Moni's MadHouse

Oh my goodness.

2010-12-11T13:50:00.001-06:00

I haven't written on my blogger in a *long* fracking time.
I guess it's because I have been blogging on my art site, instead. Plus, I got a different gmail account for my little art business, which in turn basically *mooted* this account.

If you are interested in reading my newer blogs, check me out over at my site, The Streaking Cupcake.com .
My site is also an art portfolio, and also included into my site is my Etsy shop, where one can go and purchase any items of mine up for sale.

Sorry I haven't posted on here in so long (about a year). A lot has happened since then...

Take care and Happy Holidays.
Moni

Snowed-In

2009-12-09T15:19:00.000-06:00

I know I don't blog much, and I'm sorry.

Oh my gosh! Snowed-in today. There's not even that much on the ground, either, but it's continually falling. I was about ready to go to school when I found out what it was like. I contacted my teacher and she said she was going to dismiss the class anyway. So I guess that's alright.

Living in a "country" town - a town away from where I go to school - means driving quite a bit. Even if that "bit" is just 15 miles, during snowfall it's not fun at all. I like the snow, don't get me wrong. I'm not a snow-hater... but I sure do hate the COLD! Along with snow comes slush, comes wet shoes and freezing, ice-cold Moni. It's like a Monisicle...

Anyway... driving home is even worse - because in the winter it gets dark - and FAST. So when it's snowing, and you have your headlights on, it's like driving in a vortex for sure. Feels like you've driven 100 miles, but in reality - you've only gone 2 feet!

It's like I'm Captain Kirk in the USS Enterprise!

Oh, Spock.... I secretly love you....

Okay, so maybe it's not that much of a secret, but still... :)

-Moni

P.S. I decided I'm going to start using the "normal" sized font now. :)

Haunted Cupcake pictures!

2009-11-06T21:52:00.000-06:00

Competition link: http://www.pastrychicago.org/calendar/cupcake_comp_1009.htm

Pictures link: http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/HauntedCupcakes?feat=directlink

Enjoy! :D

-Moni

Haunted Cupcakes!

2009-10-25T00:12:00.000-05:00

and with hand spun chocolate stems and hand-veined, rolled-out leaves... Good God, these took forever... Even though they may not look it.Each cupcake was hand-made! From the cupcakes out of the oven to saw off any domes that appeared (not peaks! - no 'tunnels' were present :D (that's a good thing)), to the dark chocolate butter cream frosting (I also made) put onto to each of the cupcake tops. Two cupcakes were then placed together (top to top) and flipped onto one of the bottoms. Then the frosting was put on all over the sides and [new] top of their little (now big) cupcake bodies, and the back of a knife was used to make ridges for the pumpkins. I then made some pour-on fondant, dyed orange with food color-gel, and placed my hand-made chocolate concoctions all over to decorate (along with some chocolate vines!) Then, after putting them on the foil-covered double-sandwich cardboard, voila! They are done. :)

However, since I only had 6 mini bundt pans, I could only bake 3 pumpkins (6 cupcakes) at one given time. :(

I was up until 5:30 or 6 am working on these.I took a shortcut. I was so tired I decided to take a shortcut. I wouldn't sift the powdered sugar when added for the fondant.

It lumped.

That's why I got 3rd. No other reason. I talked to the judges - they absolutely loved them "They're gorgeous!" one said, "I chose them for first, honestly." (she adds quietly) "They were really delicious - you were one of them I was going to ask for he recipe" (hands me a card) "Please?" The other judge agreed, then quickly added that the only reason I didn't get a higher place was because of the bubbled fondant.

Wow. Lesson learned, right? Wow... I got so mad at myself. I consciously was aware of doing it, and I decided to cut what, 3 minutes of the process? Dang, I was stupid... Now I understand why some cooks on shows do the same kind of mistake - pressure. It's crazy! Now, I know this competition was "just for fun," and it WAS! It was a lot of fun! My first cooking competition ever! It was awesome! It even had a pastry demo, where I learned how to sculpt bread! (The pictures might help a little with this one). It's not recommended to eat, but it IS edible.

3rd, 2nd and 1st place all get mixers. 1st place gets a red one with a glass bowl (which I think also has a poury spout). 2nd got a red one with a metal bowl. Third got a white with a metal bowl. I went for a mixer (hopin'). I came, I saw, I conquered! :D

The main point here is that I had a crapload of fun - and won a mixer! Along with getting some amazing chef/pastry school contacts that I'm so excited to have! Woo! That was fun. Okay, time to go visit my boyfriend at work now and get a coffee!

Signing off. Will post pictures of competition soon. Until then, this is just text. Thanks for reading!

-Moni

Oh, yeah...

2009-04-13T01:19:00.004-05:00

A couple things...
First: I'm back. Sorry the like, HYUGE delay. I actually wrote a really awesome closure blog for returning home... but I don't have the heart to put it up. I always end up in tears. I'll put it up one of these days... but, seriously, the exchange is NEVER over... even when you return... you're always exploring your own culture even more than you thought was imaginable before you left.
:)

Thailand has, does, and will forever affect my everyday life, how I think, how I act, etc. Even when I speak. When I came back, I even was talking to my scholarship interviewer in Thai by accident, and I keep wai-ing [Thai courtesy greet/thank you motion] to everyone. It's built into my system. I can't help it! Ahhh!

I finally checked my lottery ticket tonight.... for January 20th's Mega Millions. I lost. Guess it doesn't really matter, though, does it?
...I think not. :P

I think I'll go back and say that upon return, within a couple months, I was back out of the house, basically living on my own again. I shared an apartment with my cousin... but it didn't work out so well, so now I'm back at home. I think it's better to live at home anyway, even if it is a 15 or 20 minute drive to then from nearly every day; no rent, just gas; I get to see my kitty, Sugar - I love her; I get to see my parents - but I think it's more like my parents get to see ME [ Lol ]; my mother occasionally cooks some RAD meals, as well my dad - and I get to eat them, too!; back to my queen sized bed. :D

Now about the queen bed... while I was at the apartment, I had a twin bed, for room size reasons; well... I didn't know at the time, but my parents bought two then. They kept one, gave me one. Well, now I'm back home. Where's the twin bed going to go? My sister's [old] room already has one!
Solution: stack the two twin sized box springs and matresses!
Yeah........no.
No one would be able to sleep in there, then!
Other solution:
Let's rip Moni's room apart to get to her queen sized bed, take everything off it, and do the same to Vanessa's twin bed; take apart all the bedframes and headboards; put the headboards into auction because they're super ancient and partly broken anyway; move the queen bed to my sister's room, move the twin to mine. Add the other twin bed... add a king-sized bedframe... Badda bing, badda boom:
MONI HAS A KING-SIZED BED!
That Sugar is now grateful for.
...and me, of course.
My giant 4 foot stuffed horse takes up a good chunk of it, but there's still of lot of roll-around-room left. :D

Another update: This is my second semester of student-ing at Carl Sandburg Collge. Ja, it's awesome! I have the coolest teachers evuhr.
...and I made lots of awesome pots in ceramics class. :D
I has a job.
I work dietary at Rosewood Care Center. I do lots of things in that job. - including wearing this AWESOME hat they prefer to call a "hairnet" - it's rad - and they're really useful for summer time - keeps all the hair out of your face and off your neck! :P

Talent show is on Tuesday.
I'm one of like, 5 people in it @ a chance for $100!!! Oh my gosh. =D
Wish me luck! [ I'm dancing... don't laugh!!! :P ]

Weeeelllll, thought I'd update. Now I have.
Oh yeah - and I'm in an auto body class, too, but mostly just for fun, since it doesn't even count as an elective course... :(
...and we're going on a field trip tomorrow! Er... later today, rather!!!! :D

Bye!

Moni

P.S. - forgot to mention: I got a Juror's choice award in the Carl Sandburg College Student Art Show!!! :D
...along with the accommodating $50 Dick Blick dollars! I can't wait to use them at our awesome DICK BLICK OUTLET!!! Heck yeah! Be jealous of our superb locations of outlet stores! :D

Sprummer Fruit Juice

2008-06-06T06:21:00.005-05:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/SprummerFruitJuice

Sprummer = Spring + Summer combined. Late Spring / Early Summer.

Hi-yo. Sorry I haven't written in awhile! Michelle came to visit me in Udon for 8 days, she left this morning at about 9. [Right now it's 18:22, or 6:22 PM on the 6th of June, with only 25 days left in the exchange, and not WHOLE days, to be exact.]

So, we went around Udon, had a blast, and took a bus about an hour away and explored the land on our own. We succeeded in navigation and translation, not to mention a lot of hefty-good bargaining and chartering.

We even hit up Lotus for the toilets [which failed us as there were none this time around!], but walked just a few feet further into the mall and went there. Then we proceeded to Starbucks, where I tried their new Dark Chocolate Coffee drink, and delved into a toasted blueberry muffin. They even gave Michelle a free duplicate of what I just ordered! How sweet is that? Okay, yeah, it was smaller, about 2 or 3-shot espresso-sized, but hey, that's pretty freaking awesome. We enjoyed ourselves so much, too!

Leaving Nong Khai took some thinking. We had to located what part of the mall we were in, what lot we need to walk out of, and which street to cross. We thought about going all the way down the road [about 100 meters or so], onto the bridge walkway, but fearing we may miss the bus [it picks us up on the road or at the station, either or], we decided to dodge traffic [hey, we're good at that - we live in cities!], cross the median, and dodge just a couple more metal beasts. I thanked the Heavens it wasn't pouring rain... yet. The bus came just seconds after we made it to the other side of the 4-lane + median with ease - barely any cars. We got picked up, we paid our tickets, and got sent to the back of the bus where two open seats were left. We were a little uncomfortable, so we moved back another seat and sat next to some Thai people who were going to the same place! Good, we got on the right bus! Then it started raining, then it started POURING.
I sure missed the rainy season... I'm glad it's back. That's one thing I'm sure going to miss when I get back home, Thailand's rainy season. I love it...

Anyway, I got a lot of gifts and souvenirs and stuff, and now I just have two more people on my list, which won't be hard.

Michelle and I also had a blast in Udon as well! We watched a lot of movies [falling asleep during them as well], ate some popcorn, cookies, and experimented with Mama, while I learned to make a soup along the same lines of Egg Drop Soup, mighty tastey and great with rice.

We did a lot of other stuff, like I took her to my Muay Thai class and she learned a couple basic punches, and a few other things... way too much to mention. We had a lot of fun, though.

25 days of Thailand before I'm homebound... but actually it's more like 23! My host dad is taking me to Bangkok a day before I leave and we're going to the Crocodile Farm, then I'm off the following morning, onto a plane, back into the blue yonder of the sky, and destined for my home country.

It's coming up fast...

Moni

P.S. - Also, there is another album, "May Randoms." Feel free to check those pictures out, as well.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/MayRandoms

Mel Visits Udon!

2008-05-13T05:18:00.006-05:00

I don't know if I mentioned it before, so I will quickly list my first and third/final (same) family's names...

Last name: KUNAWONGKRIT
Kun-Meh [KM]: Suporn
Kun-Pah [KP]: Somchai
Nong-Sao [Younger Sister]: Moei
Nong-Chai [Younger Brother]: Tang (currently in Canada as an exchange student)
Pi-Chai [Older Brother]: Tong

Pronunciation help (pronounce whatever is between hyphens as its own word, same as spaces):
Kun-Meh ["Koon May"]
Suporn [Sue-porn]
Kun-Pah ["Koon Paw"]
Somchai ["S-oh-m-ch-eye," but faster - "Sohm-ch-aye"]
Nong-Sao ["No-ng S-ow" - "ow" as in "Ow! That hurts!"]
Moei [This one is harder... it's like a quick sound of "Mow" as in "mowing the lawn" plus "eye" - sort of like "My" but with the sounds of Mow+eye together...]
Nong-Chai ["No-ng Ch-eye"]
Tang ["Dtang" with the "a" sounding like the "a" in "sack."]
Pi-Chai ["Pee Ch-eye"]
Tong ["Dtong" with the "o" sounding like the "o" in "orange."]

Moving on.
Tang [younger host brother who's in Canada right now as an exchange student if you didn't read the above] has a host family, of course. One of the members of one of his host families has a few daughters, one of them named Mel. Mel decided she wanted to come visit Thailand, and while doing so, she "stopped by" Tang's house [my current host family] and stayed for a week. She arrived before I left to camp, and left a few days after I got back. During her stay - while I was here - we had a blast, and I can only tell you that you should look at the pictures, because that tells you our story.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/GawpMel
*"gawp" is phonetic for "with" in Thai

Camp lasted 4 days and 3 nights, about an hour and a half's Songtao Ride from Korat to Saraburi. It was at a boyscout camp thing.
It was also the inbound exchange students' last travel together, though we shall see each other in the near future.
Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/Camp

That's it for now. :P
Thanks to my sister for lending me her older camera. :D

MoniNeko

Gone Daddy Gone

2008-05-05T08:33:00.002-05:00

I love Gnarls Barkley, just thought I'd say that first.

Second, going to be gone 3 days to a camp thing for Rotary.

Lastly, more pictures. Somehow I forgot to upload a few Muay Thai class photos taken by my friend. They're on my Picasa site now.

Here you go.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/MuayThai

Enjoy.
Moni

New Pictures. Is that possible?

2008-04-27T04:52:00.003-05:00

YES IT IS. Because they're not my pictures.
Though, they are pictures of me.
Three of them.
Picasa has them.
First three in the Songkran album.
Click:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/Songkran

They were taken at the church the day of Songkran, by Pi-Ning.
Enjoy!

Moni

...Darn it.

2008-04-19T07:02:00.005-05:00

My camera = dead.

Congratulations, me.
Not really.

Don't expect a whole bunch a pictures for awhile...
I have no camera to take pictures with. Only a large dead piece of plastic, metal and rubber.

I need a military-issue high-performance camera. One that can also withstand water... for a few feet, atleast - to not have to worry about splashes and stuff.
Anyone make those?

I also just reset my page counter [at the bottom, the numbers].
It is now at "0" and will continue to grow due to the number of DIFFERENT people who visit my blog site. Not just "hits" (come and go as you please counts) - but from different computers.

Was at: 1,570 visits/hits. A good number from me, most likely, but I bet 80% go to my viewers... Hehe. Thanks, people!

Last issue: COMMENTS. I would LOVE to get comments - I love comment feed-back. On my blog site, to my different posts... on my Photo Site, under a picture! Add a comment anywhere! You don't even have to sign up to do so [99% sure].

So... please leave comments for me!

MoniNeko

Cornflakes & Coffee

2008-04-19T06:57:00.003-05:00

Songkran... Thai New Year. The third New Year's celebration I've had this year! Crazy.
Following Songkran is Songkran... or rather, 3 days of water-fighting madness across the entire country.

PICTURES:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/Songkran

In these pictures you will find some taken at a church - that's where the games, stilts and bug is from; these were taken on the actual day of Songkran.
All of the others, which tend to start with water droplets on the window, were taken on the first day of the festival itself, and the pictures are almost nothing compared to the real deal.

Not only is there water flying in every direction at every one, powder is smeared on faces, clothing, automobiles and just about everything. Some use colored powder, which a picture of a bus displays proudly in my album. But I didn't see any of the colored powder on a person this year. As for the regular stuff, however, it got in my face, eyes, mouth, and someone spilt a good amount of it from a bottle on me, which went down my shirt and turned my entire left side white.

I'm sorry you can't see any pictures of ME in my album... that's because I didn't risk taking out my camera in open public. However, two people, Pi-Fanta (Ning) and a farang friend I met have taken pictures, both I have asked for e-mails with photos from. Both said they would love to do so, so now I wait.

The water festival started off [for me] with me [on my lonesome] and my water gun (which I can thank my host dad for), walking around, shooting-up innocent citizens. I walked to the mall, hoping there would be a lot of action there [the mall is barely a few blocks from my current house]. I was right. Not only did I find a good "nest," or "station" - I decided that's where I'd be for the rest of the festival. "Kon Dio" - Alone - isn't much fun, and I met a few people at this shop [bar, actually] called Mr. Tong's, both Thai and "foreigner."

On the second day of Songkran, extended [host] family came over and we had a small BBQ in the shop-area of the house. It was pretty tastey. Then I proceeded to drench my host mother, father, and other family members - then headed back to Mr. Tong's to finish off the day. ...only to get tossed into a pool-sized water-holder/refiller/thing for our gun and bucket water-refilling needs. Just so you know, we love to drop lots and lots of ice into our water to REALLY shock our victims. I felt like I was tossed into the ocean over by Alaska... *shivers*

There really isn't a whole lot else to say about this huge event - it was more action than activities.

Go check out the pictures - here's the link again:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/Songkran

I'll try and weasel out the pictures from my friends soon... though from the "farang" I can only hope to get an E-Mail from him - I have no contact information of his, and he has my E-Mail on a piece of paper. Hope it didn't get lost to the massiveness of water-wars...

On a different note, I'm back to my old [first] host family, which I will stay for the remainder of time. School hasn't started back up yet, but when it does, I plan on taking fewer classes to focus on learning the language more intently. I have returned to the Kunawongkrit, with my fun host dad, host mom, brothers and sister, my kitty cat friend [Cake], a room with a actual working TV and DVD player in it (yay!), and a broiler - so now I can finally make cupcakes with the Pillsbury and icing goodies. :D

Who cares if Asia always says, "Gah, can't eat that, that makes you fat!"... more cupcakes for me!
Muahahahahaa! Yay ziploc bags.

MoniNeko

P.S. - I just spell-checked the darned thing, and I believe I just set a record... One error in the entire thing! I misspelled water gun. Har har.

Sandy Footprints

2008-04-04T01:30:00.004-05:00

It's been another month since I've updated my blogs... but let me tell you what... I have a good excuse this time! I promise.

March started off for me in Nakhon Phanom, which was soon followed by the Krungtep (That's "Bangkok" in [phonetic] Thai) Experience. A few days after I got home from Bangkok, I rode a cramped bus over to Korat, to hop into the Downstage Left seat of the second floor... of a double-decker charter bus that would be our real "home" for the next 9 days.

I sat by my wicked-cool friend, Michelle [from FL], as a few other friends piled around us and the front of the bus [with the giant window in front, of course], like Diana from Taiwan [love her!], Yuki from Japan [she's awesome,too!], Mandy, Ileia, Carol, ...and a few others.

We rode the bus for a several-hours-long distance until we came across our first "oh my gosh look how clear the water is" beach. ...Ha, and we thought THAT water was clear. We all got burnt there, and celebrated Easter. A few of the exchange students [when we had stopped at Lotus] splurged on candy and eggs [never actually saw them, so I'm afraid I can't detail them], and hid it around the resort. Since we were doing this at night and the resort was practically rented out to just our group, we wouldn't have to worry about neighbors. Unfortunately, though, I was one of the worst that were burnt of the group, and decided [after several million movements that hurt] I'd just try and sleep instead of doing more unnecessary moving. I was lucky though... the next morning I woke up and was ready earlier than a lot of people, so I had more energy to get up and look for anything people missed the previous night. Score! I got a bag-full of candy AND found the missing "Baby Bottle Pop." [There were only a few, and I got one!]

...I skipped something. We spent 2 nights at the resort. After the first night, we went on a small boating tour to the surrounding islands. Speed boat. Fun. Saw a walk-through.. or rather, walk-by cave thing, got back in the boat. Snorkled around a bit. Went back to the resort. Okay, back to where I was.

We got on a boat. We went to James Bond Island!!! Woo!!!
Visited a real "floating city." I mean seriously. Their houses were like on a weird boardwalk thing, surrounded by water. It was pretty cool.

Separated ourselves from our big bags... took a couple days' worth of stuff in a bookbag... boarded our next "home." The big, double-decker boat.
We snorkled. We arrived at the Similan Islands and put our bags in bungalows instead of tents [tents were first idea, but the weather looked kind of bad, so they put us in bungalows]. We spent the next night in tents, with what turned out to be worse weather. Ha! Irony. Oh well. No matter where we stayed, it was sandy outdoors AND in. It's just worse this time because the mosquitoes were upped a few notches to where you had a whole ... flock? after you, and you had to pull your ninja moves to unzip, hop in/out-of the tent, and zip it back up in just a couple seconds flat so you didn't get any enemies in your snooze-zone.
Tons of hermit crabs inhabit the Similan Islands. Be careful where you step on the beach, there's one every foot or so, possibly every other inch (depending what part of the island you're on). However, they're really rather cute...

