Thai Rides and Thai Brides

Week 3 of the second half of the semester is upon us and now I can say that I've started to settle back into school life. Okay, well not completely. I still sometimes see myself falling back in to the honeymoon period after what was a great Christmas break but then the thought of having to sort out lesson plans, washing my uniform, bracing myself for my 'naughty' Secondary 2 students etc soon brings me around. That being said, we have all been eased back into school life rather gently as a lot of school events are planned for this half of the semester meaning the fluidity of my lessons haven't quite gotten into full swing. The first week of classes were affected by Secondary 2 going to Scout Camp and then the following week having Secondary 3 finish exams. This was then all topped off with me being hit with tonsillitis; I was practically in bed for 3 days recovering, missing half of my week in classes and missing some opportunities to go party with the other teachers or extend my trip to Bangkok for our second long weekend...IT SUCKED. But more about that later.

Air Force Show on Childrens Day (10th January) (Photo credit: Grace)

The first celebration of the year came from Children's Day (known as 'Wan Dek'), a national holiday which celebrates the Children of Thailand and their importance on the future development of the country. During this day, parties are thrown and children can enjoy many attractions and public transportation for free. At Assumption, plans were cancelled due to an upcoming inspection but the following day, Grace and I decided to venture to the nearby Air Force Base , which is particularly known for hosting events for Children's day. We were lucky to witness an air show put on by the base with several planes acrobatically soaring through the sky. It was by bad luck that we ended up at this show actually, as the motorbike taxi driver misunderstood where we wanted to go. But it did work out and it was a nice way to spend Saturday afternoon. Also, my faith in humanity was restored when Grace and I were given a ride home by a lady from Bangkok who was visiting Korat for the day. It really is true about Thai people and their friendliness -- the fact she went out of her way to help us because we literally were stranded, it really made me fall in love with Thailand even more.

The second of our long weekends followed that next week due to teachers day (yes, they actually celebrate the hard work teachers do over here!) but unfortunately I was struck with tonsillitis mid week. A trip to the hospital lead to paying for meds that didn't even work and leaving me in bed on and off for 3 days. I had to come in on Thursday to finally get our work permits sorted before going straight back to bed again. Thanks to some advice from my friend Aloy, I spent 500 baht (£10) on some meds that cleared my infection up within 36 hours...success! Sadly, that meant my initial plans to spend the entirety of the long weekend in Bangkok were cut short whilst I rested. However, I did manage to make my way down on the Friday afternoon and meet up with my friend Grit. That night, he decided to take me to dinner at a restaurant near the national monument called Pathe. It just so happened that this was the exact restaurant that I visited on my first night in Bangkok during my orientation! (Which seems like forever ago). I don't know if I mentioned it in a previous post but their Lemon Chicken dish at this restaurant is divine (even though none of the other westerners took a liking to it) so Grit and I decided to share three dishes of that, with some Pad Thai and this Japenese style pork salad (which was rare meat in a tomato soy sauce...wasn't the best thing I've had in Thailand but tasty enough.) 

Grit and I at my first Thai wedding.

The next morning, I was lucky enough to be a +1 to a traditional Thai wedding being held in downtown Bangkok. Grit and I went to the second part of the marriage celebration which was the ceremonial part (this still meant us leaving the house at 7:30am!) and we were able to witness the main part of the wedding where the rings were exchanged and the marriage became official. The Thai wedding is incredibly different to western style weddings and is laced with beautiful traditions that build up to the final part of actually becoming husband and wife. The first part that I saw was the groom's entry. Known as 'sanuk', this is a ceremony where the groom must make his way to the bride, who is hiding in the house or the venue where they are getting married. In order to do this, he must pass through a number of doors/gates to prove that he is worthy and financially able to take care of his bride. To pass each gate, which in this case was a gold piece of string/necklace (pratoo tong), the groom must present a 'key' which essentially is an envelope full of money. As he reaches each gate, the groom will give the gate bearers more and more money (and apparently the amount is decided before the ceremony) until he passes them all and can then enter the venue.

'Sanuk' ceremony - the passing of the gates.

