Mini Adventures in Thailand

Over the past few weeks I've had a few big adventures--a week in Thailand and 3 days in Madurai, and lots of mini-adventures in between. I'm back in Chennai now and back at work...it's always sad to see the holidays and vacations end, but it is nice to get back into daily routine for awhile...until the next vacation that is! I'll let the pictures narrate the stories!

Thailand is just a hop, skip and a jump away from India, but it took two flights and about 8 hours to get there. Plus, there was a potential immigration problem in India--my innocent smile solved it. And then in Thailand they didn't want to accept my domestic ticket--again, smiling seemed to do the trick! :) I arrived after an all night flight just in time for breakfast and a day exploring the island.

On my first day on the island, my parents took me literally around the ENTIRE island. We stopped at a beautiful beach for lunch, at the elephant safari to feed the baby, some sight-seeing, and for a little shopping.

No visit to Koh Samui is complete without a stop at the BIG BUDDHA!

My parents rented a jeep for my visit. It was great to have wheels to get around the island, but it was VERY small and barely sat 2, much less 3--with no shocks whatsever! No wonder Thai massage is so popular!

Hot Damn! I haven't seen a super market like this in....hmm? Actually, not sure I ever have! It was incredibly huge and so well organized. It was clean, the food looked fresh and delicious and there was almost NOBODY in it--EVER! I had to sneak a few pictures and then I was told by the staff that photographs were not allowed. Sadly, mega super markets mostly cater to the tourist industry in Thailand, and with the global economic crisis and the airport closure, there are almost no tourists in Thailand this year. Places like these are really suffering! Moral of the story: go grocery shopping in Thailand!

Lucky for me, my parents are in Thailand for several months and are staying in a bungalow, not a hotel. We were able to eat breakfast at home, make our own coffee, watch the news, and generally just relax in their flat when we weren't out and about or on the beach. And lucky for them, their bungalow complex comes with a restaurant next to a pond (with killer koi) and the swimming pool. The cooks are fabulous and everything I ate there was amazing: crispy chicken salad, lemon chicken salad, mixed vegetables, green curry, and of course pad thai to die for!

How can you beat this, really? Swim in the ocean or in the pool--take your pick! Both are amazing. And here is the best part...because all the resorts are hurting for tourists, they don't seem to care if you just walk in and go for a swim. So that is what we did...over and over again. It was like a luxury resort pool tour of Koh Samui. I wish I could have stayed longer cause I only got to see a handful of pools.

Absolutely the best pineapple and mango you've ever eaten! This very hardworking man walks up and down the beach all day with this hanging on this shoulders waiting for hungry tourists to buy fruit or roasted corn from him. It is worth every baht! The mango melted in my mouth!

Besides beaches, pools and finding more delicious food, we visited a few temples as well. This one was particularly beautiful...a temple sitting in a lotus floating on a lake. Besides big bellied Buddha and 10-armed Buddha, they also had shrines to Shiva, Ganesh and Parvathy. I guess Hinduism made it to this tiny little island! And surprise, surprise, surprise...the Evangelicals have made it to the island as well. We were invited to a Christmas service at the Evagelical Mission. Out of curiosity and hoping for some traditional christmas carols, we went. We lasted about 20 minutes before we started poking each other and asking how best we could sneak out. The best part was their version of the Christmas story which they adapted to their context to make it easier for the kids to understand. In their version, Joseph and Mary are turned away at the inns because it's high season! Gotta love it!

How did this happen on vacation? I got dragged into helping my parents teach two classes! I guess it is only fair after I dragged them around my classes in Japan. But still...I was on vacation! It was interesting to compare Thai and Indian schools. Even though my parents think these kids are a bunch of trouble-makers, they were angles compared to the inner-city Chennai kids I teach! Although, there was one boy in the 6th grade class who put a plastic bag over another kids head and tried to suffocate him. He learned the wrath of Sista K real fast and was great for the rest of class, he even completed the assignment!

Yet another delicious meal--hot pot Thai style! They give you the hot pot and you go through a line and pick out all the vegetables, meats, fish, and noodles that you want to add to it. My mom was a bit skeptical of the meat because it was just sitting out and she saw the waiters putting unused raw meat from another table back onto the buffet. Whatever! It all tasted great!

Beach time!! I want more beach time! Notice how blue and clear and clean the water is. In India, I live 10 minutes by walk from the beach and it looks and smells like a sewer. So sad!
One of the days we took a few ferries to another island for snorkeling. There wasn't enough time (there never is) but it was great to be in the water with lots of brightly colored fish of all shapes and sizes. Oh, tropical vacation, I love you!

Another pic from the beautiful snorkeling island! Also notice, how very little clothing one is allowed to wear in Thailand--shorts, bikini tops, exposed skin? What a refreshing change!
Oh, tropical paradise, why did I ever leave you?

