Bangkok Week 31 January 29, 2009 A weekend in Trat, featuring a half-day visit to Koh Chang (Elephant Island) and someone's 29th birthday! View fullsize Our orchid, with all 5 blooms open (and a new pot). View fullsize Marouy's unsure about this trip he's about to take. View fullsize AAH! I don't WANNA be on this boat! (The car's on a ferry to the island.) View fullsize Several veggie sellers and their wares are also on the ferry. View fullsize The upper deck of the ferry features plenty of seats, plenty of old life jackets, and a bar. View fullsize Mother and son ride through the morning haze. View fullsize Finally, going to Koh Chang! View fullsize The ferry departs the mainland pier. I guess we haven't gotten as far as I'd thought, yet. View fullsize Top laughs as he dangles his phone over the edge. View fullsize The Thaitanic. View fullsize The flags lead the way-- land ho! View fullsize Still riding. View fullsize Almost there, finally. Notice how mountainous the island is. View fullsize Checking out the hotel we were originally going to reserve. View fullsize It had a little restaurant right on the big blue sea. View fullsize And a rope swing and ladder to play in the water. View fullsize A view up the coast, from mid-way down the island. View fullsize That construction in the background is one reason we didn't choose this place. View fullsize Looking toward the southern end of the island. View fullsize A palm and its nuts. View fullsize Top takes a self-portrait with his younger brother. View fullsize Another resort just up the road from the first. View fullsize Walking through the fisherman's village. View fullsize Many houses and huts are built over the water. View fullsize Marouy does some window shopping himself. View fullsize It is from here that most boats depart for the smaller neighbouring islands. View fullsize This tailor has found himself pretty far astray. View fullsize View fullsize The beach at the resort where we did eventually reserve rooms. View fullsize It has many beach-front bungalows heading south. View fullsize And some palmy shade. View fullsize Marouy dabbles in ocean water for the first time. View fullsize But he was afraid of the waves. View fullsize Looking north, they have many more bungalows and a restaurant. View fullsize Marouy smiles with his new-found friends. View fullsize The island's pier, from which the ferries depart. View fullsize With the morning haze gone, the mountainous terrain is much more apparent. View fullsize A fishing boat heads out to sea. View fullsize A really long pier is home to many fishing boats. View fullsize An outdoor market that comes to town occasionally. View fullsize Ooh, look at all the pineapples! View fullsize The sleepy dog, back in his kingdom. View fullsize Well, at least one of us is looking at the camera. View fullsize Being fed a gourmet cookie from Huntsville! View fullsize The next morning, sleeping among the rice. View fullsize The brothers, neither one fully awake yet. View fullsize The sleepy puppy wears his innocent face. View fullsize Alert and aloof, playing with his brush and favourite coconuts. View fullsize Unsure of which one to hold. View fullsize A hanging flower in front of the store. View fullsize Checkin' out the view from above. View fullsize Scrub-a-dub-dub. View fullsize The fluffy weeds blow in the breeze next door. View fullsize Washing the newly tiled floor outside the house. View fullsize Someone's schnoz needs a massage! View fullsize His aerodynamic position. View fullsize Chillaxin' in the heat. View fullsize The puppy-centric frames we put together. View fullsize Quite attentive, now that the toys are out. View fullsize Somehow, someone snuck into the kitchen! View fullsize Ooh! Mom's cooking! View fullsize Desserts traditional to Chinese New Year. View fullsize Snazzy! View fullsize Looking through photos from Christmas. View fullsize Top and the red flower juice he made. View fullsize Wee little mangoes that had fallen from trees around the yard. View fullsize One mango that's still attached and going strong. View fullsize These guys have some catching up to do. View fullsize Huge jack fruits continue to get huger high up in the tree. View fullsize These skinny trunks support super-tall palms. View fullsize Ants enjoy some sap as little rose apples grow all around them. View fullsize Only a few of many flowers on a bush in front of the store. View fullsize Cutting up the wee little mangoes. View fullsize Surprise! The wee little mango has a wee little pit! View fullsize Erika, this is what tamarind looks like on the outside ... View fullsize ... and once it's been peeled. View fullsize At Trat's Chinese New Year festivities. View fullsize Pressing on gold foil. View fullsize Very colourful! (And fruity, this weekend.) View fullsize "You can take pictures with the clowns!" shouts the woman in red. View fullsize Standing in the sun. View fullsize This was a very funny, very tall and very slow-moving bug walking across the newspaper. View fullsize Marouy checks out the ice cream truck. View fullsize He still hasn't outgrown his penchant for walking over people. View fullsize The ball is squashed; later it would become decimated. View fullsize Simultaneous chewing and back-scratching. View fullsize Flinging around his coconut! View fullsize "I want it!" "No, I want it!" View fullsize Trying the maple cookies from Bracebridge. View fullsize Two carrot cakes, and pizza dough rising in the bowl. View fullsize The new beaters work great during their first outing. View fullsize The monster is coming together. View fullsize Ta Daa! Too bad the oven doesn't come with spellcheck! View fullsize All the makins' for a pizza. View fullsize Assembling the toppings. View fullsize And into the oven it goes! View fullsize And out it comes! Bubbly bubbly. View fullsize A good ol' Italian dinner. View fullsize Aha! Someone caught the error. View fullsize All sliced up and ready to eat. My first layer cake! (Yeah yeah, so it's on the tall side.) View fullsize Ooh, what could possibly be inside? View fullsize Ice cube trays! View fullsize And suki gear! View fullsize Slurp, slurp. View fullsize And of course, a progress update: the holes have been filled in, and a structure seems to be rising. We fear it's a house!
