One year of marriage – wow that flew by! We enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate March 28, 2020 by reflecting on the year, spending a long weekend “away,” and knocking more places off our Bangkok sight-seeing list. A highlight of the weekend was our dinner at Saawaan, a fancy restaurant with amazing food that felt right out of a TV show. The set menu had eleven courses (+ palate cleansers and a surprise cake) that each highlighted a different cooking technique. The experience was a magical blend of atmosphere, flavors, plating, cultures, storytelling, and delicious art.

Museums

We visited the former mint, now repurposed as the National Gallery art museum for the kingdom. The building was under extensive renovation when we visited, but what we were able to see included notable works by 19-20th century Thai artists working in western and contemporary styles. Next, we explored the Bangkok National Museum. The collection of buildings was formerly called the Front Palace and was the residence of the Viceroy (Vice King) before that position was eliminated in 1885. There were extensive collections of historical artifacts and interesting exhibits on the history and development of the country. J admired pottery, sculpture, and architecture, and drew inspiration to use in his teaching.

Chinatown

It was also SO fun to visit Yaowarat Road for a second time; we went there our first free weekend in Thailand, and noticed how it all seemed so normal now, daily life full of street markets. What had been a very new cultural experience the first time felt comfortable and natural (despite J’s pose at the bun stand, haha). We chowed down on some amazing Indian food for dinner and enjoyed toasted buns filled with pandan pudding/custard for dessert. As we were walking back to the main road to find a taxi, we stumbled across a musical ensemble playing on the side of a canal so we stopped to listen. The second song started off oddly familiar. We soon realized it was a string version (what we had wanted) of the song we had planned to be our first dance song a year prior. It was a beautiful moment of surprise that felt like a divinely ordained anniversary gift. Tears of happiness were shared as we stood there on the sidewalk.

Another Adventure

Another weekend, we ferried to Bang Kachao, “Green Lung.” This artificial island was created by a curve in the river on three sides and a short canal on the western side. It is mostly undeveloped, an urban oasis, and shaped like a lung. We packed a picnic, took a ferry across the river, rented bikes, rode to and explored a big market, sampled a delicious mystery food, found a birdwatching tower, and did a couple of laps around a national park. The bike trails were narrow in spots, but we had a refreshing time and only a few close calls with nature.

Our Work

While this is mostly a fun post, it is important to us to keep you up to date on how things are going in the workplace! Jonathan’s work this month has been a refreshing change of pace. With the start of the 4th quarter, we are in the calm before the end-of-the-year storm. J also finished up his paintings for the Art Teacher Faculty Art Show. He loved getting to share his work with the community and was even able to sell a couple of pieces!

Lyndsey got her materials for nutrition workshops translated into Burmese!!! Working on printing/laminating them, and excited to move into implementation where they can be put to use. She wrapped up swim coaching this month with two big, end-of-season events: a multi-day time-trial meet and an end of the season pool party. L was the official time recorder and had her hands full writing down all of the times for each lane of every heat. She looked so professional and kept things running efficiently. The pool party featured awards and a huge floating obstacle course. The kids had a blast and it was fun to both be appreciated and to see their work celebrated. She can’t wait to help out again next year!

Experimentation

We celebrated Easter by dying eggs on video with the Dicksons using natural pigments derived from onions, cabbage, grapes, spices, etc. Lyndsey loves any excuse to use her Chemistry degree in the kitchen! It was surprising to see what colors emerged, and especially how bright some of them were. The baby blue from boiled red cabbage was probably the best – but the bright yellow the turmeric produced was a second favorite.

New Eats & Creations

As you know, we love learning and crafting!

Just for Fun

Here are some more snippets from recent J+L dates:

We love you! Thanks for reading, and thank you SO much for your continued support (modes found on the Donate page) of our work (more about that on Our Story) here in Thailand!

J+L