365 days of 25!

Day 336

2012-02-11T22:26:00.002+07:00

When we first arrived, this cat was cute and had a bow tie collar. It disappeared for awhile and when it returned it had some kind of skin disease and kept trying to get really close to us and even walked into our apartment one day! Also, it gets really loud with another cat at night sometimes.

Day 335

2012-02-10T20:53:00.000+07:00

Pretty frangipanis have been popping up around our apartment complex, they smell nice too!

Day 334

2012-02-09T20:49:00.000+07:00

Our electric kettle has been acting up lately, we have to put something on top of it to work.

Day 333

2012-02-08T21:05:00.000+07:00

Fried wontons for dinner!

Day 332

2012-02-07T11:07:00.000+07:00

Writing my first paper in almost five years, it's hard... but I do love being a student again!

Day 331

2012-02-06T22:10:00.000+07:00

3 seater bike :-)

Day 330

2012-02-05T22:56:00.001+07:00

Foos!

Day 329

2012-02-04T22:54:00.000+07:00

Crazy how small things are these days! See that little guy, he's 16 gigabytes! Phone, adapter and glasses are just for scale.

Day 328

2012-02-03T23:12:00.000+07:00

Skype date with Laura!

Day 327

2012-02-02T20:57:00.001+07:00

Jacob and I have an ongoing gin rummy game going, we started October 7th and Jacob was winning until January 3rd, but now I've been in the lead for almost a month!

Before I got to post, Jacob got back in the lead. He's up by 100 now. Boo!

Day 326

2012-02-01T22:18:00.000+07:00

Excited about dinner tonight! Doctoring up the pasta sauce!

Day 325

2012-01-31T15:27:00.002+07:00

The cute to-go coffee cups we got at Gati Ice today.

Day 324

2012-01-30T14:23:00.000+07:00

Back on campus for lunch today.

Day 323

2012-01-29T21:14:00.002+07:00

Weird picture, I know. Another covered walkway, can you tell what that is? It's a baby car seat! Why's it stuck in the plants on the walkway? I don't know!

Day 322

2012-01-28T19:47:00.002+07:00

Cute covered walkway at the park. I'll miss this park whenever we end up moving!

Day 321

2012-01-27T19:01:00.000+07:00

Fun day wandering around downtown! We did some shopping, got massages, watched a movie, and ate some good food!

Day 320

2012-01-26T22:56:00.001+07:00

I've gotten in the habit of eating watermelon most nights after dinner. This is my watermelon lady, she's just a couple carts down from our bà-mèe nám couple.

Day 319

2012-01-25T17:16:00.000+07:00

View of the Chao Phraya from our hotel room's balcony (27th floor).

Day 318

2012-01-24T17:12:00.000+07:00

A condom lamp at Cabbages & Condoms!

Day 317

2012-01-23T17:10:00.000+07:00

Walking through the Chinese New Year celebration in Bangkok's Chinatown.

Day 316

2012-01-22T17:08:00.000+07:00

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, in Chiang Mai.

Day 315

2012-01-21T22:27:00.002+07:00

Playing with a 3 month old tiger!

Day 314

2012-01-20T18:20:00.000+07:00

Grand Palace with Eloise and Alan!

Day 313

2012-01-19T23:39:00.002+07:00

Pretty colors at the tailor this afternoon. Grand Palace, temples and antiques tomorrow!

Day 312

2012-01-18T19:13:00.000+07:00

Pantip Plaza for smartphones! We have converted to Android. This is part of the 1st of 6 levels. Also, Eloise and Alan arrive tonight!

Day 311

2012-01-17T10:40:00.000+07:00

This is one of the many textiles we bought in Jaipur. It's on our bed now. It's way too hot here for an actual comforter, this is nice and thin, 50% silk and 50% cotton so it's nice to have instead of a thick comforter.

Day 310

2012-01-16T18:11:00.001+07:00

This made me smile today.

Day 309

2012-01-15T15:03:00.000+07:00

Fried bananas from the lady across the street from our apartment!

Day 308

2012-01-14T15:02:00.000+07:00

Back in Bangkok, pink taxis rule the road once again!

Day 307

2012-01-13T15:01:00.000+07:00

Village road north of Calcutta.

Day 306

2012-01-12T14:59:00.000+07:00

Calcutta street. Here's some info on the taxis, they are Hindustan Ambassadors.

Day 305

2012-01-11T12:57:00.000+07:00

Walking around Kumartuli, a neighborhood in Calcutta where the clay idols used for pujas are made. At the end of January is Saraswati Puja.

