Catch Up

Honestly, I plan to write a little more frequently! It’s been a lot getting settled in, though. Lots to fill you all in on! Jazz jam session, trip to Railay Beach, first trip to a movie theater, malls, and general settling in and acclamation.

I found a fun jazz jam session at a a nice bar called Queen Bee in a pretty hopping part of town. They have it every Sunday night. It’s a good time! They were all really welcoming and nice. The jam session is led by an ex-pat American who’s been over hear for a long time, as well as some local Bangkok musicians. I also met a couple current Berklee students studying saxophone that are home for the summer. It was a lot of fun reminiscing and talking about their experience in Boston. I’m super rusty, and haven’t had a chance to practice much over the last few months. But it was still a blast.

The next morning, the family and I were on a plane to Krabi to go to Railay Beach. It’s a stunningly beautiful place. Once we got off the plane, we were immediately greated at the baggage claim area by the van driver for the resort we booked. It was a little over a half hour drive, where we transferred to a tuk-tuk to bring us to the pier, where a longboat was waiting for us. We were all beside ourselves when we got on the boat. The views were stunning. I put some photos up of the trip in the Photo section of the website. Head over there if you like to get a glimpse. We got off the boat and were right by reception. We checked in and went straight to our room, mear feet from the front desk. And just feet from our room was one of three pools. We spent most of our time at the large pool on the other side of the resort, which is where the main resort beach was. There are gorgeous beaches tucked between amazing rock formations. The sand is soft, and the water is incredibly warm. I don’[t think I’ve ever felt ocean water as warm as that in my life. But having lived in the northeaster US my entire life, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I didn’t realize ocean water could be so warm.

We got some ice cream and walked to the public beach, about a ten minute walk away. Along the walk through the paved path, there were a bunch of monkeys hanging out. One of which swiped Henry’s ice cream cone! He got a piece, and then kept following us, trying to get the rest! Henry was a bit freaked out, but we had him move along quickly, and our distant cousine finally relented. The views from the public beach were beautiful, and to the side of the beach, there was a huge cave with shrines inside. Unfortunately, I don’t think I got a picture of that. I do hope to be back there and will try to get more pictures next time.

As for relaxing, not as much as I hoped. The boys are a lot to manage right now. They are constantly at each-other’s throats and Kate and I are always having to play referee. Complaints about food, feet hurting, etc… The typical behaviour for children of this age, I suppose. But I wan’t be sad when they are more mature and can go with the flow more.

We rented two kayaks one day. Miles and I went out together, and Henry and Kate went in the other. I was pretty proud of how well Miles did. We went out further that I was expecting we would . It was absolutely lovely having such an unobstructed view of both the ocean as well as our beach! Kate and Henry went out a lot further, and apparently, ended up paddling through a cave!

There is one main street that goes through town connecting one end of Railay to the other. There is some fabulous food there (Miles has discovered his new favorite food is chicken ramen, and I mean the good stuff), along with some cute little shops, and several rock climbing tour group companies.

Naturally, Henry did the rock climbing, and apparently thoroughly impressed the tour guides (Kate accompanied him while I stayed back at the pool with Miles).

The next day, we headed back to Bangkok.

Kate and I ordered a new bed to accommodate our soft American butts. IT’s a huge relief to have a bead that doesn’t feel like a kitchen table while laying down on it. We’re still acquiring all the little odds and ends we need here in the apartment, as we left so much behind in the States. But we’re getting there.

We put the boys in a camp at the school this week so we could have a little time to ourselves to do some shopping without the children acting as emotional anchors. It was glorious having some quite time without them.

Last night after camp, we decided to go see a movie at a nearby mall. We decided on Despicable Me 4, as it’s a good family movie appropriate for a seven year old. Little did we expect that Thailand doesn’t take the audience into much account when determining which trailers to place before the feature film.

We were all sitting there in our seats eating our popcorn when the trailers started. Deadpool & Woolverine. UNCENSORED. F bombs flying left and right, explosions, limbs getting severed. Even the message to turn off your cell phones was over the top! Kate and I were looking at each other trying to contain our laughter. It was hilarious. So lesson learned. Wait to go into the theater until just before the feature starts if bringing the kids.

Camp finished up today for the kids. Next week, we’re planning to go to the amusement park in the area as well as some sightseeing and checking out the local rock climbing gym.

Kate starts work on July 30, and the kids start school on August 13 with an orientation a few days earlier. It will be nice to finally get into a routine and fall into a day-to-day life. I’m looking forward to finally getting back to the gym and practicing my saxophone everyday again. Also, exploring the city on my own a bit and spend some time learning the language.

I’ll write a blog post soon with my thoughts on the culture as I’ve experienced it so far, and more observations. Everything is still so new and fresh, I’m gathering my thoughts on it all.

So for now, sawadee khap!