ChanomiTalk

This weekend I had the pleasure of performing at Shonansai event in Chigasaki. I sang three songs while my students danced the hula. It was quite a lovely event to be able to sing and perform while facing the ocean. Mahalo Kawena

朝から青空が晴れ渡り、絶好のおそとミーティング日和です。
パソコンを担いで伊勢山公園の２００段の石段を登りました。
WiFiの電波もうまく繋がりました。

ナコスのプログラムをインターネットに集約していく為の打ち合わせ。
そのあと、サムさんとバドミントンの対決！

疲れたところで、藤沢駅に向かいました。
途中、佐野さんが運営する蔵まえギャラリーに立ち寄っておしゃべり。

前に進んでいっている人達の顔はみんな輝いています！

余りぱっとしない今年の春風景のなかで、flowering pear tree（花は咲けども実はならない梨の木）の白い花は今年は当たり年のようです。お向かいの梨の木も過去３年に比べると段違いに咲き誇っています。

ここ数日、少し冬に逆戻りしたような肌寒い日が続いていました。
今日は、少し風がありましたが、快晴の暖かい一日となりました。
気温は、午後は、摂氏１８度位まで上がりました。

このような日は、「おそとミーティング」をします。
歩きながら仕事のことを話します。
何気ないことでも大切なことに気付いたりします。

新しいウェブの打ち合わせをしたり、エリーとボール遊びをしたり、
サムさんが美しい日本語を身に付けていっているかをチェックしたり、
午後のおそとミーティングでした。

I traveled to Thailand last year with some friends.  We went to BKK, Koh Samui and Phuket.    All were amazing places full of great food, beaches, Thai culture  and amazing things to see.     You can find cheap guest houses for as little as $7 USD per night.   Hotels start at around $33 USD and go up from there.   The big resorts on the islands start at $50 per night for a room on the beach.   But prices change depending on the season.   Oct – March is usually the high tourist  season and the price of everything goes up but its still very affordable.

Our first day there we opted to catch the train from the airport to BKK.   The taxi drivers will assume you are stupid and try to take advantage of you and ask for what seems to be a low price for people from the U.S or Japan but is actually very high for Thailand.     I was tired from my flight so I didnt feel like haggling with the taxi drivers so we got the train.  Which is very easy to use by the way.   If you do decide to use a taxi negotiate the price from the airport to your hotel in BKK before you get in the car.   If they are asking you for 1000 baht or more walk away.   It shouldn’t cost more than 500 baht or so to get from the airport to most hotels in BKK.  That is including the road tolls.

The food is great in Thailand but beware.  Some foods are extremely spicy.  Street food is very cheap and I loved trying it all.    How ever I would advise people not to eat street food from vendors that have food that looks like its been sitting out all day.   Be particularly mindful of seafood that is not on ice.   You dont want to get sick and send your vacation in your bed or in the hospital.

Traveling in BKK is very easy they has a skyline called BTS and a subway called the MTS that can get you almost anywhere you want to go in the city cheaper and faster than a taxi during peak run hours.   Traffic in BKK is horrible and you have to take extra care crossing the street.

Near Khao San are many ancient temples as well as a huge shopping district.    The easiest way the get there is by catching the MTS subway line and riding it to the very last stop.    From there you can get a taxi the rest of the way for about $2 dollars or you can just walk.    Taxi drivers like to try and go on detours and charge you extra money or they will offer you and very low fair but wont take you directly to where you ask.   Instead they will try and take you to some merchant who sells suits, jewelry, tours or something.    These merchants give the taxi drivers gasoline coupons for bringing in customers and they also give the taxi drivers a commission if you buy something in the shops.    Don’t thing you are getting a good deal.  The shop owners charge you more to cover the commission they give to the taxi driver.

If you want to learn how to make real Thai food there are  lot of cooking school you can go to that are fun and easy.   I went to two different schools in Silom both were very affordable.   Only 1000 baht which is about 35 dollars.    Class started at 9am  with a tour of the local Thai market where we shopped for ingredients and our guide explained how to tell if things were fresh and how other things were made.   It was very interesting.  I think i liked buying snacks from vendors and tasting strange looking fruit the most.    After that we all went to the school where we prepared and cooked a  full meal.    After the cooking the best part happens.  THE EATING!!!!!   hahahahaha    all the students get to sit down and enjoy the food they made.      The Silom cooking school and the Somphong cooking school are on the same road but they each teach different styles of thai cooking.      I enjoyed my time and both.

people I saw at the floating market