Another Scooter Accident and Valentine's Dinner

So, another couple of our 2013-2014 cohort went down in a scooter accident last week. Wet road and they just tumbled over resulting in a broken collarbone and broken elbow, the latter of which needed an operation. Both are back at school but a reminder of how quickly things can happen. We still buzz around on our bikes for the moment. Commuting on the scooters increases the chance of things happening.

Vince's conference in Hanoi, Vietnam happened to hit Valentine's Day, which is huge in Bangkok, but seemed tame in Hanoi. So, this is our romantic dinner for 12. It was a wine paring and was delicious food. the people in this picture are mostly from The International School in Hanoi or the Saigon International School in Ho Chi Minh City.

Petrie Dish and Market

I was out running a couple of weeks ago on the klong and somewhere in between staring at the feet in front of me and wondering what time I should get up the next day, I lost my focus and fell onto the grubby, eroded cement. The good news is that I didn't hit my face, knock the two friends in front of me into the water, nor did I end up in the water myself. I got away pretty well with only a couple of cuts on my arm and hand.

The interesting things about wounds here is that you are advised to cover them up as much as possible since the humidity and dirt make them prone to infection-hence the petrie dish. It takes much long to heal here but all is good now.

I went to the Bangkok Farmer's  Market with a friend yesterday which was a lot of fun but also very interesting. The whole country is basically a farmer's market so I was curious to see what this was all about since it only happens once a month.

Well, now I get it. It's a European/N. American Farmer's Market during which your sense of smell go into overdrive as the scent of baking bread, croissants and other delicious edibles tease your nose. olives, cheese, british pork pies, meringues......all the thing that we never see! There were also some handicrafts etc which were quite nice. It's not too big so easy to do the rounds and then go back and buy what you want.

Mmmmmmm.....bread!

This sign was near by....thought it was funny.

A forgotten picture from Hanoi....typical on the street barber.

Brand new airport in Hanoi....recharging the cleaner in the washroom. I guess they didn't think of everything.

Airport wing for the local airline. No heat so we went up a level hoping that heat rose......science defied us. Still frozen.

 My basket doubles as a breakfast plate as I head off Sunday morning for a walk on the klong with some friends. Somehow, I have become a connoisseur of the filthy waterways.

I am now coaching swimming and I am so excited about it. It was the part of the job here that was missing for me so i am happy to be back into it. Oh yeah, I have never coached swimming before so I have a lot to learn but swimming with the YMCA Master's in Montreal has help me a lot with technique and being on the learning side of things. This is Angela (a fellow Canadian), who is the main coach until April. I will be her assistant until then and after that I take over. It's a great way to ease my way in. Those are some of the kids so you get an idea of the age range (around grades 3-5). It's a bit like herding chickens but it will be good. 

We are on the same campus as The Swiss School so we get some kids from there also. 

Vietnam for a Conference or Vacation-depends on who you are talking to

This trip has been a comedy of errors and only because we safely made it. Here's the condensed version. Vince has a conference in Hanoi and I am going along for the ride. It begins with me leaving school and getting home a little earlier than expected which I think put us into the "we have plenty of time, I am on vacation" mode.

We easily caught a taxi to the airport and then it started. Five minutes from the airport, Vince asked if I had any small change for the taxi driver. I checked, and realized that I had left my wallet at home, Vince checks to find out he has done exactly the same thing. (This from two people who are usually well prepared). He has, for some reason, put his extra wallet in which has random cards including one questionable credit card and a Canadian ATM card. It was too late to turn around and get them, so we took our chances hoping that we can get money with one of the cards. We did have a couple of large bills which worked out really well for the taxi driver:) Fortunately, we had our passports.

The first card didn't work.....the second did! Phew!!!!

Have money...will travel.

While sitting at the airport gate I notice that most people are carrying a jacket. I know that I have packed my bathing suit, shorts, t-shirts and am ready for a sunny, warm weekend. A quick check on my phone brought me back to reality. Hanoi was going to be a lot cooler than I thought.

