Bangkok for New Years

I have been using this app called Day One to journal.  I have been enjoying it and love that I can add pictures.  It has also felt more convenient than writing in a paper journal.  I really love having a written journal though.  There is something so personal about writing things out and having tangible journals.  Each journal I have goes with a different phase of life.  When I look at the journals on my bookshelf I know which ones I filled in college, which ones follows my life while dating and getting engaged, I know which cover to look for if I want to look back on the first years of being married. I know which book chronicles my adventures of living abroad.  I really, really love that.  And I don't want to move entirely away from that, but I also feel like it has been so nice to do it electronically.  It's secure and backed up, I can add pictures and I feel like I have been writing more.  It's also noce because I can copy and paste parts of what I have written to letters to my family and here to this blog.  So today's catch up post is from my journal.  I hope it's not too detailed for you.  I'm also sorry that it's a month old.  And with that being said here we go...

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I was off from school for two weeks.  Half of the time we stuck around Phichit and were lazy.

Halfway through the vacation we decided to go to Bangkok with Ton, Tang and Ake.  We got to travel down there for free with them and have a free place to stay.  Plus we got out from Phichit and had a little change (which is good for me).  Tang and Ake were going to IKEA to get a bunch of stuff for the new school  and I love IKEA!

We left the school around 3:45 on Friday. We went to the garden home and then finally got on our way around 4:30!  We stopped about halfway to Bangkok and had Thai food for dinner. I tried some fried, crispy baby fish (that was cooked with the little bones inside). I also had some of an omelet (that I think also had fish, because I got a bone). I didn't care for those very much. I really liked the cashew chicken, fried rice and broccoli.

Once we got to Bangkok we dropped Tang, Ake and Flynn off at Ake's parent's. Ton, Tanner and I headed to the other home.  I went to sleep shortly after we got home. I didn't even stay up to ring in the New Year. I was in bed by 11:00!

New Year's day Tanner and Ton went to JJ market and to run errands. I went with Ake and Tang to IKEA! I love that place so so much and it did not disappoint! We were seriously there for about 8 hours. They got a bunch of stuff for the new school and their apartment by the new school.

We took a break for a late lunch and dessert.  It was a day filled with really great food. Lunch at this Italian restaurant was divine. I shared a chicken Caesar salad with Tang and Ake. Then I had French onion soup. And then I had a ham and mushroom pizza. Yum! I also tried the ribs and duck liver spread that they got.

After You is this really cute, delicious dessert place. Tang raved about it and she was right to do so! I got toffee toast. It was a 4 inch tall piece of toast with delicious toppings and two little scoops of ice cream. Tang got the strawberry crumble and Ake got a skookie (skillet cookie). The crumble and cookie came in these super tiny cast iron pans that were only 2 ½ or 3 inches across.

After stuffing ourselves we went back to IKEA. When Tanner and Ton finished with their stuff they joined us. Tanner and I looked at some rooms and got some ideas for our home/apartment.  I love that in IKEA when you get tired there are so many places to sit or lay down and rest. I found one bed that I was especially fond of.


After dinner at Carl's Jr. we took a couple pictures in front of a HUGE Christmas tree. When Christmas is over I like to take the decorations down and move on. I love Christmas and live in every moment and soak everything up! But the when it's over I like to clean up and put decorations away quickly. Tanner has started calling me the “after Christmas grinch”. Haha.

Saturday we watched Kung Fu Panda when we first woke up. We slept in, but that's a good part of vacation .
We went to 7-11 with Ton for breakfast and for him to buy some offerings for the monks.  Thai people like to give offerings at the very beginning of the year. It's supposed to bring luck for the rest of the year. Tanner and I went with him to the temple with Ton. He went inside to give his offering and pray. We watched from outside, through the window. The monk prayed and sprinkled them with water to “drive away the bad things” as Ton told us afterwards.


That afternoon we went to Siam Paragon. It's the biggest shopping mall in south east Asia. It was really huge! It was extra crowded because so many people were on holiday.

We parked at the BTS station and took the BTS to the mall. The parking lot at the station was so full!!! People parked behind the spots in rows. I asked how the people in the spots got out. They said everyone leaves their cars in neutral and they just push the cars out of the way!

We separated from Ton for dinner. He got Japanese food and Tanner and I got Subway sandwiches. They were Thai good. (I feel like that phrase has become a staple in my vocabulary!  Haha!)

Ton thought we might go to the aquarium. But the line was REALLLLLLLLLY long. And it was only 450 baht for Thai people and 950 for foreigners. So then we thought maybe he would go and we would go to the movies. But he didn't want to wait in the line. So Tanner and I went and saw Star Wars while Ton walked around the mall and shopped a little. I bought the movie was good. I haven't seen the other movies on my adult life, but I felt like I was able to follow it and enjoy it just fine.


After the movie Tanner and I walked around a little. We went to a gourmet market store. We found quinoa! I have been wanting some and bought it even though it was way overpriced. We got some frozen yogurt which I really enjoyed. The mall has all kinds of stores. It felt like America. There were so many of the stores we have there.

