The First Week of School!

It's been a big week for us in BKK - from our first day of Kindergarten on Wednesday, to Mark's last night before moving to Hong Kong - it's been go, go, go!

In anticipation of such a busy week, Sam surprised me with a cityscape last weekend. We stayed at a great hotel and were lazy to the extreme. We ordered in every meal and spent the rest of the time playing in the beautiful pool, using the steam/sauna or playing tennis. It was awesome. And check out this lovely view we had from our room!

This summer has flown by and Mark has followed suit as he moves on to the next chapter of his adventure in Hong Kong. We had a wonderful last hoorah in BKK with some of our favorite Thai foods and a gorgeous view of the city from the Marriot rooftop. Team 908 will be long distance for now, but I can't wait to be reunited in HK soon!

We've got a big team of teachers at school now. Here we are after an exhausting first day. Highlights were a stellar Kindergarten class (3-5 year olds) and a Nursery class (1.5-2 year olds) full of headbutters, biters and kids throwing up. Luckily, by Friday the students were more settled in (less vomit and teethmarks) and I think it'll be a really wonderful first year for ABC Pathways International Kindergarten!

From left to right:

Maddy - Kindergarten

Anu - Nursery and all Thai language classes

Ann - Nursery

Sam - Kindergarten

Bally - our founder from HK

Me - Kindergarten

Divya - Principal

Lucy - Teacher Assistant and all Mandarin language classes

That's all from me. Back to re-charging for another big week! Love you all, xx

Another Thai Holiday ft. Brian, Lucy and Mark

We just finished an amazing long holiday weekend with Sam's roommate from Choate, Brian, and his girlfriend, Lucy. They arrived in Bangkok last week and we had a whirlwind day of temple hopping here before they set off for northern Thailand. We finished out their trip with some relaxing by the beach in Cha Am (near Hua Hin if you're googling). Team 908 (Sam, Mark and me) took advantage of every last minute of holiday and spent the last day touring around Old Town Bangkok. Here are a bunch of photos from a long overdue holiday with some special people :)

On the hike up the Golden Mount in BKK

...continued...

You know how I feel about flowers up close.

Made it to the top!

Wat Arun, BKK.

BKK train station. We're getting outta town!

Even the train station is more relaxed down here.

Fanciest Chang I've ever seen.

Clean, empty beach. Just the way I like it.

Choate roomies! (check out that super moon)

Had a hard time saying goodbye to these guys.

It was a workout just holding these up.

When Thais have a beach vacation, they sit under umbrellas.
Lots of umbrellas.

Sad to leave our beach vacation and come home to this.

One of my favorite meals - noodle soup with BBQ pork.

Team 908 getting out n about!

When in Thailand...

Lovely view of our amazing city.

Beers and cards with Team 908.

It is rainy season after all.

Every day's a holiday when you feel like it! 

What's Up in Bangkok

Another update according to my iPhone...

Last Saturday (July 26), Sam and Mark ventured through the countryside to the Cambodian border while I celebrated a special Buddha Day with our school's security guard, Long (I think it means 'uncle' in Thai). We're so Thai! I offered Buddha some Fanta (red is his favorite flavor as far as I can tell) and rambutan (the cool, spiky fruit you see on the plate here). Long prayed at the left spirit house and I was on the right.

My offering to Buddha!

Our pub quiz team is growing! Dan and Shea are some new friends in BKK. Both being Brits, our combined knowledge of UK/American culture led to a better ranking than most other Mondays, but we've still got some work to do.

We celebrated Mark's birthday last week with banana cupcakes and bubbly on the roof and then running off to a work dinner. The real celebration is this weekend - hopefully will have more photos to share next time :)

Selfie before dinner with the bosses. We went to The District at the Marriot near our apartment. Sam had a wagyu burger while I enjoyed the wagyu steak. Definitely a special treat!

Wagyu burger.

Wagyu steak.

A peek of our regular commute via canal boat. Photo courtesy of sweet Sam.

The heavy rains here never cease to impress me. Yesterday, we couldn't even see the rest of the city through the thick blanket of rain.

What's better than bowling and a movie on a rainy Friday night? Winning a game of bowling! While none of us are champion bowlers, we still had a great run while waiting for showtime of Guardians of the Galaxy. As for my review of that, it was an entertaining story with very cool special effects. That genre isn't really my cup of tea. I'm waiting to go see The Fault in Our Stars.