Next day went searching for sea turtles. Found a couple, but the snorklers snorkled them away...
I got a picture before they left, though. Woo!

Climbed a giant rock pile... had to put your rock climbing muscles to the test...

Next day took off from the tent-y Similan Islands and headed for Phuket! We made it just in time to see the Sunset and grab something to eat.

Woke up the next morning to go to the Phuket Aquarium, and check out the Nemo (clown) fish, electric eels, "upside down catfish," and even some people-sized fish!

After catching some delicious fried shrimp with chili sauce, we did a bit of "gift shopping" and headed back to the hotel, prepping ourselves up to go to Phuket FantaSea, which I found out later was also a small theme park... Darn it... I wore heels, too! Ouch. My feet hurt by the time we looked at all of the wallet-gouging-prices on some cool stuff, took a few pictures, checked out someone making glass sculptures, and ate at a huge buffet that could sit.. what was it, 2,000 people? Haha. Yeah, the brochure even said there was about 1,000 types of food from all over the world... They half-truthed that. I think they mean 1,000 types of food all over the theme park, because there sure wasn't 1,000 types of food at the buffet, to every one's disappointment.
Oh well, they had cream puffs. I guess I'll live (I personally downed a few of those).

Also at Phuket FantaSea were some really interesting bathrooms... Now, hold on. Basically all I meant was that they were themed as well, and the sinks were pretty fun. You turn the knob on top his nose and water comes out not one, but BOTH of the bull statue's nostrils!
...anyway...

Last night on the Southern Tour, we had already started heading home. I could have sworn we stayed at this hotel before, but I guess it was just DeJaVu or something. Anyway, Michelle and I rented out an air-conditioned Snooker room [there were 2 rooms w/ AC, one w/o], and played our own way; we had a blast. There was even a dry erase board. Woo!

Before heading home from that point, though, we saw a banner attached to our hotel. "Phuket Bike Week." There were a lot of bikers, both farang [foreigners] and not, staying at our hotel... wanted to take a picture with a small group, but never found a small group again after having that thought. Oh well.

Yes, mom and dad, I wore my contacts when I was snorkeling. Of course I did! I mean, why would I want to view the prettyfulness of the ocean without them (a.k.a., BLIND)? Haha, just teasing. Seriously though, I did wear them...

PICTURES!
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/SouthTour

IMPORTANT!
Please hold all shipments to Moni [me] for the next week or so. I plan on moving back to my old host house within a few days, and I'll let you know when. Until then, please don't send me anything! It will get sent to the wrong address. If you have put something in the mail already, please let me know! The new address will be the same as the first one I had when I came here. If you would like to get it from me, please send me an E-Mail to:
gecko.on.the.wall@gmail.com

Thanks!

MoniNeko

2 Kids 1 City

2008-03-18T09:10:00.007-05:00

Krungtep. That's Thai for "Bangkok." Did you know that Bangkok won the Guinness record for having the world's longest name for a capital? "Krungtep" is actually the shortened version of the very long name given to it - which takes a song for every Thai student to memorize. The beginning of the name, translated into English from Thai, means: "City of Angels."

Anyway, this Thai City of Angels sure was fun to visit alongside a true Bangkok resident, former exchange student and friend, Got. He lives in a condo/apartment thing barely 150 metes from the Thong Lo station for the BTS [Sky train], which takes you everywhere you want to go... in the more modern parts of Bangkok.

I arrived to Suvarnabhumi [pronounced Soo-wahn-uh-boom-ee] Airport on the 12th with a minor delay and a phone call from Got asking if I landed yet. After collecting my bags [which took 20 or 30 minutes to get from the airplane to the baggage claim], we piled into the car, I met his father, and we drove a little ways to the downtown-side of Bangkok [more modern areas, a little more populated]. I dropped my bags off in his house, re-situated my purse and was ready to go see my first sights of Bangkok. We hit the night market that wasn't far from his house at all. It was pretty spacious, really cool. It reminded me of the night markets in Chiang Mai, but minus few shops. By the time we were done there, we were both tired and we planned on getting up early the next day, so we decided to "hit the hay."

Woke about 7:30 AM the next day, worked out plans with Got about what we were going to do.

We hopped onto a sky train and rode over to the stop we would get off to go to Japan Town, or "J Avenue."
But we couldn't find J Avenue. We walked a few hundred meters, stopped at a Starbucks [dying of thirst and needed air conditioning oh-so-badly], and started walking again. We passed the Playground, then found out we already passed J Avenue. We went to the Playground [which was supposed to be a huge building filled with all sorts of vendors], only to find out all of the vendors moved to the mall. We walked a wee bit further and found the sign for J Avenue, but we didn't know which way to go. We obviously went the wrong way and got lost for about half an hour. On the bright side, though, we found out where the Residence of the Ambassador of Argentina is!

We finally found J Avenue, but it wasn't as lived up as I believed it to be. They didn't even have ramune [a special Japanese drink that's really yummy], but we got exercise!
We took a taxi to the sky train and took that to a stop where we found a restaurant with an odd name. We took pictures and looked around, then hopped back onto the sky train and went home.

After a quick clean-up, we headed over to the Siam Center, a huge, 8-story mall with a miniature Sea World [actually called Ocean World or something] in the basement. We ate there and went over to Hard Rock Cafe, which wasn't far from the mall at all. We had some delicious, fresh-baked apple cobbler there [along with me getting a Schwepp's Ginger Ale for me and Sprite for Got], and took several pictures. They have the same glass windows with Elvis on them as the other Hard Rock Cafes I've been too. Thought that was pretty cool - I wonder if they all do? I got a pin for my blazer, and we went back home for that day. We were pooped.

We woke earlier again the next day, and Got showed me his huge high school, which I think looked more like a college. They even had a church, separate from the school, but on the campus.
Then I had my first ever REAL tuk tuk ride, on the way to the docks to go to Wat Phra Kaeo, or better known by foreigners as "The Temple with the Emerald Buddha." It costs nothing for Thai people, but 350 Baht for foreigners. Had I worn my school uniform, however, I would have gotten in for free as well. Too bad no one told me this earlier. Oh well. It was still pretty. :)

After checking out the Emerald Buddha, we headed over to the Giant Swing, or in Thai: "Sao Shing Shaa." Headed over to the docks, went back to Got's school and visited the church there. Went back home, cleaned up, and got ready to go watch a movie at MBK!
I've never seen a movie in a movie theater [in Thailand]. I've always heard they're really cool looking, really nice. I finally got to experience it, and it came with magnets when you purchase a movie ticket! We saw Step Up II, which wasn't so horrible [save for the lame ending], but I got a cool Sweeney Todd and Enchanted magnet.
Right when we were about to buy sky train tickets and go back home to eat mama and sleep, we walked past a little "pocket" in a sidewalk, where a few Thai Hip-Hop fans showed off their break dancing and other moves for anyone who would stop and watch. They weren't all that bad, and the cops seemed to enjoy it, too.

The next day we woke up around 5 AM for a family trip outside of Bangkok, to the Floating Market.
Its name under describes it. We hopped into a boat in one of the canals. It apparently led to the Mekong River, too, if we wanted to go there, but we headed to the center of attention, the markets. This place wasn't just a floating market. No, this place was a floating city. It had the same structures as a little countryside in Udon would have, including a walkway that goes up and over the traffic [boats, in this case].
After sight-shopping a little, we headed over to a Thai-Noodles "restaurant," where they prepared our meals in a boat and handed it over to us in our boat. After putting our fixings [such as chili powder, sugar, peanuts, etc.] in our bowls, we returned the fixings to the owner and headed off to the temple while eating our noodles. They were really tasty. Too bad the driver wasn't going slow so I didn't spill! I used my awesome balancing skills and managed not to drop anything, amazingly, gulped it all down when it finally clicked with the boat driver that we were eating [he slowed down], and he sped up.
We fed the fish after checking out the wat, then headed back the way we came, got out, and drove over to a restaurant. We picked out a table and ordered some food, then got treats and walked barely 50 meters o a little spot, where the waiter/helper guy whistled for the monkeys to come, so we could feed them. They happily scampered over for food, and when we were done, we ate and drove home.

After eating lunch, Got and I walked over to the subway and took that over to JJ Market, which turned out to be extremely humid [made you sweat within 10 minutes of being there, even though you may not feel all that hot], and super-crowded with shops and a bajillion people. We looked around and did some miniature shopping, then went back home, showered and went to eat supper with Got's Grandparents. They were really cool people, and his grandfather talked me into eating 2 small green chilies. Not those 3 inch ones, but the centimeter-long ones. You'd think because they're littler that they'd be more mild, but no. The little ones are actually worse than the big ones, and I just consumed two of them. Now my tongue hurts and the sop is out of fruit [helps tame the spicy], so I had to wait it out. Whoops.

The next day was the last full day, in which Got had to take care of a few school things, so I took this time to sleep in; I felt I needed it. I proceeded to do a quick check on E-Mail, and watched a little anime [cartoons] online. Got returned home, and we headed over to MBK to do some eating at Pizza Hut, - yes, we ordered REAL PIZZA HUT PAN PIZZA! Woo! Played some arcade games including a couple racing ones, Guitar Hero, and a shooting-up-zombies game. We checked out what little shops were left open, then grabbed some ice cream from KFC then went home to watch a couple DVDs.
First in the player was Big Momma's House 2, then after that - Sky High. I don't care what people think about the second movie; it wasn't that horrible... it was just a little weird.
When I was turning off the TV and everything [every one's gone to bed already], I found a "secret channel" on the TV... it turned out to be a security cam to the lobby of the apartment complex. Weird.
Shower, bed.

Woke around 8:30 the next morning, went over to A&W at a mall nearby with Got, then shopped around. Found a cute little book store, but didn't get anything. I found a DVD stand, and managed to snatch up "The Fifth Element" in the bin marked for clearance. Almost got the Live in Bucharest Michael Jackson DVD, too, but decided against it [for now!].

Got's mom drove us over to the airport and we got stuck in a traffic jam... Check in was supposed to be from 2:00 to 3:30, but I finally was able to speak with the people [after waiting in line, too] and checked in at 3:32. I guess because there were a lot of people still in line, it was okay. My bags were one kilogram over the allowed [free] 15 kilos, which I believed to be a rip-off compared to when I came to Thailand in the first place [more weight allowance], but I took out my shoes [2 pairs] and stuffed them in my carry-on bag. Good thing I made a back-up plan ahead of time. I weighed the suitcase before leaving, but I guess the scale was off. No big deal.

I would have hugged my friend good-bye, but hugging someone of the opposite sex when you're straight is a big Thai no-no, anywhere you are, so we said our good-bye's and had wished me good luck.

Hopefully he'll be able to come visit me in Udon sometime.

If not, I know we'll see each other back in America.

Signing off.

Moni

P.S. - In 2 days I leave for Korat to hop on [yet] a[nother] double-decker charter bus to spend the night tripping over towards the South of Thailand. Don't expect many updates until next month, even. I won't have access to computer until then, anyway. :)

P.S.S. - Bangkok pictures link!
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/Krungtep

Nakhon Phanom

2008-03-10T04:38:00.007-05:00

As I am writing this [draft], I am sitting between a person who's trying to sleep and a host mother who's pointing out that a piece of food somehow managed to lodge itself under my nose. How it got there, no one knows...

We're on our way back home from Nakhon Phanom, where we had a Rotary Conference for all inbounds and outbounds. We already stopped at a small market for all of 5 minutes and "Underwater World," which was actually closed, but we got to visit the place for free and alone anyway, mainly because "we knew a guy."

The conference was unfortunately not as insane as the Grand Rapids trip [which I will be returning to!], but it had its perks. I thought it was going to be a long weekend when I walked into the home-room with my friend Michelle, aka "Nam Fone," only to be silenced by weird signs with badly drawn lips and fingers with a line crossed through the entire picture. Double negative sign that's supposed to mean "Shush up," but rather picture-translated into "No fingers allowed between your lip outlines and your lips themselves."

The conference wasn't actually interactive at all, and even the Thai outbounders weren't enjoying the hour upon hour upon hour-long lectures [mainly in Thai] to the entire visiting Rotarians from other countries, outbounders and inbounders. Every now and then my friends and I snuck out of the lecture hall and just went roaming around the huge hotel, found a 7-11 and went to my hotel [about a Monmouth-block's walk away].

Oh, the evil little hotel I stayed at... Power went out when my friend and I went to my room to collect some more pins for trading. We thought it was just my room, but when we went to the elevator, the lights were off and we had to walk down the stairs. Thankfully we were on dark-and-creepy floor 5 instead of mass-mudering floor 13, or even floor 21 [as we were in Chiang Mai]. Yes, it was dark and creepy. The halls were dimly lit, even at night, and when you walked down them, there seemed to be a strange dark abyss at the end of the hall. Thankfully my room wasn't that far down the hall.

My "creepy" hotel also had a karaoke place, but that was full up, so Nam Fone and I went to do karaoke in the bar room, which was part of the hotel. We ordered some french fries [had to order something to do karaoke] and I got a Watermelon shake, she got some Sprite. We did this with older Rotarians until 1 AM. ...good times.

On the second day [after the first night spent], at about 1 or 2, I followed the Ubon kids [with Nam Fone] to a van. They all piled in and I decided to go along with, because I didn't want to sit and listen to lectures all alone. We all rode over to "Miracle Hair," a salon for them to get their hair and make-up done for the dances they were to perform that night. I watched them all get ready, then one of the hairdresses [who doesn't do make-up] was getting bored, so she offered to style my hair for free. I quickly pulled everything out of my hair, as my hair was looking off-kilter by now. She put it into a braid that started from behind my left ear and ended near my right ear, then straightened the back. It looked pretty fun. We took pictures, they gave us some cool shell keychains [I gave them some buttons I made] and left back to the hotel.

While we were waiting for them to get their hair and make-up done, though, we were rather bored, so Nam Fone and I went to look around Ubon. I found a 5-ft wide "crack" in the big metal door of a building, and saw some military uniforms hung up. I decided I wanted to go in and look. There were no windows to this store, just imagine a giant garage door on it's side, and only open part way. We walked in and looked at the cool uniforms, then turned around to find a glass case with official pins and patches, shoulder things and such for military/army uniforms. Guess what else? They were super cheap, especially compared to the patches that the Rotary shops were selling [and tieds and pins and stuff]. I got a nice little patch that represents the parachute army men, 3 mini-patches of the Thai numeral for 5 [inside Thai joke there], and a Korean flag. Sadly enough, they didn't have any Thai flags [weird] or American ones. That's alright, though.

Back at the hotel, some different groups of exchange students did some Thai dancing and we all ate. After eating, I met up with Nam Fone on a balcony type thing where we could still see the stage. It was a good view. We hung out with some Thai outbounders and talked a little bit, took pictures. After that was when we started looking for the Karaoke room, only to find out it was closed for renovation in that particular hotel.

Before heading over to my hotel, though, we decided to give ourselves a grand tour of the Rotary hotel. We tried getting to the roof, as usual with any Rotary function, but someone found a previous student wandering around up there earlier and locked the door soon after they left; now we couldn't access the roof. Instead, we found a service elevator, and decided to press the up button, to see if we could access the 8th floor from there (because the regular elevator has the 8th floor button, but it wasn't able to light up/be activated). That was our new mission.

We got in but couldn't access it from this elevator, either, so I hit "G" to go to the ground floor. We saw the kitchen, then closed the ele-doors and went back up. We switched to the regular elevator on the 7th floor, then proceeded to hit all of the buttons below the 7th floor to go to. Then after one would unlight, we would hit it again to make it light up.

Someone joined in on the 6th floor, realized this, shook his head and laughed. He got off on the 5th floor [where he was headed anyway]. We got off on the third, and went to Nam Fone's room, then headed over to my hotel [about a block down the road] to play karaoke.

That about sums everything up, sorry if it was a little boring of a story - it was kind of a boring trip. We definately made our own fun, though.

I'm going to Bangkok tomorrow [the 12th], woo!!! Meeting up with a friend who is a former exchange student to America. I'll be staying with his family and come home on the 17th. The 19th is my host mother's birthday, then I'm off again on the 21st. This time I'm going with the other exchange students on the Southern Thailand Tour, going to Phuket and such. We're taking the overnight bus. This should be interesting.

Also - at the conference, a little girl came up to me and gave me her squirrel pin. Her mom urged for me to accept it, too, so I gave her the choice of whatever pin she wanted from my blazer - and put the squirrel right under my nametag. They both seemed really happy, as the mom helped her put the pin on her shirt. I took a couple pictures with her - she really was an adorable girl. :)

Moni

Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/NakhonPhanom

Falling Up

2008-02-25T09:05:00.004-06:00

That's right, my friends. The other day at school, before summer vacation [started on the 15th]... I fell *up* the stairs. And hurt my leg. Big bruise. It hurts. [mentioned in previous blog]

Then just this past Wednesday I fell over with my bike and created a scab on my knee - one of the worst places to get such a thing. I didn't want it to get infected, seeing as it was pink already, so I cut up some antibotic-infused bandaids and made a makeshift large antibiotic-infused bandaid. What's weird is walking into the pharmacy and asking for a "plaster." They just don't know it by the term "band-aid" here. I can only imagine, with my full American-self showing, the pharmascist handing over to me a giant tube of plaster-caulk saying "good luck."
Ah, the differences between English and American...ish.

Crazy-ness! I'm waking up at like 8 AM normally, nearly every day now! ...Stupid sun... Then I get tired around 9 and 10. I think having Muay Thai class helps wear me out, though.

My friend Chase lost 20 kilos since he's arrived to Thailand. Not pounds, KILOS. 20 kg's is nearly 45 pounds! Yes, that's possible. He mainly feasts on super-spicy things. That's the main reason other countries [who typically have a lot of spices in their diet] are skinnier. Honestly though, I only lost 5 kilos, and am keeping to non-spicy foods. Knowing this information, though, I kind of want to be able to build up my tolerance for spicy food. He said he can out-eat a Thai person with spicy food. Is that even possible?

I can't remember if the report for Rotary is supposed to be every week or every month. If it's the first, I'm really sorry. Nothing too much has been happening, and I can't exactly write about watching movies, though I could write some very good reviews. If it's the latter, all I have to say is woo. Life is boring right now, wake up, watch a movie, check E-Mail, go to Muay Thai, come home, eat, E-Mail, sleep. Now that Watchi is [finally] into her summer vacation, I think I may have more things to do. I don't know for sure, though. Besides, I need to practice my dancing moves and mail some stuff out. I have yet a Christmas gift for my friend. What will I call it, Happy St. Patty's Day?

Those are some really fat fish in the tank next to the computer. Seriuosly. They're like sumo-fish or something...

[Currently checking pictures on computer to see if she skipped something...]

Oh! I met the super-famous-across-Thailand band called Colorbau. I don't have the pictures yet, they're on Pang's phone. Pang=name of host sister who's awesome [like me] [wink]. ;)
Anyway, they spoke good English! :P They were pretty cool.

There's a weird sound in the night... it makes a noise that sounds like a skipping CD then loudly screams "TOOKAY!" 3 days later I realized, no, it's not a toucan. It's a tookay. A giant wall gecko the size of a paint roller or bigger.

I also realized my Spanish is now obliviated. A man from Cuba is on something like a teacher exchange with our Muay Thai class, only he teaches the International Boxing, the stuff with no kicking involved what-so-ever. That's okay, though, I guess. There's another guy in my class named Marco, who's from Canada. He speaks Spanish better than I do by a longshot, and can translate for him to me and everyone else.

I'm tired. Going to "hit the hay."
Later!

MoniNeko

Muay Sacon

2008-02-14T22:12:00.010-06:00

Write first! Title later!
That's a must for me. While I'm writing this... at this point in time... I'm title-less.

