The Elephant ride (2)

Hey! Sorry I didn't post yesterday when we got back, like I promised to. It was sorta late when we got home, and after dinner we went, like, right to bed.

It was awesome! Kali and I went on the elephant together, and it was great. We fed the baby elephant that kept drooling on my pants with it's trunk when it reached up- :P. Kali says that she liked the baby best (she is again sitting right next to me), but I still didn't like the drooling part.

Next was the hike to the waterfall. It was so pretty! But Kali got muddy on the way up and down the steep muddy slope because crocks (the shoes) don't have much friction. The way back from the waterfall was great, we had to cross rivers and stuff. Tropical forests are so full of life, we must have seen thousands of butterflies and birds on the way.

Last of all was the bamboo rafting. (We couldn't bring a camera on it unless it was waterproof- which it's not- so there's not a picture. Sorry!) It was fun, since I had made sure that we brought our swimsuits (Bob and Sherri didn't listen, so they got their clothes wet), but I didn't like the guy that poled the raft. It was like he was making fun at us! When Kali or I would laugh, for instance, he would imitate us in a high-pitched squeaky voice. Humph- grumble grumble grumble. I really didn't like him.

So that was our day! It was good, although comparing it to the other one, some parts were good, some bad. All in all, it was an fine day.

Kali, Bob, and Sherri

Yay! My BFF Kali and her parents Bob and Sherri have come! I am so happy! They flew all the way from Colorado to Seattle, then from Seattle to Seoul ( in South Korea) and then to Bangkok. She says that it took forever to find a taxi to take them to our house (she's sitting right next to me as I type this).

They actually got in around 10:00 pm and spent the first night in Bangkok. The next day they flew out and came to our house.

It was so fun showing them around! We went all around the Old City, and then went to the night market. We bought a lot of things, kimonos for Sherri and Kali, little presents and trinkets... it was awesome!

We ate dinner at a nice seafood place (I got the only dish that didn't have seafood in it), and then went right home because they were feeling a little overwhelmed and really tired.

Also, today we are going to go on the elephant/hike/bamboo rafting thing, except Dad sadly isn't coming. Oh well, it's gonna be great! So expect another post later today!

Bye.

I can't really think up a title right now...

Well, we did it! we went all the way to Burma and back!

We got up at 6:15, and went to the bus station at 7:00. Our bus left at 8:00. It was a loooong drive- five hours, from 8:00am to 1:00pm. Then we just walked across the border and got our visas. Then, after a three-hour wait, we got back on the bus. I am glad, however, that Dad managed to get the bus that he did- it was very comfortable. There were big seats that could recline 45 degrees, and you had a lot of room. On the way back there was a James Bond movie- one that I'm glad they put on because the dialog and language doesn't matter- for it was in Thai.

We got home at around 8:00 pm. We were so tired that we got something to eat and went straight to bed. Even though it was not a fun day, it was necessary nonetheless. Next time that we need to renew our visas will be the time that Mom is here, so she can go somewhere with me and Dad can go with our friend Kate to Laos.

Well, I have to go eat breakfast, so have a nice day, everyone!

We wish you a Merry Christmas... and a happy New Year!

I wish you a Merry Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

Ah, Christmas time, the time of snow, (*looks at thermometer, reads 80 degrees.*) Christmas carols, ("chirp, chirp."), and holiday cheer ("Boo!")! And don't forget presents! (Lets see.. this Christmas I got a... paperclip. Yay!) Oh, speaking of presents, they will be late if they're coming from me, since I haven't sent them out yet, plus I have to send them out to my mom and then she'll send them to you. Thankies for being patient!

Also, on Wednesday I will be gone, because of our visas. (A visa is an official endorsement on a passport or other document required to secure a foreign person admission to a country. You get a length of time for the visa, and if you do not get a new visa or leave the country by that time, you have to pay a fine.) Ours have only 30 days on them, and so we either have to go and cross a border or pay a lot to get more days, and we decided to cross the border and then come back. So our day will be like this: Got up, leave at 8:00, five hour drive to the border with Burma, change our visas at a 3-hour break, and then come back for 5 hours. It will take around 13 hours, and we will get back late at night. Whew, that's gonna be a lot of sitting!

