Back to Bangkok

February 28th

Bangkok

A few more pictures from Koh Chang.  Kalin took the scenic one of the sea.

Bad:  Maya woke up feeling ill and threw up her breakfast.  It was especially ill timed since we were about to embark on 10 hours of travel-including a wild ride in an open taxi up and down steep hills along twisting roads, a 45 minute ferry ride, and a 6 hour bus ride.  Laila had concerns she might follow Maya's lead.

Good:  No more unwanted bodily expulsions.  We ate hardly anything-yeah for Sprite-and managed to make it back to our wonderful hostel in Bangkok.  It felt like coming home. It is amazing how quickly a place feels like home.  We were welcomed back warmly-they like us here because Rinda and I clean up after ourselves unlike many of the guests and the head housekeeper is enamored of Maya.

Surprising:  This was our best transition ever.  Usual our travel days are filled with bickering. But we were in a groove today.

Tomorrow we are dragging the girls out to see the palace and the biggest reclining Buddha in Bangkok (maybe the world-i'll find out tomorrow).  Tomorrow is our last full day in Thailand.  We fly out at 7:50 in the morning on March 1st.  Cairo here we come.  We have a new Loveduck video. I will attempt to post it right now.  Google Loveduck and Koh Chang.

Siam Bay Resort, Ko Chang Island

Hi All - 

Yes, Anonymous Commentor, Rinda and Kalin are actually on this trip!  I'm blogging only occasionally because my partner is prolific!  We'll see if we can get Kalin on.

New quotes of the day:

• Do you know how many people per elephant?  I think two, plus the driver.
• I think my water just broke!  (after a particularly big meal)
  
• Take a picture of the hottie with the honey!  (see post of a couple days ago)
• I'll choose a college that has acting or "monkeyology" (guess who is obsessed with monkeys at the moment).
• I hope he has his pants on!  (no explanation for this one!)
• How come I never have any good quotes apparently or something?

We're all loving our new digs here at Siam Bay Resort.  Siam Bay is one bay north of our previous place, Siam Huts.  We think that the same people own two or three of these resorts, and they're all at different stages of development, and cater to different interests.  Clearly the Huts cater to the party scene and is run by young 18-20 year olds.  Hence the huge parties and the pulsating music late into the night and the lack of emphasis on cleanliness.  In contrast, Siam Bay is clean and quiet, with both older visitors and young families with children.  It has a great pool in addition to a nice stretch of ocean beach, and great snorkeling within swimming or kayak range.  Our bungalow is amazing, with 4 beds (two in a big loft), bathroom and shower, TV and A/C.  It has a great two story open air restaurant-pavilion (made entirely of teak wood) overlooking he pool and ocean where we spend a lot of time each day eating, doing homework, reading and playing cards.  We get new fluffy clean white BIG towels every day (a huge luxury after sharing two mini towels that we happened to bring along at the Huts), and a big breakfast is included.  All for about $60 per night.  Our "vacation from our vacation" has been wonderful, and we head back to Bangkok tomorrow.  Then two more nights there and we're on the plane for Cairo!  My goodness, this month in Thailand has gone fast.  

We're well aware that life will change in Egypt.  No more walking around in bathing suits, shorts and sleeveless shirts, for one thing.  I think we will miss Thailand a lot.  Here are our respective lists of top things we love about Thailand!  For our contest-lovers, try to figure out which list belongs to whom!

#1     Bangkok:  the malls and the busy streets.  I feel safe there.

#2     The tuk-tuks, the beaches, we can walk places easily, the malls.

#3     The artistic sensibility in everyday life, how the people seem to love their king and royal family, how friendly and respectful the people are, even to tourists who do funny things.

#4     The food in Chiang Mai, all the wats (temples) and altars

I took some pictures of the flowers yesterday, and will try posting them.  It'll be my first try with photos, so we'll see.

Hope everyone is well!!!

Love,

Rinda

Lost time

Good:  I don't have to keep track of time or wear clean clothes (see below).

Bad:  I lost my watch and left the clothes line at Siam Huts.

Surprising: Kalin swam today.  See evidence in our new photo.

It was a lazy day.  We got up early.  Maya and I snorkled-it was very relaxing.  School work with lunch in the middle.  More swimming, card playing, picture taking, eating (two orders of french fries), getting ready for dinner, and more eating.  Service here is very slow which makes our meals leisurely...very leisurely.  Tonight we are going to add 'Black Jack' to our list of games.

Who's Shoes?

