Sydney

This is our vacation in reverse.  Last stop, Sydney.  And what a great city it is.  I don't know if you will ever meet someone who didn't think Sydney was a great town. (Thats quality use of the double negative there.)  Our experience was magnified because we were there at the height of Sydney tourism, New Years.  The city was packed with people and the energy was awesome leading up to and right after the turn of the calendar.

The highlight had to be the fireworks.  Sydney is one of the first major cities in the world to celebrate the New Year, and they don't hold back.  I made sure to thank all the Aussies I know for spending their tax dollars to entertain me.  The fireworks are shot off of barges all up and down the harbor, but the best seats are overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The city did a great job of publicizing all the different watching spots, so we scouted out a few places that looked good.

Naively, we thought that we would go to the botanical gardens in the morning, get some lunch, and then make our way to one of the watching spots.  This plan was quickly squashed when we saw the cue (line) formed to get into Mrs. Maquarie's Point, our first choice.  We were also told that the gardens were closed.  Hmmmm.

Fortunately, I have a lot of practice working without any semblance of a plan.  We made our way to Circular Quay and hopped on a ferry headed for Luna Park and McMahons Point.  As you can see below, we made a good choice.

Of course, getting this great spot meant that we were hanging out here for about 10 hours.  Good thing we brought sunscreen.  Too bad we forgot the sunscreen at the hotel.  Thats where our incredible good looks came through again.  Actually, people don't usually pity the beautiful, so what happened next must have been an exception to the rule.  Whilst standing around (a garbage can), looking for a place to plop ourselves, but also happy to be under the shade of a big tree, a nice gentleman came up to us and invited us to join him on his and his family's tarp.  With a tent overhead!  Jackpot!

John and Leslie, an awesome couple from America who had recently relocated to Sydney, had the best spot in the whole area, and they had shade.  Not to mention, sitting for 10 hours straight can get a little boring, so getting to know some new folks is always fun.

Becky helping the family take down the tent.  I encouraged.

Finally, the sun fell and the show started.  We took video so you could enjoy, because everyone loves watching videos of fireworks.  Enjoy anyway.

I audibly gasped multiple times, in a 'I'm watching Aggie sports" sort of way.  Yes, this was better than the Cotton Bowl (stupid Arkansas).

Anything Else?


What else is there after that.  Lots more actually.  Manly Beach, Bondi Beach, the botanical gardens, museums, steak, Sydney Opera House, and just checking out the different parts of town.

Here is some of that in picture form.

The bridge is ominous.  You catch glimpses of it throughout the city.

You know what's 'Same Same'...our shorts.  

Bondi Beach.  I loved it.  Packed to the gills.  

The sky-writers were out.  We saw two proposals and this evangelism.

Lorikeets in the botanical gardens.

Pulling into Manly.  Another awesome beach just a short walk after getting off the ferry here.

With that, we left Sydney and headed back to Bangkok.  Thankfully, this is our vacation in reverse, so there are still two more parts to come.

Love iBeck

iBeck's Favorite Things (about Australia)

Oprah decided to visit Australia about two weeks before Becky and I did.  In honor of her, I give you iBeck's Favorite Things (about Australia).

1. Male Tramp Stamps - Becky spotted one of these bold tattoos early in the trip and had a hard time keeping her excitement to herself.  I could do nothing but express my unconditional approval.  I would put the over/under on the number that we spotted at five.  That also equals the total number of male lower back tattoos I have seen in my life.

Sadly, this is not my picture.  I have no excuse for not capturing the glory that was witnessed.  This will have to do.

2. Language - Stubbies (Bottled Beer), Stubbie Holder (Coozie), Jumper (Fleece/Jacket), How ya going, guys? (How ya doing), G'day, Mate, and adding the letter y/ies to every word like Chrissie (Christmas), Sunnies (Sunglasses), Esky (cooler), Good onya (good job), Pom/Pommy (Englishman),

3. Burger King is Hungry Jack's and McDonalds is Macca's. Enough said.

4. Commercial from the retail store Rivers. This either consisted of showing sales with hard-core death metal in the background or the most monotoned voice announcer of all time tell us why we need to go to Rivers.  Our favorite line explaining the glory of all the shirts on sale, "Some have pockets, some don't, it all depends really."

This is easily the most expressive Rivers commercial, but its the only one I could find.  Also, please don't be confused by these low prices, this is the WalMart of Aussie retail.

5. The Ashes.  Who knew cricket could be so interesting?  Well, no one apparently.  That didn't stop me from seriously getting interested in the biggest sporting event in Aussie.  The Ashes are four 5-day cricket test matches between the Pommy Bastards from the England and the boys in the Baggy Green.  They play every other year and alternate between the UK and Australia.  We were there in time to watch the last two tests, which saw Australia embarrassed by the Poms.

