Today I woke up and decided that I was sick of being stuck inside with no wheels. I asked the Manager to book me the Hotels car and driver for a few hours. It costs about 800baht. Not too bad, but not great. Anyway I packed up the kids with enough food and milk and headed down. They have a Isuzu version of what we call a Hilux, nice and big. I popped the kids car seats in the back, as they don't have the safety bolts to attach them to I had to make do with just using the seat belts to keep them in place. I have a special clip and keeps them fairly tight. Not perfect but much safer than sitting on my lap. Then after about 5 people helped me, there seem to be staff everywhere when I show up with the kids. The young Thai lady hopped in to drive and within about 2 secs I realised she was shit scared of the huge 4WD and had no idea. I would rather be in a car going 130kms down the highway than with someone who cant even stay in her lane doing 50kms! I was super nervous. More so when she couldn't find the indicators and kept turning on the windscreen wipers. I had to show her what to do. After about 20mins of back streets I was praying she knew where she was going. She took a wrong turn and ended up on a dirt road at a dead end. As the car was so big I knew without a doubt she wouldn't be able to turn us around without putting us in the ditch on the side of the road. I asked her kindly, to try and save face, if she would like me to reverse the car. And thankfully she said yes quite eagerly. I had us out of there in a flash and when I stopped to let her drive again she said "excuse me madam, you drive, you drive". Thank God! I said yes very quickly and told her to tell me where to go and we got the hell out of there and back on the highway. I was impressed with myself. Doing an illegal U turn on the motorway with heaps of cars. trucks and motorbikes whizzing by was interesting but I just had to put my foot down and do it. It was pretty simple after that. The girl kept giggling at how silly the situation was as she was being paid to be my driver. But I didn't care, I would always prefer to be the person driving. I was happy for her to be my guide, it gave me an idea if I had the confidence to drive in this crazy country. Once we got to our destination, The Big C (our version of Big W but with groceries) I reversed parked as I knew she wouldn't be able to reverse it out of the car park. She gave me her number to call her when I was finished shopping. Too easy.
This is where the fun started. Without Marcus to make me second guess my purchases I went down all the isles and bought whatever I thought to be necessary. Then I went straight to the electronic section and bought a toaster and a DVD player as Judd has been nagging and nagging to watch cartoons and our cable TV doesn't have any. So for 650baht ($33) I got us a nice little player that plays all sorts of stuff and has all these features I will probably never use. I then tried to find some swim nappies for Lillie. They don't have them here! I have been avoiding taking her in the pool without a swim nappy in case she does a big poo, which lately she has several a day due to the new food and formula she is on. I took her for a swim a few days back with her normal nappy on and by the time we got out it had literally exploded and little jelly beads where all through the water, all over her and me. I quickly got out of there before the pool lady saw. Oops.
So back to the no nappy situation. What do the Thais do? Do they just let their babies piss and shit all through their pools? Yuck. Our New Zealand friend told us of a local store 5 Min's from here that sells Vegemite so I will see if they have some, otherwise Lillie will just have to free ball.
Of course I had to buy Judd another toy. He has been getting one everyday since we arrived, do you think I am setting myself up for alot of tantrums by turning him into a toy monster? All you mums out there are nodding aren't you? I will rein it all in once we are settled down more, it is only our first week.
After I spent over 3000baht I decided to leave and find some food and there was a KFC. Yum! It is just like McDonald's but with more chicken. Their chips are like McDonald's french fries. Judd was happy though, he hasn't had any junk since we left Aust. I was so proud of him the other night, he ate a spring roll. I hope he learns to eat Thai, it will make life so much easier and less fattening for him too. Not that I worried about him being fat, but trying to find western food for him is expensive and not very healthy.
Once we found our driver she helped me load the shopping and then handed me the keys again. Too funny. I was happy to. About half way she asked me to pull over on a back street so we could swap, she didn't want her boss to see me driving. I totally understood, I was going to suggest that anyway. I would hate to get her fired or something.
It was such a rewarding day. I learnt I could shop without help, I can drive as long as I have a good navigator and I also saw alot more 'farangs' (western people) too, which made me feel so much more relaxed. I was starting to feel very alone out here away from all the hot tourist spots.
Marcus will be relieved, I think he is a bit worried about my mental situation here, he knows I am very independent and hate sitting around doing nothing.
You know the saying "happy wife, happy life". How true that is.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Day by day it gets better.