OKAY! First thing's first. Chinese New Year! It wasn't as big as I expected it to be, and it clashed with the Chinese Lantern Festival... apparently it's the same day. Nonetheless, the temple was decorated all pretty-like, and extended host family came to visit. They turned out to be rather fun. So later that day I took the nice red top that my old host family gave me, and slapped on my blue Chinese dress that I bought while in Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai. We went to the temple first, wai'd, and took pictures. One of the newspaper photographers wanted a shot of me. I thought that was pretty cool, even though I wasn't wearing a red dress. I don't know if I wound up in the newspaper, I guess I have to ask my host family - it doesn't matter, though. It was the whole 'option' factor that made me giggle a little.
After visiting the wat, we went over to Centerpoint/The Night Market and ate at "The Beer Garden," where I ate some Somtam [mai sai pli' brrio won], eggrolls, fish, Pad Thai, you name it. I got rather full. Then we all piled home.
[ Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/ChineseNewYear ]

The next day everyone went to Laos [except me - my host dad made sure I knew that in a very teasing manner - lol], while I went to see my friend Crissy off on the plane. I met Crissy in Muay Thai class. She's from Ireland, a really fun person to be friends with. Anyway, I had coffee and banana bread with her and saw her off.
When I got back home, I had to change because I would soon be going to Muay Thai, which [after I got there] I found wasn't going to be held? Apparently the teacher left early, had to do something. Oh well.
Pi-Duh came over [she's pretty rad - host aunt], we had a big BBQ after all the rest of the family got back from Laos. Ribs, salad and Thai food [of course, I mean... I *am* in Thailand].

Sunday they left, - and I actually got up to eat breakfast with them before they did so. Ended up eating a Vietnamese breakfast. Not bad, really. Then Kun-Meh had the idea of taking pictures of the flowers and doggies while the sun was rather "nice."
[ Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/BreakfastGoodbye ]

I have a new friend at Muay Thai, she's older than she looks, half-Thai, half-Japanese. She's pretty fun, too. Speaks English a little, but I usually speak Thai with her. Which is good, of course. I got some pictures of her practicing. I also got a few pictures of everyone else practicing........ the other day.
[ Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/MuayThai ]

"The Other Day" included running, and finding out what the higher-ranked people in my Muay Thai class do while waiting for it to begin - they play Sepak Takraw.
[ Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/SepakTakraw ]

Then there's yesterday. Happy Belated Valentines, hope you had "a good one." My sewing class gave me candies and told me they love me. Then we proceeded to take lots of pictures. There was also this large cook-out inside the school for the sewing departments for Valentine's Day. Somtam, TomYam, and fried chicken. Everything but the chicken was spicy, so I kept to that and downed it with some red Fanta.
[ Pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/AschiwaValentineSDay ]
Yesterday was also my last day at school. Summer vacation started today, and will last for 2 monthes [exactly].
Too bad it's cold right now.

Yesterday I also fell down while going up the stairs. Now my leg hurts. Along with the giant bruise [attatched].
Thought I'd mention that to let you know I haven't changed into someone else [or abducted by aliens] and am still... normal me. Haha, peace out.

Moni Neko

P.S. - On Wednesday, since the teacher didn't come to school, I headed over to Palaat because [Aijan] Sirir invited me to come over and "spar." [Spar = not serious fight, no hurting.] It wasn't Muay Thai [with kicking], just regular [international] boxing, called Muay Sacon. It was rather difficult for me because I'm so used to Muay Thai, due to all the kicking involved. Nonetheless, I won. Yay! :)
P.S. S. - I think Aijan [Du'ean] (Muay Thai teacher) will want me to fight Muay Thai before I go back home - he's already teaching me the traditional Thai [warm-up] dance called "Ram Muay Thai," I'm still learning it, but it's getting decent...

"Champion of the World"

2008-02-02T02:43:00.000-06:00

Just 5 days until Feb. 7, the Chinese New Year! It's going to be HUGE!
I can't wait. Seriously.
Tons of people are going to be in Chinese dress, there's a Chinese musical happening, and because we're in a part of Thailand that's really close to China... well, yeah, it's going to be huge.

Sorry I haven't updated for a long time - I haven't had as much access to a computer! I'm with a new host family now, have been for exactly 2 weeks [today]. I really love my new family.
Also, the day right after I arrived, Watchi and Apinya were able to come over, and we had a huge BBQ with delicious ribs and salad.

Yesterday I started Muay Thai back up after having not been for awhile, due to the Phu Kradung trip, sick for a week or so, then going to Chiang Mai and being sick again. I'm finally getting over the sickness. Now I'm starting Muay Thai back up.
I can tell my body likes the return to the arts. :P

My friend, nicknamed "Oui," he's a student in my Muay Thai class, too. He's about 21, pretty cool. Well, anyway, something really cool happened. Around Phu Kradung-time, he left Muay Thai class in my city, kind of missed him. He's returned back. Guess where he went!? Bangkok. He participated in the SEA Games, SEA standing for SouthEast Asian. It's kind of like the Olympics, but just the Asian countries, really, and is played every year [not just once every four years]. Cool, right? It gets better... he won! Yah. That winner guy... I not only train with him, but am friends with him. ...killer. :D Now he's slightly known as "The Champion," sometimes called "Champion of the World," because he competed agianst several countries' top Muay Thai players.

On the 27th of Jan, the "Udon Girls" [inbound exchange students staying in UdonThani] put on a mini-show. We danced to a couple songs for the past President of Rotary International, along with a few other Rotarians from Japan. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, when most of the pictures were taken, I had already been told we were leaving - therefore, I had yet to remove my watch. Haha.

I fixed my hair up real cute...

I have a cool new pillow. It's big, fluffy and green. He's a frog... I think.

Eating honey-roasted "Koh Kae" peanuts - only these don't have that weird crunchy coating stuff.

All day yesterday, planes were flying everywhere. My new house is near the airport, but even for that fact, it was still quite uncommon. You could take a picture of a military plane about ever 5 minutes or so. Most of them were carriers or fighter planes. My host family says it was training yesterday, that's why.

Updated photo albums:

Promdeeraj House [New Host Family's House]
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/PromdeerajHouse

Welcome Party
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/WelcomeParty

Lam Thai
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/LamThai

Random
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/CompletelyRandomPicturesFromThailand

Enjoy~~~
MoniNeko

P.S. - If you ever find yourself trying to read Thai on my Picasa website, it's most likely my fault and I didn't notice. Simply check the url/address & change ".co.th" to ".com" - that's all. :)

Thai Catwalk

2008-01-07T02:07:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry, but I failed to talk about the fashion show AFTER it has happened. It went really well, and I felt really cute. Just don't ever expect me to wear that much make-up again. Seriously.
However, you can find pictures of the fashion show [with the dress I designed - that being the green one with the bow] here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/FashionShow

Thanks,
Moni

I'm Dreaming of a Thai Christmas...

2008-01-06T06:11:00.000-06:00

~Happy New Year!!! [Sawatdee bpi mai kha!]~

It's been awhile since I've updated!

I blame it on Chiang Mai.

Then I blame it on Chiang Rai because that place was really cold... temperature-wise.

...I didn't know Thailand could do such dramatic temperatures... unless you were on a mountain, say... Phu Kradung, for example.

I write to you now with a lap cat cutting off circulation to my legs.

I'm sure this 17 year-old doesn't truly mind, as I'm playing the part of heater on a cool winter night. My hands are like ice right now, and I've already returned "home" to Udonthani.

On the 16th, I struck ill at night, and visited the doctor the following morning. I left for Chiang Mai/The Northern Tour with Rotary on the 17th, still ill, but feeling better. I believe it was a very bad case of the "24-hour flu," a.k.a. food poisoning. Progressing through the trip, I got better and better, and was able to eat more.
Anyway,

The trip took us to the Lampang Elephant Site, where we watched elephants paint on canvas, watched them all "jump" into the lake and take a bath, rode on them, and visited the elephant hospital.

Michelle and I took a carriage ride through a town, then asked a martial arts school where the nearest pizza joint was. We eneded up going to an internet cafe instead.

We all went cave exploring and found really weird things like a "hairy chicken," which I honestly can't explain.
We found Engrish, sang in the dark. Took pictures to light up our walkway.

We visited ruins that are older than our country, and a tree, too.

I beat a gong properly with a giant padded club.

Took a picture of a pony with an interesting hair-do.

Arrived in Chiang Mai.

We stayed at the Royal Lanna, more than 22 floors of awesomeness, and "access" to the roof.
It was located in the Night Bazaar, which oddly enough, closed before the stroke of midnight, and more active during the day. Should have been named the Bazaar, leaving out the whole "night" part.
When we checked into our rooms, I looked out our window and saw a window cleaner man on the other hotel, along with a wicked reflection of our own hotel.
We had a Starbucks nearby, along with a Burger King not far from here, and a Mc Donalds AND Subway!
The most-visited place by me would be Starbucks.

The group took a "tour" through a "Silverware Factory," where they make sterling silver artwork and jewelry. Then, because we were students, everything in the store was half off the regular price for us. I bought a ring with three theatrical-looking cats on it. It's pretty cool.
Right after, we went to the Parasol "Factory," where we watched people paint the big cotton and paper umbrellas with wooden parts. I believe that every student got SOMETHING of theirs painted. I got a white elephant painted onto my black short-pants, then bought something else for a gift. These people use a similar fashion in painting, and with such fashion, they can accomplish the task of painting a simple design about 4x4" in a matter of minutes, making it look very nice, or very cute. It was really cool to watch them at work.

Supper was at this huge garden-place. It was pretty... even the uh... "decorative cabbage."

We:
Rode a songtao to the top of Thailand's Tallest ... thing? Highest elevation point. I believe you can call it a mountain, I guess. Up on that .... mountain was the King and Queen's wat... wats... ...pagodas? Apparently I'd make a horrible tour guide.
We saw a waterfall on the way down farther, and took a few pictures. Met a couple older Islamic people on a tour. They seemed pretty cool.
Went to the Chiang Mai zoo, saw lots of felines and PANDAS! That's right, we saw pandas. They were being "rented from China," and were in a special dome-like thing with a different temperature and habitat than most of the rest of the animals in the zoo. They even has disinfectant welcome mats, and put electrical tape over the flash of your camera....... I'm just glad it didn't leave residue when I took it off.
They were active, yes, and quite cute. Both seemed immensely hungry in their seperate areas (in this time of year, the males and females don't interact yet), chowing down on an infinite supply of bamboo.

Later, we experienced a dinner-theater type meal, where we ate [I sat on the floor with about 7 others *we wanted to*] and watched Thai dance and music. It was pretty cool. Especially the giant... thing that came off the stage and danced around the people. Its big furry mass was rather cute.

A few friends and I went to the roof of our hotel and hung out, looking out over the city's massive, beautiful nightscape, took a few pictures, and talked. Later, Diana, Michelle and I walked towards the mall, finding all of two or three shops still open. The mall was, of course, closed [around midnight], but they had a snowman in front, so we took pictures. Then we went back to the hotel and slept.

We went to the Golden Triangle and Chiang Rai, where we met the "Ha Baht" kids and walked around in another country... Laos. We saw Burma/Malaysia, and rode a boat around in the Mekong River, where the supposed water-dragon lived and threw up fireballs during the full moon of October [Fireball Festival] by the Friendship Bridge.

Our group visited the Princess Mother's Summer Home, which was rather........... well, they had good coffee in the coffee house near the souvenir station. Their Macadamia Nut Pies were rather amazing, too.
Michelle and I tried on wigs in the Chiang Rai markets, and I bought a shirt and another bag to help port my stuff home [even when I came on the trip, my little carry-on was about to burst].

We visited the Hill Tribes and saw the Long-Necked females in one of the tribes.
We saw little fiesty puppies and Holly bought a very royal-looking pashmina... er, "Hill Tribe made scarf." [cough] I got a couple of cool Hill Tribe/Northern Thai Cultural bracelets.

We saw the White Temple [Wat Rong Khun], which was fantastically beautiful. Instead of the cheap gold paint and little fake jewels, this was a purely white structured temple with mirrors. I want to go back, and buy the mini-book before I do another walk-through. He designed it in a such an artistic, story-like way, and the murals and statues are marvelous to look at. It's not just a Thailand, thing, either. Chalermchai Kositpipat painted of many things involving the world. The Twin Towers, a gas pump and a few other things were part of the inside murals.

We celebrated Christmas in Phitsanulok, and exchanged our Secret Santas that was got in Phu Kradung. My friend Chase played as Santa. It was pretty awesome.

Unforunately though, that marked the end of our last day of freedom. The next day, we all went back to Korat, then took charters home.

It was the best of the so-far two trips that we have had. Though we've spent the nights in hotels, though, our real home was the double-decker charter bus, where we had karaoke parties and took pictures of each other sleeping.

I can't wait until the next trip, but that won't be for awhile, unfortunately.

Northern Tour photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/NorthernTour
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/NorthernTourPt2

When I came out I found a package on my bed from my parents back home, along with a few cards on top of it. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! The gingerbread cookies were AWESOME! My compliments to the chef [mother dearest] and the packager [same person], as they tasted barely even a day old as if you had cooked them at night on the previous day. I got another spork [cheers], a bracelet with cats on it [that I'm wearing right now], some of my favorite instant cappucino mix, Swedish Fish [fave junk food in America], toe socks [my current 'phase' in Thailand], and some confetti cake mix with a tube of frosting. Confetti cake is my all-time favorite cake type, by the way. THANK YOU!!!

My Grandma and Grandpa Schu sent me a singing card, something new. I've never had a singing/music card before. That was cute. :) Thankies.
My G&G Gray sent me some toe socks, tide wips and gummi worms. Awesome. Thank you.
I also got a card from my Uncle Roger and my cousins Brett and Kari. [WOO!]

...then my Grandma and Grandpa Schu wrote that something awaits for me at home. ...Mom, Dad... I'm actually kind of wanting to go to McDonald's when I come home, so don't steal my coupons!!! ...when do they expire? [shifty eyes]

I made pancakes yesterday with my friends, and opened my bottle of maple syrup that I brought from America! They were TASTEY!

I go back to school tomorrow with a different schedule [for this week only, I beleive].

I don't have art on Fridays anymore, due to some reasonable... reasons. Instead, I don't have school on Friday until I switch host families (around the 20th of this month), when I will talk to them about taking classes on Friday at the sports/phys. ed. college [where I take Muay Thai].

If anyone wants to send me something, please do not send anything to me from now until the... Wed. the 16th, and make sure you don't send the package/letter/card/whatever to my Kunawongkrit address. I have a new address, so if you want to mail me something, E-Mail me and I'll send you my address.

Holly and I discovered a new coffee place not far from where we live! It's absolutely delicious, and the set-up in the place is really lovely. They have a couple of English magazines, and the price is very cheap. We're definately returning soon. I believe we've found our new "hideout." We could honestly sit in that place for a couple hours, easy. You get free hot tea while you stay, too.

I'm sorry I haven't updated yet, but now I have.

For now, I guess... I'll see ya later!

Monica

An Extra Treat for You.

2007-12-07T10:04:00.000-06:00

Videos of the parade.
Enjoy my camera-quality videos.
No, I don't have a video-editing software, I'm sorry.
You'll have to put up with the raw footage. [smirk]

Part I of Chinese Golden Dragons:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23502540

Part II:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23506319

Chinese Dancing Nunchuck-Music-Making Guys:
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23503066
MoniNeko

Chinese Dragon Things & Climbing Mountains

2007-12-07T05:43:00.000-06:00

I'm in some of the Northern-most parts of Thailand, so we also have a LOT of Chinese people and ancestry here. Therefor, we have a lot of Chinese-themed stuff, as well as the second language here (first being Thai) is a half-half tie of Chinese and English.
So there was a big Chinese festival/holiday thing the other day/this week... guess what's happening.
That's right.
A HUGE parade [with dragons]!
There's even a festival, too.

P.S. - The King's birthday was on the 5th of December, same-same Father's Day. Father's Day will always be the birthday of the current King, and Mother's Day is always the same day as the Birthday of the Queen. Cool, eh?

Anyway, we have rides, games, LOTS of eating areas (what fair doesn't?), and even those old-fashioned freak shows where you give 'em a buck and go look at the miniature set-up booth. There are a couple people-ones, but the others are just like, giant snakes or something. I haven't gone into one... yet.

Then tomorrow at 10 PM at the fair, I'm in the catwalk with one change of clothes [two outfits]. One was a previously-made one, the other is one that I designed and had help getting it made. I can not truly say that I was the one who sewed it. No, my friend has done the majority of the work. Teacher says she's a lot faster, and we actually got the dress done in time for the show because of her help. She's proud of her work, and I definitely am as well. I mainly just did some cutting, pattern-making and a few stitches. The rest was all Mohny and teacher.
*I call her "teacher" because in Thailand we just call the teachers "Aijan," the equivalent to "Sensei" in Japanese, which also translates to "master." At first we will say "Aijan" then their name or their nickname, but then it's just shortened down for class.
Anyway, I have several pictures of the festival and parade on my Picasa, which can be viewed here:
http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/KingSBirthday

Then there was the huge mountain-plateau thing we climbed the other day in November as a large group of exchange students from all over.
That was really fun.
Not to mention excessively draining and freezing cold.
Pictures...
here. http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/PhuKradung

The name of the "plateau" was Phu Kradung, largely misspelled English-wise EVERYWHERE on every souvenir. I mean, it's not in the English language, so it doesn't have an actual name in English, you know?
What do you know about plateaus? Yeah, yeah, flat on top. NOT TRUE. SO NOT TRUE. Plateaus are not perfectly flat like savanna land, okay? They are still hike-able (not just walk-able), and it gets very tiring. It's been giving the name: "Phu Kradung," because "phu" in Thai means "mountain" in English, but then the scientists, who think they're all so smart and such, call it a plateau. Ugh. I refuse to agree that it is flat on the top.

Oh yeah, we didn't have hot water at all. Not even warm water. Heh.

Anyway, it was an awesome trip. I hiked up with my friend Michelle. We would have gotten the Red Lantern award if we were in the Alaskan Sled Dog race. Or as she called it, "The Wooden Spoon Award." We took our time climbing up, as it WAS a 6 kilometer walk/hike up. The mountain/plateau/thing is vertically 1,288 meters tall. It took us 6 hours to get up, mainly because we were taking so many pictures. We had a lot of fun going up, though, too, unlike a lot of other people who rushed it. Then there was the 3 km walk to camp after the 6 km up.

We did the same coming down, but it only took us about 3 hours. A lot of the trip down contained rock sliding and jumping off of things [hoping you won't fall off the mountain in the process]. Then there was running... If you ran too fast at first going down, you wouldn't be able to stop for awhile. Which got rather dangerous if you ask me. So we stayed away from that. Michelle and I hiked down with our friend Diana from Taiwan.
Which now gives me an excuse to tell my grandparents that: "No, I'm not in Taiwan. I'm in Thailand." They tend to replace the countries every now and then... Anyway, Diana is from Taiwan, speaks a ton of mandarin, but barely speaks English at all. So Michelle and I talk to her with Thai, which Diana speaks amazingly, also. Diana and I share a few similarities together. She's a really cool person.

I have a cat on my lap cutting off my leg circulation while I'm writing this as mosquitoes feast on my feet and legs. I'm hoping I won't look like an asteroid tomorrow for the fashion show.

Monica

P.S. I would like to mention one of my other Thai friends at this point. His nickname is Boom, he's younger than me, about 15. He speaks English and a few other languages VERY fluently, and it's really crazy because I have to speak proper English with him or he has no idea what I'm saying. Lol.

Whoops...

2007-11-24T20:47:00.000-06:00

So... Guess what. It's come to my attention that my Picasa links that I have given you are on a Thai-based website.
Which is fine for me, because I'm getting used to it.... but maybe not you.
I didn't realize I was giving you Thai-language links. I'm sorry! If I purposely give you a Thai link, I'll tell you and then tell you how to navigate/do a mini-tour of the site.
For now... I should tell you that if you wish to click on a previous link to Picasa, simply change the ".co.th" to ".com" and it should work fine/should change the language to English.
Or you could just click here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall
Please update your bookmarks/favorites.
Thanks!

