Six in Seoul

What a great day for mother/son bonding.  When I found this cooking school on line before we went to Thailand I ask Boy 1 if he would like to go with me, and to my SHOCK and SURPRISE he said yes.  REALLY?  I kept asking him and he continued to say yes.  I am so glad he did, I had a great day with him.  This is us upon arrival to the cooking school.

He really is not THAT much taller than me, I was just standing down lower than he was. However, he likes this picture and tells me that someday this is how it will be, I will have to look up to him.  I'm sure that day will be sooner than later.

Before we got started we got to look around a bit, the cooking school was on a beach, so while we were cooking, this is what we got to look at:

Isn't he handsome? Where did my little boy go?

A picture of the school.

OK, time to get to work...

The first thing we made was red curry paste. The ingredients:

Our class was made up of 6 American's and 3 Australians.  I found this very odd; because this was the first time we had run into other Americans (other than our friend that came at the same time) in Thailand.

Boy 1 had a great time making the curry paste.  He really liked pounding away on the ingredients. This was the perfect thing for a 12 year old to make right off the bat!

Next we made Spicy Mixed Seafood Salad...he is Boy 1 cooking:

And one of us together:

Next we learn how to make roses from a tomatoes & how to make our spring onions pretty.  The tomato roses turned out pretty well....

And the spring onions....well Boy 1 did much better than his mom.  I will need to practice this at home.

Here is our finished product: This might have been my favorite dish

We also made Chicken in Coconut Milk Soup - another favorite, Spring Rolls, Sweet and Sour Vegetables with Prawns, Panaeng Curry with pork & Pumpkin in Coconut Milk, which to my surprise I liked very much!

This one is a bit messy, but it still tasted good! 

During our break, we hung out on the beach.

Here we are getting our certificates, they considered not giving Boy 2 his, since he did burn one of our instructors.  J

Hubby was such a great sport...while Boy 1 and I were at the cooking school he took the 3 little ones out for a fun filled day at the beach!

Day 3 was supposed to be a rainy day, so we decided to take a big boat to Phi-Phi Island.  We took the big boat so if it rained we could go inside and not get too wet.  Well, what were we thinking?  Big boats equal LOTS of people, and we are not into lots of people on a tour.  We like to be catered to and that did not happen on this tour.  Now, don't get me wrong, the people that worked on the boat were very nice, but that was about it.  The boat was dirty, crowded and they did not have snorkel equipment for the little ones like it said in the brochure.  Other than that, we had a great time.

Boy 3 and Girl on the boat:

I can't tell you anything about these islands other than they are pretty, because it wasn't that kind of tour.  No one helped us identify anything.

These next pictures were at our first stop...maybe James Bond Island, I don't really know, but the water was very nice and clear, great for snorkeling, but with so many boats going by it made it too choppy for the little ones.  Finally some of the very nice workers gave them lifesavers and played with them in the water.

Boy 2 tried to snorkel, but freaked out because of the waves, so he decided to just feed the fish off the side of the boat.

He had a great little following of fish....

Beautiful...

Our next stop was at Monkey Island.  The kids were totally excited about this part of the trip, we read about how the monkeys come down from the trees and you get to feed them.  Well, what they didn't mention until we were about to leave the boat and head for the beach is that the monkeys don't like small children & they told us to keep the children away from the monkeys! 

We all rode canoes over to the island, poor Boy 1 he didn't fit in our canoe, so a young boy that was working on the boat brought Boy 1 over to the island. In this next picture we are rowing off as Boy 1 stands on the boat with a bunch of other folks waving to us...it was like a scene out of a bad movie.  I felt bad leaving him there. He is the one in the white shirt and light blue shorts.

Yeah, Boy 1 made it!

A cute little evil monkey that does not like small children. He seemed harmless to me, but hey, what do I know? I sitll did not let the kids near him.

The island was stunning!  (Hubby is pretty stunning as well!)

On the next part of our journey it started to rain.  We unloaded at Phi-Phi Island and RAN to the little restaurant where we had lunch. Once it stopped raining we explored Phi-Phi Island. 

Dark skies...

The kids getting back on the boat to head back to Phuket. Oh, I forgot to mention we switched boats 3 or 4 times on this crazy tour.  This last boat was much cleaner than the first couple! Check out Boy 3's face - what a cutie!! 

On the ride home Boy 3 passed out while sitting up & eating an apple. J

What an amazing day this turned out to be. The kids (ok, really, me and Hubby) were psyched about elephant trekking. We woke up early, had a great breakfast & then the tour company picked us up early at the lobby of our hotel.  We took a 20 minute ride to the 'Amazing Buket Safari' where we spent the whole day riding elephants and hanging out with all sorts of animals.  

Once we arrived at 'Amazing Buket Safari' the fun began.  Boy 2 was the first to spot an elephant in Thailand!  These are the elephants we rode.  I can't remember their names.

