Adventures in Hua Hin

Colby and I took a bus down to Hua Hin (on the gulf) about 3 hours south of Bangkok for a 3 day weekend. Gorgeous area down there. I thought it would be more busy and crazy, but it has a little bit of a sleepy  relaxing feel to it. We had some great Thai food of course, went to Hua Hin Vinyard (which is beautiful) and climbed a temple crowded with monkeys to a great view. 

They made their own wine and grape juice here, and surprisingly was not bad. The view was absolutely gorgeous as well. 

Elephants carved into the fountain. This was at the Hua Hin Brewery (which does not brew beer, don't ask).

The "Sala" at the vineyard. Took a bus up here, it was closer to the Myanmar border from Hua Hin. 

Awesome Land Rover used to give us a tour of the place. 

Monkeys helping a brother out. 

Cute little guy.

Ultimate Frisbee...

After 2 days of rain and thunderstorms we still played ultimate frisbee on Friday. Here are some pics of our lovely clothing...

Chinatown and a solid gold Buddha

This weekend Colb and I decided it would be fun to play tourist and head downtown to explore Chinatown. We took our motorbike to the pok soi (where our street meets the main street) and got on a bus from there. A big rainstorm blew in right after we boarded our bus, and it took about 2 hours to get to the MRT (subway) station. From there we hopped on the subway, and had a smooth sail down to the edge of frenetic Chinatown. It really is something else down there. It's said that Chinatown was first developed 400 years ago, and some of the buildings are still almost that old. When you walk through the alley ways, seeing the bikes carrying baskets of goods, or  smell the gigantic cauldrons stewing up food from recipes 100's of years old, you feel like you've stepped back in time.

On our way back to Hua Lompong train station, we stopped by "Wat Traimit" where the largest gold statue exists in the form of an enormous Buddha. It is believed that the Buddha was originally made in the 13th of 14th century, and is literally solid gold. In 1991 it was estimated to be worth USD $32 Million. Forgive my math skills but I that would put it somewhere in the neighborhood of USD $140 Million given the current price of gold.

It is huge. And Shiny. And there is no security around it.

Here are some pics:

Hua Lamphong train station downtown Bangkok. HAIR! 

Even the phone booths have Thai roofs on them.

Pastry (not sure what its called) but its delicious. Has something like dates in the middle. We have learned not to ask. Try first, ask questions later. 

One of the oldest markets around.

What do you want? Easy to read menu...

Dim Sum Ramen

Found some amazing Dim Sum tucked away in deep in the heart of Chinatown.

Beans. Chinese, Thai, Japanese, you name it. We picked up some jumbo sized black beans here. Will let you know how they turn out. 

Temple.

Where the enormous gold Buddha is.

The King of course! Longest living Monarch in the world. Sixty Seven years he has been King of Thailand.

Detailed artwork on the temple.

The outrageously huge solid gold statue of Buddha crafted in the 13th century. 

Pardon Colby's awesome outfit, she didn't have pants on and her shoulders where showing! You are NOT to go into a Buddhist temple without some covering garb on. For 40 Baht, we rented some stylish scarves. 

Work and Play

Just a few updates on work for Ryan.  He has been subbing this whole week at RIS, which is awesome.  We are both also tutoring twins boys in 3rd grade for an hour each days after school, which had been great to do.  Ryan has also started an online TEFL course which has opened up some opportunities as well.
    We both have been doing something after school everyday.  I do Yoga 2 days a week and  we both do ultimate frisbee 2-3 days a week.  This is just for fun and anyone can play at RIS.  Tomorrow is a tournament between Elementary, Middle and High School Staff's, should be a good time!  Even though it si 95-100 everyday with 100% humidity, we are getting used to just being sweaty whenever we spend a lot of time outside, and everyone is in the same boat so it really doesn't matter!

Birthday In Bangkok

This last weekend was Ryan's birthday so we decided to head downtown for Saturday-Sunday.  We took a bus then hoped on the BTS Skytrain at the victory monument  station.

 Our first stop was at a few breweries for some microbrews. It was a great change from what we have been drinking that is for sure!

After we checked into our hotel we met some friends out for dinner at a Tapas Cafe( where they served our red wine cold) .  Then went out for drinks at a rooftop bar called Above 11.  This had an amazing view of all of Bangkok.

 On the way back to the hotel was  a must top at the multiple VW vans that stop on the side of the street and set up a bar.  You are right on the side of the street with cars, scooters and people just walking by.

We stopped at a live music place and listened to some jazz before we called it a night.