Hugging Karma

I consider myself a pretty big hugger. When I say goodbye I generally like to hug people who I feel close with. Sometimes I do the half handshake - half hug thing with guys but usually I go for a full-on hug if I sense the other person is down with it. Once or twice since living in Vietnam I've gone in for a hug with friends of mine who proceeded to stiffen up like a totem pole. It's definitely a cultural thing.

Well, Hannah's love of hugging definitely trumps mine...which resulted in a pretty funny story.

After we were dropped off from our jungle trek I said a quick goodbye to the Germans and our tour guides and sprinted into the guest house to go #1. It was a long drive and I had to pee really really badly. When I came out of the bathroom, Hannah was just getting back from saying her goodbyes. She looked at me and said, "You just missed the most awkward thing ever." Apparently Hannah said to everyone something like, "I just want to warn you but I'm going to hug you goodbye because I like to hug." Hannah then proceeded to hug the Germans and the Thai tour guides -- NOBODY reciprocated.

Hannah couldn't stop laughing about how everyone must have thought she was the weirdest person in the world and how she couldn't stop hugging everyone even as everyone stiffened up around her. In everyone's defense, at this point Hannah hadn't really showered, minus bathing in a waterfall, for a few days.

Anyway, Hannah and I joked about this awkward situation for the next day or so...until karma struck Hannah back.

While bike riding in Sukhothai, Hannah and I rode up to some old building with a bunch of elephant heads on it's side. As we rode up we passed a Thai man who was sitting under a tree. Hannah and I walked around the building and started to take pictures. After a minute the Thai man approached us and asked if we wanted him to take a picture of us. We said yes, thanked him and he took this picture:

After he took this picture he asked if I could take a picture of him and Hannah. The man excitedly walked up to Hannah and gave her a hug...AND THEN HE TRIED TO KISS HER!!! Hannah turned her head fast enough so that he only got her cheek.

Being the good big brother I am I stood there frozen and giggling. Hannah politely pushed him off and said to me, "Let's get out of here!" We rode off as fast as we could. I don't think I stopped laughing for about ten minutes.

Here's their intimate moment seconds before the kiss:

Hannah's First Prophecy

Hannah is not much of a bike rider. I remember as a kid our family once made a big purchase -- we all got mountain bikes. After the first day with our bikes, I'm pretty sure mine was the only one taken out of our garage more than two times. In fact, they are still all in our garage collecting dust as I type this (a million years from now archaeologists or aliens will discover all they ever need to know about human civilization from the never-throw-anything-out August garage).

One person who NEVER rode a bicycle was my sister. To be fair, I think Hannah was so young that she was the only one who didn't get a bike. However, what I'm positive about is that as a kid she never rode a bike. In fact, when she studied abroad in Belgium she rented a bicycle and never rode it because, "I couldn't ride on cobblestone."

Why am I telling this? Well, because Hannah and I went to Sukhothai, Thailand, a place that is highly suggested to be seen while bike riding. Sukhothai is the old kingdom of Thailand (It existed from 1238 till 1438...according to Wikipedia). The area of the old kingdom is pretty spread out and would have been a lot to see on foot. Our guide book told us to rent bikes so the day before we got there Hannah prophesied, "Tomorrow I will ride a bicycle." Well, call her Moses:



(PICTURE: Frog faces, our money pose.)

Overall Sukhothai was a great stop on our way to Chiang Mai. Most people go directly from Bangkok to Chaing Mai and miss this little gem of a place. If you're in Thailand and have an extra day, I would highly suggest going to Sukhothai...especially if you like bike riding.

QUESTION: What is the king of the jungle in Thailand?

ANSWER: Poodles.

One of the weirder things that Hannah and I noticed in Thailand was the large amount of stray show dogs. It seems that lurking in every dark alley was a gorgeous poodle or a cocker spaniel or a corgi or a shar-pei or a chihuahua. These dogs were both cute and ferocious. Ironically we would often see a giant scary looking dog roaming the street and a poodle chained to a wall as if the poodle would tear someone apart. Even weirder, was the large amount of dogs that were wearing sweaters. It seemd that every little dog, even the strays, had sweaters on.

While Hannah and I were waiting in a bus station to go Sukhothai, the old kingdom, I caught on video a vicious little dog in a sweater in action:

Happy Birthday, Huyen!

Happy Birthday, Huyen!

I can't wait for your birthday party!!! You were just kidding when you said in Vietnam that the boyfriend is supposed to pay for the girlfriend's birthday party, right?

I hope you have a wonderful day and an even better year!

7-11

One thing that is hard to miss in Thailand are the gazillion 7-11 convenience stores. They're everywhere. Walking inside of one feels just like being home at the 7-11 on Livingston Avenue. There's really only one difference though -- some of these 7-11s have Monkeys climbing on their roofs:

Hannah became a big fan of the random monkeys in Phetchaburi:

Thai Kids Love Me

In this blog entry I'm just gonna state a fact: Thai kids love me. A picture says a thousand words:

Look at the disappointment on their faces when I had to leave:




Okay, the truth is not all Thai kids love me. I'd say it's around 99% though. Here's the 1% that wants nothing to do with me:

Monk Bar Mitzvah

Hannah and I returned to Phetchaburi and had the day to sight see before catching a train to Bangkok. Phetchaburi is a city known for its many Wats (temples) so we started to do a walking tour, on our own, of the city. After living in Southeast Asia for quite some time already, Wats don't really get me that excited. Sure there are some amazing ones but after a while it's like looking at churches in Europe -- they all start to blend.

However, this day turned out to be pretty memorable. At our first stop on the temples tour, we spotted something very strange -- a bloody hand print on a temple wall. There was no explanation for this bloody hand print and nobody seemed to be bothered by it. Hannah and I just stared at it, awkwardly laughed at the oddity of it, and then catalogued it as Mystery #1 in Thailand.

(PICTURE: Mystery #1 on our trip.)

After the temple now known as the "Bloody Hand Print Temple", Hannah and I crossed the street to another temple. I heard some music playing in the distance and followed the noise. I walked into a large room and found about eight people playing various musical instruments. I continued to walk around the inside of the building until I came to a monk barbershop. A couple of teenagers and one young kid were getting their head shaved.

The monks offered to shave my head, and although this would have been a great blog entry, I decided to decline for two reasons: 1. My curly hair is a big hit in Asia. 2. The monks didn't appear to be changing razor blades.

It turned out that one of the teenagers who was getting his head shaved was there for more than just a haircut. I don't know exactly what the ceremony was but it appeared to be some kind of Bar Mitzvah/Communion. The kid's mother invited us to join their family for food and well, the Augusts never turn down free food!
(PICTURE: Hannah with our new friends.)

You might notice in the above picture that the little girl is wearing a Playboy t-shirt. Although this seems highly inappropriate to be wearing a Playboy shirt in a religious place, this is actually kind of normal. Playboy, from my observations, is seen as a symbol of beauty here and not pornography.

After lunch the kids in the picture invited us to come listen to some music with them. We went back into the temple and sat on the periphery of a drum circle. The afternoon ended with me chugging a Red Bull with all the musicians...although weirdly I was the only one who chugged mine.