parents visit their favorite son, part ii

Well, I'll try to wrap up the parents trip report today!

Firstly, we went to the Dusit Zoo which turned out to be pretty fun! The only particularly notable thing I can remember after so long is my thinking that my favorite animal we saw, the "Red Panda" looks like it was created by God for an animated kids show. Seriously, look at that thing. Adorable. Anyway, we all had a good time, though we didn't opt for the peddle-boats that were for use in the pond occupied with monitor lizards. But I'm sure their docile... mostly.

We also went to Koh Samui. Islands are always nice of course. I was a little disappointed with the lack-of-clarity in the water, but it was still nice. We've decided that we aren't as much of beech people as some. We did have a fun tour of the island that included some fun stuff.

Mom en route.

A beach.

Our parents had a great experience seeing the obligatory elephants of Thailand.



In fact, we had an elephant show which was pretty interesting. The best point was when they asked for a volunteer from the audience. No one volunteered. For what seemed like an eternity it was just an awkward silence. Now, I think you've read enough of my blog to know who broke that silence and saved the day. Yes yes, yours truly finally sprang up when it became apparent that nobody else was going to. So I scamper down to the "stage" (read: concrete slab), and wonder what they are going to have me do. They told me I was going to play some soccer with the elephant. I figure, ain't no thang, and say alrighty. They put a soccer ball down about 20 feet from the goal and have me play goalkeeper against this elephants penalty kick. Its a regular size soccer ball and I figure it can't be that hard. So I am there, ready to block this thing and the elephant starts running toward the ball. It occurs to me, as this huge animal is running at me, that this is actually kind of intimidating. It dawns on me that there is an elephant going to kick a soccer ball at me and I just kinda freeze... as the elephant TOTALLY scores on me. Well that was embaressing. Next I try to score on the elephant... of course he just laid down in front of the goal. Still... there was a little hole I thought I could score through, in back of his front legs. I shoot, and he moves to block it. Well damnit!!! I'm sure I embarrassed all the Europeans there with my lack of prowess in "the worlds favorite sport" but, hey, I didn't see anyone else up to the challenge!

We got to see some monkeys and I got to hold an otter (cute!). We got to see a monkey harvest coconuts, while looking incredibly un-impressed with the entire situation. Oh, and we got to recklessly ride on top of 4WD vehicles in what was actually a pretty interesting ride! They definately needed the Jeeps that day, as the entire island was flooded:


And dad and I had a fun time dodging tree-limbs that threatened to knock us into the back of the truck as we rode on top.

Mom opted for the less-dangerous seats in back :) Despite the fact that she was the one who got blessed:

Dad and I:

We had a good trip, and then got to fly back (far superior than the 12-hour bus ride) and were reminded to not bring our Sword, Spear or Blowpipe, and Kriss onto the plane:


My brother remarked that he guessed it must be a double-violation if you bring one of those umbrellas with the sword in it. Good thinking.

Lastly, at the last second I managed to find some bugs for my parents to eat. They seemed to enjoy them... A little too much. I know they're good, but was it really necessary to lick the plate dad? Just joking! ... But seriously, they're delicious.


I wish I could have elaborated on how great my parents are and what a great trip it was, but I'm trying to catch up on all my blogging! Just let me say that their presence reminded me why I missed them so much and I can't wait to see them again! Miss you mom and dad! Will be home soon!!!

the untamed north: trip report, part iv

Here’s part four of the relentlessly long trip report about the wild north. This one is, basically, a hodge-podge of things that I’ve missed over the last few posts, and a location I can place miscellaneous pictures. Its all kind of muddled, but whatev. Here goes:

Cave Lodge: I mentioned we didn’t go caving, major bust. But, we made the most of it, meeting some Australians and French people there. The Australians convinced us that they were a little “off” when there was a huge bug which flew very near to where I was. It landed on our tea table, and they promptly picked it up and cradled it and so forth. I didn’t. Call me a coward. Here’s the little guy; you can tell me if you would pick him up.

We did walk around a bit. Luckily we survived… and I don’t say that just because we had to walk across this: (a very crappy bridge obviously built over the REMAINS OF A CONCRETE ONE)

I say “luckily we survived” because of our encounters with lots of bugs. Big spiders… like the one here, pictured in front of rice fields in what I like to claim is a very National Geographic-esque photo:

We also saw nasty large red ants on a fence that would actually follow the movements of my hand in front of them with their mandibles. Of course, there were also lovable characters like miniature frogs and this caterpillar (view full size to see just how detailed the pic is!):

We also saw some wildlife when we went to the zoo in Chiang Mai! It cost us a little over a dollar to get in (a pretty good deal!), and they actually have a pretty good selection of animals. We were impressed that the animals all seemed pretty well taken care of—to be honest, we weren’t expecting it from Thailand. The only bad part, it is so spread out and large, it is hard to walk around the whole thing!

Has anyone else noticed that storks’ legs bend the other way? Eep.

Well, this wasn’t much of a post, but oh well. Number five, coming soon.