Pictures and Stories from our Time in Thailand

Slacker Me - November already!

tara_and_mike — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 20:39:00 GMT

Hi All,

I have been very slow in getting another post up, sorry about that! Just saw the last one was written in August! Time has flown by as usual and Christmas is just around the corner. Christmas trees have already been popping up in Bangkok at the big shopping centers! Hard to believe!

Well the last couple months have been jammed packed as usual. August is a bit of a blur now! I have been travelling so much still, China and Japan again in August, my two un-favorite places! The customers in Japan are hard work and the food in China is terrible! I will always find something to whine about!

September was a bit more relaxing, I managed to get about 3 weeks at home, at the same time as Mike – has to be the longest we have been home together for a long time, years maybe?! Mary and Gina also came to Thailand in September and we managed to eat and shop up a storm as usual. Mary packed a leg of lamb, sausages and chops into her luggage (as she always does) to bring with her! Lucky me got a roast lamb, home cooked by Mary for my birthday – it doesn’t get much better than that! The sausages and chops don’t last long – so if anyone is planning a visit, remember the lamb!

Also in September I attended my first Bangkok AFL grand final do! It’s a big event on the expat calendar and I finally got to go! Its $100 a head with free flow booze and food from 9am – 3pm! Because of the time difference, it’s an early start here! They always bring over an Aussie celebrity to ‘host’ the day. Last year they had David Boon! This year they went back to an actual footy star and we had Ron Barassi! It was a great day – we got pies at half time (which is a big treat for any aussie), sang the anthem and a guy on our table won $1000 by guessing the margin! It was a big and fab day and I will be definitely going again. I ‘kinda’ got my photo taken with Ron and I also managed to pass him on the way back from the loo – I said “Hi Ron, good show” and Ron said “Sure is” and smiled! My little brush with AFL royalty!

Back into travel for October, China a couple more times. We have expanded our operations in China so I will be spending a lot of time there for the foreseeable future! Mike and I managed to have a weekend in Singapore, staying with a guy he works with. Also in October, we got another sneaky weekend away to Seoul Korea! I was already in Beijing and Mike was in Korea, so I flew across Friday night and I know an aussie guy in Korea, so we had a bit of a look around and had a fair bit of Korean BBQ! Its delicious! When you go into the restaurant, you sit at a table with a mini-bbq on your table! They then bring out raw thin-sliced meat (beef or chicken etc) and you cook it yourself on the table in front of you! It’s delicious!!! We did a fair bit of that!

Mike’s birthday was also in October! Hard to believe it has been a year since his big 30^th bash in Malaysia, but yep, he is now well into it at 31! He got a great cooking class voucher from Mum and Rick to learn Indian food, which we love, so we will be doing that really soon. Notice, I said ‘we’ – he may learn but I am the one that will be doing the cooking!!!

That gets me to November and there was another BIG aussie-origin event which I went to for the first time! MELBOURNE CUP – and my, do they know how to put on a good show. Once again, $100 a head with free flow booze and food from 9am – 3pm, this time its 90% women done up in all sorts of combinations of hats and dresses! There are fashion parades and prizes and its bigger than anything I have seen in Australia for the cup. I was done up and feeling pretty lucky with myself. I got Viewed in both sweeps I went in. So much for the favourite, I think its still running! Anyhow, after we get kicked out at 3pm, there is an afterparty at an expat pub up the road and that managed to go on for hours – lets just say, you don’t want to count how many hours the entire day took! Great day, but I definitely need another year to decide if I can do it again!

Christmas is around the corner and Mike and I are both coming back home! I land in Melbourne on the 16^th of December (and counting) a couple days work in Melbourne then land in Tassie on the 22^nd till the 4^th of January! It has to be our longest trip to Tassie since we moved away and we are both looking forward to it! Dad is also heading home and after Christmas, the whole gang (+ the Tiller family and a few straggler mates) are heading to St Helens where we have rented a holiday house! I cant wait to sit on the beach and enjoy a ‘real’ Tassie beer – only 36-ish days to go!