Is it sad that I could literally name five guys on the Aussie national team right now?  I could literally write several pages on Australian cricket.  I am pretty sure that most Australians couldn't do that.  This confirms what most already knew, I have a sports sickness.  The positive is that this is great knowledge to have now that I am moving to a commonwealth country.  I can't wait to make Becky go to five day cricket tests with me!

6. Sunrise and the lack of filter. Sunrise is the Good Morning America or Today Show of Oz.  There were plenty of things we liked about this show.  First was the QVC like shopping experience you get every 10 minutes or so.  They stopped the news and kicked it to one of the Sunrise people who were hawking some gadget or another.  It was seriously like flipping channels between Matt Lauer and Ron Popeil...but without having to change channels!

The other part that we loved about this show was the complete lack of filter.  This can best be explained by an interview with a plastic surgeon who was on to talk about plastic surgery becoming an increasingly popular gift for Christmas.  When the doctor made this proclamation, the host immediately said, "That's not true!"  He basically called the guy a quack the entire segment and ended by saying," Thank you 'doctor.'"  He literally made air-quotes when he said "doctor!"  How awesome is that?

7. Beer.  XXXX, Victoria Bitter, Coopers, Toohey's, Cascade, Hahn Super Dry, Pure Blonde all available in a schooner.

8. Tank Tops.  Did you know that tank tops are back in! Woooooooooo!  Everyone in Australia is going to the beach.  Always.

9. Steak! Bring me my steak!  Oz is expensive.  There is one exception and that is steak.  I don't think either of us actually got meat-sweats, but it wasn't for lack of trying.  Steak is not a part of the everyday Thai diet, so we tried to make up for lost time.  

10. Hospitality.  Our Aussie friends all nervously asked if people were nice on our visit which leads me to think that we were actually being made fun of to our faces most of the trip.  We were treated great by just about everyone, especially the Coopers.  Jason, Jenene, Harper and Promise all got up early and drove to the airport to pick us up when we first touched down.  They took us to brekky (breakfast) and then took us right back to the airport since we only had an hour between flights.

Then, because we had an overnight layover in Gold Coast before going back to Bangkok, Jason picked us up, took us back to their place and gave us a bed, shower and more breakfast.  What a great way to bookend our trip!

Harper, Becky, Isaac, Jason, Promise and Jenene taking the picture.

How did we do?  Did we miss anything or grossly exaggerate something?  What are your favorite things about Australia?

iBeck 

*Disclaimer - I had to ask the internets if Oprah's Favorite Things was real to make sure this post title would make sense.

Time for something New (Delhi)

Hey there blog readers.  Can we be serious for a moment?  This won't take long.

Becky and I spent last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at a job fair here in Bangkok.  This was the second international teaching fair for both of us, but this time we came equipped with a special weapon: experience.  These fairs are generally gut-wrenching interview after gut-wrenching interview.  I think they are kind of fun, although Becky would disagree with me on that.  What is certain is that there is plenty of stress and decision making involved.

So even though I love suspense, I will lead you on no further.  Becky and I feel really blessed to be heading to what we think is one of the best schools in the world.  We are moving to New Delhi, India to work at the American Embassy School.  We are looking forward to working long hours, being challenged all the time and generally seeing a ton of professional growth.  Should be a good time.  We are looking forward to finishing strong here in Thailand.

I wish this was my drawing...its from dawpa2000's  flickr photostream.

Whew!  Glad that is over.  I had to be serious for almost two straight days.  What I really want to talk about here is what I think when I hear the word 'India'.

I can't help but think of the backwards Seinfeld episode.  In the episode, the cast all go to India for a wedding, but they don't really want to go.  Elaine only goes because she thinks the bride doesn't want her there.  To test if this is true, she goes to see the parents of the bride.  When she finds out that the parents discourage her to go, she of course then books the tickets, because that's the type of person Elaine is.

(Notice: "ONE HOUR EARLIER" Elaine is at Pinter's parents house)

ELAINE: Hi. Mr. and Mrs. Ranawat?

ZUBIN: Please, call us Usha and Zubin.

ELAINE: Oh. Well, Usha..

ZUBIN: I'm Zubin.

ELAINE: (Shrugging it off) Anyway, your son is marrying my friend, Sue Ellen Mischke..

USHA: You're not going to the wedding, are you?

ELAINE: Well..

USHA: Don't go. India is a dreadful, dreadful place.