Well yesterday was much better. We are back into our normal routine. I had to get the kids out of the apartment more for my sanity than for them. There were workers fixing something a few doors down and they were so noisy it was driving me crazy. So we packed up the pram and headed down to the picnic area at the front of the building. Sitting in the shade with the cool breeze was lovely. The gardeners and cleaning ladies came over to talk to the kids. They have learnt their names now and the kids recognise them a bit better. Judd even waves hello to people when they walk by and when we walk out of the elevator he gives a great big HELLO to the ladies at the front desk. We have been here less than a week and he has won everyone over. Lillie achieved that the first day, all she had to do was smile and bust out those cute little dimples and people just go all gooey. I tried to pay the rent at the bank too, slightly successful. I found a man to speak English and he gave me the right information, but it was our bank back in Aust. that let me down. They don't transfer money to Thailand banks. So back down I went to the font desk and paid with VISA but had to add a 5% surcharge, which on a large amount like that worked out to be an extra $200! That was what we were trying to avoid. But we can't live here for free.
After Marcus came home from work we took the kids down to the pool for a swim and we got to talking to the nice New Zealand man again. He is good to get information off, he has even offered to show us around a bit too. So a couple of Vodkas and some dinner later I was all nice and relaxed. That lasted for about 5 Min's as Lillie decided she wanted to crack the shits, so I lugged everything back down the huge, temple like steps and ended my night. Marcus hung around a bit more, which I was cool with as I want him to get as much local information as he can. I did get a nice perk when I turned on the TV though. Sex and the City the movie was on, YAY! My favourite. As all my DVDs are still stuck in customs I was starting to have withdrawals. The TV here is quite bad and to pay for more channels it is very expensive, compared to what we pay in Aust. Funny that. Unfortunately I must have fallen asleep as I woke up later and some other crap was on. Ah well, not too much longer and our stuff will be out of customs, if not I will just have to slip someone some money to try just that little bit harder for me. LOL!
After Marcus came home from work we took the kids down to the pool for a swim and we got to talking to the nice New Zealand man again. He is good to get information off, he has even offered to show us around a bit too. So a couple of Vodkas and some dinner later I was all nice and relaxed. That lasted for about 5 Min's as Lillie decided she wanted to crack the shits, so I lugged everything back down the huge, temple like steps and ended my night. Marcus hung around a bit more, which I was cool with as I want him to get as much local information as he can. I did get a nice perk when I turned on the TV though. Sex and the City the movie was on, YAY! My favourite. As all my DVDs are still stuck in customs I was starting to have withdrawals. The TV here is quite bad and to pay for more channels it is very expensive, compared to what we pay in Aust. Funny that. Unfortunately I must have fallen asleep as I woke up later and some other crap was on. Ah well, not too much longer and our stuff will be out of customs, if not I will just have to slip someone some money to try just that little bit harder for me. LOL!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thais love kids.
Well, day 2 alone was slightly better. Lillie seems to be calming down and getting used to the apartment. Much to my relief, at least now I can move around and find things to do. Sitting holding her all day, although can be nice, is a bit of a strain. We ventured out alone too. We went for a walk down to the 7/11 to get some milk. Of course I bought Judd a new toy, anything to keep him busy. This time we bought an outside toy so we can go play on the grass area near the pool instead of being stuck in the apartment.
The poor kid though, we were walking back from the shops and everyone was staring at us as usual. A lady came out of the bank and saw Judd, picked him up and took him inside to show her colleagues. He of course started screaming which I totally understood. The Thais seem to think its OK to grab a strangers kid and wander off. Twice now it has happened to Judd. The first time we were eating at the local restaurant and the waiter came and took his hand and they walked off. I made Marcus follow. He didn't understand why I wanted him to though. I mean a total stranger just walks off with your child and he expects me to just sit there and hope he comes back! It turned out he just wanted to show Judd the waterfall by the pool. They were back within a few minutes, but still made my heart jump. Then when the lady took him off into the bank, I was OK coz I could still see him clearly, but he got very upset. It must be so hard on the kids to have all these strangers come up to you and touch you. Something cute though at the shop happened. The lady behind the counter asked Judd for a kiss on the cheek and he so innocently leaned up and gave her one! I had to smile. He is so sweet and gentle. I didn't mind him giving the lady a little kiss, it wasn't like she was some street beggar or something and since we are there everyday (because there is nothing else to do) they are getting to know the kids a little bit.
We had another shopping trip last night too. I realised I was out of baby food so we had to ask our Thai friend to drive us the 20 Min's to the nearest shopping center. These places are crazy busy. And of course we stood out like giants. I was happy to find Lillie's usual baby food and formula so we stocked up for the week and got the kids out of there. On the drive home (while I hung on for dear life to the "jesus handle") We could see sparks coming off a motorbike ahead of us, we thought it must be breaking down, but as we got closer we saw it was on fire, but then on even closer inspection we saw it was a bike with a bucket on the side of it with an actual fire still burning inside! The sparks we saw were the coals blowing out as he rode along the highway! Crazy!
