Interesting Menu Options

I love it when restaurants are honest about their limited selections....

One of my favorite "International Flavorities" is Filet Migong complete with Fried Friend. I didn't ask if you get to choose which friend gets fried, but I should have.

Forget red, yellow or green curry, when "rad" curry is on the menu. Vegettables and mashrooms are also delightful.

The hilarious thing about this drink menu is that if you lift the sticker that says "ain", it says "ian", which makes it actually printed as Black Russian and then fixed to say Black Russain.

I didn't get a chance to talking with Run, but I'm sure him would have introduce give for me some great food choices.

I LOVE THAILAND!

WARNING!

Apparently, my judgement has never been impaired, since I've never made out with a fish.

Beach Wedding

I'm back everyone! Planning some good posts, so here's one of the first of many more!

One of the highlights of my trip back to the Thai homeland was the beautiful beach wedding of my dear friend Julie and her new husband Scott. They decided to get married on Laguna Beach in Phuket, before the job fair craziness all began. I had the distinguished honor of being the best man while Krista was maid of honor. Another family from Casablanca American School - Lara, Paul, Kira and Kesia came too. Kira even stepped up at the last minute to be the flower girl and she was a total pro, even though it was her first time.

We all got picked up in this classy rig from our kickass hotel. I know many brides would go for a limo or pickup truck, but this van is by far the best wedding transportation I've ever seen.

Although Julie and Scott spent some time looking through the 80 or so options for their decorations and picking just the right one, they didn't actually get the one they picked. However, the heart petals and seashell arch was just the right amounts of pretty and cheesy.

The bride walked herself down the aisle to where her groom was waiting for her. She was super happy and had a totally genuine smile on her face the entire time.

"God love a wedding" was the beginning line from the minister who didn't actually speak any English. He had to bring a translator when he met with Julie and Scott ahead of time. He had a script that he read for the ceremony, although he had a hard time pronouncing the names.. There's no way to write the hilarity of the accent. Julia and S-cott Tidy-man had an awesome sense of humor about all of it.

Even when she couldn't get the ring on his finger!

The R. Fatine girls had a blast - together once again to laugh and celebrate!

By far my favorite part of the wedding was the Love Tree Planting. No one is quite sure where the Thai wedding planners got the idea that planting a love tree in the sand needed to be a part of a Western weddin ceremony - but I'm sure glad they did. After using their love shovel and love watering can to plant their love tree, Julie and Scott moved on to their next activity, while the wedding planner's staff uprooted the tree from the sand and threw it back in the truck for the next wedding. Not sure what that symbolizes...

And then there were fire balloons - and Julie was a bit nervous about the giant ball of fire she was supposed to hold. Bride and groom let three balloons of fire float into the air and off towards the sunset.

Here's a wedding tradition I recognized - champagne! The adults each had a glass before taking more pictures and then heading off to dinner on the beach.

Julie and Scott's day was so special, so I highly recommend it to you adventurous folks out there who want something less traditional for a wedding. There were plenty of laughs and tons of good times, as well as a perfectly legal union of these two wonderful people. Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Tidy-man!

The Tour Bus with EVERYTHING!!

Here's the tour bus that has it all: Anti-lock Brakes, DVD player, Air Conditioning, Reclining Seats, Individual Lights, and a BAR!!

I particularly love that the advertising goes in this order:

1- DVD Player,

2- BAR

3- Air Conditioning

4 -Reclining Seats

5- Anti-Lock Brake System

6- Individual Lights

Somebody clearly has their priorities straight - bar and DVDs way before anti-lock brake system and air conditioning! Clearly, SAFETY FIRST! :)

Ice Bar

It's getting much chillier here in Morocco, which reminded me about this spectacular experience I got to share with my parents and cousins Jeff & Tina - ABSOLUT ICEBAR!

The Ice Bar is no joke - they import ice from Northern Sweden and carve it into furniture and other decorations. Here's how it works:

Step 1: Get outfitted with your beautiful blue cape. This metallic masterpiece not only comes with a fur-lined hood, but it also has gloves attached.