Day 304

2012-01-10T12:44:00.000+07:00

We made it to Kolkata (aka Calcutta)!

Day 303

2012-01-09T09:41:00.000+07:00

We've been seeing these great fields of yellow flowers around the north east. Apparently it's just a weed, but it's a nice looking one so they let it grow until they need the field again for the next season. We ate lunch in that little house looking thing near the back right corner of this picture.

Day 302

2012-01-08T09:38:00.000+07:00

Rafting on the Brahmaputra River then a nice walk in Nameri National Park.

Day 301

2012-01-07T12:33:00.000+07:00

The ghost pepper! We bought some at the local village market on our walk this morning.

Day 300

2012-01-06T12:28:00.000+07:00

We got to visit Assam Valley School, a great boarding school with a huge amazing campus where we had a nice walk and tour.

Day 299

2012-01-05T12:21:00.000+07:00

Rhino! Baby rhino! This was taken from sitting on an elephant!

Day 298

2012-01-04T10:09:00.000+07:00

See the elephant in the background?? At Kaziranga with Anya and Joe, Jacob's aunt and uncle.

Day 297

2012-01-03T10:06:00.000+07:00

On the 4 hour car ride from Guwahati to Kaziranga we saw a lot of this and not much else. There's always laundry to do!

Day 296

2012-01-02T10:02:00.000+07:00

Waiting at the New Jalpaiguri train station for our train to Guwahati.

Day 295

2012-01-01T10:00:00.000+07:00

These were painted around town.

Day 294

2011-12-31T22:16:00.000+07:00

This is what we've been looking at every day for the last week. :-)

It's Kangchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third highest in the world.

Day 293

2011-12-30T22:13:00.000+07:00

Went to the Happy Valley Tea Estate today to learn a little about the tea making process. They provide tea for Harrod's and it's an all organic tea plantation. Also, it was beautiful.

Day 292

2011-12-29T22:12:00.000+07:00

We've seen lots of dogs up here, and this is not the first one we've seen in this exact position.

Day 291

2011-12-28T22:08:00.000+07:00

I thought these 2 ladies and little girl were so cute. This is the Asian Black Bear (a very goofy looking bear, by the way) at the zoo up here, which is the highest altitude zoo in the world!

Day 290

2011-12-27T22:06:00.000+07:00

Lots of prayer flags around here, we're right between Nepal and Bhutan.

This is at the monastery that our new Buddhist nun friend, Kay from Scotland, is staying at for the next month doing solitary meditation.

Day 289

2011-12-26T12:57:00.000+07:00

Made some hot toddies since we've both been a little sick.

Day 288

2011-12-25T12:56:00.000+07:00

Driving around Jaipur seeing the sights with Max our rickshaw driver.

Day 287

2011-12-24T12:53:00.000+07:00

Christmas Eve dinner at the hotel!

Day 286

2011-12-23T17:09:00.000+07:00

Our train from Agra to Jaipur was 8 hours late so instead of staying at the train station until 2am we took a car to Jaipur. We were happy to arrive at our hotel and get upgraded from a standard room to a deluxe room!

Day 285

2011-12-22T17:05:00.000+07:00

Taj Mahal!

Day 284

2011-12-21T23:38:00.000+07:00

Close up at Qutb Minar.

Day 283

2011-12-20T22:16:00.002+07:00

Red Fort, Old Delhi!

Day 282

2011-12-19T21:48:00.000+07:00

India! We're here!

Day 281

2011-12-18T17:47:00.000+07:00

Nearly empty BTS! I like how they don't close off each train car, so you can look all the way down.

Day 280

2011-12-17T22:49:00.000+07:00

I don't think this has been mentioned yet here, but we have a terribly uncomfortable couch (and bed) in our apartment. This is it, not much cushion. Our chairs also aren't very comfortable so we bought these superman seat cushions and move them between our chairs and the couch. Our bed though, just gives us both sore backs. We're excited about our likely move downtown in the next couple months and finding a place with a comfy bed and furniture (apartments generally come furnished).

Day 279

2011-12-16T18:29:00.002+07:00

The walk home on my last day of work!

The park from some of my other pictures is on the other side of that fence on the right.

Day 278

2011-12-15T14:18:00.000+07:00

Lunch! Pictures recently have been pretty boring, sorry about that. Not much going on here. We leave for India on Monday though, so they'll get more exciting soon!

