Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Randoms

He is one of the cutest kids ever! Every time he sees us he runs over smiling and gives us big hugs. This is one of my students. I wish he was this quiet in class. He was trying so hard not to fall asleep, and then 10 minutes before we reached Mercy he was out. The girl to the left is also one of my students.
Everyone got out of the van around him and he was still sleeping...

Cobra! Thankfully he was in a cage. My camera some how takes the cage away.

This is a picture of the inside of the Oriental. High-so or what?! I can't even imagine what the rooms looked like. This is the best hotel in Bangkok, no wonder.


I do not know how old the baby monkey is but it looks like it was just a newborn.

Iguana.




This is one of my favorite students. She is the niece to one of the PR workers that Misty and I have become really good friends with.
"Am I fair enough?"




Hello All,
Misty and I found out this morning that tomorrow is labour day in Thailand and therefore a holiday. Heather is coming tonight from China (she is from Acadia too but doing her teaching placement in China). We have decided to join her on one of the islands on the south of Bangkok for the weekend and relax on the beach. I will likely not post again until Monday or Tuesday! Have a great weekend!!
Sending Love from Thailand


Tuesday, April 29, 2008

You see that scratch on my camera? It's from a monkey in Thailand.




This is me and one of my students.

Hello All,
Sorry I didn’t get this post up right away as I am sure many of you were waiting to hear about how our night went.


We spent most of the day running around Bangkok, not in the literal sense, but doing errands. Misty got her hair highlighted at Carrefour, and it looks great. We also did some shopping (didn’t buy anything) and then came home to prepare for our evening.


We dressed up and met the ladies at Mercy. From there we took a taxi to the Four Seasons Hotel. The hotel itself was very nice, and very hi-so. There was a live band playing in the lobby, and both sides of the walk were fish ponds and fountains. The Japenese restaurant was tucked inside. The waiter immediately recognized Vanessa, so that tells you how often she goes there.
Misty and I did not know what to order, so we left all of the ordering up to Vanessa. We tried some Japanese warm rice wine and Japanese beer. I cannot remember the names of everything we eat but I know we had eel, crab and shrimp. The California rolls were incredibly delicious. We also were lucky enough to have some fatty belly fish, which is the inside of a fish and very very delicate. It is also difficult to come by and only some fish have it, so a lot of times restaurants cannot even serve it. We finished the meal off with dessert, all I know is that it was something chocolate and delicious.


The evening was nice, we had a lovely conversation about the children at Mercy and their future. Most of the conversation revolved around work.


It also turns out that Katisa is not a supermodel at all, although she does model from time to time. Her and her husband own a horse stable in France and raise and train for competitive horse jumping.


I did get a picture at the end of the evening which I will post.


A few more tidbits of information. Vanessa’s father owns the airport in Monaco. And Katisa’s father is a musician. I am unsure of who he is and did not have the opportunity to ask but I will find out.


It was so hard to get up this morning as last night was quite a late night. I only taught one class today and then went to visit Nancy. Momma gave me a ring someone made. It is quite nice. Nancy was very happy to see us and they all begged that we join them for lunch again. Unfortunately today it was not possible.


We met with Vanessa and Katisa and took two van loads of children from Mercy 6 to the Oasis Hotel. This place is the pride of Bangkok, and it is no wonder! The place is incredible, and breath taking. It was definitely high-so, especially after we saw the Louis Vuitton store inside.


There was a boat waiting for us out back and it took us down the river. It was very nice as we got to go inside many of the little canals and see how different things are than on the big part of the river that all of the hotels are on. We had a picnic on the boat which consisted of sandwiches and muffins. We got off at the Snake and Crocodile farm and saw a live snake show. They were playing with cobras and racing snakes. They also milked a snake and showed us their teeth. The grounds were not very well maintained and a lot of the cages were dirty and some even unlocked. Overall I was not impressed with the place.


Misty had a terrifying experience. One of the children were holding her camera by the monkey cage, and the monkey reached underneath the wire and took her camera!! It was going crazy, swinging it all around and smashing it on the cement. I ran over after I heard her scream! I thought the camera was definitely done for, and was in so much shock I only managed to take one picture. All of the foreigners were there snapping pictures and laughing, saying "this is so funny." Finally someone who worked there came over and opened the cage, took the monkey out and retrieved the camera. There does not appear to be any damage on the inside, however the outside suffered a few beatings. There are a few scratches, and a chip missing out of the bottom, but nothing major. What a great story though. "What happened to your camera?" "A monkey took it and was playing with it." I think Sony needs to hear about this story!


Sorry I am not able to post more pictures. I am at an internet cafe and the net is very slow. I will try again at work.


Jodie

Crocodile and Snake Farm

Think...monkey taking camera




River cruise to Crocodile and Snake Farm

Houses along the river

Okay this baby monkey is wearing a diaper


The Oriental Rivercruise

Waiting in the lobby


Vanessa and one of the twins



High-So Supper with Vanessa and Katsia

Eels!
This is the last piece of the fatty belly fish.
Dessert. How can you say no to that?!


We waited forever for a taxi. SiJie, Jodie, Misty, Vanessa, Katsia
This was delicious. It was shrimp and vegetables fried in something. Everything was edible.
California Roll....yumm..these put the ones at home to shame.


Sea Gypsies

Hello All,
Here are some pictures of the sea gypsies. There are way too many to post, so I only posted a few. Enjoy!