Waterparks and Indian Food

One of the things the kids and us were excited about was the waterparks around Pattaya, especially after living on Guam.  Guam had waterparks but their size and rides were limited, as it is a small island with a small population.  Prior to Guam we lived in Virginia and enjoyed several large waterparks, sometimes even driving a few hours to try different ones.

Two weeks ago we finally visited Ramayana Water Park and it definitely lived up to our expectations.  They offer an annual pass instead of a season pass, they are open 365 days a year.  The two adult and three children's passes set us back in total 7,000 Baht ($230 USD).  Jeremiah did not need a pass since he is under the age of four.  You had to show you are living in Thailand to purchase an annual pass, since we now have drivers’ licenses, that was sufficient proof.  Many places in Thailand have dual pricing, the Thai price and the foreigner price.  Showing a driver’s license will sometimes get you the Thai price but not always.  If you get the Thai price consider yourself lucky, if you don't, expect it, then you will never be disappointed.  After all, we are not Thai.

Getting the passes took a bit of paperwork and after the pictures and about 45 minutes we were issued wristbands and allowed entry.  The entire park is money free, at the locker rentals you put money on your wristband for the day.  They scan your wristband for all your purchases and at the end of the day when you turn your locker in you get the balance back in baht.  Even the lockers used a scanner.  You scan your wristband and the locker pops open.  It made things very simple.

The park is huge, they have the largest kids’ area we have ever seen, Jeremiah especially had a blast on all the waterslides.  Zachary is 1 inch away from being able to experience all the large slides, for now he has to stay in the children area with Sofia and Jeremiah.  He didn't mind at all though, as the slides in the kid’s area are pretty intense. 

Ayden and I did a couple of the larger slides, we had a great time on the Aquaconda and Aqua-coasters slides.  The lazy river even has an optional slide entry, a spiraling slide that you go down on with your inner tube!

Around 1500 Zachary somehow cut his toe.  The cut was underneath his right foot along one of the joints on his second toe.  It looked pretty deep, so I asked a lifeguard where the first aid station was.  He jumped into action, radioed some back up, grabbed his first aid kit, and started cleaning Zachary's wound.  Several other lifeguards showed up and they decided to take Zachary back to the first aid station to see the nurse.  The first aid station resembled a small clinic, the nurse, I am guessing she was a nurse, might have been a Dr. for all I know.  She took great care of Zachary, cleaned the wound again, put some betadine iodine one it and wrapped up his toe.  She said he could go swimming again in 10 minutes, but we decided to call it a day at that point.

On our way out we stopped by the pass office to get your annual passes.  We were told they would be ready that day.  Guess someone forgot to make them because they could not find them.  We were told on our next visit they would be ready for us.

On Tuesday the following week we went back to the park and took Richard this time.  We went to the office and, you guessed it, they could not find the passes.  It took some phone calls and 15 minutes and finally someone showed up that knew where our passes were.  Richard then did the same process to get his annual pass, he received the old person discount.  Of course, it was not ready when we left.  Guess next time we will be doing the same process of waiting for them to find Richards pass.  Haha!

Our second visit to the park was better than the first.  We hit up more rides this time, even found a big slide that Zachary could ride, the mat racer.  This is different than other mat racers, this one had four different enclosed tubes, that did a 360-degree spiral and then you went racing down to the bottom.  Zachary and I did this one about 6 times in a row.  Climbing all the stairs over and over really got the old ticker pumping.  I finally decided, I did not want to have a heart attack that day and suggested we go find Ayden so the two of them could return and race each other.  Christina, Richard,  and Ayden rode some more waterslides after Zachary rode the mat racer with them a couple of times.  They went on the Aquaconda too, but they also rode some of the slides I did not get a chance to ride yet.  They went on the Boomerango, Python, Spiral, and Serpentine.  

We stayed this time until closing, we brought a change of clothes this time since we now know they had hot showers and soap in the locker rooms.  They even had blow driers so I could fluff up Jeremiah's beautiful curls.

On our way home we decided to stop by our favorite restaurant in Pattaya, Lasania Rania Indian and European Restaurant.  The owner/chef Hasan and his family, are quickly becoming our friends.  The kids love the place, they run inside to a sofa where there is a TV to watch and Netflix shows.  They get to eat on the sofa while they watch TV and Hasan plays with them a bit.  A lot of the restaurants entertain/play/watch our kids while we eat.  The attitude towards children in restaurants is much appreciated compared to most places in the United States.  Of course, we have had wait staff interact with our kids in the United States, but they have never actually played with them.  Even though we enjoy Hasan's hospitality, the real reason we eat at his restaurant is the food!!!  This is the best Indian food we have ever eaten anywhere in the world.  We keep trying something different every time, the food just seems to get better and better.

