the tradition continues. i came up with a list of things to do in the year of 32. i realize that it is september and my birthday was in june so i'm a little late with this post. i'm working on the procrastination (see number #23). since it's been two months since my birthday, i've already completed several of my goals (so i'm not a total loser). i am also in the middle of scuba certification (to complete last year's goals). i completed the academic and pool portions. i just have the ocean dives left. we've had a tropical storm passing through here so the sea conditions haven't been good enough to dive. hopefully this week the weather will calm down and i'll be able to finish up! here are my goals:
1. blog once a month2. run 10k and or half marathon3. inventory all home goods for renter's insurance-done4. go to Australia and New Zealand 5. pay more attention to current events 6. bench press 100 lbs7. squat my weight8. try 32 new recipes/foods9. do at least one act of kindness everyday10. watch an hour or less TV a day11. organize mp3 and digital pix12. organize pinterest and email13. learn how to use power tools14. grow own herbs and use for cooking15. see movie in Japanese theater-done16. get full kimono outfit and display17. go to Keramas-done18. go to Kyoto-done19. make frames for new artwork20. organize documents for emergency kit-done21. hike Mt. Nago 22. learn 32 new Japanese words23. procrastinate less24. do something that scares me25. focus on relationships more than tasks26. be able to paint right hand nails as well as left hand nails 27. master the art of small talk28. find something I'm passionate about29. smile more30. pay off undergrad 31. meet a real geisha-done32. learn how to really use my camera
Monday, September 2, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
the year of 31 in review
1. hike mt. fuji-i knocked this off my list pretty quickly. hiking mt. fuji was rough but i learned that i have some serious endurance, even if i wanted to die most of the hike.
2. live to be 32-success!
3. make 5 new friends-success! it's a constant effort here because people are always coming and going.
4. avoid great white shark breeding grounds (contributed by my bro, Josh)-success!
5. visit at least 3 new countries-this past year i made it to thailand, taiwan, hong kong, and macau. i also went to mainland several times, which if you have ever been to okinawa you know that mainland is essentially a different country.
6. get SCUBA certified-sad face. i was all scheduled to go and then i got sent on a last minute, extended business trip to mainland. mostly it's my own fault because i waited until the very last minute to work on this goal. i'm still going to get SCUBA certified so all is not lost.
7. grow my hair out-success! it's past shoulder length. i'm getting really tempted to chop it again...
8. get a will-as morbid and depressing as it was, i created a simple will and living will for myself. turns out i'm worth way more dead than alive. creepy.
9. get a japanese massage-i got a massage in tokyo right after hiking mt. fuji. really, really not relaxing but mostly that was because my calves were in knots.
10. go to tokyo disneyland-this was my reward for hiking mt. fuji. the japanese love disney. like a lot.
11. go to the states at least once-i made it twice. both times, i was at a course for work and then got to jet over to utah to visit family and friends.
12. get master in addiction counseling certification-success! i was so nervous about this one because my employment was contingent on me passing the test. thankfully, i aced it and am officially a MAC.
13. read more than i watch tv-i did really well with this until i got apple tv. apple tv makes it way too easy to lay on the couch and watch hours of tv because it's all at my fingertips. being in a hotel with stupid military tv has helped me cut way back on my tv time again.
14. save my cost of living money every month-i did well on this 90% of the time. i have to admit, i sometimes used it to travel instead but i have definitely increased my savings account quite a bit.
15. learn basics of japanese-50% success. i can say the necessary things like thank you, please, yes, no, i'm sorry, excuse me, good, i don't understand, 1-10, water, tea, good morning, good day, good evening, and that's probably it. i have gotten fluent in pointing, motioning, etc. if that counts for anything.
16. walk the seawall by my house every night-fail. i did walk the seawall a quarter of the time. i'm always glad when i do because being that close to the ocean is cathartic.
17. use my vitamix everyday-success! in fact, i miss my vitamix when i'm traveling or on a business trip. it's changed my eating life.
18. use less store bought items, make more things myself-success! i also switched over to all natural products. i'm still in the process of getting rid of some non-natural products but i'm almost 100% all natural!
19. blog once a week-epic fail. for some reason, blogging seems so hard and tedious to me. maybe it's because i don't know how to really make the blog pretty or user friendly. i'm going to shoot for a more reasonable goal this year.
20. email a friend/family member once a week-sucess! i actually didn't email that often but i did write a lot of letters and cards which i think counts.
21. actually do the things i pin on pinterest-success! i use the recipes i find on pinterest all of the time. i am not as good about doing some of the crafts because i'm limited to what i can get here and i don't have a good space to do bigger diy things like re-do furniture.
