All in One Update

I've been slacking, yes I know. Blame the winter months, it's like my semi-hibernation season.

Kobe Field Trip

The week I got back from Sapporo, I was lucky enough to go on a school field trip to Kobe with the second year students. We visited the Kobe earthquake memorial center, which was quite interesting and fun at the same time. They had these earthquake simulator games and gadgets on site. Next we headed to the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art to see an exhibit by Edvard Munch. I had no idea who this man was except for the ads I kept seeing on the train. Nevertheless, he has some beautiful pieces and the gallery was HUUUUUUGE!! I also witnessed an umbrella locker hahaha, I never knew they existed(see pictures). Next up was the adventure of Kimoto-sensei(my team teacher at the 3rd school) and I searching for the train from HAT Kobe chuo to Sannomiya in search of China Town, the next check in point. It was quite funny because there were some lost students behind us trying to pretend like they knew where they were going and not following us. We got to China town just in time to bless our hungry bellies with some tasty Chinese cuisine. After lunch we walked around, bought omiyage and watched this man do some trick with water in a pan. We then headed to the last check in point before heading back to school at the Kobe port. There we went to the Kobe Maritime museum, met up with the students, took pictures and hopped back on the school bus, which may I say aren't like our yellow school buses. They actually charter coach buses! These students are living large.

KOBE PICTURES

Mie Bus Trip to Ise Shrine & Mikimoto Pearl Museum

At the end of that same week, I took the train to Gifu on Friday night. Khaleelah and I went on a day bus trip to Ise shrine and Mikimoto Pearl Island. We left Gifu station around 7am and about 2 hours later we arrived in Ise city(Mie prefecture) where we had an hour to walk around the shrine grounds. That place is huge! We were very fortunate to see many Shinto priests as there was a festival going on that weekend, namely the Kinen-sai; The ceremony to offer prayers for a plentiful harvest.

Next we headed to a hotel where we were served a "small" enkai-style Japanese lunch. Now, the people who organized the tour from the Gifu international Youth Assoc. said in the itinerary that lunch would be small. This is Japan and their portion sizes are relatively small, but nothing about this lunch indicated that. We had sashimi, fish, beef, veggies, oysters, rice, dessert and it was delish!! This hotel had a natural onsen on site, so we soaked for a little while after lunch before hopping back on the bus. The next stop was Mikimoto Pearl Island. Click HERE to get some more info. about Mr. Mikimoto and the harvesting of pearls. We all attended a workshop where we made what I like to call ketai(cell phone) bling. We were given 'Mikimoto' pearls and instructions to follow. Cell phone or ketai accessories are all the rage in Japan. I said I wasn't gonna fall prey, but I did and I now have for things dangling from my phone. Next we watched the woman diver's presentation. All I know is that those women are brave to be jumping into that cold water in the winter. It's not like they wear wetsuits to be somewhat insulated from the cold either. You'll see what I'm talking about in the pictures.

MIE PICTURES

Karaoke Night in Himeji

The Friday after the Mie trip, I got together with some of the other ALTs in my city to go out for dinner and karaoke. I had told them that I had yet to do karaoke in Japan and wanted to do so, so we organized an outing last minute. Let me start by saying I had a ball! I sang my heart out, on key, off key and around key lol. The English song selection really surprised me. I'm not going to say much more about this night, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves and you can tell me whether or not it looked like I had fun.

