Bringing Home The Gold & The Silver!

Christopher's team placed 1st in the BISAC Boys' 13 & Under Tournament yesterday and Caitlynne's team placed 2nd in the Girls' 13 & Under Tournament!  There were eight teams in both tournaments and some of the games were VERY close.  We are so proud of their efforts and it was so nice to see their hard work and dedication pay off.  

Christopher's Gold Medal...

Christopher's team photo...

 Caitlynne's Silver Medal...

 

Now for some random photos from the last few weeks...

Caitlynne and her friend, Heather, on Halloween as "Sleeping Beauties"

The photos below are taken from our balcony at the resort the kids and I went to in Pattaya at the beginning of November. 

 

 

Looking down the coast.

  

 

 

 

Some of the children playing on the computer in the lounge.  Although there was a wide range of ages, everyone got along really well.

 

PeePorn usually cooks Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday unless we have plans to eat out or evening activities.  She is an excellent cook but I was feeling like we needed some "farang" (Western) food this week so I made chicken piccata, steamed carrots and baguette for our dinner on Wednesday.   

 

 

 

PeePorn made a salad and a fresh fruit plate.

 Sliced dragon fruit and mango... so delicious!

Tonight we are having our very first dinner guests since our household goods arrived.  It will be so nice to serve dinner on proper dinnerware and use our nice table linens!  We are having hummus, tzatziki & pita bread for nibblies and, for dinner... chicken and beef kebabs done on the grill, grilled veggies, a salad and two kinds of homemade focaccia (one with sea salt & rosemary and the other with onion & garlic).  Caitlynne is going to make brownies for dessert.   Yum!

Have a great Sunday!  

A Lot of Basketball!

This was my morning... woke up at 4.15 am for a 2.5 mile run with the dogs.  Dropped the dogs off at home, woke Caitlynne up and then went out to run another 2.5 miles by myself.  Went back to the house, woke Christopher up and took Caitlynne to school to catch her 6.15 am bus to the BISAC Girls' Basketball Tournament at Shrewsbury International School.  Came home and made Christopher his special requested ham & cheese omelet before taking him to school to catch HIS bus to the BISAC Boys' Basketball Tournament at Bangkok Patana School.  

Then, it was back home once again to shower, get dressed and straighten the house before Kevin and I drove downtown to watch Christopher play in the 9.00 am and 11.00 am basketball games (one tie, one win).  We ate lunch with his team and then drove to the other side of Bangkok to see Caitlynne's team win their semi-final game.  We should have stayed for Caitlynne's final game but the tension was just too much for me. Also, we didn't know how heavy the traffic would be getting home from downtown and the dogs had been on their own for the better part of the day so it was a good idea to head out.  The ISB teams were playing really well and I can't wait to hear how their teams ended up finishing. I cannot imagine how tired Caitlynne and Christopher will be when they get home!  They will have each played 5 basketball games today.  Caitlynne also has a babysitting job tonight until mid-night so she will be one cranky girl tomorrow if she doesn't sleep in!  

I have some photos to post but Caitlynne borrowed the cord to connect my camera to the computer to download pictures so that will have to wait.

Have a great Saturday!  

ISB Flood Relief Effort

This is a link that was posted on the Nichada Facebook page earlier today.  The link is to a great video made this past weekend to show ISB's flood relief efforts.  After watching the video and seeing some of the damage in our area, I am, once again, so amazed and thankful at how very fortunate we were not to be directly affected by the flood waters.  

"Students and Staff from the International School Bangkok donate their time and supplies on a Saturday to help the flood victims in the surrounding area by putting together food bags and clean water bottles."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh_-iPiJMPM&feature=youtu.be

Happiness Is

... waking up on Monday morning and watching the Giants play on Sunday night football while enjoying a cup of coffee! Although the Giants did lose, it was a great game and was fun to watch.  No one in our home would dare give me any grief about the loss as the Giants' games LOST (3 games) is exactly equal to the Redskins' games WON. Ouch!  Poor Kevin has been waiting for many, many years for the Redskins to turn things around but it just doesn't seem like it is going to happen anytime soon.  

We are starting to get back into our routine after being out of school for a week of vacation and then missing another 8 school days because of the flooding.  ISB's e-learning requirement during the "flood" days really helped Caitlynne and Christopher. Although they didn't learn any new skills or topics, the assignments maintained their academic focus and kept them fresh with what they had been learning right before the break.  I was afraid of the amount of homework they would come home with last week but it wasn't too bad.  They were very happy to be back with their friends and to be socializing again!  They both jumped right back into basketball with practices last week and this week.  The BISAC tournament was re-scheduled and will take place this Saturday.  Nothing is ever simple - Caitlynne is playing at a school on the Western-most side of downtown and Christopher is playing at another school on the Eastern-most side of downtown.  Kevin and I are still trying to figure out how to be in two places at once.  Their games are played every two hours, beginning at 8.00 am and continuing to 5.00 pm so it will be a very long day for them!

