We had three days plus the weekend off of work for the Chinese New Year. My friends Priscilla, Mark, Lim, Nic and I booked a trip to Thailand...and it was the best freakin' vacation I've EVER had!!!
We departed Incheon airport at 11:30 am and arrived in Bangkok at 2:30pm. After a quick rest, we went out for dinner and had some AMAZING Thai and Indian food. And then we were off for a night out on the town in Bangkok. We went to a main strip where a lot of foreigners and bars/clubs were. You could get anything you wanted on that street! Everything was available from jewelry and clothes, to fresh pineapples and mangoes to cheeseburgers, and seedy cockroaches and even seedier foreigners... After walking down this strip a few times (apparently Lim knew of some night club from his previous trips to Bangkok) we couldn't decide on a place to go. So, what does Lim do? He asks the Thai police where the good nightclubs were! Of course!! We actually took their advice and went to a couple places they suggested but they weren't happenening since it was a random Wednesday night. Somehow we ended up in some random Thai bar on some side street. There was an awesome live band and it was crammed full of people. The band was really good and entertaining and the drinks were cheap and everyone was dancing and having a good time! Everything was going so well until we went to the back bar to get another drink and a three inch cockroach decided to say hello to Priscilla! We tried not to think about where that cockroach has been (ex. crawling around the limes before being put into our drinks...haha) We were having such a good time that we ended up coming home at about 4:30am...and we were being picked up from our hotel at 6 am for our 8 am flight to Krabi! We got a whole hour of sleep!
We arrived in Krabi at about 9:30 am but it was too early to check-in to our rooms. Since our hotel wasn't directly in Krabi, we decided just to chill out in the lobby of our hotel for a few hours. It wasn't so bad since we were all sooo tired from the night before. After a little rest in our hotel rooms, we met up with Priscilla's brother, John. It was sooo crazy random that he was in Thailand and in KRABI at the same time we were! It was great to meet a part of the Barber family...it helped me understand Priscilla a lot more...haha! After eating dinner with him, we all went to a local bar that was basically made around a giant tree. It was so much fun to sit on mats on the floor and drink fresh pina coladas!
The next day, we went on an island tour to four different islands and Phi Phi Island. We went by speed boat instead of long boat and there were about 14-15 people on the tour. There were seven of us, so it was like a semi-private tour which was really nice! This island tour convinced me that Thailand is the most beautiful country I've been to so far! The water was sooo clear and the weather was absolutely perfect! We started with a beach island where Priscilla and I just lounged on the beach and in the water. The next island we went snorkeling with fish and swam to a nearby beach. Our tour guide threw crackers in the water to attract fish...and boy did she attract them! There were sooo many that I didn't want to jump in at first! ahhhhhh! We also got to see the island, the cliffs, and the beach where the movie "The Beach" was filmed. I was a little disappointed that the beach was already jam-packed full of tourists but it was still amazing! We hung out on the beach in the shade (some of us were getting a little sunburned...and when I saw us, I mean me...) and Nic decided to take a nap. (Which was the story of Nic for the whole trip. Sleep, eat, sleep some more, eat some more...golf, sleep, eat...) We were getting a little bored so we decided to bury Nic in the sand. During the process, a little Japanese girl came over with a handful and sand and added it to the mound. It was absolutely hilarious!!! She became more courageous by the second and started poking at Nic's body. She also helped Mark form little boobs on Nic and poked holes into Nic's groin area...hmmm...is that normal?? We began to attract a small crowd of people who thought it was as amusing as we did!
On our way back, our tour guides/boat drivers were getting a little crazy. I think they were just really happy to finally go home and get rid of us tourists! The one guy kept making me eat pineapple (I know, life is sooo rough!) and the driver began singing some crazy Thai song. Unfortunately, at this point, I was the only person awake on the boat and was the only person who heard him sing. It was hilarious and we had a good laugh!
That night, Lim, Nic, Mark and I decided to go back to Ao Nang (where our island trip began) and take in some Thai boxing. I even spotted one of our tour guides at the fight! It wasn't as exciting as I thought it was going to be but it was still really fun! Mark and I began to bet and I ended up winning 20 baht! Woooo! Too bad 20 baht is worth less than a dollar... The English announcer was sooo bad, and I don't mean her English. She sounded like a boring college professor during the fight and while doing advertisements from their sponsers. It was painful!