22. get five stars on just dance-success! just dance is my favorite thing. it's the only thing i use my xbox for. well, that and the michael jackson experience.
23. read 5 classics-success! man, i waited until the very last minute with this. i was feverishly reading every waking moment until 2 days before my birthday trying to finish the last book. i read The Count of Monte Cristo, which is a 1000+ pages. I really liked The Count of Monte Cristo but i ran out of time so i chose shorter books for the other four: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Alice in Wonderland, and The Great Gatsby.
24. be active in my ward-success!
25. get laser hair removal-success! i am in the process of getting my underarms and legs done. i'm probably half way done. it's going to magical when i'm done. magical.
26. sew one thing-fail. i also left this until the last minute and then couldn't do it because of my business trip. i am going to make some couch pillows, eventually.
27. keep a daily gratitude journal-50% success. i did really well for a while and then kind of sucked at it. i do notice a different when i make an effort to notice things that i am grateful for.
28. use my craft supplies-50% success. i did use some of my craft supplies. i also gave a bunch away.
29. decorate for every holiday-i decorated the crap out of my house. i also did festive activities such as decorating gingerbread houses, making and decorating sugar cookies, dying easter eggs, etc. holidays are more fun when i make more of an effort to celebrate them.
30. only buy things i really love-95% success. i would be able to do better in the states but sometimes i have to buy something here i don't totally love but need.
31. cut back on dairy intake-80% success. when i cook at home i don't use any dairy and i try to steer clear of it but it's hard when i go to someone else's house or out to eat. i do feel tons better when i don't have it at all.
see a future post for my list of 32 things in the year of 32.
2. live to be 32-success!
3. make 5 new friends-success! it's a constant effort here because people are always coming and going.
4. avoid great white shark breeding grounds (contributed by my bro, Josh)-success!
5. visit at least 3 new countries-this past year i made it to thailand, taiwan, hong kong, and macau. i also went to mainland several times, which if you have ever been to okinawa you know that mainland is essentially a different country.
6. get SCUBA certified-sad face. i was all scheduled to go and then i got sent on a last minute, extended business trip to mainland. mostly it's my own fault because i waited until the very last minute to work on this goal. i'm still going to get SCUBA certified so all is not lost.
7. grow my hair out-success! it's past shoulder length. i'm getting really tempted to chop it again...
8. get a will-as morbid and depressing as it was, i created a simple will and living will for myself. turns out i'm worth way more dead than alive. creepy.
9. get a japanese massage-i got a massage in tokyo right after hiking mt. fuji. really, really not relaxing but mostly that was because my calves were in knots.
10. go to tokyo disneyland-this was my reward for hiking mt. fuji. the japanese love disney. like a lot.
11. go to the states at least once-i made it twice. both times, i was at a course for work and then got to jet over to utah to visit family and friends.
12. get master in addiction counseling certification-success! i was so nervous about this one because my employment was contingent on me passing the test. thankfully, i aced it and am officially a MAC.
13. read more than i watch tv-i did really well with this until i got apple tv. apple tv makes it way too easy to lay on the couch and watch hours of tv because it's all at my fingertips. being in a hotel with stupid military tv has helped me cut way back on my tv time again.
14. save my cost of living money every month-i did well on this 90% of the time. i have to admit, i sometimes used it to travel instead but i have definitely increased my savings account quite a bit.
15. learn basics of japanese-50% success. i can say the necessary things like thank you, please, yes, no, i'm sorry, excuse me, good, i don't understand, 1-10, water, tea, good morning, good day, good evening, and that's probably it. i have gotten fluent in pointing, motioning, etc. if that counts for anything.
16. walk the seawall by my house every night-fail. i did walk the seawall a quarter of the time. i'm always glad when i do because being that close to the ocean is cathartic.
17. use my vitamix everyday-success! in fact, i miss my vitamix when i'm traveling or on a business trip. it's changed my eating life.
18. use less store bought items, make more things myself-success! i also switched over to all natural products. i'm still in the process of getting rid of some non-natural products but i'm almost 100% all natural!
19. blog once a week-epic fail. for some reason, blogging seems so hard and tedious to me. maybe it's because i don't know how to really make the blog pretty or user friendly. i'm going to shoot for a more reasonable goal this year.
20. email a friend/family member once a week-sucess! i actually didn't email that often but i did write a lot of letters and cards which i think counts.
