Obviously it's been a few months since anything has been updated here... life has a way of creating a lot of more important things to do. But now, I have no agenda for the next month except to sit in the warm sun, update my blog, check Facebook, and wait for my baby to be born. Oh yeah, I got pregnant since last time I updated this (but I think anyone who actually reads this knows that already).
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| Shopping in Bangkok |
A week ago today, Drew and I were packing three suitcases... one for each of us... doing last minute preparation for the baby's room (which right now is just a section of our room), and saying goodbyes to all of our friends in China, who we'd just said "hello" to four weeks earlier. Last Monday, we got up at 5am, hopped on a plane, and headed for Bangkok for our last vacation just the two of us. We arrived, picked up our luggage, and promptly got ripped off by the first taxi driver to realize it was our first time in Thailand. I did the math later, and I think he charged us around seven times the amount we should have paid... which worked out to be about $30 USD (which I should probably not be whining about).
We spent the next couple of days going shopping, trying to guess which of the women were actually women (there are a lot of transvestites in Thailand...), eating amazing Western food, exploring, and trying to figure out how not to be rude (haha!). Everyone bows here to greet each-other and thank each-other, and say goodbye... and I'm hoping that's it, or else I'm missing my cues. At breakfast one morning at the hotel one of the waiters offered to take my plate of food back to my table while I poured my cereal. Still not feeling too confident, I thanked him the best way I knew how, and poured my cereal onto the floor (luckily not ALL of it). How do people bow while they're holding food??!
Wednesday, we decided to be touristy and checked out the floating market, took pictures with some tigers, and rode an elephant. Yep, at eight months pregnant I rode an elephant. Can't say it was the most comfortable ride ever, but definitely worth the pictures. At the Tiger Temple, I noticed that our tour guide was very friendly with the baby tigers, even putting his hand in their MOUTHS, but wouldn't go near the older tigers. I was definitely a bit terrified, and also wondered if the tigers might have been drugged, due to how sleepy they were (but I hear they sleep a lot, so hopefully we were just there around naptime???). One of the tigers had his foot in the air and they placed my hand on his foot to take the picture. I moved my hand toward his paw, and must have bothered him because he definitely snarled at me. I decided to move on to a sleepier tiger, and not die. I asked the tour guide later if he'd ever seen anyone get hurt there, and he said, "Yes, but that is top secret." Glad I asked him AFTER we got our pictures taken.
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| Floating Market |
Thursday was our last day in Bangkok and in order to save money on a hotel and plane tickets to Chiangmai (where we're having the baby), we took the overnight train. My last experience on an overnight train was in China, involved VERY stinky feet (not mine); no air conditioning; dirty, hair covered sheets and pillows; and 4 guys sleeping underneath our bunks, one of them being an extremely LOUD snorer who Drew threw water on all night to try to get him to stop (it didn't work). When I saw the ghetto train pull up, I was worried it would either fall apart or I would before we got there. Luckily this train had NO smelly feet or loud snorers, we had CLEAN sheets AND air conditioning, and curtains to shut out the world while we slept! Heaven on a train. Ok so maybe my standards for heaven on a train were pretty low. Went to the bathroom a couple times at night and didn't realize until morning that their waste system was a hole in the floor, exiting to the train tracks. Bio-degradable I guess?
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| Soft Beds With Air Con in the Train! |
Anyway, we got to Chiangmai on Friday, and we're staying in a long-stay hotel here (that has a POOL, woohoo!) for the next two months (hopefully less) waiting for Baby Fraser to come into the world. Christmas is 7 days away, and we have our stockings hung up from the kitchen counter. I think this is the least I've ever thought about Christmas. Kind of seems insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Well, for those of you who ARE doing festive Christmasy things, eat some turkey for me. I'll be busy getting sunburnt and eating ice-cream. Merry Christmas!
We spent the next couple of days going shopping, trying to guess which of the women were actually women (there are a lot of transvestites in Thailand...), eating amazing Western food, exploring, and trying to figure out how not to be rude (haha!). Everyone bows here to greet each-other and thank each-other, and say goodbye... and I'm hoping that's it, or else I'm missing my cues. At breakfast one morning at the hotel one of the waiters offered to take my plate of food back to my table while I poured my cereal. Still not feeling too confident, I thanked him the best way I knew how, and poured my cereal onto the floor (luckily not ALL of it). How do people bow while they're holding food??!
Wednesday, we decided to be touristy and checked out the floating market, took pictures with some tigers, and rode an elephant. Yep, at eight months pregnant I rode an elephant. Can't say it was the most comfortable ride ever, but definitely worth the pictures. At the Tiger Temple, I noticed that our tour guide was very friendly with the baby tigers, even putting his hand in their MOUTHS, but wouldn't go near the older tigers. I was definitely a bit terrified, and also wondered if the tigers might have been drugged, due to how sleepy they were (but I hear they sleep a lot, so hopefully we were just there around naptime???). One of the tigers had his foot in the air and they placed my hand on his foot to take the picture. I moved my hand toward his paw, and must have bothered him because he definitely snarled at me. I decided to move on to a sleepier tiger, and not die. I asked the tour guide later if he'd ever seen anyone get hurt there, and he said, "Yes, but that is top secret." Glad I asked him AFTER we got our pictures taken.