Hoping to get to see everyone this time around, with the extra days gives us a chance to relax after a hectic year and also catch up with everyone! I have a wedding in Perth in March and I need to present at a chicken conference in Sydney in February so Ill be back in Aus a couple times in the first half of the year! 2010 see us staying in Bangkok, so anyone that is thinking of a tropical holiday – do it!

Hope that gives you all an update on what’s happening Bangkok-side. The rainy season has just finished (a bit like Tassie I hear!) and winter is about to start. I say ‘winter’ very, very lightly. On average Bangkok most days is around 30-33 degrees. In the full 3 weeks of winter we will probably get, it may drop to a max of 25 degrees during the day and maybe a bit cooler over night – an my-o-my, the Thai people do complain! In the mountains it gets a bit cooler – maybe 18ish overnight and old people and babies die most years. They are just not used to, or prepared for the odd cold snaps that come through! Madness!

Ok, well happy end of the year to everyone, keep counting to Christmas!

Tara-lee xxx

Gallery: Aug-Sep-Oct-Nov Fun!

tara_and_mike — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 20:34:00 GMT

A bit of everything!

Gallery: Hoi An - Vietnam

tara_and_mike — Mon, 3 Aug 2009 22:48:00 GMT

Sneaky July Long Weekend

Gallery: Fuji Rock Festival

tara_and_mike — Mon, 3 Aug 2009 22:48:00 GMT

Muddy, wet fun!

Turning Japanese

tara_and_mike — Mon, 3 Aug 2009 22:30:00 GMT

Hi All,

Just a quick holler to check in. I have lots of photos I wanted to add for you all.

We have been around everywhere in July! A big month for holidays. Whilst most of you have been trying to keep warm down under, we have been sweating it up in exotic places!

We headed to Vietnam at the start of July for a long weekend sneaky holiday. We went to a little town called Hoi An in the middle of Vietnam. It was great! Its a hertiage listed town which means that its been kept very quaint and original. Lots of exploring to do!

I had another work trip to China which was a bleep in the fun times! Mike and I then headed for a weeks well earned rest to Japan. We had been planning, counting down to this break for a while. We went to a music festival called Fuji Rock in Naeba. It was great, Oasis were one of the main acts. We were under prepared for the rain (which didnt stop) but that didnt damper our spirits too much! After 3 days of mud, we headed back to Tokyo and had a few days looking around. Japan is a very different country compared to other parts of Asia. Its expensive and things work! We went to the famous Tokyo fish market - look at the photos, its hard to believe!

Well, hope you enjoy the pics. Mike and I will be home for Christmas so we will get a chance to catch some of you then I hope.

Hope everyone is good!

March, June Gone - Hello July!

