Chiang Mai, Thailand

Our week in northern Thailand was filled with a lot of meetings.
But the week before going we had several friends in town...
So Anthony took advantage of the flight there...
The view of the mountains from our room was gorgeous.
Thai massages are famous... here's my (Sharon's) feet before a 45 minute Foot Reflexology. There's no pictures after the part where they wash your feet because, well, I was distracted by the amazing foot massage.
Chiang Mai also has amazing western restaurants. And not your average chains like Chili's or TGIFriday's... they're authentic places with home cooked food.
Like these authentic quesadillas.
Delisioso! (Or however you spell it...Dora would know...so would Cara...a little help from the bff?)
There's also some fun historic things to see...
Like this wall that used to surround the old city of Chiang Mai. There is a moat that runs in front of the entire length as well. So you pick up on the local lingo when asking where something is... like, "The Salsa Kitchen (where quesadilla above came from) is inside the moat..." and so on.
Chiang Mai is too big to fit within the wall now, but the remains are interesting nonetheless.
Here's us in the also-famous Night Market. They have lots of fun stuff to buy for really cheap. Like t-shirts and what not (my shirt says "Coca-cola" on it in Thai...I bought it there the night before)Here's Anthony (on the right) with a friend proudly displaying their night market gems.
It was robot tshirt day.
Thailand is also famous for Elephants.
We went out to an Elephant park one morning and were treated to a delightful show.
Here's the Elephants entering...
They did all kinds of neat things, but one of the best was painting.
Several stood in front of easels and painted some rather beautiful pictures.
Here's me feeding them. (There's a banana curled up in his trunk...he just took it from me)
And this one is fun because the elephant on the right put his trunk around my shoulders like a human does in pictures. Hilarious. The not-so-hilarious part was the elephant snot left on my neck afterwards.
One wanted to put a hat on my head. The hat is on, but this is actually a shot of it 'tapping' it down the rest of the way like an adult would to a child. Except, I don't think elephants can do very many things gently, as the taps felt like they were gonna give me a concussion. Well, maybe not THAT strong, but still...
We left Chiang Mai later that night and spent the night in the Bangkok International Airport to make it easier to make our flight to Cambodia early the next morning.
That's right...on the floor in the airport. Wouldn't have been that bad except at night they crank up the air conditioners to chill it down for the next day of doors being opened and what not, so we nearly froze. We have no pictures of it, but you can reference the one of Anthony sleeping above, but imagine us colder and not as comfortable as sleeping on a airplane tray table.
The next post will be about our weekend in Phnom Penh (Puh-nom Pen)... stay tuned!

The Riverseses...

We're unsure of exactly how a last name that ends in "s" is supposed to be pronounced plurally...
But now that there will be 3 people in our family we figure we might need to figure it out.
Or not.
Your math is right...2 Rivers parents and 1 baby Rivers equals 3 Rivers.
Or the Rivers Family.
Or the Riverseses.
They all sound good to us!
Our baby will be here somewhere around February 15th and we'll be putting lots of pictures of him/her up on our baby blog ...until then they'll look like thisCute little blob huh?
Again, go to our baby blog to read more about this amazing blessing.
Or you can click on the link to the right that says "Little Rivers"
You'll have to go there to read about baby stuff as we're planning on keeping this blog as our 'cultural blog'...even though at times baby stuff will most definitely encounter cultural stuff and for those times we'll just choose which blog we want to post the story on.
So you'll have to check them both out.
We're super excited to share this journey with you!

July 4th in disguise...

So for July 4th we didn't see any fireworks, or eat any BBQ
(although there is a new Tony Roma's at our favorite mall)
Instead, we just saw a movie.
An incredibly awesome movie with really cool special effects.
TRANSFORMERS

So while we enjoyed the movie along with the other movie-goers,
we were secretly enjoying the July 4th holiday as well.
It didn't mean anything to anyone else that it was July 4th.
I mean, except that July 4th happened to fall on a Wednesday
and that means RM6 ($1.75) movie day at the "Cineleisure."
So everyone was happy to be watching the movie.
But we were the only ones reveling in the American Heroes of the movie and the fact that OUR country- the land of the free, home of the brave, fighters of alien-robot invaders- was the one that defeated Megatron.
Happy Independence Day!

