From Siam Square to Lumphini Park

Then I took them to see the Lumphini park near my Hotel which is very nice and the sun was shining.. it was sooooo hot! We walked around a bit and then we wanted to loan a boat to 'sail' a bit round the lake of the park, but they wanted us to have 2 boats because we were 3 so we declined and just walked around a bit. After that we saw the FITNESS-Weekend animation again. 1 guy or girl dancing with Thai music and 100 people aproximately trying to follow what the other one was doing! It was very nice and we tried to follow as well but it was merely impossible because we didnt start from the beginning and it was to quick...but we had a good laugh though. Here is one link perhaps you can take a look: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2267338327948579059
Then we went to the highest Tower in Thailand 802 meters high!! And we watched the Sun go down with Popcorn! and a free cocktail VERY NICE!! all for only 5 euros!
So the picture is shot when we were on the Tower...very nice view, but again on tha picture never that astonishing as i reality...okay kisses

To Thanon Khao San

So on Satruday I had a visit from 2 girls from lixembourg...and I wnated t show them (and myself because I never went) Khao San Rd, which is the big Backpackers and amrket and outgo street. I have to say I was very happy to see some Falang again...sometimes it is nice to other people when you see all the time the same faces. It was very nice...the atmosphere is so nice...you just feel in holidays...its amazing. We took some cocktails for about 3 euro each!! Very good! And after having chilled and talked a bit we went home again, because the girls were still a bit tired from the trip and also because of the time change! So then we took the taxi home and I told them that I planned to go to the Chatuchak Market (weekend market) here to shop a bit and I think everybody who comes here should see it..its just a must!!
So then I took them to eat something at Siam Square in Paragon with its big Food hall on the first floor. They ate thai, me Japanese...I have to say Im getting more and more a fan of Japanese food, eventhough I love Thai food as well, but since I have it everyday...
Okay soem picture from Khao San its not a very nice one because it can not mirror the atmospher very well...but I think no picture REALLY can...so just to give you an idea...

Long Time No Write...

Yes, I have to admit I was a bit too lazy these days, with the writing...and it was not because of my job absorbing me too much, believe me... I see that it is getting more interesting though, step after step. Today, for example, a guy from Accor came to us and explained us some new features of Fidelio and then I wrote an Excell file to make things easier which was way better then to control invoices and ordering files. Eventhough I like working in Food Cost as well...this was more credit management and I had a much better insight in how things work today. So eventhough I worked late (and sorry for not being on time for the skype phone call, the one who is concerned, knows) I was feeling much better about what I was doing.
Also to bring up the news; I was invited to Oils parents, who live out of Bangkok, this weekend (long weekend off until Tuesday) so that they would get to know me, Oils Mum is English teacher so at least no problem with the communication there and her grandmother apparently prepared something Thai to cook, so I could learn cooking, (and I was looking forward to it) but then I remembered that I said that I could lodge 2 people coming from Luxembourg here... I thought it was later than this weekend but apparently I was wrong so these plans fell into water. In the very beginning I was going to meet Sma in Shanghai who is visiting and also to see China of course, but eventually I found that the fee was too high plus the visa and I remembered that my salary was not that high!!
So now Im looking at a more relaxed LONG WE with the girls, so I can speak luxemburgish hahaha som nana for all the Thais that speak Thai all the time. Time for reveeenge!! (som nana means like: domm gaang, i do not know how to translate in English!!) I already planned to go to Chinatown tomorrow with Oil looking for some stuff..the girls are coming later on if I got that right and in the evening I planned to go out on Khao San road, which is the backpacker, out go street here; lots of falang. BUT Im not only going with Falang but also with my dear ladyboy friends, I think we are going to have lots of fun! I hope!
And Sunday (obligé) I go to Chatuchak Weekend Market!! Perhaps we can also go to the park and relax in the sun, or take a trip on the boat...we'll see..
Okay that is my update for this week, Im still very happy and I am even more happy to have some company this weekend.
Oh, one more thing, Oil told me that there was a 3 month period coming (something like the ramadan) starting next Monday, in which you can not drink alcohol (for 3 months) and one of the other rules (which noone follows apparently) is not to have sex for 3 months as well! There are some other rules but she only told me these, since she is allergic to alcohol I think that is not going to be a problem for her. As for myself..Im not alcoholic, if I was...well I would had have a problem not drinking for one month already and I DONT, but I like the idea of having a glass of wine if I want to. So i think Im going to stick to 'christianity' eventhough I dont follow the 'Fastenzeit' either, or am that religious either..

