The coup

First thing I learned it's not coup with a P sound like as in chicken coop it's pronounced cou no P. Don't judge this is my first coup and I really don't remember much about high school history. :)

The Thailand military seized control of the government in a coup last Thursday. As the Thais say, it's about time. They have had political unrest for about 6 months. Military took over and instilled militia law. Thailand has had 18 coups in 82 years, some successful and some not. Only 6 days in to this coup and from my point of view it has been relatively peaceful. 

First day of the coup gave an uneasy feeling purely because of the unknown. It all happened so quickly. My phone started lighting up around 4:30 with alerts, by 6:30 TV was cut, 7pm a curfew was put in place and by 9:30 school was canceled. Social media was lit up with all kinds of talk and it was rumored that we were going to lose internet. Never did lose internet. Erin was stuck at the mall with KB and I was on edge. 

Erin finally arrived home and things started to calm down. School was called and everyone got out of bed to celebrate the coup day, can't have snow days so we have coup days. 

Poor Walter is in India and missing all the excitement. Don't worry I always make him feel included 😜

I probably sent him 50 texts with in an hour window, from sheer panic driven texts to relaxed and calm texts. 

Despite the coup life has continued normally. Monday TV came back, you don't see any sign of military where I live, kids are back to school and the only thing still in place is the curfew. 

This curfew thing has made life tricky. On a normal school night not a big deal. Curfew is from 10pm to 5am. This curfew was put in place on a Thursday night right before the weekend. Erin's prom was this weekend.  The prom was held at the Hilton from 5:45 - 8:45 now that is a party!!  She made the best of it and it was truly a memorable night. She is still deciding if that is good thing or a bad thing. 

Walter and I had a party on Saturday night as well. Instead of the normal adult start times of 7 or 8pm our party was moved earlier. Hey this curfew doesn't excuse expats. We adults all had to be conscious of our times not just for ourselves but our drivers too.  We all agreed we would leave the party at 9 but like teenagers we pushed our luck a little and didn't leave until 9:45. It was like a mass exodus of people quickly leaving and all the drivers lined up outside anxious to get home themselves.  Walter and I feeling incredibly guilty that we are late and now KB will be late.   I was never very good about curfew when I was a teen can you imagine how difficult it is as an adult especially when your having fun.  We arrived home a few minutes after 10 and felt terrible that now KB had to drive home so we padded his wallet a little to make up for it. Money helps with the guilt. He arrived safely home with no issues. 

The only thing remains is the curfew and I don't know when that will be lifted. As for any issues we have had none and this coup has not affected us one bit. The army seems to be making strides in unraveling some of the corruption that has taken place. Keeping things peaceful seems to be the goal of the military. None of the airports have been affected and there is no talk of anything like that happening.

This weekend I go to Bangkok and I REaLLY want to go so let's just hope the coup stays on this peaceful journey and gets sorted out quickly. 

Cheers from the other side

😘 M

It's just reality!

First accident that Khun Biayoon has had since he has been driving for us. Does it sound like I'm surprised well, yes I am. Lol. If you saw the way these people drive around here you would understand. 

KB is actually a really safe driver. Shhhhh, but I prefer him over Walter, okay maybe because I sit in the back seat when KB drives and don't watch the road. 

So the car accident, well it was barely an accident. He hit a woman on a motorbike going about 5 mph. Seriously when he hit her I didn't even think the bike would go down, oh! But it did, then the dramatization began. 

KB gets out of the car and the woman is laying in the road. A taxi driver comes to her rescue and he and KB help her get up. She can't walk.  She actually has a helmet on which is a shocker because I think about 60% of the motorbikes don't wear helmets. It's her leg. Erin and I stay in the car. I am really not sure what to do. This was not part of our cultural training. 😊 hmmm now what

They walk the girl over to the side of the road pick up her bike and sit her in a chair. Of course there is a chair we were right near one of the million taxi stands. A small crowd gathers. Poor B is trying to explain, nope I can't hear this I am still in the car but I can tell by the body language and hand jesters. 

