Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Day 2 - Pattaya
Got woken up by a rooster nearby. We had a great night sleep on our soft bed which is a big change from our rock hard bed in China. We had a buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then walked down to see thebeach. On our way we walked through a nice neighbourhood with beautiful houses and courtyards. After a short 15 minute walk, we reached the beach. The water is a nice green colour but the beach we saw was small and stuffed with foreign tourists with too little on for my liking. Needed to avert my eyes several times!
The rest of the day was packed with new experiences. Here is a quick summary:
- Took a baht bus for the first time with some help from a couple of fellow tourists. These are a cheap form of public transportation (10 Baht per person or 32 cents Cdn). The routes are limited but they come very often. They are pickup trucks with 2 rows of benches in the back. They beep, stop, you get on, get to where you want to go, ring the bell, get off, pay the driver. Will try to get a pic another time as we WILL be using them again.
- Took bus to Pattaya, the bigger city nearby. We are in a suburb at the edge of it. Checked out the beach there. The above was the view but again more foreigners jamming the small beach.
- Checked out the Walking Street that is a narrow one lane road that is lined with bars, go go bars and other attractions that come out at night. OK during the day but I'd be afraid to walk it at night. Lots of bars with all the chairs turned towards the street for people watching. Lots of massage parlours here. One interesting combo was the tailor and massage parlour store.
- Found a Starbucks with air conditioning and enjoyed a coffee break. Girls who worked there were so nice and spoke great English. Another interesting store placement.
- Walked through a Middle Eastern section with lots of Hookah pipe restaurants to get the baht bus back to our area and lunched at an expat restaurant. There are tons of them here, expats that is as well as restaurants owned by them. Incidentally many many of these expats have a Thai lady companion. Draw your own conclusions.
- Came back home and took a dip in the pool. Ahhhhh!
- After a nap, went back out to have a Mexican dinner in Thailand, ha ha. But on the way there, saw my first bar girls (ladies who sit in the bars to attract and entertain customers).
- Found the fresh food market near our hotel on the way back and picked up some tasty oranges and little bananas to replace the ones we've eaten from the gift fruit basket we got from the hotel. There were little stalls set up with different foods. Thinking we're going to try it for lunch tomorrow.
- Christmas in January - Since we are staying for a month, we got our kitchen supplies from the hotel today. We will have the choice now to cook in our hotel apartment with the toaster, kettle, pots, pans and other cooking and eating utensils. It's Christmas because much of it was still in their boxes so we got to open them up like presents.
- While I napped, Don hung out on our balcony reading and surfing the Internet
After a full day, we are now just taking it easy in our room. Don is enjoying some English tv programs while I blog. Good night. See you all tomorrow for another exciting day in Thailand.
J
Day 1 Part Deux
Last night, we ended up just going to the Tesco / Lotus (grocery / department store). Got there by hotel taxi at a reasonable price and got hosed on the way back by local taxi. Little choice since we couldn't see another way home and it was our first night here. Had a nice cheap Thai dinner in the food court though so we saved money there. And we came home happy with our bags of provisions after a great time in the store. When we are on vacation, we enjoy shopping in grocery stores more than many tourist sites.
This was our lunch on our first day at the hotel restaurant:
Monday, January 17, 2011
Thailand, Day 1
We checked into our home away from home for the month. As you can see above, we have a nice view of the pool. We went down to have lunch at the hotel restaurant by the pool. Of course, we had Thai food and beers and enjoyed the lovely breeze.
After a lazy afternoon getting acclimatized, we are just trying to decide what to do for the evening. Stay tuned.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
We're Back !!!
I can't believe how lazy I've been about the blog. Living abroad has become our "normal" life so things have become ordinary for us. I'd rather blame it on the Great Firewall but that would be wrong. It's time for me to start appreciating life here and sharing through the blog again. Hey, I'll add this to my resolutions. Anyhoo, this is a short posting because we're getting ready to leave for Thailand tomorrow. Can't believe that we are going! We started planning this in November so it hasn't felt real until now.
Through the recommendation of a new friend we met at Algonquin this summer, we've rented an apartment for a month in Pattaya. We have no grand plans for Thailand, only that we will be warm:) If all goes well, we'll also spend a week with our Canadian friends, who we teach with here, in Phuket.
So for the next month, I will definitely be posting our adventures ... unless we end up just lounging by the pool, ha ha.
