Traditional Thai Sunday

Sunday morning our coordinator asked Alexis and I to come to school early and we were going to have lunch on a traditional Thai boat at a floating market. When we arrived at school, we found out that we were going to be participating in a ceremony to welcome monks to our school. Alexis and I were given traditional Thai skirts that belonged to Pi Ju (our coordinator) when she was younger. We weren't told much, but next thing we knew we were upstairs surrounded by female students in traditional Thai costume. I didn't even recognize some of my students because they had beautiful make up and costumes on... in their uniforms at school they all look so young! We were given cover up and blush to look like the dancers, but I was hoping for the dramatic eye liner and mascara (no such luck). Next, we all migrated downstairs where we were told to line up in the welcome parade and dance with the students. Traditional Thai dancing is a very beautiful thing to watch, but Alexis and I completely butchered the angelic moves. Struggling to keep up with my graceful students, I couldn't keep from laughing as we marched along trying to mimic the arm gestures of the students. Everyone told us we looked "beautiful" but I felt very clumsy and awkward. It was a really fun experience though, and I am glad we got to participate in an event that brought us closer to both the students and our co-workers.

After the monks came and blessed our school (which was the longest prayer session I have ever sat through..) we ate lunch in the school canteen. As usual, I had chicken and rice, but Alexis had a very unique dining experience. Thai people will eat anything you put in front of them, and I have seen them snack on some pretty repulsive things (such as chicken feet and dried squid). There was a brown substance in my chicken curry that I was avoiding because the consistency looked funny. My coordinator told me it was her favorite part of the curry. Alexis reached across and took a bite from my plate, just as Pi Ju said the words "chicken blood." I thought it was an organ of some sort  and Alexis thought it was a mushroom... but it was cooked chicken blood. It kind of looked like a dark block of tofu ... and Alexis said it really wasn't bad tasting, it was just the idea of eating chicken blood that made it gross. Needless to say, I was all set with lunch.

After lunch we headed to the floating market where Pi Ju and another teacher, Pi  Supah, bought us Thai snacks and treats. We bought the snacks and headed onto the traditional Thai boat. We enjoyed a nice cruise up the river and from the boat we saw a beautiful temple and local fisherman doing their work. Some of the buildings and docks were sinking into the river, and I felt like I was on a ride at Disney World. The rotting wood and sinking docks made it feel like I was on the jungle cruise, but it was all real, and I was reminded of the simplicity and the historic culture of Thailand. It was cool to observe local Thai people in their natural environment. Some local kids were swimming in the river and a few times I spotted people just hanging out in the tree tops, enjoying the peacefulness of the river. It was a really relaxing experience and again, it was nice to spend time with our co-workers. I think we are going to do another boat tour of a local farm where we travel up small canals to observe flower gardens and what it takes to work at a local farm in Thailand. The floating market was really close to our school, and I am very grateful that we have local Thai people to show us these hidden gems that Alexis and I would never find on our own.

 Alexis and I with Pi Ju 

 With Pi Ju and the director of Kanchanapisek

 Students in traditional Thai costume

 We blend right in, right? 

 With our fellow teachers 

 Struggle.

 They asked us to move to the front- I felt bad because no one could see the talented students behind our clumsy moves !

 The fish in the river were HUGE! No swimming for me ! 

 

Local Thai fishermen 

 Looked like a scene from a fake Disney ride. 

