Thailand Vacation Part One!

Phew...after a long six months, okay not really. 6 months literally flew by! But man were we ready for a break. It may have flown by, but I was pretty close to being burnt out from teaching. But not only teaching. Lesson planning, office politics, etc. But work is work! Back to our vacay!


We decided to head to Thailand for 7 days. We got to see my mom, and a lot of my family! We got a early morning flight out of Busan, and after 5 hours, we were in Bangkok. My mom picked us up (at midnight!) and we headed to her friend's house to stay the night. It was really good to see my mom. Miss you mom, and love you very much!

I got to see my mom! Love you mom!

When we woke up the next day, we headed to our hotel. It was a really nice hotel, and we dropped our stuff off before heading over to see my mom's friend. She is the Principal/dean of a small University! We said hello (she hadn't seen me since I was a kid) and then went to check out Jim Thompsons house. Think he was famous for reviving the silk industry in Thailand? Plus he had a pretty nice ass house. It was huge, and the architecture was really good. Then, we went to eat dinner, sukiyaki at MK. Ahhh...SO GOOD. It's like, they give you a pot of boiling water, and then you throw in seasoned meats, mushrooms, tofus, vegetables, whatever, and let it cook right in front of you. They have dipping sauces as well, and it was pretty delicious. After dinner, we went back to the hotel.

With the principal and friend of my mom

At Jim Thompson's house

Before we put in all the meat!

The next day, we went to meet my Auntie. She took us on a boat and we went through the Chao Praya river. We saw a lot of cool temples, docks, and buildings. When we arrived to our destination, we went to check out one Bangkok's major tourist attractions. The Golden Temple. But...on our way there, we also stopped at another temple to check out an enormous reclining Buddha, and ate lunch. By the way, let me very quickly say that the one thing I miss most about Thailand, aside from my mom and family, is the food. Goodness me, the food was excellent. I'm not lying. My mouth is watering right now thinking of all the good food that I had there. Pad Thai, Pad See-Ew, Grilled Chicken, sticky rice and mango, curry, papaya salad, all kinds of fruits, Pad Ka Prow?...mmm. So good! Another quick side note...when you pronounce Pad, say it like "Pauhd." It's not "pad" like I-pad. Thanks! =) So after lunch we got to the Golden Temple, and it was pretty awesome. We had to change into long pants/skirts beforehand, but wow did it look great. Lot's of good pics, I'll show you a couple!

Some river views

Golden Temple

Reclining Buddha

My aunt!

After that, we headed back to my Aunt's house. We ate dinner, and then we went to get some Thai massages! I'm not going to lie. Mine hurt a little bit, but overall, I'd say I enjoyed it. Jenn LOVED it! And best of all? It was incredibly cheap. Anyways, we headed back home after our massages and then, later that night, I met some of my cousins! My cousin Gap I had met before, but I had never met Bao. She and he were about the same age as us. Gap was the same age as me, and Bao was a year or two older. To be honest, she reminded me a little of my little sis. Always smiling, and full of life! (Miss ya sis). They took us out and showed us a little bit of Bangkok's night life. We went to get this dessert where they had a plate of ice cream scoops, and warm chocolate fondue to dip it into. Delicious. After a quick game of bowling, we headed to Khao San road. Famous? Yes. Do you remember the book (that later turned into a movie) called "The Beach?" The movie had Leonardo Dicaprio in it. Anyways, in the book, Khao San road was where the main character started his adventure in Thailand. Great book by the way, highly recommend it. A little violent and lots of swearing though if you're not into that. Anyways, Khao San road was awesome. We went there at 11 or so, and it was super crowded and filled with foreigners. The road had everything. Souvenirs, food, so much food, hr long foot massages for 3 bucks, clothing stands, bars that proudly advertised "We don't check I.D.", and even stands that promised to make you fake diplomas, drivers licenses, etc. I really liked the whole atmosphere of it! Anyways, we headed back home eventually, and called it a night...on a bus! A really nice bus. Seriously. Comfy seats that you could fall asleep in, personal tv monitors with games and movies and tv shows. I almost didn't want to sleep! But it did leave at midnight so we went to bed. Why did we get on that bus? Because we were leaving Bangkok to head up north and see the rest of my family! Overnight bus was really convenient and saved a lot of time. Plus, it was really comfy! 

At Khao San Road!

Pad Thai...Phaud Thai!!!

Mango with Sticky Rice. Delicious

Fake everything. Hahahahah

My cousins! The girl next to Gap is his girlfriend, Mae.

We got into Khon Khein about 6 or 7 am after a 6 hour bus ride. I forget exactly. Then we headed over to my aunt's house. We relaxed for a bit and then my other aunt picked us up to head to the dinosaur museum. The ride was long, but it was totally worth it. I love dinosaurs, and this museum was huge. One of the cool things was that they actually kept the actual dig site and built a little exhibit around it. So Jenn and I got to see what the dig site was like when they uncovered the dino fossils. Pretty cool huh? Then we went into the actual museum part and checked out all the cool exhibits and dinosaur skeletons. After that, we walked across the street and had an amazing lunch of grilled chicken, sticky rice, and beef noodle soup. Yum!

One more golden temple pic...

The dig site!

We headed back to Khon Khein, and had dinner with my other auntie. She has two kids, and my other cousin was staying with them as well. I gave them some Korean pop star stuff, and souvenirs, and we all had dinner together. Sukiyaki again! Delicious! We also tried our first dragonfruit! Dragon fruit is really...well, pretty. And you cut it open, and it looks a little weird, but it's awesome. I guess texture-wise it is kinda like Kiwi, and tastes like it too. Just a little more, fresher/tarter if that makes any sense? Anyways, really liked it! After that, we went to another hotel and called it a night. The next morning, we were going to head to my grandma's house in Khon San, about an hour and half away! But I'm going to let Jenn tell the rest of that story! So long for now!

Dragonfruit!

Near our hotel! We like to jump!