MoniNeko

P.S. - I leave for Phu Kradung in 10 or 15 minutes give or take 5-10 minutes. (It's Thai time... that's how it works around here). I'll be gone for a week. Feel free to drop a message, but don't expect any replies for a few days. Haha. Later!

Rice Cakes and Sideways Coffee Houses

2007-11-23T05:21:00.000-06:00

Okay!
I updated Picasa again, check it out.

I have pictures of myself in a Thai dress, mainly taken for the fashion show purposes. My head looks swollen and fat, so be nice. *scowl*

Also, my fashion design teacher took me to the outskirts of town where a few shops sat against the road like a farm house in the country. Though this "farmhouse" was more like a tiny town composed of 5 one-story larger-sized houses on one side of the road. That's where we bought Thai silk (in the colors green and yellow-green) for the dress I'm currently making in Fashion Design class at Acshiwa. On our way there, we stopped at a gas station with a sideways "house." It turned out to be a coffee shop, and Aijan (same same like "sensei") and I bought some iced coffee for the mini-trip. Then we got passed by a truck with a red bull's head and red "eyes." (Chan mee loop kha. - I have pictures.) When we got there, we saw many things besides fabric; there was clothing, scarves , key chains, bracelets, bags; much like giant souvenir shops. Haha, I didn't go in, though. Anyway, in the same shop that we bought the fabric, Aijan and I saw a few scarves taken to our liking... she bought me one of them as a "Christmas gift," a fuzzy green one. I don't have a picture of it yet; I wasn't able to wear it today with my velvet-like shrug - the shrug was getting too fuzzy. *laughs*

We got back to Acshiwa and got to work on my dress; another student went out to buy some cloth-like interfacing... it's a weird mix of the two. It's lining, rather, but with iron-on sticky things. If you sew a lot, you'd know what I mean and how odd it is to find such things. Anyway, it was very nice and today I got my pieces cut out for the top and the skirt, and I got them all ironed and lined. [I have pictures.]

Link to Acshiwa pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/Acshiwa
When you look at them, you'll notice a Thai girl in a plaid, poncho-like shirt. That's my friend Tip. She rocks. :)

Kun-Pah introduced me to real rice cakes last night. They're very tasty, much unlike America's. [In "Random" section on my Picasa.]

You'll also find a picture or two of my Kun-Pah and Kun-Meh all dressed up, as well as the breakfast I made BY MYSELF!!! Oh my gosh. My egg looks mighty perfect, if I do say so myself.

Me with a Dunkin' Donuts bag... no need for explanation there.

You'll find out what a songtao really is if you look at the pictures!!! It's the weird truck-like thing with numbers.

You'll see a [pretty much finished] lunch with a mini hotdog sided with a drink of iced coffee. School lunches here are delicious. The portions are bigger than you think.

That's all the updates for now.

Oh, random pictures link: http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/CompletelyRandomPicturesFromThailand

MoniNeko

Raisin Fried Rice

2007-11-18T06:32:00.000-06:00

I recently just tried it, and I have to admit that's it pretty good.That's really not what it's called, either.It's actually named "American Fried Rice." It has no history of Americans actually cooking it, though. Rather, a chef [after seeing all the soldiers stationed in Thailand (this is 50 or so years ago)] decided that he'd make some fried rice that he believe Americans would like. It consists of no soy sauce; instead you use ketchup/catsup. Instead of oil, you'd use butter or margarine. Then he saw that a lot of the soldiers were eating raisins, so he stuck those in there, too. Then he heaped them onto a plate and put a miniature hot dog right next to the dish. Voila, American Fried Rice.There's a couple more steps to it, but you'll have to wait for me to come home and make it for you. [evil laughter]

More updates....Hmmm...... I believe I have mentioned of me being a model. I know it's tough to imagine me in high heels... I'm getting pretty decent at it!Oh and guess what.I designed a dress, and it has some Thai influence (mainly in the top). ...my teacher is helping me make so I can wear it in the catwalk. She likes my idea. How cool is that?! I'm going to be wearing a dress that I designed and made IN A FASHION SHOW!!! *screams*

I just made my first American Meal!!! Sticky Monkey Brains. Okay, it's not a meal, but still. It's American, and also goes under the name of Monkey Bread. They loved it, but because I'm in Asia [of course] people would eat one piece, say it's good, then say they can't eat any more because they'll get fat. *rolls her eyes* It's not like eating four small marble-sized biscuits covered in butter and sugar are going to make you 3x the size you are now. oh my gosh, 4 marble sized thingies... Oh well, my host grandmother was the only one who realized this, so she gobbled up the rest for me and had me offer a couple pieces to the guests and such. They liked it, but the same Asian result came up: uan. "Uan" means "fat" here, and it only means as an adjective. "Fat" as a noun here goes under a different name. So if you say "Mai chawp gin uan krup/kha," you're not saying "I don't like to eat fat," you're really saying :"I don't like to eat because it makes me fat." [mai=no, chawp=like, gin=eat, uan=fat(adj.)] I highly recommend, however, to not try and speak the Thai language when I write it in phonetics, though. You could be saying something else entirely. Please refer to my first couple Thailand blog entries as to why.

The following paragraph may contain some "nauseation" to the sensitive stomach. Readers have been warned.
I got my ears pierced yesterday at the mall!!! Yes, it was very sanitary. No, I didn't go to a "sokapok" (dirty) place. I went to a booth set up that I've bought earrings from before (and didn't turn my ears green). I bought a set of earrings that I believe are for sensitive skin (such as mine, and since I haven't had a problem with this brand, that's what I assume for now), and they sharpened the backs. ...they then proceeded to wipe everything down with alcohol again [they were already quite clean before], wiped my ear and their fingers [again]. Then they placed the earring on my ear... and pushed with their fingers until it popped through. Yes, it stung for the process, but to be rather honest, my ears haven't turned red at all since I've got them poked through with metal. Moei, my host sister, got hers done at the same place, and hasn't had any problems at all. She was the one who went with me yesterday to get them done.By the way, all the while she did the process, I watched her with the mirror she gave me.
OKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOKOK

It's okay now, my sensitive-stomached readers. *giggles a little* All you need to know is that I got my second row of ear piercings done, finally. And I didn't pass out like the first time I got my ears pierced. (It's alright, you can call me a wuss and such, I don't mind.)

Oh, and yes it was okay for me to do so. I verified with Rotary already and such. Then after I got my ears pierced with my [host] sister Moei by my side, we went to eat a small bit of food, then walked around the mall. I bought one more set of earrings that were rather cute (one was a star and the other was a moon).

Afterwards, we went to the photo booth and had a little fun.Check it out. It was a special photo booth. We coule mess around with the pictures before we got them printed and paid for. So we had a little fun decorating our photos up.
http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/PhotoBoothWithMoei

There's a weird line in a couple of the photos, and I admit they're not of best quality, but that's only because they were snanned in to the computer. Then, of course, I updated and put more pictures in the "random" section. I will forever update "random." *grins* [6 new]
http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/CompletelyRandomPicturesFromThailand

Muahahaha.

Okay, I be going now. Later!

MoniNeko

P.S. I found the article online about me in the Galesburg newspaper. My mom supplied the link for me online while we were talking. It's a great article, and not just because it's about me. I like the writing style, especially the ending statement. That was kind of cool.
For those who didn't see it yet... I don't know how long it will be online, but here's the link to see it yourself.
http://www.galesburg.com/education/x1086977955

Mini-Donuts and Photo Booths

2007-11-10T07:09:00.000-06:00

Okay, guys. Guess what? Yes. Holly and I went to the photo booth the other day. It's different from American photo booths, but not by TOO much. Different [cloth] backgrounds/drapes, possible photo 'extras', a person to do the '1 2 3' thing... other than that, it's barely bigger than that American one.

And the photos are sticky. Yay.

We had fun, all-in-all.

Take a look:

http://picasaweb.google.co.th/gecko.on.the.wall/CompletelyRandomPicturesFromThailand/photo#5130818062951301234
Then we proceeded to get a donut and a few gifts for family, and I bought two watches. The first was cute but made my wrist smell badly metallic [I knew it would turn my wrist green or black], the other was the replacement for that one I just bought, which was a replacement for the one I lost. [I know what you are thinking. Be quiet.]

Today I got up and watched Moei bake some muffins, then went onto the computer and looked for different recipes, because the time to cook for my family is VERY VERY VERY soon, apparently.

I think I'll start little, like a breakfast. French toast, pancakes, one-eyed sailors, scrambled eggs, a few things simple like that.

Then later I'll cook them a bigger meal, like green bean casserole, chicken [I don't know how yet, probably marinated or crumble-topped], mashed potatoes and gravy, maybe soup [hopefully they have canned soup for my convenience...].

But then I found a picture of Monkey Brains, and I decided I'd do that first. Monkey Brains is another way of saying Monkey Bread... Yes, the delicious American favorite.

So I went and bought mini-Jello-mols, metal. I didn't see mini-bundts, and it made me sad, but I found mini-bundt-like-things with a very flat bubble on top instead of a dip. That'll work. If we don't have canned biscuits [which we probably will NOT], I found a recipe to make in advance for such a thing.

Yes, I know it was a wonderful idea. [wink]

I'm also going to teach myself how to make donuts. I've become so addicted to them here... I bought a couple normal-sized cutters, then a mini-one, which is OH-SO-Adorable. Seriously. It's like, an inch big in diameter, with a hole in it. How cute?! "You'll get fat." I've eaten like this for three months...

My meals: Morning: Fried egg with rice or cereal with milk. Each comes with fruit and a glass of water.

Lunch: Rice with vegetables, meat. Sometimes Pad Thai. Some fruit, maybe coffee. Water.

Supper: Same as lunch. Sometimes we eat Vietnamese, though.

Snacks: Bananas, Papaya, Yogurt, apples, Chinese fruit, donuts, jellies, marshmallow things, pocky, waffles, cookies.

The point is, I eat a LOT over here, now... and I lost 8 kilos since I've arrived.
That's about 12 pounds...

I love Thailand. I love Muay Thai. ...I love me...

Monica

No tengo una cuchara kha!

2007-11-06T11:14:00.000-06:00

My Spanish, English and Thai is getting very baffling.
By the way, that means "I don't have a spoon" in Spanish, plus the "kha" in Thai that's just an ending that you slap on when you're a girl or a lady-boy.
I'm getting over my cold... yes, I had one. I didn't need to warn anybody though because at first sign of it, I started myself on Mucinex [Dear Lord, Thank for your kind gifts of Mucinex.]. I brought two bottles with, for those "just in case" things. I'm quite happy I did. I'm nearly over it now, and I'm not even done with the first bottle [yet]!
I highly recommend that if you go to Thailand, bring Mucinex. Otherwise you'll end up going to the Hospital [there's no "go to the doctor" here], get meds you DON'T NEED, don't get meds you DO NEED, and then not get a detailed "how to" and "what that's for" low-down on the meds you GET from the hospital.
So yes, I highly recommend you bring Mucinex.
Or something else that's just as strong.

To the spoon thing:
I went to Holly's host Rotary meeting tonight; we ended up serving Watchiporn's (Virginia's - another exchange student, but from Canada) Pumpkin Coconut Milk Soup stuff. When we were serving we ran out of spoons and I was going around saying "No tengo una cuchara kha," not really realizing I was speaking Spanish instead of English [or Thai], and adding a "kha" at the end. I mentally slapped myself on the head and said, "Mai mee spoon kha." Give me a break, I don't know what "spoon" in Thai is [yet]. I'm just glad these people knew what I was looking for [it really wasn't all that hard to figure out that I needed a freaking spoon due to the fact I was [randomly] holding a bowl of Pumpkin soup standing there like a confused idiot [BAKA!].
I again mentally slapped myself when I went to grab a napkin and thought to myself, "Hey, this hotel folds their [paper] napkins the same way my Rotary's hotel folds theirs." WHO notices this stuff? WHO?! Seriously. Krrai?!

Why yes, the cow is very white with dark white spots and is a pyro. Why yes, his spots all do look like hearts. What interesting perspectives, Apinya...

Got a couple new movies. One's a "horror" movie, but I think it will be quite, save the language... dung-like. That's good, though. I miss those American horror movies that end up turning dungy. They make me laugh. I also got Back to the Future [II and III]. Now all I need is the original, then I have a complete set!
If anybody wants a DVD, send me 3 bucks and payment for postage to send to you. That's the price of a new DVD here, without the case. If you want a newer movie, give me about... 4 bucks.
What black market? I'm talking about Tacos here... [shifty eyes]
No I won't send you guys, DVD's [for those who are [very much] baka people out there]. One, I don't want to waste the time converting American money to Baht just so I can buy YOUR DVD; not to mention I'd have to go shop stall to shop stall LOOKING for the DVD, let alone being in REAL voice [non-dub] and having [if needed] English subs. Then I have to get the envelope to mail the DVD, write your address and mine, take it to the post office and [finally] ship it. No, that takes up too much of my precious time. Now shoo, before I throw this small plastic bag at you.

Who thinks I should do a [test] video blog? RAISE YO' HANDS, HOMIEZ. [Please raise your hands, ladies and gentlemen.]
Or rather, comment. I can't see your hands, put them down. Write me a very very very brief comment of "I vote for video blogs," or "YES!", or even a simple "WHEE, CARROTS" will work.
Anything negative I will take as a "Heck no, don't do it."
...Apinya, you don't count.
...seriously. So keep your kau neo daam to yourself.......... [eats it all first] [*shifty eyes* gin gin gin]

So, anyway, good night, dear peoples all around the world [who are mainly below me, teehee].
*points to the ground and mocks you* "Stop pointing at me, it's rude!" "Stop it!"

Give me a break, I'm tired.

No, we don't have DST.
Now we are 13 hours ahead of you.

STOP ASKING!!!

Erm, please.

Oh yeah. I also got a donut today. Holly and I reflected upon the 90's [again during this exchange], and realized how old we felt and were. In just three year's time, we will be talking about something that happened two decades ago... Geez, I feel old.

Good night. =]

Monica

Halloween Fairies

2007-11-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

H to the A to the Double-L O Double-U Double-E N!!!
First off, my leg itches like nuts, and I thought you should know that.
Second, I did celebrate Halloween, and I had a blast doing so [even though it was raining]!

On the 27th my [host] father and sister [with Apinya (Holly) and I] went to Lotus. That's like a Super WalMart, but flipped so there's more food items than non-food items. A backwards Super Wally World... Anyway...
I found a stash of pumpkins and saw they were like 12 baht per kilo, which is about 35 cents per 2 pounds. The pumpkin ended up costing about 45 baht all together, meaning it weighed all of about 3 kilos/6.5 pounds. It really wasn't that big of a pumpkin. That's the biggest they had, too. Well, I was going to buy the pumpkin when Kun-Pah said "Mai Bpen Lai," and said he'd pay for it. Sweet. I got a pumpkin.

Two days later, I carved it. I don't know how I managed to carve such a decent-looking pumpkin with no tools but a giant knife [look at pictures, that's the smallest knife we own], but I did it, and I like it.
Yay for Jack Skellington.

Then on Halloween day [for me, rather; you were still in day before; ...farangs], I went to school with my wings on, hair up, and even applied liquid mascara [don't get all frenzied up. I didn't wear it how you're SUPPOSED TO [see pictures]. Haha, I made a moon that you can't tell for sure is a moon until I tell you... and some stars. Yes, I meant for the moon to be that way.
I also bought tons of candy while we went to Lotus [and got the pumpkin]. A few bags; one of chocolate candies, another of marsmallow candies, another of gummy cows, and a little plastic treasure chest of chocolate gold coins. Most of the candy was gone by the end of the school day, as I was handing them out to teachers and friends. That was fun.
I got a lot of pictures taken. ... Not just with my camera...
"Oh, Monthida!" [camera-phone snapshot]
"Thida! Look!" [camera-phone... movie? what?]
Then in the cafeteria... I thought I was stared at enough because I was farang... atleast half the cafeteria stared at me and smiled or something when I entered... for the first several minutes. I much prefer the looks/reactions by the people who aren't paying attention then all of a sudden I'm so close to them asking for a meal or a drink or something and they're like "OH!" and simply have their mouth turn statuistic with an obvious "Oh" mouth movement. [giggles]

Then we all piled to Holly's later and Watchi and I spent the night. You are correct, actually. We really barely slept at all. We stayed up watching Scrubs and Corner Gas. I guess it was our version of the [was-going-to-be-but-ended-up-not-being] Farang Halloween Party.

Why yes, it was fun. Until people started getting ill from candy over-dosing. Bleh.

Then this morning Watchi went with Holly to school to visit her classes. I went home, took a shower, ate breakfast, then went to school for my classes... Thank you, later-starting classes...

Yes, I am getting eaten alive right now just to tell you this story.

Yes, it does hurt. The mosquitos here are freaking huge, and so are their snouts! [phantom shivers].

Yes, Cake the cat is somewhat blocking my keyboard routes for my arms/wrists/hands.

Oh yeah, and Kun-Meh's birthday was the day before Halloween! I have her a bracelet that my real mother made [I picked out the color, teehee], and Kun-Meh seemed to really like it. Which is rather cool. Because she hugged me.

We went out to eat Thai style BBQ again. I love that place. Yumminess.

Pictures pictures pictures.

Thank you, Picasa!

Happy Halloween, too. I hope yours rocked. [hearts]

Monica

P.S. - Thought I'd clue you in... I've been chosen as one of the "grand finale" girls in the fashion show on December 8th. Dec. 8... the King's birthday. Big deal. Big event. I'm part of it... sweet.

My friend Tip [pronounced "Teep"] is a model... she's showing me how to do the catwalk... and in high heels. I know you just winced at me in high heels. Don't worry, I'll try not to fall or trip... or stumble and fall on myself... even though I *am* Monica... Me + heels = catastrophe, I know! BUT I MAY TURN OUT OTHERWISE... it's a possibility!

Coffee & Yogurt

2007-10-29T08:48:00.000-05:00

Coffee & Yogurt. My two favorite food groups. The most I consume while in Thailand... that and "Moo Ping" which is actually "Grilled Pork." It's quite tasty. Or as the farang says on the famous Thai commercial [heh heh], "Very saeb."

I took a sip of my coffee and feel in the mood to write yet another blog while listening to James Bond music.

The other day I was in the complex and came across some rather intriguing sights.

Thai breakdancing. Yes. You head me. Breakdancing in a mall. It drew a rather large crowd. I didn't find out until later [when I got home] that the reason there were so many people in the mall that day was because there was supposedly a "superstar" there. I wonder if it was the hot Asian guy with the sunglasses who was watching Holly and me? Hmmm, I wonder. [Breakdancing pictures on Picasa, link below.]

I bought some nice, thick-soled Mary Janes with Velcro buckles. Rather cute. Under 8 bucks. I love my find.

My stupid purse broke. It's not worth the time and effort to fix it, modify it and keep it, so I'm taking what I want from it and making my own darned bag, one that's actually sturdy. Now you know why some stuff over here is so cheap. It's because it really is, well, cheap. But hey, I get some kitty-shaped zipper pull/charms now... and a [decent] bag strap. Good thing I got the stupid thing for a Salvation Army price! [Grunt-like laugh.]

I went to the park with Holly yesterday. Came across a man who was exercising in a lime green shirt and black pants. [On Picasa, link below.]

I also came across a ying yang on the ground. [On Picasa, link below.]

And a bridge that is big enough for a couple to walk comfortably across. [On Picasa.]

And a tiny doggie that was too cute to not take a picture of. [Picasa.]

Picasa link, here. http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall

That's all for now.

Seriously.

Moni.

Thanks is in order.

2007-10-26T14:42:00.000-05:00

To those of you who like the pictures portion of my blog:
Say your thanks to my sister as she is the one who has introduced me to the wonderful world of Picasa. I don't belive I've ever had something so simple and easy before. THANK YOU, VANESSA.
Seriously.
You just made my blogging jobs much easier and quicker [to points that lead me to belive I'm missing something].
The link to my photos from now on. Yes, I will mention it later in other posts, and maybe even direct the links more specificially per post [for the certain album, etc.].
For now, please check out the [few] photos I have on there already.
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall

Moni.