KARAOKE PICTURES

Nagano ski trip

The weekend of Feb 29th was another new experience for me. I went snowboarding for the first time in my life. Let me start by saying that I sprained my ankle playing volleyball with my students the day we left. We were having so much fun, my team gave the other team some serious licks. They were surprised that I could play so well, it was quite amusing. So, I went up for a wicked hit and came down on the boy's foot. He was on the other side of the net trying to block my beautiful hit, failed to do so and he came down on my side of the net and alas I sprained my ankle on it very badly. After writhing in pain for a couple minutes while the students and gym teacher laughed (I swear the way they express feelings is JACKED UP), I iced my ankle, taped it up and carried on with my day. That evening I met up with my ALT friends to catch our shuttle bus to Osaka, where we would catch the overnight bus to Nagano. We arrived to Nagano Shiga Kogen about 7:30am, stored our bags at the Silver Shiga hotel because check-in time in Japan is ridiculously late...4pm to be exact, then went to deal with our ski rentals. I opted to snowboard for one day rather than two, which I think was a wise choice. The boots held my ankle in place so there was minimal pain. We hit the slopes at about 9am and I threw myself right into it. Getting up the first time was hilarious because I was on such a slight incline screaming my head off while little kids whizzed by me. I made it to the ski lift which I thought went up way to high, but I was a soldier. I wish I had the experience on video because all of you would be wetting your pants with laughter from me boarding down to the ski lift station, to getting off the ski lift, to falling umpteen times down the slopes and laying there laughing hysterically at myself while people passed me straight. I must say I was very proud of myself. According to the others I was spectacular for a first timer, especially because I was able to stand right away. By 4pm I had had enough. We met up and had lunch and then I headed back to the hotel where I had a much needed onsen bath. Half of the group went night skiing while the rest of us called it a night pretty early around 8:30pm. I iced my crippled ankle and was in lala land by 9:15pm.
The following day (Sunday March 2nd), Alison and I went to see the snow monkeys. I can't even begin to explain how ecstatic I felt. Those macaques are the CUTEST things ever! I was pretty happy with that part of the trip, actually that was the highlight of my weekend.

NAGANO PICTURES

Kobe Sky Buffet

The following weekend I met up with some other ALTs to go out to dinner at the sky buffet in Kobe. I only knew a few people there, which was cool. My purpose for going was to find out where the place was. I enjoyed the company and the food. The view of Kobe is beautiful. I'll keep this one short so I can get up to date faster! lol

SKY BUFFET PICTURES

It's Official

Thursday, February 7, 2008 marked the day that officially continues my incredible journey over here in the far east. After MUCH back and forth, tormenting and debating with self, I have recontracted and will therefore be staying in Japan for another year. This has been one of the hardest decisions I have had to make in my life thus far, but at the end of it I am VERY happy with my decision.

The last week of solidifying my decision was quite humorous because my supervisor at the BOE(board of ed.) called me EVERY DAY. I don't know if you remember or even read the beginning of my blog where he said he wanted me to stay here for three years. Now more than ever I see that the man was serious. No matter how I told him I would give him my decision on Thursday(the 7th, 2 days before the deadline), he continued to call each evening. Each call went something like this:

Amanda: hello?
Supervisor: oh helloooo, this is Rokudai-sensei
A: *chuckle* hi Rokudai-sensei, how are you?
S: ohhh I'm fine, so Amandaaaaaaa did you make umm the decision to stay in Japan?
A: noooooo, not yeeeet but i will bring the contract on Thursday
S: *chuckle* ohhh okaaay, I hope, we hope(the BOE and teachers) that you stay in Japan b/c you are a good teacher
A: okaaaaaay, thanks
S: okaaaaay goodbye
A: *chuckling* have a good night

No joke or exaggeration, the man called me EVERY DAY for a week with the same conversation. it's a good thing I already had my mind made up. Could you imagine the torment? The funny thing is the program(JET) specifies that supervisors are not to do this so that participants don't feel pressured into saying yes and then change their mind. Clearly he didn't read that memo, or didn't care. Anyhoo, I thought for sure I would walk into the BOE palms sweating, heart racing and all as I handed over the paper. Surprisingly I was extreeeeeemely calm. I was actually going to play a trick on Rokudai-sensei and give him a photocopied contract that said I wasn't recontracting, but I couldn't do it to him. When I gave him the contract you would have sworn he was holding his breath for a month the way he exhaled. I guess it was a triumphant moment for them, it was all very funny to witness. After thanking me, he motioned to his staff and said "OK OK!" to which they all clapped. Are you serious? It was so funny, but at the end of it all I felt really good...boy are they good for an ego boost.

So that's it folks, my long drawn out story to tell you that I've recontracted for another year. Yaaaaaay me!