A couple notes about lunch today, most of the fac/staff are on a meditation retreat right now, there are only 4 of us on campus. This is chicken pad thai (pad thai gai) I picked up (gin ti baan -- eat at home; there's a different way to say "to go" but I'm not exactly sure what it is, it kind of sounds like the word "cyclone") at the girls dorm. This coffee is from the girls dorm too, as far as I can tell when you order "coffee" here, it's assumed to be iced and with lots of sugar and sweetened condensed milk. I like it, but it is pretty sweet.

Unfortunately, a couple minutes after I started eating my kindle told me it was low on battery and died. No reading with lunch today, so here I am! By the way, the pad thai was 35 baht ($1.12) and the coffee was 8 baht ($0.26). Oh, and that little packet has chili flakes (I use the whole packet!) and sugar. Sugar is always a condiment at tables here, and a lot of people put sugar all over their food. I don't.

Day 277

2011-12-14T13:29:00.000+07:00

View of campus from my desk at work.

Day 276

2011-12-13T17:17:00.000+07:00

Girls dorm! This is where I eat lunch most days at work.

Also, I counted those planters (from yesterday's post) and there are 91! Way more than 50!

Day 275

2011-12-12T21:19:00.000+07:00

These separate the street/driveway of our apartment complex. There must be at least 50 of these running up and down the street. They've all started flowering recently with bougainvillea. This one is the last one (we live on the last street) and only has the one flower, but some of the others have tons of white, light pink, and bright pink branches growing.

Day 274

2011-12-11T21:13:00.000+07:00

The cable company thinks my name is CRISTAL (STER) OGLETREE.

Day 273

2011-12-10T19:13:00.001+07:00

Beautiful afternoon walking around the park.

Day 272

2011-12-09T20:21:00.001+07:00

I wonder what these will become. Also, it was very hot and sunny today, must have been at least 90. I thought December and January were supposed to be the coolest months here!

Day 271

2011-12-08T21:53:00.001+07:00

A nice gift from one of the parents at DSIL, they gave one to each teacher.

Commemorative Banknote on the Auspicious Occasion of His Majesty the King's 7th Cycle Birthday Anniversary
5th December 2011

Day 270

2011-12-07T10:43:00.001+07:00

I get cold at work, so I drink a lot of tea. Also, I like using the cute mugs.

Thanks to Jordan for letting me use her camera again! Jacob is out of town and he takes our little camera with him so he can show me what he did when he gets back. Also, I just like Jordan's camera. :-)

Day 269

2011-12-06T19:08:00.001+07:00

Two pictures today, I know, crazy! I've been playing around with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom so I wanted to show the original picture I took this afternoon and then the same picture after editing in Lightroom. I pretty much never edit photos, but I just got Photoshop and Lightroom so I figured I should probably start playing around with them.

Original:

After Lightroom:

FYI - In Lightroom I used the "Color Creative - Yesteryear 1" Lightroom Preset, then also changed: exposure, fill light, brightness, contrast, clarity, vibrance and saturation settings.

Day 268

2011-12-05T20:02:00.001+07:00

Today is the King's birthday! Happy Birthday!

FYI, the King's name is Bhumibol Adulyadej. He's turning 84, which is especially auspicious because it marks the completion of his 7th 12-year cycle. He's reigned for 65 years. Also, his birthday is Father's Day and the Queen's birthday is Mother's Day.

Day 267

2011-12-04T23:08:00.001+07:00

Went apartment hunting downtown today... potential future dinner spots?

Day 266

2011-12-03T21:43:00.001+07:00

Thai oreos!

Day 265

2011-12-02T09:38:00.001+07:00

This is what I see every morning walking down the stairs in my apartment building.

Day 264

2011-12-01T19:21:00.001+07:00

Grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner! Not the best I've ever had, but I'll take what I can get.

Day 263

2011-11-30T16:40:00.000+07:00

We're going to India! Yay for my passport getting more interesting! :-)

Day 262

2011-11-29T12:25:00.001+07:00

Watercolor rainbows with Archana, Joy, Nina and Jordan in our Art Workshop this morning! We also sang songs :-)

I used Jordan's (she's on the right, closest to the camera) nice camera to take this picture, thanks Jordan!

Day 261

2011-11-28T20:28:00.001+07:00

This is the stall where we get our bà-mèe nám!

Day 260

2011-11-27T17:46:00.000+07:00

We found bagels in Bangkok! And they were delicious! This place seems great, we'll be coming back. It's called BKK Bagel Bakery and just opened up this year.

Day 259

2011-11-26T17:39:00.000+07:00

Stanford Professor Paulo Blikstein came to DSIL to give a talk. It was really interesting, about the use of technology in Constructionist education, really good ideas but in my short time at DSIL seem difficult to implement (at least in a bilingual setting with younger children).