DySfunCTioNal PhiSH

2007-10-26T11:34:00.000-05:00

Okay. So I visited my [second] host family's house the other day. We had a BBQ with ribs after the huge Rotary group tour to the different Buddhist temples.
Pretty cool.
The house was big, and it was off in the outskirts, near my athletic college, Wittayalai Palaat. WE HAVE GRASS. They have grass in their yard. How cool is that? When I look out my soon-to-be-bedroom's window, I SEE GRASS. I see... a yard, a field! I see GREEN things instead of concrete and cement. Do you have any idea what I mean? I miss grass, end of story.
Oh, and my bed is bigger. I think comfier, too. Yet the room is smaller. No big deal.
They have a pet dog, and two fish in a tank. When I met the fish, it was a very interesting experience. You see, they're supposed to be those goldfish things that grow up to 1, 2 inches maximum, you know? One of them was normal. The other... well, his stomach was so full of fat that it ended floating upside down [fat buoyancy is better than muscle], and a good 4 or 5 inches big. The other fish? Normal SIZED, I correct myself. It had a string of poo trailing after it like a bride's train on the back of her wedding dress. It was 3 inches, bare minimum. All the fat fish could do was blub and chill out upside down, occasionally flap its utterly useless fins. I almost felt sorry for it. Nonetheless. We not only have a house and 3 cars, we have a rolly-gate thing, and another building, not attached to the house, but just outside; it's mainly for karaoke and computer usage. We still have a couple computers in the house for use, however, so I won't have to go outside whenever I want to check my e-mail, don't worry.

Today was fireworks day.
Holly's dad and herself took me to the park/lake thing, and we shot off some [would-be-il]legal [in America] fireworks, several sets of sparklers [I have a blister the size of Dolly Parton's... on my right foot near my second toe], and those [obvy] poppers/thingies. There were a couple [tribute-type] bands playing in the background. I applaud them for knowing My Chemical Romance, but they should learn English, and memorize the English lyrics before singing the song "I'm Not Okay [I promise]"... in English.
Then there was a band that sounded like Silverstein, but Thai version. If only I knew the name of them. I kind of liked them!
Then, of course, the hot punk Asian boys [ cough cough ] were playing amongst each other with fireworks, shooting them at each other, freaking out when anything went off by them [even if they are the ones who lit the dang thing]. Holly and I laughed at their cute-ness and stupidity. They soon realized, saw us. We knew they liked us, not to be full of ego. I looked at them, and all of a sudden ALL OF THEIR HEADS [from being all looking at us] turned away instantaneously. This happened several times. Then we'd giggle or laugh at the poor whipping-boy [the main target, apparently one of the 'leaders'], and smiles would spread across their faces. I almost felt bad for the guy who was always on his CELL PHONE.

A guy hopped down the flat, wide stairs on the back wheel of his bike. Holly and I joked that if he did that just a couple times, he'd hop right into the lake. [sploosh]

I found a top hat! ...but the guy wanted 390 baht for it. [About 12 bucks]. Over here, that's expensive. I'll keep looking.

This makes me want to post of list of "You know you've been in Thailand for awhile when..." sayings... hehehe, let me do that and eat my darned delicious dried pineapple I bought at the "festival."

- Splashing out $6 for a meal is extravagant.
- A weekend on a tropical island is only a few hours away.
- $9 per night is a reasonable price for a double room with en-suite bathroom (basic as it may be). [ If anyone wants to come visit me, let me book the hotel on this end. ]
- Everyone you know owns at least one yellow shirt.
- In the morning, you don't need to stick your head outside to decide what to wear. You don't even need look out the window to decide what to wear. In fact, you don't need to wake up to decide what to wear.
- You're beginning to understand the notion of “Thai time”, meaning don't expect anything to be done by the time you expect it.
- You had fried rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and there's nothing odd about that.
- You debate whether $15 is too much to pay for a pair of shoes.
- Playing “spot the ladyboy” is a fun way to pass time. In school.
- When you see other farangs in your neighbourhood you assume they're either teachers or lost.
- You feel superior to backpackers.
- You catch yourself saying “My birthday five December, same-same like King”. And in fact generally speaking in a Thai accent.
- You use the term "same-same" a lot in English speech now.
- Seeing a family of four and their dog all piled on a moped doesn't surprise you.
- You do your shopping in the market, not Super WalMart [or] Target.
- You have seriously adjusted your notion of what constitutes "really good English."
- You understand why 555 is the new LOL.
- You know how to respond when someone asks "poot thai dai mai?", "bai nai?" or "hew mai?"
- There's condensation on the *outside* of your office window, and in the winter it's a relief to get *out* to the warmth!
- The word "soi dog" does not make you think of a vegetarian BBQ.
- You recognize the above term is actually ISAAN!!!
- You know that the big "stuffed omelet" sitting before you is actually Pad Thai Haw Khai. [Pad Thai (noodles, sauce, stuff) wrapped in a giant fried, flat egg.]
- You occasionally hum the tune of Channel 3 which is actually on channel 4.

That reminds me.
Winter is coming up for Thailand just as well as America.
Yes, it will get colder.
Yes, it is possible.
Yes, I'm telling the truth.
In fact, it's quite EASY to find hoodies, hooded sweatshirts and such ANYWHERE for the same price as a tank top or T-Shirt.
It's really not so much day weather that changes. Mainly just night and morning, and it gets in the low 16-18 C's.
In case you're wondering, it gets chilly with my air conditioner set on 24 C.
Nonetheless! I have a couple new hoodies, so I'm good. One was bought in the guy section [go figure]. I love it, though.

I believe it is possible for it to snow. I'll test that theory at the next Rotary meeting. I believe that's the best area with temperatures as such to be able to HOLD snow.
Maybe I'll just dump my ice water on the table and see how long the ice stays frozen.

I have three pineapple chunks left. Wait, make that two. [chew chew, gulp]

I'm loving school! I'm also loving the 3rd "Yeep Haa" [sewing] teacher that I met. She's funny, and fun to hang around with. I think I found my 'hideaway' in school when I get bored, or have a few hours in between, before or after classes. I can sew for the nuts of it, and she said she'd even help me sew a few designs I've come up with. My stay here has shown me I like to draw out new fashions. So, I now have a sketchbook for just that, fashion designing. People like to sift through and look at my drawings, and I'm making them bigger. Who knows, I may come back and want to do that. I don't know yet. If I do, I know the name for my brand already. I'm not saying it aloud, so no one can steal it. I love the brand name I have in mind! If I don't go into fashion, however, maybe even food or something of the sort, the same name is possible. I'm loving this brand name...

I have received the coolest card yet. No only did my amazing grandmother go through trouble cutting out pictures and putting them on a very cute [kitty] card for me, but she did it with her left hand, being her right one is currently wrapped up. She complains her writing is horrible with her left hand. I see no difference, I can barely read it either way. [laughs] I managed, though. My host family got a kick out of the whole tradition thing. I laughed aloud thinking [before I had opened it] that she'd have stuck in 2 dollars like she usually does. I tried correcting myself thinking Grandma would realize I wouldn't be able to use them here.

I opened the tape-sealed envelope, that had Star Wars and comic book stamps on it, to take out the Halloween-themed envelope. I then proceed to grab the shears from the basket that host grandmother so oftenly uses in front of the TV to cut open the envelope holding the card. Why did she seal it?! Oh well. I pulled the card out to "aww" at the cute kitty on the card. I opened the card.

Two US Dollars made themselves quite obvious against the large white sheet of paper that was covered in, well, scribbles. I couldn't tell it was writing at the moment when I was busy laughing. I'm not trading them for Baht. This moment is to keep. I read the note [without any trouble, I'm used to her handwriting], and looked at the card and envelope again. I nearly cried, to be honest, but I wouldn't have minded if I did. I cried when I got my first package. Not out of homesickness, but the thought and what was inside it.

One pineapple chunk left.

22 minutes after 24 hundred hours.

I'm half-half thinking in Thai time and US time.

Weird.

Yes, I'm thinking about getting up tomorrow... but do you honestly think I could sleep with fireworks still going off all over town? Pffft, I'd rather write a huge blog and tell you bunch of stuff.

I have a new plan, by the way. I will no longer post links to pictures on my blog. I will give you a link to my new photo account on a website that my sister has shown me. It's much easier on my end, and to be rather frank... that's all that matters.

I'm not getting any comments from ANYBODY anymore! Please, feel free to comment on my blogs! I love to get feedback from my friends and family. What do you think?

Cake has been sleeping on my bed the past couple of days all through the night without waking me up. Her cute-ness comes around me all the time. She's like my shadow. I love her.

The bag I bought is already breaking. Stupid fake things. I refuse to repair it, reinforce it and modify it so I like it. I say, simply, mai bpen lai. [never mind, no problem]
I shall make my own. That way, I know it's durable, I know exactly how to fix things... and I'll use the stuff from my [crappy] old bag on my new one. I bought a small patch of fabric that's so small it could be used as a bandanna around a cat's neck [yes, I did put it on Cake to prove myself correct, and it was highly adorable and fashionable]. It's white, with black paw prints on it. I have a hole in my backpack, a rather large one that you easily slide a water bottle in the bag while it's zipped. So yeah, I need to patch it up. So yeah, I bought a patch of fabric... that was supposed to be a handkerchief, I think?

I have [most] gifts bought. I need to put together one in particular, but I have exactly what I want to mail to everyone. Now I'm going to work on cards. That's a stop for tomorrow: B2S [Books, Stationary, Music, etc.].

[yawn]
I need [want] to go to the Complex with Holly Bolly tomorrow. Don't tell her I just called her that.

The other day I went shopping for myself, however.
I bought shirts! I bought a nice-looking, flattering shirt at a rather expensive store [it would have been expensive save for the half off everything in the store sale], along with a couple of other shirts that I liked and liked me in return. All I'm looking for for myself now is a top hat. Yes, I'm still looking. Yes, I will wear it casually sometimes. [Other times I'll be wearing my school outfit. Heaven knows nothing matches that thing.]

You know you [live] in Thailand when you no longer think your school uniform is as cute as what you thought it would be [when you have to wear it every day].

Signing off for now. I think that's good enough. No, I won't give you my picture link.

Make me.

Okay, truth be told... nothing's on there yet. Remember, no photo software? Bleh.

Oh well. Good night for me.

Monica

P.S... No more pineapple...

New School Schedule!

2007-10-20T06:23:00.000-05:00

School started up again.
For those of you who didn't know, I haven't had school these past few weeks [if you don't count Muay Thai (M-F @ 5-7 PM) and Fan Dap(Swords, Mondays @ 1-4 PM)]. It was end of term, so no school.
I went back to Aswhiwa [http://www.udvc.ac.th/] on Tuesday in the morning. Unfortunately, when I set my alarm time, I didn't activate the alarm. I woke up naturally about 8 AM, and got to school on time [I don't have class until later anyway, I could have arrived at lunch and be on time]. For those of you going to the site right now, near this particular posting date, you'll find a picture of a jar of some weird substance. That's Pad Thai sauce. On Tuesday, Apinya and I 'tasted' Pad Thai for the school, the students made it with this sauce. It wasn't that bad, actually. Now they're selling a few jars in the cafeteria [a.k.a. "The Canteen"].

I love my new schedule. I really do. Unlike before, I don't have any classes involving me sewing leaves together that dry up by the end of the day, or classes arranging flowers [which I've done since I was little thanks to meh mommy]. I already know how to arrange flowers, I can take another class for something new. The leaves class showed me I really do have a case of clastrophobia; same thing over and over, little room, long periods of time. No, I will not become a factory worker. If you think I'm insane now... [shivers]

Moving on. My class schedule is leisurely and totally me.
Monday. Art class. What time, Monica? After I usually wake up. It begins at 11:00 AM and goes until noon. Then what? I go home. End of the school day for me. Yes, enjoy your wide-eyed-ness. It's about to get better.
Tuesday. Thai cooking class. Time. 8 AM until noon. Then starting after December 15th, I have massage club. I don't know of the times yet, though. End of school.
Wednesday. Sewing @ 9 AM until noon. Lunch. Souvenir making [tons of fun, trust me] @ 1 - 4 PM.
Thursday. Souvenir class @ 9 AM until noon. Lunch. Sewing @ 1 - 4 PM. [Pretty much a flip of Wednesday.]
Friday. Art @ 2 - 4 PM.

Doesn't my class schedule rock your bum? Seriously, man. You have got to love it. Don't forget though: every Monday I have Fan Dap [swords] at 1 PM at Wiitayalai Palaat [Athletics College], and every M-F [except some Thursdays for Rotary] at 5-7 PM I have Muay Thai. Yes, I love my classes.

Ah, then there's my cell phone. It's a little fancier than the one I have in America, really. It has more light settings than my camera [which I need to buy duck tape for, please remind me], can make movies, can ZOOM, has a flash, plays movies, shows pictures, has a paint game, has a few addicting games, has an INFARED TRANSFER SYSTEM - much like our old-school gameboys, for transferring the files you wish to another phone. A computer set-up CD and a memory card for the phone. OH YEAH... and it plays music and came with a pair of headphones/headset for the phone, too. You know that commercial where the guy is dancing listening to his phone then there's a call, the music is put on pause, then when he's done talking, the song plays from where it left off? My phone does that. It has speaker phone, but I have yet to figure out how to work it. It has a front and sub LCD screen. The sub LCD will show a picture of the person who's calling if you take a picture of them [or put it on the card from the computer]. No plans, just buy a phone card, put the number from the card into the phone, send the free SMS to the phone thing, and it banks the Baht into the phone for minutes and text message usages. There's no such thing as overage charges; you just run out of baht, the phone hangs up, you buy another baht card. It's quite lovely, really. I don't know why America doesn't have these things.
In my case, I can give you my cell number, because it will only cost you. [evil laughter].
083-326-4320

I have recently become addicted to a very healthy... drug. Strawberry yogurt.
In America, I hated yogurt and I have no idea why. Over here, I just can't get enough of it. It's the only way to get non-frozen GOOD-TASTING strawberries [There's whole strawberries in here! Squee!], and a delicimous taste. We are usually stocked for my strawberry yogurt needs. We have temporarily run out of milk, however, so I can't eat my corn flakes. [sob]

*takes a bite of her yogurt*

My measurements have visibly gone down, which I am thankful for. Even before Muay Thai, I have lost about 6 - 8 pounds since my arrival. [Yet I have been eating more, how is that possible?] Now I'm taking Muay Thai, and I'm the closest to a flat tummy than I have been since Junior High, maybe before. I wrote down my measurements in a notebook of mine on the 15th, and I'm not going to measure myself again [unless I need to for sewing class] until I leave. Except my weight; I will keep weighing myself. Then again, weight measurements will become rather useless as I proceed to take Muay Thai; you lose weight, then HOPEFULLY you'll gain weight back due to muscle mass. So I wonder how that's going to work out? Oh well. No, I will not become an Olga.

Host grandfather has been in the hospital's ICU for a little while, but he has been transferred to another building, another wing now. He's doing a lot better.

I have recently figured out there's a guy in my Muay Thai class whom I believe likes me... He's cute on my beliefs, and I giggle when I'm around him. Then of course, nearly every day when we work out, he takes his shirt off, because all the guys in the class do that... [cough] what?

I haven't gotten sick [yet]!!! Yay! I've had the occasional tummy mishaps [just nausea feelings that go away after a few hours] due to odd foods. The day I tasted somtam was probably the worst day I've felt icky. Except in the case of muscle pains. I wasn't able to climb in and out of bed without a painful stomache the first couple weeks of Muay Thai. Yes, Muay Thai is challenging. My body loves it, though, and it's a heck of a lot of fun. [except the 1.5 mile run before each class, which will soon become 2 and 3 miles]. Good news though... my minor asthmaticness is [I believe] getting better already. When I started, I could barely do half a lap of jogging without stopping so I wouldn't hyperventilate. Now I jog a full lap, and some extra [somewhat comfortably] without the need to stop. I'm quite proud of myself for being able to do this.

I really don't know what else to put in here...

I'm sewing a kimono bathrobe right now with velvet... turned out to be less than 15 bucks to make. I couldn't find terrycloth... I'll probably make a more bathrobe-like kimono-styled bathrobe later, when I find the right fabric. I have yet to find such stuff. If I cannot, I will use silk.

Oh! I have pictures.

My Rotary Club took me on a tour with the rest of them to different Buddhist temples. Unfortunately, the program I have been using to resize the pictures is no longer on our computer, so when I get a new one on, I'll upload the pictures.

Until then, see ya later!

Oh yeah, and Cake is napping right next to me. She asked me to say "meow" for her.

Monica.

Hongnam [Bathroom] Confusement

2007-09-29T04:26:00.000-05:00

Alright, girls, this goes out to you, mainly. You, and the men that have to do more than use the urinals.

You see, there are these things called "squatters" in Thailand. Simply put, they are bowls in or on the ground with wings on the side for your feet. You stand on the foot holders and straddle the bowl. You squat. You attempt to aim your duties into the procelein bowl on the floor that resembles a ery flat, backless toilet in America.

After taking care of your business (hopefully without missing), you reach to the toilet paper holder that your mind tricks you into believing ACTUALLY HAS toilet paper for use. Good luck finding toilet paper in a pblic restroom anywhere. Buy some and carry it with you. I recommend buying those purse-sized tissue packages; they're much less embarassing when people look in your bag(s). Trust me, they will look.

Then you look around for the flush handle. You won't find one on a squatter. You use the tupperware bowl in that little "kiddie pool" next to the toilet, fill it with water, and pour it into the bowl until your mess is down the drain.

Also, get used to air-drying your hands after washing them. Bathrooms tend to lack paper towels or air dryers, and starch-sewn skirts will not, I repeat NOT, dry your hands. I have only once come across a bathroom with toilet paper and hand dryers. I'll be amazed if I find another.
Then there's the home/business bathrooms. Don't be surprised to find a shower head sticking right in the middle of the wall. No bathtubs or closed-off rooms for showers, just... a shower head (or you can use the buckets an pails of water next to you to shower). The water is not warm, but you get used to it rather quickly.

Mosquitos will always be in the bathroom. I advise killing most to all of them when you first go in. Otherwise, you'll get pricked and leeched on while you're rinsing the shampoo and conditioner from your hair with difficulty.

Oh, and don't ask what that little spray hose is that's connected to the toilet.

Monica.

Thailand Rules... Strike that... Thailand Suggestions of the Road

2007-09-29T01:41:00.000-05:00

The Kings and Queens of parallel parking. Thailand's double-decker charter bus drivers are probably the best drivers in the world. Not kidding. They can take those monsters through narrow alleys, around dime-sized corners, and eve narrowly fit them between 2 cars and a moped on a 2-lane highway.

Same goes for cars. If you think your car can fit between that car on the left and the moped on the right on that one-lane road, go for it. You'll succeed with inches to spare.
"There's a speed limit? Where's the sign? I didn't know that. No one told me anything about a speed limit. Wait, what is a speed limit?"

Then you have the drivers of cars that just like the sound of their horn. ou'll be passenger-riding in the car down a completely vacant road or highway, not a single pedestrian even on the sidewalk. Suddenly, a loud honk emits from your car, caused by the driver's hand on the middle of the steering wheel. Congratulations, your driver has honked at the air.

Moni.

Spork It Up

2007-09-27T08:05:00.000-05:00

I totally forgot to mention the insanely awesome add-in into my package. Someone randomly stuck a spork in my care package, and it now sits on the top shelf (chest height) so I can see it nearly every day. All of the spork and its awesome-ness.
Thought I'd *so* let you know.
Yeah.
Spork it up.

Moni

Pimp My 'Ped

2007-09-27T07:21:00.001-05:00

Thailand is like Italy when it comes to mopeds. They're everywhere. Even if you don't own a car, you own a moped. When you turn 16, you can [legally] drive a moped; when you turn 18, you can [legally] drive a car (considered more responsible at that age).

You know how the American highschool parking lot is full of cars? In the highschools here, the parking lots are full of mopeds. Even college and university campus parking lots are more full of mopeds than cars. I guess it's more comfortable beacuse they take up less room.

