More adventures!

Sawadeeka!

Time for Tristan and I to head to Bangkok for a night out. We booked accommodation near Khao San Road and planned to meet up with Simone, Thiv, Morne and a couple others. I was a little anxious about the whole thing but still excited to see everyone. It was a rather crazy night but for the most part I had fun. A lot happened that night including someone’s phone being stolen, it was karma in my opinion (I have valid reasoning for saying that). The night flew by and before I knew it, it was 2 am and Tristan and I were heading out to find the kebab vendors.

After checking out the next morning, Simone, Thiv, Morne, Tristan and I headed to Terminal 21 to find the Piri Piri chicken restaurant (it was alleged to be like Nandos and Nandos is my absolute weakness). We did manage to find it, but it was nothing like Nandos (cue sad face). And thus, ended the weekend in Bangkok, time for work again.

 It hadn’t been the best week; I’d received some bad news: my cat Scruffy had run off on a little adventure and hadn’t survived the trip. Scruffy was a special little cat who we’d rescued about 2/3 years ago. He was a very sick little kitty but nobody could tell us what was wrong with him. After countless trips to the vet, we eventually ended up going to a specialist vet who diagnosed Scruffy with the Feline Calicivirus. We were then told how to manage the virus and kept Scruffy in the best health we possibly could. He was a happy cat and lived a good life, even if it was short. He lived longer than the expected time, giving the world the middle finger.

Tristan and I flew to Chiang Mai on Friday morning which is 10 times better than the train and 1000000 times better than the bus. We headed to immigration 5 minutes after we’d booked into the hotel. The process at immigration was a slow wait at first but was over almost as soon as Tristan and I had been seen to. The rest of the day was relaxed, we got some lunch, Tristan went for a haircut and then we chilled until supper time. we were both really looking forward to supper that night as the plan was to head to a restaurant called Rock Me Burger. Tristan had been when we were in Chiang Mai for the course and said that it was amazing. He wasn’t wrong. We both got the same burger and my word has it been ages since I’d had a burger that good! I also got a milkshake, the first milkshake I’d had in 6 months. (it’s also worth mentioning that I’d also had sinusitis about 2 weeks before that). After supper, we headed back and watched some greys until we fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke to the most incredibly painful headache. It’s hard to put the feeling in words but it was so bad it even made me nauseous. I couldn’t keep my eyes open and I also couldn’t sleep, so I took some tablets to try stop the pain and nausea only to get sick 10 minutes later. This carried on for a couple hours but I eventually fell asleep again. I only woke up again to run to the toilet or to try drink some water. Unfortunately, we had to check out at one so I had to find the energy to leave, which was difficult as I could barely stand long enough to shower. We checked out and went to get some lunch. I was proud because I managed to keep the 3 French fries down, at least until the airport. I had never felt so shit before, I just wanted to get home. I slept on the plane ride home and was sure to grab a sick bag for the van ride home, which I also manged to sleep through quite a bit of. The funny thing is, as soon as we got the apartment I was better. Not completely, my head was still sore and I felt a little nauseous, but other than that, I was fine. Which concludes my story about my one day death flu and moral of the story: milkshakes and sinusitis don’t mix well.

Thanks for reading and sorry about the ramble about my sick day, hope it didn’t bore you too much ..

Happy wandering,

Centaine xx

Just another week in Rangsit.

Sawadeeka!

Tristan and I decided to start getting fit again and go for a run one sunny Thursday afternoon after work. Our first and, possibly last, run in Thailand was an awful realisation of just how unfit we both were. We ran for 6 minutes and almost died. The heat doesn’t make running any easier. We haven’t run since then, but fingers crossed we get into it again soon, I love running.

I was very excited for to watch Suicide Squad; the trailer was a really good teaser. On Saturday Tristan and I had to head to Future Park to open a new bank account for Tristan, which took about 2 hours. We later planned to meet up with 2 guys from the course for lunch and a movie. It was nice to get out and to catch up with them. Plus, we went back to the easy ribs and wings place and got some delicious ribs!

After a long, long wait, Pokemon Go was finally released in Thailand. So, that very night, Tristan and I downloaded the app. Tristan wasn’t as excited as I was in the beginning, but after coaxing him to go hunt Pokemon at 10:30pm, he was almost as addicted as me. Our excitement didn’t last all that long, our closest Pokestop was a 15/20 - minute walk away and all the cool Pokemon were in Bangkok. But we still played it for a couple more weeks.

The sunset from my closest Pokestop

Sports day

Sports day in Thailand (or at least at the school I was at) was more of a fashion parade than anything else. There wasn’t much in terms of ‘sports’ that day and the marching around the school was awful as the temperature was very high and the students were really battling. It was nice to interact with my students’ parents and watch the students have fun.

Half of my students (and 2 lovely parents helping control the chaos).

My school

Some weird jelly ...

One of the best ice creams I've had

The cuties again

Our theme was yellow: Beauty and the Beast

Thanks for reading!

Happy wandering, 

Centaine xx

Island adventure!

Sawadeeka!

In need of a little R&R, Tristan and I booked 2 nights away at the City Hotel Sriracha. The hotel was amazing and well worth the trip. We took a van from Future Park to Sriracha and made to the hotel with enough time to relax and enjoy the pool. I was also thrilled to lounge in the bath with bubbles coming up to my ears for about 7 hours straight (I’m so tired of cold showers). The next morning was tough to wake up to but also exciting because we’d be exploring Koh Larn, an island just off the coast off Pattaya.

After almost getting ripped off by the van driver, we made it to Pattaya. Our next mission was finding a reasonably priced scooter taxi to the pier. We walk for a little while but eventually found a friendly scooter taxi driver who wasn’t trying to overcharge us. Koh Larn was beautiful and relaxing, but more popular for tourists than Koh Sichang.

Some tips for surviving a trip to an island in Thailand:

• ·         Always wear sunscreen. I know it’s a given but don’t go taking any chances, the Thai sun is ruthless.
• ·         If you don’t have that much in terms of spending money, I’d recommend taking snacks to nibble of. We were charged 150baht for a plate of French fries.
• ·         Rent a scooter for the day. Unless you’re planning on just staying at one beach, then you don’t need to bother. But if you’re planning on exploring the island it works out cheaper to rent a scooter and it’s also easier than trying to find song thaews or scooter taxis when you want to move to the next place.
• ·         Take advantage of the sunbeds. You must pay but it’s worth it and it’s a safe option to leave your bags on. And it gives you a nice a break from the sun.
• ·         And a tip for getting around, if you feel like transport is overcharging you, you’re probably right. Walk on for a little bit and you’ll eventually find a person who is charging a lot less.

 That night we visited Morne for a little bit and then made the most of the pool, jacuzzi and bath while we still had them. Tuesday morning was sad as our time in this beautiful hotel had come to an end, but at least we left feeling well rested.

Scooter selfie in Koh Larn

Lounging on the beach in Koh Larn

Interesting BnB in Koh Larn

Koh Larn!

Thanks for reading!

Happy wandering,

Centaine xx