In the News.

Because it is midterms week and I have 2 midterms + 1 final I dont really have anything to blog about since Ko Tao besides studying 24/7 and getting caught in an elevator thought I would share some news.

Well 1) yes Amber and I did get stuck in an elevator for 45min! We stepped in, the doors shut, it moved 4ft then stopped shutting the lights off with it.... pitch black and in an elevator. Luckily we had a Thai friend with us who was able to speak to the mechanics and tell them that "yes we are in the elevator, no we cant get out" and they turned the lights on for us... they did not open the doors though.  We waited in the elevator, missing class in the meantime....

finally after 45min we heard someone yelling to us from the main floor... they were asking "are you stuck in the elevator" well I thought this was a pretty obvious question seeing as they had already asked... next they asked "what floor are you on?"... this is the type of elevator that has the floor number the car is on lit up on the outside... Cant say I felt too safe after this disscussion

So finally after 45min the solution to get us out... well there was none, they pulled a table up to the outside and we yanked the door open trying to hold both doors open while we climbed through the 1.5ft gap...

and now for real world news.

A tour boat in Halong Bay sank the other day.  Very sad and very scary especially since we were on one of the boats only a few weeks ago. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12490523

"Eleven foreign tourists and their Vietnamese guide have drowned after their tour boat sank in Halong Bay in north-east Vietnam.

The wooden boat was touring in the Unesco World Heritage Site, in Quang Ninh province, when it went down.

Fifteen people, including nine foreigners, have been rescued." - BBC World News

Ko Tao! Island retreat!

Ko Tao, a divers paradise! Crystal clear waters, white sand beaches, exactly what we needed after 3 busy weeks in Bangkok!

the small island we went to on our snorkel trip (will talk about later in the post)

Sitting on the beach outside our bungalows.

After 14h of travel on an overnight bus and boat we finally arrived on the island! We were in paradise! This was my first beach in Thailand! and yes all the exclamation marks I am using are needed to exemplify how nice it was to get away from school and the city for a few days. Not that I don't like Bangkok but I did miss the ocean.

Our bungalows on the beach! Top one is the one Amber, Rachel and I shared. 

Half of the group sitting on the beach outside our bungalows, drinking our beers, waiting for the sunset.

Rachel and I
hehe Rachel and Rachelle

all us girls!

There were 15 of us exchange students who ended up going on the trip.  A few too many for my liking but I was able to get away a couple times on my own so it ended up being a great trip anyways!

1/2 of my dinner!

The first day we just relaxed by the beach, ate seafood and explored the night life. After the overnight bus this was all we had the energy for!

Dinner next to the beach the first night! I shared red snapper and a chicken skewer! SO YUMMY!

there were fire dancers EVERYWHERE!

The group after dinner! Rachel's on crutches b/c she cut her feet on rocks earlier in the day :( 

We randomly ran into 5 of Rachel's friends from Australia! They had some "MOOSE" inside joke and had us all make moose faces! I went off dancing and came back to my camera with an entire album full of MOOSE pictures.  

The next morning I woke up at 9am to go diving! As I hadn't done a dive in a couple years my first time in the water had to be a refresher dive where I went over the basic skills then did a short dive at the end but my second dive of the day was a proper 45min dive.  Beautifully coloured fish and coral, 27degree water even at 15m deep, Thailand is hard to beat when it comes to swimming and diving!

The next day we went snorkeling for the day as a group.  We did the touristy thing and took a boat tour around the island where it would stop off at 5 locations for us to snorkel.  Our last stop was Koh Naang Yuan, an island with a beach connection two hills.  I hiked up to the top of one of the hills (no big enough to call it a mountain) to get an amazing view of the area!

[lot's of pics but more writing and pics below the set of snorkeling]

us on the snorkeling boat 

Marie and I in the water!

Amber!

ME :)

Dont worry dad I was reapplying the sunscreen about every 1/2h! (no kidding!)

arriving on the island...

top of the hill with a beautiful view 

Another pic from the top of the hill with a beautiful view! you can see the beach connecting the two parts on this one 

Long tail boats.

On my last day I woke up at 6am to go for a morning dive.  We dove around the island we had stopped at the day before.  Right on the first dive we saw a turtle! There were also tons of blue spotted sting rays and I even spotted a couple eels! Perfect end to the weekend getaway! and a good morning before I had to get back on the 14h bus/boat trip back to Bangkok!

Amber, Rachel and I eating seafood on the sand. 

fire dancer show... ring of fire!!

they start them YOUNG!

Finally I'm a tourist in Bangkok!

The title sums it up!

These last few days I have finally been able to take a break from studying and actually start seeing

Bangkok!

Last week it was Chinese New Year! We were told Thursday was the actual New Year although I have a feeling it is really a few days long as no one seemed to know the exact day...

Gate in China Town. 

In order to celebrate we decided this would be a good time to visit China town!  The streets were PACKED! you could barely move!  The streets were covered in decorations, there were food stands everywhere and even a stage with Chinese dancing!

Me and some of the other Engineering exchange students in front of the temple. 

All decorated for Chinese New Year! So many people!

As we were leaving we got to a street that was closed off and police were lining it all up and down... we thought we had found a parade... turns out the street was closed for the Princess and everyone was waiting to see her! We waited along with everyone else excited to see the Princess parade down the street... only to discover that this was a trivial closure and she was just having dinner at a restaurant.. she did drive by in a 10-15 car motorcade that drove by so quickly you could barely get a glimpse in the windows! A little anticlimactic I have sadly say...

Our night time celebration for Chinese New Year :)

Me with a bunch of the other exchange students

Saturday was the Chulalongkorn rival soccer game! It is the biggest game of the year against their rival school Tamasat and is always played at Chula.
They really go all out for the game!  Not only do they have a marching band and cheer leaders (Thai version of cheer leaders that is) but they have stands with people making out phrases and pictures to mock and banter with the other team who does the same!

Amber and I with Amber's volleyball friend Eye at the game. 

I am happy to say Chula won 3-1!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thammasat (Chula's rivals) signs... people holding paper to make the picture. 

Click on me to see the pretty picture  :) 

Thammasat's statement after they scored their first and only goal. 

Chula's response after they scored a goal. 

Thammasat's Cheerleaders

Chula's Cheerleaders

It says "CU Wins"
Chulalongkorn University won 3-1!!!

Amber, Eye (amber's vball thai friend), Marvin (another exchange student) and me at the game.

Today we went touring around the city.  We finally became real tourists! Although we are lucky to be Chula students as our Chula ID cards got us in for free!!!

We spent the day in the Rattanakosin district.  We visited the a few temples,  Wat Pho with the reclining Buddha, the Royal Palace with the Emerald Buddha, and the Royal Barge Museum.

Very ornate! I felt like I was walking in the country side surrounded by mountains but instead of mountains there were temples surrounding me!

The Reclining Buddha

Amber and I inside one of the temples making sure our feet do not point towards the Buddha

Amber, Sam, Issac and I outside the Grand Palace.

Amber, Issac and Sam waiting for the water taxi