Yes, it Can Get Deeper and Blacker

Vince was kind enough to call me at the end of the day to tell me that the water was higher than earlier and maybe I shouldn't bike through. He apparently had to stop due to an oncoming bus....yup, I would stop too.

My feet were already wet from a klong run so I left my running shoes on and barely made it back. It was a very interesting run: new route due to flooded areas, flocks of heron, a long green snake which we heard is a poisonous viper, 2 huge black/yellow lizards, countless chickens, roosters and other wildlife. It also seems that rain brings out the kids who jump off the bridges...never seem so many.

I didn't believe it could get deeper but it did, and this morning it was black and deep....gross. I have scored a pair of rubber boots which will keep out the gross water, snakes and anything else that I don't want touching my feet. I heard that in some areas the snakes are floating out of the drains.

Here is the look after 4 days...they brought in the big equipment to get it done. Success!

It's tough to dry things in the humidity so Vince was strategically placing our shoes on the street so they would be in the sun. 

Feet Soaking and Disinfectiing

Just so you get the feeling of my foot getting soaked in icky flood water every time.




However, the advantage of being a science teacher is that you have easy access to rubbing alcohol to rub those feet down afterwards. I don't even want to think about it.

Flood Gets It's Own Page

Ahhhh....I just deleted the whole post! Okay, here we go again.....

We awoke in the middle of the night to a huge crack of thunder followed by lightening, which continued all night and into the morning past my usual departure time. I pushed it as long as I could and then left. On my way out, I ran into our neighbour, Alis, who could not get to work with her scooter because there was too much water so we decided on Plan B: Take Vince's bike. Off we went slogging through all the way to school in the worst we've seen. The following pics are on the way home...no rain falling but plenty on the ground.

Hmm, shall we try it?

Even the short cut through the klong is flooded.

Vince took these when he went to check out the route to the market...and to the pizza restaurant for dinner tonight.

I like this one.

Cycling in style. For the record, in a drizzle I actually pull this one off.

Ocean or road? Of course you realize that I am one-handing it in deep water.

 Who needs doors? 

A fellow cyclist taking a break.

Yes, indeed, that is my left foot completely submerged in the water.

Nothing like a little car-wake to make riding more challenging.

Sand-bags I think.

Even the guards at "Perfect" gave up their shoes today.

Now it's just pure entertainment.

Almost there. Took about 5 min in deep water.

We deliver...guaranteed. He almost lost it at one point. By this time I am at the end just watching.

These guys got a chuckle when I went by. I think they found the blockage.

Racing?

I swear I saw this car actually float for a second.

 Deepest part for sure,

Hey, Alis, you made it!

Check out the little kid on the scooter behind her.

International Food Day

Just to give you some insight into what I pedaled to school in I thought I'd video the rain. It's often like this...one drop, two drops, soaked!

Some of you have the impression that we no longer cook. Well, we are cooking more now that we are getting used to our cooking situation which resembles camping more than anything. The hotplate works at 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 etc. Yeah, I don't know what that is either but I do know that it won't go to 700 which I think would be perfect simmering temperature. Odd numbers don't come into play. Also, for it, and the oven, to run you need to set a timer which takes some getting used to. Do you ever think about how long you want the element on for? Nope, me neither but I am certainly getting the idea now.

In case you forgot (or never saw) our kitchen, this is it! We have a rice cooker and 1 more hotplate but space is precious so the rice is cooked on the floor and the other element is rarely used. 

I made a fantastic red curry last week and am on the look out for buying the spices at the market. Of course I saw them all the time before I actually started looking. I am not 100% sure about buying chicken the market since it's usually 30+ degrees outside but I have been told that if you cook it that night it's fine. So, I might give it a go. Very few of the vegetables are like what I am used to but I am slowly figuring out what is a herb and not eaten, what is eaten raw and what is cooked. The language barrier doesn't help so it's a lot of trial and error and the internet. One of the nicest things is the small Thai eggplants which are the size of small limes and found in curry.

My delicious curry.

This is International Week at RIS and it is funny to think of North America as being international. The highlight is the food fair which is going on as I speak in the middle of a torrential downpour which has been going on since last night. The following shoes the mobs of people at one section of the food fair. I ate some sushi and I am not sure what was in the Japanese balls....and maybe I don't want to know either.

