taxi. Just getting across the river took about an hour. Our driver kept double backing to find an alternate route trying to avoid the inevitable traffic jams. Our first route took us by the train station and I said to Derek, "Look, there's the train station!" Our second route took us even closer to the train station, as did our 3rd and 4th routes. I couldn't help but think of "Look kids, Big Ben!" from National Lampoon's European Vacation! We eventually made it across and to the temple grounds.
The temple itself is quite spectacular and different from the other places we've been. It has one main prang (a phallic shaped tower) where people can climb up a ways to get a great view of the river. The temple is covered with a mosaic of broken chinese porcelean, and there are unique offerings in every nook and cranny. The temple grounds are filled with some rather unique sculptures- some of which we had never seen before and had to take a second look!
We slept in on this morning, and didn't leave the house until around noon. So, by the time we actually reached Wat Arun, we were in the heat of the day, with temps reaching about 40 degrees celsius ( a little over 100). It was HOT HOT HOT, but well worth the visit.