Renovations have started:-)

Thought I'd post again the link as we have updated our house blog again so you can see it in it's raw state!! www.scholtenhouse.blogspot.com for some reason I can't add photos on here tonight. Hope all is well wherever you may be, thinking of you all H J TJ and M xxx

Thai Time

More of Pip and Anneli's Excellent Adventures...
"It feels like we've done so much since I last wrote in Chiang Mai! We took the train down to Bangkok, in a second class sleeper with ac, which was really nice. We arrived in Bangkok at 7am and checked into our Guesthouse and then took off to explore. We had some amazing street food, toured markets and went to a few temples. The temples and palaces in Bangkok were massive. We went to Wat Pho, where in just one of the many buildings, lay the reclining Buddha. I can't remember the actual dimensions, but it was hard to get it all in one picture! We booked our train down to Surat Thani in second class with a seat and fan for overnight. It was wayy better than we were thinking it would be. All the windows on the train were open so it wasn't too hot. Wasn't very easy to sleep however as there are Thais walking the isles trying to sell stuff all through the night and are very loud! No, I do not want to buy a whole chicken at 4:30am on a train! Haha When we arrived in Surat Thani, we got right on a bus for a couple hours that took us to the pier where we enjoyed our first sights of the beaches and islands on a ferry to Koh Phangan. This is where we met up with some of our University friends, which was awesome. The Full Moon Party was ridiculous and awesome as around 20,000 people go to it every month. So it worked as a place to coordinate our travel plans for a couple days. I've attached a picture of the beach as it was when the sun was rising. People were still going strong! We retired to the rocks to watch the mayhem by this time. We were staying at a little place called JB huts, which was fantastic, it was about a half hour drive from the beach with the party, so we we're able to be free of the music when we left. Our hut had a beautiful view of the ocean from our hammock. And the beach was just 2 minutes away from our hut, although, more like 15 on the way back up. We stayed 3 nights there and then said goodbye to our friends and headed to the other side of the island. We had been looking forward to this place for literally months. When we were first researching places to go in Thailand we were on Google Earth on the iPad, and just kept zooming in on one spot in the ocean and it ended up being an amazing looking place, that we promised to go to, and here we are! It's called Mai Pen Rai bungalows, and is on the east side of the island that is a lot more remote. Unlike the other parts of the island that have electricity all throughout the day, Mai Pen Rai is in an area with electricity from 12-4 and 6 to midnight. So it gets pretty hot at night without a fan, but everything about it is worth it, because this is as close to paradise as I can imagine. We are staying in a rock side bungalow with a view of the bay and green hills and ocean. In order to get to our hut, you walk across the beach and then crouch and walk through a little hole in the rocks which leads to stairs that go up. Yesterday we went exploring on the rocks for a couple hours in one direction: we found a bat cave! First we just saw a cave and wanted to check it out so we hopped in the water and swam up to the surrounding rocks. We got up on the rocks, still aways from the entrance to the cave, and started getting close. Then we stopped for a second as we just realized that what we were hearing was not the birds, but the screeching bats! As we got closer, it reeeeeeked, and there were huge spiders. I just went far enough to say I'd stepped inside but I definitely didn't stay long. What an amazing adventure! Our place is in a national park so there are lots of things that are on our list to see. There are tons of waterfalls and we are going to rent kayaks to go explore around the coast and see a couple small islands that we've spotted that are really close to the coast. We have two more nights here and then we are taking a boat to Koh Tao where we will be scuba diving! If you want to check out the bungalows, the website is thansadet.com."

I don't think we want to know too much more about the infamous Full Moon Party...!

Sardines and prawns on the beach in Ferragudo, washed down with a beer or two ! LLLLLurvly.

"The old folk" on the boardwalk.. Dad was that pre or post "fainting"???

(ps don´t ask !)

Black pork and mum´s 1\2 a cow restaurant, decisions were being made here on Christmas 2011, so that´s why the serious faces. suprisingly washed down with a few beers!! and the BEST choccy mouse in the world !!