Well, sadly, I have to go.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!!

Today's stuff

This morning was mostly a morning out, although it didn't start out very well. Guess what I did this morning? I fainted! Dad was trying to get the earring through my ear, but it wouldn't go. Then I got really queasy and, well, fainted!

We went out for breakfast on our motorcycle (we rented a motorcycle, by the way). That banana pancake was good! We then decided that, while we were out, we should do some stuff. Why not?

First we went to get me a haircut. I really needed it, I guess. Well, if I want to grow my hair long as I've always dreamed of, I have to cut it, right? (Are there too many commas in there?)

Then we went to-finally- go feed the fishes in the park! we got a couple pics in,but they didn't turn out very well. The fish there are huge! I mean, two feet long huge! ( around 2/3 meter.) We brought the stale bread that we never got around to eating before it went stale. We had an idea of selling bread for around 5-10 bat (30 bat to a US dollar.)

After a while of reading in the park, we went to lunch and came back here. So that was our fun morning out!

Thailand-the country of eating!

You know, when you think of Thailand, you don't think of food, do you? Italy's the food place, right? Not to me, it isn't! Thailand has foods from all over the world- American, Japanese, Thai, Chinese... the list goes on and on! Dad and I don't even eat at home anymore! All we do is go out, and the life is good.

One of our fave restaurants is right across the street from us. It is a Japanese restaurant, and it is good. My favorite dishes are breaded pork on rice, and teriyaki-style chicken with small dishes of rice, soup-of-the-day, and fruits. Dad usually gets Sushi.

I've also found that I love noodles, and meatballs. There are typically 3 kinds of noodles: the rice noodles- thin white noodles-, the glass (?) noodles- wide and almost see through-, and egg noodles- like rice noodles except they're yellow, a result of being cooked with egg-.

There are so many Thai foods to try here, so many that I don't hunger for hamburgers! Thailand really is a great country.

The cooking class

Hey! Dad and I did something really cool yesterday! I guess I forgot to tell you this, but Dad signed us up for a Thai cooking class. So we went on Thursday, and it rocked! The place was out in the countryside, and there was an organic farm there, so all the vegetable ingredients were grown right there and wouldn't have any chemicals on them or anything.

The first thing we did was drive to the local market. On the way there, other people were picked up, and we were surprised to see the family that we had met and talked to the other day! (One of them, Sasha, who is around 20 years old, has a blog about her semester in Thailand. If you want to see it, the URL is: http://sashainthailand07.blogspot.com) At the local market we learned about rice and looked around. Then we continued on to the farm.

When we got to the farm, we went and looked at the plants that we were going to use in our cooking. Some of the plants were: chilies, basil, parsley, and eggplant.

The first thing we cooked was red/green curry with chicken. We started out on a balcony over the river that was there, but then moved into the building. We had to pound the curry stuff, and fry the chicken. The dishes were relatively easy, and small. Next on the agenda was chicken with cashews and veggies. This we did inside. Everyone had their own cooking stations, which I really liked. After the chicken with cashews, we made papaya salad. Then it was time for lunch. Everything was delicious!!

After a two-hour break, we made one more dish and dessert. The other dish was stir-fried noodles with tofu. (I LOVE TOFU! MINE MINE MINE!) The dessert was mango with sticky rice- that mango was the best I have ever tasted!

That was such a good day, even though I don't remember any of the recipes or nutin'. So, I have made Thai food! Yay, me! Congratulate me or I won't give you cookies! Grr! (I apologize for my moments of total insanity, people. JUST LIVE WITH IT!)

Well, everything must come to an end, including this post. Let's all shed a tear of... of whatever. *Moment of silence* okigottagonowihaveadoctorsappointmentorwhatever. *Rushes out. And, then from outside you hear "I'M FREEE!* :D

The movie, the park, and the fish

Hello, everybody! Dad and I have gone all over town in the last few days. On Sunday we decided to go to a movie- The Golden Compass. I'm sure you've heard of it before. But I recommend reading the book instead of watching the movie- the book is always better.

