Lisa n Toby

We arrived in Bangkok as the flood waters we’re bearing down on it. The day before we left, the street a block closer to the river from us filled with up to a foot of water, depending on the tide, yet we remained dry unlike many. The Thai people are incredibly positive even in the face of adversity. On the local news, people were towing their family and pets on blow up pool rafts down the flooded streets, beaming big smiles and laughing because of all the camera attention. Vendors manned their food stalls despite standing in water above their knees. The show must go on. No drama or hysterics, this is just what we have to do today. What a wonderful bunch of folks! Quite a dichotomy from what we were to experience in Delhi. ... read more

Howdy! Long time no blog. This a big catcher upper post with oodles of pictures. Fair warning to my many friends with A.D.D., you might want to digest this in bits or just hit delete and save yourself the hassle entirely. ;-) First, if you haven’t heard, we have decided to stay in Bali until June 2010. A friend and partner in public accounting started off her email back in September with, “There’s absolutely no reason for you to come back now.” She had ten resumes on her desk, all quality CFOs looking for work, and many are turning to consulting firms until the job market picks up. I doubt that Toby’s job search would fare much better as few people are likely to splash out cash to remodel or build new custom houses while the ... read more

On our last bus ride in Myanmar I was opening a little plastic wrapper with my teeth and my left front tooth broke. Before anyone else asks, no, I haven't a massive calcium shortage that's causing my teeth to break. Yeah, 40 is old but not THAT old thank you very much. My two front teeth were crowns already (unfortunate swimming pool accident when I was 8, nowhere near Christmas) and the last set only lasted a mere 6 years. Seems that there should be a 10 year warranty on such an expensive product! Luckily we were back in Bangkok two days later so I could get it replaced quickly. We spent two weeks in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai is one of the largest cities in the north of the country, very food focused with an ... read more

We weren't even planning to go to Myanmar (formerly Burma) but several people we met on our travels said that the people are wonderful and people really make a country. Plus, the government stopped requiring people to buy tourist money that was only spendable in government owned shops, hotels and restaurants. There are still no ATMs there so you have to bring with you all the cash you think you'll need. We budgeted $50 a day and were easily able to stay in budget. Yeah, it's pretty cheap there. A little nerve wracking though. What if you get robbed or have a medical emergency?! So the cash situation is difficult but even more difficult is getting around. The city taxis are slap dash, missing things like door panels and often stall at intersections. Buses are clap ... read more

We took a bus from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, the capital of Lao. How strange a capital city! It's just as laid back as the rest of Lao and feels more like a Western suburb than a capital city. It's like Burbank without any high rises (or Jay Leno.) Well, there is one 15 story hotel on the banks of the Mekong but other than that, most everything is a couple of stories high. There's not a ton to see there but it's a nice place to watch the sunset over the Mekong. And we had some great Indian food for the first time since we were in Malaysia. We took an overnight bus from Vientiane most of the way to the site of some ancient Khmer ruins that pre-date Ankor Wat. This bus was mighty ... read more