Last Weekend of February...

This past weekend, we decided both of us needed a relaxing weekend at home. Tom took off the afternoon on Friday so we could go get me set up as his wife in the system. My mom has had the fun duty of sending us several packages in the past few weeks full of documents - thanks Mom! We got pretty lucky because they weren't too busy and he knew someone working who got our paperwork started right away.

Get new dependent ID - CHECK!

Sign first document as Mrs. Carson - CHECK!

Figure out where we are moving - I WISH!

We have been asked by people all weekend if we know where we are going and we have no idea! There is no word yet but I have a good feeling we will hear this week...

On Saturday morning, the neighbors on the first floor came up and invited us to dinner. We met them when we came back in January but haven't had a chance to hang out because they have been busy with their little baby, born a month ago. They made burgers and cupcakes and we brought the beer - we had a wonderful time with them and I adore their son who I spent a good portion of the time holding. I miss playing with kids as I got used to it with my internship in Atlanta and spending weekends with my niece and nephew.

When I came to visit Tom back in the summer, we had another Gator couple over for brunch to watch the first UF football game. They decided it was their turn to make brunch and we went over to their cute orange and blue house (yep - their house has orange and blue pillars) on Sunday morning. Caralee is a wonderful cook - she made a spinach quiche and oven baked french toast with walnuts. It was delicious!

I have really missed my cat and my parents dog, so when we went to their house I was excited to play with their dog. They have a Shiba, which is a Japanese breed and look quite a bit like foxes. His name is Bauer and he is such a cute dog; the breed is spunky and loves to play - I only wish we could get one ourselves.

Bauer has stayed with Tom when they go on vacations - Hopefully we get the change again soon!

 

The rest of day, we spent both getting our hair cut and getting Tom ready for the rifle range - he is shooting all week starting early in the morning.

 

P.S. Early Tuesday morning, there were two earthquakes several miles from the southern part of Okinawa. I felt the first one - just a little shaking for a short period of time. I slept through the second. It was the first time I can remember feeling an earthquake and since it wasn't powerful or really that scary, I can admit I was a little excited.

Thailand: Land of Buddhas

Our last day in Thailand, we headed to the Grand Palace which is the official residence of the King of Thailand. However, the current king does not actually live within this palace but holds ceremonies and other royal functions there. The Grand Palace is huge and there are so many different buildings (and SO many people), we got lucky and found the English speaking tour guide inside the palace. It was extremely hot so we saw only what the tour guide showed us, which was plenty, but our pictures only provide a small portion of what there is to see inside.

Ornate Building Decorations

Half Woman/Half Lion

Half Man/Half Bird

White Statue Protectors and Blue Statue Demons

Throughout the Grand Palace are these murals depicting the story of the demons.

The most well known structure within the Grand Palace is the Wat Phra Kaew, or Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is a sacred Buddhist temple built in 1782. Since the temple is a sacred place, we had to take our shoes off before entering and many people were praying inside by kneeling as to not let their feet point towards the Emerald Buddha. Compared to the pedestal and all the intricate details surrounding it, the Buddha is rather small. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the temple so these are the best we got...

The Outer Building of the Temple

Near Entrance of the Temple

Gold & Jewels

Inside the temple: The Emerald Buddha is on top of the pedestal.

Picture Descriptions of the clothing The Emerald Buddha wears during different seasons.

The following buildings are in the middle part of the Grand Palace where the king has three different building for major events pertaining to the royal family. The smallest of the three, Amarindra hall, contains a throne where the king's birthday celebration and coronation take place. The largest, Chakri Mahaprasat, houses the ashes of deceased members of the royal family and a weapons hall. The other building, Duist hall, is where funerals are held for the members of the royal family - their bodies stay there for one year until they are cremated.

Guard for the Innermost Section of Grand Palace

Top of Entrance into Amarindra Hall

Amarindra Hall

Chakri Mahaprasat: Built with Italian and Thai influences

Duist Hall

Just behind the Grand Palace is another temple, Wat Pho, or the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, which is known for being the birthplace of the Thai massage. The Reclining Buddha is 141 feet long and 50 feet tall and on the bottoms of the feet there are symbols in Mother of Pearl. Inside the temple, there is a line of bowls where visitors can place coins in each one for good fortune - we put in a few coins!

The Reclining Buddha

Buddha's Feet with Mother of Pearl Symbols

The large ornate blocks the Buddha rests its head on

After spending a few hours in the hot sun, we were ready to head somewhere to eat with air conditioning. We decided, after I was adamant that we were not going to take a taxi again, (our trip to Grand Palace was not fun - the taxis in Bangkok will rip you off!!) to take the ferry down the river to the SkyTrain to go shopping. It was confusing and took over 90 minutes but we finally made it to MBK - a massive indoor shopping market. We were going to meet our friend Lauren, another Marine officer stationed out in Okinawa, for lunch. There wasn't much to choose from but we found a decent noodle restaurant.

The shopping at MBK is ridiculous with 7 floors of shops filled with everything you could want; it was truly overwhelming. I had come to find a few things and we left with most of what I wanted - a few purses and a beach shirt for Tom (to go with the matching fedoras we bought the day before).

We decided to head back to our hotel to relax at the pool. It was beautiful - I only wish we could have spent half the day up there, but we had to get ready for our dinner cruise.

On the left side, there is a horse track - Tom wanted to go, of course!

View from the Pool

If we ever have a pool, this will be my vision!

Tom had only a few required activities for this trip and one was to take a boat down the river. Thankfully, I found that dinner cruises were the best way to fulfill this since I was not looking forward to getting into a small boat on a dirty river. The dinner cruise we went on was called Loy Nava and the boat they use is a teak wood rice barge. They have private tables set up for each group and when you board the Thai dancers greet you with a traditional flower.

The Rice Barge

Thai Jasmine Garland

For dinner each person chooses a meal that contains appetizers, entrees, and desserts. We decided to share the most popular meals; the Thai Traditional and the Thai Seafood. The food was absolutely delicious and the drinks were great!

Book of Sites Along the River & The Menu

Appetizers & Mai Tai

One of the Desserts: Sweet Taro Birds Nest

Glass of Dessert Wine

During dinner, the Thai dancers perform several dances in authentic Thai outfits - one of the dancers would play on an instrument when they weren't performing. The service was outstanding and we really enjoyed talking to the older gentleman who started the company by buying the rice barge and having it built to accommodate his dream. He was extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the area as he moved to Bangkok from New York over 30 years ago (he spoke several languages and had a Scottish accent - quite the character).

One of the best parts of the cruise was relaxing while being able to see all the different sites along the river. We were able to get some great pictures!

King Rama VIII Bridge

Wat Kalayanamitr: Buddhist Temple donated to King Rama III

Wat Arun: The Temple of Dawn

Grand Palace at Night

Grand Palace & The Temple of the Emerald Buddha

Purple Orchids

The Fedora

We headed back to the hotel after the cruise docked so we could pack our stuff and get to sleep for another early morning. Since I now had a "no taxi" policy for this trip, we were going to the take the BMW to the airport in the morning and had to be downstairs at 6 AM - in the morning, I was so grateful for this decision as I was extremely sick and never would have made it to the airport in a small taxi.

We made it back to Okinawa late that night after two long flights with some great memories and another stamp on our passport. After four full days of traveling, we were excited to be home, but we cannot wait to travel more. I am truly so lucky to have a husband who takes me on vacations to places I never ever imagined I would be able to see - thank you!