Through the recommendation of a new friend we met at Algonquin this summer, we've rented an apartment for a month in Pattaya. We have no grand plans for Thailand, only that we will be warm:) If all goes well, we'll also spend a week with our Canadian friends, who we teach with here, in Phuket.
So for the next month, I will definitely be posting our adventures ... unless we end up just lounging by the pool, ha ha.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Happy Canada Day !!!
We are proud Canadians! Don just hung our flag out on the balcony and we watched some of the Molson Canadian videos on Youtube - classic "I am Canadian" commercials. Feeling proud to be Canadians even though we are thousands of miles away. We are coming home soon for the summer and will have our Canadian luggage tags proudly displayed too. See you all soon! J&D
Sunday, June 20, 2010
June 2010 Update
Finally back on! We've been unable to get onto some sites since May (this time around) and so have felt a bit out of touch. We're also unable to get onto Facebook, boo :( We've just found a way to look at Fb but not to update or write anything.
We are just back from a mini vacation in Jinan. We had a few holiday days saved up so decided to go and visit our old school. We had a horrendous time getting there but are very happy to report that the trip home was relatively uneventful.
What was supposed to have been a short 3 hour plane ride to Beijing from Shantou turned out to be a freakin' nightmare. Our 4 p.m. flight was delayed due to a brief storm in Shantou so we waited along with the other passengers for hours. There was no word when the plane would arrive so we waited and waited and waited. The natives started getting restless. People were shouting at the airport reps and a large crowd formed. I found some Cantonese speaking passengers so got the scoop. People were mad because nobody was telling us anything. They tried to appease us with free drinks and "dinner" in a small cafe that could not accommodate us all. We even got some money back. When the rumour that a plane was going to arrive around 10:30 p.m., we didn't believe it. When it did, we thought that our saga was over. Sadly, it continued. We boarded the plane but there was another delay. Again, there was no announcement to explain why the cabin temperature was getting more and more uncomfortable when the air was turned off. People started getting off the plane and the flight attendants became scarce. I went to the open back door and crowded around it with other passengers to try to get some humid but fresh air. After what seemed like an impossibly long time, we found out that an angry passenger had left without his luggage so that ground crews had to be found and the bag retrieved. I don't think I have ever been so uncomfortable and claustrophobic on a plane. Finally, we left at around 1 a.m.!
We arrived in Beijing and finally checked into our hotel, exhausted. The plan had been to arrive there around 8 p.m., have a good night's sleep and do the Temple of Heaven in the morning before taking the express train to Jinan. We still wanted to visit the Temple of Heaven so we slept for a few hours and headed out. We were sad to only enjoy such a short rest in the softest bed we've had in China. Unfortunately most beds here, including ours in Shantou, might as well be boards.
So that we could enjoy the Temple of Heaven knowing we had train tickets to Jinan, we decided to head to the train station first. That was another adventure. Due to the lack of English speaking ticket agents, we had a difficult time with what should have been a simple task. With the help of a friendly and helpful lady in the next line, we found out that they had been trying to tell us that there were no seats but that we could buy standing seats. Stand for 3 hours to Jinan, why not? Because we would have had to wait a couple of days before there were seats available (this is why travelling in China during any festival or holiday is a really really bad idea), we had no choice. We set off to try to enjoy the Temple and hopefully buy a small stool that would make our train journey bareable.
When we got to the Temple, I spotted a storekeeper sitting on a small foldable stool near the front gate. I went over to try to buy one and would have paid almost anything. Others have since told us that I paid too much but it was well worth the 25 yuan (around $4 Cdn). It made for some great shots during our visit. We will post our photos of the Temple of Heaven soon. Stay tuned. I'd have to say that it was worth it to see such an iconic site. The beautiful round building that I had seen so many images of was just as beautiful when I stood in front of it. Check that off my list!
While our standing trip to Jinan was uncomfortable, it was not as bad as it could have been. In a small area between the cars, we stood along with up to 9 people off and on. Some of our students have stood for a much longer time going home on holidays so we really can't complain. There was air conditioning and food if we wanted to buy it. Our little chair gave us respite and so did my luggage. I even managed some short cat naps.
Our main reason for the trip back to Jinan was to see some of the graduating students before they dispersed to different areas of China for jobs or further studies. So our trip back was filled with meals. We ate very well. A pleasant change from our less colourful menus here at this school. Our old school was kind enough to offer us a room in the teacher's residence so we were close to campus. We were able to see many of the students and catch up with some of our other friends there. We were even lucky enough to be included in the official graduation pictures. After a few short days though, it was time to go.
