Adulting.

Sawadeeka!

Friday night: Tristan and I were craving nachos, which was not good because there is no Mexican restaurant near us, not even at Future Park. We settled on finding some nacho type chips and cheese. And then realised that our electric fryer just wouldn’t do the job. So we had to just cut our losses and get some subway. Which was still good so all was fine.

The next day (Saturday) Tristan and I procrastinated and had to then do all our tasks on Sunday. But we managed to watch a fair amount of Greys which is never a bad thing, especially as I’d only just started watching and had 12 seasons to catch up on.  

Sunday: First task – Medical exams. To apply for our next extension, Tristan and I needed to go for a medical check-up. I was nervous about the blood tests (it has never been my favourite thing), but it was over soon enough and completely painless. It was quick (perks of being a ‘farang’) and an efficient process, the longest thing was waiting for our blood results which took an hour. Whilst we waited, we enjoyed a really yummy waffle from Mezzo café. The medical exam was also cheap, especially considering it was two of us! Next step – grocery shopping. We’d just bought an electric fryer so now we could actually cook our own food! It was a rather exciting shop, and rather expensive. But a decent price for some home cooked food.

Unfortunately, the more “fun” part was over now and it was time to go home and clean. Team work made the cleaning and grocery unpacking rather quick and so soon we were chilling and preparing for the next week. Even though it hadn’t necessarily been a fun weekend, I did enjoy myself and felt rather proud that I could do all that without any help, other than Tristan of course.

Mezzo cafe

Amazing waffle from Mezzo

Mezzo - 7.5/10: Good food (well waffle and ice cream) and coffee, but on the pricey side.

Thanks for reading!

Happy wandering,

Centaine xx

Laos

LAOS

Saturday: Chatuchak market! Tristan and I spent another day at Chatuchak just exploring a bit and getting a couple things. We also walked through the pets’ part of the market and, if you’re an animal lover like myself, I’d recommend not going through there. It’s all exciting at first, seeing all the puppies and kittens, until you see how they’re treated and how cramped the cages are. Other than that, it was another very enjoyable outing.

Sunday: Sunday saw to Tristan and I basically just relaxing until the afternoon. We had to head back into Bangkok to get a van to Laos to do our visa extension. We ended up running into quite a few people from the course, which was a pleasant surprise. The van ride itself, however, was terrible. The van was made to be more spacious and comfortable than your everyday, “generic” van, but Tristan and I were stuck at the back, which meant we couldn’t recline our seats back in any way, which rather inconvenient.

Monday: we arrived at the border at 4:30am, having gotten very little sleep, an hour and a half before the border would open. Eager to stretch my legs and find the little travellers room, Tristan and I got out the van just in time for the rain. And we soon discovered something even worse than the rain: I’d have to wait almost an hour for the restroom facilities to open. Back to the lovely, cramped, overly stuffy van it was, yay (insert rolling eyes face here).

Tristan and I were applying for our visas and so we got stuck at the immigration offices for quite a while. The agency we were using for the boarder run helped make the process a whole lot quicker for us than it could’ve been though. At about 12/1pm we finally got to the hotel and decided to go get some curry from the Indian restaurant we’d scoped out on the way to the hotel. The curry was incredible and so worth the crap we’d had to endure in the past 15 hours and the walk to the restaurant itself. After filling our bellies, we opted for a nap so we’d be well rested for the evening tour we were to joining. We slept through our alarms and ended up having a 6/7-hour nap. We also missed the evening tour to the market so we just made our way there on our own. Be warned: transport in Laos is crazy expensive. We met up with the others from the course for drinks and karaoke and I made myself a little friend: an adorable little ginger kitty. He loved me and fell asleep with his head in my hand. I tried my best to bring him to my room but SOMEONE *cough cough* Tristan *cough* wouldn’t let me.

Tuesday: More lines and buses and waiting. On the plus side, we stocked up on some chocolate in duty free (chocolate in Thailand is expensive!). At 11pm we arrived back at Future Park and headed home to Rangsit (yes, I now call my apartment in Rangsit ‘home’).

Wednesday: REST DAY. Time to recuperate for work.

On our way to our van to Laos!

Stray kitty I met outside 7/11 

Laos

My kitty friend!

Laos

Laos

The border at Laos

Laos

Cute coffee shop in Laos

Market in Laos

Thank you for reading, keep following the Paisley Firefly blog to read about more of my adventures!

Happy wandering,

Centaine xx

The big move!

Saturday night Tristan, Thiv, Simone, Morne, Sudarthi and Taylor (another 2 people from the course) and I went on a hunt for pizza. The place we eventually found had a special on: pay 300baht and drink as much beer as you could in an hour. The guys took it upon themselves to make the most of this challenge. Thus lead to a rather entertaining night full of stories and lots of good laughs.

The next day Tristan and I chilled for the morning and then met up with Morne to get some ice cream from Swensens. It was well deserved (we’d all reached a month working as teachers). Then it was time for me to leave. I really didn’t want to. I even took a later van to buy some time. That night I felt rather homesick and started inquiring about moving schools, to no avail as I was asked to stay at the school the agency placed me at.

After one of the longest weeks, I was finally on my way to meet Tristan at Future Park. We went to the Chatuchak market on Saturday just to explore. And we had some delicious garlic bread, for the first time since leaving SA.  The weekend flew by and before we knew it, it was time for Tristan to leave. That Sunday though, there were no vans going to Sriracha. Which meant Tristan had to stay an extra night, and just leave early Monday morning. The goodbye sucked and lead to me asking that morning if any jobs were available at Sarasas. There was one position and so Tristan had to head back that afternoon for an interview the next day. The whole of Tuesday morning I was unbelievably nervous waiting to hear if he’d gotten the job. He had! That night Tristan would be moving to Rangsit!!

Swensens – 8/10: very tasty, but expensive as they charge 55baht per scoop. It’s always nice to treat yourself though.

Thanks for reading! I'm sorry for the lack of photos, been having problems with my computer and my phone won't let me access my photos. Will have it sorted ASAP! 

Happy wandering,

Centaine xx