December 2009
28 posts
Current Playlist
1. Danny’s Song-Kenny Loggins
2. Silent Night-Johnny Cash
3. Carolina In My Mind- James Taylor
4. Silver Bells- Rockapella
5. The Wind- Cat Stevens
6. O Holy Night- Il Divo
7. Fast Car- Tracy Chapman
8. The First Noel- Josh Groban
“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of...”
– Samuel Johnson
Silverlake Winery
Siri Update
Well, Siri has been going with us everywhere for the past two weeks! She is the cutest little “pain in the butt.” I have gotten really attached, of course, and am contemplating how crazy it would be to send her home to Okie. If that is too impossible, we will have to find her a home, and that would be a VERY hard thing (for me to let go). We are about to go on our Christmas vacation...
Santa Wears Sunglasses, Its true.
This past weekend was pretty mellow. We spent a lot of our time finalizing our itinerary for our trip for Christmas. Here’s the final plan:
For 5 days we are going to Chiang Mai, the second largest city in the north of Thailand, to experience the lush landscapes, elephant camps, and orchid farms. After that, we are flying down to Adaman Coast and staying on Kata beach in Phuket (with day trips...
Call Us Regis and Kelly
For the past couple of weeks our school has been rehearsing really hard for our Christmas performance on December 24th. We were informed a couple days ago that we would be the MCs for the show! Yes, Sommer and I are going to be ‘in charge’. HA
Oh and did I mention, its TELEVISED?!?
Creepy Crawlers
Before I left for Thailand, I was warned by many to watch what I eat because of the sanitary reputation here. And with food, the health repercussions aren’t worth the risk. Well, I’ve taken the complete opposite approach and have been feasting on these bugs from street vendors. These protein rich snacks really aren’t half bad. Fried to the max and covered in different sauces,...
Caught in the Act!!
I just saw Sommer google “is it legal to fly a dog from thailand to USA”
what did we get ourselves into…???
Vineyards? IN THAILAND?!
It is official. We have been in Thailand for exactly ONE MONTH. Crazy, huh?
Now that we have settled in and even own our own dog, we are fitting in just as locals do. Well, not really. Our looks clearly stand out from the rest and baht bus drivers are frequent to charging us extra for each ride simply because we look different (they call westerners “falangs”. They insist on...
Christmas Time is Near...
This Christmas we have 10 days off from school! Now there’s a Christmas miracle! Because there is still so much to see in Thailand we are taking an epic trek to the north in Chiang Mai to experience the colder weather, elephant riding, and small hilltown tribes and then flying to the south to Phuket and island hopping to Ko Pi Pi, Krabi, Ko Lanta and demanding to stay in a island hut for at...
Siri Update
Well, that’s it…we are officially hooked! Siri, our new puppy, is the sweetest little thing. Luckily we’ve gotten to spend all weekend with her! She has been everywhere with us, and is very happy! We went to a beautiful vineyard and lake nearby and took her with us, and she had a blast.
Saying hello at the park!
She literally goes everywhere with us…in my purse!
Love,
...
Koreans, Cabbages & Condoms
This past week I had two good friends from Chapman come visit, Billy and Adam. Well, not FROM Chapman…they actually just both finished teaching English in Korea for a year, but we were all friends back in college. After catching up on the Jomtien beach with a couple of domestic beers, we headed to a popular restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. Yes, CONDOMS.
This restaurant is part of the...
Ayutthaya: Temples, Temples and more Temples!
Legends of the Hidden Temple has nothin’ on this!
Monday, we went to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam. It is filled with temples and it also neighboors the Bang Pa Summer Palace.
The Summer Palace was very beautiful. It was about 40 acres, a place where the Royal family used to vacation and entertain in the summers. The grounds were beautiful and very well kept. It was really interesting...
Ayuthaya →
Click on the link above to see the temples of Ayuthaya and the Bang In Pa Palace!
-NIKO
UPDATE: Puppy Love
Alright, now we have lots to catch up on but something out of the ordinary happened today…
LOOK AT OUR NEWEST ROOMATE
On our way home from a day trip to a nearby island with some friends from out of town, we stumbled upon this little pup and 5 other puppies on the side of the road. After much deliberation and confirmation from a nearby restaurant that we could help these dogs…we...
Birthday In Bangkok →
Check out pictures from my Birthday in Bangkok!
-NIKO
23 Years and Counting...
Get ready for this one, cause there is a lot to cover!
My Birthday was this past weekend, well technically, this past week on Friday December 4th. We decided to celebrate it on Saturday December 5th rather than Friday the 4th because work on Friday beat out the possibility of doing anything fun. And according to time differences, Saturday was my birthday in the states. So there!
FRIDAY we...
The King's Felicity Day!
Saturday was the King of Thailand’s birthday, and the day before the King’s birthday is called The Felicity Day, so Friday our school had an assembly and celebration for the King. They brought in nine monks, as well as putting on a show, performed by the students.
The nine monks performed a ceremony, and it is tradition to bring each monk food. So, everyone was to bring food for each...
Pretty in Pink
For the King’s Felicity Day (the day before his birthday, when all celebrations begin) the country designated the color pink for everyone to wear in his honor. We wore pink to work to show our appreciation for him.
LONG LIVE THE KING!
"When Flowers Bloom"
I’m breathing in, I’m breathing out, As flowers bloom. The mountains high, The river aside, They are what I breathe, I fly.
Every morning, the students are brought together for a period of meditation and chant. Thought of by a well known Buddhist monk, this spiritual poem is recited by the students to clear their minds before the school day.
One of the joys of working in a Buddhist...
7 Eleven Heaven
There are over 3,912 branches of 7-Eleven in Thailand.
This chain of convenience stores has become so ubiquitous that it’s not uncommon to see two branches staring at each other from across the street. In fact, so convenient that there is one under our apartment complex.
7-Eleven can be a godsend in the sweltering heat. Sometimes the blast of air-conditioning alone is enough reason to...
Mmm Mmm Good!
Today Niko and I took our usual stroll during our lunch break to one of the vendors on the street. In Thailand, apparently getting anything “to go,” is putting everything into little clear baggies. I ordered some sort of chicken soup with noodles and spice today (couldn’t for the life of me spell it), and it came in five little baggies; one for the broth, one for the meat, one...