These little things

London, UK: September 2010

2010-10-24T13:36:00.011-06:00

There is a song called “I left my heart in San Francisco” but I am going to say here that I left my heart in London! I never imagined that I would one day visit this vibrant city. London was a part of my UK trip and I spent two days and a half here. It is inevitably saying that London is one of the most expensive cities in the world and it is true but there are a lot of free stuff you can enjoy and the city is so lovely and romantic. Just put on good walking shoes and prepare to walk a lot. London awaits you to experience her beauty. I didn’t plan much for this trip but really put my trust on my good friend who lives in Manchester and invited me to visit the UK. Such an awesome friend! But I did some research in the Internet (www.visitlondon.com) of what I would like to see so it saved me time. Okie! Come with me and let see what we can do in this city in two days and a half.

We took a Virgin train (www.virgintrains.co.uk) from Manchester to London. The trips usually takes around two hours in a super fast train. For the train ticket, don’t ever mistakenly buy it at the station because it is going to cost you a fortune. Buy the ticket in advance for a good deal. The train arrived at Euston Station and then we took Underground or Tube (www.tfl.gov.uk) from King’s Cross/St. Pancras Station to our hostel in Bayswater. It was my first time in London and to experience the oldest underground system in the world! I looked at the Underground map that looked like a spider web and suddenly got little headache. But believe me, it is well organized and very easy to understand, just give it some time and make sure you take the right line and direction. I didn’t get lost at all using the Tube. I found it super easy and convenient mode of transportation. We purchased a day pass for zone 1 which you can travel with public transportation unlimited in one day within the zone. The hostel (www.hostelworld.com) we booked is in Bayswater area which is close to Hyde Park and it is easy to get around. Whenever I travel to big cities, I like to stay in hostel not only it is cheap but also the interesting people you meet. After having checked in to our hostel, we headed to one of the landmarks in the city- The London Eye. We took a Circle line to Westminster Station. It was a stunning view when you stepped out from the station and you saw the giant wheels London Eye in front of you. We crossed the Westminster Bridge and headed to purchase our tickets to the Wheels. The ride takes around 20 minutes and you can see the view over the River Thames. We went out at the sunset to picture London at dusk. After that we took a beautiful walk along the Thames to the Millennium Bridge. The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian bridge crossing the River Thames with the famous Tate Modern at the southern end and St. Paul’s Cathedral at the other end. If you cross the bridge at night from the southern end and you will get the amazing sight of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Next morning, we visited the Buckingham Palace and watched the change of the guards. It is surely a must if you come to London. After that we walked through St.James’s Park to the Horse Guards House, then walked along the Parliament Street and dropped by at the famous house at 10 at Downing Street. I was lucky enough to get a bright and sunny day in London! My flat ballet shoes served their purpose well. We kept walking to the Parliament Square and enjoyed the sight of Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. At the Westminster Abbey, there is an admission fee but it is surely worth a visit. The birth of the Westminster Abbey is rooted back more than a thousand years. It is where Kings and Queens of UK are crowned. Once you are there, don’t forget to visit St. Magaret’s Church which stands between the Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

My afternoon excitement awaited silently. We headed to the British Museum where a mummy’s lover like me would be satisfied. I was excited to see mummies! The admission is free and this is what I so loved about London. There are many free museums you can visit and I did visit two museums in this trip. I could really spend my whole day here if we had time but the door closed at 5.30 pm and we had to leave. On the way back to the hostel, we decided to take a bus along the Oxford Street. It was a torturing trip for a shopaholic like me because there are millions shops along the street!!! Just name it- M&S, Selfridges, John Lewis, Debenhams, HMV, House of Fraser, Primark and many more! After crucifying myself to the bus seat, we entered Bayswater Road and Hyde Park. We jumped off the bus at Lancaster Gate and wondered in Hyde Park/Kensington Garden. The weather was getting colder so we just kept walking toward the Kensington Palace where Princess Diana resided. The sight of the Palace looking over the Round Pond at sunset was peaceful and beautiful.

Our third day in London was not so pleasant since we got to experience the British weather. It rained nonstop from morning until afternoon but the show must go on. We visited a must-to-see place on my list. After breakfast, we took a Circle line to Tower Hill and there it was... the Tower of London. We got a good deal here for buy 1 get 1 free promotion which we got by traveling by Virgin train to London. If you read English history or watch the TV series “The Tudors”, you probably have heard about the Tower. The Tower of London was founded almost a thousand years ago by Williams the Conqueror of the Normans. The Tower has been a palace and fortress and is the home of the Crown Jewels of the UK. Our last afternoon was spent carefully, we went to the National Gallery. The Nationally Gallery is a home of finest collections of the Western paintings. I was so thrilled to see “Madonna of the Rocks by Leonardo Da Vinci”! The admission here again is free but donations are welcome. In front of the National Gallery is the Trafalgar Square with the famous Nelson’s Column in the centre of the square.It is also used for public gatherings like the New Year’s celebration in London. The last place I visited in London before catching a coach back to Manchester is a must visit... Harrods at Knightsbridge!

London, I love you!

Krabi: 12-16 Sep 09

2009-10-04T10:02:00.014-06:00

I got an excuse to take vacation again in Sep (the last one was in Aug :p) when my friend, Kevin, came for a visit for a week. We had been talking about Thailand trip for months and it finally came true. We picked Krabi as we both had never been there so it must be really cool checking out new place together. So we flew down to krabi and spent 4 nights there.

When Kevin arrived, I took him out right away. We went for a boat ride to Marriotte Riverside Hotel, then Sky Bar at Le Bua and last but not least at Brown Sugar. So this pic is from Tuck's camera. - Tuck, me and Kevin. Kevin was half dead already (jetlag) when we were at Brown Sugar but he kept his spirit high and went with me everywhere I wanted to go :) Thanks~~
Next day after spending half day enjoying our "suite" at President Solitaire hotel (It was a suite! Very large!), we headed to the airport to catch a plane to Krabi. This pic was when we were flying over Koh Samui and Pangan in Thai Gulf.
Entering main land of Surat Thani province.
We arrived Krabi safely and got picked up by the hotel. This is Ao Nang beach at sunset.
We were checking out the neighborhood.

We decided to walk to the end of the road to a small local restaurant which a friend recommended us. Great food and beautiful view we got here. I always love watching sunsets cus i hardly get up for sunrise :)

Day 2, we went on a full day tour to Phi Phi Island. This is a place where we left for the trip. It is called "Nopparat Thara" Beach.
Krabi has a stunning landscape. Just for Krabi sea, there like so many islands like this. These limestone rocks have been standing for centuries.
In our speed boat, Kevin was still little sleepy :)
I was kinda excited for snorkelling in the Andaman Sea.
At Maya Bay where the movie "The Beach" was shot. So I guess I must step on Leonardo's footprints somewhere :p
It was a lil crowded that day we went but the place was gorgeous!
Going to a lagoon.
See how clear the water is?
This is sea gypsy cemetery. There were some sea gypsies living here before.

The water is so clear so that u can see these colorful fish. When we were in the water, we brought some bread to feed the fish and these fish just came around us.
Lunch break here and I went swimming while Kevin took a nap.
Bamboo Island. We just went swimming and chilled out here.
This is our hotel
Our swimming pool. We came swimming almost every evening and one evening we just hung in pool and sipped magarita :)
A view from our room.
Day 3, it was my birthday today. We went on a half day kayaking trip. It rained on the way.
Tha Lane Bay
We went with a group and tour guide. Going through the mangrove forest.
Love it!

It rained heavily so we had to stop for a while here at this cave. I really felt like sitting in a floating bathtub.
We moved on when the rain got lighter. Going deep inside the mangrove forest. I felt like we were going to a place like in Anaconda movie :p
Kevin worked really hard on controlling and having the boat move while I got some minutes to enjoy taking photos.
Row row row your boat!
We left the mangrove forest behind and were going out there to the sea!
We stopped at this sand dune for photos and snack.
Star fish!
Kevin was happy to get out of the boat i guess :)

Having some pineapple.
Later in the evening, Kevin took me out to this Italian Restaurant near on beach road for my birthday celebration.
Waiting for the food.
This is my birthday banana split, no not a cake! Well Kevin planned with a waitress about this. Since there was no cake on the menu. Kevin tried to convince me to have banana split as a dessert which I said yes. The waitress brought the icecream to our table and she said to us that "sorry we don't have a lighter" and I saw there was a candle on the ice cream. So I knew it right away that Kevin tried to surprise me but the restaurant just ruined his plan. Unlit candle on the ice cream.. hehehe... So Kevin just told me to wait and he ran out of the restaurant to borrow a lighter from some tourists there. He got it and lit my candle. So I made a wish :) This was really good birthday.
Day 4, we took it easy by getting up late and went to the beautiful Railay Beach around noon.
We took a long tail boat to the beach.
It was raining when we arrived so we decided to stop at this restaurant for lunch.