21. actually do the things i pin on pinterest-success! i use the recipes i find on pinterest all of the time. i am not as good about doing some of the crafts because i'm limited to what i can get here and i don't have a good space to do bigger diy things like re-do furniture.
22. get five stars on just dance-success! just dance is my favorite thing. it's the only thing i use my xbox for. well, that and the michael jackson experience.
23. read 5 classics-success! man, i waited until the very last minute with this. i was feverishly reading every waking moment until 2 days before my birthday trying to finish the last book. i read The Count of Monte Cristo, which is a 1000+ pages. I really liked The Count of Monte Cristo but i ran out of time so i chose shorter books for the other four: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Alice in Wonderland, and The Great Gatsby.
24. be active in my ward-success!
25. get laser hair removal-success! i am in the process of getting my underarms and legs done. i'm probably half way done. it's going to magical when i'm done. magical.
26. sew one thing-fail. i also left this until the last minute and then couldn't do it because of my business trip. i am going to make some couch pillows, eventually.
27. keep a daily gratitude journal-50% success. i did really well for a while and then kind of sucked at it. i do notice a different when i make an effort to notice things that i am grateful for.
28. use my craft supplies-50% success. i did use some of my craft supplies. i also gave a bunch away.
29. decorate for every holiday-i decorated the crap out of my house. i also did festive activities such as decorating gingerbread houses, making and decorating sugar cookies, dying easter eggs, etc. holidays are more fun when i make more of an effort to celebrate them.
30. only buy things i really love-95% success. i would be able to do better in the states but sometimes i have to buy something here i don't totally love but need.
31. cut back on dairy intake-80% success. when i cook at home i don't use any dairy and i try to steer clear of it but it's hard when i go to someone else's house or out to eat. i do feel tons better when i don't have it at all.
see a future post for my list of 32 things in the year of 32.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
bangkok
i know, i know. worst blogger ever. i'm about to blog blast you. get ready for it.
here's a quick synopsis of my trip to bangkok. better (really) late than never, right?
we arrived in bangkok still feeling pretty sick so we checked into our hotel and took a much needed nap. when we woke up, we explored the neighborhood and got some eats. we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night, hoping to feel better the next morning.
thankfully, we both felt better the next morning. we headed to the dock to catch a ferry to the grand palace. we met a very sweet taiwanese lady and chatted with her on the ride over. she gave us some tips for a future trip to taiwan.
we got off the ferry and followed the crowd to the grand palace. along the sidewalks, there were people selling all kinds of things. the weirdest being, used dentures. no one i asked seemed to know why. the grand palace was beautiful but really hot. there was no shade anywhere. thankfully, i read about the dress code and didn't have to layer on clothes like many of the other people there.
after grand palace, we walked around the area and ended up in a market. for a bit, we thought we may never find our way out. we did and no worse for the wear. we agreed that we were really hot and needed a break so we headed back to our hotel to lay by the pool and read.
after we were all cooled off, we grabbed a tuk tuk to see a "lady boy" cabaret show at a hotel. beforehand, we decided to eat in the hotel coffee shop because there was a thai Elvis impersonator. he was actually more convincing that i anticipated and he loved us because we cheered him on.
the cabaret show was entertaining. afterwards, we got suckered into taking pictures with the dancers. "tip for us?"
we went back to our hotel, feeling under the weather again. we went to bed early slept in. we decide to have an "American Day" which consisted of walking to the US embassy (to mail ourselves our souvenirs from chiang mai), going shopping in a real shopping mail, and seeing "the hobbit." it was a nice, relaxing day.
the next day, we decided we needed to get serious about sightseeing so we took the ferry and saw a bunch of wats. the first wat we visited, wat pho, is known for their massage school. we toured around and then got foot massages.
on the way out we saw a "fortune" teller. he used our date and day we were born, the time, etc to determine our personalities and futures. he was actually fairly accurate.
he told me i'm too picky when it comes to boyfriends :)
we hit up wat arun next.
climbing up and down those stairs was a bit treacherous. chinatown was and i tried durian fruit for the first time. all hotels have signs saying not to bring in whole durian fruits because they smell bad.
after chinatown, we wanted to take the ferry back to the dock near our hotel. instead we got on the wrong ferry and ended up taking a 2 hour ferry ride. once we realized we would in fact be able to get back to the right port eventually, we were able to enjoy the ride and seeing bangkok from the river.
for dinner, we planned on going to the peninsula hotel to partake in their chocolate buffet we had read about in the travel guide. there was mention of chocolate sushi and other delicious dishes so we decided to try it out. you can imagine our surprise when we discovered they had discontinued the chocolate buffet. however, they did have a huge buffet dinner available so we decided to eat there. we visited the peninsula hotel in hong kong as well so we decided we were creating a tradition. the food was delicious.