Okay bye bye..

Bangkok @ night!

Wow finally after one month I managed to go out and discover Bangkok at night! I went with a ladyboy from work (ladyboy here not a boy dressed like a woman but only a femeffeminated guy), who asked me already last week to go there (near chatuchak market). Once there, it felt like any other street with pubs let say (for luxembourg) like the 'Hollerecher', only that the club I was in was called Lady BUG and that me and 3 other girls were probably the only 'born' women in about a 200 meter area. Before we went there we had a drink at a little place, the owner was very nice he spoke a bit of english and he told me about his life, that he had come around a lot that he had worked in Hotels as well and that he was happy to have his own little 'shop' where he was selling the most amazing fresh cocktails. He told me like 3 times how beautiful I was looking and that I would probably have a nice life because of that...I guess that is also a good reason why I liked him (but not only)!! ;oP Sitting there and enjoying my first alcoholic drink after WEEKS I was happy and felt relaxed (on holidays). We then went on to the club, first shock: I had forgotten to take my camera, I know I know..stupid. Second shock; I also forgot to take my ID card , happily they believed me that I had 21 and let me enter the ladybug!!
There we met another girl from my work who took care of me and ordered a bottle of whisky and coke and soda and lots of ice n( they only sell whisky here)!! So 6 people drinking on one bottle of whisky... At first I thought wow thats not much...probably they dont drink that much...until the first bottle was empty and I saw them ordering the next one! Holy crap...I was already enjoying myself and did not want to drink more...but they poured and poured one glass after the other... As the time went by, people were starting to eventually dance and the atmosphere was getting a lot better. At one point I asked one of the ladyboys to go dance with me on the stage! We tried to get to the 'stage' and immediatly the boys from the stage took my hand and danced with me! Very friendly..I think I was a real rariety that evening; because a girl AND falang as well!! They were really nice eventhough they didnt speak that much English. We did not speak but had fun nontheless.
I have to say if it is hard to understand a Thai speaking English sometimes in normal circumstances, try to understand them when there is loud music all around you!! IMPOSSIBLE!!
SO mostly I tried to smile and say yes or no when they talked to me and hoped that it was the right thing to say...sometimes I actually understood and then it ended in the same reaction: laughing and nodding so...everything was fine!
At 2 oclock then the light went on and the party was over, the girl from work was pretty drunk and we started to take our things and try to find a taxi! Before that I exchanged my number with some of the guys and they told me that we should go to Khao San road next time, where there are more falang (its a spot for backpackers and I wanted to go at least once) the same road on which Leonardo di Caprio is partying in The Beach. SO they will take me there next week! After that I just fell into the taxi ..I was so tired and could not wait to fall into my bed.
I am now going to lumpini park to read Harry Potter number 7 ahhhh suspense!!! Go ROWLING!!
Oh if ESTELLE or CES are reading this: Je suis désolé encore un fois que je vous ai pas félicité pour vos anniv!!! SOORRRYYYY, pakadong!! (thai qui essaye de dire pardon) Je pense a vous quand même!! CES survit! please. Estelle : donne moi de tes nouvelles please!

( the picture shows desert from here: rothi (lothi) very good!!)

Difficult to chose pictures!!

Its really hard to chose but I decided to take this picture, it s a nice resume of a very nice and hot, steamy day!
Okay I have to go...in some hours, at 5 am they are going to sell the new harry potter book! and I want to be there!
byebye
oh tomorrow i am going out with a ladyboy, looking forward to it!!

Adyuthya 2 weeks ago!!

Okay so I got finally the pictures from Adyuthya, today!! I'll put 2 pictures to give you all an impression of the ancient City of Thailand.
This picture shows myself 'performing' a thai ritual, where you have this 'glass' with sticks on it every stick has a number and the number that falls out when shacking the glass is telling something about your life or future if you are going to have luck or not... if the 'prediction' is bad you can throw it away, if its good you should keep it with you all the time. Mine was VERY good and as I wondered if all of the numbers were telling something good I saw the bin full of papers with less happy 'predictions'.
And I have to admit eventhough Im not very superstitious, I was happy that I had such a nice prediction!!
Okay next picture...

How I eat here (sometimes)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6545794537443453778

aaaaaaaafff, singe, monkey, affe, ling!!!

Some pictures!