Temple in Nakhon Pathom we saw from the river 

Bangkok

I realized that I haven't mentioned a lot about my time spent in Bangkok and I wanted to take this down time in the office to share some of my tourist experiences. Alexis and I have grasped a good understanding of the public transportation system here in Thailand. Salaya is about 45 minutes from the center of Bangkok, but we have discovered alternate routes to the outskirts of Bangkok that get us there in about 20-30 minutes. To get to Bangkok Alexis and I either take the 515 bus (24 baht) to Victory Monument (which usually takes an hour with traffic) but it can get pretty crowded and if you don't have a seat, the ride is rather unpleasant. The second option is a 20 baht van ride to Central Plaza Pinklao which is a mall on the outskirts of the city. This takes about 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and is a quick taxi ride away from the famous backpackers road: Khao San Road. Khao San Road is a popular tourist destination in Bangkok and is lined with outdoor bars and shopping stands with cheap souvenirs and some really cute clothes. No tourist destination would be complete in Thailand if vendors weren't walking the streets selling the most bizarre items possible. Some items I have spotted so far on Khao San Road include: Scorpions on a stick (to eat!!), hand-made bracelets   with vulgar expressions sewn into them (such as F*ck off, and many sexual expressions), and an assortment of animals to pay money to take a picture with. Khao San Road is a fun environment to go out because there are backpackers from all over the world. Everyone has fully embraced the Thai heat, so casual clothes are totally acceptable at the bars. There is also a good variety of western food in the area, which is great for my cheese cravings!

A lot of the weekends we have spent in Bangkok revolve around 3 activities: seeing a movie, going to a mall, and eating western food. We have seen a lot of movies here in Thailand because tickets are really cheap and the theaters are really nice. The movies have thai subtitles and each film starts with a video tribute to the King of Thailand and everyone has to stand to honor His Majesty. It is actually a pretty cultural experience. So far, we have seen Twilight, The Hobbit, Wreck it Ralph, Gangster Squad (two thumbs DOWN), and Life of Pi. Les Mis is coming out this weekend so we are going to Pinklao with some fellow teachers to see it.

Aside from Pinklao, we have stumbled upon a few other Central Plazas located throughout the city. Siam Paragon is a really nice mall in downtown Bangkok with high end stores such as Louis Vuitton and Versace. Its fun to browse, but my Thai salary can't afford anything inside ! MBK is located near Siam Paragon and is an extremely  overwhelming mall with hundreds of small vendors inside selling cheap electronics, accessories, and souvenirs.

A few weeks ago, we stumbled upon the mall of all malls. Central World is located next to Siam Paragon and is a Westerner's dream. It has familiar food stands like Mrs. Fields cookies and has tons of international food restaurants. There is something really familiar about being in a mall, that makes me feel not so far from home. The next few weekends we have here in Thailand, we want to spend our time in more cultural areas, but I thoroughly enjoyed the times we spent at the malls. One even had an indoor water park on the top floor !

This past weekend, Alexis and I went into Bangkok for the day. We visited Lumpini Park, which is supposedly the largest city-park in the world. Bangkok is a very crowded city and most of my time in the city I feel overwhelmed by the crowds of people and the crazy traffic jams. The park was really relaxing and showed a completely different side to the city. People were relaxing in the shade (Thai people hate being tan and go to extreme lengths to avoid the sun), and there were Scout students doing outdoor activities throughout the park. Alexis and I rented swan boats and paddles around a very peaceful lake. We stumbled upon a couple playgrounds and even enjoyed an isolated swing set. It was a beautiful day to be outside, surprisingly not super hot, and I am really glad we got to see a different side to the city.

For dinner, Alexis and I went to "Cabbages and Condoms" a famous restaurant in Bangkok where some of the proceeds go to Aids relief funds. The decorations were hilarious- mannequins wearing outfits of colored condoms and lots of poster promoting safe sex. The food was delicious and it was nice to go to a new restaurant in the city. In the past we had stuck to familiar places such as Outback, Subway, and yes, even McDonalds.

 Lumpini Park

 Paddle Boats!

 Paddle Boat Selfie

 stumbled upon this DRAGON in the park ! 

 Not quite a perfect fit...

 Dessert at Cabbages and Condoms - Mango, Sticky Rice, and Ice Cream- yummm!

Santa and Bride - outfits made out of condoms.Too funny. 

This weekend, we are going to Bangkok to celebrate a friend's birthday. We are going to eat dinner at an Indian Restaurant, and Sunday we are going to Chatuchak market to buy souvenirs. We are hoping to make it into Bangkok at least one more time to visit some of  the historic temples and possibly take a river cruise. We have a a big trip planned for the entire month of March so we need to see as much of Thailand as we can in the month of February. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. I feel so lucky to have seen so many places in this amazing country, and I couldn't be happier with my placement because I have the privilege of going into Bangkok frequently and exploring the fascinating city.