Oh, so Vietnam really does go that far North! I knew I should have paid better attention in Geography class.

Great hotel.

But, I don't think I'll be using the pool.

The first day I headed downtown to find pants and a jacket which was not as easy as one would think since the sizes are considerably smaller here. I ended up in a "real" mall where I luckily found some jeans and I have been wearing them for three straight days. I was also on  amission to find a long sleeve shirt for Vince....maybe XXXXXXL?

Clothing for North Face, Mango, Forever 21 and many others are made here but you can buy them at this kind of store. It is interesting to see that same jacket with 3 different brand names and then some without any at all.

It's the same deal with bags.

Fog or pollution? I'll go with pollution. Many people wear face masks and they seem thicker than those we see in Bangkok.

Valentine's Day seems popular.

 Our hotel was on (literally) the main lake in the city called West Lake which has a 17 km circumference. I considered running it until I breathed the pollution. I think I'll run inside instead. There is a path that goes around some of it which was quite nice.

Nice use of greenery.

Tran Quoc pagoda

 Train through the city.

 Hoa Lo Prison was worth the visit. it was built by the French to hold political prisoners and the later used for US airman POWs. It was interesting to see the war from a Vietnamese perspective.

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This wall was in the courtyard.

 I think these are male mannequins.

 Turtle pagoda down town Hanoi. Part of my 13 km stroll.

Scooters everywhere and the worst part is they are parked all over the place but mainly on the sidewalk.

Some parts are not so picturesque.

Super cool bike.

I have come to the conclusion that Thai people are expert at piling people on motorcycles, while the Vietnamese excel at piling "things". 

Coke. You can see the face-masks here.

A tree.

Made it back for tea with Vince.....deliciously spoiled.

Deck Completion

The deck is finished!

This will add a whole new dimension to living. The mosquitos are bad this time of year but I am sure we will find a way to use it.

Olympics and Bananas

Happiness is finally figuring out how to watch the CBC Olympic coverage live when you are not in Canada. Listening/watching biathlon which feels like home:) It might not be perfect but it does the job.

Day 2 of "The Deck"

Check out the size of these bananas.

I have to change my banana bread recipe  from 2-3 bananas to 9-12.

Checkers, Bug, Mosque and Deck

It's a pretty random assortment today. Science class: Playing with the Vander Graff machine.

It's amazing how little you need to play games. This was on the steps of the 7-11 and I suspect that it was 2 scooter taxi guys playing.

Vince goes away and out come the cockroaches. This was out in the back porch and I found him "belly up" the next morning. 

On my Saturday morning run I came across this long line of scooter outside a mosque. 

Our great landlady is building a deck on the front of the house which will be great to use when the cool season hits again. This is after Day 1 of construction. Right now it's a low of 23 deg C and a high of 34 deg c most days, which we hear will ramp up to a low of 34 deg C and a high of 42 deg C. 

What? Another Long Weekend? Chang Mai bound.

Time sure flies when you are having fun, and before we knew it we were at the airport for another long weekend adventure. This time we were heading for Chang Mai (500 km north of Bangkok). We got to the airport extra early since "you never know with the traffic" and had time to check out the map of the city...and locate our hotel.

We booked late and since it was Chinese New Year we had a tough time finding something with a room. We ended up here in this huge hotel!!! You get pretty good at searching out the local deals.

And not a bad place to hang out.

Vince and I saw our first Thai elephant at the Taronga Zoo in Australia so we figured that we should make an effort to see one in it's native country. During one of our recent trips we met a Canadian veterinarian who works at the Elephant Nature Park (ENP) in Chang Mai which is 500 km north of Bangkok. She is an animal advocate and a spokesperson for the rights of animals which explains why she is working at a rescue centre for elephants (plus dogs and cats). The park educates people on the cruelty associated with training elephants and putting them on show.