of course, after dinner we had to get a foot massage before going to back our hotel.
second to last day in bangkok. we were signed up for a tour to see the floating markets. we failed to make sure it was a private tour so we ended up on a tour bus with 50 other people. when we signed up for the tour, they didn't mention that we would be visiting other places like an elephant park where the elephants were clearly being mistreated or a snake farm where cobras and mongoose fight. we chose to stay in the bus for both of those stops. finally we made to the place were we would take long tailed boats to the floating markets. it was cool to see how the thai in that area live.
we made it to the floating markets and were put on canoes. our guide steered us around all of the wares and food. it was cool to be in the spot where you see all the tourist pictures of thailand. i got mango and sticky rice from a lady in a canoe. so delicious. one of the canoes had a heating unit in it and the lady was making some sort of meat dish. so industrious.
on the way back from the tour, the bus dropped us off a jewel museum/store where they try to trick tourists in to paying really overpriced jewelry. by this time, we were done. we wanted to be back at our hotel. finally, a van picked us up and started dropping people off. my friend really had to go to the bathroom, we hopped off at one of the stops and headed to an indian restaurant for food, rest, and relief. i will never make the mistake of booking a group tour again! on our way back to our hotel, we grabbed a starbucks milkshake and got a foot massage. back at our hotel, we took a quick cat nap because sitting on a tour bus takes it out of you! and apparently naps take it out of us because afterwards we felt the need for another foot and hand massage. we went to dinner at a place i had heard about called cabbages and condoms. it's a place that brings awareness to AIDS and STDs. They had sculptures made out of condoms.
the next day was new year's eve. we started off our morning laying out at the pool then got a mani/pedi. we went to the famous mbk mall's food court for lunch. you pay for tickets and then use the tickets to buy food from all the different vendors. we heard from someone that the street vendors who get popular enough then move to mbk's food court. the day wouldn't be complete without a foot massage so we got one o n the way back to our hotel. we got ready for our NYE out. we went to central world where they have concerts and fireworks. there were SO many people there. we were standing outside one of the beer gardens listening to a concert and all of the sudden people started pushing. we thought we were going to get trampled. it was pretty scary. thankfully, someone moved the barrier to the beer garden and we were able to sneak in, out of the chaos. security confronted us about being there but ended up letting us stay. we watched a thai performer and danced with some random thais. we walked the streets and watched the fireworks. around 2am we decided we probably should head back to our hotel so we could get ready to fly out early the next morning. we also took our last tuk tuk ride.
i didn't sleep at all that night because by the time we got back to our hotel and showered, it was only 2 hours until we had to take a taxi to the airport.
thailand was definitely a fun and memorable trip. i would love to go back and see the thai beaches!
here's a quick synopsis of my trip to bangkok. better (really) late than never, right?
we arrived in bangkok still feeling pretty sick so we checked into our hotel and took a much needed nap. when we woke up, we explored the neighborhood and got some eats. we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night, hoping to feel better the next morning.
thankfully, we both felt better the next morning. we headed to the dock to catch a ferry to the grand palace. we met a very sweet taiwanese lady and chatted with her on the ride over. she gave us some tips for a future trip to taiwan.
we got off the ferry and followed the crowd to the grand palace. along the sidewalks, there were people selling all kinds of things. the weirdest being, used dentures. no one i asked seemed to know why. the grand palace was beautiful but really hot. there was no shade anywhere. thankfully, i read about the dress code and didn't have to layer on clothes like many of the other people there.
after grand palace, we walked around the area and ended up in a market. for a bit, we thought we may never find our way out. we did and no worse for the wear. we agreed that we were really hot and needed a break so we headed back to our hotel to lay by the pool and read.
after we were all cooled off, we grabbed a tuk tuk to see a "lady boy" cabaret show at a hotel. beforehand, we decided to eat in the hotel coffee shop because there was a thai Elvis impersonator. he was actually more convincing that i anticipated and he loved us because we cheered him on.
the cabaret show was entertaining. afterwards, we got suckered into taking pictures with the dancers. "tip for us?"
we went back to our hotel, feeling under the weather again. we went to bed early slept in. we decide to have an "American Day" which consisted of walking to the US embassy (to mail ourselves our souvenirs from chiang mai), going shopping in a real shopping mail, and seeing "the hobbit." it was a nice, relaxing day.
