Category Archives: Life In Bangkok

Thai Cooking 101

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Since it was Pai’s first day she wanted to cook us a feast! One of my main goals for having a nanny/maid is to learn how to cook Thai food! There is only one problem with this…. She doesn’t speak English fluently so when she has an ingredient she doesn’t know the name for it in English most of the time so I have to write down the Thai pronunciation of what I think she is saying and then figure out what the ingredient might be…. So for now I will just write about what we did and once I get a better handle on what we are using I will share recipes for anyone interested.

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Language Barrier Breaks Down Walls

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We had our first official day with our nanny/maid yesterday. Her name is Pai (pronounced bye) and she is amazing. She arrives in the morning and because it is her first day we are both a little nervous. We start talking and she gets something out of her bag, two small roses, and hands them to me! I say “wow! My husband doesn’t even get me flowers unless it’s my birthday!” She smiles and then hands me a wrapped gift and a card. I say “wow! Why did you get us a present!? You didn’t have to do that!” She says “yes this is for Chris birthday!” I say “what?” She says ” you said it was Chris birthday today?” “Nope not his birthday….” She starts apologizing and I’m apologizing and then we are laughing and she says “well this is welcome to Thailand gift!” I just died laughing and we literally laugh about it the entire day. Later she asks me “I wonder how I hear that it was Chris birthday?” I said you probably heard me say “Chris will be so happy on your first day!” She says “yea that was it….”

I really feel like that little misunderstanding started us off on the right foot. It made us feel right at ease with each other. The gift was awesome, two coasters that are full of Thai chili peppers, which Chris absolutely loved even if it wasn’t his birthday!

New Dangers

While reading in the Bangkok Guide I come across a section that discusses some safety concerns. In this section of the book they explain that there aren’t really any poisonous spiders or bugs that I should be worried about but instead they suggest the reader should watch out for the spitting cobras that hide in the gardens. (Insert jaw drop here) COBRAS! IN THE GARDEN? They go on to warn the reader not to try and kill the cobra, since this wastes precious time, because what you should really be doing is washing your eyes out and getting someone to take you to the hospital. Then they suggest do not get someone else to go kill the cobra because again they should be driving you to the hospital. Then finally they explain if you did kill the cobra do not bring it the hospital with you.

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Thai massage: not for the faint of heart

I went for my first Thai massage today. Wow! What an experience. I assume most of you know how a massage is in a spa in the states. You go into a nice dark room, where you undress down to your comfort level, you get under the blanket, then the masseuse gives you a great massage and after the hour you feel like a big puddle of goop because you are so relaxed. This experience in the states at a nice spa will run you around $130ish with a tip.

Thai massage is NOTHING like that or anything I have ever experienced before.

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Big girls don’t cry

Of the expat women that I have met, probably around 10 or so I have actually had conversations with, all of them have said that when they had first arrived in Bangkok they cried all the time for months and months. I am sure it is because of the shock of being away from family, the culture, the noise, the city, and much more. I am proud to report being here 2 weeks today I have not cried once. I know this move was meant to be and I feel in my heart that this is home. It’s weird to say that but even when we are here in our temporary housing (which really is just a nice hotel) I still fell like I am at home. I guess that is because all I need to make it feel like “home” is being with my boys.

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My head might explode —-by: Chris

Work can be maddening. It’s not so much the stress of the job nor the people involved, far from that in fact. It is understood that when you take a foreign assignment, there will be a step change in your responsibilities. Which in order to get to that point, you are already putting in your best effort where you currently are. So to bridge this gap in the short term, the only equalizer that you have is more time to dedicate to work until your capabilities and knowledge of the environment progress and your time spent can diminish, but more likely your responsibilities will continue to grow with your capability and your time remains the same. But this is the essence of career progression in the American sense I think… This part that is maddening, which to no fault of anyone here, except for me for imposing it on myself, is language and comprehension.

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So much to do so much to see

Yesterday was great! I got to see my friend and Thai teacher Nuch! She came over to visit and brought her sweet nephew and we all went to the aquarium! To get to the aquarium we took the BTS, which again is super convenient once you make it up the stairs and luckily Nuch and her Nephew were there to help! We get off at Siam station, which has 3 or maybe 4 malls at this one stop! They basically have everything you could imagine, the food court is nothing like the US, or what I know of the US food courts in the mall, it takes up an entire floor of the mall, which is probably 9 or 10 floors total. We had thai for lunch and Killian chowed down on some pad thai! It was delish! In the malls they have every designer name you could think of in high end fashion, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Hermes, Cartier, Channel, I could go on and on. Then I discover its not only high end fashion in the malls but also the most expensive car dealerships! WHAT?! I’m talking every high end car you can imagine all on one floor. And then on the bottom, or at least I think it was the bottom, floor is the aquarium that honestly was awesome. I couldn’t believe how great it was!! Nuch was able to get us tickets from one of her friends so we got to enjoy the aquarium for free!

Below are some pictures of the mall and aquarium!

True love isn’t made with jewelry and flowers (but it doesn’t hurt either)

Yesterday was a hard day for me. Not so much because I was lonely but because Killian is having a hard time adjusting to sleep. He is beyond clingy and whinny and I understand that he is frustrated but at the same time after a while I (as any mom can relate) get worn out with the crying, it just drains me. After an entire day of upset baby, we decide we will meet Chris off of the BTS to go have dinner. Chris didn’t get to us until around 6 and that is prime Killian bath and bed time so he was already in a mood. We try and go to dinner and have to leave as soon as we sit down because Killian can’t handle it. By this time I am tired, emotionally drained, and starving. We decide to go back to the condo to try and give Killian something for dinner but he refuses and we then put him to bed. I finally have a moment to myself and Chris has to run out to get dishwasher soap for me. So he knows I am in a mood and hungry and wants to do something thoughtful.

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