Good:  We had a very fun dinner at "Nature Rocks" resort.  Two of the waiters were completely enamored of Kalin.  They repeatedly invited her out dancing (with her sister of course) despite the fact that her parents were promising to lock her in her room.  One gave her a bottle of honey, which made her turn bright red.  After we left, Kalin asked me to run back for a photo with the hottie and the honey.  It was his turn to turn bright red. 

Bad:  The rocking party lasted until 4:00 in morning!  At least we think it was four.  We slept pretty well-considering.  It is amazing how one can tune out a heart thumping bass.

Surprising:  So, I bought these wonderful 'crocs' knock offs for walking around at the beach because I hate, I mean hate, flip flops.  Even when I was 15, and everyone who was anyone wore them all the time, I did not wear them.  Too painful.  Well, my loving 15 year discovered how much easier it is to walk with the crocs, and, being the devoted mother that I am, I traded.

You may not know it, but it is very customary to take off ones shoes indoors in Thailand.  In this case, we take them off when we go on the deck at the Siam Huts.  Do you know how many black flip flops there are in the world.  Lots.  Lots and lots.  

Well, to cut to the chase.   It took me more than a day to realize that I took the wrong pair of flip flops on one of my trips off the deck.  Oh, well.  Too late now.  But if you ever where black flip flops here-leave your mark on them.

Tropical paradise

Koh Chang Thailand
February 22

Good: As beautiful a spot as one can imagine: white sand, warm breeze, calm waves, and stunning turquoise water. The huts are funky, but they each have a bathroom so the girls are satisfied.

Bad: The cockroaches were a bit of a surprise. Kalin and Maya had never seen bugs like that. It was enough to make them want to head back to Bangkok. Berkeley for Kalin! Fortunately they were all dead. They must spray for them. Speaking of dead bugs-so far no more lice. We check each day. I know pesticides are bad.....but they sure come in handy sometimes!

Surprising: Once again, how quickly a day can pass. Oh, and the place we are staying is having a huge party on the beach tonight. There are two towers of speakers 10+ feet high waiting to blast out some Bob Marley. I think there will be other substances accompanying the music.

Pictures.  They do not do it justice.  But here is the beautiful deck and beach.  And the not so beautiful huts.  It is like this place is run by 20 year old party dudes.  They clean up-mostly.  Just ignore the stuff piled under the couch-I mean, under the huts.

Proof of homework

So here is a picture of the girls' going their homework.  A few of you seemed skeptical that we were getting to it.  I won't name names.  Also a picture from lunch-note the tp for napkins.  We get very excited when we to go a restaurant that has BIG western napkins.  The third photo is in front of our hostel.  We like it so much that we will stay here on our way out of Thailand too.

Good:  We like Bangkok.  Guess we are city folks at heart.

Bad:  Kalin and Maya are going to stay in while Rinda and I explore more.

Surprising:  We may have found a place in Venice for 510 Euro for a week.  I will believe it when it is all settled.

Bangkok!

Good: We made it to Bangkok.  Our Hostel here is lovely.  A small room with two sets of bunk beds with fabulous mattresses.  We each have a reading light.  It is amazing how exciting little touched like that can be.  It has a coin operating washer which we have all ready used.  To top things off, coffee and toast come with the room.  The shared bath makes it feel a little like the church retreat.

Bad:  Swollen legs again!  The overnight on the 2nd class train did it to us for the second time.  They advertised it as a sleeper.  The picture showed the chairs folding flat.  We were excited.  But alas, those were old pictures.  It was only slightly more reclined than the airplane seats.

Surprising:  While watching trailers before the movie ps. i love you, we suddenly had to leap up while the Thai equivalent of "God Save the King" played on screen along with a slide show of the Kings illustrious life.  

Once again I am awed by the array of food.  We went to this super mall today (Maya's day to pick) and there was the most amazing food court.  Heavenly pastries were the biggest surprise.  Along with the Whole Food clone of a market-with Whole Foods style prices.  

=(

 =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =( =) =( =( =( =(

 hello as you can probably already tell it was really sad to leave chiang mai. i would go back there any time and miss it a lot. but i like bankok too, we love our hostel. i'm also excited to go to the beach. and in case you were wondering we're going to make another loveduck video.  bye, maya 

Silver Lining Award

Good:  Yet another massage.  And a movie.  Our first.  It was so fun to get out the camcorder. Have you seen it yet?  If not go to youtube and put in "Loveduck goes swimming in Chiang Mai."

Bad:  Only one more day in Chiang Mai :  (

Surprising:  Little did I know how much I would appreciate Maya and Kalin's expensive toy when they bought it. Last time we dealt with lice Kalin was in first grade.  We spent hours combing while they girls watched videos.  Now we have a Nintendo DS (like a Gameboy) and boy does in make lice patrol better.  Kids  naturally bow their heads when they play and it's on a battery so we can take it outside-the better to see the glistening eggs.  Do I get a silver lining award for this?