Last Thursday, I had my second Interior Design class.  We went downtown to visit a few antique shops that the instructor frequents and has established good relationships with the owners.  It is amazing how affordable and abundant fine antique furniture is here.  Granted, everything does have an Asian influence, either in design, style or color but we saw some really beautiful (and so inexpensive!) pieces of furniture, porcelain accessories and art work.   Some pieces were more "Asian" than others but, even I, who has no inclination toward the Asian influence, found many items that would certainly work in our home.  In fact, our instructor told us that almost every designer showcase room contains at least one piece of furniture, an accessory or art work with an Asian influence.  The trick is knowing how to work it into the overall decorating scheme.   

Kevin returned from the U.S. very early Saturday morning and we were all so happy he was home!  He and I ran some errands on Saturday and went by some neighborhoods near us that were horribly flooded.  It is odd to look down a street and see people in boats instead of cars.  There are massive aid and assistance efforts to help those affected by the flooding going on throughout Nichada and Bangkok.  Caitlynne went to a friend's home Friday night to help pack relief bags for flood victims who have either chosen to remain in their homes or who are back at home cleaning up the damage. Many areas remain flooded and are without power.  This weekend, ISB's booster club is having a fun run and then a pancake breakfast as a fundraiser for flood victims.  I think the worst part of the flooding is over for our area but it is just taking so long for this massive amount of water to drain out of the rest of Bangkok and into the sea.  The traffic has been very bad because most of the lower roads are flooded so everyone is driving on the (raised) expressway.  Kevin has been leaving to go into work at 5.30 am so he can then leave early enough for home in the afternoon to miss the traffic on the expressway.  

Today, I had my first Thai cooking class.  There are 6 students (plus the chef) in my group and we made hot and sour soup, beef salad, green curry and satays.  

I did not take a photo of the soup but here is the beef salad.  PeePorn has made this for us before.

The satays (chicken and pork) with a peanut curry sauce and a chili sweet and sour sauce.

The green curry (made by yours truly!).

 

Even with the six of us working, it took us almost 4 hours to chop, prep and cook these dishes!  Sometimes I wonder why it takes PeePorn so long to cook dinner for us and now, after today, I know how much work is involved.  Even if I don't ever make these dishes again, taking this class was a great learning experience as far as identifying the different vegetables, herbs and spices used.  Everything was delicious and I don't think there were any leftovers.  It will be interesting to see what we make in next week's class!  

Have a great Tuesday!     

Fantastic Trip - Part IV

First of all, a big happy birthday to my older brother, Jim!  I hope you have a great day!  

I submitted my final exam essays and answered the last set of questions for my "Modern East Asia" class this weekend.  Whew!  I am so glad that is over with!  I loved the learning part of the class but trying to keep with my homework and studying, as well as that of the kids', was just too stressful.  I did learn a lot and gained some insight into why things are the way they are in this part of the world.  However, I am not sure that is a good thing as I am now much more apprehensive about some of the leaders in this region.  As if I needed anything else to worry about!    

Yesterday, I had my first Interior Design class and just loved it!  It was very interesting to learn about the "science" of decorating and the methods behind choosing furniture, paint color, wall decor, accessories, even lighting and plants.  Tomorrow, we are going downtown to visit a few furniture showrooms that our instructor prefers to send her clients to.  Apparently, you can show these vendors a photo of any piece of furniture that you are looking for and they will either construct it in the exact image or keep their eyes open for something similar while on their buying trips.  She gave us a lot of suggestions about which vendors and suppliers to use here so, as soon as the flood waters recede, I will get out there and have a look.  Fabric, wood and other materials are of a high quality and reasonably priced and the labor is VERY VERY inexpensive so I think I will have some window treatments and a few furniture pieces made for our home in Virginia (hoping we will be back there in 2014!).  

The kids returned to school yesterday and I think all of the moms did a happy dance out in the streets! I know Caitlynne was very happy to be going back. The e-learning required quite a bit of time and brain power from them and they also missed their friends tremendously.  Their basketball games and the end of the year tournament have been re-scheduled and they jumped right back into the routine with practices yesterday and today.  We are very lucky to be able to go to school as the Government has now closed all other schools (with the exception of private and international schools) until November 21st.  

So, back to the last part of our trip to Chiang Rai...

We finished in Myanmar, retrieved our passports and walked back over the bridge to go through processing by the Thai immigration office.  Everyone coming back into Thailand was loaded down with goods from the counterfeit market. Anan said the Thais go to Myanmar to buy the fake goods and the Burma people (as they call themselves), come into Thailand for the medical care and medicine.  I wish I knew more about Myanmar to give you some information about the history of the country and what it is like present day, but I really don't know much.  Other than watching Brad Pitt in "Seven Years In Tibet" (a LONG time ago), I have had no exposure to this region at all.  Hence, the Modern East Asia class!  Earlier in the day, during our drive to the border, Anan did say Myanmar is the richest country in the world as far as natural resources are concerned.  He showed us a map which detailed the locations and types of natural resources in Myanmar and there is quite a variety and abundance.  From other things Anan said, I got the impression that the government does not have complete control over the entire country and portions thereof are ruled by tribes, local armies, etc.  

