From the City of Angels to the City of Angels

Did you know that the real name of Bangkok is "Grung Tep", which means "The City of Angels"? So we went from Los Angeles (City of Angels), where we've been living, to Bangkok (City of Angels). Kinda cool, huh?
Here's a post about our two-week trip:

Caitlyn was AWESOME on her first flight ever! It was a total of 17 hours just flying, plus the stops and airplane changes in Seattle and Tokyo, so about 24 hours of traveling.

Oui took us to the elephant museum, which was beautiful.



We went to Muang Boran (or Ancient City) with Moo, Oui, and Grandma, which was really fun!



We went to Pattaya, a beach south of Bangkok that I love going to! Oui, Somboon, and Yui took us and it was so fun to hang out with them! The first day there we went to Suan Nong Nood and saw the culture show, the elephant show, and the amazingly, stunningly, beautiful gardens.





That night we ate at a restaurant with an amazing view and got some pictures of the sun setting.



The second day we took a boat to the island Goh Lahn. It was beautiful. The sand was white and the water was clear and super warm. While there we went on a glass-bottomed boat (but I didn't get any pictures), which was really cool. Oui and Yui bought a ducky floaty for Caitlyn. At first she was afraid of the water so we just held her standing up out of the water and gradually lowered down into the water until she was comfortable with it. After a while she was comfortable enough to get into the ducky and she totally loved it! It was sooo cuuuute!



The next morning I got a Thai massage at the condo and then we headed home, but on the way we stopped at an aquarium and Caitlyn had a blast looking at all the weird fish they had there.



We took the weekend to rest and relax and hang out with the fam. Som came on Saturday and we got to meet her husband, Ahmed, for the first time. He is super nice and it was really fun to meet him. Miew also came home from college for the weekend so we got to see her.

The next Monday Oui took us to the Grand Palace/ Temple of the Emerald Buddha. She hired a guide they had there to tell us about everything there, which was really great. I've been there several times before but this time I actually learned what everything was. P.s. if you're wondering about Quinn's pants, it was my fault. I told him I was pretty sure he could wear shorts but when we got there it turned out you can't wear shorts there (everyone is required to dress modestly as it is a sacred place in Buddhism) so he had to wear these nice shiny pants!




We also went to Wat Pho, the temple of the (enormous) reclining Buddha.

Tuesday we rested again and recuperated from the intense heat and humidity. On Wednesday we went with Oui, Yui, and Somboon to Mor Boon Khlong, a HUGE shopping center, where we ... well, shopped! We got some ice cream at Swensons before we left for home. :)



Thursday we got all packed and then that night everybody took us to eat Sukiyaki for a farewell dinner (Quinn's taking the picture). Note to my family members: the girl in front is Art's girlfriend. She's really sweet.


So, basically, it was an AMAZING trip!! Quinn said his favorite part was the trip to Pattaya and also just getting to meet my family. My favorite part was probably also the Pattaya trip and just finally being there with my two best friends (Quinn and Caitlyn) after so many times of being there by myself. Our family was so hospitable and so fun to be with. They made the trip so fun.

They LOVED Caitlyn and Caitlyn LOVED them too! She liked clapping (and watching everyone immediately start clapping with her), which we got a video of:


Everywhere we went everyone stopped us and wanted to talk to and play with Caitlyn. She got really good at waving this cute little backwards wave, which usually earned her a delighted squeal from whomever she happened to be waving at. We love our girl so much!


We're so grateful we had a chance to go!