Post Vacation No-No

I'm not a huge vacationer. I'm usually pretty content just to be at home, hope for several days with nothing on my plate, and simply have coffee, a book or two, my laptop, and broadband.

This last trip that we took, however, was much needed. Granted... I still had coffee, some books, laptop, and broadband. The need, however... was for a change of scenery. And weather.

After 2 1/2 weeks of being gone, I came home. And that evening, I changed the background image on my desktop. To this...



Friends... that is a post-vacation no-no. After most vacations, I come home energized and ready to tackle everything that's ahead of me. But this time... as our plane touched down - and we saw the snow on the ground, and knew that all the restaurants and stores around us were closed for the Chinese New Year holiday - I was pretty de-motivated. And every time I was on my computer to get some stuff done... I would see this shot of a beautiful and mostly empty beach that Bethany and I kayaked to one afternoon... I remained pretty de-motivated.

This past week has gotten better though. The weather is warming up. Even this afternoon, we got up into the high-50's. I went out in lined warm-ups and a sweatshirt. It's not exactly beach weather, I'll give you that. But it is definitely more pleasant than what we were feeling a month ago.

Vacation Highlights: Rock Climbing

Bethany has done a good job of posting blog entries lately, talking about our recent trip to Thailand, and about other things going on lately. I've been a bit awol... my apologies.

Some people have asked for more pictures and descriptions of different things that we did while we were traveling...

We tried outdoor rock climbing one day. While both of us have done a little bit of indoor rock climbing for fun, this is the first time we have tried it outside. The skill requirements seem to be close to the same, and the tiredness and exhaustion you feel afterwards is the same... but there is something much more satisfying about climbing outdoors.

Here is a shot of Bethany gearing up:


And then another shot of her making it to the top!


When climbing outside, the rocks are definitely more jagged so you can maybe scrape yourself up more easily if you're not careful. But since we were on a beginner trail, there seemed to be quite a bit to use for footholds and handholds. The view from the top, once you've made it... was spectacular - island, beach, ocean - but I was too scared to try to climb with my camera... so no picture of that.

What Food Were We Craving for the Last 8 Months?

Answer: Sushi

After a drought of 8 months from sushi, we found it. On the island we first went to in Thailand, there was no sushi restaurant. So we got desperate. When we arrived to Bangkok airport, we found sushi at a restaurant. So our first sushi in 8 months was from the airport:


Over the whole trip, we have sushi 3 times (2 times at airports). Mmm, yummy.

A Beach View

Over our vacation, Alvin and I spent a lot of time just reading on beach chairs. We loved the view of the beach, and so over the few days of rest, I sketched the view to give me hope as I returned back to the desert.



Actually, the island we were at has the beach where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. So technically it isn't "A Beach View," it is "The Beach View."

Thai Cooking Class

On one of our days of vacation, Alvin and I signed up for a cooking class at a Thai restaurant. During this class, we cooked three dishes and ate them. We learned how to make gaeng kheo wan gai (green curry with chicken), tom kha gai (chicken in coconut milk soup), and tom yum goong (Thai hot and sour prawn soup).

The first thing we did in class was get a lesson on Thai culture and Thai food. The Thai cooking teacher said that he couldn't remember our names, so he gave us food names. He called me "Prik," which mean Thai pepper.

Next we ground the curry with the mortar and pestle. The teacher made us say a chant while we grind:
Poke, poke, poke, (the sound the mortar and pestle make)
Tuk, Tuk, Tuk, Tuk, (a Thai form of transportation)
Ex-er-cise and, (Exercise and)
Smi-le-ing, (and Smiling)
Poke, poke, poke,
Tuk, Tuk, Tuk
Ex-er-cise,
Aloi Aloi (means delicious in Thai)

Here is Alvin doing his part in the curry preparation:



Here is Gaeng kheo wan gai (green curry with chicken):


Tom kha gai (chicken in coconut milk soup):


Tom yum goong (Thai hot and sour prawn soup):

3-in-1 Day

We are in the southern part of country for a few days, which is our layover before returning back home. It is surprising, refreshing, and confusing to be hearing so much Cantonese around me. Different workers (hotel clerks, restaurant workers, taxi drivers) sometimes speak English, sometimes Cantonese, and sometimes Mandarin. Even I switch around once in awhile, realizing that my comfort language depends on the context.

