Thailand

Okay so I finally getting some pictures up on the blog from Thailand, where we had a great time. The weather was great, the people were wonderful and it was our first time in Asia. We can't wait to go back to some more Asian countries. The culture is just so interesting. And there is so much to see!

So the first place we hit was the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Grand it was. It was HUGE. And very colorful.




We tried to make this guy smile, but he totally ignored us!



Shockingly, a crowd of people stopped us to stare and commence taking pictures of Max. The look on his face was "again? I'm sooooo sick of the paparrazi!"

More Grand Palace




We are guessing this means that we must be dressed properly....


On to cocktails on the river in front of our hotel. It was, quite frankly, the most frightening bar, in terms of safety, I have ever been in. It was on stilts literally as wide as my leg and listing to one side. We could see through the floor into the river. I can't believe we brought our child into this bar, but Singha, the local brew, was calling our name.


Please take note of the stilts....


So the next day, we took a tour of the floating market and on the way, stopped to ride an elephant!


Floating Market, an old trading area. People totally hounded us to buy tons of stuff and I'm proud to say we bought nothing!


Now, what is a trip to Bangkok without at least *looking* at the Red Light District? Here are Max and Keith taking in the sights. Notice how Max is absorbed in the sights and sounds.....yes, that's right, he FELL ASLEEP. But really, the Red Light district was quite tame, at least outside the clubs. There were however, many ladies (or perhaps men dressed as ladies?) offering us deals on women in the clubs. They would hold up a sign with photos of women and prices. I mean, really, we have a baby with us, do you honestly think we are the right target market????



MOving on to our awesome hotel in Phuket. Check it out.






One of the many outdoor bathrooms at the hotel. Awesome.

I love this picture of Peyton (our friend's daughter) and Keith. They are discussing something very intently, obviously.



These are our buds, Andrew and Jill, from Calgary. They live near us in Doha and we met up in Phuket for a few days.


Last but not least, here are some favorites from around the island. I love the first one because see how friendly he is? He's actually smiling. As my friend Dan pointed out, if I took a picture of a poor area of Chicago, the owner would probably be giving me the finger.

Doha in the 80s.

The below is a photo of Doha when the Sheraton, the first hotel was build.


This is Doha's downtown area today

Every day conversation

Yesterday, I happened to see a photography lab--one that I had not seen before. It looked relatively professional from the outside so I thought I would quickly pop in to ask about their services. Sounds simple, correct? Apparently not. The following is an actual conversation that happened.

Me: Hello, do you have a price sheet?

Lady: A what?

Me: A price sheet?

*Totally blank stare*

Me: hmmm, like a price list?

Lady: A what, madame?

Me: Prices? What are your prices?

Lady: Prices? *More blank stares from literally every person in the entire store, including customers"


Me: How much do you charge? What do you charge?

Lady: Charge, madame? For what?

Me: Printing pictures.

*Blank stare"

At this point, I honestly could not think of another way to phrase the question of "what are your prices".

We continued to stare at each other for another 15 seconds and I repeated.

Me: What do you charge for printing a photo?

Lady: OHHHHH!! A price for a photo? 6 riyal, maam, for a 6X9.

Me: Okay, any other sizes? Do you have a list?

Lady: *silence* *stare*

Me: Thank you, goodbye.

I'm thinking I'm not going to try out this particular photo la.

Parents visit and a trip to Jordan

So this month, my parents came to visit and we had a great time. During the visit, we all went to Jordan and discovered a fascinating country with really friendly people!

The beginning of my parents visit consisted of a trip to the grocery store, where my mom found some hilarious things to take pictures of. First off...
Why kid's food and cake are in the same area, I will never know. Actually I do know...because they love sweets and candy here. I think I've mentioned that Max is offered candy at least once a day by complete strangers. And they all look at me like I'm a freak when I say no.


So the next day, we went to a kid's carnival, which consisted of the most dangerous rides I've ever seen....none of them would have been cool in the U.S. My favorite was a kid's train, that had no railing or fence around it--just an electrified rail that a train was moving around on...and it played Christmas songs. Nothing like listening to Jingle Bells when it's 90 degrees out. Anyway, Max dared the slide (which was seriously taller than my house).


