Hua Hin Train Station / Pier

The Hua Hin railway station is one of oldest railway station in Thailand. Its most striking feature is the unique Royal Waiting Room in Thai architectural style. The Royal Waiting Room was built in the reign of King Rama VI in order to welcome the King and his entourage. The outstanding feature of the station is the pavilion constructed in the reign of King Rama VI; it was originally named as "Plub Pla Sanamchan", and it was initially situated at Sanamchan Palace in Nakorn Pathom Province.

The Royal Waiting Room, the original building built in the same architectural style as Maruekkhathayawan Palace, stands adjacent to the station,and is a favourite spot for taking pictures for both Thai and foreign tourists. (info from Hua Hin Tourist Site)









The royal waiting rooms



Why did the nun cross the road?



To get to the Hua Hin Train Station!



While we were cruising around on the scooter we decided to check out the pier. There are many fishermen lounging on the decks of their boats while docked, one of them yelled to Krista "I love you!"

We also came across this navy ship with automatic weapons on it.





No uniforms... they don't really look like they belong on a ship with an automatic weapon.

Elegance Boutique & Thai Silk - Hua Hin, Thailand

While in Hua Hin, we decided to take advantage of the cheap prices of tailor made suits and dresses. Eva, whom we met at our hotel, has known Dave at Elegance for over 10yrs and recommended him. We started off with pants, jacket, 2 shirts and a dress and managed to finish the week off with: 1 pin striped cashmere suit, 7 dress shirts, 1 sport coat, 1 dress, 1 skirt and 1 dress shirt for Krista. We can't quite remember, but we think it was about 20,000baht (~$600) for everything.

During the first fitting, we picked out our material, style and were measured. The second fitting we were measured again for sleeves / shoulder pads.

Second fitting



Second fitting for the sport coat



Final fitting for the suit and skirt



Dave and Krista



Dave, Krista, Jon, Eva and Corbert

These pictures were taken back in Korea, the lighting was terrible so the colours are off, the pink is a nice pink shirt, not light pink. The pics do not do justice..

The shirt on the right is actually a pastel green

Pin striped suit with red inner lining

Sport coat / blazer

Scooter Rental & Hua Hin Market

It would normally cost 100 baht ($3) to get a tuk tuk ride from our hotel to downtown. As you can see, this would add up fairly quickly so we decided to rent our own scooter for the week instead, this way we were able to go when we wanted and stop anywhere along the way.
The first bike we rented was a manual, I didn't like it that much, it was a pain to drive in the crazy rush hour traffic on the 'wrong' side of the road. However, we had it for one day and managed.

The next day we traded it for an automatic, it was sooo much more fun to drive! I started weaving in out and of traffic with everyone else.. why wait for the big cars to slowing make their way ahead when you can drive between cars! I can already tell I'm going to be more of an agressive driver when I go back to North America ;)

Anyway, we paid about 900 baht for the week rental and then a little more for as - it was a great investment.

We both road with helmets and sat properly on the scooter, but you would see many people in Thailand without helmets and riding side sadle as well. You could also see 3+ people on one scooter, not to mention people riding with infants on their laps without helmets either!


The manual, in red!



The automatic, in blue! Let the fun begin!



Hua Hin Market











Video of a drive on the scooter



Video in the market - a Thai grilling up fresh seafood!

Wat Khao Klailat - Temple in Hua Hin, Thailand

While in Hua Hin, we had a chance to cruise around on the scooter we rented and see the area. One afternoon, on our way to the beach we came across this temple - Wat Khao Klailat. There were a lot of monks walking on the grounds doing some odd jobs such as sweeping, raking rocks around trees and tending to the gardens.

Not much to say, but the temple designs were quite nice!









A fancy window shutter.





Treasure!



The temples has a few large paintings such as this one inside.



This was a railing leading up to another temple (which was closed off at the time).





King crab!



Turtles!

Days at the Beach - Hua Hin

After going to "Monkey Mountain" we went on to the otherside of the mountain to a nice quiet beach area to enjoy water and bake in the sun.

Here is jon and Eva walking towards the beach.





A little drink shop, not quite open yet.. I guess it was too early, although that didn't stop us from drinking the beer we brought!



Do you like the "prise" list, "thang you"


Up the hill were a few little shops selling tourists goods, a small temple, massage shop and a buddha standing 19m tall.



At this beach you could rent sunbeds all day for 50baht ($1.60).

