Ahh i got a reaction!! 5 comments!! woaahhh!
okay that is motivating! Since I was asked to put more pictures, I guess I will put one or two more pictures : one; so you can see me not getting a tan at all and my friends here. The other one with a monkey!! With me on the picture are Oo and Oil, yeah easy to remember THANK GOD, 2 very nice girls with who I have a lot of sanuk (fun) and who have white hearts! (Im not sure if this expression exists but 'jiai damm' means (word by word) 'heart black' and they are defenitely the opposite!)
I teach them a bit of French and sometimes English if necessary and in revenge they help me to develop my Thai! I teached them to say: J'ai la dalle!! haha sooo funny when they say it now all the time for lunch time...the whole office starts to say it now!

As for the monkey pictures...no words! ;oP Its a monkey...I just think its nice to show it because I think it was the first time I saw a monkey in nature (not in zoo or on television) and I wanted to share this moment..plus it was hilarious when he was 'cleaning' his falang fruit hahaha

Mangrove Final part

Sorry I slept last night and couldnt finish the last part of my report...but Im sure nobody noticed anyways...Im not even sure if somebody else sees this accept my father and brother... well anyways..at least I dont write for nobody!

okay so then we finally planted the trees which was kind of difficult the men had to push the board on which were normally seated one of us girls and some baby trees...the picture explains it better though...
then we left and some of us were pulled by the boats with the board which was pretty funny...
arrived at the departure station e showeres (kind of) and after some group pictures we left for the floating market! there I found some thai specialties which I've never seen in my whole life before! and then we went home again! these people are really fun and I enjoy every minute with them..of course there are some exceptions like one of the guys (who is securitas) at the Sofitel called me falang all the time! And I started to get pissed, because I dont like it that much...then ..because he didnt stop I started to say yes thai? what is it...but then oo told me to call him Lao (from the country laos) which is not a very nice word to say apparently..and ohh mriacle after I called him that he went all quiet and the time after he called me mali! yipieehhh
okay toiday I went to a sort of suuuuper festival for thai products, silk but alos of course food again and bags and jewellry ... I bought so m uch it was cheap and the last day and the people wanted to get rid of all this stuff...but it was sooo huuge my feet hurt and Im exhausted..plus I went to fitness after fo body pump and 30 min of running...Im no officially TIRED!! okay good night!

Mangrove PART 3

SO finally we went to eat in this 'house' in the air over the water (picture)...which was actually a bit strange, but veeery nice also..and apparently you can rent it for 1500 baht for 24hrs! I took a picture of the house and the food but I finally decided that you absolutely have to see the house...we ate fish and sea food (best shrimps ever) and rice of course with spicy sauces...but since I had some problems with the food in the moring. I went easy on the food, fortunately there were no more problems and it tasted very good!
After a quite long break, because thai people are NEVER I repeat NEVER stressed, we went on to the fields to finally plant that tree...but it was actually more like 70 little trees then only one! Okay first 'house in the air' picture.

Mangrove PART 2

Once on the boats we fed the monkeys and this was quite funny, because we had to throw the falang (its a fruit) next to the monkey in the mud...sometines however it hit the monkey itself and then when he catched it, it was still pretty clean but everytime he put it into the mud water to 'clean' it. Hilarious...when he looked at us and 'cleaned' it..with this suspicious look on the face! hehe

then we went on to the mussel fields and we got an explanation in thai for how it worked ... even though my thai gets slowly better I didnt understand a thing and everytime the girls in my boat went all: ohhh and aaaahhh I was asking: alai (what??) waht did he say!!??

Then we went to the mudfields where some workers tried to find seafood , crabs in the mud etc... one of the boats got stuck and our 'SUPER' driver got his board and went to see to help them..he was really nice he offered me his cap, because I forgot mine and he was really nice in his explanations and then even cooked afterwards!! ;oP
that s why the picture which i found really nice by the way!