On the way to Phranang Beach, we had to pass this mangrove.
Coconut trees. There were a lot of monkeys there as well.
And we were here at Phranang Beach.
Railay is famous for rock climbers. A lot of rock climbers come here just to climb up those rocks!What beautiful place! Leisurely life!

We came back to this place where the boat picked us up and went back to Ao Nang to spend the last night in Krabi. We just looked at each other when we had to leave the place. We both didn't wanna leave at all. I got very tan skin while Kevin got burnt and red so he was kinda jealous at me :p

Koh Samui: August 09

2009-09-21T09:19:00.007-06:00

After Koh Tao, we took a ferry to Koh Samui. On our second day, we took a day trip for snorkelling and kayaking at Mu Koh Angthong. You will see the green lagoon and a group of islands. Breath taking scene :)

Bo Phut Beach in front of our first resort on Koh Samui, Bandara Resort & Spa
Me visiting Bar Ice @ Samui
Four of us at Bar Ice, Samui
Q Bar Samui
Laem Nan Beach @ Renaissance, our second resort on Koh Samui
I was so lucky to meet my Austrian friend, Hoermi and his sister Sonja there. We missed each other in Bangkok.
Pool and beach front at The Renaissance
Our Pool villa at The Renaissance
The bed :)
Me at the lagoon at Mu Koh Angthong
Main pool at Bandara
Beach at Mu Koh Angthong
Walking to the view point
The lagoon
Daniel, Nancy, me and DaveMu Koh Angthong
The lagoon

Arriving at Koh Pangan

This trip was just fantastic. It was too bad that we couldn't take scuba diving course but we had a lot of fun :) See u in my next trip, Krabi!

Koh Tao - Koh Nang Yuan: August 09

2009-08-29T02:29:00.018-06:00

This trip is one of the most memorable trips I ever made cus we had so much fun and dead-life experience which I will talk more about it later. This trip I traveled from Bangkok to Koh Tao and Koh Samui. We visited some nearby islands in Thai Gulf. I traveled with my friends who visited from America- Daniel, Dave and Nancy (who joined us later on our third day on Koh Tao. Well I have to educate you a little bit. Koh means island. Tao means turtle. Koh Tao is named after its shape that looks like turtle.

We took an overnight bus from Bangkok to Chuporn then went on a Catamaran speedboat.

That is the pier in Chumporn.

We arrived Koh Tao around 9 am and checked in at Tropicana resort. It is a small and simple but in a good location. This second pic is the beach in front of our resort. We explored the neighborhood and went snorkelling at the nex

t beach. It was a little shallow but it was

interesting!
This is us at the beach that we went snorkelling. It was a lil shallow and rocky. The tide was low.

Next day, we chartered a long tail boat to go around the island. It was such a wonderful trip.

We did some snorkelling and fish feeding. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of fish feeding and underwater. Hope to get some from my friend.

It is sooooo gorgeous!

Last night on Koh Tao. We went to have dinner at Haad Rin and just chilled out by teh beach watching fire show. Next day we took a ferry to Koh Samui. I really love Koh Tao. It is so beautiful and it is the most beautiful snorkelling destination that i have been too. Well as i said before that this is one of the most memorable trips cus in our second evening, we rented a motorbike and big four wheel bike. Daniel drove and I sat on the back. We had accident. We were going up the hill but it was too steep so we slid down and fell off the cliff. I went unconscious and Daniel broke his head. Thank God that he protected us. I had muscular pain but didn't break any bone. We are so thankful. We are alive! So we stayed in hospital for one night.

Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan 01.04.09

2009-04-06T02:37:00.006-06:00

In this note, u will see some nice pics from my day trip to Koh Tao and Koh Nang Yuan. Koh means island. Koh Tao is famous for its beatiful corals and it is paradise for divers. It is about 1.5 hours from Koh Samui by speed boat.

Koh Nang Yuan is a private island. It is very beautiful for its white sand dune that seperates the water. I brought some bread to feed and the fish and can you believe this, the fish just came so close to me. The swam around me and I could even touch (but i wasn't that fast!). The colorful fish were just like in Nemo movie. Too bad that I didnt take any pic of this. You just gotta go and see by yourself.

This is the first stop after riding in that speed boat for 1.5 hours. We finally arrived safely with lovely weather.

Sorry for the order of the pics, quiting confusing. So this is when we arrived in the area of Koh Tao. There were about 30 people in my trip. I was the only Thai.

This man was from France and he helped me to get up from the water. heheheh.. i was wearing life jacket and snorkelling mask and was soak. The ground was rocky and slippery. So he offered me a hand since I went on the trip alone. Merci!

This was my vehicle.

Lunch break at Sairee Beach, Koh Tao

Sea dosg :) No idea how they got onto the island.

A restauran by the beach

This is Koh Nang Yuan

Koh Nang Yuan is private island.

I snorkelled with these german girls at Nang Yuan. Christine and Veronika.

Nang Yuan Island

Lovely beach! In that chrystal clear water, there were a lot of colorful fish and they swim all around you. You can feed them too. We fed them soem bread.

The sand dune

Koh Samui

2009-04-05T11:47:00.003-06:00

I was supposed to write my new note about Koh Samui here but I guess I am too sleepy. So I wrote my note ane uploaded all pics in anotehr blog. So check it out here!

http://mandypoeticsensation.blogspot.com/2009/04/koh-samui-260309-050409.html

I will spend some time to write a note about Samui here but...dunno when....hehehehe...spent too much time uploading photos already.

Ayuthaya one day trip

2009-02-18T07:50:00.004-07:00

Hi! I am back on the road again. This is a day trip to old city of Thailand "Ayutthaya". I went with some ladies from my work... yeah i said ladies :)

Ayutthaya was a capital city of Thailand sometimes around 230 years something back. Now it has only some ruins left. This capital city was invaded and burned by our then enemy Burma.

I really like this temple. It is Wat Mahatat. It is so grand so big. I felt really calm and peaceful when I was in this temple.

This is really amazing. The head of buddha image is covered by big tree's roots. I think some it was cut and left here. So time has passed by and it remains here for hundreds years.

You can see that the temple was burned and the heads of buddha images were cut. It is a great loss for Thai architecture, culture and national treasure.

Big chedi.

View from the chedi.

This is my ganster. Now u know why i called them "ladies". :)

A lot of temples in a day!

Facebook

2009-01-21T03:24:00.004-07:00

I am addicted to Facebook. What has it done to me? I started facebooking in early year 2007 and my addiction to it has never been ceased. Oh myyy.... I might get fired of keeping Facebook page open. hehehe.. I can't go to sleep without sneaking a peek at it. It pleases me to see a lot of new notifications and updates. When at work, I just have to login to Facebook and check it instantly every 5 mins. Well it is so addictive.

New Year Resolutions

2009-01-14T09:44:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year 2009!

I don't want to believe that my blog has survived until 2009. I have been passive in writing recently since I came back to Thailand. I don't know why. Maybe its because of the heat and humidity? hahahah... or I am just lazy.

Many people have set their new year resolutions. I have been thinking about my new year resolutions and I came up with;

1. Start exercise~~
Okay let me explain. I feel that I have gained a lot of weight since I came back to Thailand. Here I don't get to exericise much and I am not a kind of person to pays for fitness expensive fee just to show off or socialize. Well in fact I hate exericse because it is so tiring and you know that you are going to be tired and not having fun. In Canada, I didn't think so much about exericse but I could still stay in (chubby) shape. I did a lot of hikings, walkings and skiing. I felt fun doing those and the key factor was the weather. It is not so hot there so I feel really fine with it.

2. Start saving and stop silly shopaholic behavior ~~
Do I need to explain? I just need to save and stop buying shoes and bags. It is so difficult than number 1. My body just goes weak and my eyes are blind when I see the red holy sign "SALE".

3. Tidy my room more often (at least once a month) ~~
Some of you might yell at me... Mandy you are dirty! hahaha... :p Well I clean my room once or twice a year. My room is always so messy. So this year I set my standarad to clean my room at least once a month.

Okay... now...please help pray for me that I will succeed.....

Thank you!

Easy day today

2008-10-21T10:04:00.006-06:00

It's been a while since I wrote in my blog. Well today was good. It wasnt so busy and i didnt have to stay for dinner.

After days after days of media entertaining dinner, today i found an excuse to sneak away from hosting a dinner from one media. They came to review and photo shoot our newly open restaurant. Thank God that the FB manager agreed to take care of them for me. Last week was like hell. We worked hard for the restaurant media launch and grand opening. Got a lot of confirmations from media and we were unable to have all of them so thats why we are hosting another dinner for media tomorrow. Its gonna be another busy day again. But the concept of tomorrow dinner is different. We make it more exclusive by having a long table dinner for the media. Its gonna be a five course sit down dinner again... and it will take two hours! I dont think i gonan sit in there. i am so sick of the food...Asian Modern Cuisine... it sounds good but if u have to sit there for at least two hours and have the same kind of food almost everyday....you wont be so happy.