The pictures below were taken at a beach on the south side of the mountain, this beach was a lot busier but it was nice to people watch (until the 50+ yr old woman with dyed red hair like she fell into a jug of red kool-aid was sunbathing without a top on but wearing what looked like to us, her husbands speedo).






Here is a Thai woman carrying corn, a steamer and a stool to sit on. She was selling steamed corn to tourists along the beach. Passing her by, was another Thai who was selling clothing along the beach as well.



Beautiful isn't it? This depicts our time spent in Hua Hin - sand, water, sun, shade and Chang beer. You could a can of chang for 25baht at most local places off the beach, at 7-11 you could buy two for 44baht! On the beach a bottle went for about 40-50baht each, we usually brought about two cans each and then purchased one more from the local vendor.

Khao Takiap, Hua Hin, Thailand

One early morning we took a taxi to Khao Takiap with Eva to see a temple and some evil monkies, the temple is even referred to sometimes as Monkey Mountain. When we arrived, Eva was carrying a plastic bag, as she was walking a monkey jumped off the back of a truck and grabbed on to the bag and started knawing at it!

Khao Takiab can be written several ways in English: Khao Takiab, Kao Takiab, Khao Takiap, Kao Takiap, Takiep, Takieb etc. The name actually means "Chopstick Hill."



They remind me of the evil monkey on Family Guy.

As you look through the pictures, see how many monkies you can spot!













A great view from the top of the temple. That is looking towards Hua Hin.



Krista striking a pose.



A local fishing village. All of the fisherman fish at night, so the boats are in the harbor during the day, and at night the Gulf of Thailand is littered with fishing boats! The boats are really colorful, they all have the flag of Thailand, the flag for the King and their own family flag!



Here is a map of Hua Hin that shows the Baan Resort and Khao Takiap southeast.



Here is a great area map of Hua Hin from this website.



For a great selection of places to stay with discount prices visit Hua Hin Hotels for more information.

Baan Hua Hin Resort, Thailand

It was a long and hot 4 hour bus ride from Bangkok to Hua Hin. We paid 140baht each - $4.30. When we had originally looked at the map, we thought Cha-Am was south of Hua Hin and that the bus ride was suppose to be 3 hours. So imagine our suriprise when the 3 hour mark hits and signs for Cha-Am come up and we think we have somehow missed our stop! This bus was not a direct charter, it stopped along the way many times to pick people up on the side of the road at so called bus stops, which is what made the ride so long. Finally, now approaching the 4 hour mark, we realize Cha-Am is north and we are arriving in Hua Hin.

After we make it to the so called Bus Depot, we walked around for a little while then took a taxi to the Baan Hua Hin Resort (next time we will take a 12 passenger mini bus which was 180baht each - $6.50 and only 2.5hrs). We were so happy when we arrived! The hotel looked just like it did in the pictures on the website, a real step up from the place we stayed in Bangkok.

What was the first thing we did after checking in? Changed in to our swimsuits, bought some Singha beer and went in to the pool!

Here are a few night pictures of the hotel.

What made this hotel resort even better? For an 8 night stay, including a few days worth of breakfast and coffee, we paid 5800baht - $185 cha-ching!

Just like in Mexico, there are little geckos crawling around.

When we sent an email to make a reservation, we received an email back from a lady named Eva. The email had a familiar feel to it as if she had met us before. As it turns out, she thought were were a Jon and Krista from California that had stayed there last year. Although we were a different couple, we assured her that we were very excited to meet and stay at the Baan.

While we were in the pool, we met Eva, who turned out to be a very nice lady from Norway that stays in Hua Hin the majority of the months each year. Over the week she introduced us to many different people and showed us a nice semi private spot on the beach. By the end of the week, we had our picture up on the bulletin board with other guests that had stayed at the Baan over the years.

Look! On the right side, it's us! And right above us, is a couple also from Canada who went to school with a friend of ours that we met in Sanbon, South Korea.. small world! We love travelling!

One Night in Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok at 11:00pm on December 22, 2007. The Suvarnabhumi Airport was so busy with fraangs (foreigners) from all over the world, carrying designer suitcases in suits to backpackers like us! After about an hour, we took a cab to Kho San Road where our guesthouse was. We expected to find Kho San Road a backpackers haven and a wild and crazy party, and what we wanted, a cold beer, what we found was even worse!

There were elections going on in Thailand, so the day before the election and the day of the election till midnight, there was prohibition! No beer!!!! We wandered around a bit, getting hassled by tuk tuk drivers who were very anxious to take us to an all night disco. Needless to say, we were less than interested!

