Pizza Night

We know it's Wednesday because it's pizza night. I am not sure how this became a tradition but has. The other great thing about Wednesdays is that when I get home the shoes look like this.

And that is due to the fact that we are luck enough to have Prim come to our place 1/week to clean up after Vince....hahahaha....just checking to see if he reads this:). Most people hire someone local for cleaning/cooking/nannies as it adds to the economy. Okay, I'll admit it, I love it! It's a pretty easy job with us-small place and we keep things up to scratch anyway. It will be nice to have her come by when we are away to check on the place also.

I just realized that 5 pairs are mine and two are Vince's....I should learn to share.

Thai fun fact: Every time you buy yogurt, you get 4 little plastic spoons, wrapped in plastic. This is the land of convenience and plastic.

It hasn't rained for a few days now and I hate to jinx it but the rainy season seems like it is coming to a close. I have to say that it was getting a little old when it poured heavily every day for 10 days. We were finally able to try out our solar ovens and cooked s'mores at the end of the day today. For those who missed the post about the ovens etc., the s'mores were peanut butter crackers, individually packaged, strawberry-filled marshmallows and chocolate. We cooked them outside the headmaster's office in the front of the building. Check out that nice blue sky.

Delicious! We figure that we have enough supplies to have one each class for a few weeks. I did have to explain to one of the boys that he should unwrap his marshmallow before heating it.

Some Random Thoughts and Pictures

I don't think it matters how much you like your job-it's still tough getting going after having a great holiday.

I went for a "longer" run this weekend and was determined to find a big loop so that I didn't have to go out and back too many times. I am getting to know parts of the canals quite well but they go on forever and it will take a while before I know all of the intersections, which are in better shape and which are the most scenic.

I have had to clamber over this bridge a couple of times. It's fine but it sways a bit in the middle.

The underpasses are a bit creepy only because they are dark and a bit dingy. Fortunately they don't last long.

Underpasses make great protection for a boat storage.

That pipe on the left is a bonus if an extra wide load is coming the other way. 

We call this "the park" but not sure why. It should be "the swamp" but it is a landmark on our travels.

 My buddy the goat-see him often.

Landmarks are often "turn left at the mosque". It helps to know what a mosque looks like. Speakers along the entire walkway announce the call to prayer.

Probably the most dangerous thing to happen is to smack your head on low hanging bananas. It has happened and it's embarrasing.

I have to say, I was surprised. That's $3.60 by the way. Almost anything is available at a price.

They shrunk the eggplants.

and stretched the beans.

Cucumber on the right....cooked the one on the left.

Lesson learned...do not put coconut milk in the fridge. How much fat is in it for it to be solid like that? 

I found a new route today on my bike.....open fields and in the far distance are the two towers of a mosque. They are a good visual for those of use who get disoriented.

Areas are having trees removed-probably for more building.

 Tearing up the trees....this was recent.

Look closely and you can see the machinery tearing up the trees etc. This neat old spot with the fence will probably be torn down by tomorrow. It looks like they were working their way down. 

Backpack Surprise.....Bali cont'd

We were getting ready to leave one morning and Colby was sure she saw a snake in her backpack...check out the video.

He made and offering to the snake and sprinkled salt everywhere. He didn't come back but we were all a little nervous after that. We are pretty sure it was a Jali or a Rat snake. But then again, I have a hard time naming vegetables here.

My First Solo Trip Into Bangkok..a Visit to The Platinum Mall

There are some places which you just need to visit to believe. Bangkok is full of markets....what ever you want to buy it can be found. Cheap, expensive.....and always a haggle. The exception is usually in regular stores and this place called the Platinum Mall which is three huge interconnected towers worth of clothes, shoes, bags, accessories...everything. There is no haggling here unless you buy more than one item so it is actually a bit more relaxing. Some of the street vendors actually buy at the mall and resell. Tiny stores, lots of english and for the first time I saw Thais speaking english to each other. 

I was looking for shoes and although size 9.5 is huge in Asia, the land of the ladyboys does open up a niche that needs to be filled. Suffice it to say that at one point today, I found myself sitting beside a beautiful woman who spoke like a man and had feet that made mine look dainty. We had the same taste in shoes....but they looked better on him/her.

I took the bus downtown and back again so I now know the route of the 113. It's always a bit of an adventure and since that's what we signed up for, I sometimes take it that one step further. It is actually a great way to get some reading done and I always learn something new. 

Each bus a driver and a ticket agent and you have to tell the agent where you are going so they know what to charge you. Which basically means that you need to know where you are going.....yup, therein lies the problem. I still have not figured out it I am supposed to say the name of the area, the street number or what. I fumbled through but paid a different price each way so I probably was not as successful as I thought.

