Life and Travel

Chiang Mai Sticky Waterfall and Elephant Sanctuary Tour

~ Adam ~ 2 Comments

Today we did a tour. It started with a sticky waterfall in the middle of the jungle. The waterfall had rocks that were both smooth yet grippy so it was easy to climb. Forrest loved the water.

Afterwards we went to a long neck village. Refugees from Myanmar populated the small village and the women had very long necks for beauty. Every 3 years they add a ring. Next to the village was the elephant sanctuary. Elephants there are rescued and saved from the hard and cruel labor of circuses. They were so well taken care of. We fed them sugarcane, bananas, and pumpkin squash. What was amazing was how much the elephants took to Forrest. The older female elephants especially loved giving Forrest kisses and playing with him. We also got to go in the river with the elephants and play with them there.

Travel Day to Chiang Mai

~ Adam ~ 2 Comments

We flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai today. Forrest did great on the plane ride over, and is getting very used to contact napping again. A little too used to it. In Chiang Mai we checked into our hotel, and our hotel is gorgeous. We were treated to a tea time from with tons of little hordeurvs and Thai desserts. Afterwards we explored Chiang Mai by walking around the city. I ended the day with a traditional Thai massage. The massage therapist literally gets on your body and puts her entire weight into those knots. There is a lot of stretching too! I realized I need to stretch more.

Bangkok Food Tour

~ Adam ~ 2 Comments

While in Bangkok, we went on a food tour and ate for 4 hours straight, eating about 17-18 dishes. These include Michelin Guide street food vendors and even one Michelin star restaurant as part of the tour! Surprisingly,  so much of the food was heavily Chinese influenced. Also, apparently, they rarely eat Pad Thai in Thailand, so it was not part of the food tour.

The Thai princess ate at this chicken satay place so it must be good. And it was!
This one I was so excited about I forgot to take the picture until the end. You have to reserve a table at this restaurant one year in advance! Luckily, our food tour reserved it! I now dream about these shrimp dumplings.
Any of these fresh veggies are about $1 for a bundle. Time to move to Thailand!
Chinatown, Bangkok
A real tom yum soup, that doesn’t use coconut milk.
We finished the food tour with two servings of mango sticky rice and fresh sugar cane juice.

“Sawadee” from Bangkok, Thailand!

~ Adam ~ 2 Comments

First day in Thailand! The place ride over Forrest did great! Landing in Thailand was so cool, but it is crazy how hot it is here! Coming from snowy Misawa, I was surprised to get out the airport to 90 degree weather. We checked into hotel in Bangkok, then we ate free food for happy hour, including a delicious papaya salad, chicken and pineapple, and so, so much fresh fruit. Watermelon, dragon fruit, passion fruit, cantaloupe, all you can eat. After that, we headed out to the local night market where clothes are so cheap! A soccer jersey for only $3? Even if it is a knockoff, that’s really cheap. Leanne got some flowy Thai pants she can wear at temples with an elephant print. We ate fresh coconut, fresh sugar cane juice, durian, beef with holy basil, and pudding with coconut milk and pulp. There is still so much to eat, but I’m sure I’ll get to experience so much more food tomorrow with the food tour. A surprising thing about Thailand is people are so free to touch your baby or play with your baby. Not at all like Japan or USA! The culture here is totally different.

Fresh coconuts, only $2!
They had so many festivities for Chinese New Year
All you can eat fresh, local, seasonal fruits!!
The temple of the Emerald Buddha

Forrest Chooses A Starter Pokémon

~ Adam ~ 3 Comments

There comes a time in every child’s life when he must choose his starter Pokémon. These are Squirtle, a water-type Pokémon, Bulbasaur, a grass-type Pokémon,  and Charmander, a fire-type Pokémon. My starter was Squirtle and Leanne’s was Charmander. Who will Forrest choose??

Of course, we think it’ll be Bulbasaur because, well, he’s Forrest The time has come Forrest! Choose your path!

He chose…

Charmander!

Forrest says his first word: “Dada!”

~ Adam ~ 3 Comments

Forrest has been making lots of sounds and most have been nonsense gibberish. He has also been saying “dada,” but it never felt intentional until yesterday. He kept asking for Dada at the store, and was so happy when I joined Leanne and him, and he saw me! Then later we said, “where’s dada?” and he looked right at me, every time we tried!

So it’s official. Forrest’s first word is “Dada”!

Ski trip!

~ Adam ~ 2 Comments

Living near the snowiest region on Earth has its perks! The last couple of weekdays we had Forrest in daycare and went skiing at Okunakayama, about an hour and a half away. The first ski day was with my guy friends in Misawa and the second was with Leanne’s coworkers from the hospital.

Leanne was shredding the black diamonds and I did a jump over a ski ramp! Can’t wait to go skiing some more, especially while it’s so close and so cheap!

Happy Japanese New Year

~ Adam ~ 1 Comment

Japanese New Year is a lot like how my family celebrates New; it’s a very Family Central holiday. Leanne and I went to the grocery store early to get osechi, which are Bento boxes with lots of little different items Each of which is supposed to bring a separate fortune or luck for the year. Leanne also got everything needed to make peanut butter noodles, so we were fully ready to bring in the new year. On New Year’s Eve in japan, the main television channel of Japan nhkg plays a New Year’s Eve show called “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” or “Red White Song Battle.” A lot of the top bands in Japan, both modern and traditional music, will play in the red white battle. The red team is led by female singers, whereas the white team is led by male singers. However, it’s a very long show, so it is broken up by different random events. One of them was a huge room filled with dominos that we saw fall down into cool designs with, oddly enough, traditional Japanese music playing in the background. Another is a world record for most balls on the cup in a row. Either way, it was a very interesting and fun way to ring in the new year!

This was the osechi bento box.
The first sunrise of 2025. In Japan, seeing the first sunrise is very important!

Forrest’s First Christmas

~ Adam ~ 1 Comment

A white Christmas in beautiful snowy northern Japan. Forrest has been trying to open gifts all month since they’ve been under the tree. He can finally open them up! Thankfully, Leanne got the holiday off!

Forrest is seriously so photogenic. He should be a model baby!
So many presents! Best Christmas ever!!
Forrest opening up his first Christmas present!
Thank you Zahra for this wonderful toy!
Leanne won me a Galaxy Tab in a holiday party raffle!

Thank you everyone for such wonderful gifts! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful loving family and that Forrest had an amazing first Christmas!