Honestly I don't think the Thais sleep. The place is always busy with people coming and going. The shops are crazy and there is always music and motorbikes whizzing everywhere. I think I will be looking for a house within a quieter community and somewhere where the locals are a little bit more used to 'farangs'.
Today I am going to try and pay the rent at the local bank, I just hope someone there speaks some English.
The poor kid though, we were walking back from the shops and everyone was staring at us as usual. A lady came out of the bank and saw Judd, picked him up and took him inside to show her colleagues. He of course started screaming which I totally understood. The Thais seem to think its OK to grab a strangers kid and wander off. Twice now it has happened to Judd. The first time we were eating at the local restaurant and the waiter came and took his hand and they walked off. I made Marcus follow. He didn't understand why I wanted him to though. I mean a total stranger just walks off with your child and he expects me to just sit there and hope he comes back! It turned out he just wanted to show Judd the waterfall by the pool. They were back within a few minutes, but still made my heart jump. Then when the lady took him off into the bank, I was OK coz I could still see him clearly, but he got very upset. It must be so hard on the kids to have all these strangers come up to you and touch you. Something cute though at the shop happened. The lady behind the counter asked Judd for a kiss on the cheek and he so innocently leaned up and gave her one! I had to smile. He is so sweet and gentle. I didn't mind him giving the lady a little kiss, it wasn't like she was some street beggar or something and since we are there everyday (because there is nothing else to do) they are getting to know the kids a little bit.
We had another shopping trip last night too. I realised I was out of baby food so we had to ask our Thai friend to drive us the 20 Min's to the nearest shopping center. These places are crazy busy. And of course we stood out like giants. I was happy to find Lillie's usual baby food and formula so we stocked up for the week and got the kids out of there. On the drive home (while I hung on for dear life to the "jesus handle") We could see sparks coming off a motorbike ahead of us, we thought it must be breaking down, but as we got closer we saw it was on fire, but then on even closer inspection we saw it was a bike with a bucket on the side of it with an actual fire still burning inside! The sparks we saw were the coals blowing out as he rode along the highway! Crazy!
Honestly I don't think the Thais sleep. The place is always busy with people coming and going. The shops are crazy and there is always music and motorbikes whizzing everywhere. I think I will be looking for a house within a quieter community and somewhere where the locals are a little bit more used to 'farangs'.
Today I am going to try and pay the rent at the local bank, I just hope someone there speaks some English.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Roosters!
Well my fist day alone with the kids in Thailand was not a success. Lillie has become very clingy and wont let me put her down. I don't think she is sick as she is still sleeping all night. Maybe she is jet lagged or something. They both seem to be still on Melbourne time. The roosters that live over the back of our building seem to be on Melbourne time too. 4.30am they started up this morning. Luckily the kids didn't hear them until just before 6.00 but that it still to early for my liking.
I got very frustrated with myself and both the kids through out the day, I lost my temper a fair bit. They are bored and they don't have anything that is familiar for them. Their beds are different, they don't have their toys and their favorite TV shows aren't on. There aren't any kids cartoons on our TV which is a bit disappointing. I never realised how much I use the TV as a babysitter.
We met a nice New Zealand man by the pool yesterday and he was telling us of some nice Australian and British expat communities a little further away from here, but still within driving distance to Marcus' work. He said he could take us out there and show us the Australian pub as well.
As much as I would like to experience the Thai lifestyle, I think we will have to go about it slowly. We don't know any of the language at all and simple things like paying the rent is turning out to be quite difficult. And I don't want to live out of a 7/11 the entire time we are here either.
I did however have a small success with a Thai ATM, I freaked out at first as it was all in Thai but I soon found the English button and it was so easy. I was very proud of myself for that small achievement. At least I know how to get access to money.
I think I was a bit deluded in my thinking of how we would be living over here. I pictured white sandy beaches, lots of swimming and relaxing by the pools. Wasn't I wrong, we are smack in the middle of a industrial park surrounded by factories, apartment blocks and weird rooster farms. If I stay inside I can pretend I am somewhere lovely, but as soon as I go out onto the balcony the reality hits me pretty hard. I know we will find somewhere nice and calm to live and I guess we will just have to bunk down here for a few weeks to get acclimatised then head out and start checking out where all the nice spots are.