My mom and I took a walk around our compound the next day and found this interesting sign. It is SUPPOSED to say Assal Circle, but something went wrong here.


Moving on to the trip to Jordan. Wonderful is the only word to describe it. We stayed in Amman and took days trips to Jaresh, a HUGE Roman ruin's site, which rivals Rome itself, and Umm Qays, another site of ruins. Then on the third day, we went to Petra and the Dead Sea.
On our first stop in Umm Qays, Keith and I were walking with Max and we were suddenly MOBBED by high school girls on field trips. All staring at Max and wanting to hold him and practice their English. We looked up and there had to be 50 sixteen year olds surrounding us. it was hilarious. Yelling, "What's your name?" "What's his name (pointing to Max)", "Let us see his eyes, are they blue?" "We love U.S." and "How do you like Jordan?" We felt like the Rolling Stones! Anyway, here are some examples!


Later on, I was walking by myself and got mobbed by girls. It was like I was Britney Spears. I couldn't decide if it was fun or scary!
So the next day we went to Jaresh, which was simply amazing.





Along the journeys, we stopped many times for various pictures. Camels for example.

And Turkeys.

Here we are in a church that as the oldest mosaics in the world. While Keith made a new friend (what else is new?), Max hammed it up as usual.

Cutie

Some more scenics....



On to the main reason we went to Jordan....Petra. It's been my mom's dream for a long time and my dream for at least 10 years to see this and pictures can't even do it justice, but here it is.









In keeping with tradition, George was there too.

Dead Sea! Dead Sea! Totally fun and it was the weirdest feeling to float without trying. You could literally stand in the water and not touch the bottom.


Covered in Dead Sea mud....notice Max's head in the lower left corner, looking at us like we are nuts. Which we are.


That's all for the trip! But one last thing. Today they were having a blood drive at the Rec Center. Here is the sign to advertise giving blood.

I leave you with that to think about.

Some random Dubai photos

Recycling in Qatar

Recycling and anything "green" is somewhat of an unknown in Doha. They simply don't understand yet how important these things are here and a lot goes to waste. Word on the street is that when Doha was bidding for the Olympics, there were recycling bins everywhere to try to impress the Olympic committee, but as soon as they lost the bid, the bins disappeared.

So imagine my surprise when I saw a big sign at my grocery store that they were selling reusable bags to bring to the store. The bags are only QR .50 (like 10 cents), so I thought, "why not--if I can't recycle, at least I can do something and brings bags to the grocery store."

So I told the clerk that I would like to purchase some with my groceries. I bought my food, paid for everything, and returned to my car with my shopping cart. Upon loading the trunk, I looked inside my reusable bags. Inside were all my groceries, PACKED INTO PLASTIC BAGS AND THEN PUT INTO THE REUSABLE BAG THAT I HAD BOUGHT! Now wouldn't common sense tell you that the purpose of these reusable bags is to avoid using plastic bags? But here in Doha, trying to explain common sense to someone is just too tiring.

Another very funny thing that they do here: There is a not a lot of loose change here--it's mainly bills, so if you are due some change after you pay for something, you usually get one of the following: a pack of chewing gum, a small piece of candy or an entry form to win whatever car is on display in the mall that week. We have never won the car.

So Keith and I have made some purchases lately that are probably going to prevent us from going on a vacation anytime soon (except Jordan next month). First we found a guy that travels all over the middle east buying items and teak wood and making things. We bought these two items from him...



Then, since we are enjoying our first backyard, we bought some items for Max. It's like an amusement park back there.


Yesterday we had a playgroup with 2 year olds. It was me, Max and twelve 2 year olds and their moms. Needless to say, it was quite chaotic, but tons of fun. I met more people from UK and New Zealand, plus another lady from Illinois!

Here are Max and Jaydn, one of his "friends"


More kids and moms

Heidi and her two month old


Well there is nothing else to report! Until next time!