Last few pics from Hua Hin

Here's a collection of pics from our week in Hua Hin. Just random stuff that we got up to and saw.

.

There were 3 little kittens ... they were being hand feed because the mother cat seemed to be very busy with another cat! I suspect there might be another litter of kittens on the way!

We went a couple of times to Village Market which was a big shopping mall. The first time we went we had lunch at a pizza restaurant (very expensive!), the second time we had dinner at the food court (very cheap!) heheee Outside the mall they had the usual Christmas display all lit up, so we did the tourist thing and took some photos.

Our first trip home in a tuk tuk was very exciting for the kids - the driver drove fast and had a stereo system which he turned up very loud ... I think Lady Gaga's music is taking over the world!! Aaron loved it, Maddison bobbed to the music and you'll see what Samuel did below :-)

.

So every time we went to order a tuk tuk Aaron requested the music one hehee Here he is waiting for it to arrive!
The fact it was pink was high in Maddison's favour as well!
Flashing neon light ... wonderful things at keeping tired little boys mesmerized. :-)
One afternoon the others all went for a swim at the beach while Samuel had a sleep and this lady came trying to sell them tee-shirts! I mean seriously, who has paper money tucked into their swimming togs!!!
Love these next two pics of Aaron & Maddison having a little discussion while heading back to our apartment. Maddison obviously has some sand on her feet she's trying to brush off heehe

While we've been away this little guy has been sooooo good during the day (night time is a different story). He's been cutting 4 teeth (doesn't do things in half measures does he!). This time the ice in my drink had holes in the middle, so I put a straw through a piece and held it so he could suck it. He thought it was pretty good.
There was a Thai restaurant just down the street from our apartment. We had takeaways from there a couple of times and when my cousin and his family came down for the weekend we ate there ... our tables were on the footpath!

.

This was the sign ... fancy calling your restaurant "Bird Bird"!

All the cooking was done in this little shack!
This was the view from the street.
We wondered what was in these bottles at every little dairy type place we saw. My cousin said it was petrol for motorbikes! hehehee
The power lines were so interesting! So many, so tangled, hanging all over the place, very messy! It seemed to be the norm to have vines (dead or alive) and trees all over them.
This is probably one of the tidier power poles we saw!!
On our way back to Bangkok on Tuesday we passed this truck loaded with stuff and people. The guy on the motorbike on the back was asleep!!
3 headed elephant statute.
The motorways are just amazing here - huge!

So that's our time in Hua Hin. I will update another day with pics from our time in Bangkok. This afternoon we are heading back to KL.

.

Wishing you all a very happy new year for 2011. :-)

.

Thanks for visiting.

Hua Hin Elephant Park

Last week while we were in Hua Hin we went to an Elephant Park. The kids really enjoyed it, although later on Aaron told us that we went to the wrong place because the elephants didn't ride a scooter! heheee (He'd seen a picture of it on a pamphlet so obviously thought that was what he was going to see!)

.

When we first got there we were allowed to hold and feed a baby tiger (about 1 and a half months old) for a few minutes. Just gorgeous :-)

There was also a little baby Gibbon ... so cute with his nappy on! He was very playful as well. Both Aaron and Maddison said they wanted to take him home!

This lovely Macaw kept the kids entertained for ages as well.
Then we went on an elephant ride. It took about an hour. VERY interesting experience and not something I would like to do everyday all day! A weird feeling being up so high on an old bus seat tied to an elephant! Didn't feel very secure! ;-) I went with Aunty Ruth and had Samuel in the front pack and he slept for a lot of the way.
It was so hot we were glad of the umbrella (which had problems staying up until the elephant rider stuck a nail up along side it! I don't know why they didn't just buy a new one as it had that many patches in it!)
Grandma and Maddison went together.
And Lyndon and Aaron :-) The rider got off and took some photos of them and Aaron was allowed to "drive" the elephant :-)

After the ride we watched an elephant show. A couple of elephants did some painting.
I actually purchased this one - it also has red flowers on it too. :-)
Then they asked for volunteers to "enjoy" an elephant massage!!!! One man did and then Mum decided to as well since no-one else was.She had to lay on her tummy and the elephant stroked with her trunk then did some "stomping"! I laughed at the elephant's expression while she was doing that hehee
The poor man who volunteered had to lie on his back and he got some major stroking from the elephants trunk around his groin and then the elephant stomped on his tummy!!! He was laughing when he got up though so he must have enjoyed it heheehee ;-)

.