Sunday we went to church in Bangkok! The taxi dropped us off a little ways from the building, but Tanner was able to connect to the Internet on his phone and help us get here (that felt like a tender mercy). We were a few minutes late, but got here just in time to sing the sacrament hymn.

It felt so nice to be in a WARD, with more than a hundred people! And it was in English! The sacrament prayer was in English and I could understand the speakers. There were families. There are young children and I forgot how nice that is. In the Phitsanulok branch there are two kids that are about 10 years old, but no young kids. There I could hear babies making noise and see parents taking little ones out. There was a young boy passing the sacrament. I could tell that he was new to it. He stood at one row for a couple minutes, looking like he didn't know what to do. I was a few rows back and knew that she had already had the sacrament. She had her eyes closed and the boy didn't know what to do. His dad got up from a few rows ahead and helped him. The dad tapped the lady and asked if she had already had the sacrament. She said yes and the dad directed his son to go get in line. It was sweet to watch. I feel like in our branch we are just lucky if we have enough brothers to be on the stand and bless and pass the sacrament. It was such a normal thing, but something I've missed out the last year and a half. Overall it just felt so great to be there!  I also really enjoyed attending Sunday school and Relief society.  I have never loved relief society, but this last Sunday I truly did!

That night I ate at a Japanese BBQ.  They bring super hot coals to the middle of your table and then you order what you want.  It was a buffet and Tang ordered for us.  She ordered one of EVERYTHING!  and we ate it all.  I was so, incredibly, uncomfortably full when we were done.

Tang stood up on the bench to get this shot!

It was a really fun trip and it was nice to get out.  Hop you all had a great New Years!  now it's time to get caught up on here now that it's already February!

Church, a Waterfall and a Massage

      Sunday the volunteers went zip lining.  I decided to pass this time around and headed to church instead.  Our hostel was close to the church so I walked there.  It was so nice to go in such a big building! 

They had the hymn books written out so you could sing in "Thai".  I thought that was neat, but I know I was NOT saying things right.

       After church I headed back to the hostel and caught up in my journal and ate some snacks.  The volunteers got back around 3:00.  At 4:00 the hostel owner came by and said that she and a friend were going to a waterfall and temple.  If we wanted to go then we could ride in the back of the truck.  We jumped at the chance and headed on an afternoon adventure.  

      We parked and waked about 10 minutes up to the waterfall.  It was beautiful, green, and lush.  A few of the girls climbed higher up, but I was content to sit a little lower and enjoy the sound and the scenery.  

      Turns out that the temple was wayyyyyyyyy up at the top of the mountain and the truck wouldn’t be able to take all of us up there.  We could rent a van to take us up there, but we decided that seeing the waterfall was enough for us.  We finished the day and the vacation with some delicious food and massages. 

      The next morning we headed back to the school.  Such a great vacation!

Sundays + Me + Bikes = Disaster

It isn’t ALWAYS bad, but I have had enough Sunday bike troubles that it feel that way.

Exhibit a:

The bike I chose to ride was having a hard time on the way to the train station.  After church, on the way home it just seemed to be worse.  The chain wasn’t moving well and when I would peddle it was hard to do and would click a lot.  The back tire was skewed and was rubbing against other parts of the bike every rotation.  To top it off,  the tires were slowly leaking.  By the time I was on half a mile from the school I was red, SO very sweaty, tired, and thirsty.  With how hard it was to ride the blasted bike I figured it would be easier to just walk with the bike.  After walking it a few steps a guy in his shop on the side of the road offered to air up the tires.  I accepted.  After airing them up he realized how many other problems the bike had.  He went about pounding and loosening and tightening things.  He instructed me to sit down.  

When I sat in the sun he immediately motioned for me to move to the shade.  I drank some cold water while he ‘worked’ on the bike.  I don’t things he really knew what he was doing.  He had some tools out, but the work he did mostly consisted of pounding different parts of the bike.  When he finished he let me know it’s be 30 baht.  I gave him 20 and was on my way.  The bike was a little easier to pedal, but still not as easy as it should have been.

Exhibit b:

The train station in across the river which means we have to ride across a bridge.  The bridge has a fairly steep ramp on both sides.  The ride down the incline is great.  The ride up is not my favorite.  I like to build up some speed beforehand and then stand up to pedal as I go up the ramp.  This particular Sunday I gained some good speed and as I was going over the 3 tiny wanna-be speed bumps my tire hit just the wrong way.  The handlebars lurched.  The bike started going toward the edge of the ramp!  I tried to correct and over corrected.  I turned back the other way.  I put my legs down.  I lost a shoe!  Somehow the tire collided with the back of my leg.  I came within an inch of rocketing off the edge of the ramp which would have sent me down 5 feet into a mess of shrubs and trees.  2 weeks later and I still have the remains of bruises on my legs.