Seriously, though, so much for "Pimp My Ride" over here. No one would care, because barely anyone over here drive s a car anyway except for the elders. Unless you want to have that show over here, be my guest; but you're going to get a bunch of giddy grandmothers and middle-age-crisised grandfathers who wear hats off to the side and shakily say "Whazzup, homie?"

So slap on some under-glow led lights, blinkies (I know my dad just got excited), stereo systems, bouncing shock absorbers, and pimp out a moped instead. That would be more fun[ny] anyway.

Monica.

Edit: Not that I don't like those "hip" grandfathers - I love them, but they'd be your only audience.

Not the American Band-Aid

2007-09-27T05:52:00.000-05:00

I had fixed my hair and put on my skirt. First day of Ashiwa.

I slid on my black, baby-doll shoes and slipped on my black and white beaded bracelet I got in America. I left for school with a banana in hand and a stomach full of egg-over-rice. I was ready.

Or so I thought.

Holly and I met up at her house and boarded the bus to go to school. No big deal. I gave my 7 Baht to the money-collector person and stood there [the bus was full]. No worries, I can stand.

The bus arrived at our stop, and Holly told me when. We jumped off the bus and started walking along the concrete sidewalk to our school. I started walking into the entrance of where I thought was Ashiwa, only to get my shirt collar pulled backwards by Holly to turn me around straight back on the sidewalk. "Unless you attend grade school, keep walking." She said.

That was only the beginning.

We had walked over the road to the school where people were gathered in front for announcements. We stepped in line with the rest of the people [whom were now staring at the new 'farang' (me; it means foreigner)], only to get myself dragged up in front of the entire group to the side of the flagpole stand/stage thingie. First day. "The word 'majak' means 'from.'" Mr. Warawit, my Kanchanaphisek director, just told me.

"Oh, Sahwatdee-kha, Kun-Pah!" I wai'd to my host dad. Wait, what?!

"Ready?" He asked me.

"What? For what?" I'm confused.

"Speech." He replied, then looked back at the person speaking to the 3,000-person student body.

One thing you should know about me: I don't do well with speeches, and I've never given one to such a large group of people before.

Holly had been shown the way up to the stage as well, for she just walked on top as the speaker ended her speech and motioned me forward up the concrete stairs. I climbed them hesitantly thinking over what to say in my mind. It was blank.

Nonetheless, my feet had found the spot at the podium rather well.

It went alright, but I didn't say a whole lot. I didn't know what to say, you know? I simply said in Thai, "Hello. My name is Monica in America. Here it is Monthida, or nickname Thida. I'm from America." That's all I said. I had no idea what else to say! I guess that speech was rather lame, especially because I could speak longer in Thai, but didn't. Oh well.

I was shown around campus by Holly, then we went to class. My heels hurt. There was no teacher, so we then proceeded to go to 7-11 to eat, where I also bought heel pads for my feet. We then went back home on the yellow bus.

When we arrived home, I noticed my shoes had worn into my feet. I now had slight cuts where my shoes have rubbed against the sides of my feet and heel, and it stung.

I went to Holly's the next day, and realized I had left my flip flops there. I think I'll be using those today. My shoes still hurt against my feet, so I think I should let them heal over.

Holly's aunt thought otherwise, and gave me two band aids. I gratefully put them on over where it hurt most, and left my flip flops at Holly's thinking I'd be alright.

I came home. My band-aids sort of rolled up on themselves (you know how annoying that is) and were sticking to my shoes, so I decided to take them off.

I grabbed the falling-off edge and starting pulling slowly, only to notice my skin was going with it. I stared at my foot. How could this happen to me? I whined. Holly laughed. I tried again, this time pulling the other one off. Instead, "OW! My skin!" I started freaking out a little, then devised the childhood plan. One rapid rip. I gripped the edge roughly, ready to kill. I tore it off my already sore foot and let out a small squeal-shriek that only people next to me would be able to hear. I looked at the "healing", torturous, medicated device. Little blood, no medication left, some skin. WHAT?! I looked at my foot. The protector has stolen my skin! THIEF! "OW!" I cradled my sore foot, preparing to detach the other leech. My fingers once again clenched to the sides, and tore. Another scream-like squeal emitted from my agape mouth as my skin once again surrendered to the zombie band-aid that eats flesh like a Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner.

Atleast they were now gone, however. Apparently I won't be using those things again, unless it's a more serious wound [which I should go to the hospital for instead]. I think my scrapes got worse since I put them on in the first place, but I don't know for sure.

I remember back in America; the band-aids there protected from infection and helped heal the sore beneath it. I guess these weren't your American band-aids.

Monica.

My hair... it is straight! [More pictures.]

2007-09-27T01:36:00.001-05:00

YES! Low and behold, the dry wavy curly mass that was on my head, is now straight! [cheers] My hair now billows in the wind [yay]. It gets in my food sometimes [not really yay], but nonetheless, it is long and it is pretty.

The best part: it made my hair LESS damaged. Wait, how? "Chemically straightening/rebonding your hair is very violent on your hair." Yeah, right. If that's so true, then why is my hair healthier looking, eh? Anyway, I love it. Then it started looking bland, so I got highlights. Now I love my hair more than ever.

PICTURES! Yes, I have pictures of the process. [Oops, I forgot a 'done' picture! Haha...]
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4

Next.

I thought mom would like this picture, because I know she likes angels and is proud of me being over here.
Thai Angels

Then...
Holly made desserts!
Awww, look at them! All cute in their dessert-way. Check out the pumpkin one!

Last.
Getting my hair highlighted... with alien technology?!
THEY BE EATIN' MY BRAINZ.

The other day, Holly, Virginia, Dan and I went bowling at the mall [on the fourth floor]. It was a ton of fun, and we ate some eggrolls, too. I finally made it over 80 [I'm bad, so what], while Holly complains she only got 107. She did better than all four of us! [evil eye squinch] However! We all had a TON of fun, then we proceeded to the escalator. When we reached the bottom, the three girls [inc. me] decide to go to the photo shops and get a mini-series of "professional" pictures taken!!! I'm thinking about how expensive it will be, while the other two are primping themselves, reading for the pictures. I ask the prices and find out: you don't pay for the sittings or number of poses you take pictures with. You only pay for the pictures you want to purchase when you are completely done [the ordered pictures]. Even still, the pictures alone cost cheap anyway. After the shoots, we paid ahead for the pictures and got a 'holding' ticket so when we came back the next day [or sometime soon], we could pick them up. Low and behold, the next day, we came and picked them up. These are how they turned out [they're much better as the pictures themselves - the scans don't do them justice].

...and if you look over there...
Haha, squish.
Don't blame me, the monkey started it!
Er... uncaptionable?
Giraffe pose.
Group shot.
Circle.
The hat tip.
The pile.
All I can say is, "Yo."
Pillow fight! [the room is absorbed in my malicious laughter - Muahaha!!!]
*snore*

Okay. I'm done for now with picturesss.

Except, I did hold this picture off for awhile. I didn't know where to put it. This picture was taken quite awhile ago, when I was in Kanchanaphisek. I asked Pi-Wi to take it for me because I thought my mother would be a little surprised... I'm pinning the tableskirt to the table. I then adjusted the pins in the other side [that Pi-Wi put in] so people wouldn't stab themselves with pins when they lifted their legs up [she had put them vertically, point down. I adjusted them so the pins were horizontal]. So this picture is mainly a "for mom" picture.
http://a789.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/67/l_9386d57e120275c244d97dd0ca7142a4.jpg

Also, mom. You wanted to know what the Kanchanaphisek campus looked like? I didn't have time to run around campus and take snapshots, but there was a model in building one of the campus that I took pictures of. I hope it works...
Building One... Not a model view.

Model view 1: The houses on the right are owned by the school and are available to live in for free for the teachers.
Model view 2: Sports fields and a few buildings.
Model view 3: Bottom left in clockwise manner: Flag pole, Building One (administration, phone office, offices, etc.), "Canteen" (cafeteria, DELICIOUS food and awesome people), Communications building (Floor two on windows closest view to us is the English room I'm usually in. Right underneath is one of the internet rooms), building, building, fields.
Model view 4: Better views of Building One and the Canteen.
Model view 5: Building on far left closest to us, on the very top floor, is the internet café.
Model view 6: Buildings.

Well, this entry is done.

Later!

Moni.

Picture flood.

2007-09-27T00:18:00.000-05:00

Come, Igor. Let me show you what I am about to do...

2007-09-26T03:16:00.000-05:00

I will restore this body with life... It will live, I tell you, live!

I see what you did there. You didn't tell me, but I know you were thinking it. You thought my blog was boring. That it "needed life," eh? I thought so. Want to know why? I'm psychic. I'll try my best, and hopefully, it will wake anew.

Not much has happened since I have left you. However, I have switched schools and have been attending Ashiwa [I don't know how to spell it in English] for one full week now. Now school has stopped this past Friday and won't start again until mid-October, due to end-of-term break. I, however, am attending two colleges at the moment. Wittayalai Palaat [Institute for Physical Education] is one, the other is Ashiwa [Vocational College]. I only have a link for Ashiwa, but good luck navigating around because it's in Thai. Click here, my friends, for the Ashiwa link.

"Monica? Attending a PE college? No way." Yes way, actually. I didn't tell you exactly how I'm involved. I'm sure once you find out, you'll roll your eyes and think "well, that figures." I'm attending Palaat for two classes. Muay Thai [which is actually the incorrect spelling of the sport - it's actually "Muoi Thai"] is one of my classes, held every Monday - Friday at 5-7 PM. Then on every Monday at 1 PM to 3 or 4 PM, I have a class called Fahn Dop. I don't know if you've heard of it or not, but to sum it up, it's swordfighting with a fluid-like twist. It's a pretty sport, and really fun to play [even though I have received a few blisters - I care not about them].

The Asian Diet. Every morning I wake up early, I eat an egg over rice with fish sauce on it. Sounds gross? PLEASE. You haven't tried it, obviously. It's really quite delish. Then I eat lunch. It depends on the day, what we have for lunch. Sometimes I go to 7-11 for lunch, sometimes I eat at home - it really depends where I'm at. Then there's supper. Supper varies. Then there's dessert. You know how you rarely order dessert after supper in America? Well, over here, it's rare that you don't order dessert after supper. Not to mention, there's sometimes a meal AFTER supper and after dessert. Sometimes it's Thai-version sub sandwhiches, sometimes it's Vietnamese food. You never know...
So much food, yet how have I lost 6 pounds since I have arrived? I will never know, but I sure as heck like the results.

I still have to cook for my host family. I want to bake, but they don't have an oven. I want to boil, but it's hard to find a non-wok pot. I think I'll just make Rice Krispie treats? I've searched for marshmallows, but all I can find are the candy mallow things. I think maybe I could use those. They're practically the same thing... just... my treats will be colorfully odd...

PACKAGE!!! I GOT A PACKAGE IN THE MAIL! I'm so excited! My family has sent me a package... yay! Mom even stuffed my scarf in it... I love that scarf... [tear]..... PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES?! OH MY GAWSH. [gobbles them all with milk]. .....My mp3 player's install CD!!! Now I can put Thai music on my player!.....Pictures of sugar. I will put them by my mirror..... A few more stuffs... mhmm, I see... I see..... [bursts out laughing] PEEPS!!! SWEET! I love Peeps! Now I have Halloween peeps... the best! ..... My yearbook, awww... memories..... Spam singles... wait, whaT?! [reads the newspaper article and laughs aloud]..... Kirkwood Cattery? Awwwww. So cute! ..... A washable lint roller? Sweet. I was looking for one of those..... Recipes, niiiiice..... Wait, what's this? Baking soda... Baking Powder... interesting.............................

I'm fixing a few pictures right now. I'll blog when they're done.
PEACE OUT!
Moni.

A full month already?

2007-09-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

Wow. I looked at the date of the last post and realized how long it's been since then. I can't honestly say a whole lot has happened, though. Just same old home, then school, then home again. However, there have been a few highlights to some days. I'll start from where I left off.

Sorry it's in bulk. I hope you're up to reading...

August... something. I can't remember the date, really...

I went to the Complex (the 4-story mall) with Virginia and Holly. We ate some ice cream and drank some coffee at Swensen's, then Virginia had to go home and Holly and I shopped around a bit. I bought myself a pair of plain black "short pants." They're somewhat popular here. Yes, mom, I did haggle a little [and win].

PICTURES:
Ice Cream and Coffee at Swensen's. Yummm.

August 26

Rotary inbounds (exchange students to Thailand) met up. We had a big inbounds meeting; we call it "orientation." [laughs a little] Even though we've already been here for nearly a month. It was beneficial, nonetheless. They gave us each a backpack with the Rotary patch sewn on it; definitely hiking-style backpack. Looks quite durable. We also got two white Rotary T-Shirts and a Rotarian member was handing out bags of 4 loaves of bread in each. Not that lame stuff that comes sliced. I'm talking about the bread baked in those old oven thingies. It smelled and tasted like Avanti's bread, or La Gondola's (Monmouthians and Galesburgites - you know what I mean...). [Leaveth my categorizationalisms alone, pleathe!!!]

Anyway, we introduced ourselves, got RE-TOLD the 4 D's, and drank some tea. Oh, and I was shown a pool in the hotel (same place as the meeting) that we could swim in for free. I brought Holly along because she doesn't live that far from me, and we could both get in for free, being Vinai's guests. That and the mall is connected to the Complex, which, all together, is within walking distance of our houses.

Then we all piled into vehicles and went to a Korean restaurant and ate there.

Oh yeah. The restaurant had toilet paper. (That's pretty rare, here - you usually have to buy your own and carry it around.)

August 27

Julie left today while I was at school. She went on a mini-vacation, then back up to France. She's a host relative of mine somehow, but I can't put my finger on the exact "how." Neither can she; I asked...

I rode the bus taxi thing (It's hard to describe, it's much like a pickup truck with seats. I'll get a picture soon) home after school (again). This time was different, though. I rode alone.

And I made it in one piece.

I also had my first conversation with my host grandmother here. In case you don't know, that's a huge step. She doesn't speak ANY English at all, and we held a small conversation about bananas. It mainly consisted of: "I like bananas. Do you like bananas?" "Yes, I like bananas very much." I don't know it in Thai alphabet, but I could try typing in phonetics... I'll type in karaoke. "Chan chap gin gwoi kai kha. Kun chap gin gwoi kai mai?" "Kah. Chan chap gin gwoi kai mak kha." I tried my best.

I called Holly. We got together and went swimming at Robinson's (the hotel). It was pretty fun. Then we went inside the Complex and I bought some stay-in conditioner for my hair. We also had a couple donuts. Afterwards, we were picked up by Holly's dad and brought back to her house; we had a miniature Thai lesson there. It was pretty useful. Oh, by the way... Holly's host-aunt makes some killer noodles stuff. Yum. Chai kah; saeb mak kha.

September 2

I went to Nong Khai today with Holly and her host family. I only brought a few baht, because I'm saving to go on my vacations. I brought a little though, just in case for those 'emergencies' etc.
The trip itself was pretty good. I got to see the "Friendship Bridge." If you don't know what that is, it's the bridge that connects Thailand to Laos. In other words, I saw Laos too.
Kun-Meh and Kun-Pah came back from Malaysia today. Kun-Pah is pretty tired; Kun-Meh is, too. I was working on blog pictures when Kun-Pah came up to me and showed me a keychain from Malasia that was pretty cool; and he gave it to me then went upstairs to sleep. Now I need to get some safety pins to put it on my blazer.

PICTURES:
See the land across the river? That's Laos.
Left to right: Thailand, Friendship Bridge, Laos.
Holly models off a [fake] designer hat at Nong Khai.
More modeling.

September 3

Kun-Pah agreed for me to meet up with Holly and her host family nearly every day at 6 until 9 PM [until family switching], to have Thai lessons. I don't have anyone to teach me Thai, so he volunteered, and now he's teaching Holly and me.

One more thing - I finally figured out what my English name means in Thai. It's simple, really, but it only means this to girls and lady-men. "Mah-nee-Kha" means "Come here." [laughs]. That's why I've been getting so confused lately... to a guy to say "come here", who's not a lady-man, would be "Mah-nee-Krab." That's why it only means what it does if a girl or lady-man says it. Now that people are figuring that out, though... Guys and girls alike are doing it to me just to tease... [grrrrrr]

September 4

I killed a few spiders today during a break I took while I was studying Thai by myself in an office. That was a long sentence. So many spiders... So big, too...

I also found a piece of plastic while I was studying. It looked like a woman's profile, so I taped it into my miniature Chinese-Cat notebook and wrote a log for it right above and next to it. I then proceeded to write an entry in my diary about it.

I found the Soundtrack Channel on TV today. I love it. Best find yet. Much better than "Fashion TV." Plus, you get to see movie clips on STC.

September 5

It rained heavily today. Not your typical American rain, either. You know those rains you watch on TV where it's sunny one second, then half a second later it's sprinking, then not even one more second later and it's pouring? So laughable, isn't it? It's just not possible to happen... Wrong. It does happen, and it happens quite often in Thailand, especially during the rainy season. We were eating last time it happened. It was poouring so heavily that the huge gutters couldn't keep up and started overflowing onto the eaters. I pulled my umbrella out and continued to eat. Within 2 minutes of this rain, most of the grounds were flooded with a good 1.5 inches of water, even on concrete etc. The pouring bit only lasted for about 15 minutes, then it started to lighten up.
However, during this rainfall, let me not exaggerate, and tell you what I observed.
It rained so hard and fast that two raindrops landed in the exact same spot (one ontop the other) with less than 1 second in between each drop.
Umbrellas... nearly pointless 'less you're a dare devil. You'll still get wet, because the rain comes down so fast and hard it will either kill your umbrella or force its way through the very fibers of the umbrella and drip down upon you with its menacing raininess. I guess you should just be happy you don't get as soaked as you would without the umbrella.

When I got home later that day (when it was sunny again), I called Holly right away because I just had rice soup that was hot, and because of the rainfall, the humidity increased and made it all the hotter. I wanted to go swimming. I asked if she wanted to go swiming, but she ended up telling me she's going to Bangkok in 40 minutes, and she's barely packed and her family still has to eat. She forgot she was leaving until this morning. Apparenly Virginia's going, too, but alone on the over-night train instead. Virginia's going because her host family is going to Costa Rica, and she has to stay with her host sister (?) that lives in Bangkok. Man, everyone's leaving me, and on the same day, too! No one knows when they'll be back, either. I hope they have fun, though. Maybe Holly, Virginia and I can work something out where the three of us go to Bangkok on the train (cheapest way) and stay for awhile. Later in our stay, though, so our Thai is better.

September 6
Rainging again.
Rotary meeting. Looked at pictures from the Malaysia trip, and a tour/visitors VCD (movie CD) of Malaysia. I was also told that the upcoming two Fridays, 14 and 21, the exchange students (we all wanted to do so) are going to the athletics college to look into the possibility of Muoi Thai classes. [yay] I also stop Kanchanphisek on the 14 (which may end up being the 13 due to the Muoi Thai thing) and later start up at Ashiwa (vocational college, won't be as bored there - Thai cooking, Thai dancing, Thai dessert, Thai massage...). I can't wait!

PICTURES:
Rotary meeting.

September 7

Finally Friday. Kun-Pah made me a sausage-egg sandwhich for breakfast-on-the-go (in a baggie) because I was running slowly this morning.
School is getting very boring now because I don't have anyone teaching me anything and I'm not teaching much anymore. So now all I can do is look over my Thai words I already remembered and write or draw.
Kun-Pah picked me up after lunch, though. We went to Khon Kaen and drove around, made a few errands. We proceeded to go to pick up Thong from his campus. I feel so lonely now because his college campus, Khon Kaen University, is bigger than Monmouth; no joking. The number of students that attend are about 50,000; not including the faculty needed to teach them all, the offices needed, the officers and police station inside the campus, the dentist and doctor's office and hospital inside the campus, the moped and bicycle dealer in the campus, all three 7-11's in the campus, the farm inside the campus and the museum, and some more things that I'm forgetting to mention like the concert hall, the park and the aerobic dancing area also INSIDE THE CAMPUS; well, it's just bigger than Monmouth - let's keep it at that. Best part... 8,000 Baht for each term (semester). That's less than 500 dollars for each year of tuition and dorm stay - and the dorms aren't that bad looking at all!
Anyway, we picked up Thong and went to the mall. I though that Udon Thani's mall was huge when it had 3 full floors of stores and restaurants... No, Khon Kaen had 4 full floors of stuff, not to mention the floor beneath the first that we didn't go to, but still had stores in. Then Kun-Pah told me that this mall was nothing compared to Bangkok's mall... (drools at the thought).