Day 258

2011-11-25T16:47:00.001+07:00

Learned how to use Google SketchUp yesterday and today at work. Look what I made!

Day 257

2011-11-24T22:29:00.001+07:00

Happy Thanksgiving! :-)

Over dinner we calculated what, exactly, made up our dinner. This is what we came up with:
‎3 lbs of cheese, 18 potatoes, 3 lbs of butter, 3 packs of green beans, 1 lb bacon, 1.5 lbs macaroni, .5 gallon milk, 4.5 cups cups flour, 2 boxes stuffing, half a pumpkin, 2 cans cranberry sauce, 2 whole chickens, 1 kilo japanese potatoes, 12 apples, 1 package hidden valley ranch, 1 liter coke, 1 liter fanta, tradition, and 9 food comas.

L-R: Jacob, Cristal, Joy, Matt, Shae, Christina, Nina, Megan

Day 256

2011-11-23T21:00:00.001+07:00

Went on a shopping trip downtown with some of the teachers for Thanksgiving supplies for tomorrow, but look what else I got!! Tortillas, extra sharp cheddar, and avocados! These things make me very happy. :-)

Day 255

2011-11-22T22:26:00.001+07:00

Looks like our little Tesco Express really likes Heineken. More likely though, they just haven't been able to receive any other shipments.

Day 254

2011-11-21T21:35:00.001+07:00

Dorms at KMUTT as seen from the 5th floor of school.

Day 253

2011-11-20T21:08:00.001+07:00

Just hanging out at the park again... we had to keep changing benches because the sun kept finding us and it was really hot!

Day 252

2011-11-19T18:00:00.000+07:00

Lazy Saturday watching some I Love Lucy!

Day 251

2011-11-18T17:32:00.001+07:00

A balcony garden next door.

Day 250

2011-11-17T22:17:00.001+07:00

So glad we got these before moving!

Day 249

2011-11-16T16:47:00.001+07:00

Learning how to use Scratch at work!

Day 248

2011-11-15T22:37:00.001+07:00

Walking around town there are always trees with ribbons tied around them like this. A quick google search told me that they're offerings to the spirits that live there, and that different colors have different meanings.

Along the line of colors, not sure if I've mentioned this before but lots of people wear yellow on Mondays and pink on Tuesdays. This is in honor of the king and queen. Each day has a color associated with it, the queen was born on a Monday and the color for Monday is yellow, so lots of people wear it. Same for pink and Tuesdays, the day the king was born. I like Tuesdays because my work uniform top is pink, and I match with everyone!

Day 247

2011-11-14T21:33:00.001+07:00

The two puppies that made me smile today at the park. (And miss Copper!)

Day 246

2011-11-13T21:14:00.001+07:00

Our first movie in Thailand, look at our fancy seats!

Day 245

2011-11-12T23:14:00.001+07:00

Made khuushuur tonight for dinner!

Day 244

2011-11-11T17:52:00.001+07:00

Some student/staff projects over the last couple days - they made remote controlled boats to collect trash in floodwater. They were pretty cool!

Day 243

2011-11-10T21:41:00.001+07:00

Loi Krathong!

Loi Krathong is a festival that takes place every year on the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar (for more info see the wikipedia link above, or check here). Tonight's the full moon but unfortunately, due to flooding, most celebrations were cancelled this year. It's usually a really big deal, but very subdued this year.

Day 242

2011-11-09T20:38:00.001+07:00

DSIL teachers putting together supplies for portable toilets for people affected by the flood.

Day 241

2011-11-08T22:54:00.000+07:00

One of our favorite dinners, bà-mèe nám! Bà-mèe means egg noodles and nám means water, but also soup. We get it with pork (mŏo) and dumplings (gíeow), very tasty. Also, note the spoon and fork, don't think I've mentioned this before, but that's what people always eat with here. You will always receive both a fork and spoon, and no knife. People use both at the same time for pretty much every meal, from what I've noticed usually spoon in the right hand and fork in the left. Sometimes chopsticks are used for noodles, but even then it's also with a spoon.

Day 240

2011-11-07T22:21:00.000+07:00

This map shows that flood water is approaching our apartment complex from the back, so we went up to the top floor to see if we could see it at all... nope.

Day 239

2011-11-06T15:12:00.001+07:00

The water machine was raised up in case it floods.

Day 238

2011-11-05T22:41:00.002+07:00

Our last morning in Koh Kho Khao -- we read out on our balcony each morning (and every afternoon when it rained), great start to every day!

Day 237

2011-11-04T20:37:00.000+07:00

Our last sunset on Koh Kho Khao.