The menu is Foie Gras, Asparagus with scallop, sorbet, main course to choose from NZ Lamb or Snow Fish or Chicken, then close with panna cotta. So this was the menu on Fri and also will be for tomorrow.

Came home around 7.30 pm which was pretty early. Got to relax a bit and pampered myself by having body scrub with a body scrub from Mountain Sapola. The scrub gel is made from Ginger, Lemongrass and some other herbal stuff. It felt so great after that and I smell so gooooooddddd..

Got to chat to an editor of a travel magazine and he asked me to write an article about my travel experience for him. I said yes cus I like writing and then thought that i will need to take vacation and write cus i also promise another travel magazine to write some articles for them too and tomorrow the editor will join my dinner... oh shoot.... what am I going to tell her about my article that I havent started yet. Well I could easily write it if i got time. I wrote it before in my blog but it is in English... sooo... well...

This morning I wrote newspares in classified section and found a post that I am interested. It's a short-term contract to work as a social work in up country of Thailand sponsored by American Peace Corp. Ummm... the job sounds fun but I also need security in life. My present job isnt bad at all, in fact I like it and the people at my work are really cool. Some people think that my job is so perfect cus I sometimes got to travel to my resort on Koh Samui and relax. Well yeah its nice but I work really hard. And sometimes you are just so bored of eating good food in fine dining restaurant with people that you have to entertain. Oh... I also got to do free spa in our resort too... product experience... i like this though...

Mom came home from her trip to the north of Thailand and Vietnam. Got pretty bags from her as souvenirs from Vietnam. Love them. Gonna use one tomorrow.

I think I should go to bed. Big day tomorrow.

Shopaholic Part II

2008-08-07T08:55:00.002-06:00

Hello there... well there is not much to say. I am still busy with work and shop a lot. I bought two pairs of shoe sin two days. Havent worn them yet. Bought a lot of skin care and soem cosmetic last week.

Shoot... I have gained weight. I feel that I am like a pig now cus I eat a lot. I have some media come to my hotel everyday. I have to entertain them. That means I treat them lunch and I have to eat with them. I eat like a king everyday. I feel terrible. As that I'm writing this, I am still worried about tomorrow. I have some guests to entertain again. Eat. Eat. Eat.

Well I hope that I can reduce my shopping needs.

Shopaholic

2008-07-23T08:36:00.002-06:00

I think I am a shopaholic. I am addicted to shopping and my heart goes weak when I see the red SALE sign. In bought five pairs of shoes in 10 days (which four pairs are branded and one is cheap charlie:p )and I don't count other stuff like clothes and lingeries. Oh shooot.... I almost even bought another pair of shoes today but luckily that they didn't have my size.... oh shoot... yeah i bought one pair today.... I forgot.... I went to Tesco to get cute cheap shoes because I needed open shoes for my feet. Most of my working shoes have straps. Well the thing is that my left foot is hurt. I got bitten by my new expensive shoes that I bought last weekend. Well.... What am I writing here???

I think I gonna control my shopping habit more carefully.

Hua Hin Jazz Festival 2008

2008-06-15T07:46:00.007-06:00

Hua Hin Jazz Festival 2008: 13-15.06.08

Here comes again Hua Hin Jazz Festival, the annual jazz event in Hua Hin. It is said to be one of the best jazz events in Thailand.
This year is my first time to join this jazz event and it was fab! I went with my "old" friends- Wijit and Jek whom I met in the World Scout Jamboree back around 6 years ago.
Hua Hin is an old famous resort town in Thailand (It's pretty much like Santa Cruz in California - in my opinion). There are a lot of nice, cool, chic new built resorts and also the mixture of the old town with contemporary architecture. This old beach city contains old wayof life style and it is very significant because a summer palace of the present king is here and the king was there when we were there.
This is sandy Hua Hin Beach where the jazz festival took place. It was such an awesome place to held jazz music event because it is just awesome! Imagine if you come with your sweetheart, listen to jazz, watch at stars in ebony sky with the sound of the waves and the touch of soft breeze... :) I wish I had someone there with me :p
There were not so many people on the first day.
People came early to occupy some space.
Heineken, the big sponsor of this event.
We stopped our jazz alert for a while and walked along the old street and found this old famous restaurant. It has a big terrace edging in the sea. Gastronomical dinner and three hungers!
We came back to the beach for cool jazz. Tonight we had some musicians from oversea too.
Heineken night! Can't remember how much beer we had. My two gentlemen were big supporters of this beer...only because of... pretty ladies at the booth... hahahah... sorry to reveal the truth, my friends :p
The stage

Next day, we just took it easy. We spent the afternoon having big big lunch at a Chinese seafood restaurant and later we just sat back and relaxed in an Italian coffee shop, watching people. Later decided to walk from our hotel which was around 2 km. away from the stage. We did this because it was so hard to find a parking space. So since our hotel had exit to the beach, we just couldnt resist a sandy walk way... Well it wasn't so easy to get to the event because we somehow decided to walk on the dune...well the first ten minutes was fine becus the dune was still high... but after a while, we got deeper in the water and waves came... welll yeah...we arrived wet wet wet.
Second night of the jazz festival, we didnt bother Heineken. We were well preapared and brought our own drinks :) which was...
Gin Tonic played our major role for the second night.
Finally it came the third day and we gotta head back to Bangkok today. We hiked up (by car :p) to this mountain and the goal is this famous place for seafood.
Behind me is Hua Hin Beach.

Fresh oysters..yumm..
Seafood grill.
I'm luvin it :)
After gastronomic lunch...
Last picture at the restaurant. We really had fun and ate a lot of great seafood in this trip. See you next year in Hua Hin!

Pure Bandara, Pure Asian Hospitality

2008-05-31T10:42:00.007-06:00

Welcome to Bandara Resort and Spa, Samui!
24-27.05.08
(First four photos were taken by Khun Jon from Luxury Magzine. Photo courtesy: Luxury Magazine)

Last week, I got a chance to go down south of Thailand to Koh Samui (Samui Island). Koh Samui is located in the Thai Gulf. I went there on business trip cus we invited some media to stay and experience our resort for advertorial writing in the magazines. Well I wont talk about work here. Just want to share some pictures. If you wanna go there, I will get you some discount :) This is my room. It's deluxs type. I got a king size bed, balcony with tropical garden view, bath tub, shower. I luv this bathroom cus I can have a long baht and watch TV in the same time :)
This is a beach dog that belongs to a pub next door.
Chom Dao restaurant.
A dessert made by super chef of Bandara.
At Chom Dao restaurant
This seems to be the only pic I could take of myself :) It's in a hotel room in Bangkok, a night before I flew to Samui.
View of some beach in Samui from a plane.Lovely sunny day
One of 4 pools. This is beach pool.
Private beach

Cool drink Mango Tango at Sunset

Thailand Summer Tour: Chiangrai 2008

2008-04-26T10:33:00.007-06:00

After Pattaya, we spent a few days in Bangkok and then went up north to Chiangrai.

We went to Saxophone Jazz pub in Bangkok and I couldn't help laughing when seeing this, especiall when my German friend, Manuel was sitting next to me :p
This is the old fort in Bangkok. We dropped by here before walking to Khaosan Rd.
Then on Thursday we took a bus to Chiangrai. We arrived early in the morning. In the afternoon we visited a hill tribal village. We did some city tour too unfortunatly my camera's battery ran dead so that's why I dont have many pics from today :(On Saturday, we had a day trip to visity Chiangsaeng, the old city of in Chiangrai. Chiangsaeng is older than Ayuthaya.
Some ruins
Temple

We also visited some temples on the mountain too. We walked up there and from this temple you can see the Mae Khong river and Laos on another side.The famous golden triangle.
Here is Mae Sai, the most northern point in Thailand which shares the border to Myanmay. There is a small river which is a natural border between Thailand and Myanmar.
This is that river.

Songkran time! We sat in the back of a truck with a big jar that was full of water. Ready for water battle! After a long wet day, we went out to a small pub in Chiangrai. We came home very late and get some sleep before catching a flight to Chiangmai at 8.30 am.
This is our plane. It carries 12 passengers with two pilots but our flight had only 3 passengers! So it was like exclusive trip for us.
Our friendly pilots.
From the plane, we could see this dam. This means we are in Chiangmai already. I love this view.

Thailand Summer Tour: Chiangmai 2008

2008-04-26T09:56:00.007-06:00

After Chiangrai, we flew to Chiangmai. There, we stayed with our friend, Aoum.

