Bike Tour around Bangkok

I have two wonderful Dutch friends, Christo and Lieke. They are my favorite for a couple of reasons. But probably one of my favorite reasons is Christo's wonderful ways of finding new adventures for us...and boy they usually are adventures. I call him our OnStar because whatever we want to do, he can figure out how to get there or knows someone Dutch who knows someone..you get the picture. Well, yesterday Christo planned an adventure bike tour around Bangkok. Fourteen of us toured Bangkok on off road bicycles. We went through small villiages, slums, across rivers, through a park, small trails along the klong (small rivers that you DEFINITELY don't want to fall into). Overall it was a wonderful experience. Here are some totals:

Total people: 15 1/2
Youngest rider: Sasha, age 3
Total Hours riding: 5 hours 35 minutes
Total Kilometers: 25
Total boat rides: 2
Fish Fed: a zillion...I swear!
A day of fun: priceless :)

Here are some pictures. Enjoy!


Christo and I are pretty excited!




Diana and Pascale are READY!!!




Ridin' on the Street, yes, it's true...no helmets...not even a option...




a "slide" in one of the slums in Bangkok...as one of my friends pointed out, it would be just as fun in the rain...




On our longtail boat crossing the Chao Praya river...fun times!




This is along the klong, at times the path was about 4 feet AND a motorcycle or a person would be on the path coming the opposite direction...YIKES!




A ZILLION FULL fish...they get PLENTY of fish food




Pascale and I had a blast together...it's rare I get my dear friend all to myself...It was such a fun day with her!




Posing in front of some Chedi's...the place people bury their ancestor's ashes.

Back in Bangkok

Dear Friends and Family,

I haven't written on my blog in over 3 months, and for that I do apologize. I will update the past three months soon, but I just wanted to post some pictures of my first two weeks back in Thailand. My friends Cecily and Miriam came back with me this year, and I have to say it really helped ease me back into the swing of things a lot more easily. We had a great time, traveling to Koh Samet, Chiang Mai and celebrating my birthday weekend in Bangkok. I had some firsts as well...I saw my first Muey Thai fight, which was quite fascinating, and I ate my first fried cricket...it was actually pretty good...Miriam compared it with a roasted pumpkin seed, which was a pretty accurate description.

I am back at school now, and am really enjoying my class so far (knock on wood)...I have 18 first graders and their names are very unique. I'll print them out on the next post so you can see them.

Here are some pictures of our recent adventures;

My birthday

I had a birthday bash at the Major Bowl near the mall bangkapi. It was such a blast...what could be more fun than disco bowling with great music, black lights, and wonderful friends! I had to make it a theme, even though I think themes might be dying away this year, and it was crazy hat night. Cecily and Miriam and I dressed in our craziest hats, which I just happened to have lying around my apartment. Pascale made a wonderful chocolate bowling cake and all the kids were excited about eating the bowling pins off of it. I really had a blast and it was so great to have so many fun people celebrate my special day with me. Here are some pictures of my bowling birthday bash.