Currently Blogging from Bangkok

GW Visits Bangkok

"I love freedom"

"I really love freedom"

I shook his hand and he actually talked to me and a friend of mine, here is the transcript of our conversation:

GW: Where do you guys work?
Me: Uh... Our husbands work at the embassy.
GW: How's this? Young brides in Bangkok
Me: Awkward Laugh
GW: So is there a good community here?
Me: Yes, great community
GW: Do you like it?
Me: Yes

Then he was moving on and everyone was pushing me forward so I apologized for being in his face and he said "It's OK, you're going to get squished"

President Werberg

Sam standing at the podium right after the President delivered a speech.

Songkran

Just a little taste of the holiday that is keeping us close to home for 5 days. Basically a big water fight.

5 Year Anniversary

Dinner at Vertigo, on the roof of the 61st floor.

Into the Jungle...

Satisfied Customers

Lots more pictures to come of the trip to Phuket, but here is the Valerius crew after their elephant trek.

Feeding the Elephants

Pete, Tony and Annie Touring the Temples in Ayutthaya

Valerius' First Day in Bangkok

The First Canal Boat Ride


Ringing Bells at the Golden Mount

At the Reclining Buddha

At Wat Arun

Wat Arun

These are some steep stairs!

Wat Arun

Welcome To My Store

I Wouldn't Want To Have To Climb Down That Ladder

In The News

Today's Election

Loy Krathong Festival

Click HERE to learn more about Loy Krathong

The Teak Mansion and Grounds (Residence of Rama V in the early 1900s)

Casey had to wear an art smock and Brian had to wear some funny pants in order to go on a tour of the Mansion.






"Traditional Thai Style House"



Parliament




Scary Lizard on the lawn in front of the fountain

Wat Pho "The Reclining Buddha"

The oldest and largest temple in Bangkok.

I Saw This Funny Looking Group of Tourists Down in the Subway

T-Shirts

I've become obsessed with reading the t-shirts that people wear here because so many of them have text and so many times that text is quite amusing. Some that I have see recently:

Lost Boyfriend, Please Call
My Mom is Hotter Than Your Mom
Bring HER Too
Squeeze Me
Just Did It, In Thailand (with Nike logo)
Just Do Me (with Nike logo)
It's Better Topless
Here's To All The Kisses I've Snatched
Don't Look At Me Just Because I'm Good Looking
I Seem To Have Misplaced My Boyfriend
I Can Only Please One Person A Day

And the most common one that I see, including on an American teen on vacation with her parents,

No Money, No Honey

Just Plain Weird

Sam was in a charity bowling tournament over the weekend for the Red Cross. For his participation he got this "commemorative" mug. It looks more to me like a memento from spring break.

Progress?

There has been tons of construction going on on our street. As part of the process they have been tearing up the street and working on the drainage system. As you can see they have made some great progress...

I'm a Winner!

I never win anything but yesterday I entered a trivia raffle contest and won two tickets to a tennis match at the Thai Open. Of course about 20 other people that Sam works with also won but I was still happy. Supposedly we are going to see Andy Roddick play. So on top of winning something it is for something that I actually enjoy so it was a good day.

Kids are Funny

Sam gave a presentation at a school today for 8-15 year olds. He opened with an "American Culture" quiz. For one of the questions he had a picture of FDR and asked the kids who it was. One kid anxiously raised his hand and answered, "Grandpa" When he showed the next picture of MLK the same kid answered, "Your Friend" After his presentation he asked the kids if they had any questions, the only two questions he got were "Why are you here?" and "When is your birthday?"

Another Scary Construction Site

For some reason Sam and I always end up living right by construction sites. Last night we looked out our front window to see this... It was more frightening to watch in person, believe me.

Let the Spoiling Begin...

Sam has been hounding me to get a massage pretty much since we got off the plane. So yesterday I finally decided to try a place that is right downstairs from us. I got a one hour foot massage, that even finished off with a little head, neck, shoulder work, for $7 (including a 20% tip!), not a bad deal. This might have to become part of the weekly routine. Maybe that's a bit excessive, bi-weekly could probably work.