the next day, we decided we needed to get serious about sightseeing so we took the ferry and saw a bunch of wats. the first wat we visited, wat pho, is known for their massage school. we toured around and then got foot massages.
we hit up wat arun next.
climbing up and down those stairs was a bit treacherous. chinatown was and i tried durian fruit for the first time. all hotels have signs saying not to bring in whole durian fruits because they smell bad.
after chinatown, we wanted to take the ferry back to the dock near our hotel. instead we got on the wrong ferry and ended up taking a 2 hour ferry ride. once we realized we would in fact be able to get back to the right port eventually, we were able to enjoy the ride and seeing bangkok from the river.
for dinner, we planned on going to the peninsula hotel to partake in their chocolate buffet we had read about in the travel guide. there was mention of chocolate sushi and other delicious dishes so we decided to try it out. you can imagine our surprise when we discovered they had discontinued the chocolate buffet. however, they did have a huge buffet dinner available so we decided to eat there. we visited the peninsula hotel in hong kong as well so we decided we were creating a tradition. the food was delicious.
of course, after dinner we had to get a foot massage before going to back our hotel.
second to last day in bangkok. we were signed up for a tour to see the floating markets. we failed to make sure it was a private tour so we ended up on a tour bus with 50 other people. when we signed up for the tour, they didn't mention that we would be visiting other places like an elephant park where the elephants were clearly being mistreated or a snake farm where cobras and mongoose fight. we chose to stay in the bus for both of those stops. finally we made to the place were we would take long tailed boats to the floating markets. it was cool to see how the thai in that area live.
on the way back from the tour, the bus dropped us off a jewel museum/store where they try to trick tourists in to paying really overpriced jewelry. by this time, we were done. we wanted to be back at our hotel. finally, a van picked us up and started dropping people off. my friend really had to go to the bathroom, we hopped off at one of the stops and headed to an indian restaurant for food, rest, and relief. i will never make the mistake of booking a group tour again! on our way back to our hotel, we grabbed a starbucks milkshake and got a foot massage. back at our hotel, we took a quick cat nap because sitting on a tour bus takes it out of you! and apparently naps take it out of us because afterwards we felt the need for another foot and hand massage. we went to dinner at a place i had heard about called cabbages and condoms. it's a place that brings awareness to AIDS and STDs. They had sculptures made out of condoms.
the next day was new year's eve. we started off our morning laying out at the pool then got a mani/pedi. we went to the famous mbk mall's food court for lunch. you pay for tickets and then use the tickets to buy food from all the different vendors. we heard from someone that the street vendors who get popular enough then move to mbk's food court. the day wouldn't be complete without a foot massage so we got one o n the way back to our hotel. we got ready for our NYE out. we went to central world where they have concerts and fireworks. there were SO many people there. we were standing outside one of the beer gardens listening to a concert and all of the sudden people started pushing. we thought we were going to get trampled. it was pretty scary. thankfully, someone moved the barrier to the beer garden and we were able to sneak in, out of the chaos. security confronted us about being there but ended up letting us stay. we watched a thai performer and danced with some random thais. we walked the streets and watched the fireworks. around 2am we decided we probably should head back to our hotel so we could get ready to fly out early the next morning. we also took our last tuk tuk ride.
i didn't sleep at all that night because by the time we got back to our hotel and showered, it was only 2 hours until we had to take a taxi to the airport.
thailand was definitely a fun and memorable trip. i would love to go back and see the thai beaches!
Sunday, March 17, 2013
lost in translation
sunday night, i was cooking for the week. i cooked several different dishes so there was some multi-tasking going on. first problem. i went to bed and was woken up in the middle of the night to a really annoying beeping sound. at first i thought it was outside because i had my balcony door open. good thing. i figured out it was coming from an unknown box in my laundry. i unplugged it and went to bed. the next morning, while at work, i got a call from my housing agency. they called to tell me that my gas had been shut off and that i needed to go home and see if i had left my oven or stove on before they could have the gas company turn it back on. here, if i have my oven on too long or forget to turn off the hot water heater, they shut off the gas. this is the first time this has happened to me though. i ran home at lunch to check the gas situation and as i was waiting for the elevator, checked my mail slot. i pulled out a letter from the gas company:
i read it and then re-read it and then gave up and called my housing agency. i had discovered that i had left a burner on. not just a little either. yikes. i shut off the burner and the gas company came and turned my gas back on. turns out the thing that i unplugged was the carbon monoxide detector. oops. good thing i had my balcony door open all night or i would have ended up like my plants.
i read it and then re-read it and then gave up and called my housing agency. i had discovered that i had left a burner on. not just a little either. yikes. i shut off the burner and the gas company came and turned my gas back on. turns out the thing that i unplugged was the carbon monoxide detector. oops. good thing i had my balcony door open all night or i would have ended up like my plants.
thailand-chiangmai
i realize that i'm the world's worst blogger and this post is 3 months late. i hang my head in shame.