I think it will be alot easier when we get a car. I was hoping Marcus would have a couple of days off before starting work to check things out with us and settle down a bit. But it seems they have alot of work to do so I am left to hang out in our apartment with 2 bored and frustrated kids. Its not an easy thing for me to do, I am so used to just popping the kids in the car and heading off to where ever we feel like going. Some people would say, "Relax and enjoy it". And trust me I would like to but when there is crap on the TV and no DVD player its a bit hard. I cant read a book as the kids don't let me. I will just have to get creative and think of some new ideas to entertain ourselves. Lets hope today is slightly better.
I got very frustrated with myself and both the kids through out the day, I lost my temper a fair bit. They are bored and they don't have anything that is familiar for them. Their beds are different, they don't have their toys and their favorite TV shows aren't on. There aren't any kids cartoons on our TV which is a bit disappointing. I never realised how much I use the TV as a babysitter.
We met a nice New Zealand man by the pool yesterday and he was telling us of some nice Australian and British expat communities a little further away from here, but still within driving distance to Marcus' work. He said he could take us out there and show us the Australian pub as well.
As much as I would like to experience the Thai lifestyle, I think we will have to go about it slowly. We don't know any of the language at all and simple things like paying the rent is turning out to be quite difficult. And I don't want to live out of a 7/11 the entire time we are here either.
I did however have a small success with a Thai ATM, I freaked out at first as it was all in Thai but I soon found the English button and it was so easy. I was very proud of myself for that small achievement. At least I know how to get access to money.
I think I was a bit deluded in my thinking of how we would be living over here. I pictured white sandy beaches, lots of swimming and relaxing by the pools. Wasn't I wrong, we are smack in the middle of a industrial park surrounded by factories, apartment blocks and weird rooster farms. If I stay inside I can pretend I am somewhere lovely, but as soon as I go out onto the balcony the reality hits me pretty hard. I know we will find somewhere nice and calm to live and I guess we will just have to bunk down here for a few weeks to get acclimatised then head out and start checking out where all the nice spots are.
I think it will be alot easier when we get a car. I was hoping Marcus would have a couple of days off before starting work to check things out with us and settle down a bit. But it seems they have alot of work to do so I am left to hang out in our apartment with 2 bored and frustrated kids. Its not an easy thing for me to do, I am so used to just popping the kids in the car and heading off to where ever we feel like going. Some people would say, "Relax and enjoy it". And trust me I would like to but when there is crap on the TV and no DVD player its a bit hard. I cant read a book as the kids don't let me. I will just have to get creative and think of some new ideas to entertain ourselves. Lets hope today is slightly better.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Esmondes are in Thailand
Well what a crazy couple of days we have had.
Lets start at the beginning.
Thursday morning we had to work like crazy to get all our furniture out of the house and clean it before handing over the keys to our real estate agent. We argued and got majorly stressed out. I have never seen Marcus work so fast, however he did forget simple things like taking the keys to access the storage room, twice! He didn't stop though, not even to eat McDonald's, he swallowed it whole and kept going. At the end of the day as we were leaving our old life behind I wanted to take a moment and say goodbye with the kids to our home, the only one Judd and Lillie have known. But Marcus was so keen to get moving I barely had time to shut the car door before he was reversing down the driveway.
However once we got to the airport it was much easier and our stress levels dropped dramatically. We we said our final goodbyes to friends and family and got some much needed sleep.
Friday morning, D Day. We were up and raring to go. We piled our luggage trolleys high with what essentially was our whole life packed into 3 suitcases and 5 carry ons. The babies portacot and their car seats. We looked like gypsies. Surprisingly we checked our luggage and we weren't even charged a cent for excess! This was great, I spent many hours the day before unpacking and packing to make sure we weren't over the 20kg allowed to each case and try as I might, I just could not get it any lighter. How do you ask someone to reduce their life into a 20kg suitcase?
I advise anyone who wants to travel, do it with a baby! We got preferential treatment everywhere, we boarded first, got the best seats with extra leg room. They saved our meals for us when we couldn't eat because the baby was climbing all over the place. It made our trip much less painful and I am very grateful for it. We flew with Singapore Airlines on the new A380. Great plane, huge, we barely felt the thing take off.
Lillie was a big hit with the staff and passengers. We even had some Thai ladies pick her up in the airport lounge and take turns having their photos taken with her like she was some sort of Hollywood celebrity. So funny. She was just looking at them like they were mad. Poor Judd had to start doing tricks to get some attention. He is usually the one in the spotlight, but as he is not a baby anymore the Thais seem to go straight to chubby little Lillie. Even staff at the hotels would stop and pick her up and even just walking past they would stop and give her arm a little rub, like a lucky charm or something. Of course it has gone straight to her head, she is very cheeky and demanding now. I will have a real little diva on my hands if this keeps up.
Once we landed in Bangkok after a brief stop over in Singapore, we sailed through immigration, which surprised us as we are intending to live here for at least 12 months. I was expecting some sort of questioning. But nope, we just got a big smile and "welcome to Thailand".
