"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,...." Well, not really. Temperatures are still in the low 30's, all our trees are "evergreens" as they never lose their leaves, and we live in a Buddhist country! There is however one grocery store that has been playing Christmas music for the last two weeks! But it's still kind of hard to get in the spirit of the holidays.
Even our American friends (and there is a lot of them on staff) feel the same way. It's their Thanksgiving weekend, but celebrating in shorts and short-sleeve shirts feels really weird to some of them, especially the teachers from the northern states living their first experience abroad!
But a celebration had to be had! The school organized a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and we had a wonderful meal: turkey and stuffing, ham, various kinds of potatoes and salads, pumpkin dishes, desserts gallore. It was a very good meal! It must have looked pretty traditional to what they have at home for Thanksgiving dinner. Jacqui and I both really enjoyed it.
On Saturday, we had another Thanksgiving dinner at one of Jacqui's colleague's house. Again, the meal was outstanding. They bought a turkey at a nearby grocery store, which cooks it and delivers it, with stuffing! No extra charge for the cooking, stuffing or delivery! Gotta love it!
Jacqui's report cards are coming up; it's a sign that we are getting close to the end of the term. Three more weeks to go and then we come home!! We can't wait!
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
November 17 - 19: Weekend getaway in Hua Hin
Since we wanted to check out some of the beaches aroung Bangkok, we decided to book a weekend in Hua Hin, a three hour plus drive southwest of Bangkok. We left after school on Friday and the drive there was nice with traffic being calm to moderate. The resort that we have is pretty nice and the beach is also nice. Our dinner on Saturday was one of the best dinners we've ever had!!! Our weekend was spent by walking the beach, sitting by the pool, enjoying good food and fine liquids; it just didn't last long enough. But on our way home, we started looking forward to our next trip which will take us to Vancouver, to see Nic, and then back to Ontario, to see friends and family. We are really looking forward to that!
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| View of the pool from our balcony |
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| Same view, in daylight |
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| Thailand Gulf in the background |
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| Beach to the left! |
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| Beach to the right! |
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| Our hotel complex |
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| Where we're at! |
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| From the lobby to the pool |
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| Part of our fabulous meal: escargots in their own shell. It was awesome; best escargots we've ever had! |
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| Oops; Julie's backyard in Ottawa... Just a reminder!! |
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| Sunrise on Hua Hin |
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| I"m glad someone is taking those pictures so I can see them too!! |
November 2 - 15: Jakarta,Loi Krathong and the Khlongs
The return to school from our fall holidays has been pretty hard. We learned on the Saturday/Sunday before coming back that one of our PE teacher, 28 years old from Nova Scotia, had passed away during our week off. Staff and students were pretty shocked.
I took my volleyball team to Jakarta for the South East Asian Student Activity Conference (SEASAC) championship. We didn't really have a chance to visit Jakarta as we didn't have much time, basically going from hotel to gym or vice-versa, plus I don't think there is much to see in Jakarta (I might be wrong).
Meanwhile, Jacqui and her colleagues were celebrating Loi Krathong (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Krathong), which basically is a celebration where you float a small container of leaves often accompanied by a candle light of some sort. In Jakarta, one of my volleyball player built a "boat" out of paper and was shining the light from his cellphone on it; he told me it was the best that he could do to celebrate the occasion given our situation in a hotel room in Jakarta. I would have loved to see it where we live, as we have a lake near the school. Jacqui and some of her colleagues went out and found it pretty neat.
The next day, Jacqui went with a few friends to walk the Khlong, which translates into a "canal". There are many canals around and most of them have some type of cement sidewalk that you can walk along (also used for bicycles and scooters). You can basically walk for hundreds of km on the Khlongs.
Jacqui also had her class start swimming lessons, at the school pool. She went in for the first day, to help out with her students. She enjoyed it and so did her students! I also went in one day to help her make Banana Bread with her students, using the Culinary Arts room at the school. I was quite impressed by that room, and yes, the Banana Bread turned out fine!!
I took my volleyball team to Jakarta for the South East Asian Student Activity Conference (SEASAC) championship. We didn't really have a chance to visit Jakarta as we didn't have much time, basically going from hotel to gym or vice-versa, plus I don't think there is much to see in Jakarta (I might be wrong).
Meanwhile, Jacqui and her colleagues were celebrating Loi Krathong (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Krathong), which basically is a celebration where you float a small container of leaves often accompanied by a candle light of some sort. In Jakarta, one of my volleyball player built a "boat" out of paper and was shining the light from his cellphone on it; he told me it was the best that he could do to celebrate the occasion given our situation in a hotel room in Jakarta. I would have loved to see it where we live, as we have a lake near the school. Jacqui and some of her colleagues went out and found it pretty neat.
The next day, Jacqui went with a few friends to walk the Khlong, which translates into a "canal". There are many canals around and most of them have some type of cement sidewalk that you can walk along (also used for bicycles and scooters). You can basically walk for hundreds of km on the Khlongs.
Jacqui also had her class start swimming lessons, at the school pool. She went in for the first day, to help out with her students. She enjoyed it and so did her students! I also went in one day to help her make Banana Bread with her students, using the Culinary Arts room at the school. I was quite impressed by that room, and yes, the Banana Bread turned out fine!!
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| Scooter parking lot near our hotel in Jakarta |
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| Jacqui and her class at swimming lessons at school |
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| Jakarta: they don't seem to use the letter X |
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| Where I spent most of my weekend - we came in third |
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| One of Jacqui's student getting ready for Loi Krathong |
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| Jacqui and Lauren, her PreK3 colleague |
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| Putting it in the water! |
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| There they go, floating away |
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| Parts of the Khlong between MinBuri and Samakhorn |
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| The Culinary Arts room at school |
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| Jacqui's class, getting ready to make Banana Bread |
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| Learning about various quantities: which is larger, smaller ... |
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| Mr Richard helping out!! |
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| How good was it?? |
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| Our "burger man", where you order from the back of a truck (but his burgers are really good!) |
Saturday, November 11, 2017
October 22 - 27: Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam
We got to Phu Quoc Island on Sunday night. On first impression, Salinda Resort looks very nice! Our observations were confirmed on Monday morning when we went for breakfast. You are greeted at the door of the restaurant by a young lady playing on a grand piano, after which you are offered unlimited sparkling wine and an amazing breakfast buffet, featuring sushi, vietnamese soup, various cheese, cold cuts and breads, fruits, hot dishes, eggs prepared to your liking by the chefs, .... It is by far the most amazing breakfast buffet that we have ever seen!
The resort has a pool and a beautiful beach on the ocean. We went for a few walks and enjoyed time by the pool. We visited one of Eugene's friend (Jacqui's brother) who owns a restaurant just across from the resort. It was pretty cool to meet him. We took a cab to Soa Beach for parts of one day; the beach has beautiful white sand and was very nice.
We also visited the night market of Duong Dong; it was quite an experience. Being an island, there is a lot of seafood which is sold at the market. Basically, you choose your fish or crab or any other marine creature that you want to eat, then they weigh it and cook it for you. We passed on that! There were also a lot of pearls for sale. You also had the usual market stuff: clothing, jewelry, fruits and veggies, coffee, pepper from Phu Quoc, local wine with either a snake or other creatures in the bottle, ... It was a nice place to visit!
All in all, we really enjoyed Phu Quoc Island and would recommend it to anyone who wants to relax in this part of the world!
The resort has a pool and a beautiful beach on the ocean. We went for a few walks and enjoyed time by the pool. We visited one of Eugene's friend (Jacqui's brother) who owns a restaurant just across from the resort. It was pretty cool to meet him. We took a cab to Soa Beach for parts of one day; the beach has beautiful white sand and was very nice.
We also visited the night market of Duong Dong; it was quite an experience. Being an island, there is a lot of seafood which is sold at the market. Basically, you choose your fish or crab or any other marine creature that you want to eat, then they weigh it and cook it for you. We passed on that! There were also a lot of pearls for sale. You also had the usual market stuff: clothing, jewelry, fruits and veggies, coffee, pepper from Phu Quoc, local wine with either a snake or other creatures in the bottle, ... It was a nice place to visit!
All in all, we really enjoyed Phu Quoc Island and would recommend it to anyone who wants to relax in this part of the world!
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| Our home in Phu Quoc for a few days |
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| Welcome to your breakfast! |
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| Honey, anyone? |
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| How about mousse for dessert? |
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| Cheese maybe? |
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| Or would you like Sushi for breakfast |
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| All the fruit was so fresh and so good! |
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| Fruit and juice station |
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| On our way to breakfast, or the beach |
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| Orchids: they are everywhere! |
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| The ocean in the background, seen from the pool |
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| Beach to the right |
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| Beach to the left |
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| It is still rainy season, but the rain doesn't last long. But it does pour when it comes down! |
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| Doesn't rain here!! |
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| Jacqui and Hai, Eugene's friend, at his restaurant |
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| Never seen those kind of leaves before |
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| Fishing boat not too far from shore |
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| Dinner! |
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| Sao Beach, located at the south end of the island. The sand is whiter than what we have at our resort |
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| Jelly fish close to our resort. It must be friendly as we never heard of anyone having problems with them |
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| Sunset on Phu Quoc Island |
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Phu Quoc night market: pretty cool place to visit! |
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| Pick your meal! |
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| Sea rays anyone? |
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| We went for a "hot pot" for dinner. It's the same concept as a fondue |
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| Cook your veggies and meat. Also makes a great soup! |
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