Thailand: Travel Woes & a Day in Bangkok

Last November we planned a trip to Thailand with four other couples. After finally deciding to do the trip sans kids, we agreed to leave them in the care of the Palmer's and the Perrins', both good friends we go to church with. About a week before the trip, I felt nauseous when I thought about leaving my kids while I traveled to a different country. We even made our very first will, just in case. I tearfully parted with Syd (totally excited to stay over at friend's houses) and Shawn (completely oblivious to our leaving) before we darted to the airport. Unfortunately our flight was delayed about two hours. Luckily we were in good company and the time passed quickly.

One funny thing about airlines here is that we were fed meals on every flight. Even when it was like 2am, they came around with food. Our options on our first flight were fish or tofu.

Spencer was brave and got fish.

I stuck with tofu.

Notice the little fish still had its eyes? Spencer totally ate his and said it was not good. I wasn't surprised.

We had a layover in Shanghai, China, missing our original flight from there to Bangkok. I forgot other places in the world are cold in the winter and was freezing in my short sleeves and capri pants. It was about 39 degrees, and we had to walk off our plane onto the tarmac to get on a bus to the gate. One of the workers at the desk who printed our new tickets assured us we would get on a later flight. "No problem!" he told us. We later realized it would be no problem because that flight was also delayed two hours. We passed the time by talking and playing cards.

The only time I have ever kicked trash at Ripple.

We finally landed in Bangkok around 4:30am, and it was nice to be in warm weather again. Thankfully we booked the airport hotel for two nights, so it just took a few minutes to get to there. After checking in, we all ate at the breakfast buffet and headed up to sleep for a few hours. Then we woke up and had second breakfast before heading out for some sightseeing.

The taxi ride downtown was pretty fun. Our driver was very chatty, and we were grateful he kept us alive as lines on the road pretty much meant nothing. Our first outing was a boat ride. We hopped aboard with the Heaton's and headed up stream to enjoy the sights.

Spencer looked handsome. The buildings behind him, not so much.

We'd pass totally impoverished housing areas, then right next to it would be an incredibly ornate temple like this one.

Our main stop was this sweet ruin. I have no idea what it was, but it was cool!

The Chinese Buddha is fat and bald, but the Thai Buddha (hiding behind that tree)  is thinner and has pokey hair.

We were there during the Chinese New Year, so those red lanterns were strung throughout the city.

The mosaic tile on this building was incredible!

Justin and Spencer after hiking up to the first level.

The steps up to the second level were super steep!

View of downtown Bangkok.

View of the river, with lots of orange and gold rooftops in the distance.

We were really excited to climb back down... yikes!

After that, we pretty much rode around a really impoverished area. It was so eye opening to see how people in other countries live. I have never felt so grateful to live such a privileged life.

Our final stop before heading back to the dock was a section of the river that was riddled with fish. A sign on the wall said it was considered lucky to feed them.

Unlucky fish, because we had no food to give them.

Then we were off to our first legit Thai eating experience. It was super cheap, most dishes were between $2-4! We all got like three things plus dessert, and the bill was still only about $20/couple.

Back table: Amy & Keldon, Shane & Ashlee
Front table: Stacey & Justin, Adam & Hollie, Me

After lunch we went to see the Golden Buddha. I'd vaguely remembered hearing stories about it before... how it was covered with plaster to hide it from Thailand's enemy during an invasion in the 1700s. It wasn't until they tried to move it in 1955 that they realized it was made of pure gold. They tried to lift it, but it was so heavy that the ropes snapped and the statue fell down, breaking off some of the plaster and exposing the gold underneath.

Our pamphlet said the Golden Buddha is 700 years old, is almost 10' tall, weighs 5.5 tons, and is worth about 250 million dollars.

I loved checking out the ornate ceilings in the temples.

Fancy schmancy.

 We drove through China town on our way to Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. It was decorated with colorful banners and Chinese lanterns for the holiday.

The ground of Wat Pho were amazing! Their style of architecture is so ornate and cool.

Massive statues: check.

Sweet mosaic tile: check.

Wavy, shiny gold accents on rooftops: check.

The girls: Me, Amy, Stacey, Ashlee, & Hollie.

Spencer said this statue reminded him of Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China, a totally generic movie that we both loved growing up.

The Reclining Buddha was totally massive. I liked the funky swirls on the bottoms of his toes, and the rest of his feet were decorated with Mother of Pearl.

The wallpaper was just as ornate as the rest of the place.

It was covered with detailed drawings.

We kept our eyes open for pickpockets... the non-Thai variety of course. 

I'm sure Spencer got tired of me asking if he still had his wallet.

Monk on a cell phone.

Our last stop of the day was the Grand Palace, but it was already closed. The best picture I could get was from outside the gate.

Across from the palace was a huge park.

Love that green tuk-tuk!

