not just a pretty beach

when i thought of thailand before our trip, i thought of sandy beaches, clear blue water and sunny skies. but thailand was so much more than that to us. we fell in love with thailand and are already planning how we can come back again!

thailand is a place of celebration. we celebrated new year's eve 2009 on koh mak. lucky for us nye coincided with a full moon and we witnessed a small ceremony of lanterns being sent off into the black night skies.

thailand is a place of tradition, worship and ritual. we've seen many wats in our 4 weeks in thailand and we've seen many monks clad in their bright orange robes. the monk in the picture above welcomed us into his wat saying, "buddha is waiting for you". he chanted some words in thai and then in english, "i want happiness for 100 years. i want a new home". over and over again. in the end he gave us each bracelets for good luck and asked for a donation.

thailand is a place of impossible to read signs. this sign says happy new year 2010. we only know this because there is an english translation on the other side of the bush.

thailand is a place where dogs wear people shirts. well...to be fair...while we were in chiang mai it did dip to 22 degrees at night. brrr! poor doggies!

thailand is a place full of beautiful children and quick smiles. this little boy giggled when he realized he'd been caught in the act. i showed him his picture on the back of our camera and he giggled some more :)

thailand is a place where i want to be when i grow old.

sawatdee-ka,
corina

chillaxing flats

after the hustle and bustle of visiting 3 cities (dubai, hong kong & singapore) within 12 days, the flats were more than ready for some beach time. they had a great time lying on the beach mats with auntie corina and uncle jason. when they got bored of that they swam in the ocean (good thing they are laminated!), built sand igloos and ate the local cuisine.

from left to right: flat owen, flat sasha, flat ellie, flat jane, flat hannah showing off one of their sand igloo creations in pulau penang, malaysia.

the flat petroffs wishing it was their turn to fly into the sky and look over batt feringhu. uncle jason said, "no way! it's too dangerous for flat kids to parasail on their own and there is no way i'm going up there with you." they pouted for awhile but auntie corina promised banana roti for dessert and they forgot all about parasailing :)

the flat penners enjoyed sharing auntie corina's veggie pad thai in koh chang, thailand. flat ellie went crazy for the local specialty thai iced tea with milk. she sucked it down so fast that her flat belly started bulging! flat hannah warned her, "slow down before you burst!".

flat owen was getting a bit rangy after all this beach time and lying around. flat jane thought it'd be a good idea to go tree climbing and to get out of uncle jason's and auntie corina's hair. they agreed!

a favourite stop for everyone, flat and real, was koh mak, thailand. reading by the pool, drinking ice cold beer (cokes for the flats & a. corina) on the pool edge, playing catch with friends in the pool...good times.

flat owen and flat jane catching some rays on the colourful lounge chair set out on the long pier. the perfect way to end a sleepy day on koh mak.

sawadtee-ka from the flat girls

sawadtee-krap from flat owen

scenes from bangkok

tuk tuks...ubiquitous in thailand cities...are a cheap way to get around when you are tired of walking or you can't figure out what bus to take.

the streets of bangkok are lined with food vendors. you want fruit...you got it! you want durian...the guy cuts it up for you and seals it in smell proof packages for your trip home.

the market place is a great place to catch up with friends or make new ones.

if you dare...jay has only had one bad reaction to seafood from the street vendors.

more tuk tuks waiting to take you..."where you go?"

khao san road is big with the backpacker types...but since we're wannabees (another post on the subject to follow)...we didn't spend much time here.

as you can see khao san road is full of farang (ie. european/white folks) and way too busy to be enjoyable...unless you are a true backpacker (yes, more wannabee chattering).

the river is a great way to bypass the notorious bangkok traffic. waiting for the ferry on the floating dock is a true test of your balancing skills. and you better act quickly when the ferry arrives or you'll be left in it's wake.

this is a slow boat...for those that have time to chillax...

just one of many homes/businesses/warehouses you'll see from the river.

even in a fast-paced city like bangkok, there's time for reflection while the world whizzes by on shore.

ka ka ka,

corina

wild thailand

we weren't sure how to feel about the monkey at our guesthouse in koh chang. she bit my hand the first time i said hi. jay still tried to make friends with her on several more occasions only to be bitten...once on his eyebrow. she seemed happy to be carried around on the shoulders of the maintenance guy or to be held as she fell asleep in the arms of one of the restaurant staff. but often we would see her tied up in the dining room or near the fire pits. did she miss her monkey friends in the wild? i never once saw her swinging from the trees surrounding the bamboo huts where we stayed. sometimes she would climb the railings of the diningroom hut and shake them...perhaps in frustration...

these little guys shimmered in the sun, their bronze skin reflecting red and green in the light.

the sand crabs were very hard to see. in fact, you wouldn't know they were there until you stepped too closely and they would quickly glide away from your foot.

we haven't seen any wild elephants in thailand. the elephants on koh chang once worked the farms and plantations on the island. the word chang means elephant in thai. now they provide entertainment to the tourists. you can ride them, wash them, and feed them for a fee but we decided not to.

this beauty fluttered around us as we enjoyed a waterfall on koh chang.

this is the small spider we saw on our way back from the waterfall. this guy was tucked near the ground in his web and was about the size of pringles potato chip. we saw two huge spiders, one as we crossed a bridge and one above our heads hanging in its web between two branches. this is the picture that turned out the best. still scary, right? i believe all three of them were batik spiders...only mildly poisonous...it's bite like a wasp's sting.

i like geckos. they're cute. they eat bugs.

more crabs in the sand. the whole beach was covered with little balls of sand like an abstract painting. the balls are a result of the crabs digging hiding places in the sand. see if you can spot the crabs...there are at least two in this picture.

i saw movement out of the corner of my eye as i was relaxing on my lounger. i could barely see this bug that looks like a blade of grass.

on the rare occasion that my hair is not in a ponytail or braids...since i haven't had my hair cut in six months...it's a bit wild.

don't ask

sawatee-ka,

corina

how hot is Thailand?

this is for our friends and family back in canada...cold canada...winterpeg, manitoba. as you start your new year with a low of -27 degrees celcius and a high of -20 we begin ours with a sunshiney +35. nah nah nah nah boo boo :P

so hot! good thing there's an ocean to jump into :)

yup that's sweat dripping off jay's nostril

sawadee-ka,

corina