Our first day in Chiangmai, we explored the old city on foot and had fun watching people celebrating Songkran. We were so wet. After a fun, wet and hot day, we wentto the famous resturant, Riverside.
Manuel, me and my long long long old old old friend, Jek.
Next day we went to Doi Suthep.

Back to the old city again. Here you can see the old wall of Chiangmai.
With bustling busy people celebrating Songkran.

Dinner at Aoum's place. In this picture: Jerome from France (Iveper 05-06). He is serving in Thailand., me (Iveper 06-07), Manuel (Service worker 05-07), Kat (Aoum's wife) and Aoum (Iveper 05-06)
A game night, bringing old Mennonite memories- Dutch Blizt! The calculator was my big help :p

I sent Manuel, my travel partner off at Chiangmai train station. We said goodbye here. After Thailand, he is continuing his Asia trip to Cambodia. Thanks for visiting me, man!

After sending Manuel off, my long time friend, Nat picked me up. Nat was Iveper 04-05 in Regina, SK, Canada. It was good to spend a day with him cus I had not seen him for a long time. He is one of my close friends. I have known him since grade 9.

Sweet sunset in Chiangmai in a small remoted village in the mountain.

Thailand Summer Tour: Pattaya 4-7.04.08

2008-04-17T07:32:00.012-06:00

I got to travel again and this time it was with my old travel mate, Manuel from Germany. We did some Canada and USA trips together last year and now Manuel is doing his Asia tour. Thailand was his first destination.
We took a bus to Pattaya. Here you can see my travel mate, after 12 hours on the plane. He still looked ok.
Rain welcomed us with some flood. Manuel had to walk barefeet to our hotel.
First meal in Thailand.
We went out later in the evening and had odd snack. Deep fried insects. I had frog. Manuel had scorpian.... We went to Walking Street. Manuel said it was like in New Orleans.
Dinner at Russian resturantOur first wine in together in Thailand!
Next morning was sunny and hot, perfect for an island trip.
We took a boat to Koh Larn.
We spent our afternoon here on the beach. Manuel got sunburn.... I got sun tan :)

Next day, we took it easy. We went to Wong Amat Beach and just relaxed. It was raining so we stopped at this place for a beer and people watching.
Then we hopped to another bar for another beer.
After the rain stopped, we started marching along the beach.

We hiked up the hill to visit a temple.
This is another hill we walked up and this view was Pattaya Bay.

Breathing taking scenary and it made me think of Vancouver.

Last night in Pattaya was spent at Jomtian beach with some drinks.
Lovely day
We had lunch with my friend, Wijit. He also gave us a ride back to Bangkok.
Good lunch!

Where do I belong?

2008-03-24T07:50:00.000-06:00

It's been a half year already since I came back to Thailand. I can't complain so much cus I am quite enjoy my life now. I got a good job and I like it :) But sometimes I just miss Canada soooo much. I can say that it's my second home. Sometimes I complain and don't understand how things happen or they way the are here in Thailand my mother land. I still think, say or do like Canadian way...wierd? Well it's a big change in my life to live in different two cultures. I miss my life in CND so much and I miss my friends a lot. I think i have stronger bond with friends i made there cus i spent a lot of time with them. People there work as hard as well as play hard. They always find time to relax and enjoy life, while, here sometimes i think we r workaholic. Where do I belong then? Where do I fit in best?

Ummm... but i am going to have a short break soon next month when my friend, Manuel, comes from Germany. We gonna have great fun, I am sure! He is the best travel partner and I am so excited that he is coming soon!

Pattaya 1-5.02.08

2008-02-17T07:30:00.006-07:00

Finally i managed to have a short vacation. I was very busy with my job and needed vacation so I decided to quit that job :) I went to the beach in Pattaya. Pattaya is about 2.5 hours away from Bangkok. It's world famous destination. I love Pattaya. It's fun to be there. And there is a place you can't miss if you go to Pattaya. Regardless the not-so-clean beach in the city, about 45 mins away by ferry, there is an island called Koh Larn. Oh paradise is just less than an hour away. I love Koh Larn!
Breakfast at hotel
This is my hotel.
On taxi truck to the pier
At the pier. on the ferryOn the way to the islandThat boat was coming to pick us up.We were transferring to the boat cus the ferry couldnt go nearer to teh beach.

Exploring the island.. there are some shelters.
Rocky beach

The beach
Me waiting for lunch
Easy day on the beach. I'm lovin it!
Now I was on the ferry back to the main land, leaving the paradise island behind

[ My Girl ] Never Say Goodbye

2008-01-07T10:00:00.001-07:00

Cute song. Asian hip hop.

Bangkok: Holiday season

2008-01-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

New year New Year...

I don't have any new year resolution... It's just another year. I'm sure life will be fun even now I feel a bit bored. I think I need some challenge in life, something exciting and fun. Though, I still love this season; Christmas and new year. It's the season of giving and happiness. The weather is pleasant here. The city is beautifully decorated with lights and flowers and other stuff. People smile and seem to be very happy, but I just can't help feeling blank inside. I feel like I am missing something. I miss my life in North America. I miss my friends there. I miss ... very much....

I love Christmas season!

A day in a life of me

2007-12-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

Since I came back to Bangkok, my life style is kinda changed. I started to "work" again, career life has begun. I must admit that I am still thinking of my time in North America. I love my work and people there so much. Now that I am back, I have to adjust myself to things here. I know it seems senseless and people might think that I am overacting about adjusting but I can tell u that if u have fully experienced something and absorbed it to your heart, there is no wonder why u would think about it a lot.

This is just a lil update about me. This is at BTS (sky train) station where i get on and off everyday...to work of course...
I always spend about half and hour here every morning having breakfast in this park.

This is a white christmas tree in front of my office building. My office is on 25th floor :) After work, i sometimes go out for dinner or drinks with friends.
I'm having German beer! Dukel bier :p

Loy KraThong Festival

2007-11-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Loy Krathong Festival

Last week, it was Loy Kra Thong festival. I spent time with my parents. This festival is believed to be the time that people give apology to the river goddess for making the river dirty. People make a container (Kra Thong) which is made from banana leaves, flowers and with incense and candles. And then they float (Loy) the Kra Thong in the river or canal. So loy krathong means to float the kra thong. This festival is celebrated through out Thailand and it is held on the full moon day in November. On this day, people usually go out at night with friends or family and they make or buy Kra Thong. This year I didn't make mine cus i was too busy but my mom brought one for me from her school. krathong vendor. u can choose anyone u like!

Float the krathong in the river with dad
This is my Krathong

Trip to Trang

2007-10-22T12:22:00.000-06:00

Trang: October 16-21, 2007
After I arrived Bangkok from my trip to northern Thailand, I left again next day for my trip to the southern province, Trang. I travelled there by coach with a big bunch of people who also attended a big event, CCT (Church of Christ in Thailand) christian youth conference which is held every two years. It took us about 12 hours on the bus. Me and my friends from church
Travelling to the beach

It was cloudy that day.

With my friend, he was Iveper few years ago.
Nat, me and Bank- we got up early to try Trang's unique kind of breakfast. Cheers! I luv this kind of milk iced tea

This is our breakfast. I'm not kidding.
Yummyyyy
With the pig which soon became roast pork
on the way back to the church

The old chapel of the church

With two Ivepers from previous years, Nat and Mai

Group photos of all participants in the conference

Trip to Chiangrai & Myanmar

2007-10-22T12:03:00.000-06:00

October 12-15, 2007
I travelled to Chiangrai, the most northern province in Thailand and also visited Myanmar for an afternoon. This colorful plane by Nok Air brought me to Chiangrai.
My cousin and her daughter (my niece)
Sarisa, my niece who was born while I was in Canada.

Here we were crossing the border to Myanmar.
Welcome to Myanmar

Walking the the immigration check point. Once we had crossed the border, i felt little sad to see a lot of homeless kids and beggars :(
Back again to Thailand

Pattaya 18-20.09.07

2007-09-20T09:52:00.000-06:00

This is the first blog since I came back to Thailand. It has been boring some time just to stay home. So this time I got a chance to get away from Bangkok for few days when my friend whom I met in Canada came from the UK! So we met in Pattaya! This pic is a view of the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
The bus took us about 2.5 hours from Bangkok to Pattaya.
I spent my second day on the beach.
My foot prints :)
Jomtian Beach is famous for swimming in Pattaya.
The waves were big and the water came so high.
Relaxing at the beach.
It was hot and sunny.

Celebrating last night in Pattaya. We had little party at home and went out clubbing til morning :)

New York 13-16.07.07 Day I & II

2007-07-31T07:25:00.000-06:00

New York City: Day I and II Our first meal in NYC @ McDonald
Grocery shopping; our breakfast
My travel gang; Esther (France), Carmen (Paraguay), Michel (Switzerland) and me

Our 2nd day in the big apple city. We go on a walking tour which is said to last 15 hours...but...
We check out cool supermarket in Brooklyn
View from Brooklyn Promenade with Lower Manhattan background
Crossing Brooklyn Bridge
And that is Manhattan!

