Australia...finally

I am a bit late with my posts, sorry.  I have also had major blog issues...

But here is the skinny (always wanted to use that!)

Our flight to Australia..was not as bad as we expected it would be with an active 3 year old.

Our flight from Melbourne to Adelaide was... worse than expected.  

We, along with many other travelers were a bit surprised to see that we would be traveling on a small propellor plane.

Melbourne was lovely, but it's Adelaide we really came to see.  It was beautiful.  As always.  Our hotel room had huge windows and an amazing view over the water.

We spent a week catching up with family and having a wonderful time.

Going home was wonderful.  Australia is a great country, we love it.  But the relief we felt flying "home" to Bangkok was a sign to us that we have moved on...again...and we love our new country finally.

Playground Visitor

I am back and fully recovered from April and have posts to finish over the next few days.

In the meantime...here is a photo taken at our only local playground (other than the school).

This hungry visitor  was hanging off the slide ladder.

Although it's kind of fascinating and awe inspiring - I don't really want to take my 3 year old to this park anymore so we ordered some outdoor equipment to take to our new house with us instead.

Another year

My baby is 3.

In 4 months he starts pre-school.

It feels wrong.

I only stopped nursing him 4 months ago.

He is a very much loved little boy who loves to sing, make people laugh and spend time with the sister he adores.

A special month

I have been a lazy little blogger.

And now I have no time to write as our cases are packed.  We are flying home to Oz tomorrow where we will spend 10 days in two states.

We will be eating all types of bad foods, drinking good wine and I will be running.

Then I will be off to Paris for a four day weekend.  On my own!  I have never been away on my own before.  I am petrified and excited.

I will be eating good food, drinking champagne and running.

April, what a freaking awesome month.

We celebrate 11 years being married.
The son will celebrate 3 years of life.
And I get to run in 3 different countries.

Whoo hooo!

I will update with photos in early May.

Just putting it out there.

I am a runner.

I have been for almost a decade.

But I have never felt like a runner.

I have let fear stop me from progressing.

I've let poor body image stop me from reaching my goals.

And every few years I stopped running due to this fear and fall back to the start again.

The result is that over the course of 9 years I have remained stagnant. 

A coulda, shoulda, woulda - never a doer.

Over the last 12 months something has changed for me.  

From within.

I am no longer ashamed to be me. 

I know my butt wobbles.  I don't care.

I inherited shapeless large legs.  I am starting to like them.

I know I do not fit the stereotypical runners mould. It doesn't matter.

I don't cringe when I see myself in photos or videos.

I enter races.

I even wear lycra!  

I am ready to take on my dream race.  An event I fell in love with in 2009.

In July next year I will be writing a blog entry from the amazing Belvedere Hotel in Davos where I will be recuperating after finishing the 78km Swiss Alpine Marathon.

And to ensure I train properly and don't become frightened and give up, I have hired two amazing ultra-running coaches who consult together, one who runs for North Face and another who has also completed the same race I am striving for.

This is not a running blog I know...but running is a great passion for me and I might have to update about running sometimes.

Starting with next month when I travel to Australia and run with a group in Adelaide and then onto France for a 16km running event through the city of Paris.

And for any sole sisters and running lads out there who are interested, click here for a link to this amazing race

Photoshop is my friend

Thailand is very image conscious.

Emphasis is often placed on body weight, character features, age, and whiteness of one's skin.

I have been quite fortunate that I only twice have had reference made to my not so petite shape.

When having a pedicure I was asked why my legs are so big.

I wish I knew.

Recently my housekeeper said "oh Madam, when you move here to Thailand you was so so fat" and giggled hysterically.  I was a bit taken aback but saw the funny side too.  She was right.

Five minutes later she started to giggle again and puffed out her cheeks and wobbled from side to side "so so fat"

I got it.  

I still laughed with her.  It was funny and it was a compliment in an off handed way.

A size 12 friend has had the flesh on her tummy grabbed at the beach and comments made about how she has lots of fat to keep her warm.

Another, who is 30, was told she must have been very beautiful when she was young.

A male runner was stopped during the Bangkok Marathon by a Thai runner who was curious about how much he weighed as he looked very large.

In most stores you will see a staff member re-applying her makeup.

At first I was intimidated but over time have accepted that it's one of the idiosyncrasies of living in this country and I barely notice at all anymore.

Perhaps when I return to Australia for a week in April I will find the people there a little rounder and different, it's been a while since we left.

Last week we had Visa photos taken.  

Here is a photo we had taken at lunch an hour or two beforehand:

And here is my Visa photo:

They edited it.