tara_and_mike — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Hi Everyone, Its been a while but I have lots of excuses. I have been travelling so much and work is craziness. Mike and I have been like ships in the night. We are in Bangkok for a little while now, which is nice! I had a HUGE work trip to lots of different countries. I have been travelling like a mad woman. I was in Japan, US, Panama for a weekend off and then to Brazil for work. It was great. But such a long, long, long trip home to Bangkok. Unbelievable, like 28 hours flying time. HUGE. I was jetlagged to bugger but starting to feel ok now. I went to Panama to visit a mate Faz for a few days. Its just a few hours from Miami, so why not! IT was great to see him. He has been there almost two years (he grew up in Perth but went to Uni with us in Tassie and part of the Aqua crew!). He is working on a fish farm and living 'the dream'. But its not all beers on the Caribbean with old friends, bbq fish and Spanish accents. Well, its not all the time, but it certainly was on the weekend! Faz speaks fluent Spanish, he is a little reserved to admit it but he sounds good to me! The town he lives in is tiny, and I mean tiny! Its full of local Panamanians that don’t speak English. Yet, he walks down the street and they all know him and he chats. Some guy stole his shoes one time and he stopped and chat! There is a tiny bar in town and that’s kinda it, a shop too maybe. His house is right on the beach (the Caribbean!) and at night you sleep with the sounds of the Caribbean waves outside the window!! Some mad yacht living Aussie owns his house and lives in his boat just moored out from his house. The aussie is at war with a neighbour and the authorities came around one morning – a little bit of entertainment! We had a late breaky on an island just off his beach and it was just like the Caribbean/Jamacian feel you get from TV! It was joy, a swim while its being cooked by some Bob Marley looking dude! We had a night out in the city and Faz was poisoned by tequila. I didn’t touch it! We spent a few hours playing dominoes with a local guy and his son over a few beers. All in all, it was really relaxed weekend just catching up and chatting. Nothing too strenuous. Rather than try to fit in the lots of touristy stuff, we just did 'normal' things and with food and a few beers thrown in. We went to his work, picked up laundry, dropped off passports to lawyers. So all round a amazing weekend! Then it was off to Brazil for work! Took a whole day to get there. South America is a lot bigger than I realised! Brazil is a great country. Quite modern which I was surprised about. The country is totally self-sufficient with energy. All the countries run on ethanol. The country is covered in sugar cane and other crops. Its really green with red, red soil - just like Scottsdale. It was great to work our facility down there. Its huge and lots of nice people. Brazilians pretty much eat red meat, a little rice and beans. But its red meat mostly. On my final night in Brazil we had a local ‘Brazilian BBQ’ with the guys from the plant. It was great. So, so, so much red meat. Unbelievable amounts. It was great. They BBQ it and smear it in lots of salt. Its completely terrible for you but, so good! I got back from Brazil and had a few days rest before I was off to China again! Ill be back again in a few weeks! Mike had been around to. He did a bit of a mini-European tour while I was gone and then back to the normal Singapore, Malaysia trips. He is there now actually but is due back tonight. He also went to our friends Matty and Yi-Yi's wedding in Perth, lucky guy! We have a holiday planned for next month. A week off and we are heading to Japan for a music festival! A four day weekend coming up too, so the travels are not slowing down just yet! So things in Bangkok are good - we think! Hope everyone is good back home. We cant wait for Christmas and hoping we might be able to make a sneaky work trip before then, but no plans just yet! Ok, back to work!

Gallery: Erupting Volcanoes in Japan!

tara_and_mike — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:05:00 GMT

Quick Hi!

tara_and_mike — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:52:00 GMT

Hi, Quick note to say Hi! Things here are good. A few nutty protesters causing chaos. We were fine and on the upside - makes a few things go our way. Extra public holidays, cheap hotels and flights because all the tourists are too scared to come here! We have a long weekend tomorrow, so heading to Chang Mai in the North. Mike off to Europe next Wednesday. A bit of a tour of all cities for him! While he is gone, I have two more public holiday! Including another long weekend. So a beach holiday with the girls it is - political strife is hard on the life of an expat! I too am off again. Back to Japan and the US, then down to Brazil. Maybe a side trip to Panama to visit a friend. Back to Bangkok after a huge 52+ hours of flying in 2 weeks. Back to China to after that. Phew. And I hope I don't catch pig flu. Mike and I might see each other in mid-June. If we are lucky! Its sticky and hot here at the moment. 40, 41 and yuk humidity. Rainy too. Ok - well Ill leave it there. Here are a few pictures of a volcano that erupted on me in Japan earlier in the month! Not something that happens every day! Take care xx

Gallery: March Stuff

tara_and_mike — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:53:00 GMT

Gina and Mary in BKK and travels!

March 2009 Updates!!!

tara_and_mike — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:40:00 GMT

Well, I can't believe that its already a 1/4 into the year. Its been a busy few months for Mike and I. Since I last wrote in 'outback' China, I have been to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Australia again and back to Bangkok. I also went to 3 weddings, 2 hens nights and did a little bit of work in between!

Mary and Gina became the first visitors to our new house! Its really nice! We had a great time with the Tiller gals - lots of eating, drinking, shopping and laughing! What we all did best. Mary hung out in the new pad and helped me boss the non-english speaking maid around! SHe also cooked us lamb a few times, a roast chicken and lots of other good 'home' stuff! Thanks Ducky!

