Leavin' for Laos

But want to give a birthday shout-out to Mama Hawk!

I won't be posting while in Vientiane or Luang Prabang, so I'm hoping for some emails, photos, updates from everyone.

See you on the flip-side.

Monopoly

Thanks to my lawyer (Dartmouth Big Green's own Kevin Coen) I found out that Sirius finally got approval to merge with XM. But not so fast, it has to pass the FCC laugh test. Story here.
I have started listening to my Sirius account a little more online now that I am in Thailand. I usually put on Channel 16 "The Vault" for deeper classic rock cuts. Meanwhile Amanda's sneaks on Channel 61 "Prime Country" for the latest Dixie Chick hit. It is nice to listen to commercial free music, especially this week while we pack for our trip to Laos on Friday.

Rock on.

Cześć, jak się masz

"Dyngus Day is the Monday after Easter and is a Polish Holiday. It is very popular in Poland, and in Polish communities in America and is a day of fun. And, perhaps a little romantic fun. There are all sort of ways for boys to meet girls. But, this one takes the cake. Boys try to drench girls with squirt guns, buckets of water, and much more. The girls got their chances for revenge the following day. Now the Monday is usually celebrated by everyone drenching or sprinkling each other. Smigus Dyngus now refers to the Easter Monday drenching custom, although once signified a kind of house-to-house Easter trick or treating that has survived only in a few rural areas. The merrymakers often pulled along a special cart with a live or wooden rooster and received treats and drinks from the households they visited."
How is Colombus Day a National Holiday and Dyngus Day isn't???

Lil' Ski out!

If Sports Illustrated can Photoshop...

Here's my take on a group of Monk's outside Angkor Wat:Latest & Greatest:

-still teaching those Thais (and Koreans and Japanese)

-went to an Irish Pub on 3/17 and brought my own green food coloring

-made dinner tonight - Garlic/Lime Breaded Chicken, creamed sweet peas, salad, banana muffins

-weather is here; wish you were hot

-halfway through Season 2 of the Office - thanks again Sindowski

-still have a few brackets out there this year, but not as much as usual

-food craving of the week --> tomato pie from Serpe's

-excited for Amanda's sis (Liz) and her visit - who'dve thought I'd get to see Laos?

Take care and get your Cadbury Egg on!

Paging Cinderella...

How has Oklahoma (6 seed) become an underdog to us? I guess anything can happen in March.

Good Hoops on Good Friday. Let's Go St. Joe's.

Win the Next Game.

Beauty & the Beast

Cambodia has had a rough run for the past, oh I don't know... last half-millennium! Since the fall of Angkor and the mighty Khmer empire, it has been plunndered by all its neighbors, including pesky France. Civil war led to the suffering of the Khmer Rouge and their brutal reign of terror. Beginning in 1975 and not ending until some normalcy in the mid 1990s, between 1 - 3 million people (reported) were killed through Khmer Rouge's genocidial actiion. Pol Pot and Year Zero were pretty frightening and politics still remain a little sketchy.

Much of the population still lives on US$1 a day and travel beyond the main towns remain an adventure. But the security has improved and many visitors are rediscovering the country, especially Siem Reap with its five-star hotels and new golf courses. Amanda, Aunt Gail, & I decided to visit this up-and-coming Southeast Asia country. We also were able to renew our visas for Thailand.

We started off in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia and spent time wandering the streets and sights. A good chunk of our time was spent at the nightmarish S-21 Khmer Rouge prison museum. Phnom Penh seemed quite poor with lots of begging and aggressive taxi drivers. Surprisingly, the cost of living is much higher than Thailand and the currency of choice was actually the US dolla dolla bill y'all. Mass-murderers aside, I did learn a lot. Like why hasn't anybody, like Chris, clued me about Snoop's sick new song?

Vietnamese-Cambodian Friendship Monument

Gail & Amanda reading one of a million sad stories of genocidal wackiness

The halls of horror that is the S21 Terrordome

Amanda behind barbed wire
After a day perusing Phnom Penh, we took a bus north to Siem Reap. The 6 hour trip went fine despite having the seat next to the toilet. I counted only 11 flushes. The planes and buses allowed for some pretty good people watching. Celebrity sitings included "Asian" Bill Murray, Tonya Harding, % a baldheaded Lyle Lovett. We were looking forward to seeing Ankgow Wat, which is one of the "Seven Forgotten Wonders of the World."

The road leading to Angkor Wat

Ta-Da! Angkor Wat!
Siem Reap is the jump-off point for the MANY Angkor temples. There is the big daddy- Angkor Wat, the photogenic temple where Angelina Jolie shot Tomb Raider- Ta Prohm, and scores of neat structures of all shapes & sizes. We scooped 3-day passes to hit all them at all different times of the day.

This would be Angkor at butt-crack of dawn

This would be Angkor by day

And of course at sunset...

Around Angkor

A neat gate at the rear of Angkor

Random satellite temple. Sounds like a good name for a band.

The beginning of a starry evening in Siem Reap
I know, so many temples it makes you bleary-eyed. Trekking around them are also murder on the feet. Gail developed cankles. But we covered most of the ground by taking a "moto" around the complexes.

Me at the healm of the moto

Amandodia and Cankle What?

Detailed pas-relief

Why the stone-face?

I was into reflection shots for a brief spell

Down slope easier than up slope?

Felt like we were peeking into the past behind every column

And you thought the Roots were merely the greatest hip-hop band from Phila.
Finally, we finished up with the temples and it felt good to see all the sights. We also managed to visit a ceramic workshop, more markets, and restaurants/cafes.

One interesting thing we did was take a ride to a floating village. Yes, people actually live on the water (during the wetter seasons.) Aunt Gail graciously treated us to a boat ride that culminated in a nice sunset over the lake.

Lakeward bound

Double dutch

How dope is this? A basketball court that FLOATS! You can sink a floater while floating!

Some scenery from the starboard side

Not exactly Champlain Ave., but it would be neat to live in a floating neighborhood

Sun setting over our trip to Cambodia....
As if that wasn't enough, we came back to Chiang Mai and continued to get out and about, no not that Out & About! We rented a car and hit Doi Suthep, some hot springs, and various other sights. Amanda even hopped into a streetside Bocce ball game.

It was extremely enjoyable to have some company. Aunt Gail was the best visitor we could hope for and I was sad to see her go. See Amanda's page for more photos and less inside jokes! We made a great team (as can be seen in this pic of us imitating Chiang Mai's Three Kings monument.)


Hope everyone is doing magnificient this March. St. Patty's Day is coming up, basketball brackets will be passed around, and someone will be hoppin' down the bunny trail.

Win the Next Game.

On the Go!

The last few weeks have been full of teaching, travel, and Tia Gail.

I made a trip to Cambodia, yeah... that Cambodia!

And my Aunt Gail was with us for the trip and some time in Chiang Mai, yeah... that Aunt Gail!At times beautiful and beguiling, the trip to Cambodia was great. I will be sure to post some photos. If you are looking for more of a narrative and a tally on all the temples, please head over to Amanda's Blog. If you are wondering what is the best CD to listen to while flying over Pol Pot's 'Killing Fields' (it's Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles by the way) or if you are pondering how Lasagna from a French restaurant in Phonm Penh could be so delicious, than stick right here.

In the meantime, the following photo I took from a boat at a floating village is for my dad. A man that can turn into a giggling girl whenever there is a baby clip on America's Funniest Videos!

"And remember, if you get in on tape, you could get it in cash!"