Okay now what, I ask Erin. She just looks at me and shrugs her shoulders. We both pick up our phones and start texting. Walter is in India so I text my friend who has lived here for a while. Erin calls her friend who has lived here a long time. We are both looking for advice on what to do. First piece of advice don't get out of the car - good because I wasn't. Lol. Second piece of advice don't tell them you have money - well that's a little hard when KB just took me to the ATM, hopefully he doesn't share this info with them. 

KB comes back to the car shuffling around. I ask what's up - he says they want money. I say how much?  He says maybe 500baht - easy not a problem less than $20USD. 

Next thing I see a policeman approaching the car- KB cuts him off and they walk back to the lady. Now she is standing. Oh and her nasty farang money bag (old foreign man who probably "keeps" her) shows up. Erin and I sit in the car rolling our eyes. Thank god for heavily tinted windows. 

They start  inspecting her leg, her head and now the bike. Erin and I continue to roll our eyes. Poor KB. 

KB comes back to the car and starts calling someone. Who are you calling, I ask?  The car company - why? So they can come pay the lady - I laugh. Okay KB the car co. is NOT going to come here and just pay your lady off especially when you hit her. How much?  Lady wants 1000 baht ($33 USD). I think - Guess they found an old scratch on the bike. Okay fine - as I hand him the money.  

KB comes back to he car with his head down. Now what?  The policeman want 500 baht?  What!!  What for??  He will take me to station. HA HA yeah right they will - I hand him the 500 baht. 

Corruption people at its finest. 

As we drive off we get stuck in some traffic. The lady we just hit drives by and waves, the old nasty farang drives by and waves. I would like to wave something at them but Erin grasps my hand and fingers and keeps them in my lap.   Lol

My first encounter with corruption in Thailand. Walter says - hey that is not bad almost a year here and this is the first accident plus it only cost about $50 USD. Think about that same accident in the US, our insurance rates would go up, the scratch on the bike would have been hundreds of dollars to fix, I begin to rethink what he has said and realize maybe the corruption here is not so bad. 

Walter alway thinking on the bright side. 😉

Along with this lovely incident I also wanted to share some of our normal reality so you can see not everything is glamorous here in Thailand. 

We have a rat problem - they die in the ceiling and smell REalLY BAD. 

Cockroaches - they seem to like us as well and they are HUgE.

We have a leak in the bathroom but no one can seem to fin it. 

There is a snake in the garden somewhere but no one can seem to find it. (Do you see the pattern)

Have I mentioned the size of snakes here. Yes this one was a python on the road when we were  driving at night by my kids school. 

Thailand beer is really bad and I'm over it. (whoever thought those words would come out of my mouth) hahahaha

Have I complained lately about my laundry - no dryer - rainy season is starting so everything stays damp. 

My maid decided she didn't need to come this week, my sisters are visiting and now I am cleaning my house. Okay maybe that one I should not complain about. Seriously though it's annoying! Lol

Oh and Walter is on a major travel schedule so I have seen him like 2 days in the last 3 weeks. I am missing my buddy. 

So as you can see life in Thailand is not always perfect but who wants to read about that stuff. Lol

On a brighter note 

MY SiSTeRS are COMiNg in 2 DaYS!!!  Can't wait. Woohoo!!

Cheers from the other side

😘 M

Ahhhhh Singapore!

I always said Walter was a smart man, us not moving to Singapore was a really good thing. First because of our wallet, super expensive, but also because I would never want to leave!

Singapore was incredible. Now I know why people call it Asia lite. I think it is more western than America. Everyone looks Asian but English is the common language. It is a really beautiful city. My kids kept saying it reminded them of Chicago but cleaner. It is the cleanest place I have ever visited. Not a wrapper, coke can, cigarette butt nothing on the ground. Trash cans are not even noticed and sometimes hard to find. No one walks around with a coffee, water bottle or soda. Coming from Pattaya which I think is the filthiest place I have ever lived Singapore was like a shiny new penny. 

Singaporeans are kind and courteous. Everything and anything you could ever want is in Singapore. I have never seen so much shopping in such a small square footage of a country. Erin was like a kid in a candy store. All her favorite stores were there which of course was where we spent a bit of time. 