Tomorrow we leave at 9:00 at night and take a sleeper train to Bangkok.  

Love duck featurette

We have finished our first feature film.  Okay, featurette.  You must go to youtube.com and type in "Loveduck goes swimming in Chiang Mai." Directed and produced by Laila Ibrahim;  Written by Maya Ibrahim-Bartley and Laila Ibrahim;  Sound affects by Kalin Ibrahim-Bartley; Starring Maya Ibrahim-Bartley as worried helpful friend and Loveduck as Loveduck.  Costaring the Goldfish as the vicious duck eating sharks.

Maya Finally Posting =)

 HEY GUYS

 it's maya (as you can probably tell) and i'm sorry that i haven't been posting but i'll try to more often. did you like our quotes? (i said the first one.) we're gonna be sad about leaving Chiang Mai but i'm excited to go to the beach! another exciting thing is that we made a movie! and it's staring loveduck! YEAH

        OK BYE SEE YOU ALL IN FOUR MONTHS AND TWO WEEKS!

oh and the picture of me and Laila is when we did karaoke!

Of rice and lice

Chiang Mai

February 16th, 2008

The food and fellow chefs (from Finland) and our teacher.

The love duck is living dangerously and enjoying fresh spring rolls (with uncooked, unpeeled vegetables)

Maya getting her treatment.

Good:  I did not loose my post about the trek!  I added pictures and forgot to click 'post'.   I had a fantabulous day at a cooking class.  I cannot wait to have a party and make you all the delicious Thai food that I learned to prepare today.  I continue to find it shocking that these Thai people are so fit given how much oil and sugar is in their food.  They give McDonalds a run for their money.  Oh, but it is so delicious.

Bad:  Can you guess what we have from the picture?  Maya had the worse case of lice I have every seen.  And such tiny nits that I wonder if they are from here rather than home.  We poisoned them (and her?), combed for hours, changed bedding, and will repeat and repeat and repeat. Kalin had a few.  Rinda two nits-that looked to be dead.  I will thank Kelvin for that super short haircut when we get home.  I look free so far-thanks to all my hair product?  Who says beauty doesn't pay.  (Actually no one, huh?)

Surprising:  What a fun day we all had-despite the lice.  There is something so soothing about nit picking.  Primal I guess.

Two more days in Chiang Mai.  We are already sad.  We are working on the 10 best list.  We may make it a fill in the blank.  More contests!

TREK! and a contest

Two days ago we did a one-day trek to the mountains of the north.  It was quite the adventure!  My sister Fran just asked about safety standards here in general, and I think my insurance companies would have had a collective heart attack at any point during the day if they could have seen us!  From the long drive in the open-sided busses (no seat belts, of course) to the very challenging hike through the jungle (we didn't all have proper shoes for this) to a water fall, to the REAL white water rafting  with a river guide and boat full of people who spoke different languages, to the barefoot walking in the rocky river to the bamboo rafts (ouch!!).  The elephant riding was probably the safest part of the trip - wait until you see the photo of Maya sitting on the crossed legs of a baby elephant!  Anyway, I loved it!  The hiking and paddling put me right back to my hiking/canoeing days, just in a bit different context.  We were with two young women from New Zealand and two men from Israel.  You get close very fast in an adventurous day like that!

Let's see if I can figure out how to post photos - oops, all the photos are on the other computer which is out of juice at the moment.  We'll have to add them later.  

Contest:  Can you guess which list of things we miss from home belongs to which of the IB's?  The items listed for each person are NOT necessarily in priority order.

#1

Friends/family

my bed

clothes

cell phone

make up mirror

our house

our street

our neighborhood

school

stores

California

snuggling in warm blankets

napkins

a fridge full of food

#2

school

friends

neighbors

holidays

TV

being cold

clothes

hot showers

church

my big bed

#3

little kids

Peet's coffee

hot, strong showers

friends

needing a blanket at night

church

#4

regular work (but not TOO much)

cool nights

friends/family

church

big glasses of cold milk

clean air

More later!

They only lose a few farang a year!

Chiang Mai

February 14th, 2008 (Happy Valentine's there!)

So farang are foreigners.  The white water rafting was quite intense.  As long as I thought it was a ride, just like at Disneyland, then I was fine.  Though I did grab onto Kalin whenever we went over a waterfall-small waterfalls, but waterfalls never the less. 

Good:  Trekking in the mountains:  Elephants, white water, a waterfall, and bamboo rafts. Delicious food, good company (from Israel, Thailand, and New Zealand).  Kalin says the elephants were best;  Maya and Rinda liked the white water most.