Collecting our luggage was another matter. As Judd was asleep in the pram and Lillie was wiggling and squirming in her sling on my hip, Marcus had to gather all of our bags and car seats then pile them up onto 2 trolleys which he then had to push both through customs, he looked like a twit but at least it made us laugh. The lovely customs official just smiled and waved us through, I even asked him if he wanted to put our stuff through the xray. Amazing.
And just like that we had made it to Thailand to begin our new expat adventure.
We wandered outside after meeting with our friend, Mr Thailand. And we hadn't even walked 10 steps when we saw a sign for a shuttle bus straight to our hotel. What luck, Marcus could barely push the 2 trolleys without crashing and I was already sweating like mad. Within minutes we had all our bags into the bus and we piled in and off we went. The lovely bell boy promised me he would take all our stuff to our room all we had to do was check in.
By now I had just about run out of energy, I purchased a movie on the pay TV for Judd and put the baby to sleep, had a shower and crashed on the bed. Marcus wandered in a little bit later after having a couple of beers in the lobby with Mr Thailand. Poor guy he was exhausted.
Day 2, Saturday 24 July 2010.
Of course Judd woke us all up at dawn, so we got in an early breakfast and a swim in the lovely pool, which of course I forgot to take my camera so I have no photos. I recommend the Novotel to anyone in transit through Bangkok, it is very, very nice. I was just about to waste some time in the lobby shops when our friend Mr Somchai arrived with his 2 cars to take us all to our new apartment in Amata City, about 1 1/2 hours drive. Of course I wasn't ready as we had got a late check out of 2pm so Marcus and the kids were asleep and we had clothes everywhere. After a bit of a rush we once again piled all our stuff into one car and piled all of us into another and we were off again on the final part of our journey. We stopped for a lovely lunch at Laem Chabang Golf Course, a fabulous buffet which costs us about $10 each for all we could eat. Of course I ate way too much. Then back into the car to our apartment, The C House. It is in an industrial area called Amata City. There are alot of factories here of companies from all over the world and of course there needs to be alot of apartments and houses for all the workers as well. Most of the Thais commute from Bangkok and stay during the week then head back to their families on the weekend, but there are a few expats who live around here, and now we are one of them.
Our apartment is lovely, fully serviced daily. Laundry service, full gym, restaurant, daily breakfast and of course a huge pool. It is about 3 years old so everything is still nice and new. We checked in then of course had to go shopping for supplies. So we piled back into the car and drove about 20Min's to Sri Racha to a shopping center, very similar to what we have in Melbourne. We grabbed a trolley and hit the isles. All good, except every 5 steps I had to stop as people wanted to touch and play with Lillie. It was so busy. I was very happy to find that even though most of the products were in Thai I was able to find alot of familiar foods that we used at home. There was Heinz baby food, Milo, coffee, imported cheese from Australia and imported apples from New Zealand. I was so relieved as this was a concern for me as to what I would be able to feed the kids. Ideally I would like them to learn to eat Thai but I know how fussy some kids can be and introducing a new country with new people and a new language is pretty full on for a 3 year old, let alone me, a 30 year old. So much to Marcus' horror I piled the trolley high with groceries and ignored his protests about buying too much. Managing the family and the house is my full time job, so I know exactly what we need and how much of it to buy. In the end after all of our buying, including some new toys, towels and cutlery we didn't even break $300 Aust. Not bad for starting from scratch.
However I must say that everything in Thailand is in miniature form. The yoghurt's are half the size, the drinks are smaller and the bread is tiny compared to what we are used to in Aust. Everything is also very sweet, even the milk is sweetened. The bread is very sweet, I don't particularly like it. But it is our first shop I am sure as time goes on I will learn about the food more and what we like and don't like.
Luckily there is a 7-11 just 2 Min's walk down the road and it stocks all the necessities we need plus more.
I also think there is a child care out the front of the apartment, as it is a long weekend here at the moment I will check it out next week. It will be good to get Judd introduced to some kids early on.
Tonight we will have dinner in the restaurant downstairs, it seems very cheap. A main meal is about $6 Aust. Hopefully its nice, as I can't cook too much here in the apartment as we don't have a microwave or an oven. Just a 2 burner stove. And much to Marcus' horror there isn't a dishwasher. We thought we had no hot water, but we discovered there is only hot water in the master bathtub and in the kids bathroom shower. Unfortunately none in the kitchen so we are stuck boiling water in the kettle which is OK as I have to do it for Lillie anyway. We had a swim in the pool, it is lovely, clean and there is a pool bar as well. We tried to buy some beer but it is Buddhist Day long weekend so the sale of alcohol isn't allowed.