Ayutthaya: Ruins and Reunions !

Saturday morning we woke up nice and early to head into Bangkok where we would be taking a van to Ayutthaya. The plans were kind of last minute, because we found out mid-week that our friends Skye and Ethan had a long weekend and were heading to Ayutthaya for a jungle trek and to explore the ancient city. We had tried to meet up with Skye and Ethan one other weekend but because of bus confusion and typical Thai frustrations the travel plans didn't work out. They are placed about 12 hours north of Bangkok and meeting up has been practically out of the question- so we were pumped when we found out they were going to Ayutthaya- only an hour outside of Bangkok ! We had heard great things about Ayutthaya so I was really excited for the trip. 

Traveling to Ayutthaya was extremely easy, we took the 515 bus from our town in Bangkok, then hopped on a van at Victory Monument and arrived in Ayutthaya a little after 10 am. Alexis and I settled into our guesthouse then explored the area.  We were staying on Soi 2, a quiet backpackers street with restaurants and guesthouses galore. Alexis and I had a cheap delicious breakfast of eggs and fruit then we walked around a market we discovered down the road. After browsing the bizarre assortment of hair accessories, knock of purses, and childrens toys, we headed back to our guesthouse to relax in our comfy bed. Our bed in CU apartment is like snuggling on a rock solid plastic mat, so we had to take advantage of the comfy mattress while we could. At 2 pm we met up with Skye and Ethan and started planning our exploration route. They had spent the day in Ayutthaya on Wednesday so they had a general idea of where to go and what to see. They also had the brilliant idea of renting motor bikes for 24 hours so we could explore the city at our leisure. Neither Alexis or I had any experience driving a motor bike, so Skye and Ethan kindly took the reins and drove us around. Skye and I rocked a beautiful purple and white motor bike and I felt way safer on the back of her bike than some of the motorcycle taxis in Salaya !!

Our first stop was the floating market. This was the first floating market I have visited in Thailand, and instead of the shops floating it seemed like there was just a moat built around the shops. It was pretty cool though, and Skye and Ethan had their first "soda in a bag" experience- Oh Thailand. Everything, I mean everything comes in plastic bags here!! But that's for another blog post... 

After the market we visited our first site of ancient ruins. There was a massive temple surrounded by Buddha statues and there was also a reclining Buddha statue that was huge! From the minute I saw the ancient buildings, I knew I was going to like Ayutthaya. Some of the trips we have taken recently have been super touristy and city-like. I was happy to be surrounded by Thai culture and history and I was amazed by all that I saw.

Our next stop was referred to as "Wat A Sight at Night" in the Lonely planet book. "Wat" is Thai for temple so its a play on words telling tourists to visit this temple at night. We just missed sunset but the glowing sky and the lit up ruins made for an amazing sight nonetheless. Ethan and I played a brief game of soccer with some local Thai kids, and we hung around the ruins until the mosquitoes were too much to handle. This was also the first ruins site where Ethan taught us why all of the Buddha statues were headless. When Ayutthaya was the capital of Thailand, the Burmese attacked their temples and sacred buildings- knocking off the heads of the sacred Buddha statues. It was creepy yet kind of cool to see that the statues remain like that today- but some of the Buddha heads were rebuilt- and the heads were noticeably different from the bodies.

After our explorations we were hungry! It was really hot during the day, and I'm always hungry here, so I was looking forward to some food. We hopped on our motorbikes and stumbled upon a night market of various food stands. I decided to go with my typical BBQ Chicken on a stick with sticky rice, and Alexis and I split the traditional Thai dessert, Mango with sticky rice. The food was amazingly cheap so I splurged on a 15 baht banana waffle. After our bellies were full, we headed back to Soi 2 and hung out at the guest house, catching up and sharing tales of traveling and teaching. It was so nice to relax and catch up, the time was going by too fast, as it always does on the weekends. 

After an amazing sleep in our comfy bed, we headed out at 10 am to meet Skye and Ethan for breakfast. We had the motorbikes until 4 pm and we wanted to see as much as possible before then. We headed to the Ayutthaya historical park to see the famous "Buddha head in a tree" and there were lots of ruins to explore. I was really happy to have the motor bikes because I know some people who biked around the city - like bicycles, and I would not have been able to survive the heat !! 

