Fridayyyyy

We went on a sea kayak trip! It was a lot of fun! We went in kayaks and one of the tour guides paddled us. We went in a bat cave, saw beautiful scenary, and ate delicious food. It was really a great trip and nothing like I have ever seen. It was a full day event. We saw monkeys just living on an island which was really cool. Then at night we went to the town of karon which was really nice and ate dinner there and shopped. Its not as hectic and we ate amazing food in the middle of markets and for all of us to eat and have water was like 10 us dollars. Craziness. It wasnt far from our hotel so we walked back and on the way we got some drinks together :)

saturday was another beach day! sooo hot tho! i went parasailing which was great! the water was sooo pretty! but i did get a little sea sick ish. at night we went into puhket town weekend market with our driver and it was amazingg! great food, of course crazy shopping, but it was more local stuff and cool close unlike the touristy things we had seen, there were dvds, and just everything u cld think of and it was huge. it was definately my favorite market that we had been to in thailand.

BEACHHHH finally some relaxingg :)

the night before when we arrived the airport was crazyyy, the taxi drivers bonbarded us and of course bardering, it was really helpful that we had someone there waiting. We had a great breakfast and the hotel had these amazing towels that they soaked in lavender and then put in the freezer...amazing, i loved it, it made me feel better all the time. we stayed by the beach for most of the day but it was so hot that we couldnt stay forever. the water was even warm, all three of us went in the water multiple times which is a big deal for me and mom. we had DELICIOUS mango on the beach. then we went to the pool and cooled off. of course the staff came over and offered us fruit and lavender towels. Then there was happy hour! we tried a bunch of different fun fruity drinks, and then there was even a certain time that it was half off at the bakery!we went to patong for dinner which was a good cab ride away, its where all of the backpackers stay and its a crazy place, verry loud, some ppl said it smelled, lots of shopping and markets, but a little too hectic for me. we went to dinner there. you pick ur seafood personally and then they cook it. i got mussels, dad got fish, mom got shrimp and we of course got an order of pad thai and morning glory. daddys fish had bones in it tho :( most of the fish there does, they eat fish kind of like how we eat chicken.

last day in chang mai

we had a deluxe breakfast at the hotel and then went shopping and finallyyyyy found the aladdin pants that i had been looking for!!! we shopped around the city and then mom and i got foot massages! they are really cheap there like 7 dollars for an hour! we laid on these flat beds as the women massaged, slapped and everything else u cld think of to our feet and legs. and of course dad was the little paparazzi over there snapping pictures every second.... soooo embarrassing. Then tony took us to more and more and more temples which by the end all looked the same. Tony told us about a guy that could pick us up in phuket which was really helpful. all the flight again had to go thro bangkok so we went back to bangkok again and then to phuket

tuesday in thailand

We went to the elephant camppP!!!!!! i said hi to the mother and her baby at the front and from there we went for an ox cart ride! the guy loved us and even got off the front, gave me the reigns and said "i take picture now" haha. it was greattt! then we got to the elephant part! mom and i went on one elephant and daddy went on his own. The elephants were so cute! but the ride was really bumpy. There was a trainer who made sure everything went right and they sat on the elephants head! we went up hills, and through water! Then we went to lunch which was really really good! yummmmmm! huge buffet of everything! Then we got to see the elephants and take pictures with them and such. I got to go on top of one bare backed which was really cool! elephants are such lovely animals, and so sweet. then they took a bath! and then they did a cute show! they danced, painted and many other things it was great! then we went on a bamboo ride down the river, felt like tom sawyer.haha. but it was relaxing and nice and definately made us feel like we were in thailand. after the elephant camp we went to the monkey zoo! there was one monkey that we got to hold and the rest were chained to polls or trees. they made a huge deal about the mokey zoo and this and that...and then we walked in and it wasnt too exciting and we were the only ones there haha. then they had a big show to show off the monkeys!... which consisted of the three of us haha. a gay thai man with bleached blonde hair stood there with a microphone doin a show which was really funny and he kept sayin woaawwwwww. it was HILLARIOUSSSS! then we went to tony and meows restaurant and learned how to cook ourfavorite dishes! first we went to a food market and bought a bunch of vegetables and all together it was like one us dollar. we loveeeee morning glory, its a GREAT vegetable! anywyas, we learned how to make spring roll...dad wasnt so good at it haha, had a little trouble rolling it haha. then vegetable stir fry, then pad thai!!! yuM! then the amazingggg soup which wen i get home i want to LIVE off of it was so good. not to burst my own bubble but it i made AMAZINGGGG soup! we were sooooo full after. so much then when we got to the hotel i passed out and mom and dad went to the market wat a shock haha.

Monday

We went to a mall down the street and I tried some cheesy fries from McDonalds which sounds good but its just their greasy fries with gross cheese on top. Then we found Black Canyon Coffee. They have a deal that every Monday you can buy one coffee and get one free so fo course we haddd to get four and then were hopped up on caffeine haha. But it was the first good coffee we had in Thailand. Then we went to the Bakery at the Watergate Hotel and its supposed to be famous and amazing and don’t get me wrong, it was really good but the selection wasn’t too big. I had a spinach quiche, mom had some bread and an apple thing which she really like and dad had some bread thing. It was good. Traveling options included walking, Tuk Tuk, taxi, and sky train. The sky train is a train but its not like ones we have at home, instead its high up above the city. So we decided to walk to the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American who started lot of silk stuff in Thailand to put it simply lol. So we saw him amazing house which was both pretty and interesting. Right outside of the Jim Thompson house was a little stand making smoothies and they were delicious! Dad got orange, mom and I got strawberry. And it was like a dollar each, gotta love Thailand lol. Then we flew to Chang Mai where our driver Tony was waiting for us. Tony’s wife is named Meow which I just thought was great lol.