At the mall that is near us there is a cinema. We went there and were going to see a movie but we found out that the English-made movies were in Thai and the Thai-made movies were in English. So the Golden Compass was in Thai. But the movie theater in the Airport plaza had it in English! So we rented a motorcycle on Sunday and tried to go there. But we ended up going to the Sunday market first, and the movie at 3:30 instead of 1:30. The movie was great, but like I said the book is better.

Then, on Monday, we went out again. We had seen on our map that there was a national park close by. So we went- and it was awesome (sorry we don't have any pictures)! There was a pond that had all these other ponds connected to it, and I assume they go all through the park. And there was this platform that was connected to the bank but goes out into the lake that you can sit at and look at the pigeons. And guess what the cool part is? There were all these fish in the lake! there were tiny tiny ones that you could barely see swimming right beneath the water, and big carp that swim at the bottom. You know how I knew that those carp were there if I couldn't see them? because the people on the bench next to us were throwing bread crumbs in the water and the carp were coming up and eating them. They were huge! And Dad says that when we get a chance we will go and feed them! And this time we will bring the camera so that i can take pictures for you to see.

Gotta go, now! Bye.

The tour

Hey, everybody! Yesterday was one of the most exciting days of my life.

Dad had signed us up for a little tour, where we would go out and do a whole bunch of stuff. There were 6 people besides us, an Australian couple and 4 Israelis.
Guess what the first thing we did was? We rode an elephant!!! I nicknamed her Elly. Elephants have really tough skin, and a big appetite. We got some treats for her for 20b there, and every few steps she stopped and put up her trunk to ask for another one! In front of us there was a elephant and her baby. The baby was so cute.

After the elephant ride, which took about 1 hour, we went on a little hike after stopping at a tribal village. The forest is so beautiful there, with all the green plants and the butterflies... oh, it was heaven. Our destination was a secluded waterfall. It was great, and there was a bamboo woven bridge to the other side, and everything! And on the other side was a little shop, and the shopkeeper owned 2 cats, and she let me hold one! The one I held was mostly white, but she had a black and orange striped tail, some black and orange spots on her back, and a black and orange top of head and ears. The other one was just black and white. They were so small and soft! Our tour guide, Wi (pronounced we) took some pictures of us on her cell phone and she's going to send them to me via email. We ate a good lunch when we got back, and continued on to our next activity, white water rafting!

The white water rafting was awesome! We went on a raft with the Australian couple. I got totally soaked! It was a bamboo raft, and water came in through the gaps in between the trunks. And then some of the drivers got into a splashing contest with me as the target!
The river was so peaceful, and we just floated. Near the end, the driver asked for two people to get off. Dad and the other guy got off, so it was only the girls on there. Then we went down a mini waterfall! Seriously, it was only water running over an average-sized boulder, but boy it was fun! All too soon the rafting was over, and we went home soaking wet because we didn't bring towels.

Like I said, yesterday was a 9 on the scale from 1-10, and that's almost the highest you can go! You can't really do a 10, can you, because it means that nothing could be better, and there's always something better. But you can do a 9 1/2, or 9 3/4, can't you? Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Goodbye, everyone, and I hope that your day was as good as mine!

Filling you in

Hey!
We finally got Internet, and it's much sooner than I thought! So now it's time for a little fill-in.

The plane rides coming here were fine, despite having to shlep 8 bags across at least 10 countries. The really cool thing about one of them is that each seat had it's own personal TV!

When we got to Thailand, we went and we checked into The Suriwongse (Sir-i-wong-say) Hotel in Chaing Mai after a short flight from Bangkok. We stayed there for a couple nights, but then we got kicked out because the hotel was full. So we moved down the block to the Downtown Inn.

Also, I got new glasses! Since I'm only 11 and my eyes are still changing, I need new glasses around every 6 months. I really love these!

Then, on Monday of the following week, we moved into this apartment.