Yokoso! Sapporo

Last week Thursday was my last day at the second school, Naba JHS. I booked Friday off for the long weekend. I had to do another fairwell speech, but this time around was very different. If you recall in a previous entry, I was a mess saying goodbye at the last school and I didn't know what to say for my parting speech. I again didn't know what to say in my in my speech, but this time it was because I didn't have the chance to really get to know the students. My time at Naba went by so quickly because of the Christmas holiday. I came up with a very simple speech and was on my way. Friday I got up nice and late(relatively speaking) and got myself ready to head to Osaka Kobe Airport. Khaleelah and I met up at Sapporo airport in Hokkaido(the northern and coldest island in Japan) and headed to our graceful host's(Mark) house via train. We got to Shin-Sapporo in about 2o minutes then walked about 5 minutes from the station. We basically dropped off our bags, headed out to see some of the snow sculptures at the snow festival and then went to a bar, TK6 in Sapporo city to meet up with some other ALTs. After dinner we went to club Booty. Yes, the club name is booty lol. To my surprise the music was good, the dj shocked me. I didn't expect a middle-aged, Irish (or was it Scottish?) man to be digging in the crates for some ooooold reggae and r 'n b. It was great until the guys from the US navy/marines got to the club. They were so whack! Basically they came there with the mentality of the soldiers in WWII thinking that b/c they are from the US that every Japanese woman in the club would jump on their jock at the drop of a dime. In the admission line we witnessed one guy telling a girl she was a dog because she didn't want to leave the club with him to do God knows what. Anyhoo, we left the club and went back to the house by cab. Saturday morning, actually afternoon we went to have breakfast/lunch and went back into the city to look at the ice sculptures. We went to dinner at a Jamaican restaurant and let me just tell you the food was off! You don't hear me saying that very often, but when you see the pictures of their patties you'll understand. After dinner, we went back to TK6. Khaleelah and I ventured back out to see more snow sculptures and we caught a dance battle on the way. We walked back to the bar and we all went back to the house got ready and headed to club Jade. The dj was ok to start but went down south not long after, so we left and went back to Booty. I really can't take the cigarette smoke in the clubs here in Japan and I don't understand how we did it when smoking was allowed in Toronto. Needless to say we left the club early because of it, that and we were tired from all of the walking we did. Sunday morning K and I got up and left the the house before everyone got up. We didn't feel like wasting valuable sightseeing time like the previous day. We had brunch then headed into Sapporo city to finish looking at the ice sculptures and to buy some omiyage for our co-workers. We were finished and ready to head back around 5pm but the others had left the house so we had dinner, did a little shopping and then met up with them at St. John's Irish pub. There was a man there from Istanbul, quite the character, chatting up everyone and buying them drinks. I usually don't take drinks from strangers but your girl was THIRSTY! So I had a second orange with pineapple juice on the rocks lol. Mark and his girlfriend, Maiko had been waiting on their friend going on 2 hours before they got fed up. They left and went to Gaijin bar where we met up with them shortly after. (sidebar: the term gaijin pronounced guy-gin, is used to refer to foreigners. Some sensitive people actually get offended buy it lol go figure) By this time in the night I was absolutely exhausted and we had a reggae party on the schedule. Maiko was tired and driving home so being tired ourselves, we were quick to catch a ride home and go to club bed. Monday morning we got up bright and early to catch the first train(about 6:30am) to the airport. We parted ways at the airport and ended what was an incredibly adventurous weekend in Japan's land of snow.

"Sakura, Sakura" (not Shakira, Shakria)

Friday my classes got canceled because my team-teacher's son was sick. He caught a virus of some sort and threw up at school, poor thing, so she stayed home with him on Friday. I tried to entertain myself for a little bit by taking pictures of the teachers and vice principal, but that didn't last too long. My day was pretty much boring until Suemasa-sensei, one of my first year team-teachers took me to ichi-nen music class. This term the students are learning how to play the koto. I just wanted to go up to the class to take some pictures. The music teacher wasn't hearing it, she wanted me to play. Without skipping a beat she went and got another koto, set it up in the front row, fit my fingers for the the finger picks, gave me the sheet music for "sakura, sakura" and I was set. Let me tell you that was the highlight of my day. I learned how to play a famous Japanese song and instrument:) I also got to see some of the female students dressed in traditional Japanese yukata and I took a very cute picture of them.