No silver highlights

Reduced lines

Even skin tones

No under eye bags.

And there is a subtle romantic haze over the whole photo.

This would never be done at home!

Not only because it is for an official government document, but also because it might be offensive to some people to be photoshopped without permission.

I am not offended.

Edit away.

It is the first time I have been happy with a photo taken of me in a long time.

Silent Sunday

We really ARE moving

 In rural Thailand...

...surrounded by Pineapples and Coconuts...

...is a small gated community, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

Inside is a gorgeous Spanish inspired home...

...called Casa de Torres, (house of Towers)...

...where little boys can run and play, and almost teenage girls can swim or find somewhere to hide from aforementioned little boys...

 ...and this is soon to be our new home for the next 3 years.

I was very nervous when I realised how isolated our new home is.  

• It is 150km from Bangkok (and 8 degrees cooler!).
• At least 20 minutes drive to the nearest large town (although the air smelt lovely and we heard roosters)
• A 10km bus trip for the daughter (she is surprisingly calm about changing schools)

However, as the husbands work commitments are no longer in Bangkok this is a wonderful opportunity for us to live as a family again.  

I love Nichada, I am going to miss a lot of the people I have met, the running groups, the coffee (although we will save at least $30 a week not living near starbucks).  There will be no more bootcamp for a while and although the area is only around 6.3km I can run and ride with my children.

The new area is one loop, around 350 metres long.  I will still run it (like a crazy woman) but we will also have our own gym downstairs that is full of modern weight equipment and two treadmills, that will have to suffice.  We are also only 10km from a jungle with lots of running trails.

We do not move for a while but we checked with our relocation company and the Land Agent and as long as we give required notice we are free to leave fee free (that's a bit of a tongue twister..)

We really need to move!

The first time we saw our Thailand house we were in awe.  5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, double level.  It was not so long before that we found the thought of a home with two toilets as luxury.

We were chuffed and amazed at how lucky we could be living in such a grand home.

That was 425 days ago.

It has not been a bed of roses.

In that time:

• Our air conditioners have broken down 19 times. 
• A burst pipe flooded our front garden and inflated our water bill x4
• Our toilets have blocked, a few times. 
• Our sewerage system has filled and overflowed
• Water has poured from a hole in the roof and over our lounge suite
• Water has come through a hole in the roof and onto the daughter whilst she slept
• Every single freaking smoke alarm in the house has needed batteries replaced so many times that we put them all in a box and threw them in a cupboard.
• Water ran down the inside of the walls in the dining room leaving marks and soggy holes on the floor
• We have had 4 dead rats.  One stayed in the roof above my computer for two days until the maintenance people finished arguing over who should have the unfortunate task of removing it.
• There is a snake in the letter box column that won't be removed.  Sometimes it pokes it head out as we go to reach for the mail.  
• The washing machine provided literally blew up...not just a short circuit but sparks and a big kaboom.  They never replaced it and just left it in our laundry.  We asked them when it would be replace...that was just one of many, many, most messages ignored.
• Water started leaking through an air-conditioning vent in a room and it was discovered our ceiling was full of water due to a hole in the roof.  There are still days where water puddles on the floor of this room, regardless off the three return visits to fix it.
• Three of our air conditioners have totally kicked the bucket and been replaced...with equally old second hand units.
• Our front door could not lock securely and although the landlord knew our two year old son was opening the door and running onto the outside road she ummmed and ahhhed about spending the 300 baht ($10) it cost to replace it  for a few weeks.
• The gardeners accidentally stabbed a hole in another pipe, causing a flood in the side of the yard and a water bill x4
• The oven stopped working
• Half our wall was removed in the dining room because of damage from ants

Last week whilst the husband worked and the son played next to him in the study he heard a buzzing noise.  He thought it was a toy the son was playing with.  He looked up from his work to see bees.  

Bees!  

In the house!

He ran out with our son and shut the door.  By the time a gardener arrived the room was so full of them he screamed (the gardener, not the husband) sprayed a full can of insect repellant and ran out.  

Out of the house, on his scooter and away, without so much as a Sawatdee Krap as he fled.

Bees were then filling up into other rooms.  The husband grabbed the son and waited outside.  

He rang the landlord who cared as much as she has with all other issues...nil, nada, zero, zil,  zip, zilch! 

Its Chinese New Year said she.  Too busy!  You will have to wait and we will come by and look in a few days!

We ended up having to evacuate and live in a hotel for a few days.  Whilst we were away my housekeeper who knew none of this situation was contacted without our knowledge and told she had to come in on her day off and open our house without us being there.