They played some soccer.

and basketball.
And the cheeky elephant in the red kept moving the net on the blue elephant! Aaron said the red one was very naughty and it wasn't fair!! ;-)
After each activity the elephants came up to the audience for a snack. We had a bunch of bananas each to give them.
We also watched a snake & crocodile show. It wasn't that exciting (just my opinion) ... This guy had 3 cobra's out which still had their venom and was giving them each a kiss!! (no thanks!)
The crocodile show was so cheesy! These two guys came out and dragged the crocs out of the water by their tails and put them where they wanted them to be so they could do their 'stunts'!!

Guy in blue was a nutter ... he went away back then ran and slid down on his tummy right up to the croc and gave it a kiss!
Such a showman!
The kids got to feed some baby goats.
And the fish ... whatever next! Feeding fish with baby bottles! The fish seriously sucked the bottle, I have never seen the likes before.
So now the kids are requesting we have baby goats, baby tigers, a baby Gibbon and a baby 'eledent' (Maddison's term) as pets!! Maddison says the "baby eledent with the bell on his neck". And Aaron says "we need the baby goats, and tigers, and monkey and elephant cause we need them at home!" RIGHT!! Can you just imagine the security at our condo if we arrived home with all those animals in tow ... particularly the "eledent"!! hehehee

.

Thanks for visiting. I'll be back another day with more updates. :-)

.

Hua Hin ...

We have just spent a week in Hua Hin in Thailand :-) It was wonderful and I wish we had longer! Unfortunately we didn't have internet access at the place we stayed, so I am updating this now we have arrived in Bangkok.

.

Last Tuesday (21st Dec) we were up VERY early to catch a taxi to Central Station, then we jumped on a bus to go to the LCCT airport. Here's the kids waiting in the lift lobby on their trunkies!

On the bus at Bangkok airport - we got off the plane onto this bus which took us to the terminal (thank goodness we didn't have to walk as it was nearly a 10 minute bus ride!!!!!) Samuel was fast asleep in the front pack :-)
Lyndon had organised a driver to take us to our apartment in Hua Hin - about a 3 hour drive. Very nice van with dvd player! So the kids were VERY quiet the whole journey hehee
We found this place on line and it was just awesome. Apartment blocks both sides (about 300 apartments at a guess I didn't do an actual count!) and down between was a series of pools which were all connected. It was beautiful. They went right down to the beach as well! This first pic is taken near the top end and there are 2 pools behind me. Just past that bridge is the water slide which Aaron absolutely loved! :-)
Down at the beach end looking back towards the apartments.
I went to the top of our apartment block one day and tried to get an overall picture, but wasn't very successful. Anyway you get a bit of an idea ... and you can see the sea in the background.
We arrived late Tuesday afternoon and once we had settled in and unpacked our stuff, had a quick look around we decided to go for a walk and find some food. Just across the road there was this great market. We were so pleased we went because we didn't realise until the next day that its only on Tuesdays!

.

Here's some pics for my New Zealand readers heehee ;-)

.

Fish & flies ...
Crabs tied with rubber bands.
This stand specialised in catfish - still flopping in the bucket! You could buy them live, have them cut, or smoked/cooked on the coals. (we passed on that thanks!)
Lots of fruit & veg stands.
Pork belly strips, frogs (with their bellies hanging out and their legs crossed!), and more catfish.
Pigs heads ... flies optional.
Fresh pork bellies with raisins hehehee
We didn't buy any fresh meat! But we did buy some chicken & rice from this lady. It was very nice.
We really enjoyed the pools, especially the water slide. I have some bruises to prove it!
Samuel "talking" about it all hehee
Our little mermaid!
3 little early risers!! No sleepins on holiday with this lot I tell you! This particular morning they were all up at 5.30am! Yawn yawn.

So much more to show & tell, but I will save it for another post. It's late and we've had a busy day, packing up, travelling up to Bangkok and a huge walk to a market that doesn't exist anymore! hahaa :-)

.

Thanks for visiting and I will apologise in advance for not visiting your blog this week! I think I will be doing a catch up when I get back home.