Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Pay Me Now, Pay Me Later

This is not an uncommon sight in Asia. The pay toilet. Most places expect you to drop a nickel or so for the privilege of relieving yourself (extra if you think you'll be needing some tissue). However since its beach front, this one will cost you 20 whole cents.
This is new for us, though. A pay water fountain. They installed it this week along the beach. A drink of clean, filtered water for just a nickel. I think these folks are 'in on it' with the the pay toilet people.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Friends!



This week the kids have had the chance to experience VBS and hang out with some American kids thanks to some great teachers who came here from Texas. Notice Hudson is sporting his 'Jacob Shaw' original shirt. Everyone here loved it.















Caleb is not in love with this picture.
I told him its because his hair is so long now. Its sort of a Farrah Fawcett memorial in my mind!!










Bethany was about inseparable this week. Lots of fun and laughs!!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Balinese Big Mac



Here we are chilling at McD's. One thing that is quite different about Asia is that we took a cab from our hotel to McD's and the guy is waiting outside smoking while we eat.

Sort of makes you feel like Paris Hilton or something to have people just sit and wait on you...

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Future Tiger Woods

The hotel has a mini-golf course here that was nice (at some point) and we got in a round the other day. This hole has sort of a jungle feel going on.
I don't suppose Tiger ever plays barefoot in a bathing suit but this is the beach! We used our clubs more like hockey sticks than anything else since the concrete greens were neither smooth nor level.
An especially hard-fought hole. But Hudson feels the power of a great shot. Notice how difficult it is to concentrate with that beach/ocean in the background.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Still here

We are still living the good life on the beach! Sorry it has been a few days since we posted, but we have been busy. Drop the kids off at 8:15am, meetings start at 8:30am and go until noon, pick the kids up, have lunch, then we have a break until 2pm. Meetings again from 2pm until 5pm , pick the kids up, go to supper, then another meeting. Whew! It is fun though and the kids are having a great time with friends and we hardly see them except at bed time. Tonight Bethany asked to go to bed before 8pm... I too am headed that way. Hopefully we can post some pics soon. Good night to all.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Beach Life...

Before our meetings started we arrived to .. uhmm ... get our bearings here at the beach.
And to eat a little...
This spot outside our room doesn't have wi-fi, otherwise it'd be pretty awesome!
This guy seems to be in charge of guarding our building or something. We're glad he has a skirt on.
Not too far from our room. If you want a full size copy of this picture for your computer desktop in January, just let us know!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Still Catching Up

Just before the trip ended, we spent a few days out in a village with some local families. This is Justin with his host.
James and Justin got to stay together. The host family had limited English but was lots of fun.
Some students came to hang out with us and talk in English. We took around 1,000 pictures...
Including this one of Ricky and the gang.
In the afternoon we had a clinic to teach some folks to play Ultimate Frisbee. They were pretty amazing since most had never held a frisbee before and had to keep asking what it was called.
Then in the evening the village had a mock wedding for us to watch. James got all dressed up. He was one sharp looking dude in a skirt.
Some people just have the moves. And then there is Craig. The traditional dancers made us uncomfortable in more ways than just dragging us up front... Notice that Craig is not as cool as James since he is wearing tennis shoes with his skirt. Very bad form!
We had 10 friends from California with us, too. The guy with the red hat was the mock groom and beside him his mock bride. We all fake-cried since it wasn't a real wedding. This is after at least 90 minutes of photos. They were exhausted by the time Craig said, "OK, one more for me!"

Saturday, June 20, 2009

More Pictures

We do have great seafood here. The table eventually got filled with crab, crawdads, fish, and a bunch more.
Although contrary to how his Momma taught him, we were able to get James to embrace eating with his hands. Messy and delicious.
Went fishing a bit, too.
Ricky was like Bill Dance reeling them in!
Waiting for the big bite.
The only thing Craig caught all day ... an action shot of James bringing one in.
Its kind of a weird thing. The head like a catfish but not the body. Luckily someone else had to eat them!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Catching Up

So our company finally made it home and we caught up on a bit of sleep, packed for our trip, and now we'll try to get some new pictures up from the last week. It was a fun time that got Ricky used to eating supper at 10pm and going to bed after midnight. So Vicky will need to forgive us if Rick starts calling his midnight snack "Supper." :-)
This is James embracing Milo. Its runner-up to be our national drink. Everyone loves it (well, almost)! Here he is gulping by the quart like a champion.
A huge food court type place we had supper one night. Craig and Ricky sprung for the stingray. How is it? The word "boney" comes to mind but it tastes OK.
Here if you get your McDonald's drink to go, it comes in a sack. Superfluous sacks are normally given by a cashier wearing a "Say No To Plastic Bags" button.
Some hot looking guys hanging out in the "Air Con" and loving it.
A restaurant serving classic local food. Pretty good stuff.
It seems there were monkeys but we didn't see them.
The best breakfast bread we had! This guy is so diligent he wouldn't stop working for the picture. Plus after 30 years in the business he has a semi-permanent bend.
No small amount of Mac N Cheese made the trip. But the jelly? It seems that is all still in Brian Pickerel's office.... Poor Hudson!!
What an awesome gift. Friends carried 30+ pounds of cornmeal and this awesome iron skillet. We can't wait!!!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Man ... its HOT

We've been touring a bit and having some tasty treats, too. Like these "Chicken Rice Balls" which are balls made of rice. Interesting. I think maybe regular rice is a bit tastier.
Handsome, right? I was thinking having summer start in KY would help people prepare for the heat here. Not sure how well that is working out so far. Its been in the low 90s each day this week and people are expecting it to be hot for the next couple of months.
This is an action shot! I call it "Crossing in the Crosswalk." This crosswalk even had a red light to stop traffic for you. The thing that makes it an action shot! is that cars don't necessarily need to stop for red lights or pedestrians.
We took a nice river ride to see some of the city. The best part of the trip? Traditional music from the area. But who knew that the Bee Gees were from here? We had the Bee Gees Greatest Hits helping us roll on down the waterway. This is Ricky laying down a little, "Night Fever, Night Fever..."

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Tea Time

Now these guys are much more likely to experience a "tee" time than a "tea" time normally but we roped them into some tea with Craig's language teacher this week. It was more formal than we were expecting.
We had curry puffs!! WoooHooo!!!
Rick is quite the servant.
Notice the skill with which he pours. No extended pinky for him. Just a smooth quality serving with no drips on the tablecloth. CLASSY!
We had some cheesy smiles, too.
Ms. Amanda ... counting down the days now.
The group shot! We had a great time ... just don't let Randy call them feminine for having tea. Its macho around here.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

We've Eaten Some....

Apparently people felt a vague feeling of hunger a few days ago but no one has felt it since then. We have alternated getting them all sweaty and then stuffing them with food. Here we are tearing into some fried noodles and fish curry.
These delicious squid were part of the noodle dish. James popped his in before I could get a picture but I can vouch for him that he ate it and didn't even make a face. Can you see the suckers on these suckers? Tasty!!
Ricky is also not scared to try new foods. The hard part has been getting our stomachs empty enough to try anything new.
The jet lag is catchy it seems with some folks having trouble keeping their eyes open during down moments. "Just resting my eyes," as Papaw used to say.