PICTURES:
Going into Khon Kaen [left view].
Going into Khon Kaen [right view].
The mall. The picture doesn't do the mall's size justice. It's a huge mall..
The mall again.
These little police stations are set up every now and then everywhere in Khon Khaen.
Better view of the mini-station.
Blurry, but front view of the mini-station. The picture makes me giggle. I don't know why, though...

September 8

Went to feed Tennis, the dog that Kun-Meh took care of when it was a sick little puppy. Tennis got too big for the house, so they took it to Pleasantville where it gets treated well and taken care of.

Thong, Moei, Ahn + her family (Ahn is a host cousin - 'related' to me by her dad being my host dad's brother... I think), and me went to the night market. I think it's better than the mall. It's so much cooler at night; and I think there's a lot more stuff. Some of the lunch ladies from schools go sell food at the night markets, so the food selection is much larger than that of the mall's. Then there are the other craft dealers, electronics, etc. booths/rooms set up full of stuff to look through. It's really quite large and very awesome. We still had a whole section we still needed to explore. There's also karaoke rooms (karaoke is a huge thing here - there's tons of rooms in the mall, too) set up, and a huge television screen propped way up high like a baseball scoreboard that plays music videos and the music is played through most of the market that's outside. I didn't take any pictures because I forgot my camera. Next time I go, I'll take some pictures.

September 9

Got up late. That felt good. I counted my money that I have in my account, in my safe, what I have to spend, and what I need to convert to go on my trip yet. I also got some more pictures off of my camera and onto the computer that I need to put online in a "random pictures" blog soon, because sometimes I forget to mention things in previous blog/diary entries but have pictures for.

Now I'm updating my blog.

Now I'm done updating for now and I'll get back to work on the random pictures.

Toodles.

Monica.

Little Wonder - Modified with Pictures

2007-08-19T07:06:00.000-05:00

I didn't know what to title this blog entry, so I titled it to the song name that's playing right now on my mp3 player. "Little Wonder" by David Bowie. I love Bowie. I'm currently questing for the "Earthling" album cover-poster. Yes, I am. I want to find it and put it on my wall back home. I love that album - my favorite of his.

Anyway, onto Thailand matters:

Picking up where I left off; It's a good thing I write in a journal...

Day 5 in Thailand [August 8th]

I went to the mall again. This time, I got another pair of sandals (you'd understand why if you lived in Thailand), a pair of shorts (I didn't bring any, thinking girls weren't really allowed to), and these hair tie things that have these huge pon-pon things on them. They're cute, really.

For lunch, I had Mama. I was really good. It's a lot like ramen, but it's not ramen; it's hard to describe. Later that day, Kun-pah needed to go the mall to pick something up and Moei and I went with (we were on our wa to our relatives' again). We got a special treat for going with him. They make these waffle things there, with different flavors. They're weird, but really good. I got maple.

Day 6 [Aug. 9]

I wore one outfit, but ended up changing into another. I had to change into my yellow shirt and a skirt, then wore a little flower thing. Rotary went to the jail for this huge donation thing. We donated some women's' stuff to the women prisoners, as Mother's Day was the 12th. Some of the prisoners put on a Thai dance. We ate there, and after we ate, there was some coconut milk ice cream, and a male prisoner was a fortune teller, he came over to us and 'read' a couple people's fortunes using a chess board and one player's worth of chess pieces. It was interesting, even though I couldn't understand what was going on. The whole thing was recorded, and some of it was on TV the next day, at about 11:30 AM. It was pretty cool.

PICTURES:
Rotary here donates stuff to the women in the prisons for Mothers' Day, on August 12.
It wasn't on August 12, but it was still a big deal.
During the celebration under the tents.
Thai Pepsi can.
Some of the women prisoners did some Thai dancing for the gathering.
The guy on the right is a prisoner as well. He's also a fortune teller, and the lady on the left is getting her fortune told. The chess board is part of the whole thing.

Later we went to a Rotary Club meeting, and I gave a 2-minute speech on who I was, where I was from. I presented the Monmouth's Rotary Club banner to Vinai (host club's president), and was surprised with a small birthday party. This time it was a "regular" cake, but it was still pretty good. The candles had a little trouble getting snuffed, though.

PICTURES:
I am presenting the Monmouth Rotary Club's banner to Vinai, President of my host club in Udonthani.
There ended up being another surprise B-Day party for me at the club meeting.
I already blew out the candles, 2 of them actually went out. A couple others [wax and all] burst into flames like rockets crash-landing into my cake.
I had some help getting the candles out, because they wouldn't go out. They weren't trick candles, either! [laughs] We eventually got them out by dodging our hands in, pulling a candle out one by one, and putting them out cigarette-style.
Cutting the cake with my host family. Brothers Tang and Teng in the back, then dad, me and mom in the front. It was a normal cake this time.

Day 7 [Aug. 10]

Only 24 more hours and I've officially been in Thailand for a full week.

I'm not used to having a maid. Seriously. I woke up hungering for some Goober & Grape on some bread. I knew we got bread the other day, so I started looking for it. I was on the hunt. I couldn't find it, though, so I asked the maid. She looked around and couldn't find it, either. She told Kun-Pah. He came in and looked for the bread. At this point, I'm feeling this is unnecessary and I can do without. It was okay, I could make something else instead. No need to fuss over bread. Kun-Pah insisted I get bread though, so he looked a little more, then gave the maid some money. The maid came back with a loaf of bread and change. She gave me the bread and Kun-Pah the change. I made my Goober and Grape sandwich feeling awkward, but at least my appetite was fixed.

I went to Holly's and hung out with her and her host dad, we talked and watched some TV. They took me out for supper, and we had this huge issue with fish heads. It's a huge inside joke, but it was really funny. Good food, too. Holly's host family presented their mother with the floral 'wreath' and did the whole Mother's Day ceremony to the moms. Then Holly and I presented our wreaths and did the ceremonial thing. The rest of the family gets on their knees facing the mother who sits in the chair. The children and husband tell the mother how wonderful she is, and how much their love her, then present her with the wreath of flowers and bow their heads as the mother hands out hugs and pats on the head. Sometimes the mother gives gifts of money to the children after the ceremony.

PICTURES:
I guess Holly just doesn't like fish heads.
Holly's family in the background, Holly's head is the furry thing in the bottom left corner. She -really- doesn't like fish heads.
Holly's head escaped from camera view. She was too low, avoiding the fish.
Holly's dad doesn't mind. He kissed the fish head.
Traditional Mother's Day ceremony. The rest of the family kneels and gives the mother (who sits on a chair) a traditional wreath of flowers.
Holly's and my turn.
A group photo.
Yumm... Fish head wasabi raw salmon ice cream. [Inside joke, it's really not all that tasty, trust me - don't try it.]

Day 8 [Aug. 11]

I was woken up early today.

All the family piled into the car and we drove about a hour or so outwards of Udonthani, to another relative's of ours. We hung out there for about a half hour or so, went into the back yard and talked. I sat in the swing and looked out from the backyard. It was beautiful. The house was on a hill, and right at the end of their property, the hill drops to reveal a huge valley-type ordeal, with a lake, lots of trees, and mountains in the distance. It was beautiful.

PICTURE:
Me on the swing, looking out from on top of the hill in the back yard.

We all piled into the cars again, this time with more relatives, and drove some more. About 40 more minutes or so out. We drove to the lake and I thought I saw the houses on stilts that I've seen in books, but we drove through a little water and up onto the hill near the houses. As we got closer, I realized they were more like floating rooms. They were wooden floors, with railings, a roof, and a table in the middle. Pretty cool, I thought. We piled into one, ordered some food, and pushed the table-boat-thing into the lake, and relaxed. We talked, then we went back shore, got the food, ate, and relaxed some more.

PICTURES:
Boat-table-room thing.
Inside the boat.
My 'Mentor' and Julie.
We're steering the boat away from shore. You turn the wheel (it's harder than it looks) and the boat thing moves on a rope.
Thailand has Bugles, too. [laughs]
Relaxing in the boat and waiting for our food to cook (back on shore).

I found a sandal by the rope when were in the lake, and I told them. It turned out our boat was leaking sandals (you take your shoes off in this little area on the boat thing), and one of them was even mine. My 'monkey feet' came in handy though, as I reached out with my foot and brought it back aboard the ship when no one else could.

PICTURE:
Someone's sandal is overboard.

On the way to and from the lake were TONS of potholes, twists, turns, bumps and hills. I don't think I've been on many roller coasters that were better than these car rides. Especially when you can't dig out the seat belt fastener from under the seat. Oh well, on the way back we had to slow down because there were cows in the road. The farmer was herding them around with some cow-dogs. They're like sheep dogs, but for cows. One dog was even a cute little wiener-dog-looking dog.

PICTURES:
Some cows in the road.
Rice paddies to Thailand are cornfields to Illinois. There are lots of them.

We dropped off the rest of our relatives at their house, then went home. On our way, we saw an elephant in the outskirts of the town. I thought it was cool, but everyone else was like "eh, they're everywhere." I guess elephants in Thailand are like tractors in Illinois.

When we got home, Holly called, and I went out to play badminton with her and her host family. I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my life. I got a sore on my hand from the racket, and I felt gross. Holly was the same, minus the sore on her hand. Then we looked at the Thai people. Barely hints of sweat on them. I guess we're just not used to playing in this weather.

August 12

Mother's Day in Thailand.

Presented Kun-Meh with the flower wreath ceremony thing, met up with some relatives and ate lunch. Went to relatives', napped, went home. Kun-Pah, Kun-Meh, Tang, Moei and I went to thsi restaurant where we 'grill' our own food. It was pretty fun, but it's really hard to explain. PICTURE. Click here.

August 13

I made my dad's birthday card, and translated it on the other side.

Picked up my school uniform pieces, including the skirts, shirts and shoes.

August 14

I left at 7:30 in the morning for my first day at Kanchanaphisek. It was interesting, but kind bad, too. The bad part being my new shoes have given me sores on my feet, so now I have to wear sandals for the time being. The rest of the day was fun, though, and I even got to help teach in English class.

I went to the school director, and he drove me home. Tang took me to the post office, and I mailed my dad's birthday gift. Unfortunately, it won't arrive by the 17th. At least I mailed it before his birthday, though. Wow, 51!!! Geez, you're getting old, dad! I'm just teasing you. I love you; Happy Soon-to-be Birthday!

On our way home from the post office, Tang took me to his school and I got to meet up with Tan again!!!

PICTURES:
Thai cheer leading is better than American. Trust me. It's more fun, too.
I told you cheer leading in Thailand was more fun. That's the leader. [giggles]
Me and Tann. I love her! She's awesome.

She's awesome, probably my first Thai friend. She goes to a different school, so I don't get to see her too often, hopefully that will change. I took Tan to their school's "Canteen" and I bought us both some ice cream and a Pepsi; I know, healthy, but it sounded good at the time. We hung out a little, then Tang took us back home.

We piled into a car (Click here for picture) and traveled to the outskirts of Udonthani again, to a different relative's. Huge house, with a balcony on top that was part-patio. You could see the main part of town from there, it was really cool. We ate there, then there was Karaoke in the other room. (Click for picture) I didn't dare touch the microphone. I like to sing, I'm just not very good at it. [laughs]

August 15

School again. Woke up early again. Actually, I woke up earlier today, because the director picked me up after breakfast and I went to school. I gave a speech to the entire student body and faculty. That's well over 1,300 people. I have never spoken to so many people before. It was a small speech, but it was very grade-school-leveled. I had to speak slow, loud and with elementary words so I could easily be translated.

Later there was a boy scouts thing. There were girls involved, too, so I would just call it 'scouts'. I learned how to tie bamboo together with rope to make short bamboo longer when you don't have a long enough bamboo... I learned how to tie a rope to slide on your belt, to easily get to, like while you're camping and such.

PICTURES:
Me tying some small bamboo together.
Some Thai Scouts doing the same thing.
A small glance at how many Scouts are in my "small" college.

There was also this little section where there was a miniature festival going on. A couple of the scouts filled a fish tank with water and put glasses in the bottom. You drop a 1-Baht coin and try to get it into the glass. If you made it, you got a little prize. Right next to them was another acitivity. You had to ring the bottle-necks with a plastic ring-tied to a string-tied to a bamboo stick-which you held, and pull the bottle up onto its base, from its side. If you understand me, good, if not, sorry, I can't explain it further. If you got the bottle up on it's butt, you got a prize. If not, you got a Trick-or-Treat-sized KitKat-type thing. That game was 5 Baht for 2 tries.

PICTURES:
My English teacher, "PiWi," playing "The Bottle Game."
"The Bottle Game" in slight more detail.

Then they set out some plywood on the ground as a runway. Some people from their major (accounting, auto mechanic and marketing) modeled off some clothes made by their departments. It was pretty cool. The first guy was from Computers & Software, he modeled off a skirt made of CDs and a jacket made of floppies, with a had made of milk-cartons (more like juice-boxes). Then there was a girl from marketing who modeled off a skirt of weird plastic and a shirt with corset made of the wrappers of various foods/drinks. Then came the lady-boys, guys dressed in skirts, shirts, wigs and heels modeling for accounting. That was pretty cool and funny. Then last, but no least, the guy from the Auto Mechanic department. He looked rather normal at first; but then I remembered I was from America and this was Thailand... that's why is was unusual for them. I wonder if they realize that's how some Americans dress? [laughs]

PICTURES:
The Fashion Show begins!
He turns. Look at his floppy disk vest! Computers & software dept.
Lady-Men representing the accounting department.
Girl models for marketing dept.
Auto Mechanic Dept.

August 16

I woke up and went to school early in the morning, again. I know how to write all of the Thai numbers by heart now, and how to speak most of them.
Kun-Meh left for Bangkok on the train; won't be back until Monday.

August 17

Woke and went to school. I learned some Thai dance.
Came home. Later, we took Tang to the train station. Dad and Tang boarded the train. Now I won't see Tang until July, when I have come back home, and we have gone back up to Michigan for the Grand Rapids thing. Tang is an exchange student to Ontario, Canada! Ah, the luck to be part of the Grand Rapids thing. Kun-Pah won't be back until Monday.

PICTURES:
Tang before leaving
Group photo number 1 before Tang's departure.
Group photo number 2. LEFT TO RIGHT: Me, Tang, Holly, Holly's host mother, Holly's host aunt, Holly's host father, Ing.
I admit this one was posed; Princess Di wave.

Dad's 51st B-Day. Happy B-Day, Pops.

August 18

Woke up around noon. The lastest I've gotten up in Thailand so far during my stay. I pretty much read Harry Potter all day. I finished the book at 10:01 PM today. It was an awesome read. Did you know there's going to a "Harry Potter" island in Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure? They start construction soon, it's supposed to be done somewhere between 2009 and 2010. I'm definately going when it's done, that's for sure. I don't care what the critics say, I'm going to go and see how it is myself.

That was an awesome awesome series... ZOMGR HSFKLdJSALFKDJSaklfjdsl;ajfdl;sa WHY DID IT END LIKE THAT..fdjskalfjdlksa!?!?!?!

August 19

Woke up around 10 this time. I watched the movie "Cars" in Thai on the TV in my room while I got ready for the day. I've noticed that the best-dubbed movies, both real-life and animation, are Disney movies. They do an awesome job at dubbing. Every now and then it's obvious it's dubbed, yet sometimes, you think it was originally made in Thai. I'm surprised in Disney. They did a good job.

I also helped Moei bake some banana muffins today. They don't have an oven, but they have a broiler thing. It works just as well, but there's only room enough for about 7-9 cupcake-sized muffins, in a circular pattern. I guess I don't get to bake cookies for them, unless a toaster oven would work for baking cookies? [I'm going to e-mail my mother about that one...]

PICTURES:
Moei makin' muffins.
I made the one in the third row, third column. ...Stop staring at it like that.
We're makin' MUFFINS.

Well, I'm going to call my parents now. It should be late enough in the morning over there in America. It's about 8:18 PM here, so it should be 8:18 AM there... I hope they're up and ready. I hope my phone card works, too. Maybe I should get some help...

"Thida"

First huge batch of Thailand photos.

2007-08-12T23:49:00.000-05:00

OKAY... here we go!

Starting off is... [drumroll]... my host family's house/store front.
Next, my host family, the Kunawongkrit.
My bedroom.
More of my bedroom.
More bedroom... Yes, a TV AND a DVD player!!!
Mulan. A somewhat distant relative, and adorable.

Mom plays tennis almost every morning with her buddies. She's won a lot of awards, too.
She's really good.

[Front] The higher-ranking Thai wear yellow on Mondays for the King.
[Back] Mom gave me this shirt.

I visited my host sister's, Moei's, highschool.
I was instantly popular.

Moei took me for "show and tell" to her later-hours English class. It was kind of fun, really.

There was a surprise B-Day party for me at a relative's house.
I was ecstatic.
Best ice cream cake ever. Thai ice cream rocks.
Yes, those are real fruits. Check out the strawberries, cherries and pineapple.
Yummmm.

Travel Buddy, Kitty, is theif-eating my Snow Jellies! It's okay, I let her. [wink]

There you go. Well, lunch time. Gotta go!

Monica.

4-Story Mall Discovery

2007-08-08T23:28:00.000-05:00

August 7, 2550 (That's the year over here right now.)

I ate breakfast that morning when I got up. Over here, I'm an early bird. It's weird. In America, I'm a night owl. Oh well. I ate breakfast, including tasting one of the fish that... well, it definately looked like a fish - eyes and all. It was kind of creepy, having your food look at you while you eat it...

Kun-Pah and I dropped Moei (host sister) off at school, then went for a walk around the park a little. We fed the fish and tons of pigeons, had brunch (I told you Thai people eat a lot!), then went to the bank to deposit my emergency money and vacation money. They took us to a different bank to exchange the USD to Baht, because that bank didn't exchange. So we waited in line and I transferred my travelers' cheques to Baht, then we took that money and the original bank took us back to the original bank (they drove us to the exchanger's bank and back), and then we were finally able to open two bank accounts. We got that taken care of, and I took my ATM card to the machine (ATM card from USA!), and withdrew some money. I ended up having a little white safe in my closet, so I stored a lot of money there so I don't have to pay a lot of money every time I withdraw baht from the machine. By the way, "baht" is the Thai currency. Then when we were done, we walked home (right across the street).

Barely a half of an hour later, we got in the SUV thing and went to the mall, because I had to get a couple notebooks to write in (mainly to keep track of the Thai I should know first), a couple pens, and an English-to-Thai translation book. Little did I know, where we parked the car... was under the mall. We parked and got out and I was looking around for any sign of where we were, then we approached some escalators, and rode those up.

A 4-story mall. The only mall in Udonthani, but it makes up for it. It's huge. It's not just 4-floors tall because each floor is small, no. Each floor is huge, and there are four of them. There's even an Auntie Anne's, a DQ, and a KFC. All of which are considered "expensive" to the Thai, but doing the conversions, it's cheaper than America. My parents will laugh at this, but I probably won't eat at the KFC, because it still has trans fat in their stuff. They have a Mister Donut, though, and I can't stay away... I've only been there once, but I became hooked. Their toasted coconut donuts are delicious. It's like the Dunkin' Donuts of Thailand. They also have a Pizza Hut somewhere in town, but I don't know where; Holly does.