Ground Zero
Wall Street
Stock market
Lady Liberty
On a ferry to Staten Island

Battery Park
Our lunch + dinner at Chinese restuarant in Chinatown
Grand Central station
Rockefeller Center
Me and Frederik at Time Square

We finish our walking tour at around 1.30 in the morning. This tour lasted 17 hours!!! We walked almost nonstop. We stopped for about 1.5 hours for dinner and icecream! Brooklyn and Manhattan, we rock you!

New York 13-16.07.07 Day III

2007-07-31T06:28:00.000-06:00

New York City: Day III

After 17 hours marathon in Brooklyn and Manhattan yesterday, today we feel like taking it easy.
We start with some shopping in Chinatown.
Then we head to Little Italy for lunch.

My Lasagna
Then we head to 5th Ave to the Empire State Building.
Here we r...we rock the Empire State building!

My travel mates

Nothing can stop a shopaholic like me from checking out the world's largest store "Macy's"
Catching subway back to the hostel at Penn Station.

We go to Central Park for the last evening in NY

We walk to Warner's Building.
Carmen, Morten, Mark and I decide to go to Vietnamese restaurant for dinner
We end our night at two local pubs.

Year end conference -- Free day 23.07.07

2007-07-29T10:04:00.000-06:00

We went to a park in Waterloo and did some shopping in the afternoon on our free day.

Start with German monkeys - Jakob and Rudolf
Beer or wine???
Enjoying my hot chocolate ^^

We take a break from packing for some photo

Ready to go!
Me and Juan
WIth my brother, Arsanous
Ivep baby-- Canadian coordinator, Isabella's son
Me in the park

Year end conference-- International worship night 22.07.07

2007-07-29T09:51:00.000-06:00

Year end conference
Waterloo, Ontario Nqoba (South Africa), me and Arsanous (Egypt)
Stephanie (Indonesaid), Daden (Cambodia), Betirce (Indonesia)
Juan Carlos (Guatemala)
Rose and Nestar (Uganda)
Leonardo (Hondurus), me and Juan

Rebekka (Germany)
Do I look good? I was MC for the program ^^
Eun-Kyung (Korea)
Rafael and Sheila (Brazil)

Niagara Falls 21.07.07

2007-07-29T09:37:00.000-06:00

Niagara Falls

It was a good outing for us Ivepers. We went to the famous Niagara Falls ^^
Ploy, Sontaya, me, Iwan and Juan Carlos

My photographer is posing

Thai Ivepers
Canadian beer ^^

I'm lovin my life ^^

Stampede Parade

2007-07-11T18:56:00.001-06:00

Some pics from the Stampede parade

This year you can see a lot of pink in the Stampede cus there is support breast cancer campaign. Pictures say thousand words. Enjoy the pics!

Calgary Stampede -- Stampede Ground

2007-07-11T00:29:00.000-06:00

Besides the extravaganza Stampede parade, there is another important place to check out and it is Stampede Ground. From downtown, take Somerset train (South train) to Victoria Park/Stampede station or Erlton/Stampede station. There are a lot of exhibitions and shows here. It's a big fair. I saw the grandstand show in Thrusday evening and rodeo on Saturday.

Also in downtown area, there are some activities going on too, such as, free bucky ride, square dancing, free breakfast, concert, exhibitions and ect. Erlton entry

The Grandstand show
Waiting for the bucky ride ticket

Free pancake breakfast

On the bucky

Square dancing
Rodeo ground

me

My friend, Ozcan

Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC 30.6-2.7.2007

2007-07-04T15:43:00.000-06:00

Nanaimo Camping Weekend

I spent Canada Day long weekend in my most favorite city in Canada, Vancouver, BC. I went camping in a small city, Nanaimo on Vancouver Island with Manuel from Vancouver. We took ferry from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver.
Boarding the ferryWe decided to spent 1.40 hrs ride on the sun deck to get some tan :)

Manuel got fainted becus of the sun. hahaha... j/k. He just took a nap.
We missed the bus to Nanaimo downtown, so we decided to walk and catch another bus there.
But we eventually ended up walking all the way from the ferry to campsite. It was "only" about 8 km. with backpack. The campsite was quite packed. We brought our cooking supplies and went down to the river to cook and eat.
After the meal, we watched the sweet sunset here.

Next morning, it was Canada Day. We planned a hiking and beach trip to New Castle Island. We took a ferry from here where there was a celebration.
I got a maple leaf tattoo on my cheek. I was so Canadian today.

We wandered around a bit in the fair.
We took a small boat to New Castle Island.
We hiked around in a loop on the island.

This is our hiking map.

We stopped for lunch and sunbathing.

Canadian spirit
The beach was ok. We went swimming here. The weather was nice but the water was still cold.

We had BBQ dinner with a nice couple, Debby and Steward.
Sunset from our campsite
We left Nanaimo around noon on Monday.
Heading back to Vancouver. It was quite windy.
We ended the day at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver. The view of the mountain and buildings in this pic is West Vancouver.

It was another nice trip I had in the most beautiful and best place on earth. As I said before, I am in love with Vancouver!

See you in my next trip, New York City!

Party Time

2007-06-24T23:50:00.001-06:00

Wow.... Such a life I'm having....Party time!!

I had two parties today! We had a birthday party here at our house for Elena's aunt and I had another party with people from my choir group from church. Good food. Good time!

Peter, me and Dililia, the birthday lady. I was a chef today!
Elena and me. I gave her that brown necklace.Isn't she cute?
The girls were performing Spanish dance.

And this was my second party of the day, here I was at Carla's place. She is the choir leader at my church. We were almost full by those yummy munchies!This is my friend Lindsay, Carla's daughter. She hates being photographed. Do you believe that I am 10 years older than her :)
We had good burgers....
Me and little Lauren, Lindsay's sister.

Lindsay, me and Lauren

Yummy dessert!! The white thing on top is mashmello which were melting on the warm soft brownies....ummm.....
Carla's husband, Doug, was having beer with Bruce.
I like this cool glass so I had to get a pic with it. I didn't drink any beer, ok?
Cheers!!
We saw a big rainbow today too. It rained before the party.
We went for a short walk after the meal.

Lindsay and Lauren

After the meal, Lindsay, Lauren and I went to the basement to play some game. We played this fun dancing game and thought that it would be cool to get our lovely "seniors" to try this. As u see, Bruce was enjoying the game. I think he gonna get this game this week. hahaha...

Malaysian Night

2007-06-24T23:38:00.000-06:00

Saturday 23, 2007

My Malaysian student invited me to Malaysian Night. It reminded me of the time I traveled to Malaysia. Wow the food was so good and they had cultural shows. I had pretty good time :) Me ready for the night!
Beef Rendang and Chicken Satay
This show is from Melaka

Glenblow Museum, Calgary

2007-06-23T22:39:00.000-06:00

Volunteer appreciation at Glenbow Museum

I was invited to Asian Herritage Month volunteer appreciation at a world class museum "Glenbow" museum. We had special tour in Asian section by an informative curator and after that I walked around to see other parts of the museum. Pretty neat and awesome! There are two big emersions in Calgary in these days ; oil and aviation.
This is the display of the time when Canada was still in the British commonwealth. Women spoke up and fought for their rights.
Mavericks -- Calgary Stamepede

This was what we did in our party .... haaaa....

I was on a train :) Canadian Pacific Railway
Taking notes on the train
A shop sample from the fur trade period

My farewell party from my host

2007-06-17T22:46:00.000-06:00

June 16, 2007

My host threw me a farewell party and we also celebrated Father's day too. My host relatives came and also some friends of mine. Rafael and Maria (My host mom's sister) will throw me a party at their house on July 11..yeah!!! If u wanna join, please let me know :p After the party, I went with Rafael and Maria to a ballroom dance class and after that we headed to Gabriel's house (My host mom's brother) for another party which was cool! We danced!!! I was a dancing queen!! hehehe... I managed to make my German friend, Rebekka, dance too...quite a surprise :) Too bad i didn't take my camera with me :( Maria tried to teach me Spanish dance... but hehehe...I ended up dancing my way...but still sexy!!! :p Me and Yali, mixing salad
Elena was marinating the ribs.