Plant a Mangrove treeeee! FIRST PART

I have to admit, when I created my blog in the beginning of my internship I did not know that the title: Experiencing Thailand would be that accurate and true!
Today I went with some of the Sofitel employees to the Mangrove plantations to plant a tree, which is an activity organised for every year by accor to help the nature develop. I was already happy to have plans for this Saturday that gave me a reason to stand up early in the morning but what came was even more interesting and amazing! I had the best time!! and I took soooo many pictures! because they can help to understand and explain my happiness ;oP
Okay it al started of with me oversleeping but not enough to miss the bus leaving from the hotel! I was perhaps 1 minute late...after that we waited 1 hour for 2 other people who were late so I think that I was pretty on time!! ;oP
Then just after having entered the bus, they told me: Khun MALIII here I have breakfast for you ... since I was hungry mak mak (very much) I happily accepted the sticky rice and sate kai for uuu! ...Unfortunately my stomach didnt like it so much, so immediatly after having left the hotel the falang (me) had to go to the toilet again verryyy urgently...so they stopped the bus and I ran to the toilet...which looked more like a hole in the ground then an actual toilet...
Happily after this short break I was all better and we could continue the trip. They had the whole Karaoke suuplies, micro and televison, installed and they were singing thai songs all along! It was very funny even though I didnt understand.
Okay arrived on our 'tree plantation farm' I ran to the toilet again and we prepared for our departure on the boats to visit the mussel fields, the salt fields and to feed the monkeys. And there were like a thousand little crabs in the mud and alos the fis which they called feet fish for me... I laughed but then they got very serious and asked me: come on u know the fish...which have feet!?? Honestly I hadnt heard of it in my whole life and I thought that it was an invention by mankind (for myths or other stories) but they actually did have some kind of feet.
Okay we took off our shoes (like always) and we took a 'seat', always 6 people on 1, in the boats. follow...part 2

Getting to know Accor today..

Yeah today was an interesting day! All the trainess (meaning ; two guys (mexican and ecuadorian and me) went to see the Headquarters of Accor today! Im most impressed with the organisation of the training and the whole management. If I compare to the Plaza in Brussels where I did my first internship!! Its like 2 completely different worlds!
The lady that welcomed us was very friendly (of course) and you immediatly feel at ease when they speak to you. She explained us some of the plans for Accor and how this whole company is functioning and since she was the Jr. Graduates and Mobility Coordinator she also talked about the future what we wanted to do later on and how it would work if we wanted to come back to Asia. I dont know if it was her talent to promote but she was really convincing..so that I am now thinking about coming here to work for a while! Of course its not sure and reeeaaally not sure to find a job but she gave me her adress and she can surely help us later on if we need help, which is very reassuring. So we discussed with her for like 2 hours and we really enjoyed it. She also showed us around and to work in the headquarters is really tempting, since as an expat you can travel a lot and you learn a lot since work wit a lot of different people.
Okay however...I will let these informations go through my mind and think about it...who knows where I might end up?? and thats what I like so much about hospitality; it could be anywhere in the world!

okay thats it for now im just coming home from aerobic (in the hotel they organise a new class for the employees which is reaaaly nice, but in thai) and I think Im going to relax a bit! Oh yeah on saturday, accor (once more) organised a day on the beach for the employees (and trainees) where we will plant a tree in order to make people more aware of ecological issues. And ofor Sunday (wahn aa tiiid) Nong Em asked me to go on a silk festival, where you can find nice silk for (apparently) a very low price. please give your order to me if u want anything!! bye

A Weekend away in real Bangkok

Hello again!! I apologise for my looong absence on my blog, but I was invited by my thai friend Ooy and her boyfriend to stay at their house this weekend..also they gave me the private guide tour through Ayutayahhh and I have to say...is it possible to love a country that much!? ;oP I really have to say these people were the sweetest and nicest people during the whole weekend! They wanted to pay everything for me and I had to be quick if I wanted to pay the bill!! But i suceeded 2 times!!! They showed me the real Bangkok where Thai people live and where falang were still only veeeery rarely seen! (farang or falang is the common word to describe european or americans here in thailand) Their house was quite small, but cosy... they had plenty of fish in the garden and no kitchen. Therefore 2 bathrooms one when you came in and one on the first floor. Well bathroom...lets say toilet with a bucket of water (for the shower)! Very economical though.. and not that dramatic, because its so hot you dont really need hot water (I have to say as a girl from the western countries I was at first staring in disbelief at the bucket, and I must admit I was shocked, but after a while I laughed to myself and told me, this is not going to stop you and it is not that big of a deal. Its just amazing that I was shocked, evnethough I know these things, I saw in that moment (again) how spoiled we are with our european norms and I could not belief it... I think this 6 month job is going to bring me a lot more then just a good internship and a wonderful time.