Step 2: Step into the freezing ice bar, where if you're a real man, you'll kick it in shorts like cousin Jeff. Who needs long pants when you're in freezing temperatures?

Step 3: Head to the bar and order a drink made with Absolut Vodka (you are in the Absolut Ice Bar after all and there are a variety of options to meet your tastes). Doesn't my mom look cute in her fur lined cape? Kind of reminiscent of her wedding dress, eh?
Step 4: Make sure to put on your gloves first, then take your ice cup from the bartender and sip your fruity or spicy vodka cocktail. If you're still thirsty when you're done, just suck on your cup of ice. It will eventually melt in your mouth.
Step 5: Cosy up for warmth in a beautiful ice throne. This picture totally doesn't do the intricate carving justice. It rocks in real life.
Step 6: Leave before your whole body goes numb. When you buy your ticket for the ice bar, you only get to go in for 45 minutes. Sure that doesn't sound like a lot of time - until you're in there. We lasted 30, I think. It's pretty cold, like freezing.

Return Trip: When you return to the ICEBAR, there will be a new setup. They like to change up the decor pretty often so people keep coming back. Maybe next summer, I'll check out the updated look, but for now, I'm fine with freezing in my own home.

Chilled Liquor and Hot Liquor

While in London, Mum, Jeff, Tina and I all took a trip to Turnham Green to check out the Griffin brewery where they make Fuller's London Pride beer.

We got to check out all sorts of awesome modern machinery like these giant kettles, but we also saw the old stuff they used to use way back in the day. Well, not way back in the day - the place has only been a dry brewery (no drinking on the job) since 1993. Up until that point, workers got beer tokens with their wages and they could use them on the job. People with icky jobs like shovelling grain out of mashtuns got more beer tokens, so those jobs were actually quite popular. Now they've got fancy shmancy machines to do those jobs, so only the tour guides and the tasters get to drink during the work day.
I was surprised to find all sorts of signs, pipes and machines that referred to "hot liquor" or "chilled liquor", but our tour guide explained....(and I double checked with Oxford Dictionary and Webster's Dictionary)
If you look up "liquor" in the Webster's Dictionary (for Americans), you get this definition: a usually distilled rather than fermented alcoholic beverage. So why do they have all sorts of liquor in a brewery?
The answer can be found in the Oxford Dictionary (for Brits). One of the definitions: water used in brewing. That's why you find pipes and storage tanks full of chilled liquor - it's just brewing water, not something you mix into a Cosmo or a daiquiri.
Did anybody who knows more about brewing than me know this already? I was happy to add it to my list of useless, but somewhat interesting facts.

Things I Love About America: Part Deux

Here are a few more things that I love about the United States of America:

1. Variety: It seems like every other week, M&Ms and Doritos come up with new delightful flavors. Here in Morocco, you get Nacho Cheese, Sweet Chili, or Sweet Barbecue Doritos. That's it. There are regular and peanut M&Ms. That's all. In the US, you can find delightful treats like Doritos Collisions, with flavors like Ranch/Pizza or Buffalo/Bleu. M&Ms aren't slackers on the variety front. Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms are totally my new favorite candy. I'm also really interested in trying the Limited Edition Coconut M&Ms.


2. Pork: There are places like Rib City in the beautiful town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. They serve all sorts of delicious ribs in a variety of sauces. Yum! Thanks for showing me the wonders of Rib City, Mikey!

3. Really Low Calorie Beer: My new fave - Miller Genuine Draft Light 64. Only 64 calories per beer. The best part? They are so watered down that you can drink all night and still stay hydrated! Ont was a real trendsetter when she introduced everyone to 64, my new drink of choice!

4. Scenic Views: I really do love the convenience of living in a big, dirty city, but I totally miss these kinds of views. This picture of a sunset with trees, the Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains was taken at beautiful Carkeek Park. Located in Northwest Seattle, it's a great spot to have a barbecue with good friends and enjoy the scenery. It's not even like it's a huge trip to get to.