What kind of food do you want to eat?  Every choice is available. Restaurants are everywhere. We ate Mexican and German. I also had a Raddler, a beer and lemonade. It was good 

Singapore consists of 63 islands including the main island which is how most people identify singapore. It is Hot and Humid. Singapore is ranked as one of the least corrupt countries in the world. It is an education hub with more than 80000 international students. The country is the worlds 4th leading financial center. It is a hub for foreigners seeking medical care. It has the highest percentage of millionaires (now we know why it's so damn expensive).  I could go on and on but won't. 😊 

We had a fabulous weekend. 

People always take photos in the Bangkok airport so Erin said maybe we should to. So we did really for no reason just because. This was us on our way to Singapore. 

No threats were made and no bribery, the three studying on the plane was a remarkable thing. Well not for the IB student. She studies all the time but the other 2 it was a rare occurrence for the school books to be brought out on a plane. I guess the approaching exams have encouraged this behavior. Whatever it is a shout out to Erin, Andrew and Jack for studying on the plane while I played my iPad games. Sometimes i love being an adult with no job. Lol!!

We rode the MRT everywhere, Singapores train. 

Finally made it to dinner. An English pub for fish and chips. 

Look what else was on the menu

Marina Bay Sands resort. Yep that's a boat on top. That is where the pool is and there is a restaurant and bar. Nope we didn't stay there and had a parent fail when they wouldn't let us go to the top for a drink because the boys had on shorts. We walked around the downstairs part which is an enormous mall. There is a small river that runs through the mall as well. It is quite an incredible building. 

This is the Merlion. It sits across from the Marina Bay Resort. There are 2 in Singapore. An even bigger one is in Sentosa Island (second picture) Merlion is a mythical creature that is the sea and lion coming together. It is the mascot of Singapore. 

You can actually walk out of the mouth for a view of the city. 

The Singapore river runs through the city and empties into the Indian Ocean. The city is built up around the river. 

No Soi dogs just stone cats. Gives you that warm and cuddly feeling right. 😜. Statues of animals around the city. We thought it was funny. You didn't see a stray anything so I guess the statues of cats were suppose to make up for it. Maybe????  I did say it was a very clean city. Very difficult to bring a pet into this country. Lots of quarantine time. They have no rabies or any other funky animal diseases. 

Saw the light and fire show outside the Marina Bay resort. 

My chocolate lovers outside the Hershey store. 

Who doesn't love a Reese's peanut butter cup. 

Made the kids day, went to Universal studios. Visited Hollywood and New York City while we were there. 

4D rides are the best. Transformers was the best ride. 

Have to take a picture with the dinosaur in Jurassic Park. 

Oh Lord Farquaad we are coming to help Shrek and Donkey save Fiona. 

Madagascar ride here we come. 

The castle from far far away land!

Everyone loves a minion. 

Who doesn't love a minion hat. 

Yep got a little crazy in the minion store. Lol

Hello they left the price tag on my groovy glasses and crown combo. Someone could have told me BeFORE they took the picture. 

Everyone loves a crazy hat selfie!!!

Yep we took a few. 😊

To cool for us. Andrew riding the luge. 

Snake charmer extraordinaire. 

This is when Andrew ran far far away. Lol

It was Mother's Day so I was rewarded with a moms the greatest oscar statue and a margarita. Sorry I didn't video my acceptance speech. 😝

Yum but at a price. 2 beers for 32 sing dollars which is about $25 USD. You could go broke in this country. 

Cool place called Clarke Quay. It's a river wharf with tons of restaurants and bars. All outdoors but with giant umbrellas covering the entire area so you can still eat and drink when it rains. It had a large fountain which of course my boys could not stay out of. 

We had a rough and exhausting day. Lol. Walking around universal, riding the rides then having margaritas makes for an exhausting day. 

Of course these two weren't going to let Erin and I have all the fun. 

Walter worked the next day so when the cat is away the mice will play. This is what my boys did to amuse themselves in the mall while Erin shopped shopped and shopped. 

Found a store to keep Andrew and Jacks interest for a while, the Super Hero store. Every boys dream. 

Before the night safari we stopped in Chinatown. Amazing spring rolls. Not enough time spent in this area. 

