Temples Temples and Temples.... Oh and of course SHOPPING!!!

Hello Family and Friends,

I realize that it has been a couple of days since I have last updated my blog so.... here it comes!!!  The last couple of days have been great - but I am not going to lie I have had barely any sleep and I am now starting to get grumpy and if anyone has seen me when I am exhausted they know it is not a pretty sight. ha ha lol oh well give me a good nights sleep and I will be back to my normal self. 

So, I guess you are all wondering why I haven't had any sleep - Well, it all started the night that Alyssa arrived at the airport.  That day Tup and I went shopping at this massive Mall (well kind of mall that was actually 3 malls in one)  probably the biggest shopping centre I have ever seen.  You all know that I love to shop and guess what ... I did not buy a single thing, honest! Tup was so shocked that I didnt end up buying anything, but I guess unless there is something that I really REALLY want to buy, I am not going to get it! This trip was not for shopping it was for me to relax and have a journey! Then Tup and I went to his parents house where I swam and then stayed at played Xbox kinnect with his little brother.  His brother loved me so much that he ordered a pizza for me - how cute is he!  Then Tup took me out wth his friends - now, I am not going to lie, at this point all I wanted to do was go to sleep I was exhausted still from Jetlag but I wanted to greet Alyssa at the airport.  So, I manned up and decided to go out with Tup and his friends where I started to drink a couple of beer - now, I am not sure how many beers I had but those beers were the start of a GREAT night! After hanging out with his friends at Cafe de beer we headed to the airport only to find out that Alyssa's flight was delayed so we now had an hour to kill at the airport.  My obvious answer was to have a couple of more beers at the airport!!!   It sure made that hour go by quickly, soon enough we were greeting the lovely Alyssa telling her that we were going out tonight.  In true Alyssa fashion she was GAME! We went to a local bar/club called "ichy."  It was really fun and once again I was the fish out of water.  I had people shaking my hand wanting to dance with me (I don't think I have ever had this much attention in my life).   It was a LOOOOOOONNNNNGGG night we ended up getting home around 5:30 am!  We slept until 12:00 and then got up for our next activity.

Hello JJ market!  Now, if you have never been to a market before this was the one to go to!  It was the end all be all of markets.  There was literally thousands upon thousands of stalls filled with everything from clothing to antiques to scorpions.  Here I had to learn how to bargain - and to be honest I suck at it and Alyssa might even suck more!  Both of us constantly said please but I guess that is kind of our nature!  I ended up buying one dress and that was it!!  One of the most interesting things about the market was that at 6:00 the national anthem came on and the once pushy loud and vibrant market became still.  It was shocking to see how quiet everyone got, but as soon as the music stopped it was back to craziness.  Later that evening Alyssa and I watched Tup's soccer game.  I was eaten alive by mosquito's which was not so much fun, but what can you do.  After his game we met up with his friend Bovy whose family owns a resort in Koh Phangan.  She said that she would help us out when we went there.  I am pretty excited that we are getting to know a bunch of new people from Thailand.   That evening Alyssa and I decided that we wanted to go to Chiang Mai (a northern province of Thailand) for a couple of days before Adam gets here.  So we booked it for March 1st and managed to get a pretty cheap flight considering that we booked a flight for a day and a half later.  Then we went to sleep so that we would be "well" rested for the next day. 

Hello 6:30 am... I am starting to hate waking up to you!  I am not sure if it is the birds or sun that is waking me up either way I am starting to get really tired and I need SLEEP!  I knew that today was going to be a full day and I wanted to be well rested for it.  So, rather than sleeping in (which is what I wanted to do) I decided to take a shower and then read about some places in Chaing Mai that Alyssa and I could visit on our trip up there. Once Tup and Alyssa woke up we were off to his parents house to have breakfast - as usual it was delicious! After breakfast and a couple of phone calls we headed out to Meet Tup's brother Tai who was going to take us out for the day while he went fishing!  Tai took us to "The Grand Palace," and a couple of the temples near there.  The structures in the Grand Palace were unbelievably ornate and gorgeous.  They were filled with beautiful coloured glass and gems and mostly made out of gold. It was an unbelievable sight and really something I will never forget! The temple that houses the "reclining Buddha" was really amazing as well.  After that, we took a ferry to the other side of the river where the last temple was.  This temple was really interesting in that you could climb to the "top." I am not going to lie I was so scared after we got past the second level, also I felt like passing out because I was so stinking hot wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt in 30 degree weather! After that Alyssa and I both stripped down from our long pants into our short shorts and tank tops.  We grabbed a couple of drinks and headed back downtown to go Shopping! No joking we shopped and shopped ans shopped for 8 hours.  I  bought on bag for myself and I didnt even have to bargain I just walked away and said a price I wanted to pay for it and so I bought it.  Also, Tup was making fun on me and my Gonzaga basketball knapsack because I was wearing it with my pink dress!  Aparently I looked like a dork... which was kind of true!  Alyssa on the other hand, Miss Shopaholic, bought so much stuff! Tai even got into the shopping mood and bought a couple of tops!


