Thailand - Treats for the Eyes and Mouth

We found Bangkok shiny by day

and by night,

full of ancient colorful places like this ornate temple

and modern colorful places like this outdoor stage in front of the shopping mall.

There were rich homes along the river  (in front of which Mashi took a nice photo of me in the sun)

and, not so rich ones (in front of which I took a not so good photo of Mashi in a shadow.  Sorry hon'!)

There were crowded, noisy streets with pink - yes, bright pink and orange taxis

and quite tree-lined beaches with bright umbrellas to relax under.

There were friendly, smiling men who led us on our elephant ride

More smiling men...beautiful "ladymen" as they were called, wishing everyone Merry Christmas.

There were friendly, smiling women, one who made us a delicious glass noodle salad on our first day and recognized us when we went back for more the next.  She was impressive - working day in and out along one of the busiest, noisiest streets in Bangkok, decked out in nice clothes, make-up, well-done hair, and a cart full of more ingredients than you couldn't imagine lugging around the busy, hot streets, serving tasty treats day after day with a smile.

Which brings me to our favorite part of Thailand...the spicy, yummy food...

Recycling and pollution control seems a bit lagging in Thailand, but there is no lack of green...

green curry, green salads, green leafy vegetables in oyster sauce, like this..our Christmas Eve dinner

...green herbs, limes, peppers on the sides of spicy dishes like this that accompanied our pad thai in the market place along the banks of the river near the national palace

...and our favorite, green papaya salad, which we ate every day, some days for both lunch AND dinner

...and, of course, we had plenty of Singha beer to wash down all that spicy, yumminess.  It was a good Christmas in Thailand.

Happy New Year!

We got back to Japan yesterday, welcomed home by many Christmas cards and gifts in our mail box.  Thank you, everyone!!  We treated ourselves to a plate full of sashimi and sushi and a quiet night on our comfy sofa and Japanese TV.  

The only sport Mashi likes to watch on TV, K-1 fighting, is on every New Year's Eve followed by coverage of the quiet toll of bells from the temples across Japan.  We watched both and fell asleep right away, then woke up to enjoy the ball dropping in NYC.  Bill and Hillary Clinton were there to push the button for the ball. 

One day I hope to be in NYC on New Year's Eve...how about it Emilie - they have a run?  Only 4 miles - we could do it no problem!  Hopefully it won't be as cold as it looked there tonight.  Anyway...Happy New Year everyone!  Pictures from our trip coming soon.

Happy New Year

明けましておめでとうございます。

新しい年、２００９年が始まりました。

１年が過ぎるのは本当に早いですね～。
今年も昨年以上にお仕事に、
また生活全般に充実した１年を過ごしたいと思います。

Lisa共々がんばっていきますので
またこの１年よろしくお願いいたしますm(_ _)m


それでは早速ですが、
私たちの冬休みの様子をLisaと僕それぞれがアップします。
（内容・画像がだぶることがあるかもしれませんがご容赦くださいませ。）

Just a Glimpse of our Christmas Parties...

Merry Christmas from English Square and our cute students!

Here's some of what we've been doing this week at English Square for the kid's Christmas parties.  I see these and think...gosh, how can you call this much fun "work"?  

Bounce the ping-pong ball (snow) in the chimney to put out the fire before Santa comes!

Santa, Santa, Where are you? game with Takako.

Cookie making with master-chef Mashi.

Even our mature JHS girls love cookies....

and teddy bears!!  

 I like the cookies, too, as you can see. But, actually, I like the cookie dough - just like Ayumu and my cousin Jenny in Alaska!  ; ) 

We also got twisted up with Twister!

and I  just couldn't resist showing the excitement...all over Christmas Concentration.

Nice reaction!!  (It's not the same girl again, BTW...her twin.) 

Finally, from our Mommy & Me class - RUN! STOP! FIND THE CARD! Yuka on the piano makes magic.

Here she is pretending not to be paying attention as the kids yell, ...

"One more time, please!" like this:

Thanks for lots of fun this week, everyone!  Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Parties Begin!

It was a nice, intimate party with just a small group.  We ate the delicious food everyone brought, drank a few drinks, talked and laughed a lot.  Everyone played a game and got to pick a present from under the tree.  Even us adults get giddy over Christmas presents.  It was festive and fun.  Here are some photos.

 
Two of our students named Yuko...the third couldn't make it.  Maybe next year!

Reading the quiz card for the present exchange game...

Getting a present from under the tree...

Mr. T with the gift from me...

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves.  I know Mashi and I sure did.  Thanks to those who made the effort to join us!  We'll definitely look forward to next year's party.  Happy holidays!