Now that we are settled, I hope to write more about our experiences and less about how we did this and that.  We look forward to hearing from you, and of course if you enjoy our blog please like and share it.

Motorbikes and Licenses

Since we plan to be here more than 30 days, we needed to obtain driving licenses.  From what I understand Thailand will only recognize an international driving permit for 30 days.  Motorcycle and passenger vehicles are separate licenses which is different from the United States where you have a passenger vehicle license and receive different endorsements such as motorcycle.  Richard arrived with an international driving permit for a passenger vehicle, Christina did not have an international permit, and I had an international permit for passenger vehicle and motorcycle.

Our options were: Go to the Department of Land Transportation and figure out the process, hire a concierge company to walk us through the process, or attend a driving school that is certified to administer the driving tests (5,500 Baht).  We needed a motorcycle licenses first since we wanted to all buy motorbikes.  Buying a vehicle to fit all 6/7 of us was more than we were ready to pay right now, around 790,000 baht.

Since Christina had never operated a motorcycle, she opted to attend the driving school and Richard  decided to attend with her.  The other advantage to the school is they handled all the paperwork, so once the course was completed all you had to do was go to the Department of Land Transportation and obtain the license.  Sounds pretty simple, ha ha ha ha ha!!!!

So, here is what happened:  

On a Thursday at 0700 Christina and Richard arrived via a Grab car (Uber/Lift) at the driving school. Class was supposed to start at 0700 but nothing started until about 1030.  The first thing they did was watch videos in Thai with no English subtitles for a few hours, took the color (red, green, yellow) recognition test, gas/brake reaction test, depth perception test, and then they drove around a course on some decrepit motorbikes for the rest of the day.  Oh, and they took a practice written test which they failed miserably, because all the training was in Thai.  

The next morning, they returned at 0700, to of course wait around.  This day started a little earlier at 0830, more practice tests, and after the third test they finally passed, and then some more driving on the course followed by 2 1/2 hours of sitting around until 1800.  The driving school course consisted of 15 hours (5 hours first day and 10 hours second day) at the school so the school was not going to let you leave till you had been there exactly 15 hours.  At this point they should have been done but we had not yet obtained residency permits so what they thought was the official license test was not.

             

 

To obtain a residency permit we needed to rent a place to live and have the landlord register us at the Immigration Bureau.  Once we were registered by the landlord then we could go to the Immigration Bureau and get the residency permit.  We moved into our house on that Saturday and Richard moved into his condo on Sunday.  Both landlords registered us on Monday, and we received the registration receipts that day.

On Tuesday we got dressed up, government offices in Thailand have a dress code, no shorts, no tank tops, revealing clothing, you get the idea, and we called a Grab SUV to take all seven of us to the Immigration Bureau.  We arrived and went next door to an agency that fills all the paperwork out for you, takes the photos, and provides all the copies, of course for a modest fee.  Since we didn't know what we were doing at this point we used the agency, they provided everything we needed for our visa extension, which we also needed, but when we inquired about residency permit they said the receipt that the landlords gave us was our permit.  We headed over the Immigration Bureau and inquired about the residency permit and again were told that our receipts were the permit.

This was our first time at the Immigration Bureau, and I was a little nervous because I had read nightmare stories online about the Immigration Officers.  Our experience could not have been more different from the stories.  The Officers were very friendly, and they had fun sneaking our kids candy while we pretended to not be looking.  Maybe having cute kids is the key to a great experience at the Immigration Bureau.  It only took about an hour to get our visa extensions.  Anyway, since Christina and Richard already had their residency permits, or so we thought, they headed back to the driving school on Wednesday morning to take their test. 

Once they arrived at the school via a Grab car, they were promptly told that the receipt from the landlord was not a residency permit.  They provided a copy of what a residency permit looked like, so another Grab car and back to the agency next to the Immigration Bureau.  They showed the example and they quickly whipped up the required documents and photo to take to the immigration bureau.  I also went with them since I needed a residency permit to later obtain my licenses.  Immigration provided the certificate within an hour and we returned home.  The next morning which was Friday, Christina and Richard arrived at the driving school, provided their residency permit and health certificate and they were allowed to take the official driving test.  Of course, at this point they had taken at least four practice tests, so they passed it the first time.  The health certificate was nothing more than going to a local clinic, paying between 100 to 200 Baht, having your blood pressure, weight and height recorded and they give you an official certificate of health. 

Now off to the Department of Land Transportation.  Since the school prepared and provided everything they needed to get the license this process was easy.  They went, paid the fee of 105 Baht, had their picture taken, waited 15 minutes, and they had their motorcycle license which is valid for 2 years.  By 1400 they were at the Honda dealership where I purchased my Honda Click 125i.  Christina chose a pink and black Honda Scoopi Club 12 Edition, and Richard purchased a Blue Click 125i.  Finally, we all have transportation and no longer have to use Grab.  We really like Grab, but it does add up quickly, they spent around 3,000 Baht getting to and from the house, driving school, Immigration Bureau, and Department of Land Transportation.