**disclaimer: this is going to be a long post. if you don't care about the details, enjoy the pictures!**
since i wasn't going to the states for christmas, a friend and i went to thailand for christmas and new year's. the first five days were spent in chiangmai, which is in northern thailand. i really liked chiangmai, it was really chill and we had a great hotel in a great location.
day 1: we spent the first day traveling. our flight left at 7:00am so i slept most of the flights. our flight from osaka to bangkok got delayed so we barely made our flight from bangkok to chiangmai. luckily, we made it with a few minutes to spare. we flew thai air. they were so cute, they gave an orchid corsage when we arrived in thailand.
we arrived in chiangmai and someone from our hotel was there to greet up with a sign that said "welcome mr. kate bradford!" off to a great start! we checked into our hotel and decided to go out and explore the area nearby. turns out we were less than a 10 minute walk from the night market. we headed to night market to check out the goods being sold and eat our first authentic thai meal. we ate at a sidewalk cafe and watched drag queens perform some half hearted dance routines. i got pad thai to ease myself into thai food. way better than americanized pad thai. and way more spicy.
day 2: we ate breakfast at our hotel. the breakfast buffet at our hotel was delicious. tons of fresh fruit and fruit juice. we then did a walking tour of some wats (temples). on our walk, we happened upon a restaurant that seemed hopping so we decided to eat there. it turned out to be a pretty popular restaurant specializing in northern thai food. i ordered a papaya salad that was amazing but so spicy i could barely taste it! we continued on the walking wat tour and then stopped to get a fresh fruit smoothie. everywhere we turned there was a cart with fresh fruit or fresh fruit juice. i was in heaven! we then took our first tuk tuk ride. not nearly as scary in chiangmai as it is in bangkok. we also came across a plus size store.
massages are crazy cheap in thailand. well, pretty much everything is crazy cheap in thailand but there are massage places every 10 feet. we took full advantage of the readily available massages. 11 massages in 11 days, heck yeah! we got our first foot massage. so relaxing...except for the last 5 minutes when they jam their knee in your back. we then headed over to the night market (again) and got some delicious pakistani food. we also did some serious bartering/shopping. good thing i packed fairly light!
on the way back to our hotel, we decided to get a nice relaxing thai massage. ha! thai massages are less than relaxing. it's like being a molded like silly putty. i cried out in pain and my massage therapist just smiled and carried on. needless to say, i only got one thai massage on this trip!
day 3: sunday, my friend and i went to church for the first hour and then went across the street to one of the top 10 spas in asia for a..four hand massage. that's right, two people massaging me at one time. can i just say, AMAZING! the most relaxing hour i think i've ever spent. i may have cried when it was over. we were so relaxed after our massage that we decided to continue the relaxation. we got some lunch and then laid out at our hotel pool for a bit. after we were all cleaned up, we decided to hit the sunday walking street. it's a 2 kilometer market packed full of people, shopping, street food, and street entertainers. oh, and of course, foot massages! we did some shopping and lots of walking and then got a foot massage on the side of the street. at 6pm the thailand national anthem played. everyone stopped in their tracks and stood completely still until it was over. it was pretty cool. i wish i could have gotten a picture of it.
we finished off the evening with dinner at our hotel. we got a free dinner for staying 5 nights. the hotel was all about customer service and showing their appreciation to use for choosing to stay there. after we ate, we were presented with dessert, then a rose by the waiter, who got down on one knee, then a candy bar, and then a necklace.
it was very sweet but a tad over the top.
day 4: christmas eve! i made sure to plan fun stuff for christmas eve and christmas. we started out christmas eve with a thai cooking class. our instructor picked up from the hotel and we went to the food market to learn about the different spices used in thai cooking. we also got to wonder the market and see a more local side of chiangmai. we then headed to the little cooking school farm. they had a great outdoor cooking set up. we learned how to make soup, noodles, and curry. it was all so delicious and our cooking teacher was hilarious. we also met some cool americans and brits. one of the american couples told us about a muy thai boxing match that evening and invited us to meet them.
