We're about to launch into our last full day in Hawaii. We need to take it easy because we got a bit too much sun yesterday, but don't worry, it wasn't too bad. We'll have tans, not lobster coloring, at the wedding on Friday.
We started the trip with a day on the beach, then Pearl Harbor, hiked to the top of Diamond Head and snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, spent a day on the North Shore checking out the shops and sea turtle sanctuary before swimming at Waimea Bay and catching a sunset dinner (rain clouds spoiled most of the day, including sunset), then yesterday we went out to a sand bar and spent the day floating in shallow waters about a mile from shore. Today we'll do a short inland hike then take in the rest of the day on the beach. This time with lots of SPF 50 suntan lotion applied liberally and often onto dry skin. Dry skin is going to be the key.
It's an odd feeling being in Hawaii. We're still in paradise on a wonderful trip, but I can already feel that I'm taking this for granted. A week ago Saturday we were driving the Great Ocean Road in Australia and this last Saturday we were driving along the North Shore. Crazy! At the same time, Hawaii just feels like another day on this amazing trip, and when I stop to think about it, I return to the conclusion that these islands are so impressive, and I'm really not giving them the attention they deserve. We also feel like locals here - living the life of someone on the island who is taking in a bit of the local life and a few visits to the touristy places. Very fun, but it's also a great reminder that we're definitely back in the US now. I won't complain, the laid back life in Hawaii is a great way to readjust to what's to come.
Very excited to see my family tomorrow. The next week and a half are likely to be the best of the trip!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Sleepii in Hawaii
We made it. The Chilean ash cloud shut down airports in New Zealand, Tasmania and Perth, but we didn't have any problems. Spent the day at the beach and are now heading to bed. Pearl Harbor tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Hawaii Bound?
Today is our last full day in Melbourne, at least, we hope. Volcanic eruptions in Chile have shut down Melbourne's and New Zealand's airports a few times in the last few days. Nothing against this city, but we're starting to look forward to Hawaii, so we're crossing our fingers that the airports will be open tomorrow.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Couple days in Australia
Greg and Effie rented a car for the three day weekend (Queen's birthday on Monday), so we headed southwest along the Great Ocean Road yesterday. After a couple crazy curves we stopped in a small resort town for some fish and chips (cheeseburger and milkshake for me), then went hunting for some motion sickness medicine. The trip continued for another couple hours with a stop to check out wild koalas napping in the trees along the road, and ending at some incredible seaside cliffs along with lookout points to the Twelve Apostles; free-standing rock formations created by the waves pounding the cliffs. A late-night drive home gave us the chance to check out some of the southern constellations, including the famous Southern Cross.
Today we all got in an early run before heading out to mosey through a flee market. No bargains though. Afterwards we headed north into the Yarra Valley, Melbourne's wine country, to visit a few wineries. The whites weren't anything to write home about, but I highly recommend the Yarra Valley Pinot Noirs and Shirazes. Pizza later in the evening, and now we're in for an early night.
No big plans for tomorrow, but we'll keep you posted if anything interesting comes up. Starting to look forward to Hawaii.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Good news
We enjoyed a very relaxed day. Slept in, enjoyed some delicious pancakes, walked through the botanical gardens, toured downtown, took a break for some sushi, came home - girls napped while boys ran, dinner, then an Australian Rules "Footie" (Football) game. Pretty interesting sport with a giant field, 18 guys on a team, and rules somewhere between soccer, rugby and American football.
As for the good news, I located Miranda's dress. I had it packed away in special container like things which keep my dress shirts from getting beat up while we travel. Since I hadn't worn any dress shirts yet, I just forgot the dress was tucked away among them. After walking through the 50-60% sales downtown I'm pretty sure Miranda is a little sad that I found it.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Oops
We just realized that Miranda's dress for Katie's wedding didn't make it into our suitcases. Our best guess is that it was in a garment bag, and as last minute decision we decided not to use the garment bag - just handed it over to the movers. Whoops.
One back up option did make it into Miranda's bag, but we still might be dress shopping in the coming days.
One back up option did make it into Miranda's bag, but we still might be dress shopping in the coming days.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Check another country/continent/hemisphere off the list
Yep, we made it to Australia. Spent a laid-back day catching up with my college friend Greg. I haven't seen him since he moved to Melbourne in November 2005. WE also got to know his girlfriend Effie over an amazing home-cooked lasagna dinner made by Master Chef Greg himself.