After the historic park, we visited a temple with a giant gold Buddha inside, and the site of what used to be the grand palace in Ayutthaya. We also stumbled upon another giant reclining Buddha, and a pretty cool site with a giant Buddha head inside a lotus flower. I can't remember the names of any of the "Wats" we visited, but I am so thankful that Skye and Ethan thought to rent motorbikes because we were able to see practically all of the ruins !! 

Our last stop before we returned the bikes was a memorial for the Queen who had drowned (explanation below). We returned the motorbikes and hopped on the 4 baht ferry (the actual city of Ayutthaya is an island surround by a river/moat-type thing) where we returned to Soi 2 and rewarded our long day of exploring with a blizzard from DQ. It was almost time for Alexis and I to head back to Bangkok (we discovered a van that went back to Pinklao- the mall about 20 minutes from us!) so after our ice cream we had to say our goodbyes. Hopefully we will be seeing Skye and Ethan again before our Thailand adventure is over, but if not- we will need to plan a U.S. reunion very soon!! 

The weekend went by way too fast, and overall this was one of my favorite trips so far. The ruins were an amazing thing to see and the city was full of history and culture. Despite the heat, it was a really relaxing weekend, and I am so happy we finally made a reunion with Skye and Ethan happen !! 

 The first reclining Buddha that was visited. 

Giant gold Buddha inside the temple

 Skye, Alexis and I being Asian tourists in the ruins

 Climbing the ruins

 Buddha in the tree- you have to sit when taking a picture because you can't be above the buddha or place you back side to its face 

 Sitting on the steps of the ancient buildings

The buildings and the ruins were massive

 Buddha statues were everywhere !!

 "Wat" is Thai for temple so this temple is nicknamed "Wat a Sight at Night" ... clever play on words

 Skye was a fabulous chauffeur all weekend !

 This Buddha had its head rebuilt. Most of the Buddha statues (like the one to the left) have no heads from when the Burmese attacked Ayutthaya when it was Thailand's capital. 

 Buddha head in the tree

 the buildings were SO cool

 Decapitated Buddhas... the head is the most sacred part of the body in Buddhism so this attack was an extremely rude gesture 

 Buddha head in a lotus flower - lots of good luck ! 

 Probably my favorite site we visited. 

 Giant reclining Buddha

 This is a memorial for the Queen who drowned. When she fell in the river, there was a law in place that servants could not tough the royal family. The servants watched as she drowned- they were too frightened to break the law. Immediately after, the King changed the law. 

Field Trip to Dreamworld !

Last week was a shortened week for us teachers at Kanchanapisek. Tuesday we had shortened periods (40 minute classes instead of 50 minutes) so the Thai teachers could have a meeting with the director. Wednesday was Teacher's day in Thailand, so it was a nice break in the middle of the week. Our school is known as an activity school so I was pleasantly surprised Thursday morning to discover my Mathayom 5 classes were cancelled for the day. 

The most exciting part of the week was our scheduled field trip to Dreamworld, a theme park located outside the city of Bangkok. Alexis and I were joining the Mathayom 4 students for their trip to the National Science Museum and Dreamworld. Neither of us teach M.4 so it was exciting to spend time with new students. We also went on the trip with Wai Wai, Eye, and Som... the other young teachers in our office. 

Alexis and I were eager to visit Dreamworld because we are both roller coaster lovers and had visited Luna Park in Australia together. We were eager to have another international amusement park experience and we spent the time at the science museum sipping on coffee and saving our energy. The museum was a little out dated anyway, nothing like the science museum in Boston! 

We pulled into Dreamworld a little after noon and at first glance it reminded me of Canobie Lake Park. It was pretty small for a theme park, with one major roller coaster and smaller sized carnival like rides. There were 2 water rides but Alexis and I didn't want to spend the bus ride home soaking wet so we avoided those. While the students were given safety instructions in Thai, Alexis, myself, and the other teachers slipped into the park on our own and headed straight for "The Viking" - the swinging ship like the pharoah. Wai Wai and Som were nervous for the ride, but Alexis, Eye, and I were reading for the back row- arms up! I noticed right away that rides last a lot longer than rides in America, you actually have time to enjoy the ride at Dreamworld! The Viking went much higher than the ride in America and I have to admit even I was a little scared at the peak!! 

