Thailand, Myanmar & Laos (The Golden Triangle)

3 different countries were on our list today. We started out be leaving Thailand and heading in the Myanmar which used to be called Burma. Strangely halfway across the bridge all traffic switched side without any apparent direction. We then walked through the local market where vendors where hacking up live fish, eels and chicken feet. Mmmm, doesn’t that make you hungry! After spending a long while clearing customs again…we headed south the true Golden Triangle. We ate dinner overlooking the famed location where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. After lunch we took some long skinny speedboats over to officially walk on Laos soil. Once there we had the choice of many liqueur bottles filled with pickled cobras as well as other handicrafts which quickly depleted our money supply. Finally we came back to our hotel for a swim with pizza poolside. We hope all of you are doing well and wish you were here!!

Chang Rei

Sawadee Cop. Today we had a great trip to visit the hill tribes up in Northern Thailand. Shoshanna had a life dream of riding an elephant and needless to say we had a great time. Before mounting up we enjoyed a few quick pictures with the local wildlife. Shoshanna played with a very cuddly Gabon. Dad and I elected to instead cuddle up to a 200lb plus Python. I wasn’t too excited when his very heavy head started going down south. He was darn heavy and I don’t think I could have held him by myself. Once on the elephants I was startled when the guide jumped off and told me to sit in the drivers’ seat. I was even more startled when he was done taking pictures and let me be the “Mahout” for the rest of the trip. By the end I was actually comfortably tucked in behind his ears. A great day with unforgettable memories for everybody!!!

Bangkok Day 3

Greeting Again. Today we spent the day visiting the River Kwai. A very interesting place that involved two bridges, tortured POW's, and a lot of sad stories. You should read up about the whole story! We then went to the Tiger temple where we were allowed a very close encounter with the large a playful cats. We also crammed in one more spot, Erawan Falls. It was in Bobs "Top 1000 places to see before you die" book. It was really nice to enjoy the outdoors and place in the refreshing water!!!

Bridge over the River Kwai

Shoshanna at the Tiger Temple


Chad at the Tiger Temple

Everyone at Erawan Falls

Bangkok Day 2

Good Evening. Today was spend seeing the outskirts of Bangkok. We went to the floating market via longboat which was very entertaining. On the way we saw brown suger being made from Coconut fronds as well as a beautiful Orchid Garden. In a little town we watched as a train momentarily careened through the middle of the market, only to have the stalls once again flow back onto it's tracks only seconds after it was gone...Wow. Later we visited the reclined Budda which was followed by a trip to the Palace that housed the Emerald Buda. It's gets its name from the color because it's actually made of Jade! Needless to say, we had great treats while at the market and ended our day with an amazing meal at the "Red Pepper". Well, off to bed until tomorrow!

Bangkok Thailand

Hello Everyone,

Just letting you know we are hear in Bangkok and not in Phuket. Our hearts go out to all the family in the plane crash there! It's late and were getting up early tomorrow so here is a quick picture of everyone at the Temple of Dawn.

Remodel Update

Well, the last week was supposed to be the start of our vacation... Between getting calls from the clinic and working on the bathroom, I'm glad we still have some more time left! Anyway, it's coming along and here are some pictures to prove it!

New Shower Valve

Drywall Up & Patched....kinda

Shower Walls Up

Gao, the guy thats making it happen! (An his helper)

Happy Labor Day

Well, here we did a little labor in the morning and some diving in the afternoon. I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the weekend. Here are a few quick pics of a nice little clownfish and a very small baby somethingrather (taken with my homemade 30x macro lens!!) Finally one shot of the shower drain being put in to show I didn't play all weekend.

Weekend Update

Here are a few pictures of our weekend remodeling works! Other then a few games on Saturday night thats about all we accomplished!!

Chads Pipe Work

Filled in and Drywall Ripped off. I used the toilet water faucet to wet the sand for tamping. We then we the Eric and Dixie's to see their new cat. When we came home the drain had opened up again and there was about 4 inches of water in the hole! A little scoping later, some funny wet sand smell and a little time should make it just fine!!

Sho Painting our new shade

New Color on our picture wall...we like it!!

FYI - Scuba Factoids

Hafa Adai! Well, I just logged my 250th dive so I thought I would share a few factoids from by homemade logbook (Excel). Theres is probably only a handful of people who will find this interesting, so I won't feel bad if you click that "X" in the upper right corner now!! Ha!!