Happy 1 year Adrienne Faith!

Zach and Heather's little strawberry turned 1 this week!
(she's our niece...Heather is Sharon's sister...just for any new blog readers out there)
In this picture she's VERY excited about her 1 year old pig-tails.
June 26th was the big day a year ago we were all blown away by the red-headed addition to our family.
She's a joy and we wish she lived a few time zones closer!
Until we see her next time, you all will just have to put up with us bragging on her via the internet.
Happy Birthday Adrienne!
We love you!

Cara Package...

No that's not misspelled.

My best friend Cara C. future DDM (is that the right abbreviation?) sent us a care package.

Tony Chachere's tastes MUCH better on meat than any local curry ever could.

And then what about all that cute stuff from Honduras?

She loves world traveling as well but usually sticks to Spanish-speaking countries because, well, she speaks Spanish.

And she's way cute when she speaks it too.

Thanks Cara for being a great bff and spending your denero to send us stuff from home (and from Honduras too!)

Bali, Indonesia

Our week in Bali (at a conference) was mostly spent learning how we could live better as 'foreigners' in other countries...
we met a lot of new white people that live away from home too...
it was fun...
although the Floridian part of us (which by 'part' I mean 'all')
would have loved to have had the "Healthy Living Overseas" seminar and others like it outside.
By the pool.
Or the beach.
Either would have been fine.
It's ok though, we had a great time.

The Hotel had these nifty rugs in the elevators so you could know what day it was.
They helped so much!
Monday it was a bit cloudy...but the view from our room was amazing
The mountain back there is actually a volcano...(we're about 85% sure that's a fact...still cool looking even if it's not)

Tuesday was a bit cloudy and cooler than we expected Bali to be.
We were in the Southern Hemisphere so it was technically "winter"
but we still got out to the beach later in the afternoon...There was so much coral on the beach...
That's my (Sharon) foot... if you know me well you know I have size 9 feet...
Coral as big as my feet is pretty cool....and there were tons of pieces all over...
Wednesday it rained.
Boo.
And no, I'm not a monk now...that's a gorgeous pashmina wrap that the wonderful Mrs. Linda Clark gave me before I left the states...it came in so handy this week!
Wednesday wasn't all a wash...our friend Wally really enjoyed eating the flan after not having any for several months.

Thursday we all had the afternoon free .
So we went snorkeling.
The water was clearer than we thought it was gonna be and the reef had a great variety of things to see...Here's us after snorkeling.
They always like you to check the gear before you get in.
Mask suction? Check.

Friday we forgot to take a picture of the rug.
Oh well, apparently we didn't take ANY pictures on Friday...
Let's skip it then and just go to...
We didn't really do a whole lot...although I think we hurried our lunch and got a few minutes by the pool.Sunday the conference was over, but our flight didn't leave until the evening.
We were not disappointed.

K5 and I chillin' by the pool (she has a genetic edge on the whole tanning process)
It was great fun, but we are glad to be back home.
Home and slightly more bronzed of course.

The Physics Corner

with Professor A. Joseph Rivers, Ph.Don't

A brief tutorial, with a case study to follow.

THE LAW OF MOMENTUM CONSERVATION

In a collision between two objects, both objects experience forces which are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. Such forces cause one object to gain momentum and the other object to lose momentum. According to Newton's third law, the forces on the two objects are equal in magnitude. While the forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction, the acceleration of the objects are not necessarily equal in magnitude. In accord with Newton's second law of motion, the acceleration of an object is dependent upon both force and mass. Thus, if the colliding objects have unequal mass, they will have unequal accelerations as a result of the contact force which results during the collision.

CASE STUDY:
The Law of Momentum Conservation in Real World Applications

Lets observe the physics of collision between objects of unequal mass. Two objects are needed for this experiment. First, a Toyota Hiace with a height of 1980mm (1.98m, 6.496063ft). See figure 1a below.

Figure 1a

Second, a fire sprinkler; i.e., the part of a fire sprinkler system that discharges water when the effects of a fire have been detected, such as when a predetermined temperature has been reached. See illustration v8 following. This object has far less mass than the Hiace and is an excellent object to demonstrate the unequal acceleration as a result of the contact force which results during a collision.

Illustration v8.