It was a fabulous trip. Can't wait to go back. 

Cheers from the other side

😘 M

Doctors and Dentists

Referrals are a beautiful thing when living in a foreign country. We expats depend on each other for recommendations for about almost everything, restaurants, shopping, grocery stores, massages but most importantly medical. 

Honestly I already made my dentist appointments for this summer in the US but a friend of mine highly suggested a dentist here. Being a bit skeptical I have been dragging my feet so of course my child pushes a decision on me when he comes down with a tooth ache. Jacks tooth is bothering him. I am already convinced he has a cavity, his brushing habits are not star worthy to say the least. After a night or two I realize this ache is not going away. I go on line to the dentists website to make an appointment (this is how you do it when you don't speak Thai, website is in English, guess what kind of patients these dentists want?  The having money kind, lol) Get an email back they can see him the very next day.  Appointment time - dentist is awesome perfect English, office is modern and super clean. Dentist is graduate from Georgetown medical school and still has a practice he owns in Washington DC. Lived in US for 18 years. I am curious to know why he is in Pattaya. He is from Bangkok came back to Thailand because of family and likes the more laid back atmosphere in Pattaya. Okay so I got his entire history. Hey he spoke great English and I'm always curious about Why someone is in Pattaya besides the ladyboys and beer bars. Lol. Long story short Jack didn't have a cavity but a cracked filling. In and out in under an hour the dentist did the entire procedure under $50. Needless to say Jack and I went back for cleanings.  Again in an out less than an hour and the dentist did the cleanings himself each cleaning less than $100. Best service ever And we didn't have to wait 6 months for our appointments. You can make an appointment for the same week you call. The other three now have appointments. 

Okay so far boring post right? Just trying to show you not everything here is funny. Some can be very normal. Thank goodness BUT then the funny happens again just to remind you that our life is just not normal here and there is never a dull moment. 

Erin has been going to the dermatologist lately. Normal 17 year old stuff. Just so happens she went 2 weeks in a row. The way it works here is you go to the waiting room and then a nurse comes and gets the patient to take vitals, normal stuff, weight, blood pressure, height and temp. A friend told me that you can actually say no to this service because there is an individual charge on your bill for it. Today thinking this wasn't necessary since it was purely a follow up I told the nurse no it wasn't needed. 

The nurse gave me a strange look, shook her head (this was her attempt at telling me she didn't understand) and took Erin by her hand. We followed the nurse into the vitals room then the nurse proceeded to explain in very broken English, hand gestures and actions what she was going to do.

She shows Erin the blood pressure cuff puts it on her arm says blood and then proceeds to hit her own chest and say thump thump thump, gives Erin ok sign. Takes thermometer puts under Erin's arm says sun hot no good, wraps her arms around herself says cold no good but points finger at Erin and gives ok sign. Erin is looking like OMG really. I'm trying not to laugh. The nurse shows Erin scale, Erin picks up her foot to show shoes nurse shakes her head, Erin takes off shoes, nurse shows Erin how to step on scale, Erin is like REaLLy!  Nurse doesn't say much just says body and takes her own hands and rubs them down her sides and crouches on the ground jumping a little and points at Erin and gives her ok sign.  Erin is trying not to laugh realizing that this nurse does not think Erin speaks English nor does this nurse speak much English. When she gets around to height Erin tries to tell her what her height is but doesn't know it in metric so goes to use her phone to convert but the nurse stops her and says tall then goes to the floor taps it with her hand and them raises it up to Erin's head and says ok, never measures her at all. Best comedy routine of the day and I'm am just relieved that Erin is OK. Lol! Gotta love the Thais. 

To all my nurse friends - Thai nursing school - much easier and I bet they will teach you the hand movements too. Lol!! 😜

All this for 300baht (about 10$). Couldn't ask for a cheaper laugh. Erin and I were in hysterics. 

We think I must have caught her off guard when I said that I didn't want this service and she probably wasnt sure what I said and since everyone is Russian here maybe thought we were Russian and spoke  no English.  Who knows. It was a great giggle for us. 

Cheers from the other side

😘 M