Mike and I are throwing a dinner party at the new house Saturday night! We bought a book on Lebanese and Syrian food on the weekend, and the challenge is to cook every dish from the book! Fingers crossed!

The next month is looking busy - Im off to Japan again and then we have Songkhran - which is the Thai New Year festival. Its celebrated by a big country wide waterfight! Fun. Mike and I are getting away for a few nights to a awesome resort - its been a while so we better get back into it!!

Well, here are a few pictures of the latest travels, Mary and Gina in Thailand and whatever else I find. Enjoy!

Gallery: Tassie Crew in Thailand

tara_and_mike — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:23:00 GMT

Fun Fun Holidays - sorry added over 100 photos and dont have time to re-arrange them...sorry!

Finally some pictures!

tara_and_mike — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 00:04:00 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I know I am slack, slack with putting the pics up from Mum and Rick's trip out here. I have been flat out since they left. Work is a mad house at the moment. I am actually writing this from China! From a small town of just 1 million people (and it really is quiet!) called Qinzhou. It is in the south of China near the Vietnamese border. I am here for work, and I am the customer for a change so lots of being 'looked after' by the locals. We just had dinner and I had to dodge things on the menu such as dog stir-fry, bamboo worms, pig trotters and god knows what else. I think I may have just eaten seagull egg, although the Chinese said it was 'sea duck' - what ever that is.

So its been flat out - I have been travelling lots. So far this year, I have been to the Philippines, Vietnam and now China. I head am in China for another week, including a trip to a place called Xi'ing, close to the Mongolian border - crazy! I am back to Bangkok for one night (fingers crossed Mike will be home, he is travelling lots to at the moment!) then straight to the south island of New Zealand for ten days - working of course! Should be lots of fun! Then a few weeks in Australia. I am back for some weddings and will be in Launceston from late Friday the 27th until early Tuesday morning - if anyone is free to catch up, I would love to see you. Its only a rushed trip agian as I cant take holidays, just one day off - so its in and out.

Mike and I moved house - the new place is so nice! Hardly been there, but ill get some pics once its all unpacked! We have a new maid, who doesnt speak english! Her first day was Tuesday and Mike said that she didnt do the dishes - not a great start!

Ok, ill load up the pics. It was great having the Tassie Crew here, we did SO MUCH! Holidays are grea, and it was a short and long trip in many ways. They all seemed to have a great time and I think Rick is already saving for the next trip! Everyone else is welcome!

Congrats to Peta and Josh on the new baby - the balance of girls to boys in the Suitor family may have just changed! Id love to see some pics of the growing family! Hi to Nan and Frank and everyone and to Isabelle - Mum tells me you have all been waiting for the photos!

Well - here they are! Enjoy and feel free to leave me a comment!

Tara-lee xxx

Gallery: Bits and Pieces

tara_and_mike — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:52:00 GMT

Just some work pictures for you to check out!

Christmas is here!

tara_and_mike — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:42:00 GMT

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick note to say hi and Merry Christmas! Gosh, I can't believe it's here already! We have a great Christmas day planned here in Bangkok. We are off the hang out with our Welsh mates James and Lian and all their family who have just flown in. We are having all the traditional Welsh trimmings accompanied by lots of champagne. We miss everyone at this time of year, and as this is our second Christmas away we are thinking we better come home next year.

Mum and co land here Boxing day evening which we are all excited about. After talking about it for the last 9 months its been booked, I think we all just want it to happen! We have lots planned including the beach, the jungle and everything in between!

Merry Christmas to everyone - I hope you all have a great day!

Gallery: Tokyo Work Trip!

tara_and_mike — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 19:44:00 GMT

Trapped in and Stuck out!

tara_and_mike — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 19:19:00 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I thought I had better give a bit of an update after all the chaos that's happening here at the moment. I am sure you have all seen the news that the mad PAD protestors have taken over the airports in Bangkok and all flights have stopped coming in or out. They are doing this to try and make the prime minister resign because they think he is corrupt. So far he hasn't and in true 'Thai' style that means that the airport stays shut, everyone is inconvenienced and people are getting a little tense.

