Fish Food

Today Cari and Christy, 2 of my friends, took me to be fish food for my birthday. Yes, you read it right... We were fish food. There is a place in Singapore where you can get "Fish Reflexology". Its a spa treatment where cute little Turkish Garra rufa fish nibble on your feet and consume only the dead skin areas. After we had washed our feet we were brought to a bath where about 300 little fish (about 2 inches long) were swimming. I thought "that doesn't look so bad." Christy was the first one in and basically got attacked. I got up the courage to stick my feet in and from the instant I dipped my feet into the lukewarm bath, dozens of the miniature carplike creatures came rushing toward me, covered my feet and began their feast. Their little suction-cup mouths were all over my feet, ankles and calves, begging for more. Holy mackerel! I easily had triple the number of fish feeding on me compared to Cari and Christy. I had to pull my feet out a few times for fear they'd team up and drag my whole body under. I could only stand the tickling, tingly sensation (which others have described as a "massage") for a few minutes at a time before I'd just about go off the deep end. The three of us made so much noise giggling and laughing we thought for sure we would be asked to leave as we were surrounded by people enjoying nice calming massages. After 10 minutes in this bath, I tore myself away from the gilled gobblers — fearful that my feet would come out with fish still hanging off them — and we moved on to the next bath. The fish in the second bath were much larger (maybe 3-4 inches long) . From there it was on to more of the same but the feeling was much more intense. When we were done being fish food we got treated with a wonderful foot reflexology and after that a head, shoulder and back massage. What a great afternoon. I know I will go back for more(with unsuspecting guests!).

Bangkok

When we arrived in Bangkok on Saturday it was about an half hour ride to the Novotel. The city is hot and dirty. No lush green trees and vivid colors. Originally we thought we just wanted to take public transportation around town: the sky train, taxi's, boats and tuktuk's. But we had gotten so spoiled with the driver in Chiang Mai that I called the driver I had arranged for Sunday to see if he was available that same afternoon too. He was and he agreed to pick us up at 1 pm after a nice "american" lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We ended up a bit late as Colin and Greg decided they wanted to have some clothes made at the hotel tailor (between the 2 of them they got 5 slacks and 10 shirts, ready for pick up the next day!!!). Our driver (Nick) took us to the Grand Palace. I don't think the kids "got it". All the gold, the beautiful buildings, the detail. It was very crowded and after we saw the majority we took a tuk tuk ride to Wat Pho, the Reclining Buddha. The sight is still unreal and it makes you wonder how they built it and how they got it in the temple (or the other way around). On the way back to the hotel we made a "quick" stop in a little area called Monk's Bowl Village. The village was established by King Rama I to make alms bowls for monks. All Buddhist monks have a "begging" bowl in which they may collect food offered by lay supporters. The "village" itself was more of an alley. A few men were working on making the bowls. Megan and I both got one. I think the full days of things to see, walking around and the heat was getting to Thijs so that night Thijs and I had a "dinner party" at the hotel while the rest went to MBK. A huge shopping mall walking distance from the hotel, filled with all kinds of knock-off's and tourist items. The next morning we were picked up by Nick and we drove to Chatuchak Weekend Market. More than 15,000 stalls, open every Saturday and Sunday, Chatuchak Weekend Market is the mother of all markets. I think we spend about 6 hours wandering around. Trying not to miss anything and trying not to loose each other. We only saw a fraction of what was there. So much to see, so many choices and if you don't really need anything (like Megan and I) you end up finding something you do need. We went back to the hotel to "rest and shower" (Megan and I started the packing) and that evening we all went back to MBK for some more shopping and dinner. Monday would be our last day and we had to make the most of it. After breakfast the next morning we took the Sky Train to a place on the river where we rented a hang yao, or long-tailed water taxi, a long, thin, graceful skinny boat, powered by an automobile engine connected by a long, exposed shaft (tail) to the propeller. These water taxis carry passengers throughout the maze of klongs (canals) and are vital in transporting fresh food from upriver farms and fresh fish from coastal villages to Bangkok. The river we were on, the Chao Phraya River, was wild! Filled with tons of boat and the water so rough it kept splashing us in the face. As this water we really really dirty, the last thing we wanted was to digest it and get some kind of stomach flu. We took a tour thru klongs, saw the way the people live, and the kids enjoyed the ride. On the way back we were dropped off at the Oriental Hotel. The most famous hotel in Asia. We enjoyed a nice lunch outside and decided we could squeeze in one more sight in before heading to the airport. A crazy taxi ride brought us to a ferry that brought us to Wat Arun. The Temple of Dawn. Another beautiful piece of history. Megan, Nate, Natalie and I climbed all the way to the top. The view was amazing. We took another long-tail boat to the train station. Made it back to the hotel for a quick bathroom break and drink and got in the van that took us back to the airport. WOW.. Whirlwind tour I would say. The whole trip was like a dream. We saw so much and I hope the kids will be able to remember some of it.