We were 6 people and three elephants. The first part of the day was at a site a couple of km away from the nature park where a lady has three elephants which she recently rescued. The idea is that we would go for a walk with them. We each had a satchel of bananas which made it really easy to keep those pachyderms moving.

Vince made a fast friend.

The view from my perspective. There was some serious hot air coming out of this trunk plus he had banana breath.

Food.....easy way to make a friend.

No more.....he didn't believe me.

We went for an hour walk (stroll) with the elephants and stopped for a great lunch overlooking the nature camp where they have a family of elephants which has been rescued from various places.

Our animated guide who used to be a math teacher. We were telling math jokes...lol....not really.

Oh, the water is lovely.

Beautiful hills.

 Yum...bananas.

Oh, I am so itchy.....where's a tree.

Can't you feel the relief?

Hanging out before lunch.

 Vince, the elephant whisperer.

Does my butt look big honey?

Looking across at the Elephant Nature Park where they have a family (herd) of elephants

 Check out the cute little baby in the middle.

Our gang.

Heading back to their "home". Each elephant comes with a mahout who is the caretaker of the elephant.

 We were driven up to a rafting outfit "white water rafted" down a beautiful river to the actual Elephant Nature Park. It was interesting to see how untouched and wild it was along the way and the boulders reminded me of Canada.

Arrival at the Nature Camp. You can spend a full day here but there are many more people. It was nice to be 6 for most of the day since we got to chat and get to know each other...oh except the guy who was sick and threw up most of the time. He wasn't that sociable. We were four Canadians and two South Africans who were originally from China.

Nice walkway.

Meet Naughty Boy. He aptly named and was going full tilt when I took this picture from a safe distance. He is young and likes to fight a bit so they keep a close eye on him.

He ran right through to the river for his bath.

Here is the rest of the herd....a grandmother of 65 yrs on the left.

And the cutest little 6 month old.

Meet Lek...the real elephant whisper and the founder of the park. She has a way with the elephants and wins them over with positive reinforcement.

She sings this one a lullaby at night...and then he was trying to push her to his home.

I did say cat hostel too.....

Some city scenes. Chang Mai was a walled and moated city. Here's the wall...

...and a moat.

Am I in America?

I don't know what is with the Thai sidewalks....usually impassable.

Chang Mai from our hotel room.

Oh yeah, we then did a 1/2 day bike trip in the country which was fun. Can you tell I was thrilled to be out of the city?

Rice paddies all over the place.

What's a trip without a Wat (temple)? 

Yeah, they had a bike big enough for Vince! 

In the distance is our gang. In total we were 6 Dutch, 2 from Hong Kong and I was the lowly Canadian. I counted Vince as Dutch in this one...he got to practice.

......more rice paddies. So, good to be in the country. 

Drying onions.

We stopped by a place where they make elephants out of wood. Okay, I guess that was pretty obvious. 

Real cows!!!!! We have been wondering where the milk came from. Apparently there's a Thai-Danish history and the main dairy is near Bangkok. Hmmm, I feel a day trip coming on.

 Don't judge us.....sometimes MacDonald's tastes good. Did I just say that?

But don't get too excited about the prospect of an apple pie.....they are a little different here. Pineapple of course.

Toasting Kaitlin and Mike on their engagement! 

Funny how you get used to travelling in the back of anything with 4 wheels.

This one is for Lucas. Pimped up camo!

Rough afternoon deciding what massage to get and opted for a 90 minute foot, back and shoulder. Well, after biking all morning I fell asleep only to be awakened by some familiar snoring in the chair beside me. I guess we were pretty boring customers.

This place might have the worst coffee in Chang Mai...or maybe even Thailand. It was owned by a German man so I was ready for a "good German coffee" like I have heard Grampa O'Reilly say for so many years. Sadly, I think we drank dishwater...hahaha.