The park itself was really cute. It was much cleaner than I expected. The decorations were like a hybrid of Storyland and Universal studios. There were fairy tale characters and super heros scattered across the park, and many of the games were selling Disney stuffed animals. Some of the rides were even modeled after Disney - like Space Mountain! Alexis and I had to see what the Thai version had to offer, and even though it was an indoor roller coaster, it wasn't quite as fast or dark as the one in Florida. Apparently, Thai people don't know that the front and the back seats are the best seats of the ride- because Alexis and I got the front every time ! 

Our entry ticket gave us 6 rides for free and I wanted to conquer as many rides as I could in 4 hours. There was a small carnival ride similar to the round up that Eye and I went on together- I love spinny rides so I was very excited!! By the end of the ride my cheeks hurt from laughing!

The last ride of the day Alexis and I splurged and paid extra for the "sky coaster"- a high speed roller coaster where your feet dangle. It didn't go upside down but it was fun none the less. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Dreamworld. The quality of the rides exceeded my expectations and the park was really clean. It was a nice day and I am happy we got to spend time with the other teachers in our office. Plus- I didn't have to teach my 6 classes on Friday!!

Friday night we layed low in the apartment. We had to wake up early for our long awaited reunion with Skye and Ethan from orientation. We were headed to the ancient capital of Thailand- Ayutthaya- to visit ancient ruins and temples. The weekend was off to a great start and I couldn't wait to see our friends!

 The entrance to Dreamworld! 

 One of the bizarre character decorations 

 Myself, Wa Wai, and Som on the Viking

 Alexis and I in front of a Dreamworld sign

Wai Wai, Som, Eye, and Alexis on the Viking

Holidays in Phuket

After a bit of a mis-communication, which is quite common here in Thailand, Alexis and I discovered we had booked our trip to Phuket before any decisions of "winter break" had been finalized. Even though we asked 100 billion times, we still ended up missing a week of classes to head south for Christmas and New Year's. Mai pen rai... It wasn't a big deal but we had to use some of our sick days. Well worth it because Phuket was beautiful. Phuket is the biggest island off the coast of Thailand and we were dividing up our 10 day vacation between the 3 popular beaches. The first few days were spent in the Kata beach area, then we proceeded to Karon beach for Christmas Eve and Christmas night where we stayed in a nice, clean hotel. Our third and final stop was Patong beach which is the "backpacker's" area- much more of a tourist hot spot but a good decision for New Year's Eve festivities! 

Like I said, our first few days were spent in the Kata beach area. The beaches are very calm in Kata and most of the tourists are families or couples on vacation. We stayed at a very accommodating hostel, and the owner was an American man from Florida who moved to Thailand to pursue his love for scuba diving and music. He gave us a great deal on scuba-diving and snorkeling. Alexis went scuba-diving and Faith and I stayed at sea level with our snorkel gear (between my bad ears and irrational fear of the ocean, I thought this was the best decision). The reef was only a quick swim out from the beach, and even though it was a cloudy day, Faith and I saw hundreds of fish swimming through the coral and a lot of sea cucumbers, bright colored coral, and massive starfish. Overall, I enjoyed snorkeling much more than I anticipated... a few fishies came too close for comfort, but my toes were covered by my flippers so I stayed calm the entire time. One night we went to "After the Beach Bar" recommended by Charlotte, to enjoy a great view of the sunset over Kata beach, reggae music, and tropical drinks in a pineapple! Our time in Kata was very enjoyable but I was looking forward to Karon because we had booked a nice hotel to stay at over Christmas! 

Kata Noi Beach

Kata Beach- we snorkeled right in front of that island!

giant blue starfish spotted during our snorkel adventures

Looks like gill from finding nemo!!

View from After the Beach Bar

After the Beach Bar- pineapple drinks!

