My Productive Saturday

Moe is on a "field trip" with his school for the next few days. He had little information to go on, so I cant really fill you in.  Such is the Thai way.  Here's what I do know.  He will be gone for 5 days.  He is going to Mae Sot, which is northern jungle-y Thailand.  He is going with upper and lower classmen, so more than just his class. It is in preparation for his research thesis, potentially, and hopefully, teaching him how to research and go about it in the jungle and providing some connections.  I have not heard from him since he left early Friday morning, so I have to trust that all is well.

Since I have no one to talk to, and no Chico doesnt count, I thought I would blog about my productive day.

First, I slept in, because of course that is the basis for all productivity.  It helped that it was raining and totally encouraging me to sleep longer.  Then I had breakfast and watched some shows and what not and got ready for the busy day.

I went to pay our internet bill because I did not want to lose internet while hubby was away.  While I was out, I investigated the possibility of having a tailor fix some dress pants.  There is a road that has about 6 tailors right in a line. I knew of 2 tailors that were recommended by other people, but could only find the one.  I went in and asked if he could tailor my pants.  He asked me to try them on and show him what needed fixed. I did and then asked how much to fix them.  50 baht was his response.  WHAT? That is less than 2 dollars. I was so shocked that I said "Great! Do it!"  (I probably could have talked him down a bit, but I was so shocked that I forgot about that part until I had left).  Then I asked when they would be done and he said 7pm that night!

Then I went window shopping for some gifts to bring home, but didnt find anything I liked.  Speaking of which, if anyone has any requests for items to bring from Thailand let me know!

Next, I had leftovers for lunch. Pulled pork sandwich. Chico had the leftovers that had fallen out because I forgot about it when I got up.  I know, I know you want to know that I was headed to the potty, so I wasnt really thinking about my plate sitting there.

After lunch I watched some shows and then read a few chapters from the book I am reading.  Then I sorted through my clothes because I was going to a clothing swap.  I filled my backpack and another bag of clothes I dont wear or I dont like. It was awesome.

Then I went to the swap and mingled with people and grabbed only a few clothes.  I tried not to get too many since I hope to get new clothes this summer!  I am very happy with the 5 things that I got though!

I came back home, watched more shows, read a little more, cooked dinner, got Chico dinner, etc.  Then I headed back out to get my freshly tailored pants.  While on my way, I stopped to window shop at a night market and ended up purchasing a small item and getting prices for some other items I plan to get soon.

When I picked up my pants, he had me try them on again to make sure they fit and all was well.  The pants were perfect.  I asked him how much it would cost to have a pair of pants just like that made and he said 1000 baht or roughly 33 dollars.  He said he could make capris too and showed me some swatches of colors I could choose from. I asked how long it would take and he said they would be done by tomorrow night! BAH! I am sSOOOOOO mad I did not investigate this sooner.  All year I have been complaining about how bad my pants fit me and I could have easily gotten them fixed! Now I know. And you know.  So if you need clothes made or tailored and you are visiting us, DO IT!! Its totally worth it!

For the rest of the night, I plan to read, watch shows, and grade some papers... Im sure you get the idea by now.  Hopefully I can be this productive the entire time Moe is gone...

Thanks for listening!  :)

Fish Spa and Earthquakes!

In the past 2 days I have had 2 brand new experiences:  a fish spa and feeling an earthquake.

First the earthquake because... well duh.  Moe and I were standing in the kitchen cooking dinner.  Things started to shake. I wasnt sure if it was construction or what.  But it kept going for a few seconds before we picked up Chico and walked quickly outside realizing it was definitely an earthquake.  Outside we saw almost all of our neighbors that we have never seen before! I would guess it lasted a minute or so and Moe guesses that it was about a 3 something on the scale.  We could see the cars out front shaking a little bit too.  It literally just happened so I will update once the internet tells us what really happened.

EDIT:  Apparently it was a 6.0 magnitude earthquake.  The link here has more information.  We are about 3 hour drive south from Chiang Rai.

The other cool thing we did this weekend was a fish spa.  I dont know if this is special to Thailand or Asia or not, so please enlighten me if it isnt.  But here they have these tanks of fish that sit on the floor and people pay to put their feet in the water and have the fish sucked on.  Apparently the fish scrub off the dead skin cells and help improve blood circulation and skin elasticity (said the sign!).

Moe and I had wanted to do this for awhile and since we were out with friends and nothing to do, we decided to try it. I must confess that I am WAAAAAY too ticklish for this to be incredibly enjoyable.  But Moe loved it.  I am actually quite proud that I lasted the whole 20 minutes, but I had to stick my feet to the bottom of the tank so the fish couldn't touch the bottom of my feet.

They loved Moe's feet

Enjoying ourselves!

Afterward, though we all felt like we had incredibly clean feet.  It is definitely something you should try at least once in your life!

PS Three day weekends are the best!!! Only 5 more weeks of school!