5. Lunch Special: This one is definitely my fave. The cheapest lunch in town, the Costco polish dog, comes with a refillable soda and only costs $1.50. In Washington state, where there is sales tax, the grand total for lunch is $1.64. The price definitely makes it grand, which only gets better as the polish dog burps continue to remind one of the yummy flavor for the rest of the day.

Not Your Average Class Party

The End of the School Year for Elementary School is always an important time to celebrate academic achievement and reflect on a great year together as a class. We reminisce and kids make plans to see each other over the summer. At my old school in the States, we often did this by signing each other's yearbooks and bringing in chips and soda to share. Sometimes, we even got cupcakes.

That was public school; this is private school. When one of the students in the class has an awesome pool, you must spend an entire day at his house for the end of the year party. Also, when the parent hires jumping castles and blow up slides, the school's Reading Specialist has to attend if only to check it out. My dear friend and colleague Jen invited me along to this awesome bash. It was quite wonderful because the teachers didn't have much to chaperone - there were over 12 staff members (lifeguards, maids, nannies, chefs, etc.) around to keep an eye on the kids.
The trampolines were a real hit! Even I popped up, threw on a harness and managed a couple of backflips. Someday when I'm rich, I'm getting one of these for my backyard.

After a delightful breakfast spread and a lunch consisting of salad, lasagna, fried fish & calamari, and other assorted treats, the household staff laid out bowls of candy under these tents for kids to load up on as they ran around swimming, jumping, and otherwise frolicking around the giant yard.

The parents didn't expect teachers to enjoy the candy bowls, so they had fancy cookies and strawberry juice prepared for our table.

Not a bad send off to the end of the year. I don't know how I'll get used to the standard chips & soda potluck again.

Nanoose Bay

What better way to spend a weekend in North America than to take a trip up to Vancouver Island in Canada to kick it with some dear old friends from back in the day when I went to ISE. It's been 10 years so we definitely had to celebrate seeing each other again.

We were so fortunate to get to stay at Bob and Jill's pad on Nanoose Bay, where we couldn't have possibly run out of fun things to do. Check out the beautiful view from the upstairs deck. We spent a great deal of time hanging out in the hot tub staring out over the ocean and reminiscing about the olden days.



Some people were actually crazy enough to jump into the frigid water and swim around. I held back from jumping in but did eventually take an air matress for a spin around the bay.

Kevin and Janet brought supplies for the best nighttime outdoor activity ever - making s'mores.

We wanted to have some yummy jello shots, but couldn't find any little cups with them. So, we made this bowl of jello and took jello spoonfuls instead. Delicious morning treats!

We also managed to leave the beautiful house to explore various spots on the island. Our trip to the old cedar forest was short, but we managed to take some awesome pictures and climb around like monkeys.

The Vancouver Island trip had all the elements of a kickass high school reunion: good friends, awesome setting, fun activities and lots of laughs & memories. I think an 11 year reunion might just be in order for next summer. :)

Goon Bag Lesson

I have recently figured out that Australians, particularly those from Tasmania, are resourceful people. I learned this from my friend Travis, who shared another use for a "Goon Bag". A Goon Bag is the bag full of wine that comes in a box of wine. This box is a 3 liter box of wine, though most Goon Bag experiences from Travis' past come from 5 liter boxes.

Here's the Aussie process and thoughts for the resourceful and alternate use for a Goon Bag:

Step 1: Make sure to get every last drop out of the box of wine.

2. By the time you're done with the wine, you should be feeling pretty darn good. Make sure to take the Goon Bag (silver bag that once held the wine) out of the box and place in your pocket for later use.

3. Continue having a great time until you start to yawn and get really tired.

4. This is where the Aussie genius comes into play. Despite being inebriated, start thinking about your Goon Bag and how that can help you with your exahuastion.

5. "AHA! I know!"

6. Time to blow up the Goon Bag!

7. Stay focused on the task at hand.

8. SUCCESS! Enjoy your Goon Bag pillow as you pass out from your night of drinking!

Thanks Travis for the awesome Goon Bag lesson! That's definitely something I can use throughout the rest of my life!