Thailand is punishing me for having so many kids

Trying to book hotels for our trip to Bangkok this week was an interesting and frustrating experience. Apparently we have the most kids out of anyone in Thailand, because it is next to impossible to find hotel rooms that can accommodate us. When booking a room, you get a choice of bedding configurations -- one king size bed or two twin beds. Okaaaay. Are there really so many platonic friends taking buddy road trips together that hotels all over the country need rooms containing two twin beds?The other option is to book a triple room, in which case you get three twin beds. This still isn't enough beds for us, but our only other choice is to book two rooms, so triple rooms it is. Yesterday we went to the mall and bought two pool mattresses. Hopefully the kids will see this more as "fun sleepover"...

Read more »

Popular with the ladies

...

Read more »

Mae Sa Elephant Camp

Two weekends ago we visited Mae Sa Elephant Camp, and it was awesome! We watched an elephant show and then just wandered around the camp, checking things out and marvelling at the fact that we were sharing the paths with dozens of elephants.The show is pretty amazing. The elephants play soccer, throw darts, paint pictures, and eat snacks out of your hands. Dave wrapped in trunksDave feeding elephantsElephant performingElephant paintingIsabella with an elephant-painted pictureWalking with elephantsElephants bathingDave and Isabella with baby elephantAfter the show we made our way to the Mae Sa Craft Village and Resort, which Liv pronounced "the nicest hotel I have ever seen!" She was pumped that the rooms came with the use of slippers -- "Mommy,...

Read more »

Triple Trouble

People here like to count our children as we walk by, so wherever we go we hear "nung, song, sam" (one, two, three in Thai). People almost always stop to talk to the girls, and they will even come running from across the street to peek at the baby in his sling. The girls are so used to getting their picture taken that it doesn't even phase them anymore. It's getting to the point now where if I walked by someone and they ignored us, I would probably be ripped off, like, "What's wrong with you? You don't think my kids are irresistibly cherubic? Come on, get your camera phone out! You know you want to!"They are pretty darn cute, though.NungSong...

Read more »

Let's play a game!

Can you guess what's going on in these pictures?Answer: They're spraying for mosquitoes using some kind of chemical mixed with diesel! The entire street was filled with smoke, and the guy spraying it wasn't even wearing a ma...

Read more »

Best Pool So Far

A couple of weeks ago we visited a place called The Laguna Homes Exclusive Club House. According to their brochure, the "residents is only club house comprises of an adult's swimming pool, a children's swimming pool with 15 metres long slide, a tennis court, a basketball court, and a knock board court." Wait a second, a knock board court? What the heck is knock board? We're still trying to puzzle that one out.Anyway, the pool was gorgeous:The club house has a few rules, which we did our best to follow "strichtly," as requested in the brochure:1. Please always wear swimming costume and trunks before get in the pool. (For lady please use swim cap)2. Please take a shower before get in the pool.3. Please lay all of bags and clothe in the place,...

Read more »

Our First Wat

306 steps to the topWe visited our first wat, or Buddhist temple, last week: Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, founded in 1383. It's located on Doi Suthep mountain, about 15 km out of the city. Apparently there is a gondola that will take you to the top, but we never saw it. We walked to the top, me carrying William, Dave carrying Isabella. Olivia blew by us and was casually waiting at the top when we finally arrived, sweating and out of breath.Some of the temple rules are that you must remove your shoes, you have to keep your head lower than the Buddha images, and, judging from the illustration on the poster we saw, you can't have a mullet or wear hot pants. Darn!The view from the templeEating waffles outside the temple. They are quite fond of waffles...

Read more »

Flower Festival (And Adventures in Toileting)

The first weekend in February is a time when Chiang Mai, the "rose of the north," showcases its wide variety of flora during the annual Flower Festival. We missed the parade (it was being held at the ungodly hour of 7:30 AM), but we made it down to the southwest corner of the moat later in the day to see the amazing displays. Each float contains hundreds of thousands of flowers, from orchids and chrysanthemums to Damask roses.After viewing as many floats as we could in the huge crowd, we veered off into a gorgeous public park, where we enjoyed iced coffee and spring rolls, as well as a disastrous trip to the bathroom. For some reason, they are just not into regular toilets here; they’re all about the squat toilet. I really can’t understand...

Read more »

Oops!

While wandering around in Tesco Lotus (a little mall with a Walmart-type store in it) today, we got hungry and decided to try out this restaurant. It was a mistake! We got inside and were seated, and we realized we had no idea what we were supposed to do. There was a hot pot in the centre of the table, and the waitress handed us menus and then stood right there hovering over us while Dave and I snuck desperate looks at each other from across the table. We literally had no idea what was going on. We couldn't even take some time to spy on the other patrons because the waitress just stood there waiting for us and trying to suggest things for us to order. Things like duck feet and squid and many different varieties of shrimp. I should have known...

Read more »

Posted in: Food

Not heart healthy

We went to a pizza place for dinner tonight and had this:Not only is the crust stuffed with cheese and full-sized hot dogs, but the entire pizza is also sprayed with a coating of delicious grease to give it that special sheen. Mmm, yummy! Our arteries loved ...

Read more »

Posted in: Food

Delicious Discovery of the Day

RotiWe arrived early for Olivia's gymnastics class yesterday, so we went out to the row of vendors that line the street in front of the school and had a snack. The first cart we passed was selling roti, a flat bread made from wheat flour. Roti is cooked on a flat iron griddle called a tawa and spread with ghee (clarified butter) and other toppings, such as strawberry jam and chocolate sauce, or rolled up with fillings like eggs, corn, or bananas. We ordered a strawberry one and a chocolate one, and after adding those toppings, the vendor also drizzled on some cream and sprinkled them with sugar. VERY go...

Read more »

Posted in: Food

Relentless Leisure

Who'd have thought that having no obligations whatsoever would ever be difficult? It is strange to feel (and be!) so unproductive. We wake up every morning knowing that there is nothing we have to do, and so we have the wonderful (and at times challenging ) experience of being able to do anything that we want.This morning I woke up and saw the girls sitting on the edge of our bed quietly dressing their dolls. The sun is shining, as usual, and we can hear the usual soundtrack of construction noises, birds chirping, and dogs barking. I got the girls some cereal, which they ate before settling in to watch Shrek for the fortieth time. While they were doing that, I baked some muffins, and Dave wandered around the house listening to a Learn Thai...

Read more »

The Chiang Mai Zoo

Last week we decided to visit another local attraction in our quest to check out all of the places listed in the Sanook Book, a guide for families in Chiang Mai. We picked the zoo and managed to find it quite easily, despite forgetting the map at home, as usual.This zoo is huge! Thank God one of my mom’s coworkers was kind enough to lend us a stroller, because Isabella wouldn’t have lasted five minutes at this place without it. The first thing we saw was the giraffe exhibit, where for 10 or 15 baht you can purchase snacks to feed the giraffes. Olivia and Dave were right in there feeding them, but Isabella was pretty scared. Next we wandered passed some ostriches and emus (and this weird bird we called a peacock/ostrich/dinosaur):before finding...

Read more »