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Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat March 20th 2023

สบายดีขา Sabaidee ka! I began my study of the Thai language with 20 hours of private lessons in conversational Thai in 2019, repeating the process again in 2020. Because I have never studied a language before without also having access to its written form and grammatical structure - the foundational bricks with which it is built, I found this approach, with its random spelling format, somewhat frustrating. “There are no spelling rules until you learn the Thai alphabet, so just write the words whatever way you want for now; however you think they sound” said my teacher, Kru Cherry, who also informed me that three months of conversational Thai was a pre-requisite to beginning to read and write this language. So when I returned to study this year I begged her to let me begin writing, ... read more
Thai Class Time
Thai Consonants
Thai Vowels

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat March 19th 2023

There is only one regret I carry with our global travel lifestyle of the past decade: we cannot maintain an animal family member. Simply no pets allowed. We have considered it, but it is not viable when we are out of the country travelling five months of the year. I have had animal friends all of my life. Cats, rabbits, iguanas, turtles, fish, and dogs. Several dogs. Together, Stan and I had a wonderful black lab named Sam, who was part of our family long before our children arrived. We adopted him at four years of age, and he remained with us until he was sixteen. A short while later, we introduced two miniature schnauzers - Magic and Tuxedo - to our family, which now also included our two children. Our schnauzers each lived to be ... read more
Thang attentive in my yoga class
M.B.T. Attending yoga class
The Early Days of our Relationship (2017)

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat March 18th 2023

Other than house concerts, and one small charity event I was part of last November, I have not performed publicly in over three years. Certainly Covid was responsible for much of this, but the time away from performing was not all lost, as it allowed me to immerse myself in extensive music literacy studies which inspired me to add three more instruments to my music repertoire: electric guitar, bass guitar, and, most significantly, a wind instrument I have come to love and experience as another voice - the harmonica. The bass guitar is the latest addition, and I am excited to continue my bass instruction when I return home, as I could not bring my bass along with me on this trip. Not so with my guitar though, or my complete collection of nine harmonicas, which ... read more
Soundcheck @ Hemingways
House Concert Offering for Gail and Berti’s Birthday 24/02/23

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat March 17th 2023

We were certainly warned prior to our arrival that Koh Phangan was incredibly busy this year. This proved to be true. There were far more vehicles on the roads, far more scooters, and the vacancy rates were generally maxed out, so that during our time there about 97% of the island’s accommodation facilities were fully booked. Almost all of the tourists were from eastern and western European countries, or other countries whose inhabitants were attempting to escape the realities of war and political unrest at home. I cannot say I blame them, as I would likely make the same choice. Thankfully, I have never had to walk in those shoes. The busy-ness was never a deterrent for us. After three years of too much quarantine and too much solitude behind cold walls, we completely welcomed this ... read more
Our Farewell Dinner Party
Bon Voyage Nathalie & Philippe
Happy Birthday Gail & Berti

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat March 16th 2023

For all four of the pre-covid years that we have stayed on the island of Koh Phangan, formal yoga study was a driving force for our being here, as this is without doubt a yoga epicentre, with numerous yoga studios actively nurturing this culture. Our yoga courses had always set the tone and provided the structure for the day. Stan and I have together taken over 300 hours of intensive hatha yoga course studies in previous years here, and I have added other yoga philosophy studies as well. One might say there was a bit of obsession driving my studies, and this will be no shock to anyone who knows me. But the real surprise this year was to not follow that pattern. I stayed home, quite content to simply focus on my own daily practice, ... read more
Carina’s “Be A Rebel” Yoga Class
Carina, Bev, and Nathalie - Yoga Teachers after Class
Carina Yoga

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat March 15th 2023

I am not going to lie. It is challenging to begin to write this blog post, as I don’t quite know how to put into words the diversity of experiences that were had these past two months on this island paradise of Koh Phangan. I fear I shall write a novella in the process, when all I really want to do is to offer a perspective - a glimpse at the experiences through these eyes - not only so that others reading this might open to other ways of engaging with the world, but also, primarily, so that Stan and I will, upon reflection, realize just how valuable these experiences have been, and how much we have benefited from having had them. We arrived back in Asia after a three year absence, consciously repeating our mantras ... read more
God (by any Name) Lives Here
Sunset Kayak
Awestruck

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat March 10th 2023

We are soon to be leaving our beautiful tropical island in Thailand, and although our nearly two month stay this year has exceeded every other year we have been returning since 2017, we are still very reluctant to leave, and have already decided to stay even longer next year. But another island country, Indonesia, now calls us. It is another country that we also love, for all that it offers of its beauty, its spirit, and its rich cultural diversity. Then, in May, we shall be returning to the Canadian prairies - to experience the endless sunshine, the wide open spaces, and the immense diversity and beauty of our homeland. We live in relationship with all three countries - their people, their landscapes, their diversity - and like a transient lover, we never want to leave, ... read more

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Yala February 18th 2023

Here are some facts about our next stop Thailand. Thailand was actually known as Siam until 1939 (and again from 1945 to 1949). Siamese cats are native to Thailand. In Thailand, it is illegal to leave your house without underwear on. Thailand is the world's largest exporter of rice. Thai brothers Eng & Chang Bunker inspired the term "Siamese twins" and were joined at the chest. They died in 1873. It is illegal to step on any Thai currency. The ship is moored at Laem Chabang which is the major port of Thailand. There are literally tens of thousand containers waiting shipping or transfer within the country. A huge car park is covered with cars made in Thailand by Toyota, Honda etc and aimed at export. We are off to see the Sanctuary of Truth today. ... read more

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand » Nakhon Si Thammarat January 27th 2023

FORTY TWO HOURS IN TRANSIT. Let’s just let that sink in for a moment. Forty two hours. In transit. That says everything about our commitment to being here. And now that we have arrived at our busy, but laid back, incredibly beautiful spiritual, musical, back-to-the-sixties love and bliss inspired island destination, where we shall remain for the next six weeks, it is without hesitation that I say every minute of those forty two hours has been a worthwhile investment. Of course this is a rose-colored lens view of reality, as some complain that the island is far too busy, and everything is crowded and booked to capacity, with many Russians and Israelites here escaping political nightmares, and others, like us, escaping the cold, but its an easy, long overdue, and well deserved break from the bombardment ... read more
Sunrise over Hong Kong
Stan’s Happy Dance arriving Bangkok
Ferry Terminal, Koh Samui

Asia » Thailand » Southern Thailand December 16th 2020

Sometimes we just need to get away from stress even if it’s just for a weekend. In 2019, I was fortunate enough to go on a weekend getaway with my husband in the province of Ranong in southern Thailand. Koh Phayam is one of the most tranquil islands in Thailand. The beaches are often deserted, which makes it the perfect relaxing beach holiday. How We Got There Getting there was an exciting process. We flew from Bangkok to Ranong. From Ranong, we were one step away from Koh Phayam. There are two ways to get to Koh Phayam, both of which involve sea travel. To get to the pier, you can choose a motorcycle taxi or a songthaew, a short minibus. We took the speedboat instead of the slow boat. It takes approximately 40 mi... read more
View from our resort
Aww
Koh Phayam




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