Love to all............ J C and M

More Running and Flying...

Here's the latest news from Pip and Anneli's backpacking trip in SE Asia...The top two pics are from their trek in northern Thailand and the bottom pic is in the world's highest bar in Hong Kong!

"Hong Kong was amazing. It was so helpful to have Cathy here to show us around. We took a picnic up to The Peak on Friday which was really fun. Talk about a meal with a view! Very comparable to 360 at the CN tower... Just that the food was a little more reasonably priced. We got to experience it in the sun, then engulfed in cloud, and then again when it cleared up and the light had faded and the city was lit up like a Christmas tree. So beautiful. There was also a spectacular view from the ferry which we took last night. We have about a hundred pictures of skyscrapers now! We also went for one drink at the VERY swanky Ozone bar on the 118th floor of the International Finance tower (the tallest building in HK at just under 500m and the highest bar in the world!) With drinks at $90HKD, we didn't stay too long. We did however take full advantage of the complimentary almonds haha. Stunning view of HK obviously and very cool as it was on the top floor and had a pseudo-outdoor patio with an open roof."

"We are currently in a cafe with wireless in Chiang Mai. We are hopping on at train at 6pm overnight to Bangkok. We are staying 1 night in Bangkok and then heading south for the islands. We had an amazing week in Chiang Mai. We are really going to miss it. The next day we made the pilgrimage to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep atop a mountain a little ways outside Chiang Mai. Incredibly beautiful. Grabbed a really yummy Pad Thai for $30 baht at the local market which subsequently put me on my knees for the night (luckily not until we got back to the hotel), and for the majority of the next morning. Once I could stomach a bowl of rice however, we headed out of town to visit the town of Bo Sang Village where all the beautiful umbrellas and fans are made. All were very beautiful but we decided pictures were cheaper and easier to take home with us than the real thing. We headed to the Chiang Mai night market again after, this time to do a little shopping for me. I much prefer the bartering here to the utter chaos of Bangkok and I don't think the prices are much different. I got 4 pairs of boxers for $9 CAN and a fake Rolex for $20 bucks that so far is keeping time perfectly. I really wanted to pick up a few Thai silk ties while I was here but so far I'm yet to see one that is less than 6 inches wide! Was that ever in style? Haha. Today we had a good wander around the back streets and along the banks of the river. Stopped at a pub for lunch as my stomach is stable but not to be pushed before a 12 hr 2nd class train ride! All in all have fallen in love with this place and am sorry to leave. Looking forward to our short time in Bangkok and then our time in the south. The only tickets left for our 14 hr train ride from BKK to Surat Thani are no a/c, non sleepers which will be quite interesting... Should be a long ride of clinging on to our valuables but at least it will save a bit of money!"

I think they're having fun! The 'More running' bit in the headline: I ran my 10th marathon today here in Toronto and managed to totter across the finish line in 3hrs 13mins, which beat my personal best by 8 minutes. I'm thinking of retiring on a high now...!

Love
Chip

Arh !!! the joy´s of sports day..... remember that ? egg´n´spoon, sack race, team relay etc etc.
Well Max enjoyed every minute of it, sun blazing, ice cream and all. Happy daze.........
M and D here now for 10 days so I expect some golfin´, drinkin´ and eatin´to be done.
I am sure they will visit Fuzeta, Katynan´s and PopJims favorite corner of Portugal, all with good memories of coffee and brandy in the square.... and Jamie fishes gasps at the price !!!!!
Love to you all, looking forward to catching up mwith my lond lost sis soon XXXXX J C and M.

Running and Flying

A busy morning...At 2am Pip and Anneli departed for Hong Kong on the first part of their six week backpacking trip around southeast Asia that will take them to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. They are really looking forward to spending some time with the Singapore Slingers at the end of their trip. And at 8am this morning Tim and Chip ran the traditional Yonge Street 10k race with 15,000 others, with Tim achieving his Personal Best of 41 minutes, over 2 minutes faster than his previous time and 35th in his age category. One very proud Dad of course!