I had to work on Sunday for a family open house, where the parents could come in and watch their children in class. I had one class in first period and the rest of the day was boring until I got home. It's 2am Monday morning and although I have the day off, I think I should be heading to bed.

Oh man, it's carnival Monday and I'm not in Trinidad and Tobago...woe is me, why God whyyyyyy! Okay, I guess I'll live..goodnight!

Oh one more thing, pictures from Tamii's wedding have finally been added here.

SEE PICTURES HERE

Like a Bird on a Wire

If there is any truth to the saying/myth that "if a bird craps on your head you are very lucky" my chances of winning the lottery are higher now. Yea, a pigeon did it's business as I was riding my bike this past Sunday afternoon. Imagine, I was there minding my business and I felt a heavy rain drop hit one of my locs. You can imagine my confusion as no other raindrops were falling around me. I looked up and saw some pigeons sitting on a wire while killing themselves with laughter. I swear those things have aim! I guess it could have been much worse because only two strands of hair at the side of my head were hit as the crap proceeded to land on the shoulder of my jacket. That had to be the one time I was happy for the coldness outside because the excrement was kinda hard and just rolled off my jacket onto the ground. I swear whoever was passing by at that moment must have thought I was going crazy because I said out loud " awwwwwwwwww maaaaaaaan that is soooooooo disgustiiiiiiiiing!" Yea, just like that. I guess there really is a first time for everything huh?

I washed my hair like I've never washed it before that night. Now I just have to sit and wait for the lottery announcement.

Do you think I'll win?

Gastroenteritis??

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling not so hot, but I got up and went to work anyway. I had an interview with the city newspaper after work. It was a relaxed setting where the journalists asked me general questions like what my first impression of Japan was when I arrived, how I like my city, the people, do I remember the students from my last school etc. Afterward some pictures were taken in the classroom one of which was with one of my favourite students, Kenta or Kenchan, who is one of my special needs students. Shortly after we were finished I went home and went to bed waking up only to eat before going back to sleep.
I thought sleeping would help, but when I woke up Wednesday feeling the same way I stayed home and went to the clinic down the street where there is an English-speaking doctor. I wasn't feeling too bad, but I figured now would be a good time to seek out this doctor who could speak my language. I got to the clinic and was first on the afternoon waiting list. I went in to see Dr. Hirata and told him my symptoms. I laid down and watched as he listened to my stomach with a stethoscope. I honestly can't remember the last time a doctor has done that to me. He then proceeded to probe and push down different areas of my abdomen and ask if it hurt. A couple areas did while others didn't. And that was it, he was done and he concluded that because my stomach felt a little distended, I had very little appetite and my head felt funny that I had a viral infection, gastroenteritis to be exact. I told him I hate taking medication and he proposed a liquid infusion to which I refused. He wrote me a prescription for an antibiotic and something else. Keep in mind that I have a pharmacy technician degree from Humber college, so I was wondering why on earth he would prescribe antibiotics for a VIRAL infection. Granted gastroenteritis could be caused by bacteria, but he seemed pretty sure it was viral.....as he put it "I think you have a viral infection". I took the prescription, paid for my visit and followed the nurse while she showed me where the pharmacy was located. I told the pharmacist I would be back and then went home and went in my bed. Later that evening I woke up and guess what? I had a visitor that came a week and a half early! It explained EVERYTHING, all of my symptoms and why I was feeling so lousy. I just never thought of it because it wasn't expected. All I could do was laugh, thank the Lord that I follow my instincts and then call my parents and tell them the joke. I stayed home for the rest of the week... Thursday because my stomach was killing me and when I tried to go to work my vice principal sent me home twenty minutes later telling me to rest...and on Friday he called my supervisor before I left my house to make sure I stayed home to rest even though I felt good enough to go to work! I'm just not used to this kind of treatment. I'm programmed to work to the death, it's so sad.
Anyway, I'm feeling much better now and I've had an extra long weekend. I got out of the house Friday night for a birthday dinner at a Jazz bar and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It is now Sunday afternoon. I'm going to go think long and hard as to whether or not I'll be staying in this lovely country for another year. Talk to you soon.

Yaaaay Thailand Pictures!

Here you go! Enjoy!