It was really fun until..... we couldnt get a taxi back to Samut Praken (Tup's Province).  We literally waited 30 minutes flagging down Taxi after Taxi until this one nice gentleman, who I might add was wearing a "Canada" hat, agreed to take us! So now I am back from our long journey it is now 11:53 and I have to be up in 5 hours to go to the airport for our flight to Chiang Mai.... here;s hoping that I sleep a little on the plane so that I am not horrible to be around for poor Alyssa! 


Talk to you in Chiang Mai,


Love you,

C. xo

Food Food and More Food!!!!!

Spicy Talipa!

 

Tup and I at Hot Pot... now I had hot pot once before and to be honest it was not my favourite things but this was AMAZING! Seriously delicious.

MY TURN... I believe I am eating Jelly fish here... yes you read it correctly jelly fish!

Tup and Big eating noodles for breakfast before our rafting trip... this place was a little seedy but it was fun!

My turn... now I am not sure what I was eating and Tup promised not to tell me because he said I would hate it ... which was probably for the best!

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Whoever told me that in Thailand I would lose weight was LYING!! Well at least while I am with Tup there will be NO and I repeat NO weight loss.  I just love thai food... well with a couple of exceptions not really partial to innerds (I refuse to eat them knowingly) but I told Tup if I do accidently eat something like that to not tell me or I will probably puke it up! I did ever so gracefully spit out some horribly slimy coconut thing luckly it was with Tup and Big so I didnt have to worry! If I did this at Tups house his parents would probably not allow me to eat with them ever again! Knock on wood - so far my stomach has been really good.


The soccer game was really fun - I met one of Tup's friends girlfriends her name was Nuit (sound like the french way to say night).  She was lovely and just about the cutest thing you had ever seen.  Tup's friends were also super nice and fun!  They were all very welcoming although it was some what suspect when about 3 of them called themselves Chris - only because when I asked Tup about his friends Chris he said that he did not have any friends named Chris.  Apparently they were just amking up "Canadian" names!   I didnt end up going out for dinner or drinks because I was WAY to tired and the next morning we were getting up really early to go rafting!


5:30 AM came way too soon (Hello Jetlag)- but it wasn't that I had to get up then, it was that my body was ready to wake up.  I decided to have a shower and eat my peanut butter toast with banana's on top because I was starving!  Then I read up on some Thai words... one of which I remembered Ka Poon Ka (I know this is not the correct spelling) meaning "thank you."  Tup got up around 6:15 and we left the house to pick up his friend BIG (yes like Mr. Big from sex and the city).  The traffic was horrible getting to his house as he lives in Bangkok and there was early morning work and school traffic! We then took the highway to Nahkon Nayok a province about one hour away!  Being in Nahkon Nayok made me see an entirely different Thailand then what I was used to (I know it has only been 3 days).  Nahkon Nayok was was lush and green.  There were rice paddy's and small village communities along the river!  We decided to stop on the way to a small rice noodle place along the canal.  The food was surprisingly delicious.  We had peanut chicken satay and Tom Yum soup! It was really good.  I asked for vegetarian because the boys had innerds and I really did not want to have that .... GROSS! I cant really get over it but that is Thai people eat... I think the only way I would be able to eat it is if I was DRUNK and I mean really drunk! We then moved on to the rafting adventure trip.  We were just going out early to see what it would be like!  Tup has planned for the four of us (Tup Alyssa Adam and Myself) to go on a Rafting trip with all of his friends about 20 total.  It was really fun and I am really looking foward to the big trip! 


After Tup, Big and I went to a restaurant that the giude had "recommended for us" now when big told me this I thought he said we have "to eat like a man" at this place.  It was really hilarious and had us laughing the entire ride home.  The food was delicious.  I definitely ate one of my favourites thus far - this spicy talipa dish!  It was so spicy that I had to eat only a little bit of it - now I am not going to lie that night my bottom was hurting because of how spicy it was (it wouldnt be in true Chantelle fashion if I didnt give you that detail ha ha).


That night I CRASHED super early at 6:30 and woke up at 2:30am thinking that it was morning time.  IT IS OFFICIAL  - I HATE JETLAG!   After laying still for about an hour I decided to get up and read one of the 10 or so books I brought along with me.  I read Eat Pray Love (how fitting I know) which made me laugh cry and smile.  I am not finished the book but it was a good read so far! Now Tup and I are taking it easy and saving our energy for tonight!!!

Tup and I at the boardwalk  in Samut Prakan.  It was really nice.  This is where the delta for the chao phraya river!



Nothing like riding in the back of a pickup on our way to rafting!



One of the locals taking a picture with me... she was so surprised to someone white... and I am really white right now too!

Floating down the river... it was a good way to cool off!

These boys were really cute and it was my first monkey I totally freaked out though and feel backwards into the raft!

In Front of the Temple ... there were a ridiculous amount of Cat fish.  It was really cool to see!

An old woman selling fruit at the side of the road.  The fruit was sooo delicious a cross between a mango and peach YUMMMY!