We stayed here at the Siam Oriental , in a purple room with ac that was mostly just an exaggerated fan, and we slept on the sheet that Krista brought, we didn't want to risk the bed bugs, we were sure would bite us!

Here is the restaurant in the lobby area, looking out at Kho San Road

Looking into the building

The nicely ac computer room the signs on the pc's say that you shouldn't put coins into the floppy drive for more minutes......duh?

Krista, ready to go?!

Outdoor mini markets, food was cooked at many of these, and the dishes were washed right there on the street in buckets of water!

For the King's 80th Birthday the city was decorated with lights.

There were pictures of the king everywhere, it was really neat seeing all of the pictures, he is very loved!

The scooters were relentless, they swerved in and out of cars sometimes with up to 4 people on them! At least this couple was both wearing helmets!

In Bangkok, we took a tuk tuk to the south departing bus terminal to get an ac bus to Hua Hin. The bus trip was horible, 4 hours of stopping and starting in the middle of nowhere to pick up people, and the ac didn't work! We reached Hua Hin and from there the real vacation started!

Stay tuned..!

Incheon to Taipei to Bangkok - ThaiAir

Saturday December 23rd, 2007 was our departure day from Incheon Airport, South Korea to Bangkok, Thailand (with a short stop over in Taipei). We met up with two coworkers from school - David and Karen. David was headed for Thailand as well via another airline and Karen was headed to the USA. We took the local bus to downtown Sanbon area and waited for the Airport Limousine (bus) that would take us directly to the airport for 12,000w each.

Inside the bus



It was about an hour or so drive to the airport, but at least we has some comfy seats to enjoy!



Our flight was with ThaiAir, and we must say, it was probably the best flight we've ever had. First off, we met some other teachers living in South Korea that were also on their way to Thailand so the conversations we all shared with each other made the flight that much more enjoyable. Another high point was the amount of space we had in and around our seats, it was amazing!

On the way to Taipei they served us a meal - we had curry chicken and steamed rice. The drink cart came around and we had asked how much the drinks were, the flight attendant said they were complimentary (we looked at each other with our mouths slightly open). You can't get that kind of service in Canada or the US (at least not in economy seating)! We were given the choice of red or white wine, in addition to the other alcoholic beverages such has gin, vodka, whiskey and beer.

The dessert looked like s rice/sponge cake similar to those we've had in Korea, however, after one bite we were in love... kind of like a vanilla cake, with a marshmallow layer and a thin heart chocolate on top... delicious!



The second meal was either rice and fish or, as I chose, chicken and pasta. The dessert was equally delicious. This meal was served on the second half of the flight, after taking off from Taipei bound for Bangkok.

Oh, and did we mentioned the served us Cognac as well??



Finally at approximately 11:10pm local time, we arrived in Bangkok.

Blanket Shopping in Osan

Blanket shopping on Osan! A friend of ours has a king size mink blanket that we used when we stayed at his place one weekend. It was the warmest and softest blanket we've ever used!

Our apartment can be soooo cold! Neither the balcony or windows are sealed properly. So, a few weekends later we took a trip to Osan to try and find one four ourselves.

We tried bargaining with all the shopkeepers but no one would give us the price we wanted, so we kept searching.

After going in to over six different shops, we finally found it! A California King double sided blanket. As it turns out, it is the same blanket our friend has. We paid only 40,000w from an original price of 60,000! You can get a single sided and of lesser quality for 20,000 as well.

Preschool Christmas Program at SLP

Christmas at SLP! For the month of December all the preschool teachers were teaching their classes Christmas songs to perform in front of their parents during the Christmas Program.

Each class sang two songs, after all classes were finished performing their two songs all classes gathered together to perfrom two more songs as a group. After the performance was over, all the kids went back to their classrooms with their parents and decorated Christmas cookies. During that time, Santa Clause came for a visit! Each child received a gift from Santa.

This was the last day before our holiday to Thailand YAY!! (pictures will be posted soon!).


Kindness Class



Dream Class



Friendship Class



Motivation Class



Nature Class



Imagination Class



Loyalty Class



All preschool classes







Sharing Class



Dream Class



All classes

Our Very Own Christmas Tree

Christmas was a little different for us here in Korea from back home. It was cold, but there wasn't any snow and we miss our family and friends at home.

Seeing as it was our first Christmas together, I surprised Krista with a Christmas tree I purchased from the market place on Facebook. An hour subway ride there, an hour back and 15,000w later we had our very own tree complete with decorations and lights!




We put it up in our bedroom and even had presents to put underneath, it made Christmas feel that much more at home.