After the presentation of gifts to each other's families, the next part of the ceremony is conducted by an elder (who I initially thought was a priest but traditionally it will be a member of the bride's family). When this is happening, the bride and groom place a white plaited thread upon their heads which is connected in the middle (known as 'sai monkhon') and this represents their two lives coming together and one and that their destinies are linked. It was a really cute symbolism and something which I thought represented the two becoming husband and wife incredibly well. After this, the bride and groom places their hands over a bed of flowers and the elder pours water over their hands in a sea shell (Rod Nam Sang). After this, the guests also pour water over their hands and say blessings and wishes to the couple. I didn't think I was allowed to do this as I was not friends of either the bride or groom, but in typical 'being a farang' (and only farang at the wedding...) style, I was encouraged to go and do this. This was then followed by group photos and queueing up to have a photo taken with yours truly!

'Rod Nam Sang' -- pouring water over the Bride and Groom's hands.

Grit and I left after lunch and went our separate ways; I was planning on meeting my friend First that night for a few beers and then meet back up with Grit the following afternoon as he was busy in work. The last day of my long weekend consisted of walking around, trying some AMAZING avocado and passionfruit juice (thanks to Grit's awesome knowledge of great stalls!) and grabbing some food before heading back to Korat once more.

So long, Cowgirls!

Christmas/New Year Adventures!

I knew this Christmas break was going to be like no other. This would be the first time away from my family for Christmas and after what has been a crazy year from the Christopher clan, I did hit home Christmas morning that I wouldn't be home with everyone. That being said, I was excited for my upcoming adventures. Instead of exploring the Islands like the other English teachers, I decided to make use of the multiple entry visa I obtained to travel to other countries.

Christmas Party Performance.

After the Staff party on Xmas eve, where I danced to a Mariah Carey/Dirty Dancing/Will Smith/LMFAO medley (pretty eclectic right?), drank more wine coolers than I should have and watched in awe as other teachers were winning iPhone 6's and cars(!!) in the staff raffle, I travelled with the rest of the teachers down to Don Mueang Airport; they were off to Phuket whereas I had to wait for a shuttle bus to Suvarnabhumi to then get to Cambodia...such a long night! All in all, it took me no less than 16 hours to reach my final destination of Sihanoukville which weirdly reminded me of an Asian Maguluf or Ibiza...so many westerners walking round giving out leaflets for beach parties and bugging you with their Booze Cruise sale pitches (one even tried to convince me to go to one with an offer of Pu$$y for days...gross.) But regardless of that, I met this cool guy called David, who I ended up spending most of my trip in Cambodia with. Instead of wallowing in self-pity for the fact that I'd be eating Xmas dinner alone, I decided to join him for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Olive&Olive. I had heard good things about it from Dave and was excited to see how good it was for myself. Boy, was he right! It was literally the best Italian food I have ever had...big feat I know (I'm even salivating whilst writing this at the thought of wanting to eat there again). I had tagliatelle with artichokes, bacon and a white wine sauce and creme brulee for desert. The meal all together totalled around $12 (they use U.S. dollars in Cambodia interestingly). Now, for living in Thailand, I would consider that quite pricey, but not thinking about that for a second, it was seriously worth every penny and I would have happily paid more for it.The next morning, and after a 14 hour sleep (I really needed it), I finally ventured to the beach to relax. To be completely honest, I was a little disappointed with the quality of the beach...WAAAY too many westerners around and I was being bugged too much by old cambodian ladies asking to cut my toe nails. After visiting the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia (my favourite beach ever!), I can't help but now always seeming to find something to nitpick with every beach I visit...the sand isn't white enough...the water isnt clear enough...haha, but really it felt like I was at a British beach but the weather was just tremendously better.

Best Italian Food...EVER!

Money was running short whilst on my Cambodia excursion (when using US dollars, it working out a little pricier than expected), so I decided to bail a day early and go back to Bangkok; not without getting a $3 haircut whilst purchasing my bus ticket though...YOLO? After a 4 hour taxi back to Phnom Penh, I eventually landed in a terrential-rain filled Bangkok at 11pm with nowhere to go...phone was on 1% and I was strapped for cash. Luckily, I had some US dollars left over which got me enough to stay in a room in Silom (Bangkok's gay district) where I rested and recuperated ready for exploring the city tomorrow. When the rain cleared and morning came, I left the one hotel, checked into the other one I had already pre-booked and then heading out. My initial plan was to explore Wat Arun with a friend, but as she wasn't available and because I left my sunglasses in Cambodia, I decided to head to Chatuchak Weekend Market. This market in Bangkok is famously known to be one of the world's largest markets, spanning 27 acres with over 15,000 booths selling an array of items. Like I said the main goal was to purchase some cheap sunglasses, but I couldn't help but be tempted by the cheap t-shirts and fake designer items. After a bit of haggling, I came out with no sunglasses and instead a Louis Vuitton hold-all for 1650 baht (the real one would retail at almost 50 times that..not kidding! - so I was pretty chuffed with myself!).