No real stories - our last days in Thailand and our entry into Australia were pretty uneventful, although Melbourne did greet us with two rainbows as we rode the bus from the airport into the city; that alone makes it seem like a nice place. Temperatures are partially cloudy with some drizzle, wind and temperatures between 40 and 55. Nice contrast to the Thai heat.
We'll head out on foot to explore the city tomorrow, will catch an Australian Rules Football game on Friday or Saturday, and plan to mix in a few day trips out into the country-side. Really looking forward to spending more time with Greg - it has been a blast so far.
We'll check in with more news once we have some.
Here are a few pictures from Thailand. Enjoy!
Bangkok - Chinatown:
A shot from one of the more impressive temples in Bangkok:
Receiving an elephant kiss:
Hanging out with the baby and her mother:
No real stories - our last days in Thailand and our entry into Australia were pretty uneventful, although Melbourne did greet us with two rainbows as we rode the bus from the airport into the city; that alone makes it seem like a nice place. Temperatures are partially cloudy with some drizzle, wind and temperatures between 40 and 55. Nice contrast to the Thai heat.
We'll head out on foot to explore the city tomorrow, will catch an Australian Rules Football game on Friday or Saturday, and plan to mix in a few day trips out into the country-side. Really looking forward to spending more time with Greg - it has been a blast so far.
We'll check in with more news once we have some.
Here are a few pictures from Thailand. Enjoy!
Bangkok - Chinatown:
A shot from one of the more impressive temples in Bangkok:
Receiving an elephant kiss:
Hanging out with the baby and her mother:
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Midnight in an Internet Cafe
Our plans have been washed away these last two days due to late evening monsoons. They offer a wonderful relief after horribly hot days, but both last night and tonight the vendors at the street bazaars have packed up their goods early and headed in for the nights. We've found some good deals, even though we're not sure how we're going to get everything home. Definitely shopping for smaller things, but weight is the issue, so we'll see how we'll manage.
Yesterday we took the advice of a college friend who had visited Chiang Mai and took a day trip out to an elephant sanctuary. I'd love to post some pictures, but I don't have access to them here in the internet cafe. The sanctuary was just amazing - about 150 acres in a valley 35 miles outside of town. For centuries elephants in Thailand have been brutally trained, ending up in the logging industry or even performing tricks on city streets to earn money for their owners. The sanctuary outside of town works to raise money to rescue elephants - either taking on elephants where the owner can no longer care for them, or buying them from the owners in cases of extreme brutality. In addition, the local communities around the park were very poor, and didn't really trust the owner of the park when she wanted to open up the park. As a way to build their trust she gave them seeds to plant fruits and vegetables, and promised them that she would buy the produce back to use for feeding the elephants. She even agreed to pay market rates. It has taken time, but now the villages which were once subsistence farmers are now seeing the quality of life improve as a result of their agreement, and the park now has a lot of support throughout Thailand.
As you can tell, the visit was largely educational, and of course we learned the individual stories of elephant after elephant. It was just amazing being out in the park; at first we got to feed the elephants from a platform, then later from ground level. After a great (and giant) Thai-vegetarian lunch we got to walk through the park down to the river to help bath the elephants. Later we were allowed to walk among a small herd with two babies; feeding them, petting them, receiving elephant kisses, etc. Really, that doesn't sound like much, but words can't really describe the experience - we hope the pictures we just hope they will do it justice once we can get them posted.
Few other highlights - the sanctuary is also a dog sanctuary. Quite the mix to see all these dogs running around with the people and elephants. Also met some very cool travelers who were "finding themselves" in SE Asia. Their six-week to eight-month vacations made our trip home seem a lot shorter and like much less of a big deal.
What else...lots of cats around here. I caught a glimpse of a Siamese cat the other day, just one. It seemed worth noting.
We were tempted to go to a place that would let us hang out with tigers. Something like $15 for 15 minutes with a baby tiger or $10 for 15 minutes with a juvenile or adult tiger. I was so excited to get a picture cuddled up with a baby tiger, but after spending a day at the elephant sanctuary and then seeing pictures of the tigers' small steel and cement enclosures just made me feel bad for the tigers, so we skipped that.
Miranda tried a Thai massage today. Not so much of a massage, more bending and stretching with lots of pressure and elbows. I opted for the American-style oil massage. No complaints here, but I might have to try a Thai massage tomorrow.