after the cooking class we went to tiger kingdom. i went against my better judgment knowing that they likely drug the tigers. turns out they definitely drug them. most of the tigers were comatose and i felt terrible and guilty the whole time. the only ones that weren't drugged were the baby ones. the baby tigers were so so cute. they were really feisty and playful. while my friend was taking pictures with one baby tiger, another baby tiger bit her shoulder. thankfully, the bite didn't break the skin and only left a scratch. definitely a great story though! after we played with the baby tigers, we were watching some tigers that weren't the ones interacting with humans. in a matter of seconds, one of them jumped off a branch and charged straight for me. i fell of the bench i was sitting on. hilarious. i wish someone had gotten it on tape.
nearby tiger kindgom is the long neck village (http://www.sightseeingchiangmai.com/longneckkarenvillage.html) . i also wasn't sure about going there. we ended up getting there 15 minutes before it closed but we weren't aware of that at the time we paid to get it. most of the little booths were abandoned and there was only one woman there. we could barely hear her. apparently, they usually do a dance for visitors but we missed out on that.
after the long neck village we headed to dinner. we ate great italian food for our christmas eve dinner. then, we met up with the american couple from the cooking class and went to a muy thai boxing event. it was really fun!
they have people playing instruments during the matches and they play the same tune over and over and over and over... it was kind of torturous.
on our way home, we of course stopped and got a foot massage :)
day 5: christmas! elephant riding day! we got picked up in a jeep of sorts and were driven 1.5 hours into the jungle. we were with 4 other people. a couple from paris who lives in bangkok and a couple from sweden. when we arrived in the jungle we were met by 3 cute elephants. i knew elephants were big but i didn't realize how huge until i was standing right next to one. i also didn't know how bristley elephants are. they are covered in really short, coarse hair. we hiked up to a little tree house hut thing. we learned the commands for left, right, forward, backward, lay down, and lift leg. after we learned the commands, we each got to practice on the elephant. after everyone had practiced enough, we got to get on our elephants. our elephant was named tongan (sp?). he was the best behaved one of the bunch!
a trek through the jungle. my friend sat in front first. thankfully, because i was a little scared of going downhill bare back on an elephant. turns out, not so scary. after we took a trek through the jungle, we stopped for lunch. the sweet swedish couple ate their spring rolls with a fork and spoon.
once we were full and rehydrated, we got to take the elephants to the river to wash them. tongan walked right into to the river and then we slid off his back. the water was freezing! tongan just laid in the water and raised his trunk every now and then to breathe. we washed him off and posed. the guide/photographer keep having us pose so ridiculously but we were so excited to be hanging with elephants, we posed however he told us.
we rode back to home base and changed into our dry, clean clothes. we got back in the jeep thing and headed back to our hotel. on the home, my friend and i both started to feel sick so we attempted to sleep. when we got back to our hotel, we took a nap to see if that would help. it didn't really so we thought that a four hand massage would help. it did for a minute, until the fever hit. then i got the chills and couldn't really enjoy the rest. it was so sad. after our massages, instead of dinner, we went to the night market so i could get a picture that i had been wanting. by the time we got to our hotel, we both felt like death. it was a rough end to a great day.
day 6: flight to bangkok!
stay tuned for the next installation: bangkok!
**disclaimer: this is going to be a long post. if you don't care about the details, enjoy the pictures!**
since i wasn't going to the states for christmas, a friend and i went to thailand for christmas and new year's. the first five days were spent in chiangmai, which is in northern thailand. i really liked chiangmai, it was really chill and we had a great hotel in a great location.
day 1: we spent the first day traveling. our flight left at 7:00am so i slept most of the flights. our flight from osaka to bangkok got delayed so we barely made our flight from bangkok to chiangmai. luckily, we made it with a few minutes to spare. we flew thai air. they were so cute, they gave an orchid corsage when we arrived in thailand.
we arrived in chiangmai and someone from our hotel was there to greet up with a sign that said "welcome mr. kate bradford!" off to a great start! we checked into our hotel and decided to go out and explore the area nearby. turns out we were less than a 10 minute walk from the night market. we headed to night market to check out the goods being sold and eat our first authentic thai meal. we ate at a sidewalk cafe and watched drag queens perform some half hearted dance routines. i got pad thai to ease myself into thai food. way better than americanized pad thai. and way more spicy.
day 2: we ate breakfast at our hotel. the breakfast buffet at our hotel was delicious. tons of fresh fruit and fruit juice. we then did a walking tour of some wats (temples). on our walk, we happened upon a restaurant that seemed hopping so we decided to eat there. it turned out to be a pretty popular restaurant specializing in northern thai food. i ordered a papaya salad that was amazing but so spicy i could barely taste it! we continued on the walking wat tour and then stopped to get a fresh fruit smoothie. everywhere we turned there was a cart with fresh fruit or fresh fruit juice. i was in heaven! we then took our first tuk tuk ride. not nearly as scary in chiangmai as it is in bangkok. we also came across a plus size store.