We are headed into two very busy weeks of oral exams here to finish off our term. We will be doing over 300 exams each. After that, we plan to come home for the summer holidays so we hope to see everyone soon. We have agreed to come back to this school next school year so we'll be travelling light, yay! Take care everyone. We'll post our pics as soon as we can. Check back for the link.
J & D
We are just back from a mini vacation in Jinan. We had a few holiday days saved up so decided to go and visit our old school. We had a horrendous time getting there but are very happy to report that the trip home was relatively uneventful.
What was supposed to have been a short 3 hour plane ride to Beijing from Shantou turned out to be a freakin' nightmare. Our 4 p.m. flight was delayed due to a brief storm in Shantou so we waited along with the other passengers for hours. There was no word when the plane would arrive so we waited and waited and waited. The natives started getting restless. People were shouting at the airport reps and a large crowd formed. I found some Cantonese speaking passengers so got the scoop. People were mad because nobody was telling us anything. They tried to appease us with free drinks and "dinner" in a small cafe that could not accommodate us all. We even got some money back. When the rumour that a plane was going to arrive around 10:30 p.m., we didn't believe it. When it did, we thought that our saga was over. Sadly, it continued. We boarded the plane but there was another delay. Again, there was no announcement to explain why the cabin temperature was getting more and more uncomfortable when the air was turned off. People started getting off the plane and the flight attendants became scarce. I went to the open back door and crowded around it with other passengers to try to get some humid but fresh air. After what seemed like an impossibly long time, we found out that an angry passenger had left without his luggage so that ground crews had to be found and the bag retrieved. I don't think I have ever been so uncomfortable and claustrophobic on a plane. Finally, we left at around 1 a.m.!
We arrived in Beijing and finally checked into our hotel, exhausted. The plan had been to arrive there around 8 p.m., have a good night's sleep and do the Temple of Heaven in the morning before taking the express train to Jinan. We still wanted to visit the Temple of Heaven so we slept for a few hours and headed out. We were sad to only enjoy such a short rest in the softest bed we've had in China. Unfortunately most beds here, including ours in Shantou, might as well be boards.
So that we could enjoy the Temple of Heaven knowing we had train tickets to Jinan, we decided to head to the train station first. That was another adventure. Due to the lack of English speaking ticket agents, we had a difficult time with what should have been a simple task. With the help of a friendly and helpful lady in the next line, we found out that they had been trying to tell us that there were no seats but that we could buy standing seats. Stand for 3 hours to Jinan, why not? Because we would have had to wait a couple of days before there were seats available (this is why travelling in China during any festival or holiday is a really really bad idea), we had no choice. We set off to try to enjoy the Temple and hopefully buy a small stool that would make our train journey bareable.
When we got to the Temple, I spotted a storekeeper sitting on a small foldable stool near the front gate. I went over to try to buy one and would have paid almost anything. Others have since told us that I paid too much but it was well worth the 25 yuan (around $4 Cdn). It made for some great shots during our visit. We will post our photos of the Temple of Heaven soon. Stay tuned. I'd have to say that it was worth it to see such an iconic site. The beautiful round building that I had seen so many images of was just as beautiful when I stood in front of it. Check that off my list!
While our standing trip to Jinan was uncomfortable, it was not as bad as it could have been. In a small area between the cars, we stood along with up to 9 people off and on. Some of our students have stood for a much longer time going home on holidays so we really can't complain. There was air conditioning and food if we wanted to buy it. Our little chair gave us respite and so did my luggage. I even managed some short cat naps.
Our main reason for the trip back to Jinan was to see some of the graduating students before they dispersed to different areas of China for jobs or further studies. So our trip back was filled with meals. We ate very well. A pleasant change from our less colourful menus here at this school. Our old school was kind enough to offer us a room in the teacher's residence so we were close to campus. We were able to see many of the students and catch up with some of our other friends there. We were even lucky enough to be included in the official graduation pictures. After a few short days though, it was time to go.
We are headed into two very busy weeks of oral exams here to finish off our term. We will be doing over 300 exams each. After that, we plan to come home for the summer holidays so we hope to see everyone soon. We have agreed to come back to this school next school year so we'll be travelling light, yay! Take care everyone. We'll post our pics as soon as we can. Check back for the link.
J & D
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