ZUBIN: You know, it's the only country that still has the plague? I mean, the plague! Please!

USHA: Here's the registry. Send her a gift, and be glad you did not have to go.

ELAINE: (Soaking it in) Right. Don't go. Send a gift. I think I understand.

ZUBIN: If I had to go to India, I wouldn't go to the bathroom the entire trip.

ELAINE: (Leaving) That's fantastic.

ZUBIN: And I'm not so crazy about Manhattan, either.

(Scene ends)


My favorite part: The bit about the plague.  I am pretty sure that India is going to rock our world! Should be an adventure, and who doesn't love an adventure?

Citation: This script comes from www.seinfeldscripts.com

Edit: Becky will be teaching High School IB History (exact position yet to be determined) and I will be teaching 7th grade MYP Humanities (geography).

Australia, Aggies, Job Search..

We made it back from Aussie on Wednesday after a great trip.  How could be not have a great trip in a country where the idea of dressed up means wearing sleeves!  Oz was great and I look forward to blogging about it next week.

Next week?  Yeah, because we have more pressing issues at hand.  Starting tomorrow, Becky and I are attending a job fair in Bangkok which should determine where we will live for the next few years.  This should be a stressful couple of days with lots of interviews.

Finally, the Ag's played in the Cotton Bowl this morning.  Despite marooning out for 48 straight hours, we didn't pull out the win.  Good thing Aggie basketball starts Big 12 play tomorrow.

So big blog news coming later this week.  Be sure to check back in to see where you can tell us you can't wait to visit but then not actually visit!

iBeck

Scratch Angkor Wat off the list

Most people have a list of places they would like to visit.  Mine goes something like this:

• Spain (Granada specifically)
• North Korea
• Burma/Myanmar (scheduled for spring 2011)
• The Moon (scheduled for July 2019 because moon tickets are surprisingly cheaper in the summer)
• Africa (the entire continent, but not Egypt, because that's politically the Middle East)
• Egypt (to find King Tut's staff)

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• And of course, inside the human body, specifically Martin Short's. 

One place that is not on that list is Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  The reason it is not on that list is because I was able to finally make it to this amazing place a few weekends ago.  Becky had already been before, but since places you go before you are married don't count, she had to do it again.  Sorry Becky, looks like those 40 European countries you visited in college don't count.  Here we come cheese museum of Switzerland!

But seriously, none of those places count for her.

Back to Angkor.  For those of you who don't know where Angkor is, it is in Cambodia.  For those of you that are still confused, Cambodia is a country.  Actually, its a country only three hours from Bangkok by car.  And Siem Reap/Angkor Wat are only three hours more once you cross the border.  You could also fly there in 45 minutes, but where is the adventure in that.  Also, it would have been like $400 more to fly.  

The weekend visit was really awesome.  It completely lived up to the hype for me.  I was really blown away by the scope of the entire place.  Angkor Wat itself is one of the most impressive human creations I've ever seen.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Becky's list:

• Egypt
• Africa (also the entire continent)
• Jordan
• Peru
• Argentina
• Greece, the musical!

What is your list?


*I wanted to title this post 'Angkor What', but it just seemed too easy and predictable.

  

Collages - A visit from Justin T. Strickland

Justin Strickland is many things.  Afraid of the camera, he is not.  Justin took over 600 pictures in his seven days in Thailand. If you include all the deletes and retakes, this number might be more like 700.  Because Justin wants to get that perfect shot, there are many retakes and duplicates of nearly the same shot.  I thought the best way to show a vacation from JStrick would be through a series of collages...with some commentary, of course.

Justin arrived on Monday, but we had to work. :(  So, Justin went and got his Bangkok temples on.

We all met downtown to check out the Bangkok nightlife.  Since Thailand is such a tourist destination, every night of the week is a party night, even Monday.

Tuesday and Wednesday, we had to work again.

But, we did have time to eat...

Finally, after a grueling three-day work week, we all three took off for Krabi on Wednesday after school.  One of the coolest parts of Railay Beach is that long tail boats are the only way in and out.  It is on a peninsula that has no roads connecting to the mainland due to the limestone formations.  This is also one of the most famous rock climbing destinations in the world.

They welcomed us by adding a dish named in our honor to the menu.

The next day, we played on the beach....

and watch monkeys do it (or so Justin claims, you be the judge)...

and got massages...

and had a contest to see who had the vainest arms.  I won. My prize - disgusting arms.

After a good night rest, we woke up to watch the Fightin' Texas Aggies beat the hell outta t.u.