We were dancing and enjoying the music given by talented Rafael.
Rebekka was enjoying her food.
Me and my Thai friend, P' Jib and her mom

Yali with her musical talent and her grandma, Elena
Me Little Miss Sunshine in the backyard
Me and Verona from BC (My host dad's sister) and grandma Mary

I'm a rich girl

2007-06-11T22:38:00.000-06:00

A simple dress

It's not the best

But it doesn't matter

Cus I'm a rich girl

I don't have cars

I'm not a star

But I got it cover

Yeah I'm a rich girl

I don't have much

But I still have all your love

And for me

That's enough

When it rains

I feel no pain

It doesn't matter

Cus I'm a rich girl

And when it pours

I feel secure

Cus you got me cover

I'm a rich girl

I don't have much

But I still have all you love

And for me....That's enough....

...I'm a rich girl...

Rocky Mountains roadtrip 03-04.06.07- Day ii : Sulphur Mountain, Columbia Icefield, Lake Louise

2007-06-05T11:16:00.000-06:00

Day 2:
We went up to the Sulphur Mountain in the morning by Banff Gondola.It was my second time to go up to the Sulphur Mountain. View from the top
Exercise on the way to the Cosmic Ray Station

Canadian Rockies and me

Cosmic Ray Station

I am going to ride u, Ice Explorer!
We left Banff around 11.30. We were lucky to see some deer.
The road to the Columbia Icefield (Icefield Parkway) is said to be one of the most beautiful roads in the world.
You will see beautiful Rockies, lakes, icefields along the way.
I was speechless When I was there. It was just stunning and breath-taking scenery.

We entered Jasper and left Banff behind.
Here we are at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper.
My ticket to explore the icefield and Anthabasca glacier.

The snow and ice are melting. The Columbia Icefield is located on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks. One of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle, it covers an area of nearly 325 square kilometres. The continuous accumulation of snow feeds eight major glaciers including the Athabasca, Dome, and Stutfield Glaciers, all visible from the Icefields Parkway. The Columbia Icefield is a true "hydrological apex," for its meltwater feeds streams and rivers that pour into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. I am standing on the glacier.

A little waterfall. I got some water from this falls too, very refreshing.
Beautiful sunshine from the glacier.

And this is my ride to the glacier.
We left the icefield and started driving back to Calgary.
Isn't it beautiful?

Photo stop

I'm always happy to be back here, the beautiful Lake Louise.

The snow alrady melted and I couldn't help going into the cold refreshing water in the lake.

Fairmont Hotel Lake Louise
Sweet view of the lake.
Wow... I can't believe that I would get to travel a lot like this. And the places I have gone to are just WOW and spectacular. Thanks!

Rocky Mountains roadtrip 03-04.06.07- Day i :Canmore and Banff

2007-06-05T10:28:00.000-06:00

Another roadtrip with Thai friends in Calgary.
After being left jealous by a crazy German friend from Vancouver who had a roadtrip to Alberta last year, I had hoped that I could make it happen too. And the time came when my Thai friend asked me to join the roadtrip to the Columbia Icefield. We left Calgary on Sunday afternoon and stayed one night in Banff. This gave me an opportunity to explore a cute tiny town banff in details. I have been to Banff several times but always were in rush. Photo stop at Deadman's Flat Lake just little further from the exit to Kananaskis
We stopped in Canmore for a short excursion.

This very tiny town Canmore is located in the Three Sisters Mountain.
We headed to banff and checked out this Canadian Historic Site, Cave and Basin.

After that we stopped at a horse farm.
I just got their... bums.... hahahaha... sexy back!
The first nation museum
Canada Place in Banff
My trip mates; P' Ning and P' Pam

Walking on the Bow River at the Bow Falls
The Bow river
Bow Falls

Downtown Banff
Too bad that there is a construction going on in Banff now.
Nothing could stop me from visiting this famous and a must-place Fudgery!!
Downtown Banff

Asian Night Market: Imagine Asian 2007

2007-06-05T09:34:00.000-06:00

I volunteered to help in a biggest Asian event of a year in Calgary, Asian Night Market. This event took place at Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary on Saturday,June 2. We worked hard and played hard :) Let's browse some photos here! Chinese Lanterns
I did carry and set up these dragon boats in teh water! I was totally wet :p
After the hard work... me with the dragon boat.

The pool in front of the City Hall. Many people came out and relaxed on that day. it was a sunny beautiful day.

Filipino performance
I was in the water taking picture :) U can see the Calgary Tower.
Anotehr volunteer, Vince, he had a hard time with kids. Those kids wanted to make us wet!
Me and Chinese performers
With my good friend, Adrielle Soriano.

Something that you might not know about me

2007-06-01T08:46:00.000-06:00

Q: What is your name given at birth?
A: Supa-arpha Itthikaiwan ศุภอาภา อิทธิไกวัล
Q: If you had to change your first name right now, what name would you choose for yourself?
A: Angelina Jolie Pitt Aniston Jessica Lisa Marie Bella Oh la la the Great
Q: How old are you?
A: 24
Q: What is your hometown/town of birth?
A: Bangkok
Q: Where do you currently reside
A: Calgary
Q: What do you do?
A: Part-time volunteer and full-time traveller
Q: What is your hair color?
A: Dark brown with blonde streaks
Q: Have you loved somebody so much it made you cry?
A: Yes
Q: Of all of the books you were assigned to read when you were in school, what are your favorites?
A: Tuesdays with Morrie
Q: If you could have any kind of a job in the entertainment industry, what do you think you would do best?
A: Model
Q: Have you ever had a pet that was not a cat or dog? What was it?
A: Rabbit, fish and mosquitos
Q: What was the last song you sang when no one else was around?
A: O Canada
Q: What are 3 of your favorite TV shows?
A:American Idols, American Favorite VDO, amazing race
Q: Who or what kind of person do you want to spend your life with?
A: Umm...I man whom I feel that can't live without.
Q: Where and what would you rather be doing right now?
A: At work and of course, i'm supposed to be working!
Q: What is your favorite kind of music?
A: hip-hop, r&b
Q: Croutons or bacon bits?
A: bacon bits
Q: What are your favorite sports to watch
A: ice-hockey
Q: What is your preferred ice cream
A: chocolate chips
Q: Which single store would you choose to max out your credit cards?
A: Clinique
Q: What do you do most often when you are bored?
A: Check out Facebook :p
Q: Name the person you are friends with that lives the farthest away?
A: My friends in Bangkok, probably
Q: Last movie you saw in theater?
A: That was long time ago, i think it was ghost rider.
Q: If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
A: Magenta
Q: Where do you want to go on your honeymoon?
A: Santorini, Greece
Q: What's your favorite sport and/or hobby?
A: swimming/hikingl/shopping
Q: What scares you?
A: Wierd guys, cockroaches,height
Q: What is the best day of the year?
A: Too many to pick up just one
Q: Do you like to dance?
A: Yes.
Q: Have you ever been in love? Are you now? If not, do you want to be?
A: Yes....and yes...I am in love all the time. I am in love with my beauty!! hahaha... and yes..
Q: Hugs or Kisses?
A: Both.
Q: Where would you like to retire?
A: Anywhere with my loved one.
Q: What's your favorite flower?
A: Roses, Tulips
Q: Have you ever gone skinny dipping? If yes, when, where and with whom?
A: Yes. When i was in about grade 7 or 8, in my granpa's pool, with my best friend, May Pawana.
Q: When and who was your first kiss?
A: I've never been kissed! heheheh...Well..ok... that was long time ago, with a guy called Brat Pitt.
Q: And when and who was your last kiss?
A: Umm...why do i have to tell u??? Ok alright, his name is Justin Timberlake.
Q: What is a personality trait in others that really irritates you?
A: Rudeness, fakeness

Human Rights in Alberta

2007-05-30T10:50:00.000-06:00

In Alberta it is against the law to discriminate against anyone in the following areas of activity:

Employment
Employment applications or advertisements
Goods, services, accommodation or facilities customarily available to the public (for example, restaurants, stores, hotels, or provincial government services)
Tenancy (residential or commercial rentals)
Public statements, publications, notices, signs, symbols, emblems, or other representations
Membership in trade unions, employers’ organizations or occupational associations
Equal pay

Albertans are protected from discrimination on the grounds of:

Race or colour
Gender, including pregnancy
Religion, including native spirituality
Ancestry
Where you were born
Age (except in tenancy and services)
Physical disability
Mental disability
Family status (who you are related to by blood, marriage or adoption)
Marital status
Source of income
Sexual orientation

Source: Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission

You know you are Thai when...