Sunday

We hired a driver for the day who was a cute thai man who loved talking to us. He told us how Thai people love America. He said that he loves the Beatles and named a bunch of other American bands and artists. He told us a joke... What is the difference between a snake and an Indian? A snake you eat first because Indian food is fast food…or something along that line. So anyways he was driving us to the floating market which is kind far away. So we stopped at the gas station and mom and I went to the bathroom…which usually isn’t so hard but this time it was. It was basically a flat bathtub on the floor and then there was no toilet paper but a bucket with water with a smaller bucket… yea it was not what we were expecting haha. And we also found out that the taxi there doesn’t run on gasoline like ours do but instead it runs on natural gas. They put it in under the front hood and its kept in back of the seats. They do this because it is a lot cheaper. We arrived and it was the coolest thing to go to. You pay to be taken around for an hour. Its basically a bunch of canals and a man in a long motor boat type thing there a people on other small boats, they kind of look like little canoes. The “stores” are on the side of the canal so if you want to look at something then the driver of the boat pulls up to the side and you bargain right there….bargaining is a little different in Thailand…you ask them a price and they say o I have a discount for you! And always take out a calculator and put down a price which is usually around twice the price they would sell it to you for. Then you laugh and say that its way above ur price range and then they ask you to type in what you want to pay and it goes from there. If you don’t give them a price and just walk away they usually drop the price to about half. Eventually they say final price and write it on the calculator, but you can usually get it lower. Ok so yea we tried different soups that were made by people on the little canoes and we had the most amazing one ever and then dad and I had the most amazing spring rolls ever. It was crazy, a different thing than I had ever done. Thailand is a place that is very different and I really enjoyed my time there. When our boat person dropped us off we realized that we were the only people who didn’t get to get up and go into the markets in the middle of the canal town area so of course mom complained to the people and we got an extra free ride! Our taxi driver came with us and he was so cute because he had never been to the floating markets and he was so excited, smiling and taking pictures and stuff haha. Then we went to MBK which is a shopping center but not ur typical shopping center… it was a mall but there were small tiny stores and you can bargain with them. One floor is full of technical stuff and there were ipods and fake ipods and stuff for sale, they were definitely cheaper but still not cheap enough to buy because there isn’t a guarantee that they will work. Then we went to the temple where there is a reclining Budha which doesn’t sound exciting but it was pretty amazing. The Budha was hugeeeee….BIG BUDHA!

Saturday

We woke up in the morning and went to the weekend market. There was everything there you could ever think of; from food to dogs to plates to souvenirs. By the way, the shopping everywhere was amazingggg! Not only was there great finds but also everything was so cheap! And they were all happy to bargain with you. 30 baht is equal to 1 US dollar so buying things for a couple hundred is actually a really good deal in us dollars. So of course we had to try the food as soon as we got there! We had the BEST pad thai I have ever had in my life! Dad and I shared a plate using our chopsticks! The shopping went on and on and on. After we shopped we went to the Grand Palace where the emerald Buddha is. And how did we get there? Of course we took a long tailed boat down a canal to get there lol. We got a tour guide and learned a lot about the palace and thai culture and the king. The king is much like the queen of England, mostly just a figure head and there is a parliament. We also had to cover our shoulders, and legs out of respect otherwise they wouldn’t let you in the temple. We also thought that you had to wear close toed shoes but apparently recently that has been changed and they don’t care about your shoes. Actually in order to go into the temple and see the Buddha you have to take off your shoes. The other temples we ended up seeing made you take your shoes off but they didn’t care about the legs or shoulders. From there we took a tuk tuk! Which is like a taxi but not… it’s a small little thing with open sides and …its hard to explain but its cute.

And the explorations of Thailand begin!!

Friday I went to half a day of work and then took a taxi to the airport. Got on the flight for 9 hours which went right into Fiji. Then I searched the airport for someone who spoke English and found out where mom and dad’s flight would come into. I met them at their gate and they were thrilled to see me! We went through customs and of course nothing can be done easily haha…daddy had some issues with getting his picture taken and the whole process. Then we took a taxi to our hotel. It was a really nice fancy hotel. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriot and they were very nice. We settled in and went to bed on the hardest mattresses I have everrrr felt.

Before thailand

Ok so since it was so long ago ill give u a quick synopses. So linds and i had a great day which then turned weird to worse. So we took a little journey to the harbour and walked around and then we went to the aquarium! which was really fun! all the pics are up on fbook. and then we went to china town and got dinner and did a little shopping. then lindsey lost her bus pass and then the bus was really late. so we knew the night had to either get better or was just gonna go down hill from there. Basically me and linds went to meet some friends out at bondi on Sunday night…long story short she ended up fracturing her elbow and we were in the emergency room from around midnight to eleven am the next day. The week went well,school and intership as always and then the night before I left me cody and linds went to the clevland bar which isn’t too far from here and played pool with some kiwis and met all of the other capa group who were leaving for home the next day. Then off to meet mom and dad in thaland!!