In front of the golden Chedis

Tired in front of the huge Guardian

Tuk Tuk ride to Wat Pho

Monk Bowl Village

Dinner party at the hotel for Thijs and mom

A familiar sight this trip, a whipped Thijs

A long-tail boat ride on the Klongs (canals)

Washing dishes in the canal ...

Fishing for lunch

Selling their goods from a their floating market

Temple of Dawn

At the top of Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn

Back to reality

They are back... back in school that is.

Natalie started last Wednesday and Thijs officially started last Friday. Natalie's bus comes to our building at 715am. Still pretty early I think but considering the pick-up times of buildings closer to Orchard, not bad at all. Her bus gets back in the afternoon at 338pm. Natalie had gotten into the habbit of sleeping in this summer (which was great!) and the getting up early was not as hard as I thought it was going to be, I think the excitement over ruled. She has a great teacher and already knows 4 kids from her class from last year. Thijs had a "trial" day on Thursday. Not sure what there was to try as there is not an option for him not to go (ha!) but that was the day where I was allowed to go him all afternoon. It was fun to see him enjoy some of the things he will be doing this year. They are still so small... and yet they already know so much. His teacher is really nice and he gets 2 helpers in his class! His bus comes to pick him up at 1130am and he rides home on the same bus as Natalie. He could not be more excited about that.

Bright and Early

On the bus with the "bus auntie"

Painting

Chiang Mai

On Wednesday August 1st (my 40th Birthday) we made the 3 hour flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We checked into the Sukantara Cascade Resort. The most beautiful hotel setting I have ever seen in my life! Situated in the forest, a cascading waterfall basically going thru the hotel, lush and green, teak trees, almond trees, large birds and peacocks walking around, quiet, a super nice staff ready to help with anything you needed. What a way to start this trip. The resort has 9 places to sleep. A villa with a private pool, 6 cottages (we had 2 of those right next to each other with a hot tub in between) and 2 luxurious tents (!) . The bathrooms for each cottage were basically outside, so you shower outside but the toilet and sink area had a little roof over it so you were covered in case of rain!! Very fun and unusual. There was only one other couple there during our stay and they happened to be from Holland.

Hotel patio

Natalie and Will playing in the waterfall before swimming in it

Our breakfast and dinner table during our stay

I had hired a driver and guide to take us around to all the things we wanted to see. Our guide's name was Jack. Thijs called him "uncle" (the name we call every older Singaporean male). We had a full schedule so after lunch we went to the Doi Suthep Temple. We drove a windy road thru the Doi Suthep National Park. Megan and I walked the 190 steps to get to the temple. Everybody else took a cable car to the top. There was a beautiful view over the valley of Chiang Mai. At the temple we were blessed by a monk as a family. Nobody else was in the temple with us. Very special. On the way back we all walked the steps and at the bottom were a few stalls with local items for sale. This is where our shopping began. The kids loved the bargaining (by the end of the trip they tried to get a "deal" everywhere we went).

Steps to the temple

Being blessed by a monk

That evening we shopped the night bazaar in Chiang Mai a litte bit, got some t-shirts and went back to the hotel for a nice dinner and an early night as we had a busy program lined up again the next day.

