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Top line is at Purdue, rest are from home. Need to work on that network speed, Verizon...

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Just got done hiking up to a lookout at the top of a mountain, which was hot, but provided for some amazing views of the city of Hua Hin.

Now, we're sitting on a military-owned beach (public access for 20 Baht) in the shade, having snacks. Some friendly stray dogs are hanging out waiting for scraps. The wind is blowing and it's keeping us nice and cool in the shade, even though today is a scorcher...

Also took some close-up photos of a dead (?) jellyfish.

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The main thing we did today, though, was eat. A lot. (Noticing a trend in these posts?) Chotima's sister and brother-in-law joined us at lunchtime to show us around. Here is what we had today (not all-inclusive):

Breakfast - Rice soup, soy milk, and deep fried bread

Lunch - Two types of seafood/meat/fresh veggie salads, fried chicken, fried pork neck meat, a hot/sour soup (not pictured), and two desserts.

(Visit the beach residence mentioned above)

At the royal beach house, two types of herbal teas (sweet/cold) and a tiny scoop of fruit ice cream.

Travel to an ocean front restaurant - Coffee, cheesecake and coconut cake to share.

Dinner (immediately after the snack) - Rice/rice soup, and five kinds of dishes.

Night Market (immediately following dinner) - fried dough with sweetened condensed milk

Back to the hotel for mango and sticky rice with coconut milk.

I am in a food coma. Going to sleep very well tonight!

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We had tom yum (spicy/sour) and tom kha (coconut milk) soups, crab fried rice, crab curry, seafood salad, and fried fish with green mango. Lovely stuff, all of it. Much bigger than we anticipated, so we had to take some home.

Total cost for all five of us (which could have fed 6-7 people easily) was under $1050 Thai Baht, which is approximately $32 USD.

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On our way back from Suan Mokkh and a textile shop, we stopped by a place Chotima's brother called the best noodle place in Surat Thani. Well, it must be true, as when we arrived, it was so packed (at 1:30 in the afternoon) that we had to wait for a seat.

Since it took a while for our noodles to come out (we were in the queue from all the folks who were seated before us and to go orders), we had dessert first: a young coconut filled with chilled coconut shavings and coconut jelly (think, gelatinized coconut juice mixed with coconut pulp). WOW. Perfect for the heat of the day.

Then we had two bowls of noodles. A Tom Yum style (spicy and sour) soup with egg noodles and another variant served dry with rice noodles. Each bowl is about $1 - $2 USD and big! Chotima and I both had the soup noodles and split the dry noodles.

In a food coma now. We took more of the coconut gelatin dessert home with us for later. ;-)

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Visited Suan Mokkh, which is a Buddhist Monastery in the woods started by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a very venerated monk. He wrote "A Handbook for Mankind" among other books that have been translated into English. (Most of his original works are in Thai).

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu liked to write sayings and teachings in artistic ways, including poems. I took a few photos of some of the poems in Thai which have been carved in his own handwriting into stone tablets.

There was also a building on the premises with a ton of paintings done on the wall. Quite amazing the variety, color, style, and message of these paintings.

Lastly, there is a story about a lone coconut tree on a little island in the middle of a pond. Most coconut trees die after a while, but this one has been around for decades, even though it's in the middle of this island. The parallel is that everything around the tree is trying to prevent it from living, but it continues to do so, despite the threats around it. (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea).

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Instead of the traditional disciplinary actions, which seem to be lost on these kids anyway, they are all attending an overnight camping trip to a Buddhist monastery. The head monk works with youth who are in juvenile prisons to help them turn their lives around.

There are over 100 students attending. They all paid 400 Baht (roughly equivalent to a week's meals, I would imagine) of their own money to attend. The teachers the children have the most problems with are there as well, sitting between the monk and the children.

He asks the worst offenders among them to come up and tell the teachers why the students have issues with the teachers, etc. It's quite an interesting and emotional experience. I think having the teachers outside of the classroom and having the monk act as a mediator helps facilitate an open discussion. I hope that it hits home with at least half the kids. It seemed to be emotional for several of them, and was a really neat thing to experience.

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We went with Chotima's brother-in-law to a place very close to their house in the suburbs. I didn't take a picture of the whole buffet, but a sampling of some of the items we had on the table. The cost per person was 40 Thai Baht (about $1.15). Reasonable even by Thai standards for a meal.

The most unique thing to me was the bitter melon curry. I've had bitter melon, but usually in soups or stir fried. This was a pleasant surprise. Bitter melon is, well, bitter. The curry sauce helped temper the bitter flavor. Nice!

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Needless to say, we were overwhelmed. They do an amazing job with the children, and you could tell the workers really cared for the children. There were less children than I expected to see (maybe 150 - 200; I was expecting 400+). But the number was still overwhelming to see in person.

We went to one of three branches of an orphanage in Thailand for newborns to age five. They have other facilities for older children and those with disabilities. We weren't allowed to take photos of the children or facilities, which I totally understand and respect. We could have taken pictures of the outside, but decided not to. There were GREAT photos of adopted children the families sent back, and hand-written cards from children who came back to visit when they were old enough to understand.

We talked to someone there about the adoption process. It is interesting that the process normally takes 3 - 4 months, up to 6. This is far less than we heard for other countries, so that was positive!

The amazing thing to me is the cultural stigma that exists for orphans. It is becoming better in the US, but wasn't always positive to adopt children. All of our friends and family are very supportive, though the opinions of those we talked to in Thailand we universally all negative. It's really too bad. These children are all human beings, in need of a loving home. I doubt anyone walking down the street would leave an abandoned child there and just walk past. Why is compassion not extended to those in an orphanage?

I think that's what hit me the most. Seeing them all there. That untapped potential for good in each of them. It really, REALLY got to me. You cannot tell me that if you went that you could have the same ill will towards an innocent child.

A donation of approximately $100 USD feeds the whole orphanage lunch for a day. Think about how much laundry they have to do. Diapers to change. Bottles of formula they go through daily.

We plan on donating money every time we come back. And any time we come into money. And will ask our friends and coworkers to donate. Even a dollar goes a long way in Thailand.

I know that I'll have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, even though I'm not in the US.

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The photos show a sampling of the food we ate. Total cost for 8 adults and 1 child was approximately $20 USD (I believe, I didn't get to pay the bill). Still, not bad considering the quality and quantity of food we ate!

There are also some photos of the soft shell crab farm setup itself.

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