This cool elephant statue decorated the middle of a roundabout.

We drove past the King of Thailand's residence. He was actually very sick and in the hospital, and his picture was on banners all over the city.

Chitralada Royal Villa.

We thought this tailor's store name was pretty funny.

We were being really goofy on our way back to the hotel. Our driver didn't speak much English, so he wasn't trying to talk to us like our other driver had. We were talking in lots of different accents and just being dumb, but laughing a lot. I'm sure he thought we were crazy.

Spencer, Adam, & Hollie.

Despite being tired, our one day in Bangkok was a success! Most people had told us it was really dirty, but it exceeded my expectations. 

Cherry Blossoms

As we welcomed spring at the end of January, it was time for round two of the cherry blossom festival up north. We opted to give Mt. Yaedake another shot, thinking the warmer temperatures this year would mean we'd catch the flowers in full bloom. Turns out we were a few days late as lots of the trees already had leaves on them. Oh well, maybe next year we'll be able to time it just right. Luckily we were still able to find a few trees that were still in full bloom.

Can you spot the little green bird?

I've been working on taking pictures using the "manual" setting on my camera, and out of the one million pictures I took, these were by far the best two:

The rest turned out more like this, requiring lots of editing to make the lighting look better:

We spent a little while over in the fair area, where the kids played on the playground and went on a few carnival rides.

Jack and Sydney in the bear bounce house.

While the kids stood in line for the rocket ship ride, Spencer told me to take pictures of these Japanese women currently on the ride. What adult would pay money to ride something like this for their own pleasure? Ha ha, these Japanese folks crack us up.  

Lots of adults riding solo.

Cutie blondies.

Syd sure loves playing with Jack!

On our way to the car, I wanted Spencer to stand in front of the one fully blossomed tree for a picture of him and the kids. They were being so silly and refused to even look at me. Shawn pretty much copies whatever Sydney does.

Spencer and our stubborn children.

By the time we got to the top of the mountain, it was covered in a dense fog. No sweet view of Ie Island this year- we could hardly see the road leading down the mountain.

Foggy, foggy.

Heading back down to make our way home, we stopped at one more area for some pictures. As I was snapping away, Spencer popped out of the top of our van, Big style. Except in our turtle shaped van instead of a limo.

That's right, our sweet ride has a sunroof.

I couldn't help taking a few photos of the water from the 58.

Syd crashed in the car. Her reflection in the window made me smile.

USS Bonhomme Richard

A few weeks ago, the USS Bonhomme Richard (pronounced "bon-home rishard") was in port at White Beach. When the ship is docked, the dentist on board goes to work at Spencer's clinic, and she offered to give us a tour one evening. What was even more cool was that this particular ship was featured in the movie Act of Valor, which we had recently watched. Word on the street is that it was in Battleship too, but I passed on watching that one.

Making our way out to the Bonhomme Richard.

Brittany (the dentist giving the tour) was very excited about taking our picture by the big #6.

Not quite as big as an aircraft carrier, the Bonhomme Richard is only about 100 ft. shorter and is classified as an amphibious assault ship. We were excited to check out the helicopter pad up top with lots of choppers and fighter jets. Brittany also showed us the big section inside that holds the three amphibious vehicles on board, but we weren't allowed to take pictures in there. They fill this giant room up with water to drive them off the ship. Pretty amazing.

We see lots of these CH-46's, nicknamed "phrogs," flying around our house. Sometimes they land at the nearby hospital, and it's pretty fun to watch.

Refueler.

Shawn didn't seem too interested in these jets, but he sure is mesmerized by them when they're flying over our house!

Inside the ship, we walked up and down lots of steep stairways.

And through super narrow halls.

The on-board dental clinic.

Hospital beds.

Brittany said there are quiet rooms in the hospital area where people sometimes come on their lunch breaks to take a nap.

We walked through the officers' eating area- the fake wood floors and slip covered chairs made it surprisingly nice. The enlisted eating area just looked like the rest of the ship. Brittany also showed us her teeny tiny room which she shares with two other female officers. With three bunks all stacked on top of each other, three lockers covering one wall, a sink in one corner and a desk in the other, there was hardly room to walk around. We peeked into the enlisted living quarters which was basically just one giant room with tons of bunks. It looked similar to the hospital section, but with beds stacked three high instead of two.

Before we left, we snuck back to the flight deck for a few more pictures. We got there just in time for colors.

Sailors taking down the Marine flag. The stars and stripes were on the opposite end of the ship.

A post colors picture with the sailors.

I think they sort of thought we were weird for asking them to take a picture with us, but whatever. It still blows my mind that so many of the guys and girls in the military are only 18 or 19 years old. That's so young!

Outside, Shawn was excited to have a little extra freedom to run around.

Syd enjoyed showing him that she was the fastest.