don't go to bangkok for three days

**flickr page is updated**

go for 13.  or 33.  we decided to head over to bangkok for thanksgiving with a couple of teachers from school and had an amazing time.  we were actually there for more than three, but it was three full days.  we got in wednesday night at 11pm and then left our hotel at 10am on sunday.  our trip was amazing, but way too short.  it took us a day to get acquainted with the city and then we had two full days to try and relax, site see, have drinks, eat, listen to music, and visit as many markets as we could.  next time we plan on going for a few extra days and getting out of the city.  when you go (not if, when), please please please buy nancy chandler's map as soon as you get there.  we didn't have it the first day and the people we were with weren't sure where we were going, so we spent a few hours walking around looking for temples and getting harassed by the ever so nice tuk tuk drivers.  alright.  here are too many pictures and if you want to see even more, click on the flickr link at the bottom of the pictures.

(click to enlarge)

instead of a bible in the drawer, we found a guide to southeast asia.  i like it.

 

water taxi was crazy.  wasn't sure what the plastic was for...

 

until the guy left and i looked over the side.

 

random temple while looking for the grand palace.  (i'm assuming it is a temple)

 

i love naps and so does this guy.  never pulled off the tree nap, but it is on the list.

 

at the grand palace.

 

these guys were allison's favorites.  they came in all different sizes.

 

more grand palace.  so much shiny gold.  too bad i forgot my sunglasses.

 

more grand palace

 

allison's favorite picture of the day.

 

more of allison's favorite little guys.

 fooling around with the color settings.

 

random statue

 

 we always forget to take pictures of the two of us.  not this trip.  no sir.

 

my delicious bananas soaked in sugar for 48 hours to the point where you can't tell they are bananas.

 

largest lying buddha in the world at wat pho.

 

so big.

 

 getting my fill of good luck.

 

more palace.

 

 vegetable soup for breakfast everyday!

 

 i drove a tuk tuk at 3:30am (yes, you read that correctly, i drove a tuk tuk.)

 

chatuchak weekend market - the granddaddy of them all.

 

 animals were kept in pretty small cages/tanks though.

 

 we saw lots of turtles and quite a few bunnies, dogs, cats, and other buddies.  it was pretty sad after the first few.

 

 traffic was insane.

 

 and by insane, i mean it was rush hour every hour.

 

we made it to cabbages and condoms!  they have some restaurants and resorts throughout the country that help promote social development programs.

 

they love their king.  so much.

 

annnnnd, to top it all off, we were able to see leslie and bryce for 10 minutes.  they had just landed at BKK and were heading to laos for a year or five.  due to an hour wait at customs for them, we almost had to bail so we didn't miss our flight, but it all worked out.

best (and only) trip outside of taiwan so far.  fun times.  now we get to look forward to our trip home!  we leave in 22 days and we're getting excited.

if those pics weren't enough for you (then you're crazy and you should just go visit bangkok), check out the rest of them at our flickr account.

bye!

currently checking out...

our friends' blog.  if you like india/indian food/indian food recipes/great pictures you should check it out.  also, they post way more often than we do.  here she is: miss leela

the boy of the two is an artist and has been doing some grand work while he is over there: hello david kilpatrick