There's my bus...or one like it. You want to go with the closed windows which means air conditioning.

All of the Ronald's here are posed in a "wai" position which is a form of greeting.

Apparently America is not the only place that "Runs on Dunkin'". Once in a while we have a coffee at one of these. It is the same price as a meal which ends up being one of the "things that don't make sense" here. 

I followed these two on the way home from the market. An older lady is pedalling and the younger one is on the back holding the umbrella to keep the sun off. It was cute.

Vince and I got in on Friday from Bali and he left on Saturday for Penang. My Mum says she went on holiday there in 1948 which is kind of cool. Vince is getting the royal treatment from what he said today. he is getting quite the collection of ziploc bags which contain SIM cards and $ from each country for the revisits.

Nico passed through Bangkok on his way to....umm...I forgot but I think Laos, Cambodia etc. and we look forward to catching up with him when he comes through in December. There were a couple of questionable things at the market that I was really hoping he'd try for me but I guess it will have to wait.

Bali

A few pictures of Bali. It was great to get away and have some R and R with friends.

Birthday dinner

The pool was such a nice treat...even for quasi-swimmer , Vince.

We took a scooter ride to another beach one day so the others could practice surfing before their lesson. Beautiful beach but it was high tide.

...and this is what 4 novice surfers look like when the waves are waaaaayyy too big for beginners. I have to admit that they were pretty huge but fun to play in. We should have figured it out since no-one was out there.

On the other hand, I was relaxing and being entertained. The plan was aborted and they went to their lesson less bruised and waterlogged than if they had stayed. I called ahead to make sure I dressed to match the umbrella. 

We got to see this kid shimmy up the tree and cut down coconuts.

Pretty talented and fast.

Vince and I took off for a scooter ride to a temple that we didn't den up seeing because it was overrun with tourists and it was also the only place that we saw tour busses. It was great to see the rice paddies though and we pick up fruit etc on the way home. We are 100% spoiled by the Thai fruit...Bali...not so much.

This is "light traffic". I only noticed afterwards that the blue van is heading straight for the motorcycle....all turned out okay. It was actually a little more nerve-wracking here than in Bangkok because there are so many foreigners (us included of course) driving who do not have the experience of the locals. I always feel that the experienced drivers always have a hand in helping avoid accidents. It certainly is true in the streets around us and it is comforting to know that if you mess up in your learning stage someone will correct it for you. Just a thought.

Face-timing with Kelli. Gotta love technology.

We were in Bali for a ceremony (forgot the name) which happens every 210 days....great fun seeing some of traditional dress. We saw groups of boys with drums and an animal like this one.

More boys...

Knees must be covered for temples and we are about to visit the "Monkey Temple" in Ubud.

He really took a liking to me....eesh!

 We took a "scooter gang" ride across to the other side of the island for some white sand and the Bali Hyatt just happens to have the nicest and widest part of the beach. We couldn't use the chairs but we took advantage of their shady trees and nice sandy area. 

 Not sure itf you can read the sign...

The classic beach picture.

Not sure what this would be like to ride.

 We got home and didn't have the key since one of the girls went to another beach with it so the boys scaled the wall and we climber in through the window. This was way more fun than driving 500m to get the key.

Oh yeah, the front walkway is stepping-stones through a goldfish pond.

 \

Rice paddies.

This is the most common option to buy gas (petrol). It is usually in "Absolut Vodka" bottles.

......and in it goes.

 

October Break: Kuala Lumpur and Bali

October break came quickly and we were lucky enough to be invited along with some friends to Bali...with a stop in KL for a night.

We all booked simultaneously on Agoda but somehow we ended up with the 12th floor corner room with a view. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Sightseeing, in front the Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur.

View of KL....from the tower that did have tickets left. We were trying to to go up the Petronas Towers seen here but in the end I think the view of them was better.

The Bali group minus Vince cuz someone had to take the picture.

The pool

LVR

A little R and R outside

Lots of living space.

Of course, if you look hard you see this in the back.

From the 2nd floor.

Vince relaxing.

The beach 500 m away. 

Four scooters are missing but between the two Villas we have 12 which all look alike so makes for a bit of confusion when looking for your own, which may or may not have been moved to get another one out

Surfboard carrier. Opted for one without.

 Don't I look like a Hell's Angel? Vince and I went for a spin to get used to them before heading out all together and ended up at the beach. Actually, it's tough not to end up at the beach here. Lots of bleach-blonde surfer boys from Australia.

 Yeah, we made it back in 1 piece.