My pictures #1

My pictures #2

Khaleelah's pictures

Week in Review #1

The Oyster Gratin

I know there will be more week-long updates so this is #1.

The Friday before last, my supervisor and his staff had their New Year's enkai(party) and I was cordially invited. We went to a restaurant nearby, which is run by the wife of one of his co-workers. The food was great and I tried something new! Oysters to be exact. This had to be one of the scariest moments in life, other than riding the motorbike in Thailand, but I sucked it up and did it. The oysters were in a cheese gratin casserole so it wasn't half bad. Actually, they tasted really good.

The following Monday was a national holiday, "Coming of Age Day" or Seijin Shiki. Click HERE to get some more information.

Mid-year conference
Before heading to the club

This past weekend has been pretty busy. On Thursday and Friday I had to attend a mid-year conference about a whole lotta nothing. The main purpose of the conference was to find different ways to improve interaction in English classes with ALTs(assistant language teachers). Well it seemed to me that the conference organizers came up with their own way, namely introducing debate into the classroom, and shoved it down our throats. My students can barely speak English, how de ass are they going to debate in the language?! Aside from this, the conference was fun in that I got to see alot of familiar faces that I haven't seen since Tokyo orientation in August. I also got to hang out with the other teachers from my city and surrounding area. I got some good ideas from other teachers in one of the workshops so I guess the two days weren't a TOTAL waste, and it was nice to be in a different setting. Thursday and Friday evenings involved myself and the ladies of my city and surrounding areas walking around Kobe shopping and going out to dinner. I enjoyed this because I found new places to wander and new restaurants to add to my list of places to go. Saturday I took the train to Leanne's apartment(my roomie in Tokyo) had dinner and got ready with some other ladies before we headed to club Sam & Dave's in Shinsaibashi Osaka. The music was actually GOOD! A decent variety for everyone, but I must say the DJ could learn a thing or two from the world's best DJs in Toronto. I stayed the night at Leanne's and we got up in the morning and had a big breakfast. Gabrielle, Myrie and I left just after 2pm and parted ways in Sannomiya(Kobe) where I did some shopping for the rest of the day. I was actually good and got the things on my list that I NEEDED. The sales in Japan are insane! When they say sale they actually mean it. Let's just say I got two BIG sweaters for less than $9 CAD.

Yesterday I was really tired from my eventful weekend so I fell asleep under the kotatsu shortly after I got home from work. I woke up at 10pm made something to eat, chatted and watched Grey's Anatomy then went to bed just after 2am. I had planned to go in my bed, but the kotatsu had different plans and I slept under it until 7am this morning at which time I got into my bed for another hour. I'm not feeling too hot today, which is not cool seeing as the city wants to interview me after work. I'm drinking some tea and may take a little nap as I only had one lesson this morning. Hopefully that will help me get camera ready. Ha! yea right, this should be interesting. Okay, there! You are all up-to-date! My apologies for taking so long, I just didn't feel like blogging. I know you've been waiting and the Thailand pictures are coming very soon!

Thailand Recap

Be forewarned, this will be LONG! This is a week long of information here, so come back and read the rest when your eyes start to burn. Here goes...

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Our Arrival

Thanavin


Our flight got into Bangkok international airport at approximately 11:30pm(Thailand is 12 hours ahead of EST), we took a meter taxi to the hotel for 45o Baht. Some jinnal (read: dishonest or shady) taxi drivers were trying to charge us ridiculous prices but we knew better. We got to Hotel Ibis Siam, checked in with Thanavin, took our luggage up to our room then went back down to eat dinner at the icafe around 1am. I had Thai fried rice with shrimp without hesitation and a peppermint tea. We were both hanging off of the restaurant chairs we were so tired. After a little bit of a struggle we went back up to our room and got ready for bed.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Let the Bangkok shopping begin!