sometimes you want to go where nobody knows your name

man.  i need to post more.  quick story.  i came back from three hours of frisbee late last week and stopped off at a local fried food cart to partake in some spicy tofu and allison's favorite gelatin fries (students say they're made from flour).  i was planning on buying them real quick and heading back home for much needed sleep.  around 11:30pm i walked up to the food cart and the owner was sitting with two older guys drinking water and whiskey.  the wife was running the cart while the cute little five year old daughter was running around playing make believe something.  i ordered my food and noticed the three lads in the garage waving me over.  i'd already gotten out of it once when he tried to get me to drink his plum wine with him one day, so i figured i'd do my duty and sit with them.  they slapped a glass on the ratty tatty folding card table and smiled as they poured me a glass of their scotch.  now... it should be noted (again) that i only know how to say - spicy, hello, thanks, two, zero, green tea, lemon tea in chinese.  fortunately one of the guys (who sells the scotch that we were drinking) was able to translate every fifth word for me, so i could kind of keep up with the conversation.  and by keep up, i mean, i could nod my head and pretend like i understood what they were talking about.  i did have my iphone on me, so i was able to show them where portland is and i taught them how to say portland and oregon.  one thing i did learn was that you're supposed to only drink when you get someone else to drink with you, or if someone else nods at you.  i probably looked like an idiot the first few swigs i took because i flew solo.  i finally understood what was going on and ended up drinking with them on each sip.  by the end i think they were trying to play "get the foreigner drunk" because they kept saying something that sounded like "come by!" and would pound the rest of their drinks.  it wasn't really fair because mine was straight scotch and they kept watering their glasses down, but i played along for a little bit.  i think the owner (i should really know his name by now) thinks that it is his life goal to try and get me to smoke cigarettes with him because i've been offered one at least 30 times.  his wife always scolds him and tells me "no smoke," which doesn't really stop him.  overall, i think i brought in some extra business for them and they were able to tell people they had some drinks with a foreigner.  plus i was able to get some free scotch out of the deal, so i got that going for me.  which is nice.

Sun Moon Lake

Today we went on a group trip to Sun Moon Lake. Before exploring the lake we had high tea at a pretty swanky hotel on the lake. Not too unlike tea-time in England, accompanying tea was plates of small cookies, sandwiches, fruit, and something you'd never see at tea in the UK: various jello-like substances (we've had this in a few different places now, it's growing on me).



After tea we walked up to Wenwu Temple. To get up to the temple we walked the "Year of Steps" that replaced the stairs that long ago, before a road led up to the temple, used to be called the "stairway to heaven." Each step represents a day of the year and visitors can place wind chimes near their birthday to ask for blessings.





Just inside the temple are two large stone lions, which we have read are the biggest lions in Taiwan.


Inside the three buildings of the temple there are many places for different types of worship - incense, candles, praying.



From the top of the temple there is a great view of the lake, though the day was so hazy and the sun was on it's way down, so it was hard to see very far.



After we looked around the temple we went for a walk around part of the lake.





It was a nice day all around, and we enjoyed getting out of the city and seeing a bit more of Taiwan.

Tea - it does the body good

My favorite day of the work week, aside from Friday of course, is Thursday, because we get tea. I am by no means a tea expert (though this guy is) but I'm also no novice. My mom drinks a lot of tea, and when Jeremiah and I lived in London for a study abroad and I had a lot of tea, but Taiwan tea is not your grandma's tea. First there are a lot of tea to-go stands around. And when I say a lot, I mean on our block there are 3. The tea shops have big cups of cold tea with all sorts of options for amounts of sugar and ice and probably a lot of things I don't even know because I can barely pronounce "green tea" in chinese, let alone understand any of the signs they point to. Luckily for what I like, lemon green tea, there doesn't seem to be a lot of complications and Jeremiah has mastered ordering his green tea. There are also many variations on bubble tea which was created here in Taiwan, but that's not exactly, well, my cup of tea (I just couldn't resist). So far we have had very little warm tea though as the weather cools I'm sure it will surface more.

From the shop right near our house - Ching Shin. Tea always comes with the top sealed; you poke your straw through the plastic.

níng méng chá (lemon green tea - not sure if that is correct?)

My favorite tea stand name because it's fun to say. Go ahead, try saying it out loud.

And in case plain ol' green tea isn't your thing, you can try beer flavor

I spy

You almost couldn't see this grasshopper in the bush because of his color, but boy is he big!

Pinwheels Galore

I'm not sure what these pinwheels are for, but they line this street and then cheer me up every time I see them.