Update

We have been remiss the past while as far as blog writing is concerned. For some reason, Blogger decided to delete all of our pictures, so we put our blog in a time-out. But recently we've been uploading pictures again, but we should give you an update of the many things we've done the past couple of weeks. Just a warning, we have been very busy, so this is quite a long post.

Ben spent a few days in Taipei for his internship. He spent most of the time at the food fair, but he did get the chance to see a bit of the city and even go to the temple.

He rode to the top of the second tallest building in the world.

The weekend he got back, we were invited to the house of a woman he works with, Daun (pronounced Da-gun).

We visited her village where we watched the monks get fed and participated in a party celebrating her cousin becoming a monk.

The family we're staying with left that weekend, so we've spent the past couple of weeks finishing up our jobs and seeing the surrounding area.

The children Megan taught at the kindergarten were so fun and quite enthusiastic.

Ben finished his internship by working at Thaifex, the Thailand food fair. There were many delicious samples and a bit of food carving. Yes, this is all made of food.

For our two-month anniversary, Ben surprised Megan by taking her to a nearby beach, Hua Hin. We had fun playing in the water and exploring the town.

We rented a motorbike so we could get around easier. Ben had fun driving it, but it made Megan quite nervous, to say the least (but NOT because of Ben's driving, that has to be made clear).

Back in Bangkok, we have been able to make quite a few small trips downtown.

We went into town one night to check out Backpacker's Road (locally called Kao Sahn Road). It was interesting, but considering all of the tattoo parlors, dreadlocks, and bars that could be found, we were not quite at home. However, we found a night flower market that we loved. We took advantage of the cheap prices.

We also visited Lumphini Park, which is home to joggers, high school band players, and monitor lizards.

We walked around and rode a paddle boat around the pond. We got to see many monitor lizards up close, including these two that seemed to be having a territory battle. Please note the accuracy of Ben's imitation.

Yet another trip we made was to a nearby floating market. It rained most of the time we were there, but it was still fun to walk around.

We ordered Pad Thai and cocoa yen from boats. Both were tasty. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stay and watch the fireflies.

The most recent trip we made was yesterday. For only 120 baht apiece ($4) we took an all-day tour on a train.

We stopped to see the Bridge on the River Kwai and were able to walk across it.

The train continued over the bridge and took us to the end of the line, where there was a waterfall. We ate our lunch there and then continued back. Plus we saw the Burmese/Thai border (though from a distance). It was a long day.

We were planning on going to the beach today after church, but we were both so tired that we decided to take the day to rest. This was lucky, because we were invited over to another couple's house for lunch, and we've enjoyed getting to know the people here. So tomorrow morning we'll leave for Ko Chang, where we'll be for the rest of the week. We'll be sure to keep everyone updated. Oh, and for more pictures on all of the above-mentioned activities, please see the photos link over on the right.

The Grand Palace

We went to the Grand Palace this weekend in downtown Thailand. People have been telling us all along that this was one place we needed to visit while in Bangkok. It was a fun day trip. I'm also working on putting all of our pictures on photobucket.com. I've been having a hard time deciding which pictures to post, and this way we can have them all up for everyone to see.

We rode a boat downtown with Lynette and Alaina, but it was just Ben, Alaina and I at the Grand Palace.

I didn't notice anyone else staring, so maybe this is normal. Alaina said he was probably fishing for trash. Not hard to find in this river.

Inside the compound of the Grand Palace.

These structures were all very ornate. This is Alaina demonstrating to me how people pull off the squares of gold.

The Emerald Buddha. He's actually made of jade and wears a different gold outfit depending on what season it is. This is his summer season attire. They didn't allow pictures inside the temple, this was taken through a window outside.

During most of our visit, Alaina was most interested in playing with the bees, which are supposed to have no stingers.  Buddhists believe this is because of the sacredness of the Emerald Buddha.  Alaina's theory is that "they were just born that way."

In front of the Grand Palace

The three of us leaving the compound

The temples behind us

Spa Blah

Today we had the pleasure of visiting the Jatujak (or J.J.) weekend market in Bangkok.  It's row after row of shops and stands and restaurants, and it's the biggest market in Thailand. Plus it's attached to the J.J. mall, which is huge in and of itself.  We (meaning us and the entire Pinvises family) spent all day there.  Megan came away with a couple of skirts and Ben bought some lovely ties for only 10 baht apiece. After lunch and more shopping, Ben, Megan, Ariel, Adele, Alaina and Alex visited the foot spa. But this was no ordinary foot spa; you put your feet in large tanks of water and tiny fish nibble the dead skin off of your feet and legs. It was quite an experience; and it worked, our feet were so soft.  An interesting side note--the Thai word for fish is pronounced "blah".

The J.J. market

Megan, Ben and Alaina, feet submerged in flesh-eating fish

A close up

The other tanks had bigger fish--we all took turns putting our feet in there

One night in Bangkok and the world's our oyster

Ben and I arrived in Bangkok last night at 1 am after a day and a half of traveling. We're staying with Ben's old roommate Alex and his family; they've been really nice to us. Today was for recovering from jet lag, so we didn't do a lot, but we did go out to lunch with Alex and then to a mall this evening with his dad and sister, Adele. For those who haven't been to a Thai mall, it was quite large. 8 floors with a grocery store in the basement. That's what I call shopping. We're excited to get to see more of the city. The only complaint I have right now is the jet lag, which is to be expected.  More specifically, I mean the fact that I have been struggling not to fall asleep while Ben is wide awake.  A person should not be allowed to adjust so quickly.  His crazy sleeping habits (or lack of sleeping habits) might have something to do with it.  I knew he was good at almost everything he did, but how can one have a talent for not being tired?