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)