Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Bangkok Christmas Trees

Christmas has come and gone, but here's a quick look at some of the trees we came across in Bangkok.

Here's our tree that we bought a couple years ago.  It fits perfectly inside a large black plastic trash bag and takes about 30 seconds to set up and about the same time to pack up and hide away for next year.


This is the tree at the Millennium Hotel where my friend Ron was staying.  It's the first inverted tree that I've ever seen.  Did you know that Santa is an anagram for - could it be.... Satan!!





Finally, some pictures of the more traditional Christmas tree at the Novotel Suvarnabhumi. 




Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Weekend In Krabi

Earlier this month, my friend, Ron, and I took a short trip to Krabi in Southern Thailand.  We had reserved two separate rooms, but upon arrival were upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite with a jacuzzi and


romantic view of Krabi's limestone cliffs.


4 meals in Krabi - 3 were Italian.


Most accompanied by classy cocktails


December 5th was the King's birthday, so we took a break from guzzling curvaceous cocktails to pay homage to the world's longest reigning monarch.


Finally, some scenes from the beach.








Monday, December 27, 2010

Guilt Trip

After we dropped Uncle Bruce and Aunt Agnun off at the airport, we brought Nuch's mom back to her house on the other side of Bangkok.

Upon entering her home, I found the radio playing in the bathroom.

Why you may ask?


Apparently, the land behind her home had recently been cleared - before it was a thick tropical forest that covered a couple acres.  Because it was now an open field, Nuch's mother needed some way to scare off any would be burglars that would dare traverse the swampy field, scale her 10 foot barbed fence, and break through her wrought-iron barred windows to steal her collection of empty boxes and plastic bags.

Playing the radio was supposed to make burglars think that someone was home - the fact that she set the radio on a station that played non-stop lectures on the teachings of the Buddha was just to make them feel guilty for even thinking about it.

Uncle Bruce and Aunt Agnun's Visit

Here are some quick photos from Nuch's Aunt and Uncle's recent visit.  Here they have just checked in at the Peninsula.




Here's Nuch with her mom and aunt posing for pictures.


After the photo shoot, we took Uncle Bruce and Aunt Agnun to our favorite pizza shop on Kao San Rd. - Ranee's.

Here are some more shots from Kao San Rd.



Uncle Bruce at the Marriott pier.



Here we are at Trader Vic's famous brunch.

The time went by too fast.

Anniversary In Hua Hin

Christmas Eve was our 4th anniversary, so we headed down to the resort town Hua Hin for the weekend.  Since we had our wedding reception at the Marriott Resort & Spa in Bangkok, we decided to stat that the Marriott Resort & Spa in Hua Hin for old times sakes.  I told the staff it was our anniversary when I made the reservation and they set up some rose petals for us - and gave us an upgrade!



Here's the view from our balcony.


and some pictures from around the resort.






These were taken at a little bar down the beach



More pictures at the Marriott




We had pizza one night, but otherwise we had seafood for every meal.  This is a La Mer






On Christmas Eve, the Marriott held a seafood buffet dinner on the beach.



Santa even showed up - along with a club of twins.  There must have been some kind of meeting because they were everywhere.