Better Than Business Class

Even before we came to Thailand we heard from numerous people that the movie theaters here area pretty amazing. Last night Sam and I were finally able to see for ourselves. We figured since we don't get out much we had to splurge and go VIP. We thought the tickets were VIP seats in a regular theater but it turned out the whole theater was VIP. So the tickets were about $18 each but SO worth it.

First we got to go to the VIP lounge which has magazines and massage chairs plus you get a complimentary coffee, tea, coke, sprite or fanta and a couple of little pastry cookies. If you want a diet coke though, you have to pay for that. Then you get ushered to your seats. Our theater had about 30 seats total and they are all very spread out so you feel like you have a lot of privacy. Our seating area (I call it that because our two seats were really like one big one) even had sheer curtains on both sides. So the chairs are FULLY reclining and you also get a blanket and a pillow!! So basically it's like watching a movie in your nice cozy bed. You can also order popcorn and things and have them brought to you, which of course we did because we could.

There has to be at least one weird experience though and that was when before the movie starts they play the National Anthem, complete with a photo montage of the King, and we all have to stand up.

I'm not sure how often we'll get out to movies but I don't think I can go back to those non-VIP seats.

Only in Bangkok...

Sam and I each had an "Only in Bangkok" moment yesterday.

Mine : Our maid brought me FOUR dozen roses.
Sam's : He got a waffle from a street vendor and was asked what he wanted on it, Raisins, Ham or Corn.

In the News

I can't wait until I get to witness THIS first hand! Oh, nevermind, they say they won't have to do it in public... but it's still funny.

Random

Today Sam interviewed someone who is going to Racine, Wisconsin of all places. It is a very small world...

Wedding

Last night we went to a wedding reception for one of Sam's co-workers (the first time we have left Ava with a babysitter) Her husband is Chinese so the dinner was served in that style, communal dishes on a table that spins around. It was an interesting menu.

Hors D'Oeuvres (mostly seafood)
Shark's Fin Soup with Crab Meat
Suckling Pig
(the whole pig on the platter but only the fat and the fried skin, the meat was served separately)
Braised Goose Leg
Fried River Prawn
Pomfret with Special Sauce
Stir Fried Egg Noodle
Fish Maw Soup
Hot Gingko Nuts

Sam tried everything of course and I had some noodles and some nuts, oh yeah, and a piece of wedding cake.

Most of the traditions were very similar to American weddings, toasts, cutting of the cake, throwing the bouquet. As far as differences, the evening started with a slide-show from pictures of the bride and groom each as children through their five years together and ending with a bunch of wedding photos that were taken before the wedding. The toasts were given by each of their work supervisors which was a little different and there was also a little question/answer session that was cute and something we don't typically see.

Fruit

Sam and I are slowly working our way through the never before seen fruit of Thailand. Take a look at a guide HERE
So far we have had Pomelo, Rambutan and Rose Apple (not counting the fruit that isn't really exotic to us, pineapple, orange, etc.)

Another tasting, the Dragonfruit. It's white inside with lots of black seeds. The taste is similar to a kiwi.

Guide

For all those planning to come see us in Thailand I'm working on a VISITOR GUIDE
I will probably continue to make changes to it so I will leave a link on the left.

Yum!

To read more about my current favorite restaurant click HERE
I can already predict which visitors will go for the "Margarita by the Yard" (you know who you are...)

Where To Draw The Line?

All of the U.S. products that I indulged in while we were in Kuwait somehow ended up being $7.00. I remember at the time thinking it was so insane that they could sell things for that price and even more insane that we were willing to pay that! I guess I just explained why they can sell them for that price, suckers like us. A package of turkey bacon or a box of cereal are two prime examples. I think I even wrote about this on my "10 Things I Won't Miss About Kuwait" list. Well here in Bangkok it seems that all those $7.00 products are $10.00! I guess I draw the line at 7 and won't get to eat turkey bacon for the next two years (at least they have pork here so it isn't as big of a sacrifice).