New matching T-shirts from the Night Bazaar

Thursday, August 2nd we went to the Mae Ta Man Elephant Camp. The weather was a bit rainy but we did not care. We watched how they train the elephants. One of the elephants gave each of the kids a turn with a lift with his trunk!!! Being so close to them was amazing. After that we all went on an hour long elephant ride thru the forest (crossing 2 rivers). One adult and one child per elephant plus the trainer sitting on the elephants head. Natalie and I were the first ones to cross the river and she was asking questions like, can elephants swim, can they fall over, what if he trips, can they slip etc... The path was muddy and slippery because of the morning rain, the river water looked like mud. I was trying to be all confident, but at the same time trying to figure out the answers to all of those questions myself. The whole thing was so surreal. Going thru the hills and forest, filled with teak trees and banana trees, surrounded down below by rice fields. Like a movie really. At the end of the trek there was a little area with local arts and crafts and we bought a few more items. A ride on an ox cart took us back to the elephant camp where we had a wonderful local lunch.

Lifted up by the elephant!

Enjoying every second

View of the river down below, bamboo rafts are waiting for us

Ox cart ride back to the elephant camp

Bamboo rafting trip down the river

On the way back to the hotel we decided to do one more thing... A stop at the Snake Farm. We watched a Cobra show. It was fun for the kids to see.

Thijs watching the snake show with "uncle"

When we got back to the hotel that afternoon Megan and I decided we wanted to take a hike to a waterfall (Tad Mork Falls) near the hotel. One of the guys from the hotel was our guide. Luckily they had talked us out of taking the whole family. It took about 45 minutes to get there. A hike thru rice fields and the forest. Our path was either the dried clay edge of a rice field, or a bushy muddy trail thru the forest, stepping over little creeks. We saw more teak trees, almond trees (they use the almonds for feed for the cows), giant pea pods, a huge 3 ft tall termite hill, a tree that makes wax. It was well worth the hike! The waterfall was beautiful. They have used it in Hollywood movies, one of them being Stealth, with Jessica Biel and Josh Lucas.

Friday, August 3rd, we went to Chiang Dao and visited the Karen and Palong Hilltribe and the Padong "long neck" tribe. They live in a little village where you feel like you have gone back in time. So primitive, so basic, so simple and easy. The women spend their days weaving, beading and sewing, making things to sell to tourists. I am not sure what the men do. The kids played outside in the dirt and hung out watching us watch them. Its hard to explain what we saw. I will post some of my favorite pictures.

Natalie next to an old lady who let us in her "house"

The kitchen

Grandma and crying baby

Thijs with the man who made the wooden flute they are playing

Weaving with yarn in beautiful colors

Pretending to be part of the Long Neck Tribe

That night we checked into a hotel downtown Chiang Mai. We had a wonderful Thai dinner and after we put the kids to bed, Megan and I went out to the Night Bazaar to shop. We had a wonderful time and wish we could stay but we are off to Bangkok first thing in the morning.

Where to start ...

So much has happened since the last time I wrote... I think I will post in chapters as that might be easier to read.
After we returned from the States and we got over our jet-lag and prepared for Greg, Megan, Nate and Will's arrival on July 28. It had been a while since we had all been together so there was a lot of catching up to do. One of the fun sides of having visitors is being able to see you own "city" again but as a tourist. We walked on Orchard Road, went swimming, visited the Merlion, went to the Birdpark, The Chinese and Japanese Gardens (where we all looked for our Chinese zodiac signs between the statues), the Zoo, we tried to walk the Tree Top Walk but the bridge was closed, the kids took their scooters to East Coast Park where we watched the waterskiers and after that we ate dinner at Jumbo's Seafood on the beach. As we were eating dinner the kids rode their scooters and there was a group of Chinese people taking pictures of them. Very funny to see and the kids had no problem posing and doing tricks.

Almost at the bridge of the Tree Top Walk... the kids found huge leaves

At The Chinese and Japanese Gardens

Will and Natalie having fun at the pool

Natalie, Will and Thijs riding scooters at East Coast Park