Marcus will start work tomorrow so I will have my first day alone. It is a bummer we don't have our car or driver yet so I am sort of stuck at the apartment. There aren't any shops within walking distance so I will have to keep the kids amused with traditional parenting techniques, DVD's and swimming in the pool. No, honestly I am hoping that living here will force me to connect more with the kids and really try to start focusing on their development and learning. It was starting to become to easy to distract them with trips to the shops or watching a movie or putting them into a childcare to keep them entertained. Now we are alone here with no friends or play dates I will have to take a very active role in being a mum and a sort of kindergarten teacher.
I had better start Googling to get some ideas.
Lets start at the beginning.
Thursday morning we had to work like crazy to get all our furniture out of the house and clean it before handing over the keys to our real estate agent. We argued and got majorly stressed out. I have never seen Marcus work so fast, however he did forget simple things like taking the keys to access the storage room, twice! He didn't stop though, not even to eat McDonald's, he swallowed it whole and kept going. At the end of the day as we were leaving our old life behind I wanted to take a moment and say goodbye with the kids to our home, the only one Judd and Lillie have known. But Marcus was so keen to get moving I barely had time to shut the car door before he was reversing down the driveway.
However once we got to the airport it was much easier and our stress levels dropped dramatically. We we said our final goodbyes to friends and family and got some much needed sleep.
Friday morning, D Day. We were up and raring to go. We piled our luggage trolleys high with what essentially was our whole life packed into 3 suitcases and 5 carry ons. The babies portacot and their car seats. We looked like gypsies. Surprisingly we checked our luggage and we weren't even charged a cent for excess! This was great, I spent many hours the day before unpacking and packing to make sure we weren't over the 20kg allowed to each case and try as I might, I just could not get it any lighter. How do you ask someone to reduce their life into a 20kg suitcase?
I advise anyone who wants to travel, do it with a baby! We got preferential treatment everywhere, we boarded first, got the best seats with extra leg room. They saved our meals for us when we couldn't eat because the baby was climbing all over the place. It made our trip much less painful and I am very grateful for it. We flew with Singapore Airlines on the new A380. Great plane, huge, we barely felt the thing take off.
Lillie was a big hit with the staff and passengers. We even had some Thai ladies pick her up in the airport lounge and take turns having their photos taken with her like she was some sort of Hollywood celebrity. So funny. She was just looking at them like they were mad. Poor Judd had to start doing tricks to get some attention. He is usually the one in the spotlight, but as he is not a baby anymore the Thais seem to go straight to chubby little Lillie. Even staff at the hotels would stop and pick her up and even just walking past they would stop and give her arm a little rub, like a lucky charm or something. Of course it has gone straight to her head, she is very cheeky and demanding now. I will have a real little diva on my hands if this keeps up.
Once we landed in Bangkok after a brief stop over in Singapore, we sailed through immigration, which surprised us as we are intending to live here for at least 12 months. I was expecting some sort of questioning. But nope, we just got a big smile and "welcome to Thailand".
Collecting our luggage was another matter. As Judd was asleep in the pram and Lillie was wiggling and squirming in her sling on my hip, Marcus had to gather all of our bags and car seats then pile them up onto 2 trolleys which he then had to push both through customs, he looked like a twit but at least it made us laugh. The lovely customs official just smiled and waved us through, I even asked him if he wanted to put our stuff through the xray. Amazing.
And just like that we had made it to Thailand to begin our new expat adventure.
We wandered outside after meeting with our friend, Mr Thailand. And we hadn't even walked 10 steps when we saw a sign for a shuttle bus straight to our hotel. What luck, Marcus could barely push the 2 trolleys without crashing and I was already sweating like mad. Within minutes we had all our bags into the bus and we piled in and off we went. The lovely bell boy promised me he would take all our stuff to our room all we had to do was check in.
By now I had just about run out of energy, I purchased a movie on the pay TV for Judd and put the baby to sleep, had a shower and crashed on the bed. Marcus wandered in a little bit later after having a couple of beers in the lobby with Mr Thailand. Poor guy he was exhausted.
Day 2, Saturday 24 July 2010.