In Karon, we didn't leave our hotel because the rooftop pool was a perfect spot for sunbathing and the pool water was much more refreshing than the warm sea water at the beach! We stayed at Pacific Coast Resort and Spa for Christmas Eve and Christmas night, and we pampered ourselves with room service and drinks by the pool. It was a very relaxing couple of days and from what I hear, we didn't miss much by not venturing outside of our hotel because Karon is nothing exciting. The views from our hotel were beautiful and it was so tropical and relaxing, it didn't even feel like it was Christmas! I am so happy I got to talk to most of my family on the phone between Christmas Eve and Christmas. It seems so strange to think that the holidays have come and gone and I wasn't home to spend them with family. I also can't believe I missed a White Christmas! I'll have to keep my fingers crossed for next year... 

Rooftop Pool at the hotel

 Merry Christmas from Phuket :) 

 View of the big Buddha from the Pacific Club Hotel 

Waterfall in the rooftop Pool

 The next stop was Patong beach. We had a bit of a conflict with our hostel, they hadn't received our booking, but it worked out great because we were placed in a new hostel with a room to ourselves for 5 nights. Patong was much more of a tourist location than Kata or Karon. There were western food restaurants everywhere-  I actually couldn't believe my eyes! We made sure to take full advantage, and ate burgers, Italian food, Mexican food, and even paid a visit to the Hard Rock Cafe. We could have easily spent half as much money on Thai street food, but my body was craving western comfort food such as cheese and bread. I probably gained about 5 pounds during our stay in Patong, but it was well worth it. Cheese never tasted so good! The night life in Patong was very fun, bars filled with people from all over the world and the walking street was flooded with bizarre vendors and live animals to take photos with. The beach in Patong was definitely more crowded than in Kata, but it was just as beautiful. The traditional Thai fishing boats off the coast of the beach made it feel just like a post card. We had a lot of fun in Patong, it was definitely more fast-paced than we had anticipated, but it was a lot of fun.

Tiger bar across from our hostel. 

This VW bus was turned into a bar. It was right downstairs from our hostel. As was au bon pain. Talk about a perfect location.. 

Faith posing with her new favorite creatures- some sort of sloth..? 

One of my favorite parts of our trip to Phuket was our day trip to Koh Phi Phi, or Phi Phi island. We got a great deal through our hostel and woke up early to take a ferry to the island. The ferry was great because we got to tan on the deck and then they took us around the island for a brief tour of some of the famous beaches on the island. Then, we docked and switched to a smaller boat where we were able to snorkel in beautiful water. It was so aqua blue-green, it was truly beautiful. The island had some pretty amazing views of rock cliffs dipping into green waters- it was amazing. We docked for a little bit to get lunch on the island and walk around its main harbor. I wish we had more time to explore the island- it seemed so peaceful! Our trip to Koh Phi Phi went by way too fast, but we saw some amazing views and I really fell in love with the island. 

 Snorkeling

 area where "The Beach" was filmed

 Ships in Koh Phi Phi harbor 

 The water where we snorkeled! 

 Posing with the beautiful cliffs/water

 Our last night in Phuket was New Years Eve, and there was a huge beach party with a floating stage on the water off of Patong beach. Supposedly Akon and LMFAO were scheduled to perform, but I didn't recognize any of their music while we were there. There were more than 50,000 backpackers on the beach and the sky was filled with fireworks and the Chinese floating lanterns like we saw at Loy Krathong. It was a great way to welcome 2013- a really fun atmosphere with people from all over the world. It wasn't so fun when we had to take a van to the airport at 4 am... but we survived. Overall, our trip to Phuket was unforgettable. I am looking forward to visiting more islands in the south when we have time off in March. Thailand is truly a beautiful country and I am so thankful for this experience.

Floating stage NYE 

Happy New Year from Thailand !!!! My New Year's Resolution is to finally get my license... and hopefully a job when I return to America. 2012 was a remarkable year- graduating from QU, Disneyworld, Euro-trip, and starting this Thai journey. I am so thankful for all of the amazing people in my life and I wouldn't be where I am or who I am today without the love, support, and influence of everyone I know. Let's see what 2013 has in store... I hope it treats all of you well. Cheers, from Thailand !