5 kg of Nutella?

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Monday, January 30, 2012

Shopping for food each week is not my favorite part of living in Ulaanbaatar. But it IS interesting. This week, here at the end of the global food chain, I found the most humongous jars of Nutella I have ever seen: 5kg (11 pounds) of the stuff!

Who would possibly buy the stuff in such huge quantities? And, at nearly $65 a jar, it's outrageously expensive for any normal person.

So, I wonder: How did it get here? And WHY did someone decide to pay for its passage to this distant place?

Another mystery unsolved...

A letter a week

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Slowly the letters are accumulating on the wall above our living room. In two weeks, we should have "M" up there, marking the half-way point of the school year. And where do these letters come from you ask? Each week in pre-school A and her classmates celebrate one letter--there is the feathered "F" and the glue and gold glitter "G". In D week they had doughnuts with the Director and in J week it was Jello jigglers.

Seeing those letters are a nice way to mark the passage of the year.

Nice job, Mrs. M!

Weather forecast

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I'll just let Wunderground's weather forecast for the rest of the week speak for itself:

Tonight: -42 °F (-41 °C), Partly Cloudy
Tomorrow: -15 °F (-26 °C), Clear
Tomorrow Night: -45 °F (-43 °C), Clear
Friday: -17 | -45 °F (-27 | -43 °C), Partly Cloudy
Saturday: -13 | -44 °F (-25 | -42 °C), Clear
Sunday: -11 | -42 °F (-24 | -41 °C), Clear

Home sweet home

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thursday, January, 12, 2012

We flew all night from Bangkok and arrived tonight in UB just as dusk was falling. The temperatures that greeted us were low, but not unbearably so.

When, at last, we reached our apartment we found that our door had been decorated to welcome us home. So nice to know we were missed!

It IS good to be home.

Some last street food

Bangkok, Thailand

Friday, January 6, 2012

Our time in Bangkok draws soon to a close but there's still time for some more of our favorite street food here in Soi 11. We'll miss this place and all its fantastic food. Even A approves of this soup.

Oh, and we'll miss the heat, too.

Mobile bars

Bangkok, Thailand

Friday, January 6, 2012

We're back in Bangkok and taking in the night scene along Sukhamvit Soi 11. New since last year are these UW vans all decked out as mobile bars. Complete with disco balls and UV lights. It's quite the sight.

State of Wonder

Hua Hin, Thailand
Thursday, January 5, 2012

Okay, I'll admit it: I resisted the Kindle long and hard. As usual, Frank had to buy yet another gadget over my protests. But there we are at a remote-ish beach in Thailand and my reading material was exhausted and there sat the Kindle...

First I read one of Frank's running books on the Kindle. Next, I perused the free books at the hotel lobby--most of them were of the Stephen King variety--but in Swedish or Norwegian--which I COULD read, but that is really NOT my genre. Then came an e-mail from the Seattle Public Library touting the "top 10 books of the year". I don't have much time to read during the school year, and I still LOVE the feel of a book in my hands. But suddenly I realized I could order almost any book I wanted from this distant spot. So, I ordered up "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett. (She also wrote "Bel Canto" if you missed that gem.)

I can't say that I "love" the Kindle yet, but I LOVE this book. Read it. It's fantastic.

If this kind of flexibility in reading "on the road" is what the Kindle makes possible, then I am converted--for sure. Thanks, Frankie!

Hua Hin by night

Hua Hin, Thailand
Wednesday, January, 4, 2012

Tonight we went out for dinner and found a lovely sea of lights stretching over the main road just near our hotel. A announced that she would like to spend the night sleeping under these lanterns. If only...

Lille Sverige

Hua Hin, Thailand
Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Upon our arrival in Hua Hin, we made an interesting discovery: the existence of a previously unknown Swedish colony here in Thailand. Our first clue: everyone at the hotel pool was speaking Swedish. The prevalence of Swedish signs in many restaurants and shops was another clue, but this sign was surely the final proof needed.

Lille Sverige, indeed.

Snus: read more at Wikipedia

In the dolphin pool

Hua Hin, Thailand
Tuesday, January 3, 2012

We arrived this afternoon from Chumpon and picked out a hotel based on the Lonely Planet's recommendation of this place as a "great place for families" and "water slide" in the pool. The place is a bit bare bones, but the pool definitely makes it for us.

Travelling with a four year old is ALL about the pool.

Happy New Year 2555!

Chumpon, Thailand
Sunday, December 31, 2011

We celebrated a lovely New Year's Eve here at Chumpon Cabana with a nice buffet and some traditional Thai dancing and music. In some parts of the world it's Happy 2012 but here it's 2555...

Happy New Year!