Sunday was many things... Chinese New Year, Valentine's, and my birthday. It... was... wonderful. Being our first full day here, we decided to venture out in the late morning in hopes to find some dim sum. We found an excellent dim sum restaurant that just happened to be connected to our hotel. The best Taro Dumpling (wu gok or yu jiao) I have ever had, and that is my favorite of the dim sum specialties. It's been about 9 months since we last had dim sum. So... first task on our to-do list... check.

Next... we walked down the street and found... a Starbucks. Since it was my bday, Bethany said we could spend hours there as a treat for me. So, we did. This was my 5th time in a Starbucks in 9 months. Can you believe that, a year ago, I could possibly Starbucks 5 times in... 3 days? Second task on our to-do- list... check.

Then, we had to find a place for dinner. On Chinese New Year. Near the river, where tons of people were lined up waiting for the fireworks. We went to a few restaurants, where they were all booked. Then we went to 2 other restaurants in a nice hotel... one restaurant said that they had a minimum charge of 460 ¥ per person, since it was a river view restaurant where you could watch the fireworks. That would be... nearly 1000 ¥ for dinner for the two of us. Umm, no thank you.

So we walked farther down the street, through a crowded seafood market. Seriously... fish, shrimp, and geoduck clams all over the place. We found a decent looking restaurant and went in. When we were ordering, we saw crab on the menu and asked how they prepared it. The waitress looked at us, and then looked at our feet and around our chairs. Then she said, "Umm, where's your crab?" Oh, wow... you mean, we have to bring the crab here from the seafood market, and you cook it? I guess that's how some of these restaurants do it. So, no crab. Oh well. At least we had gon caau ngau ho (gan chao niu he).

When we got back to our hotel room, we looked out the window and realized we had a perfect view of the fireworks show that had just started. I'm sure glad that we didn't have to stand out in the cold to watch the fireworks. That certainly worked out well.



And then, to top it all off, we got a phone call from the front desk. I guess, from seeing my passport, they saw that it was my birthday... and then sent up a birthday cake. Quite impressive.



So that was Sunday.

I will let Bethany blog about how we spend our Monday here... McDonald's, Ikea (the final item on our to-do list... check), and Pizza Hut. On Tuesday... back home we go...

Getaway

Wednesday afternoon. Stole away for a bit and found what I was looking for. Getting away has been good.

Warmer Climates

We have fled the cold winter for a little bit. The climate in Thailand: so far, no temperatures below freezing. Actually, no temperatures below 70. It has been so odd not wearing long underwear or gloves or a hat. And just as odd wearing sandals and shorts and t-shirts.

But it sure has been nice.

On the Run Again

After feeling like I needed a healthy stress reliever from all the language and other stressors, two weeks ago I started running again. Before that, I had not run since arriving in this city. Yet, even though the temperatures were in the 10s and 20s, I felt like I really needed some cardio exercise to relieve my energy.

Most people here do not run, and if they do, they usually are older men and women who wear their regular outfits to walk fast. I was initially worried about if I would get stares, but I actually did not get any stares. This may be because I was still wearing all my winter clothes and so it didn't look like I was running. Also, I am not a sprinter, so when I run, it looks like I am trying to catch a bus. I am afraid that if I am running by a bus, it will stop for me because it thinks I want to get on.

On the second day of the routine, it started snowing. Good thing the snowing only lasted an hour so when the snow slowed down, I committed to the run.

I hope that I can stick with the routine. Also, I found a track at a school. I will try out the track. Then hopefully it won't look like I am trying to catch a bus.

Arm in Arm

One phenomenon here is that many girls, when walking, like to link arms with each other. The first time I met my tutor, she linked my arm with hers and walked me to the cafeteria. I felt really uncomfortable since I never walk like that with my girl friends. I didn't know what to do with my hands so I let my arm be stiff at 90 degrees and then let her arm do her thing. She must of thought that felt weird.

Last week, I was walking with my tutor, and she kept linking arms with me. Yet, it didn't feel uncomfortable at all. I actually put out my arm so she could link with me. My arm is now at a loose and comfortable side angle and once in a while I initiated the arm link. I think this is a sign that I am starting to feel more comfortable in this culture.