All Hail to Mother Nature

Monsoon season has officially begun in Thailand. Clouds in the morning, sunshine in the afternoon, 100mph winds and torrential downpours of rain in the evenings. Check it out:

Hare Krishna Procession

On my way to church Sunday afternoon, got caught in the middle of a Hare Krishna procession making its way down Silom. They threw peanuts at me. Don't worry, I didn't eat them.

If You're Scared of Clowns...

..this may be my most disturbing post yet. More terrifying than political coups, more dangerous than getting lost in Beijing, China, more frightening than rabid monkeys chasing you through the jungle. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

Lonald McDonald

- Live in Bangkok..at the mall

Happy Stephanie

Stephanie FINALLY got her debit card on Thursday, but we had to go pick it up. So Sunny drove us, and Brenda, to the branch where we had to pick it up, and after running to make it there before they closed, and some confusing attempts at making the card work, she was successful!

And what better way to celebrate than with delicious Chinese food? Mmmm...

(Sorry, we were so hungry I didn't have time to take a picture of it before it was gone ;) )

Yellow Shirts on the Move

Elections are coming up next month, and the other day coming out of MBK, there was a big yellow shirt 'parade' of sorts making its way up Sukhumvit Rd.

Koh Kret

Last weekend(I know! :) I'm almost caught up on here!), I went with Katie and her sister(who's here visiting) to Koh Kret, the little island in Pakkret. Took the ferry across the river, and started our exploration. Koh Kret is known for its beautiful pottery, and we each took home a souvenir.




We had lunch at a little restaurant tucked back down a side path overlooking the river. Walked all around the island(about 6km), only dashing for cover once when the heavy clouds overhead let loose for about 10 minutes.

We stopped and watched some musicians and Thai dancers for a while, and enjoyed the beautiful greenery and serenity while avoiding the occasional bicycles on the path.







Stopped for a cherry coke and some roti(thai pancake) on the way to the ferry, and walked to the bus after getting back.

Weekend at Smitha and Kent's!

Two weeks ago I spent the good part of my weekend with my dear friends Smitha and Kent, and although Kent was pretty busy planning his Bible study lesson, Smitha and I had lots of bonding time together. We saw KungFu Panda 2, played an intense game of Scrabble(which I won by two points :D),


cooked a delicious dinner of pork ribs, baked potatoes, and macaroni salad,

lounged on the couches in front of the tv, and had a super awesome breakfast of cereal, toast with fig preserve jam, scrambled eggs, and BACON. It was heavenly.

Couchsurfer #2

Sheila.
She was a weird one.

New and Improved Wai Kru

Last year on Wai Kru Day(Teacher Respect Day) all the teachers had to sit through a long ceremony and assembly thing outside under the pavilion thing. THIS year, however, they decided that wasn't necessary, so each teacher was showered with flowers and thank yous and dances from our OWN students in our own classes during 3rd period. I liked it much better because at least this time around it wasn't some random child bowing at my feet, it was actually one of my P5 students. It also felt more personal, which made it sweeter, too.

My P5/3 class

Por and Nan reading (something, possibly a poem)



Me and the class' Thai homeroom teacher

Accepting gifts

The students bowing in respect

Handing off my overflowing lap-full of flowers to my "helpers"


The cute dances they did for us


My stash


The prettiest one

Resort Hunting

Every year, the International Church of Bangkok has a weekend retreat near one of our outreach partners. So, as part of the Outreach Ministry Team, I joined Khun Malinee, Khum Mae, Allyson, and Mae's husband Ken for a day in Nakhon Nayok(where our retreat is this year) doing the "dirty work": resort hunting! It was a long day, but we finally settled on one. Take a look at our tough day:

Resort #1:





Resort #2:






Resort #3:




The Waterfall we visited:




Resort #4:





Resort #5:




Resort #6:




Giant mangos on the way home!


We chose Resort #1 :)