This photo was taken from on top of the elephant...it is so green, lush & hot in Thailand.  At this point, the boys were a little scared, especially when the elephant was going downhill. 

It didn't take the boys long to get used to the elephant & start having fun. 

Boy 1 even admitted he was a little afraid on this big giant.  He was mostly afraid of someone falling off, or the elephant tripping and rolling over on us!  I must admit - I had the same thought.

All 6 of us!

Boy 2 was very worried about the elephant stepping in poop....

Once we were done riding, we got to feed the elephants - the little kids were all very hesitant.

Next a baby elephant did some tricks for us, and then posed for this picture.

After elephant trekking we had to break for ice-cream, but in Thailand you need to eat ice-cream FAST because it is so FREAKING HOT HERE your ice-cream will melt if not devoured quickly.

Next we got to sit on a water buffalo and have our picture taken.  (Really - do I have to do this?)

Boy 2 DID NOT want to sit on this beast; he was trying hard to sit in my lap, but the way I see it is if I have to sit on him, so do the kids!!  He was hard, cool, and a little smelly. The water buffalo, not Boy 2.

I think Boy 1 was diggin' it!

Boy 3 wasn't so excited and was trying to climb upon hubby’s lap....

After hanging out with the water buffalo, we took a ride in an ox drawn carriage...

Next up, the monkey show!  These monkeys were so much fun to watch.  They did sit-ups, push-ups, they picked coconuts from trees, played basket ball, went swimming & more.   

The audience called out numbers, and the monkey in the picture above was able to pick up the tile with the number on it without looking at the number.  When he was done, they called Boy 3 up to do it....sadly he wasn't as good at it as the monkey.  L

Next up, the SNAKE farm & show!!

Now really, is that necessary?

Girl watching the show...she sat as far away as possible - which wasn't very far.

After a fun filled 'animal' day we headed for Karon Beach in Phuket to cool off!  (The hotel in the background of the photo of Hubby and I is the one we stayed in.)

We finished our day off with cheap beer and a cheap 1 hour long foot massage!!

First we woke up to a very nice breakfast buffet at our hotel....

Then we went pool hopping & ate pool side.

We had a nice walk on the beach.

Next we had an awesome Thai meal for 6 at a local restaurant with cocktails for just under $30 USD.

We ended the night with an amazing Thai massage for only 250 bhat - roughly $7USD.

Now that is a great way to start a vacation!

As far as travel days go, we couldn’t have asked for a better one.  The kids were amazing.  We are so blessed.  Our kids have never been the type to act up on an airplane & I am so grateful for that, especially since I had a very LOUD one behind me all the way to Bangkok!!  With that being said, I do believe  the parents or travel partners must help to enable that – we always have the kids pack a backpack (that part is key – have them help with the packing!)  with a few small toys they enjoy playing with, colored pencils and paper, electronics, ie: video games, DVD player with movies they have helped pick out, and snacks, oh how you cannot forget the snacks!  I think my kids consume more food on travel days than any other day of the year.

We left our house at 6:15AM.  We decided to drive to the airport instead of taking the shuttle, the shuttle is nice, but we were afraid it would be packed since it was the first shuttle of the morning on the first day of spring break.  Once in Thailand, we did not arrive to our room until 8:30PM.  It was a LONG day!!  Here are a few pictures from our travel day….

Boy 3 LOVED this 'little' bathroom in the kids zone at the Seoul airport!

Our flight was at 10AM, this was their complementary cocktail selection!  I was very impressed with their selection.  This is what helps one believe that one’s children are great travelers!!  J

Thail Airways has the cutest flight attendants.  I love their uniforms! 

The boys are happy to be in Thailand & off the airplane!! 

Finally - in the lobby of our hote!!

The internet connection is PAINFULLY slow here, so I doubt I will be updating from here anymore....however, you can expect a full report when we return.
 

This is what it looks like to pack for 6 people for 11 days.  Our entire queen size bed was covered!

Tomorrow we head to Thailand - where we will spend over a week sippin' cocktails, playing on the beach, riding elephants, eating Thai food, snorkeling, scuba diving and more! 

See you there!

I told you I am spoiled.  On Tuesday I went to Osan and picked up my 2 new custom made cashmere coats.  The place I order them from is Dark Horse Leather.  I know what you are thinking, but Mr. Chang is a leather and cashmere man. I didn't have a picture to show him what I wanted, so I described what I wanted to him.  While I described, he sketched.  This is the outcome....I love them both!!

I'm standing a little funny in this shot - it kind of looks like I need to go potty.  This is one way to wear it...

And another.  I LOVE the collar!

And the backside...

Next up, the white one....

Another cool collar.

Check it out, this is how I buy my garlic.

Not only is it peeled, but it is cheap!  I got all of this for 1,000 won...around 70 cents.

I am spoiled in so many ways.