waiting [bangkok days]

[bangkok: the view from the roof of our apartment]

in mid-august we packed up our bags & transported our little family to bangkok to wait for the arrival of our new baby.

after a few hectic months (moving our office, moving into a new apartment ourselves, new leadership at mcc, deciding to extend our contract in cambodia) bangkok has been a welcome breath of fresh air.  we love living in phnom penh, but have really appreciated the quiet family time, sidewalks, public parks, & wide variety of food we've found in bangkok.

here are some snapshots of how we've been filling our bangkok days.

[cedar cannot get enough of the parks & playgrounds]

[delicious street food - pad thai & mango sticky rice]

[eating fresh with some north american comfort foods]

 

[& eating not so fresh, when this 9-months pregnant mama is craving french fries!]

[a haircut]

[swimming!]

[& a little bit of t'ai chi to round out the day]

reunion in a russian tourist trap [phuket]

the hastings family reunion really kicked into full swing when we all (blaine, lindsay, daniel, cedar & i) met up with our brother ben & his girlfriend lindsay in bangkok.  we had found a great deal on a trip to phuket, so we headed to the beach!

we had NO idea what we were getting into.  i think i thought that phuket would be like our beloved kep, but just bigger & with more hotels.  

not even close.  

phuket was tourist-filled beyond anything we'd seen in southeast asia.  despite the tourist trap vibe, we had a good time relaxing at our hotel (which turned out to be completely full of russians, even the menu & signs were in russian!) & taking a really amazing boat trip out to phi phi island.  turns out phuket is popular for a reason; its beaches & islands are fantastically bright & beautiful & even a boat full of feisty russians couldn't ruin that.    

one weekend in bangkok