Of course Judd woke us all up at dawn, so we got in an early breakfast and a swim in the lovely pool, which of course I forgot to take my camera so I have no photos. I recommend the Novotel to anyone in transit through Bangkok, it is very, very nice. I was just about to waste some time in the lobby shops when our friend Mr Somchai arrived with his 2 cars to take us all to our new apartment in Amata City, about 1 1/2 hours drive. Of course I wasn't ready as we had got a late check out of 2pm so Marcus and the kids were asleep and we had clothes everywhere. After a bit of a rush we once again piled all our stuff into one car and piled all of us into another and we were off again on the final part of our journey. We stopped for a lovely lunch at Laem Chabang Golf Course, a fabulous buffet which costs us about $10 each for all we could eat. Of course I ate way too much. Then back into the car to our apartment, The C House. It is in an industrial area called Amata City. There are alot of factories here of companies from all over the world and of course there needs to be alot of apartments and houses for all the workers as well. Most of the Thais commute from Bangkok and stay during the week then head back to their families on the weekend, but there are a few expats who live around here, and now we are one of them.
Our apartment is lovely, fully serviced daily. Laundry service, full gym, restaurant, daily breakfast and of course a huge pool. It is about 3 years old so everything is still nice and new. We checked in then of course had to go shopping for supplies. So we piled back into the car and drove about 20Min's to Sri Racha to a shopping center, very similar to what we have in Melbourne. We grabbed a trolley and hit the isles. All good, except every 5 steps I had to stop as people wanted to touch and play with Lillie. It was so busy. I was very happy to find that even though most of the products were in Thai I was able to find alot of familiar foods that we used at home. There was Heinz baby food, Milo, coffee, imported cheese from Australia and imported apples from New Zealand. I was so relieved as this was a concern for me as to what I would be able to feed the kids. Ideally I would like them to learn to eat Thai but I know how fussy some kids can be and introducing a new country with new people and a new language is pretty full on for a 3 year old, let alone me, a 30 year old. So much to Marcus' horror I piled the trolley high with groceries and ignored his protests about buying too much. Managing the family and the house is my full time job, so I know exactly what we need and how much of it to buy. In the end after all of our buying, including some new toys, towels and cutlery we didn't even break $300 Aust. Not bad for starting from scratch.
However I must say that everything in Thailand is in miniature form. The yoghurt's are half the size, the drinks are smaller and the bread is tiny compared to what we are used to in Aust. Everything is also very sweet, even the milk is sweetened. The bread is very sweet, I don't particularly like it. But it is our first shop I am sure as time goes on I will learn about the food more and what we like and don't like.
Luckily there is a 7-11 just 2 Min's walk down the road and it stocks all the necessities we need plus more.
I also think there is a child care out the front of the apartment, as it is a long weekend here at the moment I will check it out next week. It will be good to get Judd introduced to some kids early on.
Tonight we will have dinner in the restaurant downstairs, it seems very cheap. A main meal is about $6 Aust. Hopefully its nice, as I can't cook too much here in the apartment as we don't have a microwave or an oven. Just a 2 burner stove. And much to Marcus' horror there isn't a dishwasher. We thought we had no hot water, but we discovered there is only hot water in the master bathtub and in the kids bathroom shower. Unfortunately none in the kitchen so we are stuck boiling water in the kettle which is OK as I have to do it for Lillie anyway. We had a swim in the pool, it is lovely, clean and there is a pool bar as well. We tried to buy some beer but it is Buddhist Day long weekend so the sale of alcohol isn't allowed.
Marcus will start work tomorrow so I will have my first day alone. It is a bummer we don't have our car or driver yet so I am sort of stuck at the apartment. There aren't any shops within walking distance so I will have to keep the kids amused with traditional parenting techniques, DVD's and swimming in the pool. No, honestly I am hoping that living here will force me to connect more with the kids and really try to start focusing on their development and learning. It was starting to become to easy to distract them with trips to the shops or watching a movie or putting them into a childcare to keep them entertained. Now we are alone here with no friends or play dates I will have to take a very active role in being a mum and a sort of kindergarten teacher.
I had better start Googling to get some ideas.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
2 Days to go!
Well it has been a crazy few months but we have finally arrived at our last 2 days in Australia. Lots of arguments, frustration, confusion, anxiety, excitement and every other emotion I can think of. I have been up and down like a YoYo but now we are so close to leaving the stress is starting to get to me. We have no furniture and are sleeping on mattresses on the floor. The kids have no toys to play with, except the crappy ones we are leaving behind and they know we are stressed out and are playing up making life just that little bit harder. Eating take away everyday, YUCK. Oh and not to mention far too many energy drinks have me wired all day!
We have so many little fiddly things to do before we go that I am wondering if we are going to get it all done in time. I was very organised leading up to this big move, but everyday a new job goes on the to do list, something else pops up that needs doing. I mean we leave in 2 days and we still havnt painted the bathroom door! This is crazy. So why am I wasting time sitting at this computer? If I dont write about this jounrey as it goes along I will forget all these little things and my story wont be thorough enough. So little posts everyday should keep my mind free. If I think life is crazy now, just wait until we land in a strange country with 2 kids and no idea where or what we are doing!