Image from sports.ap.org (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

After an emotional morning, we took it easy the next few hours and went to the beach, you know, instead of working like I should have been.  Let me take a moment here to fully endorse the five day weekend.  After recovering a bit from the game, we took a sunset snorkel cruise.

I just thought Justin looked hilarious in this picture.

These pictures are in order.

This snorkel trip easily had to be the highlight of the trip.  Why?  Was it because of all the beautiful coral and tropical fish?  Perhaps the sunset completely blew us away? Maybe the bbq on the beach was magical?  Could it have been the phosphorescence that lit up the water as we swam in it?  While all of those things were great, there were two key developments on this snorkel trip that made it unforgettable.

The first was a young woman who thought it would be a good idea to wear, wait for it, a thong to snorkel in.  Please see the picture below.

Who the heck snorkels in a thong?

The second thing that made this cruise so awesome was immediately following the BBQ dinner.  We had dinner on three small islands that are all connected by sandbars, so you can walk between the islands.  Because of the tide, only a half the people could take the small boat back to the larger boat at a time.  We got stuck waiting.  In the mean time, God unleashed his fury with some of the loudest and brightest thunder and lightening I have ever heard.  And then the torrents came.

Fortunately, we made it back to the boat, and back to the beach safely.

The last day in Railay called for more beach time.  But first, we had to complete a ritual for anyone visiting Thailand: getting some tailored clothes.

Once we made it to the beach, we decided to swim out to a couple of small limestone islands just off the beach.

The view looking at Railay.

That night, we checked out the night life.

The weather was great to us the whole trip, but we woke up to rain on Sunday morning.  Thankfully, we were leaving.  Bye Bye Railay.

With only a few hours left in Thailand before Justin left, I thought I would show him our local market where Becky and I buy most of our food.

And with that, we said goodbye.  If you are keeping track at home, Justin is the first pre-marriage friend visitor I have had.  Emily Q. made it last year, as Becky's pre-marriage friend.  Katie, Dr. and Mrs. Kyle also have made the trip east.  So step it up friends and get your butts to Asia.

See you soon.

iBeck

Hacked

Let me begin by saying that I consider my father to be one of the smartest people I know.  Now that that is out of the way, we can begin our story.

Becky's email was hacked last night.  This is the harrowing story of how I was able to find out this information almost immediately, alert the authorities and have the culprits caught, jailed and killed (or so I presume, it is communist China after all).* Actually, I found out immediately, did nothing and went to bed forgetting even to tell Becky.  Oooops.

Scene: Isaac is sitting at the table, in a towel, hair damp from the warm shower he just enjoyed.  (Bear with me, I am setting the scene...that's why it said "Scene:").  Curtains open to Isaac at the end of his Skype conversation with his Dad...

Dad: Well, tell Becky we love her - Oh, I got her email. 

Isaac: What? What did she email you about?

Dad: Oh nothing, she just sent me a link.

Isaac: A link? What kind of a link? To what? [Suspicious]

Dad: Uhh, nothing, she was just telling me where she got her knew iPh...

Isaac: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Don't click the link!

Dad: ...one. Huh?

Isaac: It's evil Dad.  Not the iPhone, well, yes, the iPhone too, but, the link.  (That is a lot of commas...I teach English!)

Dad: Oh, OK.

Isaac: Did you click the link?

Dad: [Sigh] Yeah.  But I think I clicked out in time.

Isaac: I'm sure you did.

End Scene.

I immediately logged into Becky's email (yeah, we know each others passwords. Is that normal?  I think it is.  It's normal to us.  Stop getting me off track!). I saw that many, perhaps even you, were lucky enough to find out where Becky got her new iPhone.  Too bad Becky wasn't lucky enough to get a new iPhone.  I made a mental note to tell Becky, who had gone to bed while I chatted with my Dad, about said hackery.  So with that mental note, I went up the stairs, forgetting entirely by the third step.  These are the things Becky loves about me.

The next morning Becky g-chatted me that Gmail had emailed her about her account being accessed from China.

In closing, if you got an email from Becky about her new iPhone and clicked the link, it is only right that you admit to this in the comments section of this blog post.  Own up to it.  Maybe I will write a disclaimer about how I think you are one of the smartest people I know.  Although that is unlikely as the list includes me, my Dad and Dr. Kyle.  See, I told you I am smart, sucking up to my genius father in law...oh and Becky...whew, that was close.

*This portion of the blog will be replaced with the following if Becky and I secure employment in China next year: "This is the harrowing story of how I was able to find out this information almost immediately, alert the authorities only to find that the Chinese police had already resolved this issue completely and the criminals will have full rights to a trial by their peers(or so I presume, it is glorious China after all).