2007-05-28T16:42:00.000-06:00

- You know that thai food exists beyond phad thai, green curry, and tom yum goong. you probably don't even consider anything served in oversea restaurants "thai" anyhow
- Forget dollar menus. you know the true value of a dollar (34 (CAD)/37 (US)Baht) and how far it could take you (and your stomach)
- Mama (instant noodle) fuels your soul.
- You're mad chill but you still say "mai pen rai" (It's ok.). See how polite we are....
- Nothing beats a hardcore session of back-cracking thai massage when your tired
- Your very long last name or your nickname (in english) tend to amaze people
- You don't mind drinking pop out of a plastic bag
- You watch "Lakorn" (soap), despite how predictable they are. slap that bitch, slap her.. slap her...
- You bargain even if it's already dirt cheap, you still bargain for the sake of it.
- You love the king and can't stand if somebody insults him. You have to defend!
- In April, you look forward to Songkran (Thai New Year- Water Festival) - but NOT the heat.
- You look for the 4-round "krueng prung" on the table. you need your extra dose of chili/sugar/vinegar/fish sauce to spice up your life

- Even though you don't want to admit it,

you know that she-boys could put real girls to shame.
- For some reason you know that Tiger Woods is part thai.
- You're sick of people asking you why you're not dark, and "thai? thai-wan?"
- You know the capital of thailand ain't bangkok. It's Krungtep. Krungtep mahanakorn amornratanakosin mahintaramahadirok noparatrachatani burirom udomrachaniwet mahasatarn umorn vimarn aowatarnsatit.
- You know that nobody uses Salung or 50 satang coins. They're useless. Nobody wants them - not even the ko tarns (beggar)....
- ... and it drives you crazy when some random cashier actually asks u for it ("12 baht 50 satang ka")
- You use 555 in chat instead of LOL.
- You buy food from street vendors even people say it's not clean.

- You love wearing flipflops. You wear them in any occasion.

And....

- When somebody takes your picture, for some reasons, you always end up with the V sign :p

V with Leo (Honduras)
V with Iwan (Indonesia)
Ploy and Sontaya (Thailand) and Vs
Thai cuties and German Rudolf with his V :)
Rose (Uganda) and my V
V with Manuel
Super V at Camp Squeah
V with one of my close friends, Tong

Cray V with Dima
V waiting for the flight to Saskatoon
My V and Dima's After square dance, V with Sim Sim and Rebekka

V with Manuel in Vancouver downtown

Women are persons!

2007-05-27T23:58:00.000-06:00

Weekend of 27-28.05-07

This week I have learned and heard a lot of stories of African women who are treated cruelly and unfair. Some conversations I had with some people I met made me feel so desperate and sorry for the things that those women have experienced. Why don't some men treat women fairly and respectfully? In some cultures, women are treated so differently from men and many women are abused and suffer. When will this idea vanish from the society?

I visited the Famous Five Ladies statue and I learned how hard they tried to get the equal rights for women. I am so graceful of what they did in the past. I also met some women are are infected HIV from their husbands. I felt so sorry and sad to hear these stories. One guy knew he was HIV positive but he didn't even tell his wife, not even a word of sorry.

Apart from sad stories, we had a lovely weekend in Calgary. Snow had gone and sunshine came. U will see from my pics. It is so beautiful. My time in Canada has almost come to an end. Soon I will be going home. I don't know how my life gonna be when I'm back home. I think I have changed a lot. There are also many things I wanna do and friends I wanna spend time with. Good things and happiness always come at the end. But I feel that I am so blessed to have experienced things and met people here.

Me and sweet Levi

Uh lala... Gelato in Kensington
BBQ dinner at Abe's house
Executive Director of MCC Alberta, Abe Janzen

Canada's national animal, beaver

Eau Clair

The Bow River

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta: 20-21.05.07 Day I

2007-05-25T22:04:00.000-06:00

West Edmonton Mall: The Greatest Indoor Show on Earth

Finally we managed to visit Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta. Thanks to Rebekka's host for giving us a ride. We got two Ivepers in Edmonton, Rose and Godfrey.

It took us about three hours to drive from Calgary.
If you come to Edmonton and don't visit West Edmonton Mall, that means you haven't reached Edmonton yet. It is the biggest mall in Canada and one of the top ten largest malls in the world.
I am Asian so I gotta visit Chinatown for sure.
Pirates of the Caribbean theme
My German friend requested to visit Europa Blvd. Yeah cus she is European!
Feel like Christmas? We just went there last week, not last Christmas. The Mall has set for a Christmas movie.

After visiting the mall, we went for dinner at Chinese resturant. It was quite interesting cus Rebekka and her host used chopsticks to eat while I just used forks. Hahaha... They said they used the chopsticks because of me! This is kind of stereotype among Western people that we always use chopsticks with all the food. Well, so I started using chopsticks for them :p I recognised that I was the only Asian in the resturant.
Rebekka's host
After dinner, we came home to rest. We stayed with Rose. This pic, Rebekka was meditating!
We watched this movie, Little Miss Sunshine.
Three cute girls; me, Rose and Rebekka. PJ party :)

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta: 20-21.05.07 Day II

2007-05-25T20:14:00.000-06:00

Edmonton, AB 20-21.05.07

Today I acted as a guide showing Rebekka, Rose and Godfrey around Edmonton :) Yeah I said Rose and Godfrey!!!

Four Ivepers in Alberta: Rebekka (Germany), Godfrey (Uganda), me (Thailand) and Rose (Uganda)
We decided to get a day pass for unlimited ride.

Rebekka was helping Godfrey with his day pass. I have no idea why Rebekka looks so serious :p
Me on the bus
After the bus, we took a train downtown
Rebekka, Rose and Godfrey at City Hall
Edmonton City Hall

I love it here that they got a nice pool right in front of the City Hall

I saw this guy and I thought I gotta kiss him :p
Churchill Square

It was an interesting day cus we were on TV! The guy from Edmonton Glabal network interviewed us LIVE!
Acting like a reporter :p

View of the Saskatchewan River

I love walking in a nice city. It was pretty quiet today. Most shops were closed cus it was Victoria's Day.

At the Legislature Building. The building is the heart of Alberta's democratic system.
Me and Rebekka

Inside the building. These flag are real since the Wolrd War I & II. They won't be removed until they naturally fall to the ground.
Inside the Chamber. Those flags are all Canadian provincial flags.
Those Palm trees were given by State of California. They represent friendship between Alberta abd California.
The Grand Staircase leads to the Chamber
In front of the Legislature Building. The construction of the building lasted from 1907 until the official opening in 1912. Materials for the exterior included granite from Vancouver Island and sandstone quarried near Calgary and Ohio, while marble from Quebec and Pennsylvania was used for the interior.

The building is a landmark of Edmonton, the capital city of Alberta.
After the tour at the Legislature Buidling, we checked out University of Alberta. This is me at the Faculty of Dentistry and Pharmacy.
We came home for dinner. Thanks to Wendy, Rose's host who hosted us :)

You know you live in Thailand when...

2007-05-25T12:05:00.000-06:00

- Splashing out $3 for a meal is extravagant. In fact, you can get a big bowl of hot noodle soup for $1.
- A weekend on a tropical island is only a few hours away.
- $20 per night is a reasonable price for a double room with en-suite bathroom (basic as it may be).
- Everyone you know owns at least one yellow shirt.
- In the morning, you don't need to stick your head outside to decide what to wear. You don't even need look out the window to decide what to wear. In fact, you don't need to wake up to decide what to wear.
- You're beginning to understand the notion of “Thai time”, meaning don't expect anything to be done by the time you expect it.
- You have fried rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and there's nothing odd about that.
- You debate whether $10 is too much to pay for hair cut.
- Playing “spot the ladyboy” is a fun way to pass time in school.
- When you see other farangs (white forigners) in your neighbourhood you assume they're either teachers or lost (applies particularly when your neighbourhood is Nonthaburi).
- You feel superior to backpackers.
- You catch yourself saying “My birthday five December, same-same like King”. And in fact generally speaking in a Thai accent.
- Seeing a family of four and their dog all piled on a motorbike doesn't surprise you.
- You do your shopping in a market (Ta-Lad), not Market Mall or Marks & Spencer.
- You have seriously adjusted your notion of what constitutes "really good English"
- You understand why 555 is the new LOL.

My best friend's wedding

2007-05-24T23:29:00.001-06:00

Aug 19, 2007 is my best friend's wedding. I am asked to be the only bride's mate or maid of honour if you would call. Now I am thinking so hard what to wear for the wedding ceremony in the morning and the reception in the evening. They will have Chinese ceremony and the reception will be something grand... I guess. I don't know if it's worth to buy dresses from here since I got so many things to bring back home, but I'm afraid I won't have enough time to tailor my dresses when I'm back to Thailand. Umm...I went to the mall and looked around and found this cute dress. Do u think I should get this dress?

I am thinking of getting married too. You all are invited to my wedding. Do not bring any gift, just bring a guy to marry me :p

Another crazy thing:

Yesterday was a crazy day. I woke up in the morning and found that everything was white! We got snow in May here in Calgary. Geeessss.... Ok let's see the proof. I took these pictures yesterday.