We woke up, showered and went downstairs for the "continental breakfast". Can you say food!!!?? I'm talking about FULL breakfast foods(2 types of eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, home fries, french toast, toast, rolls etc.), pastries and big food like fried rice, pineapple chicken, veggie stir fry and more! After breakfast we walked around Bangkok in the Pratunam area and shopped like madwomen! We justified it though, because we had others in mind as we shopped, it wasn't all for ourselves. We looked around and shopped for prices at the hundreds of tailor shops that lined the street. In the Pratunam Center we found a little store owned by a man who sold nice skirts and dresses. They caught our eye immediately as they were displayed on mannequins...come to find out the skirt and dress were one and the same. The bartering commenced and we bough 4 each! After a long day of shopping and tailor hunting, we got foot massages then went back to the hotel to drop off our things. We headed back out on a tuk tuk(mode of transportation) bound for 1 of the 2 tailor shops we decided on. Our tuk tuk driver took the scenic route, it was actually quite nice as it gave us the opportunity to see some of the surrounding area all or 20 Baht(less that $1 CAD). The first tailor shop was closed so we went to the second and put in our orders. I decided on a dress to be made with Thai silk and two 3-piece suits(jacket, skirt and trousers). The grand total was 9500 Baht (approx $250 CAD). Robin, the shop owner convinced me to get the second suit against my will, so I made him promise to throw in a free neck tie. I left a happy camper once it registered how little I was paying for a 3-piece suit. Next, we set out to look for a shop to get our nails done It was about 10pm by this time. We passed this one shop several times throughout the day and didn't go in. It was still open so we ventured in. They started on our toenails..I should've known from the way the that the pedicure was being done that they were so bootleg and didn't know what they were doing...but I let the madness continue. Tiredness knocked us both out. I have no idea when my girl started my manicure, but I woke up to colour on my fingernails which isn't something I usually do. We paid, thanked them and left. We sure got our moneys worth...200 Baht for a mani/pedi. I think we should've gone with the instinct that was stopping us from entering throughout the day.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Ahhhhhhh the beach

On this day I felt the wrath of the cheap manicure underneath my thumbnails because they were burning whenever I washed my hands or ate. It felt like someone took a knive, sliced between my nailbed and fingernail and poured alcohol over it. I was cursing the names of those ladies all day. We arrived in Phuket about 9am, caught a cab to take us to our hotel, the Seven Seas. For about 15-20mins our taxi driver couldn't find our hotel and he went to such lengths to find it's destination. He got out to ask the locals, used his cell to try and call the hotel etc. I thought surely if this was Toronto....ah well, needless to say we gave him a tip(which they don't really do in Thailand) for all of his troubles. We got to the hotel and checked in, the place was brand spanking new. So new that only the 1st and 2nd floors are complete and work is still being done on the rest. So new that the hotel opened 3 days prior and we were some of the 1st guests to stay there. The manager is a fairly young woman, very nice and accommodating. Our room was pretty much a standard or junior suite by North American standards and it was pristine! As we arrived I had a scare because my bag was gone, little did I know that the service is just so on point they waste no time taking your luggage to the front desk or to your room. We too, wasted no time after check-in was finalized. Within 20 minutes we were dressed and ready to head to the beach. We walked to the 7-eleven so I could buy a phone card to call my Mommy for her birthday (Happy Birthday again!) We then ate lunch and then walked over to the beach, which was not even 5 minutes from the hotel right across the street. We literally spent the rest of the day on the beach. There were some women giving massages etc. right on the sand, so we went to them to have our nails repainted. They were horrible! Khaleelah's french manicure looked like the ones little girls give themselves with whiteout! At about 6:30pm we walked back to the hotel, showered, watched some television, then walked down Patong beach in search of some food. We found an Indian restaurant, ate outside and people watched while firecrackers went off too close for comfort. I had garlic naan,shrimp masala and mango juice. Deeeelish! We took a tuk tuk back to the hotel and fell asleep not too long after.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas butt violation

