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.



Moving On Up

A couple week's a go a friend of mine, who was also my roommate and co-worker when I first moved to Bangkok, invited some old colleagues over to his condo for a Bar BQ and a chance to catch up.  It was also a chance for him to show off his balcony, which is more like a large, outdoor patio, and view from the 20th floor in the middle of downtown Bangkok.

The Girl From Brazil

Perhaps it's just me, but this advertisement creeps me out. 

It's an ad for a Thai cookie snack, which translated directly says - "No matter what face, it's good".   I think that's supposed to mean that no matter where you're from or how old you are, you're going to like these cookies.

It's placed at the bottom of the steps of the Phaya Thai Sky Train Station. 

I don't go there often, so it always makes me jump back when I come up the stairs and see the 3 faces of Anne Thongprasom, a popular Thai actress looking back at me.  Her normal self is in the middle.  To the left she is portraying a foreigner.  I know this because up close you can see that she has freckles - the telltale signs of a whitey.   Finally, to the right is Anne's morphed 8 year-old face that looks like the result of a Boys from Brazil-esque genetic experiment.

The Sound of 200,000 Pounds of Thrust

I think I've mentioned before that Nuch and I live close to the airport.  Up until recently, the planes have been taking off away from us on the near runway and landing towards us on the far runway.  For the most part, unless we have the sliding glass doors upon, it's relatively quiet.

Apparently, Air Traffic Control can switch the runways/ flight paths because about a month ago the incoming flights started landing right over our condo.

I took this picture while jogging through the neighborhood.

This was taken from our condo parking lot. So, I suppose they don't fly directly overhead, and for the most part it is still not too disturbing - although the 747's tend to make their presence known.

Without Washing The Butt

Unable to sleep on my recent China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Bangkok, I tried to kill some time by reading the in-flight magazine.  Most of it was in Chinese, but there were a few articles about France that had been translated into English. 

The first article was about Dijon.  I assumed the articles were in the magazine to promote China Eastern's Shanghai - Paris route, but if that was the case, China Eastern has a unique way of endearing would-be Chinese tourists to France, or, as you'll see - endearing France to would-be Chinese tourists.

The article was written by a Chinese travel writer.  Below is the opening paragraph:

When I just arrived in France, I learned three simple and practical expressions: Bonjour, Salut, Merci Beaucoup.  In order to memorize the words, I visualized the sound in Chinese: 

Bonjour =  Ben Zhu, which translates as "Silly Swine"

Salut = Sha Lu, which translates as "Silly Donkey"

Merci Beaucoup = Mei Xi Pi Gu, which means "Without Washing the Butt"

I toured many French cities and towns with these three expressions with confidence...

I can only imagine what the Chinese use to remember the sounds of Hello, Goodbye, or Thank you, but I am confident that whereever the Chinese go in the world, they are able to tour many cities and towns "with confidence".