Not much else for news. Tonight's Sunday bazaar was supposed to be a big deal. Street vendors everywhere, live music, fireworks, probably more that we didn't even know about. We got a few good deals, but about 75% of the vendors closed up early due to the rain so we weren't able to shop around much. With so much variety in the market, I'm sure we completely missed out on a ton of things we wanted to buy. The only down side of buying things here is the bartering. Lucky for us, Miranda hims-and-haws a lot, which often brought the price down 30% before we even started trying to bargain. At that point we'd be arguing with the seller over 10-50 baht, which is between 30 cents and $1.50, and on a $5.00-8.00 purchase, the bartering just didn't seem worth the effort. Often it could be a matter of arguing if a nice necklace should cost $1.00 or $1.50...which would have cost $10.00 at home. You get the idea.
In case you're curious, here are two links to the elephant nature park:
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/herd/index.htm
http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/
Yesterday we took the advice of a college friend who had visited Chiang Mai and took a day trip out to an elephant sanctuary. I'd love to post some pictures, but I don't have access to them here in the internet cafe. The sanctuary was just amazing - about 150 acres in a valley 35 miles outside of town. For centuries elephants in Thailand have been brutally trained, ending up in the logging industry or even performing tricks on city streets to earn money for their owners. The sanctuary outside of town works to raise money to rescue elephants - either taking on elephants where the owner can no longer care for them, or buying them from the owners in cases of extreme brutality. In addition, the local communities around the park were very poor, and didn't really trust the owner of the park when she wanted to open up the park. As a way to build their trust she gave them seeds to plant fruits and vegetables, and promised them that she would buy the produce back to use for feeding the elephants. She even agreed to pay market rates. It has taken time, but now the villages which were once subsistence farmers are now seeing the quality of life improve as a result of their agreement, and the park now has a lot of support throughout Thailand.
As you can tell, the visit was largely educational, and of course we learned the individual stories of elephant after elephant. It was just amazing being out in the park; at first we got to feed the elephants from a platform, then later from ground level. After a great (and giant) Thai-vegetarian lunch we got to walk through the park down to the river to help bath the elephants. Later we were allowed to walk among a small herd with two babies; feeding them, petting them, receiving elephant kisses, etc. Really, that doesn't sound like much, but words can't really describe the experience - we hope the pictures we just hope they will do it justice once we can get them posted.
Few other highlights - the sanctuary is also a dog sanctuary. Quite the mix to see all these dogs running around with the people and elephants. Also met some very cool travelers who were "finding themselves" in SE Asia. Their six-week to eight-month vacations made our trip home seem a lot shorter and like much less of a big deal.
What else...lots of cats around here. I caught a glimpse of a Siamese cat the other day, just one. It seemed worth noting.
We were tempted to go to a place that would let us hang out with tigers. Something like $15 for 15 minutes with a baby tiger or $10 for 15 minutes with a juvenile or adult tiger. I was so excited to get a picture cuddled up with a baby tiger, but after spending a day at the elephant sanctuary and then seeing pictures of the tigers' small steel and cement enclosures just made me feel bad for the tigers, so we skipped that.
Miranda tried a Thai massage today. Not so much of a massage, more bending and stretching with lots of pressure and elbows. I opted for the American-style oil massage. No complaints here, but I might have to try a Thai massage tomorrow.
Not much else for news. Tonight's Sunday bazaar was supposed to be a big deal. Street vendors everywhere, live music, fireworks, probably more that we didn't even know about. We got a few good deals, but about 75% of the vendors closed up early due to the rain so we weren't able to shop around much. With so much variety in the market, I'm sure we completely missed out on a ton of things we wanted to buy. The only down side of buying things here is the bartering. Lucky for us, Miranda hims-and-haws a lot, which often brought the price down 30% before we even started trying to bargain. At that point we'd be arguing with the seller over 10-50 baht, which is between 30 cents and $1.50, and on a $5.00-8.00 purchase, the bartering just didn't seem worth the effort. Often it could be a matter of arguing if a nice necklace should cost $1.00 or $1.50...which would have cost $10.00 at home. You get the idea.
In case you're curious, here are two links to the elephant nature park:
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/herd/index.htm
http://www.elephantnaturefoundation.org/
Friday, June 3, 2011
More time in Thailand
Thursday night, but probably won’t post this until I head down to the lobby on Friday morning to use the internet. We made our way into northern Thailand and are currently enjoying the air conditioned hotel room in Chiang Mai. The cars and mopeds in the streets are still crazy, but everything feels incredibly laid back compared to Bangkok.
I can’t quite come up with any words to describe Bangkok. Busiest city I’ve ever been in. So very different from anything we’ve seen, yet in many ways more American than the European cities we’ve become accustomed to in the last couple of years.
Skyscrapers, concrete, cars, pollution, kids playing on the non-existent sidewalks, stray animals, then randomly a quiet temple in the midst of it all. Every area of town harbored stuffy alleys filled with food carts, each emitting an unfamiliar (and usually unpleasant) smell. The food carts would appear around meal times and then disappear shortly thereafter. Most of the foods weren’t recognizable, and walking through these alleys on an empty stomach was the best way I could find to stave off hunger. After a few hours in Chinatown and another neighboring area we decided to call it a night and celebrate the end to a 90-95 degree day with a dip in the pool. Of course, just as we got back to the hotel the temperature dipped and thunder clouds started to roll in. We jumped in the pool anyway, but after a little while we decided we’d had better ideas than freezing and watching lightning in the distance from an open-air pool on the sixth story of a hotel (even though we were surrounded by 30 story buildings), so we headed up to the room for the night. The storm never reached our hotel, but better safe than sorry.
We spent a few hours visiting temples on our second full day in Bangkok. Wat Pho was listed in the guidebook as the second stop on every tourist’s itinerary, but also everybody’s favorite. We ended up going straight there, and didn’t regret missing the #1 stop. Oddly enough, the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, the main attraction, was far from the coolest thing about the temple. After leaving the temple we headed up the street to the amulet market, but didn’t find any trinkets worth buying, so we decided to start moving to the hotel so we could collect our bags and make it to the train station without having to worry about missing our train. Good thing we left when we did. It was about a three mile walk to the nearest metro station, then a short walk to the hotel after that. Normally the taxi or tuk-tuk (basically a three-wheeled cross of a VW and a golf cart) fare would cost $1-$2 to cover the three miles. Bargaining is also a big part of Thai culture, which we just aren’t very good at. Well, as we began our walk the monsoon rains hit, and within two minutes we were soaked in a wonderful summer rain. I welcomed it as a relief to the 95 degree heat, but considering Miranda was wearing a white dress, we opted to wait out the rain under a tent on the side of the road. Ten minutes later we were on our way again, but the rain made all the drivers more confident, raising their asking price to $5-$6 to cover the distance, and their agreed prices to $3-$4. We refused to pay more than the normal price, and as a result ended up seeing a lot more of the city than we planned to see. I’d say very few westerners have ever intentionally covered those streets on foot.
(Continuing to type on Friday now)
We had seen a lot of 7-Eleven stores around town, and an occasional McDonalds or Subway restaurant, but these really didn’t surprise us. However, walking into a grocery store was like entering a completely different, yet very familiar, world. The grocery store we visited wasn’t terribly far from the main expat area of town, so I can’t claim that this was a typical Bangkok grocery, but it felt more like we were walking through a Byerlys than a local grocery store. They still had a larger grain aisle than anything you’d find in the US, but with each step we came across American products and brands that we hadn’t seen in the last three years. We gave up searching for Crisco in Sweden after six months in the country, just accepting that our cookies would be flat. Of course that was the first thing we saw at this grocery store. I should have made a list of all these “new” items, but I was hungry, so instead I focused on what to eat.
The train ride to Chiang Mai was good. Evening departure and arriving at 7:45 in the morning, so we booked a first class sleeper car. The tickets were cheap, the food was cheap, and it had air conditioning. We did expect a little extra space in the first class car, and ended up dedicating about 85% of our foot space to our four suitcases and two back packs. They served as decent foot stools though, so I shouldn’t complain. The best part of the ride was the morning ride, ascending through the hills, through some jungles, then entering the plains where the rice farmers were out walking among the flooded rice paddies.
We opted for a nice hotel in Chiang Mai that was recommended by a guidebook and was also well-rated on one of the online hotel-booking sites. The main criteria in selecting the hotel were that it had to have a pool and free wireless beat hotels without free internet. We got here at 8:30 in the morning and our room was ready; seemed kind of odd. Well, it turns out that the hot/rainy season is also the low tourist season, so we’re sharing this 100+ room hotel with two Italian men (according to the guest list Miranda saw). The staff outnumbers the guests six to four. Not too shabby. The only problem is that “luscious gardens” advertised on the website means “mosquito breeding grounds”. The room had about 10 mosquitoes in it when we arrived, but they were defeated after a short battle. The AC has been blaring ever since, and they seem to prefer the warm humid air outside, so we’re comfortably safe for now. The staff keeps shaking the bushes and using an electric mosquito swatter to zap the swarms of bugs in the courtyard, and it looks like there was a citronella candle burning outside our door yesterday evening; all greatly appreciated.
Last two things.
The food is spicy. That’s an understatement. Miranda’s papaya salad totally blew our mind. Shredded papaya, some dressing, peanuts, tomato – all okay – but we weren’t expecting the hot chili peppers and whatever else they put on there, and unfortunately for her sake she didn’t notice them before taking her first bite. That was one heck of a way to start a meal. That was the second time we’d had to order additional drinks to help us cope with the crazy-hot foods we’d been served. Yeah, we’d eaten hot Thai food before, but wow, there have been a few meals that have totally changed our concept of spiciness.
Speaking of spicy, here was a conversation with the server on the train that left Miranda in tears (of joy).
Scott: I’d like meal #2, but it says “not spicy”, can you make it spicy?
Server: No spicy
Scott: But I want it spicy
Server: No, no spicy
Scott: Yes, spicy
Server: No spicy!
Scott: Yes spicy!
Server: I bring chili sauce (and flashes a devilish grin)
The chili sauce came in a small container, probably about two tablespoons worth of juice with fresh peppers. I poured all of it over my rice dish and after a few bites I’d realized I’d made a mistake. I should have opted for “no spicy”, and used my bartering skills on something more productive.
We stumbled upon a crazy awesome temple gathering last night in the center of town. Thousands of people flocking into the area, buying flower bundles, incense and candles, and then praying and placing these on sacred shrines, in and around temples. Thai folk music, little carnival area for kids, food vendors, monks everywhere, and the best part of everything was that we were just ignored the entire time. Nobody wanted to sell us something, nobody wanted to hand us flyers to the night’s kickboxing match, nobody asking “where you from Where you going”, nobody wanted to direct us to “the big Buddha statue, very close, ride cost only 40 baht”, it seemed that everyone was perfectly happy letting us just hang out as casual observers. It was wonderful.
That’s all for now, got a relaxing day planned full of naps, swimming, reading and massages.
I can’t quite come up with any words to describe Bangkok. Busiest city I’ve ever been in. So very different from anything we’ve seen, yet in many ways more American than the European cities we’ve become accustomed to in the last couple of years.
Skyscrapers, concrete, cars, pollution, kids playing on the non-existent sidewalks, stray animals, then randomly a quiet temple in the midst of it all. Every area of town harbored stuffy alleys filled with food carts, each emitting an unfamiliar (and usually unpleasant) smell. The food carts would appear around meal times and then disappear shortly thereafter. Most of the foods weren’t recognizable, and walking through these alleys on an empty stomach was the best way I could find to stave off hunger. After a few hours in Chinatown and another neighboring area we decided to call it a night and celebrate the end to a 90-95 degree day with a dip in the pool. Of course, just as we got back to the hotel the temperature dipped and thunder clouds started to roll in. We jumped in the pool anyway, but after a little while we decided we’d had better ideas than freezing and watching lightning in the distance from an open-air pool on the sixth story of a hotel (even though we were surrounded by 30 story buildings), so we headed up to the room for the night. The storm never reached our hotel, but better safe than sorry.
We spent a few hours visiting temples on our second full day in Bangkok. Wat Pho was listed in the guidebook as the second stop on every tourist’s itinerary, but also everybody’s favorite. We ended up going straight there, and didn’t regret missing the #1 stop. Oddly enough, the reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, the main attraction, was far from the coolest thing about the temple. After leaving the temple we headed up the street to the amulet market, but didn’t find any trinkets worth buying, so we decided to start moving to the hotel so we could collect our bags and make it to the train station without having to worry about missing our train. Good thing we left when we did. It was about a three mile walk to the nearest metro station, then a short walk to the hotel after that. Normally the taxi or tuk-tuk (basically a three-wheeled cross of a VW and a golf cart) fare would cost $1-$2 to cover the three miles. Bargaining is also a big part of Thai culture, which we just aren’t very good at. Well, as we began our walk the monsoon rains hit, and within two minutes we were soaked in a wonderful summer rain. I welcomed it as a relief to the 95 degree heat, but considering Miranda was wearing a white dress, we opted to wait out the rain under a tent on the side of the road. Ten minutes later we were on our way again, but the rain made all the drivers more confident, raising their asking price to $5-$6 to cover the distance, and their agreed prices to $3-$4. We refused to pay more than the normal price, and as a result ended up seeing a lot more of the city than we planned to see. I’d say very few westerners have ever intentionally covered those streets on foot.
(Continuing to type on Friday now)
We had seen a lot of 7-Eleven stores around town, and an occasional McDonalds or Subway restaurant, but these really didn’t surprise us. However, walking into a grocery store was like entering a completely different, yet very familiar, world. The grocery store we visited wasn’t terribly far from the main expat area of town, so I can’t claim that this was a typical Bangkok grocery, but it felt more like we were walking through a Byerlys than a local grocery store. They still had a larger grain aisle than anything you’d find in the US, but with each step we came across American products and brands that we hadn’t seen in the last three years. We gave up searching for Crisco in Sweden after six months in the country, just accepting that our cookies would be flat. Of course that was the first thing we saw at this grocery store. I should have made a list of all these “new” items, but I was hungry, so instead I focused on what to eat.
The train ride to Chiang Mai was good. Evening departure and arriving at 7:45 in the morning, so we booked a first class sleeper car. The tickets were cheap, the food was cheap, and it had air conditioning. We did expect a little extra space in the first class car, and ended up dedicating about 85% of our foot space to our four suitcases and two back packs. They served as decent foot stools though, so I shouldn’t complain. The best part of the ride was the morning ride, ascending through the hills, through some jungles, then entering the plains where the rice farmers were out walking among the flooded rice paddies.
We opted for a nice hotel in Chiang Mai that was recommended by a guidebook and was also well-rated on one of the online hotel-booking sites. The main criteria in selecting the hotel were that it had to have a pool and free wireless beat hotels without free internet. We got here at 8:30 in the morning and our room was ready; seemed kind of odd. Well, it turns out that the hot/rainy season is also the low tourist season, so we’re sharing this 100+ room hotel with two Italian men (according to the guest list Miranda saw). The staff outnumbers the guests six to four. Not too shabby. The only problem is that “luscious gardens” advertised on the website means “mosquito breeding grounds”. The room had about 10 mosquitoes in it when we arrived, but they were defeated after a short battle. The AC has been blaring ever since, and they seem to prefer the warm humid air outside, so we’re comfortably safe for now. The staff keeps shaking the bushes and using an electric mosquito swatter to zap the swarms of bugs in the courtyard, and it looks like there was a citronella candle burning outside our door yesterday evening; all greatly appreciated.
Last two things.
The food is spicy. That’s an understatement. Miranda’s papaya salad totally blew our mind. Shredded papaya, some dressing, peanuts, tomato – all okay – but we weren’t expecting the hot chili peppers and whatever else they put on there, and unfortunately for her sake she didn’t notice them before taking her first bite. That was one heck of a way to start a meal. That was the second time we’d had to order additional drinks to help us cope with the crazy-hot foods we’d been served. Yeah, we’d eaten hot Thai food before, but wow, there have been a few meals that have totally changed our concept of spiciness.
Speaking of spicy, here was a conversation with the server on the train that left Miranda in tears (of joy).
Scott: I’d like meal #2, but it says “not spicy”, can you make it spicy?
Server: No spicy
Scott: But I want it spicy
Server: No, no spicy
Scott: Yes, spicy
Server: No spicy!
Scott: Yes spicy!
Server: I bring chili sauce (and flashes a devilish grin)
The chili sauce came in a small container, probably about two tablespoons worth of juice with fresh peppers. I poured all of it over my rice dish and after a few bites I’d realized I’d made a mistake. I should have opted for “no spicy”, and used my bartering skills on something more productive.
We stumbled upon a crazy awesome temple gathering last night in the center of town. Thousands of people flocking into the area, buying flower bundles, incense and candles, and then praying and placing these on sacred shrines, in and around temples. Thai folk music, little carnival area for kids, food vendors, monks everywhere, and the best part of everything was that we were just ignored the entire time. Nobody wanted to sell us something, nobody wanted to hand us flyers to the night’s kickboxing match, nobody asking “where you from Where you going”, nobody wanted to direct us to “the big Buddha statue, very close, ride cost only 40 baht”, it seemed that everyone was perfectly happy letting us just hang out as casual observers. It was wonderful.
That’s all for now, got a relaxing day planned full of naps, swimming, reading and massages.
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