The venue for this study should be a vehicular parking structure composed of several floors with a posted ceiling height not to exceed 2m (6.5616798ft), as this will accommodate the height of the Toyota Hiace, allowing a clearance of 20mm (0.78740157in) . To ensure proper results, the vehicular parking structure must also have an area with a ceiling height below the posted 2m (6.5616798ft) height, with no signage indicating that this particular area is in fact shorter than the rest of the area. See diagram 867.5309 following.

Diagram 867.5309.

You are now ready to proceed with the experiment. To ensure results which are verifiable, it is advisable to have 4 other participants inside the Hiace to accompany you. Also, make sure to attempt this experiment with this safety precaution in mind: conduct the experiment while leaving the vehicular parking structure as opposed to entering; this will help you avoid unwanted interference and variables intruding from the outside environment.

Park the Hiace so that the rear is approximately 6m (19.685039ft) from the sprinkler head. Place the vehicle in reverse, accelerating toward the sprinkler head. Reach approx. 5km/h (3.1069444mph) and continue until sounds of metal crunching together indicate that you have made contact with the sprinkler head. When you hear the sound, stop Hiace, then pull forward. Observe how the object with larger mass (Hiace) completely destroys the object with smaller mass (sprinkler). Exit vehicle for further inspection, ignoring the laughter coming from the other participants. Be careful when observing: large volumes of water will exit the overhead pipe. Do not attempt to measure the volume of the water as it is certainly unmeasurable. To complete this experiment, quickly exit the parking structure, informing the parking attendant on the bottom floor that there is a situation which needs immediate attention on level P3. This last step is crucial, as it will assuage any guilt incurred upon the one conducting said experiment.

Pink Mosque...

On Saturday we went with Justin and Daniela to the 'administrative capital' of our country. We've been there a couple times before, but this was the first time we actually got to enter the grounds of the Pink Mosque there (the dome at the top gives it it's nickname) before when we've gone it's been too close to a prayer time. Since we are non-Muslim and our heads weren't covered we had to don these pepto-bismal pink robes. I can't decide if we look more like members of a choir that have really bad taste in robe colors, or a more feminine version of Jedi Knights.
We also ended up downtown again, so instead of taking pictures of some of the tallest buildings in the world, we bring you the fountains in front of some of the tallest buildings in the world...

Man Day

I love that I was born in 1980. I love that I've never known a time apart from electricity. I have no grudge against technology, other than it might be heating up the planet a bit. I like that I can drink coffee without hours of back-breaking labor. I can't farm. I kill houseplants regularly and in record-time. I love my Mac and iTunes and my car and my air conn and ice cubes and medicine and a million other things peculiar to our time. I live on the other side of the world from most people I know. You know how long it took to get here? 30 hours. HOURS. Not years, not months, not days. I don't even know what scurvy is, let alone have a fear of it from being caged in a wooden boat for 4 months crossing the Pacific.

With that said, there's so much we can learn from the past. For one thing, we no longer have rites of passage. You know, like slappin' mud on a 13 year old, sending him off in the woods and not letting him come back til he's killed something large and edible. It sounds barbaric, but at least a kid knew what was expected of him when he reached manhood. Nowadays, childhood sorta lazily flows into adolescence, which may or may not morph into manhood around the late 20s.

That's why I appreciate what I was allowed to participate in this past weekend. K2 turned 13, so we had a "man day." No women. Just older men eating together, go-karting and sharing advice.

Here's the present I gave K2:

You can't bring a present with curly bows and wrapping paper to man day. A plastic bag and duct tape - that's all you need. And yes, I am driving a manual with my left hand.

When we got to the go-kart track, we drew straws to determine our order off the starting line. K2 got automatic pole position cause it was his birthday.


And I got the shortest straw...


...but like any real man, I sucked it up and moved from last to 3rd due to my mad kart skills and two people spinning out in front of me.

Waiting in the pits like manly men...


After racing we headed off to dinner. Here's K2 eating meat...


...from this...


That would be a fish head. Just a fish head. There's not much that's more manly than knowing how to eat a fish head.

During dinner we all shared our "manly" advice with K2. Papa D asked us to write out a letter to K2 sharing our "wisdom." Here's Papa D reading his...

Of course, all this seriousness led to noogies...