They sent people in to kills the bees.  Hundreds of them (bees, not people).  We had already counted over 70 killed when the gardener finished spraying and there were more afterwards.

No idea where they came from.  No-one knows, no-one cares.

We have recovered and are okay.  That was 3 days ago and since then two more air-conditioners have broken and there is another dead rat in the daughters room.

We once contacted our land agent and asked about breaking our lease.  She told us that most houses here are just as bad because they are fixed cheaply and in a hurry as each tenant vacates so we would be best to stay where we are.  Wonderful - 125,000 baht a month for this.  That is almost $4200 a month!  

The North Face 100 - Thailand. A race report

It was many years and a different blog when I last titled a post as Race Report.  

It is a great feeling.

Last weekend we packed up our car and drove into the Khao Yai National Park.  Our destination was a very quiet golf resort in a valley.

There was no golf for the husband this weekend as we were there for the The North Face 100 Trail race starting 6km from our hotel and I was the one actually running.

It was still dark out when I lined up at 0615am.  15 minutes later a loud horn (or 3) blared.

A robed monk blessed us with water. 

And we crossed the starting line into a 10km trail run through the fields and jungle.

This was the best running experience I have ever had.

Except for that time I was overtaken by a few kangaroos on a suburban Perth Street.

And the time I ran in the snow in Sweden.

So this was the 3rd best running experience I have ever had.

That is still pretty great.

I ran down rocky hills almost tripping a few times.

Through a path made in a corn field

Around a lake whilst dodging giant piles of poo and breathing in the unmistakeable smell of elephants.

I ducked to avoid tree branches and pulled myself up narrow hill paths.

It was incredible.

There was even a clearing full of white Buddhist Statues and a Monk watering plants.

In my mind I was running super fast.  I felt like a super star and when I crossed the line and looked at my iPod I was excited to see that I had done it in 1 hour and 8 minutes. 

I was filthy.  Tanned in dirt and sand...and hopefully not poo.

I earned my first runners medal.... new bling that I might even love more than my Tiffany's pendants.

But by Monday afternoon the Euphoria all came crashing down when I saw my net finishing time. 

It was actually 1 hour and 19 minutes.  

I felt deflated.

All this hard work.

All this weight lost.

All this pain.

But I was still just a fat girl running.

A slow, fat girl running.

I should have felt proud.

I didn't.  

I actually cried.  

The feelings of failure were great.  

I put on my shoes and I tried to clear my head with a run.  

After two hours and one almost missing toenail I realised that there was still much to feel good about.

• I was number 228 out of 555.  
• Middle of the pack, not back as per usual.
• There were 40 people in my age category and I came 10th. 

I still have weight to lose.

I just need to come back again next year.

Fitter, stronger, faster.

In the meantime, I am not sure when my next race will be.  I am waiting for the registration to open for one in South Australia in September.

Until then I will be wobbling around the Nichada Lake, working on shrinking my butt and improving my speed.

*Note...all the great photos in this post were taken from the TNF 100-Thailand Facebook page... the other not so great photos were taken by us*

True Story...

Whilst driving down a busy road at 740pm we stopped at a 7-11 convenience store.

Parked out the front was an Elephant, with a flashing bike light on it's tail.

We were too scared to take a photo in case it was frightened by the flash but it was one of those "only in Thailand" moments.

Just sharing.

Silent Sunday

Expat Cooking

I often miss life in Spain.  

I miss the cobbled streets

The Galician green hills

My favorite Albariño Vino Blanco

Aroma's of cured ham hanging from the roof of the Jamoneria.

Real hot chocolate and churros.  

And Tortilla de Patata.

Tonight I decided to cook it for the family.

I never have been very good in the kitchen.

But it's pretty much just egg and potato in a fat pancake style omelette.

How hard could this be:

Apparently much harder than it looks.
This is what I made:

I still liked it, it still tasted almost the same but obviously presentation is a big advantage in this house as everyone else chose cornflakes for dinner.

That's what I love about Thai Cooking.  It tastes so good but its not at all neat. It's quite impossible to ugly it up.  Even I can make a normal looking Pad Thai and Tom Yum Goong.  

I will have to leave the Spanish Cooking to Chef Fernando.

The jealous wife...

I am in love with Sweden.
I have been for a very long time.
I love the language, the food, the snow, the wildlife.
There are hundreds of kilometers of trails to run in Sweden.
I had my best ever run in Stockholm.
I had my first snow fight in Sweden.
I dream about living there.

One of us is currently in Stockholm.

The rest of us...are not.