August 11 - Packing? Who needs to pack? LET'S EAT!

I was planning on packing today. Geoff informed me this morning that we'd have the Delta van(with Peter the driver) available to us. So much for packing.

We went to Geoff's favorite restaurant in all of Thailand. It's down by the water. On the way we pass fish farms. There's no "city plumbing".
Houses are on stilts. Flush the toilet by dumping water into the toilet from the rain barrel. Homes have large clay pots to catch rain water for home use. At the restaurant... When you first walk in, take off your shoes and put on a pair of slippers at the door. There's toys for the kids to stay entertained. It gets chilly with all the strong bay breeze so the restaurant keeps long sleeve shirts and light jackets on hangers for guests to borrow.

While you're watching the tide come in you're entertained by the lung fish and crabs in the mud below.
It's comfy, casual, and of course... The food ROCKS!







After that we stop by a market an pick up dessert. It's sweet coconut grilled in banana leaves. YUMMMMMMMM. We should've bought more. I could've eaten that all night long... ok, it's good that we didn't buy more. We have a few other sweets and smoked buko(young coconut) juice. People are STARING at us BIG TIME!

We visit another striking wat.










Finally we meet Jack and Ying and their niece and nephew for a kick butt dinner. It's going to be sooooo hard to enjoy Thai food restaurants in the States after having the real deal. I'm beyond words. The kindness and hospitality is endless!

The restaurant is practically floating. It's in a neighborhood equivalent of Orange County. Live music, private karaoke rooms, and water features are ALL OVER the place. Unfortunately Felicia did get a small 2nd degree burn when she grabbed on to a light. But she got over it pretty well. It was a spotlight for one of the waterfalls. There's also lots of coy and the kids are having fun feeding them. It tickles me that in the photo you can see my kids have finally learned the "Asian squat". Sitting... without really sitting :o)

August 4 - Maybe not so magical of a day

Today's plans for an uneventful day sure ended with a bang, or a wheeze.

Today we just go out to eat for lunch and catch our reserved van to get from Kowloon to Lantau Island where we'll spend 2 nights at Disney's Hollywood Hotel and do 2 days in the park. (They were having a stay 2 nights get a 2nd day in the park for free promotion)

I'd made the reservation on the phone a few weeks ago after several failed online attempts. Well... it turns out that the "park view" rooms I reserved and requested as "connecting" can't be HAD as "connecting" because NONE OF THEM ARE CONNECTED. A SMALL detail that would've been helpful during the reservation process. Oh! and of course, there are no connecting rooms available. So blah, blah, blah.... we'll just cope. We're glad to be in a room where the kids can veg in front of more innocent cartoons in the English language(so that they'll actually stay parked in front of the TV long enough for me & G to take a break/nap).

Now here we go...

T-boy is having a bronchiospasm episode that's not responding to his inhaler. We all go downstairs to try and eat but T-boy's just getting worse. Geoff goes to the front desk to see if there's a doctor. The front desk manager calls him a taxi to go to the Adventist Hospital. I'm at the cafe with 2 trays of food and drink and 3 kids... we need to go to the room. I can't keep them corralled. Wonderfully there's a "cast member" who sees me trying to manipulate 2 trays of food and drink and 3 kids and helps us up to our room. In the elevator I vent some of my stress about Turner... He responds "Oh, you're in room -insert our room # here-." He was one of the staff members helping G get the hospital trip together.

Once I get the kids fed and settled I get a call... I'm hoping its' G but it's the front desk manager. She tells me that if there's anything they can do to help to let her know. She's also asking me if I have any new news. I suppose that when you've got a Disney resort management position you need to know if there's a case of bird-flu at your hotel.

I finally hear from G. They're spending the night and T-boy will have IV medication. I respond, "Wha!? What about a nebulizer?" We're in Hong Kong(China)... they don't do nebulizers because of SARS. G and T-boy have also gotten the quarantine treatment once the staff discovered we'd come from Thailand... bird-flu-fear.

Well... at the least the other kids got to watch the fireworks from the hotel room. The TV read them a few bedtime stories... and we all eventually went to sleep.

... Here's where I wish we could ALL breathe a sigh of relief.

Geoff says to go ahead to the park with the other kids tomorrow. I feel off about it... but it makes sense... certainly no sense in staying cooped up in a hotel room with 3 kids.

Tonight, the luggage gets a treat... its own hotel room with a view of the park.

June 18 - Thainakarin Hospital

So we wake up and realize we have no phone or DSL. I walk over to the Villa Arcadia office to try and communicate our loss of communications. I think I did it. A little later in the morning a grumpy, crusty, ole telco guy and a lovely, helpful woman arrive to check out our phone/DSL issues. Turns out that water leaks into the wall and we need to get a new assembly to where the phone and router plug in upstairs. Crusty guy says we should go ahead and get two. A job for Thai-speaking-Geoff. Add that to the to-do list for the day.

People-wise... Cam's fungal rash doesn't seem to be getting better. So, instead of taking him to the same hospital, G takes Cam to Thainakarin (recommended by the lovely, helpful woman). OK... it's a staph bacterial infection, impetigo. This time Geoff leaves with a small bottle of Betadine, more topical antibacterial, anti-itch syrup, and Cloxacillin. All (except the anti-itch) to be applied or taken FOUR TIMES A DAY! The Cloxacillin does NOT taste or smell good.

oh boy... it's going to be a fun 60 ml... 5 ml at at time.