We have so many little fiddly things to do before we go that I am wondering if we are going to get it all done in time. I was very organised leading up to this big move, but everyday a new job goes on the to do list, something else pops up that needs doing. I mean we leave in 2 days and we still havnt painted the bathroom door! This is crazy. So why am I wasting time sitting at this computer? If I dont write about this jounrey as it goes along I will forget all these little things and my story wont be thorough enough. So little posts everyday should keep my mind free. If I think life is crazy now, just wait until we land in a strange country with 2 kids and no idea where or what we are doing!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Baby Steps
Yesterday my little angel took her first little steps by herself! She isn't even 1 yet and she is trying to walk. I am not ready, I was hoping she would wait until we got to Thailand before she started making more work for me. Selfish I know, but we have so much packing to do and then the super long flight, I am really not ready. On a brighter note I am so proud of her, she is one determined little girl and stubborn too. She is much tougher than monster boy was when he was a baby, even now he sooks and the smallest bump or scratch and he is in tears. She however just ploughs through, falling over, bonking her head, jamming her fingers. She cries for a minute or more then is over it and onto the next toy to play with. I have all these visions of her being a strong willed and determined teenager, taking life by the horn and making the most of it.
All the things I wasn't as a child. I was painfully shy. I was one of the sheep that would follow the other girls and join in with them, rarely ever leading the pack. I regret some of that though as sometimes the following meant not saying anything if someone was being picked on at school. I hate bullies and I would like to say I never was one, but I did do something just as bad. I ignored it. None of my friends were bad bullies but the little stuff, the bitchy stuff that girls do to each other is worse I think. Girls and women for that matter can be down right awful to each other. I prefer the company of guys most of the time (aside from a handful of my girlfriends) but guys seem to not get so deep and emotional about things and just want to laugh and have good times. They tease each other, but they all know its in jest and its their way of showing they care. My husbands male friends are hilarious to listen to when they get together, I really enjoy just sitting quietly with a glass of wine and listening to them go on and on about all the stupid stuff they did when they were kids. Before the wives, kids and jobs forced them to grow up and take on mature responsibilities. My biggest wish is for Monster boy to have a group of friends to grow up with just like what his father had (but with less law breaking and stuff).
I wonder what this trip overseas will do to the kids and how it may change the way they look at the world. Will it make them more accepting of people? Will it begin a love of foreign countries and languages? I don't know, I just hope they enjoy it and make lots of new friends. Monster boy will start kindergarten over there, apparently they have language lessons straight away. If it turns out his education will be a better one in Thailand I would consider staying there longer. I don't have a problem with schools here, but I do have a problem with kids attitudes and bad behaviours. In Thailand they teach respect for elders from birth, in Australia you would be lucky to have a kid give up a seat on a bus for an older person.
There is a bad attitude spreading through our younger generations, a selfish and greedy one. Generations of spoiled brats and I am trying not to include our children in it.
All the things I wasn't as a child. I was painfully shy. I was one of the sheep that would follow the other girls and join in with them, rarely ever leading the pack. I regret some of that though as sometimes the following meant not saying anything if someone was being picked on at school. I hate bullies and I would like to say I never was one, but I did do something just as bad. I ignored it. None of my friends were bad bullies but the little stuff, the bitchy stuff that girls do to each other is worse I think. Girls and women for that matter can be down right awful to each other. I prefer the company of guys most of the time (aside from a handful of my girlfriends) but guys seem to not get so deep and emotional about things and just want to laugh and have good times. They tease each other, but they all know its in jest and its their way of showing they care. My husbands male friends are hilarious to listen to when they get together, I really enjoy just sitting quietly with a glass of wine and listening to them go on and on about all the stupid stuff they did when they were kids. Before the wives, kids and jobs forced them to grow up and take on mature responsibilities. My biggest wish is for Monster boy to have a group of friends to grow up with just like what his father had (but with less law breaking and stuff).
I wonder what this trip overseas will do to the kids and how it may change the way they look at the world. Will it make them more accepting of people? Will it begin a love of foreign countries and languages? I don't know, I just hope they enjoy it and make lots of new friends. Monster boy will start kindergarten over there, apparently they have language lessons straight away. If it turns out his education will be a better one in Thailand I would consider staying there longer. I don't have a problem with schools here, but I do have a problem with kids attitudes and bad behaviours. In Thailand they teach respect for elders from birth, in Australia you would be lucky to have a kid give up a seat on a bus for an older person.
There is a bad attitude spreading through our younger generations, a selfish and greedy one. Generations of spoiled brats and I am trying not to include our children in it.
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