...cause men can only be serious and sentimental for so long.

After dinner we went for ice cream. Here's K2 tackling his double cone...


...and here's the last man group shot of the night...

3 years (& a day) of wedded bliss

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Us!
In true fashion we didn't do just one thing on one day.
The first was seeing Pirates 3 in the "Gold Theater" last Thursday.
The second was going out with Abang and Kakak on Sunday
Well, first we had to go to a wedding in the kampung.Danielle, I think the bride can give you lots of orange tips for your upcoming wedding!
After the wedding we went to "Lookout Point"...it was a bit hazy...but we think our city is beautiful!But the restaurants up there were closed.
So we went here...
The food was great and the atmosphere was awesome!
"Victoria Station" is the name of an old train station (possibly one in the UK as well)
So the restaurant had several full-size cars for decor!
One big Engine outside and 3 'dining' cars inside...they even had REAL tables in the actual train cars.
If you like trains, we'll take you there to eat when you come see us!
Then Monday May 28th, our actual anniversary, we had to go to language class.
When we got home we discovered a notice in the mail that a package from the US was at the post office for us! WOO HOO!
"How's that for timing?" we said.
But, when we got to the post office the guy told us the package was still on the truck (that had apparently come by our house while we were in class) and we could pick it up tomorrow.
So we decided to drown our sorrows at Italiannes with their AMAZING Spinach and Artichoke Dip.
sooooo good.
Italiannes is the closest thing we have to an Olive Garden or Carrabba's here.
But they do food "Buca di Beppo's" style and the portions serve 2- 6 people.
mmmmmmm.
We then did a little anniversary shopping at GAP
(I PROMISE we live in a very foreign country...you haven't accidentally clicked on someone else's blog. There are only 2 GAP's in the entire Southeast Asia region...luckily, one of them is in a mall nearby!)

Then today the anniversary fun continued with another more successful trip to the post office. Thanks Daddy and Mama!
Oh, and the Reese's Pieces taste just fine...but they'd rather fly first class next time.

"Go" doesn't quite cut it...

Tonight we went Go-karting...or should we say "Whoa karting"
We were saying goodbye to our friend T-pop with a fun night out.
She's heading back to Europe next week.
We're gonna miss you T-pop!These go-karts were awesome.
It's now on our list of 'must-do's' for anyone who comes to visit.
At first it looked like your normal go-kart track.
But when they made K3 and K4 take a test ride around the track with their dad we were impressed. (They passed by the way)
"Good precautions" we thought.
And everyone had to wear a helmet.
"Safety First" we thought.
(Wouldn't want any banana peels or red-shells to ruin the night...Donkey Kong is slow but he's tricksy)
But then we saw some adults drive the karts.
Our smiles and excited glances at one another said, "Whoa."
They went much faster than the junk America calls "Go-karts."
When go-kart tracks don't have to fear sue-crazy Americans, they take the governors cap off.
They also lengthen the track.
You have a choice of an 80cc or a 100cc Kart.
K5 thought the 80cc was a good fit for her.
That may not seem like very much, but considering most motorcycles in this country are around 125cc, it's fast.
Promise.
Not like, Porsche fast, but go-kart fast.
If you hold the gas down the whole time like the joke-karts in the US, you'll find yourself in the tires quickly.
There's even speed limit signs.
Sorry there's no video.
Maybe next time.
You get a nifty hair net too to wear under your helmet.

We know. The hair net sold you.
Just let us know when your plane lands.

Yo Ho Yo Ho!

Avast! There be a review at the bottom of this here post...so keep a weather-eye out for it maties.




We probably shouldn't be this excited about a movie...but we are. It comes out today and we've got tickets at one of the nicest theaters ever.
ARRRRRGH!

Review- So we liked it, but still not better than the first. This one is weirder than the others, but then again, Tia Dalma says in the previews, "Would you brave the weird and haunted shores..." so can't say they didn't warn us. If you can keep track of who is on which ship and who makes deals with whom, then you'll be doing good. But the action is good and there's way more Asians in this one. It'd have been better to see more personality from the other "Pirate Lords"...but Anthony did get a good laugh out of Keith Richards' brief part. Also, the theater we saw it in has leather recliners, blankets, and they bring your snacks to your seat...savvy?