Tup's Neighbourhood

In front of Tup's house

Well that is it for now folks! Miss and Love you all!


xo
From an overcast but stinking hot Thailand,
Chantelle



SAWAD DEE KA THAILAND

Sawad dee ka Family and Friends all the way from tropical Thailand!!!  What a trip it was getting over here!   The Plane ride from Vancouver was long but I was lucky enough to not have to sit beside anyone it was almost like sitting in business class... but not!  The food was really good and despite the fact that I didnt get a wink of sleep the flight was shorter than I expected.  The flight from Hong Kong was a little bit nicer just because I sat beside this guy from Thailand who was giving me all of the inside scoop on where I should go and what I should do.  It made me really REALLY excited.  After the plane landed we had to sit on the plane for 40 minutes because our gate was still being used... that was probably the longest 40 minutes of my life and was so annoying because all I had to do was pee and I couldnt!  Then I finally met tup outside of customs... I was so tired that I just about walked right passed him.  I was so nice to finally see someone I knew again.  From there we drove home to his place... getting lost not once but twice on the way (it was hilarious, but I cant blame him he has only been home for a little while and there is a new highway).  Once we got to his house  (which is gorgeous I might add -pictures to come later) we parked and no joke a gecko or lizzard thing jumped right down my shirt!  I am not going to lie I was totally freaked out and screamed but then I was okay! His house is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!  It is like living in a resort community in Kelowna or something!  There are literally guards at every entrance and Tup says that it is really safe!  I am going to run around the neighbourhood tonight if I can so I can see how large it is... but it seems to be a really huge community!  I finally fell asleep around 2:45 and woke up at 7:00 I am pretty sure I am goin to crash tonight but not before cheering for Tup and his friends at his soccer match and havinga couple of (fingers crossed) celebratory beers! This morning Tup took me to meet h is friend Axe who coincidently lives 2 houses down from him.  His morther gave us fresh mango to eat and a yummy hot chocolate drink!  They were all so lovely and I hope I get to see more of them!  Then we went to Tups parents house for breakfast... no joke we had about 8 plates of food spread out for the two of us.  There was some fish curry, stirfry vegetables and rice, 2 different kinds of soup, Thai green curry  etc etc etc!! It was ALL SOOOO good too! We literally ate in front of 50 of his parents workers who just looked at me.  I dont think that a lot of the workers have ever seen a white person so I was quite the spectacle.  I am also really loud so that might be the reason as well! One more super cool thing - his parents next door neighbours had an elephant in their backyard - I have never seen an elephant before it was pretty amazing!

Well that is all for now!

I will post some pictures when I remember to bring the cord from tups house to his parents house where the computer is!

Love you all,

Chantelle xo

Let the Journey begin...

So, it is now officially 12:06 on Feb 21st and it is go time!  I thought that this day would feel so different but in a lot of ways I feel like this day just snuck up on me and is now here to greet me with its presence.  I kind of feel numb in a way, which probably doesn't make a lot of sense to most of you considering that most people would be off the walls (okay normal Chantelle before a trip would be this way) ridiculously excited for a trip of a lifetime but instead I feel like this is just what I need to do right now!  I feel like I have never been so confident in a decision I have made.  I am not sure what situations I will encounter or what people I will meet, but I know that there is something huge waiting for me on this journey. I just feel like the fact that I am going to a place where I literally have no plans... like none ( Of course I plan on seeing certain places that people have told me about but nothing concrete) says a lot about the state of where I am at!  I feel that there is something exciting in not having plans and just being willing and able to see what I want to see, when I want to see it.

I thought I was a pretty lucky girl, but now I know I am a lucky girl. I know I have a couple of angels up in heaven who are looking out for me.   I have amazing parents who have basically made this journey possible for me!  I have an amazing family who I was lucky enough to share a great send-off dinner with with.  I forgot how hilarious we all are - I seriously think we are so much like the family on the T.V. show Brothers and Sisters (okay well my mom said that, but I agree). The whole gang was there: Mom, Dad, Papa, Ashley, Andrew, Sean, Jess, and kristy ....Even Kaitlyn was there via skype!  My Cousins Greg and Katie came over this morning with their new baby girl, Leighton, and I got to hold her for like an hour which I have to say was a-m-a-z-i-n-g - she is absolutely beautiful and perfect and I can't wait to hold her again when I am back!!!  My cousin Andrea dropped by just to give me a hug and wish me well on my trip.  I have amazing friends who have shown me so much love and kindness.  I can't imagine my life without all of the wonderful people in it and you all make a difference in  my life and I hope you all know that! Now Let the journey BEGIN


Love you all,
xoxo C.

7 degrees..... No 37 degrees!!!

YIPPPPEEEE!!!!! That is right folks my oldest friend from Elementary School Alyssa, will be joining me on my journey for the first 3 and a half weeks of my trip!!!! If you can't tell that I am excited, you just have to see me to believe it!  I am so happy to have my very good (and fun) friend to travel with me - I have a feeling we will have a great time together.