After the mall, we drove to Kanchanaphisek Udonthani Technical College, my school. We picked up my school uniform's belt and shirt buttons, and the pin that goes on the shirt. I met one of the English teachers, and she showed me "The Canteen" (cafeteria), and we went into a side-shop that's like a miniature grocery store/snack place, like the ones you find in gas stations. We got some pumpkin seeds, and I popped one in my mouth. The teacher stared at me and asked me how did I just eat the seed, and I showed her... She stopped me before I ate it the second time, though. I guess the Thai don't eat pumpkin seeds like Americans do. I was right. She showed me that you crack them open with your teeth, then rip apart the shell, get the seed inside it, then eat the seed and toss the shell. Not only does that sound more laborous to just eat one little, flat pumpkin seed, but there's no crunch, and less taste. The shell kind of gives it more taste. She thought it was gross how we ate pumpkin seeds. I don't know why, but then again, I was grown up eating them that way anyway.

Kun-pah (host dad, Somchai) and I went back home, picked the rest of the family up, and went to a relatives'. I don't know exactly how we're related, but we are. They're pretty cool, too.

We went to eat some dinner, which consisted of, you guessed it, noodles. Then we had dessert right next door that was pretty good - it was a fruit juice with ice, and some different fruits in it.

We drove back home and I showered and went to sleep.

Pictures, as promised...

2007-08-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

Sorry it took so long to get them up on here, but this computer I'm using doesn't like Photobucket, so I cannot direct-route the pictures. I have to go through MySpace to use them. I can only give links, too... Sorry, no thumbnail pictures/samples of the photos. Enjoy!

Departure from America.
Waiting in O'Hare for my plane to Detroit.
Looking out the airplane window in O'Hare, waiting to take off.
Going to Detroit.
Leaving Detroit.
Flying over Alaska.
Flying over the ocean at 2x as high as a domestic plane. See the curvature of the Earth? Stunning, no?
Tokyo biddet. Funny story with this picture...
The magic armrest of the biddet.
Travel Buddy, named Kitty, with some Yen in Tokyo.
Me & Holly with Japanese drinks in Tokyo.
Tokyo airport magazine stand.
Travel Buddy figures things out in Tokyo.
Kitty washes hands after using Japanese toilet.
Travel Buddy helps stack luggage into luggage cart in Bangkok.
Me and 'Papa.'
Waiting 4 hours in Bangkok airport, Suwanapum, to see of an outbound.
Holly eating Cow Snacks - not made from cows, but just a picture of a cow. Made with rice, soy sauce, sugar and seaweed. Probably the best things ever.

Arrival in Udonthani.
Photo op. 1 in Udon. Yes,the leis were made with real flowers.
Photo op. 2 in Udon.
Photo op. 3 in Udon.
Photo op. 4 in Udon.

Pictures in Udon in next blog - I still need to upload them. Thanks!
Moni

Almost forgot to mention...

2007-08-07T21:36:00.000-05:00

I had a surprise birthday party. Best cake I can ever recall. Ice cream cake, but not like DQ - much better. I got a pink scarf, an elephant money pouch thing, a little porcelin cow that says Happy Birthday on it, and a tissue-box cover that is a stuffed animal - elephant. Very cute.

It was awesome.

Sorry, but I promise pictures in the next blog, I didn't know I'd have to post this one. Pictures in next blog!

Monthida

Daughter of Fairy

2007-08-07T20:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, so it turned out we went to a place not far from where I live. It was pretty good. I only found out what my food was after I took my first bite, but I would have tried it anyway. It was duck over rice. We all had Coke with it, too. It was pretty good, I might say...

I'm wearing long sleeves right now because I'm slightly cold here. It's currenly the rainy season, and it's been raining every day, sometimes all day, since I've got here. I have no big problem with that, though.

I've had food "shoved down my throat" a couple times, in figure of speech. They eat a lot, every day. It's like Thanksgiving every day. I'm surprised I think I'm actually losing weight... A lot of the food is good, though. Sometimes spicey, but very good. Lots of fruits, meats, veggies and rice. Lots of rice and noodles... Lots...

Tong and I went to the rent-a-book store, and I got 4 books. One on a movie, one on the King, and two Doraemon, "Gadget Cat." My favorite so far is Gadget Cat. It's the only book that's written in English, but it has Thai translations above/below speech bubbles. It's a funny series. You can check them out for a week, so they're due Saturday.

I figured out how to work the electric shower. I only use it at night though, because it's too cold in the morning - I use the bucket shower in the morning, as the water has been sitting there overnight. It's still cold, but it's warmer than the electric shower... (Western-style showers = showers with a shower head).

Mom here plays tennis almost every morning, she's won a lot of big awards for her tennis skills. I should have brought shorts and/or pants, but I think I'll pick them up today at the 4-story mall in town.

We tried some Korean food the other day, and I was doing things all wrong! I would pick up the rice wrap, but it would stick to my hands and not the food, unlike everyone else. Then instead of cutting the sausage thing up to put a SLICE in the wrap, I put the whole sausage in the wrap and was laughed at. I found it funny too, though, so it's ok. [laughs] Not to mention they had me try the sauce to make sure I liked it, but they didn't say it was a sauce. I liked it, so I was about to stick a spoonful in my mouth when they stopped me and said "That's sauce! Come on, Monthida!" They laughed again... By the way, my Thai name is "Monthida" or nickname "Thida." "Thida" means "daughter" - but only used for higher ranking individuals. "Mon" means "Fairy" or "of the Heavens" - pretty and "worship." So my name translates into "Daughter of Fairy," or lesser-known as "Daughter of the Heavens" or something like that. You pronounce it "Mōn-tee-dah." There's different pitches in how you say it though. Thai is complicated like that. Take "Kghai" for example - if you say it in one tone, it means "sell" - in another tone, it means "eggs" and in another tone it means "the" or "who." Same word, but different "song pitches" to say it. It makes them words just by how you "sing" it.

I went to my sister's highschool, I was instantly popular. [laughs] Even though I was clumsy. I had to get up in front of Maei's English class and say who I am, where I'm from, what I like to do, etc. I did, but on my way back to my seat, I tripped on the microphone chord. I was nervous, I'll admit, but I also admit that I don't know why I was nervous. Oh well. Her school was tons of fun, and I got a couple friends. Tan is probably my favorite. She's cool. We also went to Biology. It was hard enough to remember what I was taught 3 years ago, but in Thai, it's really really hard. Not to mention that period was a double-period, meaning it was 2 hours long. So it seemed more like droning than class. The teacher asked if I wanted to help my group, but I said I would probably make it harder for them. [laughs]

My bedroom is huge! I have a TV, a DVD player, and an air conditioner! The bed is a little stiff, but I can manage. I don't have to set my alarm. I have a better way of waking up - Grandma prepares breakfast in the morning - by scratch. I wake up to the chopping of food, the sizzles if there are any, and doors and stuff. Not a loud, annoying beep at 7. It's actually at 6, but it's a nice wake-up call.

We have a cat! Her name is Cake, and she's 17 years old. She's tiny, and SO CUTE!!! I love her.

There are a few schools in town here, and the highschool alone has about 6,000 kids. My school is bigger, but it's more out of town. I visited it yesterday, and I got my uniform belt, pin for my shirt, and buttons for my shirt.

Oh, they drive on the left. Oh, there's no speed limits anywhere. Oh, and if you think your car, moped or motorcycle (whatever you're driving) can fit in whatever space available, you try it. There are very few accididents, amazingly, and it's hard to find an automobile of any kind with scratches, dents or anything on them. It's weird. Oh, and Thai people are the Gods of parallel parking.

I'll update later with more stuff. That's pretty much all of it for now.

Lots of pictures will be posted in my next blog.

I can over-hear the TV from here. Lots of Thai. There was a hen race on just a little bit ago. That was interesting...

XOXO
Monthida
Daughter of Fairy

I'm in Thailand?

2007-08-03T22:23:00.000-05:00

What? I'm in Thailand? It looks like America... but people drive faster and on the left instead of the right. Then there's pretty Thai things all over... Not to mention everyone speaks Thai and barely anyone speaks English.
So I stepped off the plane not knowing what to expect. I had slept through breakfast on the plane, so I didn't get anything to eat. It's alright though... it was actually 4 AM when breafast was held on the plane.
I've been plane riding and hopping for over 24 hours now, and I'm sitting in front of a computer, feeling like I'm still in the air. Not the coolest feeling in the world, maybe I should walk it off.
When I got to my new home in Udon Thani, we walked into my host family's store, then to the back. That's where I live. It's actually quite big.
I just unpacked and put things in my new room, and then went downstairs to "take a shower." What that REALLY meant was "take this tupperware, fill it with water, and repeatedly drench yourself with it." Oh, and by the way - there's no hot water for "shower taking."
The only problem I'm having is with the language. Barely anyone, even in my family, speaks English, so it's hard to communicate with them.
Lunch time, they just asked me if I was hungry. They're taking me somewhere... I wonder where?

Monica.

See You Later, America.

2007-08-01T22:14:00.000-05:00

Ok, it's my last night in America now...
I'm using my sister's laptop. We're in the hotel, which is only about a mile away from the airport. We can see planes take off every now and then out of the window, it's pretty cool, I guess.
We had Quizno's for supper, it was pretty good. I got a Honey Mustard Chicken sandwich, hold the tomato and bacon.
I'm getting up tomorrow morning, catching the shuttle from the hotel to the airport at 7:30 AM. I hope that's early enough to get my 10:08 AM flight.

Once I get on, it will head for Detroit, then Tokyo, then Bangkok. Don't ask about the weird routing system, I don't know either. [laughs] Anyway, guess what else is tomorrow?! My 18th birthday. Crazy, isn't it? Everyone knows it's the day I leave for Thailand. Only 3 people outside of my family have said Happy Birthday to me. Well, more and more people will realize it's my 18th birthday because I'll be singing it over and over to myself on the plane until they merrily kick me off at my destination/arrival point. [insert evil laughter here]

I don't really have too much to say, as I've already said the majority of it in one of the first blogs I already posted on here. Anyone can be an exchange student, you know. Check out our Rotary District's web address here: Click
The Monmouth page here: Click the link above, click on "District Clubs," then click "Monmouth."
and I even have my own page on there, too: Follow all steps above and then click on "Outbound R.Y.E." "R.Y.E." stands for "Rotary Youth Exchange."

Contact a Rotarian and ask them about it - they'll be happy to help you. Now would be the best time to sign up for it, too, if you wanted to go. Good luck, and wish me luck, too. See you in Thailand!

Monica

Last Night in Monmouth for a Year.

2007-08-01T02:19:00.000-05:00

Tonight's the last night I'll be staying in Monmouth for a year.

I don't really know what to blog...

Guess I wasn't as prepared as I thought it was.

It's 2:22 AM.

I'm tired.

I'm going to bed.

For the last night in Monmouth.

Those of you who are new to my blog site, please browse around using the left navigation menu (list of things to click on). You'll find that the oldest "posts," or "entries," are at the bottom. The newer are at the top. Feel free to browse around. Enjoy.

Anyone can be an exchange student.
www.rotarydistrict6460.com

Go there if you wish to seek for further information on the matter. It's really quite a blast, and now would be the best time to sign up.

Thanks!

Moni.

P.S. - Poon wif shawk teef. I swearz. [inside joke]

Into the Single Digits.

2007-07-23T17:44:00.001-05:00

The countdown has entered single digits, guys. 9 days and counting.
Wish me luck.

I'm trying to get a whole list of stuff to do DONE before I go. Wish me luck on that, too.
Thanks~
Moni.

Am I actually getting nervous?
.
..
...nah... [laughs] It still doesn't feel like I'm even going yet. I hear you feel that way up until you're actually in that country. Well... we'll see about that. :)

Photographs of the Past

2007-07-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

Looking through photos. Thought I'd share some. Crazy moments. Fun times.
Check it out, here's some pictures. :)

Moni

XOXO

Back from Michigan

2007-07-16T14:38:00.000-05:00

Michigan rocked. End of story.

I traded pins and cards. I came back with 80 cards, give or take a couple. I came back with 130 pins, give or take a couple. My jacket is already getting very full. It looks awesome. It'll look even better when I come back.

Picture.

There you go.
Very little sleep was taken care of this weekend. I thought I wasn't really all that tired last night, so I went upstairs to unpack at 7 PM.
I saw my bed, and that's all it took for me to think "FFKDLSAJf0427q89ru2." (Jibberish, not even real English) I laid down, and in minutes I did not awake until 10 AM today. ...and I'm still tired.
Well, I have stuff to do, and I think I'm going to bed early tonight. See ya!

Moni-Oni

Goin' to Michigan

2007-07-12T21:31:00.000-05:00

Watch out, MI, here I come!

I didn't get any buttons made today, but I went shopping and got a few things I needed. Fabric paint for my suitcases (What? I'm an artist!), a cute red plaid skirt that matches a lot of stuff (for 4 bucks, who could pass it up) - good for Thailand too, fake leather to modify my *new* (Not really - yay Goodwill!) leather messenger-bag thingie (smaller than my usual, lighter & easier to carry), and some other stuffs. Thought I'd let you in on the spoils.

Anyway, I packed and stuff, and I can't wait to leave. Why it's a big deal: It's this huge convention-type thingie for all of the central-states exchange students, some rotary members, parents, family... hundreds of people. In one place. We have pins and buttons. We shall trade. Dances. Get-togethers. Do-thingies. Stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. I can't wait! My mother and I hop in the van tomorrow (more like tonight) at about 4 or 5 AM, which is in about 6 or 7 hours from now. Which means I should go to bed soon because I'll be getting up atleast an hour before we leave to make sure we have everything. It's about an 8-hour trip, not including the stops we have to make on the way there.
I've never been to Michigan before.
And this is sure to be one heck of a good time. Yay!

Have fun while I'm gone!
XOXO
Moni

Update & Contact Infos.

2007-07-11T20:11:00.000-05:00

UPDATE:
Made 117 buttons of 1,000 in one day.
The 9 styles:

I have a lot more to go.
I guess it's a one-person job, though - there's only one machine. Dev, you're "off the hook"... for now. [laughs]
Seriously though, I have more work to get done.
Good news, though - I hear Dick Blick would like to donate some materials for my use. YAY! I love that store. Always have. I love walking through that place and getting stuff. I'm an art freak. Yay.

Contact information / How to get to me.
E-Mail:
night_tiger07@yahoo.com
I have AIM, Yahoo!, and MSN. If you want them, please E-Mail me.
My website (which also has more stuff about me & my art):
www.freewebs.com/rockercat/enter.html

Please note, that if you do E-Mail me, don't expect a reply right away. I do have a life outside the computer, and may only get online once a week or so to update. Also, depeneding on how much E-Mail I get, I may only be able to answer a few E-Mails each time I log-in/get online. Please do not send bulk E-Mail; try to keep it in one E-Mail. No Junk-Mail - it will get you blocked. No chain-mail - it will get you blocked. Feel free to personalize it; In fact, please do - it makes it more fun to read. :)
Thanks,
Moni

Better, but Still Hectic.

2007-07-10T13:16:00.000-05:00

Better.
They came through for me, and now I have the prints/inserts.
Yay! Now I can do my buttons.
Thought I'd let you know. :)

Moni

Help?

2007-07-09T19:05:00.000-05:00

Day by day, things just get more and more hectic.

I just made 1,000 pins made of red, white and blue ribbon, glue, safety pins, and pennies. That may not sound like much, but trust me, it is. I had my friend slave-labor... I mean, helping, me do this. When we worked, we got about 500 done! ...In about 3 or 4 hours.
I worked some more, but this time on my own, finishing them up. Took up an entire day.
Now all 1,000 are done.

1,000 left to go.

You heard me right. Those were just one type of pin. I'm making buttons, too. 1,000 of them. Another 1,000 buttons. The majority of which should be done by Friday. Not next Friday, this Friday. That's about 3 days. I'm leaving VERY EARLY in the morning to go to Michigan on Friday, and I need my buttons with me to trade. The papers/pictures/inserts that go into the buttons haven't been printed yet. They were supposed to be done this past Friday. Then today. Now they're saying they'll get done tomorrow. I sure do hope so. I need them!!! Please come through for me! Even if I get them tomorrow, I'll still have less than three days to make about another 1,000 buttons. My slave-labored friend has decided he's "ill" for the next 23 days (that's how long I have left in the USA), and "can't work." Yet he is willing to work-out with me and hang out. "Sick." ...Sure, Dev. [laughs]

23 days left in America.
Think I can handle it?
No. I can't.
The anticipation is murder.
Dead already.
By spoons.
Leave me a message.
Love.
Peace.
Marshmallows.

Moni.
XOXO

Leaving For a Year... Half-Way Across the World

2007-06-24T01:00:00.000-05:00

I got my plane itenerary today in the mail.

My plane takes off on the 2nd of August, which also happens to be my 18th birthday. I'll be getting up in the morning to go catch a plan to Detroit Michigan... on my 18th birthday. Then I'll take a plane from there to Tokyo Japapn. And from there: A plane from Tokyo to Bankok.

That's a 12 hour time difference from where I live.

39 days and counting.

I can't wait.... I hope my Tokyo to Bangkok flight delays atleast 10 hours so I can stay in Japan for awhile.

Well, that was just a quick update. Catch ya laters.

Monica Rose

Graduation Pt. 2

2007-06-13T22:47:00.000-05:00

Good news!
I graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Not to mention, I took the minus off of the A- for Spanish II. It's an A now. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA! OH YEAH! Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week... Hehe. YEAH!
By the way... because I have 6 A's on my report card, I get 6 free movie rentals or game rentals, or mix and match. Oh yeah!~~

*Happy Dance*

P.S. - Sorry it took so long to post this up.

Graduation & Thailand

2007-05-23T23:04:00.000-05:00

Today was my last day of highschool. I deserve to finally graduate. Everyone looks at me and says "lucky." No, I'm not lucky. I was able to keep myself together and in one piece for 12 years of schooling to get OUT of schooling. I'm not "lucky," I just try my best... and right now my best is a 4.0 GPA for this semester [the first of my life]. Let me do my happy dance right now... and don't you even think about ruining my moment. I don't know if I'll be keeping my 4.0, but I sure do hope so. I took my last final, the one that decides whether or not I get an A in my class. I don't find out my grade until Sunday. Wish me luck!

Moving on.

Sunday is my graduation date. Right after is the party. I hope the majority of the people I invited are able to come. That would be awesome if they could. We have a lot of food. I really don't want to eat all the leftovers.

I got accepted into the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. I leave for Thailand in late July/early August. I'll be staying there for a full year, or atleast 50 weeks, which is 2 weeks short of a full year.

"Don't you need to learn a language?" No, they speak English everywhere in the world. Of course I do! I have no problems with that! I love learning languages. I hope that when I come back, I'll be speaking Thai so fluently, that I'll be THINKING in it! That would be awesome.

Up until I ask someone to say something in Thai because I don't know what the English version of that word means.

"Aren't you afraid?" To be quite honest, no, I'm not really all that afraid. I can't WAIT to go! I want to leave this weekend! I would, too, if it were not for the fact that:

It's not late July or early August.
I haven't -officially- graduated yet.
I have a few parties to attend before I leave.
I have to pack.
I have to get a laptop.

Yes, I'm feeling nervous, but not a scared-nervous. More like an excited-sort-of-nervous. I can't wait to go. Really.

"You're lucky." AGAIN WITH "LUCKY." What is luck? Luck isn't anything. Luck is actually an excuse put forth and set in peoples' minds to make them think they can't do it, because they're "unlucky."

Luck, hun, is just trying hard. If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. The Wright Brothers proved that. I really want to be a foreign exchange student. I really want to study other cultures first-hand. I really want to learn new languages and have a blast at the same time. I found a way.

"I can't afford that, are you kidding me?" Once again, if you really want to do something, you'll find a way to go. I have one word for you: "scholarships." Go diving for groups of people that would love to sponsor your trip over there. Offer them a talk about your trip when you come back. You want to go over, you want to come back and share everything you've done, right? They want to learn about your trip, too. It's a win-win situation, folks. [hearts]

I really appreciate the groups that are sponsoring me to go! Without them, the majority of this trip would NOT be possible. Thank you so much, guys. Most importantly, though, thanks to the Rotary Club for accepting me and shooing me off. I know you guys didn't want me hanging around America, so you got rid of me. In the best way possible. Thanks, guys. Thanks for all your help. Seriously. I can't wait to go.

For now, it's 11:23, or 23:23 by my clock. I think I'm done with this "blog" for now. Thanks for reading, peoples. I love you all!

Monica R.