Bad:  Being sore from the hike.  It was a long walk and I did not have the right shoes!  Rinda hated walking barefoot on the rocky river getting to the bamboo raft.  They insisted we wear no shoes so we could 'lock our feet' during the white water part of the adventure.

Surprising:  We were soaked.  Many times through out the day.  Kalin was a trooper though this was not her idea of a perfect day.  Maya sailed through the day like a pro.  One of her fellow white water rafters called her 'Rambo".

Mellow Day

Chiang Mai

Report on Wed February 13 on the morning of the 14th (Happy Valentine's Day)

Good:  We did not get into a motorized vehicle once today.  It was very nice to just hang low. Rinda and I had a date-dessert by ourselves in the evening at a lovely cafe.  Cocoa shake and flan-yum!  Oh, and I got another massage.

Bad:  Kalin got an annoying mosquito bite.  We got to remember to get bug spray on before dinner.

Surprising:  It only cost 264 bhat for us to take an overnight train to Bangkok next Tuesday night.  A four hour cooking class costs 1200 bhat.  

Today we are off to ride elephants and float down a river.  If I am not too tired I will post pictures.

New Feature - Quotes From Around the World

 - Kalin, don't make me hurt you!

 - Will it eat my finger?

 - For you... LARGE size, not small size.  Large size for you!

 - Seats on these busses are not made for western people's dimensions...

- If at any time during the day or night you hear a lot (sic) bang:  there's no need to worry.  It's probably just another coconut trying to penetrate your garden view bungalow at max. velocity.  Just go back to sleep without worries, knowing that these roofs are checked regularly and that they tend to be coconut-proof (but no guarantees).

       This list will be updated periodically for your entertainment.

Forest Wat

Chiang Mai

Day 8

Good:  This Wat was particularly stunning and filled with pilgrims.  It was impressive to see so many people involved in religious ritual.  Now that we have been to a few we know the routine. We walked around the chedi, counter clockwise, three times.  Then left flowers, lit incense, and a few candles.  I miss going to church, but it is nice to have these spiritual moments in my day.

Bad:  Another Indiana Jones ride to the Wat.  And then the driver insisted on bringing us to a jewelry story and rug store.  All a bit strange.  But there were tons of foreigners at the jewelry market!  Okay, true confessions, I bought a ring.  When in Rome...

Surprising:  Sometimes 2 computers does not feel like enough, and it is still hard to get everything done in the day!

Pictures:  The first three are from the Wat.  The fourth is from the bathroom at Blue House.  I can't believe I neglected to share their wonderfulness with you until now.

Maya's Taking us to the Zoo Today!

Chiang Mai

Day 7!

Good:  What an adventure!  The drivers on the shuttle were crazy, it was just like the Indiana Jones ride at D-land.  

Bad:  Though they advertised a 'Twilight Zoo" apparently they do not have one.  So at 6:00 pm we found ourselves alone with a very poorly drawn map...in a zoo...lost on a trail....in the midst of crocodiles.

Surprising:  Kalin, yes, Kalin, insisted on taking pictures of the miniature crocodiles!

Here they are.  The emu was diligently moving her eggs around.  There was a real Koala too (actually two), but we were very amused at the stuffed koala in one of the trees.  I especially like the North American Homo Sapien.  She was hard to capture.

Follow the leader

Chiang Mai:  Day 6 (It seems like a lifetime!)

Picture from around town.  See if you can find the 'love duck'.

Good:  Rinda and I just had a one hour foot massages for $4.00 each.  I gave the women nearly $10.00.  They must think I am rich.  I loved it and will go back for more-a traditional Thai massage.  Rinda is not so sure!

Bad:  We went on a wild goose chase looking for the massage school at the Women's Prison. Lonely planet let us astray!

Surprising:  It is working fabulously to have us rotate being the leader of the day.  Each day one of us makes the schedule and decides where and when to eat, what we will do, when to take a break and when to head back.  It is helping some of us develop of leadership skills, while others of us are learning followership.  I leave it to you to figure out who needs which!

Friends at U Mong Wat

Hello All  - 

Rinda here for only my second post.  It's hard to get hold of one of these computers with my highly tech-savvy family vying for them!

Today was my day to plan our activities (we take turns) and we took a tuk tuk a little ways out of Chiang Mai into the forest to a wonderful temple (wat) called U Mong.  It was built in stages, but probably originally in the 13th and 14th centuries.  There are several tunnels built into the hillside that end in alcoves for statuary and altars, and a huge bell shaped gold monument (I forget what they're called now) that one circles three times.  The statuary all over the grounds is amazing... including two dragon shaped handrails on either side of the huge stone stairs that lead to the gold monument.  Hard to describe, but we'll post photos when the technology allows again.