The next day, Lim and Nic went golfing because it's super cheap in Thailand and super expensive in Korea (a round of golf in Korea can cost up to $250!) Mark, Priscilla, John, John's friend Matt, and I decided to do a Tiger Temple tour and elephant trekking! I mean, we can't leave Thailand without riding elephants!!! Well, Tiger Temple was pretty cool. I climbed 1,237 steps to the top of the mountain. It took me nearly 2 1/2 hours but I'm proud to say that I survived! On the way up, we saw some monkeys and one even jumped on Matt's back...and bit him! Some of the stairs were super steep and I kept thinking there was absolutely NO WAY my dad would have been able to make the climb because he's afraid of heights.
After the temple, we went elephant trekking. It was the coolest/weirdest thing I've done. It was a bit different from what I expected but it was sooo cool. Fortunately, Priscilla and I got the perfect elephant and the best elephant driver (??? is that was you call them?) Mark and Matt got the dirty elephant (it peed like no tomorrow in the stream haha) and John got the rebellious elephant with the little boy driver who ended up a passenger. Our elephant's name was Bet and our elephhant driver's name was Oh. Lucky me, he proposed to me and I'm getting married, having two sons, and he's bringing Bet to Korea with him. It was so funny because he led our elephant off the road and into a bush to pick a couple of flowers for me and Priscilla. Awwwwww, so sweet! After the trek, we got to feed our elephants bananas. Let me tell you...being breathed on my elephants is not one of my top favorite things...
That night we went out to a local dance club in Krabi and we had a super fun time! Only Lim, Mark, and I went. There was a great DJ and then all of a sudden, a band came on and there were singers and dancers in crazy costumes singing American pop songs. It was kinda crazy! After awhile, Mark and Lim left and it was just me and Priscilla. Well, we had a great time without the boys! I got my picture taken with our waiter and Priscilla got proposed to and kept getting free drinks...that's my girl!! Wooooot! At the end of the night, we went outside to get a taxi and a taxi driver came up to us and took us to his ride. Expecting to see a car, we were a little concerned to see the motorbike. But since they were everywhere and everyone rode them, we figured, why not?? So, it was the driver, me and Priscilla in the back waving her hands in the air...
The last day, Priscilla and I just chilled in Krabi while the guys went golfing...yet again. Our flight left at 9pm and we arrived in Incheon at 7 am Monday morning. And lucky us, we had to work at 11am the same day! We were all sooooo sad to leave. I'm definitely going back there some day...and maybe I'll retire there when I get old... haha
Things are still going really good here in Korea. My kindie kids are getting ready for their graduation on Friday! I'm going to be sad to see them go! I guess it's going to be pretty big deal. It's being held at an auditorium outside of school and we all have to dress real nice and there are costumes and props...
But that also means we get new kindie students! Right now we have our new kindie students for a class in the afternoon. Basically, we just color and sing songs to make them feel comfortable with us. I swear, I have the cutest kids in my class...and I already have my favorite! His name is Eddie...and he has a bowl cut. AWESOME. He was super quiet and shy in the beginning of class until I had them write their English names and draw pictures. He drew 15 dinosaurs all around his name. And my kids are super smart!!! My one student, Kevin, can tell time already! Mind you, these students are only 7 years old...5 or 6 years old western age!!!
Oooo, and a Costco opened up in Ilsan! There's one in Seoul but I never went to it. So, of course, Mark, Pris and I got memberships. We're all pretty pumped to buy spinach and mushroom ravioli IN BULK. haha, jk! We're just excited to be able to buy some western-style food because I can't cook Korean...
I also spoke to my manager last week and I mentioned that I was interested in staying in Korea for another year. She said she would love for me to stay at ECC in Hwajeong. So, it's about 98% sure that I'll still be in Hwajeong next year! If not Hwajeong, somewhere in Seoul for sure. I'm definitely not ready to be home for good!