Lesson Learned, Again

For some reason I keep thinking I can't be lazy and have to try and walk at least a little bit. Today I just wanted to make a quick trip to the grocery store, seems easy enough. I still worry about Ava in the heat so I decided to take the tuk-tuk to the store and to walk home, baby steps. Getting there was a breeze, I picked up stuff for dinner without too much hassle, it's still hard for me to find things in the store but I'm getting better. So we step outside for the six or so block walk home and in block one it starts to rain, just a few drops, by block two it's pouring. As soon as the puddles begin to form, block three, Ava's hat flies off and lands in one. Block four and five we're relatively safe just a little wet, block six, puddles are getting bigger, a truck comes flying by and gets a nice big splash that completely soaks my entire left leg (some people get a big kick out of that). Every time I tell myself I have to get out of the house more and motivate to do so I come home thinking tomorrow I'm staying in, maybe I'll try again in a couple days...

Typical Afternoon

Pretty much every afternoon now it pours and our street floods.

First Tourist Attraction

We took a trip to the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The Palace was once a royal residence but is only used on occasion by the King today. There was a lot of beautiful architecture but we could only give it all a quick once over since we didn't want to keep Ava out in the heat for too long. I have a feeling with all the visitors on the schedule we may go back once or twice.

Tour Of Our New Place

Front Entrance	As you walk in this bathroom is to your left	Living Room and Dining Room from the Front Entrance
From the window side of the apartment	Family Room from the Dining Room. The Guest Bedroom is on the other side of that wall and the Kitchen is through the door on the left.	Family Room
From the Guest Bedroom	From the Family Room	Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom closets	Master Bath with bathtub and shower	Guest Bedroom
Guest Bedroom closets	Guest Bath	Nice big Kitchen, Sam's happy!
		Pictures of Ava's room can be found on her blog.

Views From Our New Apartment

Best Deal Around

I've always been a big fan of soft serve ice-cream from fast food restaurants. It's not something I would get often but every once in a while it just hits the spot. I have to admit I've been roped into indulging more often here because who could resist it at 26 cents a pop!

Thoughts This Week

Instead of looking both ways three or so times before crossing, just don't cross. There are some walkover bridges and that is definitely the way to go.

Police officers are very friendly and very helpful here. On a number of occasions we have had traffic stopped for us. So if we can't find a bridge we just look for a police officer.

In a city this big it is very likely that a taxi driver won't know how to get where you want to go. Of course that poses a problem since I have no idea how to get anywhere.

The concept of having steps up to an escalator amuses me greatly.

Being able to say "hello" and "thank you" in Thai is really appreciated, which is nice since that's all I can say.

When people talk to Ava the two most common things they say, in Thai, are "cute" and "peek-a-boo"

I really, really, REALLY hate dial-up.

I like being able to get the Sunday NYT crossword on Saturday.

Not A Job I Would Want

Rainbow o' Taxis

Safe Sex

We had our first meal out at a place called "Cabbages and Condoms". After we got our food Ava was taken away from us by our waitress and passed around among other workers. We have heard this is very common but it will definitely take me some time to get used to it. Of course Ava didn't mind at all, she is going to get used to having a lot of attention here that's for sure. Here are examples of some of the decor (all condoms and birth control pill packets in case you can't tell).

Sam's Street

Wireless Road

Here are a couple views from an overpass on the street we are living on for the next couple of weeks.

By Popular Demand

In the News

Yellow Shirts

Can't Wait

Interesting article/slideshow on street vendors in Bangkok

Where to next?

We just found out that in May of 2007 we will be headed to BANGKOK for two years. Of course we feel very lucky to have gotten our very first choice. We will spend about a year in Arlington for training before we go. It will be a different experience from Kuwait in many ways I'm sure but one that we are really looking forward to!

Click here to read more about the experiences people have had in Thailand.