But the best part of the day was when we sat down in a common area to eat our peanut butter sandwiches and oranges as a mid-morning snack.  There was a big group of people gathered for a family/friend outing and they had brought MOUNTAINS of food, cooked in huge pots and arranged on platters.  They gradually invited us over to join them.  We were all shy and there was a huge language barrier, but we managed.  We laughed and did our best to communicate and enjoyed the food (though it was very spicy!).  We contributed a sack of peanuts and another of little cookies.  It was so good to spend time with Thai people outside of a customer/service relationship.  They were so warm and welcoming and open.  I will post the group picture as soon as we can too.

We love the blue house!

Good:  We love the new place.   Still quite modest but.... we now have our own bathrooms, surrounding streets we can walk on safely, tons of yummy restaurants and other good stuff near by, and wireless internet though pictures seem to be too much for it (even when I reduced the size).  The rooms are the same price as the other place (nearly $10 a night for each one-we have to get two since rooms are doubles only), though the food here is priced 50% more.  But we are close to markets and have a fridge in the room, so we can eat more in our room or on the patio.  We are happy campers.  There are tons of tourists in this area.  It actually has its merits.  Interestingly, hardy any Americans.  Tons of Europeans and Australians.  But there is a lot of authentic Thai life going on around us too.  

Bad:  Nothing!  We're on a big trip.  

Surprising:  1)  It is more difficult for me to understand English spoken with an Australian accent than English with a Thai accent.  2)  We knew our kids were 'good' eaters, but this trip proves it without a doubt.  They are game for street vendor thai food.  Whatever gets plopped in front of them, they eat.  And boy are we eating.  I do not know why, but imagined I would eat less than at home.  The food here is soooo good.  Every kind so far.  Lowbrow or upscale.  It is delicious.

Cool at night

Chiang Mai

Pictures from PunPun Guesthouse:

Good: It gets so cool at night that I sleep in long sleeves and still need a blanket.

Bad: We are not happy with the PunPun Guesthouse. Fortunately we found a nicer place in a neighborhood more to our liking. It is more central so we can walk places. The other silver lining is the PunPun set our standards pretty low.   It was safe and clean.  But the Lanai style means the walls are very thin and the shared bathroom was cleaned only every other day.  I was actually more concerned with the four of us leaving things a mess than the other guests we were sharing it with.  There was no way to clean it after showering and it was one of those bathrooms where the shower is just in the main room.  So each shower makes the bathroom wet all over.  The kids are thrilled with our new place (TV and internet, what more can they want), though it is quite modest by our standards. 

Surprising: It struck me in the middle of the night that the eggs I eat for breakfast have not seen a fridge between the hen and my stomach. Think I will have scrambled eggs from now on. Sunnyside up seems like living on the edge.

Swollen Legs!

Chiang Mai

Good: Thai Airways! Amazing service: 4 meals served with 'real' silverware and personal entertainment screens. Movies, t.v., and video games on demand. I hardly heard a peep from the girls in the rows behind us. We flew for more than 20 hours yesterday-well two days ago. This time change thing is very strange.

Bad: ALL of us have swollen legs from the airplane. At first I feared it was a sign of old age. But the girls are puffy too.

Surprising: How well Kalin and Maya are adjusting to this very different place. Clearly this will make us all closer.

Grace at the Matterhorn

Whittier

Good:  The Matterhorn opened up around 8:00 pm on our last day.  It is a fabulous ride because I get to sit back to front with someone I love.   In this case, Maya.

Bad:  Indiana Jones broke down, so it did not get to be our last ride at the park.  It would have been my 5th time in two trips so I can't deny it is rich person's problem.

Surprising:  I made it through two rounds on the tea cups and only threw up once.  Just kidding. No throwing up at all.  Plus I loved California Screaming-a new roller coaster with a full turn around Mickey's head.

More pictures!

Cardio-reversion!s

Good:  Mimi's heart is back in normal sinus rhythm after one zap.  She ate two sandwiches when it was over which is fabulous since she is down to 114#-from 135 in November.

Bad:  I missed Disneyland to be at the hospital-well worth is, bu a sacrifice none-the-less.

Surprising:  Rosemary, the nurse, screaming in delight and giving hugs all around.  It is wonderful, in a horrible sort of way, that the hospital staff is so warm and caring with my Dad & Cyn (Baba and Mimi).  Reminds me of us and Kaiser after Maya was in the hospital for 11 weeks.

This morning we are off for our last day at Disneyland.