Last day in Bangkok

What does one do on their last day of a weeks travel across Thailand? I say treat yourself. We have really maximized each day, which is a lot to say when you’re traveling with a 4 year old.

After saying goodbye to our friends Josh and Jen, who had to catch a flight to Japan this morning, we checked out of our hostel and had breakfast at a little cafe. We decided to make our way to the river for a ferry to Ko San Road (really just to see what all the talk is about), but got distracted by a massage and spa along the way. We looked at our feet, dirty and tanned with flip flop lines. It was time for mani/pedis for me and Eliana and a Thai massage for Seth. Prices range from 150 baht ($5) for a pedicure to 300 baht ($10) for massage.

This I highly recommend.

Elephant trekking

Ao Nang

We rented scooters and rode along the coastal town of Ao Nang today. Beautiful here; reminds me a lot of Santa Cruz, California. We spent the morning scouting out a resort to treat ourselves with. Once we found one, we cooled off in the pool, had an amazing Indian dinner and did a little touristy shopping.

Tomorrow is our last day in the south so we’re thinking of trying to squeeze in some snorkeling and perhaps check out the elephants in Krabi. Then it’s back to Bangkok!

Krabi, Thailand

Travel

In the past 72 hours we have taken a plane, taxi, sky train, subway, tuk tuk, ferry, long tail boat, sleeper train, a local bus, and now a large bus with air con.

Can’t wait to settle into our bungalow on the beach in Ao Nang, Krabi.

Wat Pho, you so pretty!

Now we’re on a sleeper train to Surat Thani!

Bangkok, Thailand

We arrived in Bangkok late Saturday night and met up with our close friends Josh and Jen at the hostel we booked. We treated ourselves to some Mexican food because this city has everything! (And coming from Bogor, we were feeling a little oppressed.)

A good nights sleep, hardy breakfast and we were off to the train station to buy some tickets south to Surat Thani for the following day. We managed to wrestle down second class sleeper tickets, which was a relief because we’ll apparently be traveling with the full moon party crowd.

We spent the day in Bangkok riding tuk tuks, longboat ferries, and sky trains. We met up with Seth’s cousin Yosi and his wife Emma for lunch and ended up spending the day exploring the city together. We bought fresh squeezed mango juice and cooled down with ice cold towels while listening to some chill music in the middle of the Jujarak market. A fancy dinner by the Temple of the Dawn on the water was the perfect end of the day.

Kittens!

Banksy, our 7 month old kitten, had kittens. I know we’re terrible parents, (grandparents?) but she got out a few times and apparently the stars were aligned. We estimated the conception was mid-January and were really crossing our fingers we’d be here when she went into labor so we could witness it.

Boy were we naive.

You see I came home at 4:00 today to Ellie and our maid in the bathroom. She said Banksy’s water broke and she was meowing a lot. (Side note: Seth and I watched a few cat labors on YouTube to get an idea of what to expect.) I knew we were close, especially since I could see her pant and actually try to push.

After about 20 minutes, she got up and tried to walk around. It was when she crawled between my legs that she BIT my leg as she birthed her first kitten. Two more followed about 10-15 minutes later.

If you’ve never experienced something like this before… Well, I’m not sure I would recommend it. It was fascinating and Ellie was really excited and intrigued. But I don’t think she fully comprehended what was happening, like when the cat ate the afterbirth and… And… Oh it was gross.

Sorry. Birth is beautiful. And gross.

Anyway, I’ll show you some of the non-graphic bunch of the pictures and video I took. The kittens are really cute and Banksy is thankfully very maternal. They’re all passed out now… and to be honest I’m pretty damn exhausted myself just from watching.

School update

Eliana had her parent teacher conference this morning. She timidly presented her work to me with a very heavy Indonesian accent. It’s pretty funny to see how differently she speaks around me versus around her friends and teachers.

She showed me her art with mixed media and on the computer. She explained basic math equations to me and then read two syllable Indonesian words, such as roti, susu, nasi, sate…

It was really cool to see her show off her note-reading for piano skills. She explained the names of the notes, then played them on the piano. So proud!

Rainbow in Bogor