http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/CEBandBA/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from CEBandBA en-us Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:17:49 +0000 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:17:49 +0000 Brian and I were given the amazing opportunity to stay with a family for a week in small town Philippines. Our friend and coworker here in Taiwan Kristina is a Filipina Canadian who hadnrsquot been back to her home country for seventeen years. So when we were given a week off from school her and her husband decided it was time to go back to the homeland. And in some very fortunate circumstanc http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Bataan/blog-418319.html It's taken several months to post this blog because Claire and I moved to Taiwan the day after my parents left Thailand. It's not easy to move countries and start work the next day. I also have a ton of pictures from several cameras documenting the trip. I think this entry will be mostly pictures with captions.Anyways my parents came to visit us during the last two weeks of our time in Thailand. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-409166.html Again my apologies for being so lazy... These blogs were both written more than 6 months ago...My mom and sister made it out a few weeks after my father had left November of 08. Unfortunately I could not greet them in Bangkok when they first arrived but I did remain in the loop with phone calls from my mother all throughout there 30someodd hours in Bangkok. An arrival phone call and questio http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-409419.html My sincerest apologies for posting this so late... I've been preoccupied... Those of you who read our blogs often can probably defer that these are not meant to be travel resourcesmdashthey should definitely not be looked upon to substitute anyonersquos Lonely Planet. They are meant to be stories and updates for our friends and family back home. They are also intended to be somewhat of a dia http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-356050.html Hey EverybodyWe're still in Taiwan and doing well. We finally got to take a little trip at the end of May. The Taiwanese work a lot so we won't have many opportunities like this. We had a four day holiday and decided to head to the East coast.Taiwan's east coast is the less developed side of the island due to the large steep mountains several peaks over 12000 feet and the typhoons experience http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Taitung/blog-404495.html Taiwanhellipwow you are not ThailandOur time in Thailand has come and gone already Claire and I had a great time exploring learning to teach making new friends learning Thai barely and learning to live in a very different culture from ours. We learned more than we can explain. Most importantly we made a lot of great friends we hope to see many more times before China takes over the world http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Taiwan/Chiayi/blog-389883.html Well hello everybody. We have neglected our blog for too long so I'm going to throw up some pictures that are a hodgepodge of things we've done in the past six months.As of now Claire and I are in are final two months of our time in Thailand at least this time. As I write we have not confirmed exactly what is next although it's looking to be a year in Taiwan. This next year will not only be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-372270.html After several days in Phnom Penh we hopped on a bus to the little town of Siam Reap. Our destination was Angkor Wat. Angkor is the biggest tourist draw for Cambodia with about 50 of the country's tourists only visiting this site.The bus ride was alright except for the incessant horn honking of the driver. It was also kind of cute how many times we stopped to pick up seemingly random Cambodians. T http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-349959.html Phnom PenhCambodiahellip why were we going to Cambodia Itrsquos never really been on my travel hit list before but Brian and I found ourselves with a few weeks off and contemplated seeing our neighboring countries. Now we really only had about ten days travel time and thought Cambodiarsquos got the least to offer right Ankor and the Killing Fields what else could we possibly want to see http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-338425.html PaiThursday July 17 and Friday July 18 were Buddhist holidays so that gave us a four day weekend This was our first chance to really take a trip out of Chiang Mai. We had heard good things about a small town about 130 kilometers northwest of us called Pai so we went.Until about five years ago Pai was one of the best kept secrets in Northern Thailand. It attracted a bunch of foreigners who were http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Pai/blog-303970.html July Update from Chiang MaiSawadee Ka Brian and I thought it might be time for an update. Since we last wrote we havenrsquot experienced a whole lot of new lsquotravelsrsquo but life nonetheless has been good to us. I must say I do enjoy teaching. Irsquom not sure it is what I want to do for the rest of my life but it is certainly suiting the here and now. I remember those awful morning http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-299139.html Visa Run to Burma via Chiang Rai and the Golden TriangleSohellipwhen Claire and I left the States we each had ldquoone year multiple entry nonimmigrant B visasrdquo. Sounds like we would be good for a year righthellipcause thatrsquos what the visas said. Wellhellipthere are many things that donrsquot make sense about the way Thailand works. There will be an entire blog on this at http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Northern-Thailand/blog-286070.html Nesting in Chiang MaiSince Songkran wersquove really had a lack of things to write about because more so than traveling wersquove really just been nesting. During the Songkran holiday Brian and I had to decide which school offer to take. Brian chose Prince Royalrsquos College a huge Christian school for K12 grades. Brian teaches 10th and 11th grade English classes. I chose Sacred Heart C http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-284650.html Songkran Now this is how you have a water fightSawadee Pee Mai Happy New Year In Chiang Mai we just celebrated the coming of the Thai New Year 2052. Songkran is known as the Water Festival and it is known to be the most fun in Chiang Mai. Water Festival however is probably better understood to Westerners as a huge water fight The holiday lasts over three days. On the first day people will http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-266374.html Chiang Mai Thailand home for a whileSohellipin the end we had to go by plane to Chiang Mai. This turned out to be great. But in the beginning we wanted to go by train. You see we have a lot of luggage four 50 pound bags plus a computer and our two little backpacks. What We moved here. What the hell do you expect Anyhoo Thailand has a pretty cool train system that runs from south to nor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-266356.html Helllllooooo everybody. We're in Chiang Mai now and it's lovely. Claire and I arrived on Sunday afternoon. Monday morning we hit the streets to find jobs and the internet. We have been spending so much time looking for work that we have not taken one photo of this great city even though it looks like it will be our new home for a decent amount of time. We will definitely get some photos going on http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-265069.html So here we are with the course pretty much over and I am now just getting around to writing about our classmates. Oh well. Itrsquos the night before our last day which really is consisting of a volunteer teaching practice at this bar we have been at every week. The girls at this place really appreciate the lessons and a little extra practice is nice for us.So a lilrsquo bit about our certifica http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Samui/blog-263321.html So I must admit that I'm getting around to posting this a bit late... we are actually in Chiang Mai now. We just arrived so I don't have a lot to say about it yet but if the city is like our cab ride from the airport to hotel it will be great Friendly people and beautiful scenery But for now lets talk about our departure from Ko Samui Leaving Ko SamuiTomorrow we leave Ko Samui first thing in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Samui/blog-263324.html Ko SamuiCurrently we are in week three of our stay in Chaweng Noi on Samui Island and I must admit it is not easy to think back and write about our arrival and first impression of the island because just as it is hard to remember what is was like before you could read or drive a car it is hard to remember Ko Samui before I learned to love it. But Irsquoll tryhellipIrsquoll start with the s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/South-West-Thailand/Ko-Samui/blog-259971.html So Thai Boxing is pretty cool. We had front row seats. Why Because thatrsquos where they want foreigners. It keeps them out of the way of the Thais that are busy betting and they get more money out of us. Welcome to Thailand. There is a two tier pricing system in Thailand and you canrsquot really do much about it.We saw six or seven matches and two of them were really good. No KOrsquos thou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-258722.html