Christmas morning we woke up relatively early watched tv(shout out to mnet series the greatest station I've seen) and headed over to the same restaurant for some breakfast. I had pancakes, eggs and pineapple juice. After breakfast we walked along the beach to look for the market. The prices were tourist prices to say the least, but we did end up buying a few things after bartering of course. We each got a pair of these VERY cute sandals(see pictures) that are actually quite comfortable. On the way back to the hotel we decided to take a motorbike ride. Maaaaaaaan was I scared. I don't know why, but for some reason I've had this fear of riding on one so I was freaking out a bit. Once the bike started moving I screamed a little bit while holding on to Khaleelah for dear life, but after I let the scream out I felt a bit better. I must say that I'm proud of myself. Not only did I ride a motorbike, I took a picture while riding! How's that for a first timer! Back at the hotel we dropped our things off went to 7-eleven to buy some water and snacks, then headed to, you guessed it, the beach! My wish came true, Christmas on the beach in Phuket. I ran right into the water as our chairs were set up, the water was soooooo warm, it felt like warm bathwater. Again we spent the whole day relaxing, reading, listening to music, swimming etc. We brought our left over food from dinner and left it to heat up in the sun while we swam. I bought an order of Thai fried rice from the food stand on the beach and we enjoyed a good lunch before I fell asleep for about an hour. After little debating we decided we would work up the nerve to go jet skiing for the first time. We didn't have enough money with us, even after bartering, so we left our things on our beach chairs walked over to the hotel and came back in time for our turn. When we signed our lives away on the contracts the guys failed to tell us they only had one jet ski, so we couldn't go out together. Khaleelah went out first and we had one of the guys go out with us for some guidance. We had 22 minutes each. I took pictures along the beach while K was out until it was my turn. I hopped on the jet ski rearing to go. We went out pretty far, within some feet of a cruise ship heading to Singapore. Surprisingly, I wasn't scared at all. I took the reigns and started steering all over the ocean. I learned the little tricks like riding into the waves to jump the jet ski or riding with the wave on an angle for a smoother ride. After about ten minutes of riding, I ask how much time was left. I wouldn't normally do this, but as we were going over rough waves I felt Mr. Man rubbing up kinda close on my backside. I didn't pay it any mind at first because naturally he would shift forward when the jet ski jerks over a wave, but it started to feel a bit different. So, he told me there were 10 minutes left. I took the handles and turned around to head back toward the beach, but he directed me to go toward the ship again. I started going over waves faster and as I did that, I feel the jerking against my butt getting faster. I say to myself "self, could this skinny boy be humping my butt like a dog?" I couldn't believe it! I asked again how much time was left, keep in mind this is about 15-20 minutes later, then he said we were done. This dude pressed up so close on my butt I could feel his pelvic bones. He didn't speak English, but I figure he knew I was onto him because I kept leaning backward pressing my shoulder blades into his chest so my butt would be clear out of reach. I though I could handle it and get some extra time, but I started feeling queasy at the thought of being humped. I had a good jet ski experience overall, but I was more than happy to be back on the sand. I told Khaleelah what happened and she corroborated my story with one of her own. At this time the sun had gone down, so we headed back across the street to our hotel, frolicked in the pool for a bit, showered then went out for dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant. I had chicken penne with rose sauce and K had pizza. This was the first time in a while I can say the food was just okay. We had a very eventful day so we went to bed soon after.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

In Transit









We woke up, checked out and left the hotel just after 7am. We had a morning flight to go back to Bangkok. While waiting in line to board I glanced over at the jewellery vendor to find her straightening her hair with a flat iron while looking in the mirror. What a sight. Our flight was delayed and we got to Bangkok just after noon. We proceeded to the baggage storage facility and paid to leave our luggage at the airport for pick up later on that evening. The first stop was to the tailor's to get our second fitting done for the suits we were having made. After the fitting we ate lunch and then walked around the city window shopping for what we wanted to buy open our arrival. Next up was the Thai massage(at the same place we got our foot massages). My body was twisted and bent into some interesting positions, but after all was said and done I felt great. After the massages were finished, we caught a taxi back to the airport, got our luggage out of storage and boarded the plane heading to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand). Once we arrived in Chiang Mai a taxi took us to the Baan Kaew guest house where we stayed for the night. After checking in, we walked over to the Night Bazaar no more than 10 minutes away. We bought some things, and window shopped for the next day.

Dec. 27-Dec. 29

updating...

Happy Birthday Esquared!!!

I'm a long way from Toronto, but I haven't forgotten your big day. I am in the lobby of the Hotel Ibis Siam in Bangkok. I hope your birthday party was a hit and that you had some nice surprises. Plan in the next year to be in Thailand because you would LOVE IT! Keeping this short, love ya and Happy Birthday!!!