A Christmas Eve Mai Tai! I think this is a new holiday ritual for our family. No more egg nog. No more mint hot chocolate with Baileys! We're buying pineapples, rum, fruit juice and orchids for our next Christmas celebration.

Christmas eve dinner on the beach, feet in the sand! We ate chicken satay, pad thai, massuman curry, and fruit for dessert. Who needs traditions when you have tropical beaches in Thailand? I sure didn't miss the ridiculous shopping frenzy, plates of Christmas cookies or all the obligatory cards and gifts. Family, good food and a few Christmas carols in the background...what else do you need?

Christmas Day dinner the bungalow staff put on a HUGE spread of food. There was a present exchange, I got a dry iron--so useful! I love useful gifts! But it was raining for most of the evening, so we sat and ate under an umbrella. Our contribution was our famous fudge--always a big hit. That's one tradition that's hard to give up!

Going back to the airport is always bittersweet, especially when they don't want to let you on the plane cause your ticket is invalid! Again, just smile--it seems to work! I took FULL advantage of the Bangkok airport experience because where I come from I can't eat fresh green leafy vegetables or drink deliciously expensive corporate coffee. Desperatly conservative conditions at home also call for desperate credit card measures--my first ever stop at Duty Free!

New Years Transitions

This year I spent my New Years holiday in Mamallapuram, India, on a British Airways flight and in Sussex, England. Here's what it looked like:

New Years Eve--Our last family meal together poolside at Ideal Beach Resort. The buffet dinner came complete with a choice of continental, Chinese, tandoori, S.Indian, N.Indian, or Sri Lankan cuisine. While eating dinner we were entertained with classical music, classical dance, a folk performance and comedy sketches by the staff. It was a very festive meal in a beautiful resort in Southern India--a day of good-byes to people and places!


New Years Day--Just hours later, I was walking around the countryside of Sussex with my aunt and uncle. I saw beautiful tree lined lanes, old churches, sheep and horses grazing and it was significantly COLDER!


New Years Day Dinner--chicken, beans & mushrooms and cous cous! A delicious reintroduction to western cuisine with family I haven't seen in years! It was a very warm welcome to a new and very chilly country!

A New Year - Purposeful Reflection

A 'year' is a measure bounded by time, defined by calendars, and followed by billions. We use it to measure life cycles, births and deaths. We use it to remember and record historical events and natural disasters. We use past years to reflect on where we came from and future years to plan where we are going. With each passing year, I find myself in different countries, attempting to speak different languages and negotiating different cultures. So as another year comes to pass, I too reflect on what I've accomplished and the places I've been.

A year ago, I found myself ringing in the New Year with my parents, aunts and friends on Mt. Hood--snowboarding, watching movies, cooking and eating delicious food and playing games. This year I'll be ringing in the New Year with my family on a beach on the Bay of Bengal in South India--swimming in the pool, lounging in a hammock, dipping my fingers into a spicy curry and packing my bags because just hours after the clock strikes midnight, I'll be on a plane bound for London.

In the last year I've completed a year of my MA studies, finished a 3 year term in Japan and said good-bye to many friends there. I've traveled through Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal and India. I've traveled by trains, ferries, buses, planes and jeeps, sometimes for days at a time. I've swam in Lake Baikal in Siberia, puked Peking Duck in Beijing, argued with a Chinese imposter monk at Ganden Monastery in Tibet, climbed to 18,000ft in the Annapurnas of Nepal, made friends with Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala, visited old friends and family in Madurai, planted research seeds in Chennai and soaked up the sun at Ideal Beach (again). Looking back on the year--time seemingly passed quickly from one event and location to the next. But a review of the year reminds me about how much can be accomplished, seen and experienced in a year. Not to mention how many new friends can be made, how many different foods can be tried and how many different cities can be visited! I'm thankful for the last year and the adventures and experiences I've been fortunate to have. A year is a long time and should not be wasted or taken for granted! And perhaps doesn't need to be marked as such because time continues, life continues regardless of the date on the calendar.

I don't know what the next year will bring for me or my family, but I foresee more great adventures and therefore endless learning experiences! By visiting new places, meeting new people and challenging my own beliefs and values I feel real growth and learning takes place!

However, if a 'year' marks a time or phase in one's life, I'm not sure how relevant it is to me. People often ask me "When will you settle down?" or "When will you come back to the US?" But my life isn't marked by phases of international travel--my life incorporates travel, different cultures, meeting new people and exploring new places! The 'New Year' holiday does allow us all time for reflection and marks a change in the date...I'll be marking that date change by leaving one continent and arriving in another. However, ultimately our lives continue, the pause for reflection is but a brief moment...the adventure keeps going.

May your New Year holiday be both a time of reflection as well as a purposeful movement towards accomplishing and living out your life goals!