Chatuchak Weekend Market was CRAYYYYY.

That night, I met up with a new friend who is a Sargent in the Air Force for drinks in Silom, it was nice to chill out and talk to someone after spending the majority of the trip so far alone. The next day I was to fly out to Kuala Lumpur, a trip in all honesty I had mixed feelings about. I had already been to KL once this month but this time I would be doing it alone, and without the trusted hands of my friends and ex-boyfriend. This time though, I decided to FINALLY visit the Petronas Towers and see for myself what the hype was all about. Luckily for me, I decided to treat myself whilst staying in Malaysia and checked myself into the Hilton in central KL. What a paradise! This was the first time ever that I had stayed in a 5* hotel and it was just amazing; I could have sat in bed all day it was that great! But, my itchy feet got the better of me and I went around the mall and window shopped, ate some hot plate yee mee (which is chicken, mushroom, noodles and egg in this rich, thick gravy! - delish!) and like I said, make my way up 86 floors to the top of the Twin Towers. Once the tallest building in the world and still remains the tallest twin towers in the world, the towers have a skybridge on the 36th floor connecting the two buildings together, with an obversation deck on the 86th floor which offers spectacular views of the city...shame the weather wasn't on our side because it did turn out a little anti-climatic - if I ever go again, I'd definitely like to see it in the night time.

View from Petronas Towers.

After initial plans to stay in KL for new years with my friends were scrapped, I decided to book a last minute flight to Koh Samui and join my Assumption friends who were already there. Leaving at midday, I finally got into Samui around 6pm - would have been quicker if Thai people weren't so laid-back and slow...ok, I don't mind it sometimes as it does come as a nice change...but on new years eve? COME ON LIKE! I want to go out and party! haha. I finally met up with my friends for dinner and was presented with an AMAZING rainbow tie-dye shirt from Grace which would later become my party outfit. We had some mediocre Italian to prepare us for the inevitable alcohol consumption (although I only had 4 drinks the entire night) and then headed to the beach to watch the countdown. On the way, we had lost a couple of the guys leaving myself,  Grace, Ais, Natalie, and Shubhu partying on the beach whilst the final countdown loomed. The main bar on the beach, Ark Bar, was ridiculously packed and full of boisterous westerners (um...no thanks) so we decided to head to the next bar which was a lot quieter and had space for us to dance and enjoy the environment. As 12 o clock hit, we were barricaded with fireworks from all angles. It was such a spectacular and surreal feeling...I will never forget it. We cheered, screamed, hugged, danced on the beach, frolicked in the sea, and laughed. I really wouldn't have wanted to be anyone else at that moment. It was made so clear to me how amazing this whole experience had been thus far, and will be this coming year. After a whirlwind of a year both emotionally and mentally, I see the new year as a fresh start. And at that point, I forgot about all the shitty things that had happened, and twerked on bar benches to Iggy Azalea instead (such a gay boy...) whilst getting soaked from champagne showers from the next table. As morning hit, the main strip of Koh Samui became a ghost-town; all the obnoxious westerners were still in their pits after the crazy night before, and the beaches were semi-filled with mostly families sunbathing there. It was very relaxing.

NYE on the beach!

The only real unfortunate thing about the trip was the 20 hour journey back to Korat. Thank goodness we were all together because I may have pulled my hair out not talking to anyone, or having no phone (my iPhone died about 6 hours into the trip). But overall, what an amazing trip it was. I felt so fortunate to be able to visit so many places, meet new people, and be in great company. To my knowledge, I will not get any lengthy break until the end of the term in March, so for now, its back to the grind of work and the end of feeling like a tourist.

Such a great moment! Great people, great place, great photo!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS.