Another Trip around the Sun

Last week, I celebrated my birthday in Thailand for the second, and last, time. (Just typing that makes me a little sad and nostalgic.) It didn't disappoint. The weekend before, my husband arranged for an overnight stay in downtown Bangkok for just the two of us while our son had a sleepover at his friends' house -- a win-win situation for all of us.

Our weekend downtown was just what we needed to recharge and relax. We toured the Jim Thompson House, a place with beautiful Thai architectural features and an amazing history, and formerly owned by a fascinating man who brought the art and craft of Thai silk-making to the world's attention. This was during a time when foreigners were still able to own land here, so Jim Thompson bought land in downtown Bangkok (which was non-existent back then), and had old houses from other parts of Thailand shipped to that location and rebuilt. He also had an extensive collection of antiques and art from various parts of Thailand and Asia, including some he found at flea markets and some he commissioned to have custom-made for him. The place also was very serene and peaceful; you'd never know you're downtown in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. Being there was a great way to feed and rejuvenate my soul. 

We also spent a few hours at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, a six-story building where performances, art exhibits, and classes are held. The building was filled with free exhibits, coffee shops, art galleries, and bookstores. We spent quite some time walking around looking at interesting exhibits and art, stopping occasionally to browse in shops and snack in coffee houses.

That evening, we had dinner and drinks at a rooftop restaurant/bar. The view and dinner both lived up to our expectations (as did the cost of the experience), and we stayed after dinner to admire the view a bit longer and for the live music. It was such a wonderful day and night. Exactly what we both needed.

Then, on the day of my birthday, we had a little celebration with cake with just the three of us and a friend, who joined us for a little while. My son presented me with a little "doll" that he made for me. It was low-key and sweet -- perfect for a weekday birthday after a long day at work.

As I looked back on the past year, I thought about how fortunate in life I've been. I may not be rich, or come close to being the smartest, most accomplished, most beautiful, or most interesting person, but my life up to now has always gone smoothly. Things have always worked out for me. I've had my share of ups and downs, of course, but that's just life. For one, I still have my health (I'm always surprised when I hear about people my age or younger already on various medications for a variety of health problems). I've always been able to accomplish my professional and personal goals without too much effort or too many sacrifices (granted, the goals are fairly modest compared to others'; I'm not a particularly ambitious or driver person). I've always been able to live comfortably and do what I enjoy doing (at the time ). I've had some interesting and life-changing experiences, and become friends and worked with some amazing and interesting people from all walks of life. Best of all, I have a wonderful and supportive husband to share my life with, and a child who has brought much joy to our lives (most of the time, haha!). I am looking forward to this next year and whatever it brings my way.

The lobby of our hotel.

The pool at our hotel.

Looks like you could fall right over.

Our room was right over National Stadium.

You know you're in Thailand when your hotel room has both a copy of the Bible and a book on the teachings of the Buddha (though it was in English and Japanese!).

The main Jim Thompson house. No photos allowed while inside, unfortunately.

Cocoons and silk.

It looked like this man was cooking the cocoons and spinning them.

Weaving silk.

One of the gardens on the grounds.

A courtyard at the house.

Some of the art that Jim Thompson had collected.

A centuries-old headless Buddha statue Jim Thompson found in Ayutthaya.

I loved the doors and screens all over the house. Some of them were found in tiny, out-of-the-way shops in Bangkok's Chinatown.

Lotus flowers.

A quiet alleyway in the back.

My and my husband's Chinese horoscope. During his time in Thailand, Jim Thompson had consulted a fortune teller, who told him to be careful when he approached his 61st year. Sure enough, in that year, he disappeared without a trace while on a walk while visiting Malaysia. To this day, no one knows what happened to him.

On the streets of Bangkok.

The streets of Bangkok.

Traditional Isan art at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre.

We got a kick out of the reading lights attached to our menus at dinner.

Our view at dinner.

The dining area.

Cheers!

Live music played as we dined below.

Enjoying live music and the view after dinner.

My friend gave me a batik silk scarf from Malaysia.

The "doll" I got from my son.

The Final Word

In another post earlier this year, I talked about coming to the decision to go home after this school year. But, of course, nothing is final until it is. And now, it really is. The deadline to notify the school on whether we were going to be staying another year was on November 17 at 4:00 p.m. The Decision finally has been made. There is no turning back.

Even after we decided earlier this year not to move forward to another country, we still left the door open for the possibility of staying in Thailand one more year. Given the many advantages to staying one more year -- financial, professional (at least for my husband), educational (for my son), and lifestyle-wise -- it would make sense to do so.

On the other hand, it has been a fairly difficult school year for the both of us, particularly for my husband. He has been working harder than he had been for the last few years in the U.S., simply because he's teaching IB-level classes for the first time this year, and there is a steep learning curve. He also has most of the English-as-second-language learners and all the 10th-grade students with special needs in his Biology classes because, within the last year, he had acquired the reputation of being a good teacher for these students (darn those good teaching skills and that patience of his). As for me, I've also experienced frustrations because my students are so lacking in academic skills, and the school does not have the appropriate classes for them. My husband also has been feeling more homesick than usual. I, on the other hand, didn't feel quite ready to go home, even if I felt ready to leave Thailand.

Still, given all the benefits of staying, we were willing to consider staying just one more year. We made several "pros and cons" lists. We discussed this ad nauseum, with each other and with friends. We got sick of the topic and of ourselves constantly talking about it. Still, all the conversations remained in the abstract; the deadline felt far away, and we felt we had all the time in the world.

When we finally picked up our contracts for next year on October 27, it began to feel more real. About a week before the deadline, my husband decided to request an extension of his leave for one more year, just out of curiosity, thinking nothing would come of it. Even if it got denied, we could tell ourselves we had explored every possibility. His contact person promised to get back to him by the end of the week before our deadline. The week came and went, and he heard nothing, so we thought his request had been denied and were prepared to tell the school that we would be leaving.

But Saturday morning, my husband checked his email and found a message from his contact person, sent at 4:00 p.m. Friday afternoon, her time -- just in the nick of time. She stated that his request had been granted, even though a leave of absence to teach overseas is generally granted for a two-year period only. We were floored -- no one that we know has ever had three years of leave! Most people don't even get two years, let alone three. We were excited. Now we could stay one more year and still have job security at home! What an opportunity!

We decided to sit on that decision for the weekend and see how we felt by the deadline on Monday. We knew better than to think this decision was it. Sure enough, we both woke up Sunday feeling we wanted to go home. We even discussed it with a couple of friends, both here and back home. As much as we (okay, I) wanted to take advantage of that third year to bank more money and shore up our resumes, we just weren't feeling it.

So, on Monday, with somewhat heavy hearts and still not feeling completely certain of our decision, we gave our notice to resign from our positions after this year. We sat down with the head of school, who initially seemed to try to convince us to stay. [While going through this process, we were completely frustrated by the fact that no one in HR knew what we were supposed to do to give notice! You'd think they'd have the procedure down after a few decades of this! This didn't endear me to the school at all, and made me feel we made the right decision.] Almost right away, I felt a sense of relief and giddiness as we thought about all the things we could do once again when we go home. It was nice to finally make a decision and move on with the next step.

It hasn't been all excitement and happiness this week, though. It was quite sad to have to break the news to our closest friends here, who were anxious to hear our final decision and had been gently trying to persuade us to stay, and to our son, who had been in favor of staying a third year also. And emotions have been running high throughout the school as everyone learns the decisions of friends. Then there are those twinges of wistfulness as I hear about friends moving on to other countries, and think about what our lives might be like a year from now living in the U.S.

Needless to say, it was a very bittersweet day and an emotional start to the week. But this is for the best right now. We will go home, regroup, take stock, and determine whether America still suits us. It is most definitely not out of the question for us to move abroad again after a few years. But if not, we now have friends all over the country and world to visit, which is not a bad situation to be in either.  

Purr-fectly Good Fun

This weekend, we had a hoot (or is it a "meow"?) at a fun and amusing place downtown that we had been wanting to get to for months -- a cat cafe! It's a cafe where people and cats hang out together, and people can watch and play with cats.

I wasn't sure what to expect going in. I imagined a place where cats were everywhere, jumping on tables and countertops. and begging for food. But it turned out to be much more low-key and pleasant than I had expected. It was very clean -- patrons were required to wash their hands before and after going inside the cafe. We had to take off our shoes and put on slippers inside the cafe. The space has many places where the cats can roam, climb, and hide, and toys for playing. There were probably about a dozen cats there. They seemed well taken care of and were beautiful. They were very mellow and allowed people to pet them (a little), but they did seem a bit grumpy, as if they would've preferred to be left alone. I don't blame them one bit -- if there were people wanting to touch me, play with me, and take pictures of me all day long, I would be grumpy too! 

I don't think there are enough signs for the cafe.

The grownups didn't get cute slippers like these!

Inside one of the rooms of the cafe, where all the cats were.

Part of the menu.

This kitty slept under our table for most of the time we were there.

Look at that face.

I loved this cat.

This cat was hiding out in one of the shelves.

Awww.

Purr-fect pose.

My hot chocolate.

Cats were lounging around everywhere.

A sweet kitten behind glass windows. It was only a little bigger than my hand!

Floats of Dreams

I can't believe it's already been a year since we celebrated Loi Krathong for the first time. This year, living in a different village and possibly celebrating Loi Krathong for the last time, we wanted to participate and celebrate with the locals again. We had originally planned on heading up to Chiang Mai for the famous flying lantern festival, but it's been only two weeks since our trip to Japan, so we decided to celebrate locally at the lake by our house.

It was very low-key for us this year. We walked around admiring all the krathong available for purchase and bought three krathong made from banana trees wrapped in banana leaves and decorated with beautiful flowers to release. Families were out and about, hanging out, and lighting and sending off their own krathong. We walked around a while watching others celebrate and enjoying the atmosphere. It was a nice way to end the day, reflect, and be with each other and others,.

Banana leaf-wrapped krathong.

Alligator krathong made with dough, which the fish in the lake gobble up.

More krathong made from dough.

Krathong carrying away troubles and wishes into the universe.

The lake full of lit krathong.

I Left My Heart in Japan

During our midterm break in October, my husband and I finally realized our lifelong dream of going to Japan. Thanks to my husband's meticulous planning and tips from friends who've traveled there and friends who are natives of Japan, it was a fabulous trip. Being in Japan in the fall was wonderful -- we enjoyed beautiful weather and not sweating! It was everything we imagined it to be. We spent eight full days there, going to Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and Nagoya (for one day). We spent the most time in Kyoto, which was my favorite city of all the places we visited.

I call Japan "Anti-Thailand." Whereas Thailand is chaotic, unorganized, inefficient, noisy, and dirty, Japan is orderly, peaceful, efficient, and clean. There was not a street animal or piece of trash in sight. The streets in Japan are crowded, but don't feel that way because everything is so orderly. Everyone walks and stands on the correct side. Traffic ran smoothly, even when congested, and no one drove on two lanes. Bicycles were much more commonplace than we had expected. It also was refreshing to be in such walkable cities and be able to walk so much. Safety was a priority there -- everyone used helmets and seat belts. Public transportation everywhere we went was easy and convenient to use. And whereas tourists and foreigners are charged more for everything in Thailand, they are actually provided discounts not available to locals in Japan. Things also are logical and make sense in Japan. After being in Thailand for over a year, it was a breath of fresh air to be in a place like Japan.

I also loved the design of everything in Japan. Because space is at a premium, its use is well-thought-out. Everything can be folded up or tucked away. I actually saw a man fold up the big, puffy jacket he was wearing into a tiny bag and put it away in his over-the-shoulder bag. Yet, the Japanese also have an appreciation and an eye for aesthetics. Everywhere we went were cute and pretty things waiting to be admired. Some of the foods and treats were so pretty it was difficult to eat them and "ruin" them.

The food in Japan was amazing, of course. I've always loved Japanese food, but to be able to access it so easily was heavenly. We got to try things we had not eaten before -- takoyaki (ball-shaped fried batter with octopus inside), grilled chicken heart, and okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake), to name a few. And of course, we had almost our fill of gyoza and sushi. We went to a sushi restaurant where sushi was served on a conveyor belt. The sushi chefs made the sushi in the middle and placed it on plates on the conveyor belt. The patrons sat around the conveyor belt and grabbed what they wanted off the conveyor belt. It was so much fun and so easy to go overboard! Between the three of us, we consumed 28 plates of sushi (though most plates held only two pieces of sushi). We had sushi we never had before -- crab miso, crab salad, lobster salad, and raw octopus are a few that come to mind.

The Japanese people are also lovely. They are all so polite, soft-spoken, nice, and helpful! Compared to the Thai people, they also understand boundaries and have more depth and more forethought. The Japanese bus drivers and train conductors were amazingly helpful and would go out of their way to map out entire trips for us -- completely the opposite of the American bus and train drivers. The train conductors also bowed before going into and leaving a train car.

Everyone, men and women, was impeccably dressed. I love the fashion there -- the clothes were beautiful, but much more understated than those in Thailand. Seeing all the women in their beautiful fall sweaters, dresses, scarves, and hats made me long for fall again. And to see footwear that didn't involve sandals or flip-flops! I loved checking out all the different styles of closed-toe shoes and boots. I myself enjoyed putting some of my fall seasonal clothes to good use while in Japan. 

This is not to say, of course, that we didn't have any missteps traveling in Japan, especially while using its transportation system. We landed in Japan late at night, so we had to use a taxi to get to our hotel, which was extremely costly at around $42 for a 10-minute ride. On our way to the airport for our flight back to Bangkok, we just missed the last train to the Osaka airport, so it was another $45 for a 15-minute taxi ride. Then, on our last day in Japan, we decided to splurge and took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Kyoto to Nagoya for the day. The trip on the Shinkansen took only 35 minutes, but our return trip to Kyoto on regular trains took 4 1/2 hours! All in all, we spent about seven hours on various train lines that day going from Nagoya back to Kyoto (to get our luggage), then from Kyoto to Osaka International Airport. It was pretty crazy. We left Japan the way we left Thailand to go to Japan -- rushed and barely making our flight! The difference is that, in Thailand, that's how life is -- unpredictable and chaotic -- whereas in Japan, it was due to poor planning on our part.

Going to Japan felt like a homecoming of sorts for me. Growing up, Japanese culture was part of my existence. My maternal grandparents spoke Japanese, and my mom grew up speaking Japanese (she didn't even learn Chinese until she started school), so the language  was part of my life as well. We ate Japanese food, and my grandparents' home was somewhat Japanese in style -- the bedrooms had tatami mats and shoji screens and sliding doors. We also had Japanese-style furniture along with traditional Chinese furniture. Being in Japan felt easy and comfortable, and hearing the somewhat-familiar language again was very comforting. Both my husband and I fell in love with Japan. I have a feeling we will be exploring the possibility of living there at some point in our future!

Below are a small fraction of the hundreds of pictures I took while in Japan.

View of Osaka from our hotel room on the 46th floor on our first night there.

We rented a sweet little apartment for our two days in Osaka.

Wacky costumes, but they gave good directions!

Dotonbori, an area that is similar to Times Square in NYC.

More of Dotonbori.

Osaka Castle.

Even the manhole covers are pretty.

Tennoji Temple.

Nara Park in Nara, Japan, where all the temples and sites below are located.

Todaiji Temple, the world's biggest wooden structure until 1998.

It is said that if a person can pass through this 50-cm hole, s/he is going to Nirvana. I know three members of this family who are. :)

The world's largest bronze Buddha statue.

At Nigatsu-do Temple.

So picturesque.

At this temple complex, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of lanterns such as these all over. It was beautiful.

A covered market.

One of many, many scrumptious meals we had.

We spent half a day in Arashiyama.

The romantic Moon Crossing Bridge in Arashiyama.

At Tenryu-ji Zen Temple.

The bamboo grove is amazing.

"Kimono Forest" at the Arashiyama train station. All the pillars light up at night.

Grilled chicken heart on the right -- very tasty!

We ate our way through the Nishiki Market, which is rich with history and tradition, and known as the place to obtain Kyoto's famous foods and goods.

Treats made with rice flour.

Tofu donuts are soooo yummy!

Flavored sashimi sticks.

All kinds of Japanese pancakes.

Such beautiful candies and crackers.

Lego candies.

Squid stuffed with quail egg.

Love these pickled vegetables.

We found a good spot an hour beforehand to watch the Jidai Matsuri, or Festival of Ages, a traditional Japanese festival including an hours-long parade celebrating the relocation of Japan's capital to Kyoto in the 1800s. There are over 2000 participants in the parade, all dressed in costumes from the earliest eras to the Meiji era.

Even the animals are dressed beautifully.

At the shrine to the rice god, Inari -- Fushimi Inari-taisha. 

One of the temples.

All the gates, or torii, leading up to the inner shrine at the top of the mountain, which we didn't get to because the walk is about two hours long. We only had time for one hour's walk.

Inside the torii.

If you turn around, you see that the torii are all carved with Japanese words. So cool.

At the Tofuku-ji Temple.

The grounds.

Amazing vegetable ramen. All the ramen in Japan was amazing.

Walking through a mountainside cemetery.

At Kiyomizu-dera.

This temple was amazing, but super touristy and crowded. A couple of men randomly grabbed my son to take pictures with him, and I had to intervene.

The fountain with spring water that supposedly has wish-granting powers. People were lined up to take a drink from it.

Look at these pillars!

Gion, a district in Kyoto that developed into an exclusive and well-known geisha district. Many of the buildings there date back many centuries.

A rare geisha sighting! When she saw me, she lowered her gaze and quickened her pace.

Sushi on a conveyor belt. The three of us consumed a total of 28 plates of sushi!

The Kyoto Tower at night.

Kinkakuji Temple, which houses relics of the Buddha.

We took a day trip to Kurama, which is northwest of Kyoto. This was outside the train station in Kurama.

Kurama Temple.

Kurama Temple.

Kurama Temple.

The quaint, little town of Kurama.

I love the traditional Japanese houses.

At the Kurama Onsen, or hot springs.

Heading to the outdoor onsen. Nothing like a soak in the hot springs with a mountain view.

Part of our dinner was okonomiyaki, or Japanese pancakes.

On our last day, we took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagoya. On the bullet train, the trip there took 35 minutes. On the way back to Kyoto, though, we decided to take the regular trains, which took about 4.5 hours!

Inside the Shinkansen. It was amazing -- so smooth, roomy, and comfortable. 

We went to the Toyota Commemorative Museum in Nogoya because my son is really into automobiles. We learned so much! For example, did you know that the Toyoda family started out in automatic looming technology? It was also fun, with an amusement park of sorts for kids to learn about looming and automobile technology.

A concept car.

A robot that plays the violin.

The sun setting on Japan and our trip. It was time to say goodbye.