Mike was in China for work last week and was due back in on Saturday night. He may have been able to get a flight to one of the other airports that are still operating in Phuket and Chang Mai (9+ hours drive away) but he needs to be in Indonesia at the end of the week and he probably wouldn’t be able to get a flight out again. So he is moving around between China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia! He should be back by the weekend.

Some people think that the police or military will go in and break the protestors up but they don’t seemed to want to at the moment because they say they don’t want to use violence (I think they want the government gone to). There are some pro-government protestors as well that have been fighting with the PAD, which is what you see on the news with the guns and grenades. That violence is happening at the airports and at government house, which we are staying well away from. Government house is in a completely different part of the city, no where near us. We are closer to the airport, but not really a dangerous position.

There is a court case tomorrow that may dissolve the government because of corruption (Thai politics are just ridiculous). If that happens, they think that it should break up the protestors and open up the airport. But if not then not sure how long it will go on! I think the military or the pro-government protestors will step in to get rid of them if it goes on for much longer. It’s caused so many problems already, it just cant go on. It’s also the King’s birthday on Friday and because of how much they respect him, I imagine it will be over by then! If not I am sure the King will mention it on his birthday speech, and whatever he says will happen. If he quietly mentions that it should be over, it will be. The Queen likes the PAD, so I am not sure what he might say but closing the airport is doing the country a lot of damage. Tourism is the main industry of the country and already they think less than half the number of people that came this year, will come next year.

So who knows what is going to happen. But its still safe here and I’m not too worried about it. I just hope Mike can get in without too many problems and that it’s all blown over by Christmas.

Work is flat out busy, busy. I have been travelling heaps lately. I was due to go to Vietnam toady but alas, closed airport! I went to China and Japan last month. Tokyo is the coolest place ever! I will put some pictures up here for you to see. It was a really, really, cool!

I went to a Thai wedding on the weekend for a guy that I work with. Alison, a fellow Australian and I got dressed up in traditional Thai clothes, we were the only people to do so, and we were all foreigners so we felt like a complete morons! We even participated in the wedding! Then they had the party! There were maybe 600 people there! It was huge! There was maybe 45 minutes of speeches, cakes, thankyou’s and then all the oldies left and oh my gosh, did it all break loose. The Thai’s certainly know how to party. It was a great night!

Ok, well I will leave it here. I hope everyone is well!

Tara-lee xxx

Gallery: Ayuttahya

tara_and_mike — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 22:16:00 GMT

A day trip with cooking, a boat cruise and old ruins!

Gallery: Kanchanaburi

tara_and_mike — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 21:53:00 GMT

A night out of Bangkok with the oldies

Gallery: Mike's 30th

tara_and_mike — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 21:27:00 GMT

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Mike's Birthday and other stuff

tara_and_mike — Sun, 2 Nov 2008 21:14:00 GMT

Hi All,

Well, its been ages (months actually!) since I last wrote anything or added any pictures. The other site tried to charge me more money so I have moved to this site. I managed to bring some stuff over from the other site but not really any pictures.

The last month or so has been huge. Lots has been happening and Mike and I have spent our first weekend at home by ourselves in what feels like forever.

We all got together in Malaysia to celebrate Mike's 30th. It was great and so many people came over for it - including Faz from Panama! We also had Mary, Gina and my Dad and Annette in Bangkok afterwards which was lots of fun and we did lots of exploring of a few areas around Bangkok Mike and I hadnt visited, including visiting the Bridge over river Kwai and also a cooking class on the river at Ayuttthaya - check out the pics.

The next few months are full for us both and look like they will fly by. We have Mum and Rick and Co. due in boxing day and we have lots planned for them.

Ill leave it here and add all the pictures from Mike's birthday and the oldies in Bangkok.

I will write again soon - maybe!

Tara-Lee xxx

Check out the albums 'Mike's 30th', Kanchanaburi and Ayutthya for the photos!