Lime Green

So, you know you are teaching in a tropical climate when you can wear lime green linen pants to school and no body takes a second look.

I survived and absolutely loved the ultimate frisbee game that I joined after school. It's a bunch of teachers who get together to play pick-up. We can play M-W-F but I think I will only play once/week...too many other things to do.

This is the klong running initiation group. Also known as "Let's show the newbies where to go so that they don't get lost...again". How about the motorcycle taxi guys getting in on our picture?

Of course, like anything here, the activity ends at the market. I think the whole city is actually one big connected market...amazing though.

Our route.....

Option A: Left side no barrier

Option B: Right side with barrier.

We took option B.

The boat has a car motor running it.

I signed up for the Bangkok 1/2 Marathon in November which starts at 5am to beat the and traffic. They close the roads so I guess they need to finish up early. There are a few people running one race or another so it will be easy finding people to run with if I want.

Getting Locked Out

On my way home on Monday,I  met Vince surpassing the speed limit on his "too small but stretched out as far as possible" bike on his way to the club to work out. After a short chat we head on our separate ways, me home for a cup of tea and catch up on some work and him to sweat it out. The word sweat takes on a whole new meaning here. I got home, tried to open the door and my key wouldn't even go in....Vince came to the rescue with his key and cape.....his didn't work either. A call to our really nice landlord, a 3 hour wait and a 5 minute locking-picking job by a local locksmith got us in. Something about the way we turned the key....high security but you have to be careful...unless of course you are the locksmith. She called three before she found someone who would work on it but we did find out that there is no way to break into our place.....silver lining?

I swam after work today and was walking back from the pool through campus so I thought I'd share some pics.

Lots of greenery and courtyards like this.

Cafeteria. there are three Elementary, Middle School and High School but since the lunches are different, people eat wherever they want.

The wall on the left is matched by one on the right and they serve anything you can imagine. This is fast food the healthy way. There are french fries but it took until today for me to see someone with them.

My classroom from the Elementary cafeteria. 

Where I park my bike everyday...same spot so I don't lose it. It's usually packed during the day.

Great news....you can now find us on google maps using Muban Bua Khao - Soi 72, Min Buri. It's teh viallge name beside us and we are a new complex. 

The funniest saying I heard from a boy today with regards to the fact that he was still sweating profusely in my class after playing soccer at lunch."Ms Bridget, can I please go and get a drink, I feel like fried chicken".

If You Can Bake Everything is A-Okay

So, if you know me at all, you know that I like to cook and bake and I was not at all familiar with the mini-size oven that sits on the counter in our semi-outdoor kitchen. Baking in not really a Thai thing so I had to go on a hunt to find pans etc. which I eventually found. I then convinced myself that if a microwave/convection oven's manual says it can bake then I should believe that it is true. 

Check out the banana bread! This is an amazing machine; completely energy efficient and works like a charm. I wonder if I can fit one in my suitcase?

Mini-oven-only 20 inches wide on the outside.

The final product. There were 6 muffins but Vince and I could hardly contain ourselves so they didn't last long.

I may even try to make some bread. It's all outside so the heat makes no difference at all. Flour etc all come in small bags but we have heard there is a "place" where you can get bulk. That's for another adventurous day.

We Have Been Here One Month and I Ran on the Klong

It is hard to believe that we have been in Thailand for a whole month but then we  look back and easily remember the first few days when we knew nothing at all about our surroundings, jobs had not started and we hardly knew anyone...and those we did know were also new. The welcoming and friendliness of the staff from years past has been nothing by incredible and spouses of teachers are always included in events from social to ultimate frisbee. We have not tried it yet but I plan to on Monday.

We were waiting around to go out for supper on Thursday and it just wouldn't stop raining so we cut up all of the fruit we had which actually made for a delicious little snackish thing. The left is a purple jackfruit (many have a white flesh) and although I like it, I really still expect it to taste like beetroot.

The news of our cycling escapade got around a bit so some very gracious runners suggested we run the route to Sammakon on Sunday morning to become more familiar with it. We saw where we went wrong; We turned right at the first mosque and it was supposed to be the second mosque. Who knew there would be two mosques on the route? We were passed by two giggling boys on their bike who looked like they were late for Saturday prayers. They fly along like it's nothing. The route was actually 5 km which ended with a visit to a coffee shop for smoothies which were amazing. We all ordered a different flavour and when the owner brought them over we gave our best "kop kun ka" (thank you)  and had a silent laugh....they were all identical. There is a saying here that goes like this "Order what you want, and eat what you get." It pretty much sums it up.
We followed it up with a visit to the Saturday market and then opted to take the bus back home. The bus was easy and another first for me.

No pics for that one.....next time I'll run with my camera.

I got home just in time to see Vince as he was leaving to go down to a mall to run a few errands so I showered and jumped in the taxi with him. We actually went down to Bang Kapi Mall where we stayed when we first got to Bangkok.

You have to go through the market to get to the mall, which is funny. They were just setting up when we got there.

I still cannot get over the size of these malls.

Nice little coffee area.

We bought a bus guide so that we can get around easily. Public transport is cheap and effective here. The good thing is that if you get lost there is always a taxi to take you home.

The Long Version....My Day Trying To Get To Sammakon

So, you got Vince's side of the story. I left to give him a quiet day, which he did have until we got lost. On of the girls has a really good sense of direction and we probably should have gone with her gut instinct. Taking Vicne's phone with the GPS would have been a great idea too:)

How hard can it be to find a mooban (suburb/village) which is a 20 min bike ride up the busy street? Why we did not enlist the help of a seasoned klonger , I don't know but I have two lined up this week. 

So, it went like this....

Kay, Becky and I met up and went to the bridge in Perfect Place where we knew that we could get on the klong. We got that part right but when we got on it was pretty narrow with no rails but we could see rails on the otehr side which was the general direction we wanted to go. Directions were "up the klong (one of many) then turn right at the mosque (also one of many).

We started about 100 ft to the left of the green building shown below. Check out the retro bikes!

Some of it looked like this with a rail on one side.....

Some wider with no rail....

Others that you could fall of both sides but still fairly wide but don't let the width fool you. It is still damn narrow and we all had our seats set so that we could easily put our feet down.

So, why not add a pipe to the pathway on one side? We walked it because it was too easy to hit the pedal on the pipe and we didn't like the outcome. We saw a huge lizard run under the path at on point....eesh.

Left or right?

Obstacles are everywhere and scooters are found all over the pathways. We wondered how one would make it through here. had to cross the huge busy road ahead which I found out later was our own neighbouring Ramkanhaeng. This might have been the beginning of our getting lost. We knew that we could always jump in a taxi anyway.

Huh? 

Felt like we were walking into someones house but we were assured it was correct.

A little rickety?

The silver lining. I could never find this again but it was interesting seeing it being built. 

The beautiful, wide cycling path along the wide San Saep Canal. this was much more doable and we will try and find out how to get to it more easily. Theoretically it is close by where we live.

A car, a scooter and a pedestrian (Becky). All win.

so wide.......so nice

More canal

The klong taxi stop at Sammakon....we must be close.

Seriously? A flat today?

So, yes, I did get a flat tire and I have absolutely nothing with me, unlike my amazing adventurer nephew, Luke, who would have the whole bike rebuilt in under 5 minutes. For those who don't know, he is solo bike riding the BAM road in Siberia as we speak....which makes our klong look like child's play:)  I digress.... 

I consider myself very lucky that it happened in Sammakon and that they did have a bike shop which is usually any shop that has rubber anything hanging from the rafters. It is usually a motorcycle shop with a few bikes. They were really nice and quickly took my back wheel off which is a pain because it has a fender and a stand (cool factor). Once apart thay found that the tire was partly shredded which is probably from one of the gigantic mutant snail shells that I rode over. The tube had about 6 patches on it so I was in for a tire, which they had, and a tube which they had to go an get. We understood 5 minutes, which turned to ten. We ate an ice-cream, chatted some more and went back and were "charaded" that in 5 min someone would go on the motorcycle to get the tube. Still nothing happened until a man visiting the store translated it to 5pm....it was 3pm. We knew the way home from here was a 20 min ride along a busy road but I told them to go and I would be fine...still had taxi option. So, went back and tried to ask why 5 pm...then I realized that the store closed at 5 pm and only then was he going to go to the store, get the tube and fix the bike. I offered to go...and was more than willing to fix it. In the end, the owner realized that I did not live so close and took off down the road to get a few tubes etc.. so that I could be on my way. 

My Myanmar buddy taking the tire off. While we waited for the boss to come back he pointed out all of the farangs (Westerners). Okay, so there were only 5 in an hour but it passed the time. 

Bike/motorcycle store

Sammakon Mansion

 My ride home

So, we all made it home in one piece and I have organized to go for a run on Thursday with one girl I work with and to join another group on Saturday to get an informed look at the waterways. All a learning experience...always fun. 

Not a regular weekend

Vince here...

Friday night the school had a get together to welcome new RIS teachers at the Grand Four Wings Hotel. It was quite a swank place that makes the Queen Elizabeth look like a 2 star. The food was fantastic and since our diet staple was rice we of course engorged on all the good food. And don't forget the drinks were flowing as well. There were tickets for drinks but half way through the evening the bartenders really did not care anymore and served it up. A great night.

Saturday, Bridget and I had a trip to Ikea and then Fashion Island Mall to meet one of my business associates for lunch. We found a nice Japanese restaurant, and of course tried several dishes, many of which I had not encountered before and a Japanese beers (just being social).

How about an impromptu party... yeh sure, just gather 5 other couples and away we go..so by 7 pm were on to mohitos, Chang, Singha and San Song Rum.  We all need to eat so, after waiting out a torrential downpour, we jumped on a scooter went down to the local market picked up fried chicken, salad, roast pork, and even more chicken.  After all it was a meat and beer party!!

Early Sunday, all this caught up to me and spent the day in bed (or in the other favourite room in the house !!). But not without any entertainment. Bridget and two other ladies wanted to ride their bikes along the klongs (canals). They started out at our village at 10 am heading to Sammakon about a 10 km ride.  About noon the first call came, "we are lost". A quick Google search revealed they were too far so after a few minutes I text them the map... Another call, "Still lost". Then I noticed that I incorrectly market their location, soi (street) 35 not close to soi 36!! So after some discussion they found their way to Sammakon.. ring, ring... made it safely to Sammakon.  2:30 pm ring ring... I have a flat tire but found a bike shop..will be on my way soon... next call, five minutes now understood to be 5 pm to fix bike. Eventually owner gets tube and tire and fixes Bridget's bike, the others are already home.  I text Bridget to turn right on the highway.. OMG she turned left ! After her course direction she found her way home albeit a few hours late.  Does this sound like a typical Bridget ride!! and my stomach still hurts...

And now the real story..

A vist to Ikea and Fashion Island Mall.....sure go ahead and laugh

Finally, we decided it was time to head to Ikea and buy some things for the house that are not necessarily found in regular Thai stores: measuring cups/spoons, mixing bowl, pan and basically the ingredients to bake with. Oh yeah, we splurged and upped our cup/mug/glass count from 4 to 8 because we have friends coming over and well, we didn't think it would sound right to say please bring you own glass....oh, and yeh, while you're at it bring a plate too. Our whole kitchen still fits into one cupboard but we can at at least entertain. Regular knives are not that regular....so thanks, Ikea. And by the way, yes, you can fit table, two people and 8 bags in a taxi.

We headed home, dropped off our stuff, kept the taxi driver thanks to my fluent Thai (ha, ha), and took the same driver out to Fashion Island Mall where Vince had a meeting with a colleague which actually turned into a nice lunch with his family. We did the final grocery hunt for baking supplies and weird flavoured chips to feed the two preteens coming over tonight and the spent 30 min looking for the exit where the taxi's wait. Seriously, these malls are so huge that you can walk forever. Again, I fluently asked for directions and we eventually got outside, in what was now a torrential downpour. I was so proud of myself because I actually said "Ramkhamhaeng neung roy jet sip see" which is our address (174 Ramkhamhaeng) and she understood......yeah! Ramkhamhaeng is actually a long road out of the city centre and 174 is the road that we take down to our place. So, a few words and directions are needed from there...I have to find out how to say "keep going for 2 km"....need to see my Thai friend on Monday or launch ITranslate which I have heard works well.

Waiting in line for a taxi. I know it doesn't look like it but it is pouring.

The toilet in the mall. No, I am not weird but look at the arm.....it is blown up below. 

Go ahead....zoom in. The cadillac of toilets.

Finally found flour today but wondering why there is a frog on the package.

The next few pictures are of our townhouse. Our hearts are with our families and friends but this is where we lay our heads.

Living room

Eating area

Kitchen #1

and through the door to the second part of the kitchen where I very successfully cooked brownies tonight with the microwave/convection oven which is amazing and powerful. We had a few friends over and they were a big hit....North American treats are usually appreciated.

The sink very far away which is why I hope through the window to get to it.

The whole first floor....yes, as small (cozy) as it looks but perfect for us. 

Ouur walkin closet aka third bedroom.

Our bedroom. Those big things are called bolsters and are on  all beds. not really sure why.

Vince's office which will become the visitors room if any of you come and stay. Hey, it has AC and we will move the desk.

Our front hallway. Everyone takes shoes off when they go inside buildings. That's the table we fit in the taxi today. So it's really a driveway/eating area.