massages are crazy cheap in thailand. well, pretty much everything is crazy cheap in thailand but there are massage places every 10 feet. we took full advantage of the readily available massages. 11 massages in 11 days, heck yeah! we got our first foot massage. so relaxing...except for the last 5 minutes when they jam their knee in your back. we then headed over to the night market (again) and got some delicious pakistani food. we also did some serious bartering/shopping. good thing i packed fairly light!
on the way back to our hotel, we decided to get a nice relaxing thai massage. ha! thai massages are less than relaxing. it's like being a molded like silly putty. i cried out in pain and my massage therapist just smiled and carried on. needless to say, i only got one thai massage on this trip!
day 3: sunday, my friend and i went to church for the first hour and then went across the street to one of the top 10 spas in asia for a..four hand massage. that's right, two people massaging me at one time. can i just say, AMAZING! the most relaxing hour i think i've ever spent. i may have cried when it was over. we were so relaxed after our massage that we decided to continue the relaxation. we got some lunch and then laid out at our hotel pool for a bit. after we were all cleaned up, we decided to hit the sunday walking street. it's a 2 kilometer market packed full of people, shopping, street food, and street entertainers. oh, and of course, foot massages! we did some shopping and lots of walking and then got a foot massage on the side of the street. at 6pm the thailand national anthem played. everyone stopped in their tracks and stood completely still until it was over. it was pretty cool. i wish i could have gotten a picture of it.
we finished off the evening with dinner at our hotel. we got a free dinner for staying 5 nights. the hotel was all about customer service and showing their appreciation to use for choosing to stay there. after we ate, we were presented with dessert, then a rose by the waiter, who got down on one knee, then a candy bar, and then a necklace.
it was very sweet but a tad over the top.
day 4: christmas eve! i made sure to plan fun stuff for christmas eve and christmas. we started out christmas eve with a thai cooking class. our instructor picked up from the hotel and we went to the food market to learn about the different spices used in thai cooking. we also got to wonder the market and see a more local side of chiangmai. we then headed to the little cooking school farm. they had a great outdoor cooking set up. we learned how to make soup, noodles, and curry. it was all so delicious and our cooking teacher was hilarious. we also met some cool americans and brits. one of the american couples told us about a muy thai boxing match that evening and invited us to meet them.
nearby tiger kindgom is the long neck village (http://www.sightseeingchiangmai.com/longneckkarenvillage.html) . i also wasn't sure about going there. we ended up getting there 15 minutes before it closed but we weren't aware of that at the time we paid to get it. most of the little booths were abandoned and there was only one woman there. we could barely hear her. apparently, they usually do a dance for visitors but we missed out on that.
after the long neck village we headed to dinner. we ate great italian food for our christmas eve dinner. then, we met up with the american couple from the cooking class and went to a muy thai boxing event. it was really fun!
they have people playing instruments during the matches and they play the same tune over and over and over and over... it was kind of torturous.
on our way home, we of course stopped and got a foot massage :)
day 5: christmas! elephant riding day! we got picked up in a jeep of sorts and were driven 1.5 hours into the jungle. we were with 4 other people. a couple from paris who lives in bangkok and a couple from sweden. when we arrived in the jungle we were met by 3 cute elephants. i knew elephants were big but i didn't realize how huge until i was standing right next to one. i also didn't know how bristley elephants are. they are covered in really short, coarse hair. we hiked up to a little tree house hut thing. we learned the commands for left, right, forward, backward, lay down, and lift leg. after we learned the commands, we each got to practice on the elephant. after everyone had practiced enough, we got to get on our elephants. our elephant was named tongan (sp?). he was the best behaved one of the bunch!
a trek through the jungle. my friend sat in front first. thankfully, because i was a little scared of going downhill bare back on an elephant. turns out, not so scary. after we took a trek through the jungle, we stopped for lunch. the sweet swedish couple ate their spring rolls with a fork and spoon.
once we were full and rehydrated, we got to take the elephants to the river to wash them. tongan walked right into to the river and then we slid off his back. the water was freezing! tongan just laid in the water and raised his trunk every now and then to breathe. we washed him off and posed. the guide/photographer keep having us pose so ridiculously but we were so excited to be hanging with elephants, we posed however he told us.
day 6: flight to bangkok!
stay tuned for the next installation: bangkok!
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