OK... Read at your own risk.

Earlier this month both Geoff and I suffered from travellers toilet issues. Luckily, Geoff didn't need the Zithromax like I did but it did leave him with other issues. Issues that required the marvels of modern technology and medical intervention.

So, I take a digital picture of Geoff from a most undignified angle and we email the photo to Geoff's doctor in Baltimore. Next morning, Geoff gets to experience the joys of going to 3 different pharmacies to find the Thai equivalent of Anusol-HC. To top it off, the driver needs to go in with him to all 3 pharmacies to help translate. Yeah, real low key. I'll leave that photo out of the blog.

But man! you got to love the miracle of the Internet and digital cameras.

Hmmm... after the Cam-hospital experience, maybe a hospital experience would've been the better way to go.

Anyhoo... we're getting on a plane tomorrow(where Geoff's recovered rear will get to sit for 2.5 hours) to spend the weekend in Singapore.

Until we return...

June 12 - The Sikarin Hotel/Hospital

Cam's managed to pick up a rash on his scalp. By the looks of it... it's spreading like some sort of fungal problem. So, after letting it go for too long we get him checked out by a doctor.

I'm not sure about this, but people here don't typically have a "primary care physician"; they just go to the hospital. So, Geoff took Cam to the hosital.

GOOD GOLLY!

When he came back only 1.5 hours later all he kept saying was, "It was like being at a hotel!". When the driver pulled up, hospital staff were there to open the door and carry the diaper bag for him. Geoff didn't even carry the diaper bag! So, in the 1.5 hours: Transit to hospital, check-in/ID card registration, visit with doctor, get prescriptions for fungal skin issue, transit back home. All of this for less than USD $20! In the states, MY COPAY FOR THE DOCTOR VISIT *ALONE* IS $25!

Geoff kept comparing the hospital trip with his previous stays at the Novotel Hotel in Thailand. Geoff's friend Jack says that this isn't even one of the "better" hospitals.

I'm reminded of story of Geoff's friend's visit to Thailand. After a food poisoning issue Geoff's friend needed to go to the hospital to get a shot in the rear. ...after they stuck him, they rubbed/massaged the sore spot. Full service.

Two words everyone... medical tourism.

June 2 - My good buddy... azithromycin

OK... It’s just not our week.

1st – Felicia’s sick, coughing… which means puking.

2nd – Food poisoning for me (So glad Geoff could leave the plant early and find that Z-Pack for me)

3rd – It must be fruit fly season… in the house?!?

April 19 - Traditional Thai Massaaarrghh!

It was overcast this morning so I took the boys to the playground at the end of our street. It was their second visit to this playground and Ronan was very excited to go on the see-saw. They’d never seen/used one before Thailand. Boy that brought back memories. It took Turner about 37 seconds to learn that if he jumps up real hard it makes for a less that pleasant ride for his 10 pound lighter younger brother. It took Turner another 15 seconds to learn that if he keeps see-sawing too hard he slides forward off the seat onto the bar and has an unpleasant ride for himself.

Then later in the morning we hired a housekeeper to come in once a week and clean the house. I’m sooooo not in my comfort zone. However, with every child that’s blessed our lives, I‘ve learned to let go of my control freaked-ness a little more…. I think I can get adjusted to Pia cleaning my house :o) She starts in a week.

After that I had my 1st Thai massage at Healthland Spa.
A few things I’ve learned from the experience:

- You can get a 2 hour traditional Thai massage for $12!

- I need to stretch before the massage.

- Look out! That little Thai woman giving you a massage will TAKE YOU OUT with just her thumbs.

- My calf muscles are NOT strong enough to withstand a Thai massage.

- Two hours goes quickly when you don’t have 4 kids around.

April 16 - Hey neighbors!

All 4 kids have varying degrees of hives. It’s the new sun-block SPF 50 that we tried on them yesterday. How do you say Benadryl in Thai?

On a brighter note, we met an English speaking neighbor. Lek has got to be one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Thailand is FULL of Leks. Everyone has been very friendly and kind. Great people!

But as far as labor goes, it seems that Thai labor is very cheap. For example… At the Tesco/Lotus (think Mega-Wal-Mart) there was a girl assigned to every section of the store. Literally… there was a girl assigned to the 10 feet of aisle space for cereal. Every time we removed a box, she was there to move the next box forward. At the department store there was a salesperson at EVERY table of the children’s section.

Tonight Geoff bought a bottle of “Thai whiskey” (The bottle reads R-U-M) for the Taxi folks who were hanging out at the local convenience shack. What started as a walk to the corner store (corrugated shack) to pick up a few beers turned into a 2 hour $10 hang out with a few locals. Geoff bought the bottle of rum and a couple packs of cigarettes from “Madam” who runs the shack. Madam and her man were anxious for the Farang(Geoff) and the Taxi drivers to leave because after they close shop they roll out the Thai equivalent of the “baneg” (mat) and sleep on the floor. He got to practice his Thai and get to know a few neighbors. One of the guys kept pushing to go home with Geoff to keep drinking and hangin out. Geoff wasn’t having it and Taxi guy got the message… It’s nice to have the peace of mind that comes with living in a security-guarded, gated community.
Geoff and Narong

April 14 - How are his pupils?

So Cam’s had a few incidents in the house… The one that left the biggest mark was the header off the couch into the stone topped coffee table.