Dagupan, Philippines

We are now in the Philippines! Nathan's Grandma is serving a mission in Dagupan and we had the opportunity to go visit her! It was so nice to see her, especially since we haven't seen her since we got married!

1. A lot of the Philippines is just small little shacks :( 2. Grandma Patsy and the gang at her office.

People ride "jeepnees" instead of buses in Dagupan

WARNING

This is going to be pretty nasty... Towards the end of our stay in Thailand I started to get a small rash like shown in picture one.  I thought nothing of it and continued through life. Then the rash started to turn into nasty little pussy things. So we got some cream from the pharmacy and it turned into purple things. Do not worry. I am still alive.  I went to the doctor when I came home and he said, "oh, it's probably just a staph infection." JUST A STAPH INFECTION?! But don't worry again, it is almost gone. Hopefully no scars!!

1. Everyone is the Philippines is CRAZY about Angry Birds, so Kevin bought a shirt.  2. Our Jeepnee broke down for a bit, but Kevin came to the rescue. 3. Some real Suns fans in the Philippines. 4. Some random man with a gun came over to help up with our Jeepnee...what a nice man.

Next up, zip lining over the Philippines!

Snakes, Monkeys and Birds

Now it's time for the Snake Show! There were all kinds of snakes and my personal favorite was the cobras! These guys would do crazy things and these snakes seemed pretty ticked about it!!

And we got to hold a boa! Man, those things are HEAVY!!

Now off to Malaysia for a day! We went to Bird World which is the worlds largest free flight walk in aviary.  Before we even walked into the park we saw a little monkey in the tree. As we got closer to the monkey literally thirty other monkeys came over to us! It was crazy but awesome :)

*My camera died in Malaysia and I forgot my charger... So these pictures are from Rivkas camera. But don't worry, I bought a charger!*

Some super sweet birds with claire!!

Petronas Towers, beautiful buildings!

Now we are off to the Philippines!!

Tigers in Chiang Mai

Now that we've ridden elephants, it's time to play with tigers! We got to go to Tiger Kingdom and play with tigers of all sizes! It was a very fun day. My favorite was playing with the babies, they were only two months old!

This little guy just fell right asleep on Kevin's lap! And we got up to leave it started to cry!! Too cute.

The whole gang

Play time

They are such beautiful animals!! But check out those teeth! Eek!

But all these tigers really want are some snuggles and love! They're basically like house pets!!

Overall, a very fun day in Tiger Kingdom :)

Next up, SNAKES!!!

Elephants in Chiang Mai

Hi this is Nathan! I am a guest blogger for today! My mom found a place outside of Chiang Mai for us to go and ride elephants for the day. We got suited up in our trendy denim jumpers and learned a little about the elephants first, some Thai commands the elephants understand, and a little about the preserve's conservation efforts.

I am convinced elephants are direct descendants of the dinosaurs. They are the weirdest looking animals. We fed them some sugar cane for dessert and then got acquainted with our new pets. 

Leah was a little scared at first, but finally got used to it! Claire didn't let go of her dad the entire ride. She eventually fell asleep on top of an elephant.

We used our command, "MAPLONG!" which means "get down" and then hopped on board. Ali's elephant enjoyed squirting me while we crossed the river.

The Elephant Queen

The guide's sister made us Pad Thai, and it was the best we had all trip. They wrapped it in banana leaves which are waterproof and helped keep the food warm!

Ali's elephant got a little frisky with her (an elephant kiss).

We rode our elephants to a mud spa that is supposedly loaded with minerals that are good for your skin and we gave the elephants a massage as they rolled around.

Then it was time for a bath and we washed the mud off!

After a long day, we got to do some Thai reflexology that is supposed to cure all types of ailments...but Ali's celiac didn't go away :-(

Ali said that after our wedding day, this was the best day of her life. Next up...TIGERS!!!

Chiang Mai

After leaving Bankok we finally arrived in Chiang Mai! Such a beautiful place.  

Here are some pictures of our hotel and Nathan, James and Leah.

There taxis are basically a truck with a cover and two bench seats along the side. Pretty sweet!

While we were there Nathan got a custom made suit from his parents for graduation.

They had these fish "spas" all over.  And one of them was internet cafe. So we emailed Stefan while having these little sucker fish eat the dead skin off our feet. I could only do it for a couple minutes. It tickled too much!!

And of course lots of shopping was done :)

We went to this awesome restaurant where we got to watch thai dancers while we ate. The bottom right picture is of two trees that grew together to make an arch.

This is only the beginning of our trip. Much more to come!

Bangkok, Thailand

After Korea Nathan and I flew to Bankok to meet up with James and Kevin.  

We got to go to an English ward while in Bangkok and it was the primary program.  The ward was so diverse! Thai, Indian, African, American, etc.

1 & 2. Eating some delicious street food. Food is so cheap over there. You can a meal for two or three dollars! 3. A tuk tuk, these are there taxis, so awesome!

1. We went on a boat tour where we went to this awesome temple. I am horrible and cannot remember the name of it.  2. Big Buddah. 3. James, Nathan and Kevin at the top of the temple.  4. The climb down, the stairs were soo steep!

1. At the grand palace, men had to have long pants on so Kevin got to rent these sweet MC hammer pants.  2 & 3. You would think this place was made of Gold. 4.  Nathan and I.

Such amazing detail in every building.

The building where the emperor used to live.

Later that night we were off to Chiang Mai to be with Rivka, Dani, Claire and Leah. 

Seoul, Korea

Nathan and I left Thursday night after finals. We had a flight to LA then from LA we flew to Seoul.  In Seoul we had a 12 hour layover so we decided to get out and see the city. It was FREEZING there, even colder than Provo! It was an interesting city, and I am not too crazy about Korean food, not my favorite.

Gyeongbok Palace

 1.The meal I was given on our flight to Korea, bibimbap. 2. The first car in Korea, the emperors car. 3. This sweet market that sells everything for so cheap. 4. Gyeongbok palace with the imperial guards.

We found this at a street vendor and it tasted real good! Later on we found out that it was fish paste...

1. The market again. 2. Everyone rides motor bikes here, and as you can see they can carry just about anything on them! Even more than a car could carry! 3. With every meal they have about 15 different sides. 4. Nathan enjoying some Korean bbq.

Then we were off to Bangkok, more to come!