We met back up with our driver and he had bottles of cold water and a tray of cold washcloths waiting for us so we could freshen up a bit.  Then, we drove a short distance to an art gallery that mines jade in Myanmar and makes it into jewelry, figurines, and art.  First we visited the "production" part of the gallery....

We walked in on the tail end of the process so, obviously, a lot of things had already been done to the jade before the woman in the photo below began to polish the figurine.    The jade is dyed a dark purple color so she can see what has already been polished.

 

I thought it would be nice to purchase something from this gallery as a little souvenir of our day but when I saw the prices, I just about died!  Once finished ONE of those LITTLE elephants in the photo above will sell for about $450 US dollars.  Jade, like other gems, has gradients of quality and this gallery specializes in only the very high level grades.  Their prices certainly reflected it!  

We left the gallery (alas, empty handed), stopped for a quick bite to eat and began the drive to Laos.  The drive was REALLY long - probably well over an hour.  Both of the kids fell asleep.  The route we took was very "back road" - through rice paddies (photos below) and lots of small Thai villages.  I am going to learn how rice is grown as the growing/harvesting/sale process looks and sounds very interesting. 

  

 

We stopped in the ancient town of Chiang Saen, on the Mekong river and at the very southernmost point of the Golden Triangle.  Before going to the dock to catch our boat to Laos, we went to a very old temple that is in the process of being rebuilt and restored.  This temple seemed to be more "photo friendly" than the one we visited in Myanmar so I was able to take a few photos.   This temple is called Wat Chedi Luang and is thought  to have been built between the 12th and 14th century.  This is a new Buddha that was recently installed.  It was very large (maybe 30 feet) and quite spectacular! 

 

Before we left the temple, Anan showed us "game", almost like pick up sticks... you match the number on the stick you pick up with the number on a drawer in the chest (photo below).  Inside the drawer is your "fortune".  I can't remember the details for the two kids (Anan had to translate to English for us) but we all got a good laugh because Christopher's fortune contained a very strong warning for the woman he is to marry!

 

In the photo below... you take a small (stamp sized) piece of gold leaf (provided by the temple), say a prayer to Buddha and adhere the gold leaf to statue on the part of the Buddha's body that corresponds to where you are feeling your pain (i.e, if you have knee pain, you would put the gold leaf on the Buddha's knee).   

Christopher thought the sign below was funny and took this photo (yes, surprisingly I let him touch my camera again!).

The photo below shows a portion of the temple currently under renovation.

After another bathroom break (this time with Western facilities!), we hopped back in the van and drove down to the Mekong River to meet up with our boat for a short trip across the river to Laos.

Anan waiting for our "skipper".

The view over to Laos.

 

 A traditional Asian river boat. 

Our long tail boat.  Yes, all six of us went in that boat.  And survived.  I would not have set foot in that boat had we not had life preservers and knowing that the river was heavily trafficked     

 

 A true house boat. 

 A river front home on the Laos side of the river.

The sign below was on the dock where we tied up the boat on the Laos side of the Mekong.  Done Xao (China) is 266 KM farther up the river from that point.  Anan told us that it would be about an 8 hour ride in a boat similar to ours.  No thank you.

 

Warning - those with queasy stomachs, beware of the next few photos!

So, how many of you have dared to eat the worm at the bottom of the tequila bottle?!? I know my husband did when he was at his cousin's wedding in Mexico many years ago and thought he should "go native".  Well, in Laos, they have something similar.  However, the Laotians think the worm is a little too wimpy so guess what they have in their whiskey?

Is a cobra manly enough for you? Why did I think in an Arnold Schwarzenegger voice as I typed that sentence?!? Ha! 

 

 

I will spare you the photos of the whiskey with the armadillo and the one with the scorpion.  Kevin wanted to buy some bottles to take home to our families but we thought there might be some problems going through customs with these!

More counterfeit purses - although these were not as good of quality as those in Myanmar.

We did not spend much time in Laos.  I think we were all exhausted and ready to get back to the hotel.  We walked around the little village on the river bank for a while and then returned to the boat for our trip across the river to Thailand.  The dock on the Thai side was renovated a few years ago for the Queen's birthday.  The view as we approached was quite impressive.

 

 

After we docked, we met up with our driver again (and more of those lovely cold washcloths) and had a very short ride back to the hotel.  We went to dinner and then packed up as we had a very early (6.00 am) departure the next morning.  

That is a wrap!  I think it took me longer to write about our trip than the trip actually was!

Have a great Wednesday!