Then again, ironically, they had 2 televisions, and very nice ones too(perhaps they were putting their priorities, I dont know) and one computer a nice little living room another room for laundry and clothes etc (perhaps for a baby later on), but no bed in there so far. And now the best part; their bedroom which was pretty big and also had an big bed in it was ment for all the 3 of us to sleep in. So Ooy s boyfriend insisted that I slept in the bed with ooy and he took place on the floor! I was trying to speak with him but there was nothing to do..at the end he said : dont wooollly dont woolly...I like to sleep on the floor!! Thats when I gave in! SO that is where I spend my last 3 nights and that is why I didnt came online to write this report on my blog.
For Ayuttayahh I have to say that it is verrry beautiful and the weather was very good , a lots of Buddhas to see and lots of other falang..we wanted to take a tour with the changs (elephants) but we didnt had the time at the end. Here I have to add, if you have the chance to see Bangkok and its suroundings with a local; do it!! grap your chance, it is the best! Oh yeah as for the picture I unfortunately forgot my digital camera at my appartment BUT dont worry! They had one and we took a loooooot of pictures...Now I just wait that they burn me a cd or something than I will put some pictures here! Ohhh I also tasted some new thai delicious desserts mhhhhh for those who come here it will be my pleasure to make you experience them!! muahahaha
okay that is all for now...since we woke up at 5:30 this morning to be at work on time (8:30) I am kind of deeeaaaad and will go to sleep!!
Ohhhh one last thing; everything was very nice BUT the moskitoes!! they like falang blood a LOT I was biten about 20 times and it itches like hell!! ahhhh
A miracle how Im still able to write... ( happily I got vaccinated...I couldnt help but thinking, but Im sure it will be okay) bye bye..

FFIIIRRREEE ALAAAARM!!!

Today we had a little fire alarm, but nothing to worry about it was planned!! I have this very nice video of us running down the firestairs, but I can not go to youtube so i can not post it on the blog!! Grrr but I have another picture with my favourite Thais on it ;oP from work ; Rachenii (oo), Nirachallah (ooy), temduang (nong em) and me of course. Nong (means older sister or something like that, and she wants us to call her that way because she wouls feel younger!! She is a really sweet lady and she always does my hair at work!! She is like a mum to me! really nice! (nothing in comparison to my mum of course!! ;o)) and oo and ooy I like these girls, they are so much fun ... oo is not so good in speaking english, but ooy is and helps us communicate!! Normally if Ooy is not there oo and I are talking thai english hehe very nice!! In that way we both learn! Ooy is lovely, she looks after me like a sister (again nothing in comparison to my sister, but it is sweet to have people like this around) and she always helps me out and makes me laugh! Great people and soooo cuute ... they try to learn french now...its the best their accent ... because they can not really speak the R...its hilarious!! Okay thats it for today!!
OOOHHH one more thing!! HAPPY BDAY!!!! to SMA and HERVE!!!!! Ech vermessen ierch meeega hai!! Sma ech wees net op ech kann op SHanghai..sugäer ech komm wier...par contre well ech alt rem net do sin as awer vu muer un a päckelchen ennerwee op Letz mat kadoen fier ierch an fier all di aaner di na gebuertsdach haaten (marc, julie, carmen) aiaiai ech schecken dese päckelchen bai meng eltren also musst der dann engkéier all bei mer laanscht kommen an kennt ierch dann em kadoen zerklappen!! muhahaha maja ciaoooo

So much to say so little time!

Since I didnt write yesterday I updated my cinema picture today and also added or at least I want to add to more posts!
COming back to yesterday night I went out eating to a recommended restaurant by 'le routard' and it was very nice...it is called Mango Tree and is just 5 minutes away from me! SO I went there to test the food and to know where to bring some of you that will visit me...!!?? ;oP I would say the almost quality of the Thailand Reszaurant in front of our house (the ones who which one it is, know what that means!!) but the prices were a lot more acceptable!! It really is a nice adress and very nice...you are seated oin the edge of a big mango tree with some people playing Thai music and very nice! AND the service was quick...I just gave my order in when the first course arrived not even 5 minutes later!! Amazing...!! Wow!! and sooo goooood... anyways, I started eating when I thought of my mobiler phone I wanted to check on the time and that was when I saw this cat, a BLACK cat I might add, sitting just beside me as if it was the most natural thing in the world!! and surely for Bangkok it is, with dogs and cats everywhere, but I was still a little confused...that is where the picture comes from!! SOOO cuute!! But a bit 'raaaatzeg'!!! ;oP I tried to give her some of my peanuts from my salad but she didnt want to so I just resumed she wouldnt be that hungry and eated the whole red curry duck myself ^^ hehehe

In this post I thought of course especially of my sister and her 2 'lovely' cats ;oPthe link for her blog: www.mecha-lanomadesedentaire.blogspot okay enough advertising for the family!! ;oP (I will put it on my page anyways)