And we thought we had left the hurricane & tropical storm season behind when we moved from Miami!
According to the Bangkok Post (http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/315530/city-braces-for-tropical-storms), there is not one but TWO tropical storms that are on track to pass over Bangkok later this weekend and next week.
The first storm has been named Gaemi and is predicted to affect Bangkok by the end of this weekend. The second storm has been named Phrapiroon and it is thought that Phrapiroon will be a bigger storm system than Gaemi and should affect Bangkok by the end of next week. As was the same during the flooding last year, I can't seem to get a consistent report of exactly what to expect from these storms and how the government is preparing for them. The radar on the weather website here is always 3-4 hours behind the "real" time so it is next to impossible to try and accurately track a weather system. I wasn't even aware that these storms even existed until a friend mentioned to me yesterday that they were building concrete barriers around one of the airports to prevent flooding. I really wish Bangkok had The Weather Channel storm coverage like back home - 24/7 with on the ground reporting. I certainly wouldn't complain if they sent Jim Cantore over here! The weather forecast for Bangkok predicts isolated or scattered thunderstorms for the next 10 days but this has been the typical forecast since the beginning of the monsoon season so who knows how much rain we will get and when. I guess we will just wait - never a dull moment, that is for sure.
Caitlynne's team won her school basketball game on Wednesday by about 10 points. She had a good game with a few steals and rebounds. She is clearly a better defensive player than offensive. Christopher's team lost their game - the other team had a very tall player and no one on our team could defend him well. He was able to rebound on both ends of the court and then re-shoot any shots he missed offensively. We rarely had a chance to get our hands on the ball when he was under the basket. Our boys played an incredible defense though and held them to only 7 points in the second half (after they scored 25 in the first). We only lost by 5 points so they definitely put up a fight. In addition to Christopher starting and playing all but 6 minutes of the basketball game, he also finished first in the biathlon for his P.E. class earlier that day. He was one tired (and hungry!) boy by the time we got home! Team photos were taken after the game and I managed to get these on my phone. Christopher is in the front and holding the basketball.
Kevin arrived home late Wednesday night and, although we haven't seen much of him, it has been wonderful to have him home. Fortunately, he does not seem to be having too many issues with jet lag on this trip and has slept reasonably well the last two nights. We have a busy weekend with basketball games, baseball practices and activities for the kids which could be messy if we get a lot of rain and wind from the storm. The Embassy is closed (but ISB is not) on Monday for the Columbus Day holiday and I expect Kevin will find a group to golf with.
I had to go out of Nichada earlier today to run some errands so I stopped by one of my favorite vendors to pick up some mango and sticky rice for our dessert tonight.
Mango and sticky rice is an amazing dessert - light but so delicious! The mango is sliced, served over the sticky rice and then everything is topped with sweetened coconut milk and fried mung beans (which look a bit like toasted rice crispies). Since it is earlier afternoon here and we won't be eating dinner until well after I publish this post, I found this photo on www.realthairecipes.com to show you how mango and sticky rice looks when it is all put together. I will take some photos of ours this evening but be forewarned, I can never slice my mangoes that nicely!
I haven't tried to make this at home and probably won't until we move back to the U.S. The sticky rice is tricky (and time consuming) to make and it is so convenient (and cheap) to just pick some up when I am out and about.
Have a great Friday!
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