Island Safari Eco Adventure

Well, this will be the last installment of the trip to Phuket. On this day, we went to the Island Safari Eco Adventure/tour A. A driver picked us up at the hotel and drove us about 40 min. to the site. First we had an oxcart ride. Then got off and sat on a water buffalo (picture not available). Then we learned about how they traditionally grew and harvested rice and how they get rubber from the rubber trees. After that we took a ride on an elephant! This was a little scary, but not half as bad as a horse ride we once took in Gatlinburg! We also watched an elephant show, in which the elephants danced, played basketball & soccer, played harmonicas and gave people a massage. After this was a monkey show. We met 3 monkeys who showed how they collect coconuts as well as how to ride a tricycle, walk a tight rope and play basketball. The photos are of a guy getting a massage. Note the elephant's trunk up his shorts (they had stuck a banana up there!) An elephant sitting up, me holding the hand of a monkey (it was extremely soft and delicate), the boy and I on the back of an elephant (our umbrella had dropped and the elephant picked it up and handed it to the guy) and finally an oxcart. We had a great time in Phuket. Hope you have enjoyed the photos.

Kamala Beach Hotel

Here are a few images from the hotel. We enjoyed the breakfast buffet each day, as the boy is demonstrating in photo 1. Next should be the hotel pool bar (sometimes the photos don't end up in the position they started in.) Photo of one of the cute cats that ran around the hotel. This one is napping in the lobby area. The other pool photo was taken from our balcony. And the last photo is an Elvis impersonator we saw on our first night in Thailand.

Kamala Beach

We've been quite busy lately and I haven't been able to get things on here as quickly as I would have liked. Anyway, we went to Thailand for our spring break. This first set of photos is from Kamala Beach where we stayed in Phuket. The beach was beautiful. Our hotel was right on the beach. We fell asleep each night to the sound of the waves. The first photo was taken as the sun was rising and a fellow was swimming out to check the long boats that were anchored there. The next one is a rare time that the boy actually got out of the water. In the photo of the large guy sitting, please ignore the human. I was trying to get the dog (who walked with me in the mornings on the beach; I called him Lou) who is spending the day near us, under the guy's chair. Also, our boy became a minor celebrity, as some Japanese tourists wanted to have their photo taken with him. We got a picture of them taking his picture.
There will be more vacation photos to follow.

Oshie craft

I took this craft class at CHIC. It took us about 4 hrs. but in the end we came away with this nice framed miniature kimono. Its called Oshie.

ikebana

Well, I'm embarrassed about the picture quality here. I don't know why I can't get the pictures from Picasa onto this blog, instead of the pictures from the 'my pictures' thing. On Picasa I was able to lighten the one with the yellow branches enough that you could actually see the flowers in the middle. Of course I could have taken another picture in better light, but..... Once I put these on here, I couldn't figure out how to get them off. Oh well.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. (not a big deal here in Japan!)

International Quilt Show in Osaka

Went with some of the gals to the International Quilt show in Osaka this week. Who could have guessed that Hollie Hobbie was so big in Japan! I didn't get any photos of dear Hollie and most quilts you weren't allowed to photograph, but I did manage to get a few pics. Some of the quilts were absolutely amazing! And it was very crowded. Lots of quilters in Japan! And very pushy at the stall to buy material. We all got some material and probably a few bruises as well, from all the pushing. If I should finish any of my projects in the near future, I'll be sure to post them here. But don't hold your breath.

Some New Ikebana

These are the 2 latest attempts at ikebana..

Gilbert & Raisin

Here are a few recent photos of Gilbert and his best friend Raisin. Raisin stayed at our place while his mom & dad took a little vacation. The sad news is that Raisin and his family are being sent back home! Gil will get to stay with them one more time before they leave. Then he'll have to find a new best buddy. That's life as an expat! Just about the time you become good friends with somebody, they or you, have to move. Oh well!