The food fair.

Tons of people.

Newsflash: My kids just told be that they are called Takoyaki and that was squid inside. I told you I didn't want to know. there is a LOT of squid here. Speaking of squid, this is one of the popular foods here.....dried squid. It's kind of like "squid leather". That's a dipping spicy sauce, with lots of peanuts. This lead to a discussion concerning "acquired taste".

My class took a "field trip" to watch the Jazz Band play at lunch in the canteen which I have finally stopped calling the Caf (Galt) and dining hall (LCC)

The Klong Tour

So, a few of us decided to go and explore the klong today. There were out of town visitors from Shanghai and  thought it would be a nice outing. Well, when you have a mix of mountain bikers,  adventurous people and a whole sunny day ahead of you not one really worries about getting lost. This is how we ended up riding 35 km of the klong on a Sunday morning.

Some bridges are a little dicey and you learn to pick out the solid parts.

We were eight in total so were quite a spectacle for the locals who are so friendly.

Taking a little break.

I didn't notice the little guy behind them.

Some areas took a bit of manipulation.

...and mountain biking skills came in handy. There is no "looking around"because falling means trying to climb up out of dirty water.

Thirty-five km later we are at the end of the route. Success...we found two complete loops on which to springboard our next adventure. It's all about the mosques on this route...left at the mosque? Right the the next mosque?

I Can't Eat it if it Looks Like a Snake and It Is Staring at Me

We were out at one of our favourite dinner spots is called Ploy where we usually order a few dishes and everyone shares. Well, this is the first time we ordered fish. Yup, they look good from a distance except that they are facing me.

Here it is a little closer.

The other one is even more scary.

I admit it, I bailed and tried one piece but that was it...and I eat pretty much anything. I think maybe I spend too much time near the klong and it smelt...well....klongy.

The easy way to buy coconut water....with or without the flesh.

The bike  belongs to a couple from Alaska with two adorable little girls. Check out the seating arrangement.

Hospital and Coconut

We are still not 100% sure what they are building by the stories about a pool seem less likely than before...unless Thai pools have big posts in them.

Big surprise in our park today. Two weeks ago they were covering some areas with artificial grass and this afternoon I figure out why. It looks as though they are installing exercise machine alongside the lake. 

I got my hair cut......scary but true and it was quite the process. This is the day after because they super straightened it on the day it was cut. Thought I'd take a picture so that I can go back again. I was desperate and it felt as though I had a ten pound mop on my head for the last week. I was on day four of a headache which probably has something to do with falling and decided that I would get a pedicure, hair cut and back massage after school and hopefully one of those would make me feel better. It did for a few minutes but then I just had nice toes, a good haircut and a relaxed back. Maybe the fact that it has been overcast for 5 days straight has something to do with it?

That was 2 days ago and finally I took the afternoon off work and headed to the hospital clinic to see if my arm was actually okay. Swimming yesterday was painful and I figured it's better to be safe. Plus, my running buddy at school basically told me to....and I listened.

This did not work the same was as in Quebec which was not exactly surprising. We taxied it to the hospital (there are many) , went to the registration which looked more like a hotel lobby and I was sent directly to the Bone and Joint specialists. In 1 hour I saw a nurse, a doctor, got and x-ray, saw the doctor again, was given anti-inflammatories and was sent home. Oh, yeah......and then got a Dunkin' Donuts coffee and headed to the grocery store.

No fracture at all but he said I have a bit of of "side ways whiplash" and the anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants should take care of it. If not, no worries...come back in a week.

 The hospital 

My bag of drugs. How cute is that? 

The hospital lobby.

Enjoying a donut and coffee in the entrance.

Outside the front entrance which really does not look like a hospital at all. 

The taxi window cracked me up. Zoom in to see.

This is apparently the sworn by solution to dehydration etc and we have been recommended to eat 1/day since it has a lot of electrolytes.  After the hospital I went to the market and picked one up. I did learn that these are really full of water and not portable once cut.  So, I drained it with the straw and ate the rest at home. I also had Vince's rain coat so he might find it smells a bit coco-nutty the next time he uses it. Oh well.

 Leaving for Bali in 9 days! Yahoooooooo!