It's a two-bedroom apartment. My bedroom is the one with the pink blanket. It's the smaller one, but it gets more sun and I like it better. It's ironic, since Dad wanted the one I didn't want, so it all works out.

The kitchen and living room are nice, too. The kitchen has everything we could possibly need, including dishes and a fridge. The living room is spacious, and has a couch and 2 other chairs. It also has our computer table, which is very handy.

But I think the best part of all, even better than the Cable TV, is the balcony. it is so cool, and I've always wanted a balcony. Both of our rooms have a door leading to it. We are thinking of getting a little table and some chairs and putting them out there.

I really like the location of the house. It is very near a wat, a kind of a church where people go and pray to the Buddha. It is also near the mall. I really do love this place!

For the past few days, Dad and I have been exploring the "'hood" and Chaing Mai. Thailand is such a great place. I have a feeling that my time here will be wonderful.

P.S.-You know that story that I wrote that's link is on the sidebar? Well, I'm changing it. It is now going to be the link to my account homepage on the site where I write my stories. Now you can read all of the stories that I have written! Thanks!

Thailand!

OhMyGosh, its been so long since I've written! Almost 12 days!

Well, we finally found a house after, like, 5 days of searching the city from top to bottom. We even had multiple realtors helping us! It isn't really a house, it's a two-bedroom apartment (Eli, don't get mad at Dad for this) in the Old City. What's the Old City? The Old City was built in around 1200 A.D. Today you can still see the walls and the moat, although there isn't much left of the walls anymore. Chaing Mai is the oldest continuously lived-in city in Thailand.

Before we found the apartment, we were living in a hotel situated inside the Night Market. The Night Market is where people trying to earn a little extra money set up stalls and sell stuff for a cheap price. It is very cool, and there are even people from the four tribes that go there and try to sell stuff.

I won't be able to post a lot now, and I'm sorry that there isn't any pics in this post, but I'm in an Internet cafe right now. I will post little things now and then, but in a week or so we will have Internet and I will fill you in. But don't forget to keep coming!

Camping

Hi, I managed to get another post in before we went to Thailand! This is about the camping trip with Simon and Orit.

Batiya and Shir didn't come on the camping trip after all. The first day we drove 3.5 hours to the camping stop. But here's something funny- we stopped at a gas station on the way, and there was a black cat there. Simon decided to adopt him on the way back! But- guess what?- this gas station is the same exact gas station that me and Mom's tour bus stopped at on our way back from Egypt, and I pet the same exact cat, too! Weird.

Anyway, we got to the camping spot at around midnight. Apparently people used to be able to camp anywhere they wanted to, but now there is a 'designated' camping area. There were a lot of people there, too. We slept like rocks- well, everyone except Dad did.

The next day we woke up early, had a breakfast of French toast cooked on the fire, and went on a 2 hour walk to a place Orit and Simon knew out in the desert.

The place turned out to be a natural pool of water that you could swim in. It was freezing cold, so you had to wear a t-shirt on top of your swim suit. I went in- brrr!- and stayed in for 20 minutes. I also managed to coax everyone else in for a few, even Orit, who can't stand the cold!
It was very nice, although I overdid the pool thing, I couldn't warm up until we started walking back.

After we got back to the campsite we went and met up with some friends. But on the way there, we passed through a crater named Maktesh Ramon crater. It wasn't made by a meteoroid, I can tell you that. It is one of the four in the world, three are in Israel. This is the biggest one in Israel, approximately 300 meters deep, 8 km wide, and 40 km long. It was really cool. All along the bottom was volcanic activity, and there were all these different-colored patches of rock and ground. Wow.

We met up with some of Simon and Orit's friends and drove out to a different campsite than before together. It was this big place, and there was a ring of rocks to mark the boundaries of the camping places. The people that went with us to the campground slept with us and everything. There was a couple and their kids (I can't remember the names, sorry). We built a campfire and had a dinner of dahl on rice and stir-fried veggies.

The next day we packed up and drove home. We didn't get the cat after all, he wouldn't came so that we could get him in the car :(

Let me tell you, it feels good to be home!Wish me luck in Thailand!