Exhibit c:

We were at the stop light in the right turn lane.  The light turned green and we all started to go.  I pedaled once and the pedals stopped.  In the middle of the intersection I couldn’t move.  I hopped of my bike and started running with it.  Once I got out of the intersection I pulled over only to discover that the chain was off and stuck.  We all tried to pull it out to no avail.  Luckily there was a guy a few shops down who had helped us in the past.  I walked the bike over and he unscrewed lots of pieces and got it put back together.   He did it free of charge and now I try to wave every time we ride past his shop.

Church

We went to church on Sunday.  They have a Thai branch in Phitsanulok which is a 40 minute train ride away.  We had to catch the 6:50 train since the next one would get us there too late.

We left the school around 6:20 and rode out bikes to the station.  They ask us to wear helmets, so here I am on my bike with a helmet.

(I know it should be further up on my head, but my hair gets in the way... and apparently I choose looks over bicycle safety.)

We got to the station and bought our tickets around 6:40.  We got on the train really quickly, but there weren't many seats.  An old woman asked us to take her seat and so we alternated and let people take turns sitting while she stood almost on top of us.  There were a couple people walking back and forth on the train selling food.

We showed the old woman out train ticket and she told us when to get off.  Interesting fact.  It's free for natives to ride the train but foreigners have to pay.  Nobody asked for our ticket on the way there but they did check on the way back.

We didn't know exactly how to get the the church building from the train station.  Stevie had a picture of the map showing the building and the old bus station.  So when we left the train station we got a tuk-tuk and squished the 6 of us in there to ride that to the old bus station.

At the old bus station we couldn't find any street signs so we had no way to orient ourselves.  We asked a couple people but they couldn't help.  Eventually we called the sister missionaries and they told us which way to go.  It was only about a 2 block walk.

By this time it was about 8:00 and we had an hour until church started.  We took pictures by the sign out front, sang some hymns, and looked around.  The building there had the same wifi password as the buildings in the states!  One of the girls figured that out and thought that was so incredible.  Sine I had internet I decided to Skype with Tanner since I hadn't talked to him the day before.  I got to chat with him and that is always nice.  The building is part of a row of buildings.  On one side there is a restaurant and the other side looks like a business.  The building itself is 3 stories tall.

The bottom floor is big and open with a pulpit at the front and a font at the back.  There is a itty bitty bathroom under the stairs.  The second floor has the branch president's office, a few classrooms and a kitchen.  The 3rd floor has more classrooms.  Even though it was small and 3 stories, it felt a lot like the churches at home.  There was artwork and hymn books and lots of white shirts and ties!  I did a quick count and there were between 60 and 70 people there.  The missionaries said that since Pitsanulok is a college town the numbers fluctuate a lot.  They said since our group was there (6 of us and 2 from the school in that town) it was the highest the attendance has been since January.

We got headsets and one of the missionaries translated for us.  He was nervous about it because he said he only had a 30% comprehension of the language, but he did a good job.

They took us upstairs to the young single adult Sunday school class.  I know that I'm not single (or very young) anymore, but 2 missionaries were going to translate for that class and it seemed like the easiest choice.  One of the Elders is from Mesa, AZ too!  I don't know the kid and he lives further east that I do, but it was comforting to have a connection like that.

Relief society was back down stairs and I was glad I had the manual to read in English because they missionaries said the teacher was hard to translate for.  Apparently she goes off on lots of tangents, says things more than once, and speaks 'old Thai'.  So I mostly read the lesson in English.

After the block they had 4 baptisms!  We got to stay for those.  They had us all go outside and take pictures before the baptisms.  The last two baptisms were done by someone who has received the priesthood the week before and was performing baptisms for the first time.  The first one had to be done twice because he didn't all the way under the first time.  The last baptism it looked like he didn't get all the way immersed either.  The baptizer realized this so in the way up before coming all the way out of the water he pushed him under a second time more thoroughly.  It caught everyone off guard and was a little bit funny.  After the baptism service everyone went upstairs for a potluck lunch.  I guess that is something they do every week since some people have a ways to travel.  By the time we got done eating it was about 2:00.

The train is scheduled to leave at 1:45 and since it runs late quite quite frequently we thought we'd see if we could still catch it.  We got to the station around 2:20 and it was already gone.  That meant we'd need to wait for the 5:25 train.  We walked the streets, window shopped and went to a delightful little bakery.  By then it was 3:00 and we decided to go to the school there.  One of the volunteers here at our school has a little sister who is volunteering at the school in that city.  We went to their school and they showed us around and we chatted with them for a couple hours.

Little shops like this are everywhere! 

We got back to the station with plenty of time to get the 5:25 train.  It was less crowded and we got about 5 seats.  It started raining on the train ride home.  I took a video on the way home.  (I can always hear my mom's voice in my head saying things like "Lindsey, take a video of that!  I would love to see what it's like and feel like I'm there."  So this is for you Momma!)

I think the rope are funny... it's like they are trying to make it safe-ish, but really what will those two roped really do? 

Once we got off the train we rode back to the school in the rain.  It was a long day, but it felt so nice to get to church and I'm looking forward to going again this week.  I have a feeling that once I get back to the states I'm going to be a LOT more grateful when I can get to church in less than 5 minutes.