Here we go:

1. ) I have spent 10 Days, 21 Hours & 44 Minutes Underwater... that sounds like a lot until you think about drivers who spend 1 hour on the road to work, one hour back home, each day, 5 days a week. It would only take them 6 months to amass that much time wasted in traffic...I'd rather be diving! It only takes me 4 minutes to get to work. He he he!!

2.) We bought our gear, and so if I rented from myself it would only cost $9.51 / Dive. Better than the $20-30 or so per dive.

3.) Longest Dive: 2 hours 11 mintues
Deepest Dive 160 ft
Most PSI in my Tank, 3800 (3000 is normal)
Lost PSI to surface with, 60 (500 is suggested...had to get the picture)
How much air do I breath 40.51 psi/minutes...
Longest time at a Deco Stop, 15 minutes

4.) Saddest Dive: August 13, 2006 - It broke our string of 14 Dives with a new nudibranch
Scaries Dive September 16, 2006 - My dive bro Eric ran our of air....in a tunnel...at night! Memories!!
Funniest Dive: Scaring Shoshanna by making her think there were Sharks behind her in Chuuk (There were school of sharks around us!! Ok maybe it was only funny to me ;-)
Most Relaxing Dive: Tulamben, Bali
Most Stressful Dive: Dropping into Blue Holes Palau with the Waves, Current with a stressed out wife. She's much better now!!!
Best Dive on Guam - Blue Hole

There you have a few random facts that will surely get you through your next day!

Hafa Adai

Not much happened this weekend. The festivities of last week are finally over so we just rested up a bit. I looks like Doug Ng passed is Guam Board so hopefully we'll have him out here in the near future. Even though were in the rainy season we had a little time to dive on Sunday. Nothing too crazy out there but I did get a nice picture of a Wrasse on my safety stop. Here he is...he makes a nice backdrop on the computer!!

Dinner with the Dentists

Hello Everyone,

Last weekend we had all the dentists and perspective dentists over to our place for some tortilla soup. Good times were had by all. Hopefully Doug and Grace will be heading out to join use early next year. We'll have to see how the whole board process goes.

Bonus Post

Man, I thought everyone would like this picture. Ouch! Look closely where that horn goes... up the leg, Ahhh!!!!! The second picture shows a bull getting two brothers at the same time...right up the wazooooo. It reminds me of running with the bulls in Segunto, Spain. Except these one don't have fire on their horns...their just sharp!!

Sho is Away & Chad will Play...or destroy things!!!

Well the grand destruction of the old bathroom has begun. Thanks to Gordon who brought some fun tools. We jack hammered our way through cement, wire and the occasional steel rebar. Anyway, were on the way to making a better world for everyone!!

I'm So Lonely

This one's for my Girl who left me alone for a few weeks ;-) Have fun at home and give all the cousins and family a big hug from me!

Golfing at Mangilao

This Friday Eric took me golfing as a thanks for making the Lembeh Diving DVD. He took me to one of the nicer golf courses on the island, Mangilao. It's situated on the east coast and we had been talking about playing if for a while. We were definitely not disappointed. The fairways were really nice and the greens rolled true. Even though we weren't always hitting from either of those two options... :-) Anyway, here is a quick video of our day. Thanks again Eric.

Remodeling Under Way

Just to keep you up to date on our bathroom remodeling!! We took out the tub, I tried my hand at brazing and got bloody hand removing a lot of tile!!

Enjoying the Island

Just a few quick pictures of our little adventure last weekend. We borrowed the Vercios motorcycle and enjoyed a nice trip around the south side of the island. Beside our little "Slide" while stopping off at Jeff's Pirates Cove for some eats. We just enjoyed the wind in our hair. Hope you all have a great week.

Health Fair and New Lights

Last sunday the Agat church had a health fair that went off quite well. We had around 100 people show up to get flu shots, BP, Cholesterol, Eye & Dental Checks. They even got a free and healthful treat when they were done. It seemed that many of them were hoping for extractions on the spot...Being the only dentist that wouldn't have lasted long. Then we came home and I put up our new fixture in the vanity area. The solid cement makes placing wire a little tricky hear. A nice diamond grinder does the trick though. Combined with the newly framed mirror it looks quite nice. Now for the main project...the master bath! Enjoy the photos.