Portland Roadtrip 10-14.05.07 Day I

2007-05-20T11:37:00.000-06:00

May 10, 2007

I got a chance to do another USA roadtrip again with another MCC volunteer, Manuel from Germany. He is presently working at a thrift store in Vancouver, BC. I still have no idea how he ended up traveling with me but I remember asking him about a bus from Vancouver to Portland and then he invited himself to join my trip :p hehehe... Our destination for this trip was Portland, Oregon. We planned to drive to Seattle, Washington and then headed to the Pacific West Coast. Our plan was to spend the first night on the west coast in Washington and second night in Oregon.
I flew from Calgary, Alberta the Wild Rose Country early in the morning, leaving the Rocky Mountains behind.
At Vancouver Int'l Airport at 6.25 am.
These were all my luggages. Now waiting for Manuel to pick me up.
Here you can see Manuel, my travel partner. Look at his face! Hehehe... sorry Doenner, this is my turn to revenge after u posted my tongue-out pic from camp Squeah :p We rented a car in Vancouver. The first car gave us some delay and trouble becus the parking brake was stucked. We thought we did something wrong and tried to find the way to release the brake. My driver had to study the car manual :p After trying every way, we decided to call the car rental company and they brought a a new car.
Now we were at Peach Arch Park. We crossed the border here. It took us an hour to get through everything.We were lil bit bored so we started taking some pics. My driver was trying to get an artistic picture of himself.
Food and me..umm...good match :p

Got the documents ready
And now we arrived in Seattle, WA.

Seattle, like Rome, is built on seven hills. As a visitor, you're likely to spend much of your time on only two of them.
We parked the car and went sightseeing by walking around the city.
At the water front

Farmers' Market
Fish!

The first Starbucks is here in Seattle.

This is my favorite pic.
After spending few hours in Seattle, we hit the road and headed west to the Pacific.
Finally we arrived the west coast, Aberdeen. Many names in the west are adjacent to names of cities in the UK.
We checked out New Port but we didn't like this place. So we headed to Grayland.
We camped at Grayland State Park. We were quite hungry and tired. So we just made chinese noodle soup for dinner.

Portland Roadtrip 10-14.05.07 Day II

2007-05-20T10:03:00.000-06:00

May 11, 2007

We did a crazy thing today which I can cross out from my to-do list, we swam in the Pacific Ocean. It was a windy and chilly day. People at the beach wore parka and wind breakers. But we...were...crazy... This is the beach where we stayed and this very ocean that we swam.
The walk way to the beach from the campsite
Manuel started the day by going running along the beach while I started my day by saying good morning to him and going back to sleep.
Our breakfast
Ready to hit the road again.
Photo stop at a small town that is a big producer of oysters. I saw UPS truck at the oyster storage buidling and I told Manuel that they shipped the oysters by UPS but he didn't believe so.

Driving again. Next destination, Longbeach, WA
Long Beach is 1 mile north of the US highway 101 junction at Seaview on State Route 103.
Long Beach is a resort community with an abundance of travel accomodations and access to its namesake beach, which city fathers have proclaimed the "world's longest beach."
We left Long Beach after wandering along the beach on a windy day. Now we were crossing the most prominent landmark in the area, the graceful Astoria Bridge. Astoria is America's oldest West Coast city. It is situated on the Columbia River, the river that is second in size only to the Missisippi. Welcome to Oregon!

The Astoria Bridge is also known as the Astoria-Megler Bridge. It was built by Oregon and Washington states in the early 1960s to span the Columbia and join the two states. It's the world's largest continuous-truss bridge, overall lenght of 4.1 miles.

Lunch time!!! Fish and chips.
We had lunch at the water front.
View from the US navy museum. You can see the Astoria Bridge from here too.
We started driving along the gorgeous and picturesque west coast.
Photo stop. I believe I can fly....I believe I can touch the sky :p

The background is Nehalem beach where we spent the seond night.
We wanted to drive further down but we fell in love with Nehalem beach which we saw from the driving way on the mountain. We stayed at Nehalem Bay State Park
Nehalem Beach in late afternoon.

After checking out the beach, we agreed to cook and have dinner before we headed back to the beach for the sunset.

This is one of my fav pics. Manuel got this shot when I was concentrating on opening the can. We had meat ball pasta. The meatball tasted like dog's food, though we finished it all and really enjoyed the meal. hahaha... I asked Manuel if he tried this before and the answer was no! He got it from the thrift store where he works. Somebody donated it :p

We headed back to the beach to catch the last sun ray of the day. Sunset at the Pacific west coast. That was sweet and awesome!

Portland Roadtrip 10-14.05.07 Day III

2007-05-19T21:12:00.000-06:00

May 12, 2007

Today we didn't plan anything much. We plan to arrive Portland about noon to spend time with my family there. Our main purpiose of this trip was there, celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday. We said goodbye to the picturesque ocean scene at Tillamook highway 101.
After highway 101, we took highway 6 to Portland.
Driving through the mountains and forest.
The mounatinous scene welcomed us with a friendly drive way. I kinda missed the ocean scene :(
And now we were in Portland. The roads and the map we got were quite good but we got lil problem finding my aunt's house. My driver wrote the wrong name of the street :) Instead of "Stanton", he wrote down "Newton" but finally we found the house. My driver was pretty good :)
We had a special service for my grandma and after that it was a party time. Friends and family came to witness the celebration of my healthy grandma's 80th birthday.
Me and my aunt from Stockton, CA who did the road trip with me in January. Please check out my old blogs about my USA roadtrip.
Me and grandma Petch who lives in San Francisco and did the sightseeing tour with me when I visited SF in January. Please check out my old blog :)
Me and Grandma Gabgaew who joined my USA roadtrip in January. She lives with her daughter, Aunt Tuanjai, in Portland. Grandma Gab is superb. She traveled with me on my roadtrip all the way in three states; Nevada, Arizona and California.

Blissful time....Thai food. I called my grandma to order some special Thai food, especially the exotic northern style noodle soup (Ka Nom Jeen Nam Ngiaw) which you can never find in any resturant in North America.
Manuel enjoyed and loved all Thai food even though it was spicy but he had no problem at all. He ATE everything like I did. Actually, I got the number of the nearest hospital in case he got sick but it never happened. Hahaha... Man, you are amazing!
Cake!!! Make a wish :)
After the party, Manuel and I went downtown to see nightlife and classic buildings. We got some tips from a couple we met in the party. But we still got lost and had no idea where to go. So we had to walk back to the car to consult the map and guide book :p Sorry Manuel, I can't lie that we got lost :p Hehehe...
The Waterfront Park by the Williammette River at night

Portland Roadtrip 10-14.05.07 Day IV

2007-05-19T15:56:00.000-06:00

May 13, 2007

We visited Bonneville Dam in the morning. This dam is on the Columbia River which devides Washington and Oregon. The Dam is a big power source and has a fish hatchery.

Fish ladder
They were huge! We badly thought of Dimitri when we were here.Bonneville Dam Flowers blossom at Bonneville Dam We drove along The Columbia River on highway 84.
This is our car, Beautiful British Columbia license plate in Oregon :)

We came home for lunch. Manuel seemed to enjoy all the Thai food we had. He is amazing "Farang" (White foreigner).
Manuel, my grandma and me
My relatives. We are family.

Top row: Uncle Prachan, Aunt Tuanjai, Aunt Gaysinee, Grandma Gabgaew, Grandma Petch and me

Bottom row: Uncle Romeo, P' Bo and her husband P' PhilNew Harvest Baptist Church. We went to church in the afternoon. My uncle is a pastor here.
We headed downtown after church.

We drove around and got lost few times cus the road names confused us. I think we know Porland very well now :p

A good navigator like me still needs a guide book :p

Portland Downton
At the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park

Sunny day
Roses were not blossomed yet when we were there.
We explored downtown by following the walking guide in the guide book.

" In the long history of humanity, the most precious spark is that of individual freedom - Governer Charles A. Sprague"

The First Congregational Church
Pioneer Square
We were here last night too but it was raining and dark.

The Water Front Park
We had been walking for more than an hour. So we just stoped at the Water Front Park to rest.
Smell the grass and feel the earth
Water Front Park on the Williamette River. This river devides Portland into two sides, East and West. We just found out the system on the last day after we got lost for few times :p
I was so tired to read the walking guide, so I let Manuel do the job.

Chinatown. It's my personal desire that I have to visit chinatown in every city I go.
World Trade Centre with welcome signs in different languages, including German. Manuel teased me that they didn't have Thai sign!!!

Nob Hill, a cool chic place to hang out. It's on 23rd Ave. but people call it "Trendy Third Ave." I told Manuel since the first day we arrived Portland that I wanted to check this place out but we couldnt find it cus Manuel was trying to look for 21st Ave. in stead of 23rd Ave.
Portland at night from Mount Tabor
It is said that Mount Tabor is the best place in Portland to watch the sunset.