The whole process sounds like a real pain in the rear, but if you compare it to getting a license in the United States it was not bad at all.  If we were Thai's moving to the USA, I doubt we would have a license in a week.  And then it probably would cost at least 10x what it cost us. 

Now for my license, I already had a motorcycle endorsement and an international permit. Last week Richard and I went to the Land Transportation Department to get our passenger vehicle license and for me to get my motorcycle license.  All we had to do was show up with our Passport with visa, international permit, and residency permit (x2 for me since I was getting both licenses). We were told to come back two hours later, where we, along with about 15 others showed up and had to do the color (red, green, yellow) recognition test and gas/brake reaction test.  Then we paid the fees (105 baht for motorcycle and 205 baht for passenger vehicle), had our picture taken, waited 15 minutes and we were done.  Time spent at the Land Transportation Department was just over an hour, not bad.

The licenses are considered temporary and are good for two years.  If we renew them in two years, then we will receive a permanent license which is issued for five years.  Christina does not have a Thai passenger vehicle license; next time we are in the states she will pick up an international permit and then come back and get her passenger vehicle license.  The process is simple if you have the international permit. Well, that is all on getting our licenses and motorbikes, if you are enjoying our blogs please like and share. Thanks for reading!!

New Home, New Motorbike, New Life

We have been in Thailand for three weeks now and have completed an extraordinary number of things.  First off Richard (Gramps) arrived from California, he left us back in the beginning of August   when we were still in Guam.  Richard spent three months in the states visiting family and friends and getting a few things sorted out such as his retirement visa for Thailand.  It's good to have him back, the kids really missed him.

Not having transportation was really eating at me.  I cannot remember a time since I owned my first car that I did not have one.  About a week into our stay I went motorbike (scooter) shopping.  Ayden and I went to a local Honda dealer one morning and we picked up a new Yellow motorbike.  Yellow just happens to be my favorite color and they had exactly what I was looking for.  We picked up a Honda 125i Click, I chose this model because it has a foot platform so the smaller children could stand in front.  It's a lot of fun, Jeremiah and Sofia love riding on it, and I love being able to get around town easily and being able to explore our new city.  I was pretty nervous when we left the dealership as I have never driven on the left side of the road.  It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, and so far, no issues.  The driving compared to USA standards would best be described as crazy, but luckily, I previously lived in Naples Italy and in my opinion the Thai's are amateurs at crazy driving compared to the Neapolitans.

16 November 2019 we moved into the house we rented.  Our realtor Keith had taken us around looking at some beautiful homes and we finally settled on this meager five-bedroom, five baths with a swimming pool and maid quarters.

Oh, I forgot to mention the pool upkeep and landscaping is included.  Keith is happy he doesn't have to take our 4 Tasmanian devil children to look at houses anymore.  The kids love the pool slide, Christina loves the walk-in closet that is bigger than the kid's bedrooms in our Guam house.    I enjoy sitting pool side, listing to the water and enjoying all the birds chirping.  Guam doesn't have many birds due to the invasive brown tree snake and I missed the sounds of birds singing.  Keith also took Richard around, but he ended up going with condo found via some friends at the VFW.  He rented a two-bedroom condo in Central Pattaya, it is in a great location surrounded by shops and eateries.  Everything in the condo is new or almost new, the owner completely gutted the unit and redid it top to bottom.  It is a corner unit making for great breezes and has two balconies perfect to relax on and people watch.

Since moving into the house, we have been doing lots of shopping trying to get the house the way we want it.  The house came furnished with furniture but that was about it.  So, we have been out finding stores and for the various things one needs when moving into a new home.  We purchased a washing machine to wash our socks, underwear and towels.  The washing machine looks a little different, it an inexpensive model with washing on one side and a spinner on the other. The rest of the laundry is being done by Siam Laundry; a local laundry shop owned by a Thai/American couple.  Roughly every three days we call to have the laundry picked up/dropped off.  This is one of the advantages of living here, low cost services, so we can afford to send out our laundry and hire a housekeeper, which we are still searching for.  Pretty sure we will find one soon.

We can also afford to have prepared meals delivered by one of two popular meal services, Grab Food or Food Panda. We hired a teacher to come to the house three times a week to provided Thai language lessons. She works during the day as a primary school teacher at one of the top international schools.  So far, we have had four lessons and are enjoying being able to greet people, say, thank you, ask for directions, and find out where the toilet is. We really look forward to our language lessons every week.

Also, since our last post Christina and Richard attended a local driving school to get their motorbike license.  There is a lot to write about their adventure so we will make that the next post.

Until next time, thank you for being a loyal reader and hopefully I will get another post out in a few days, instead of weeks, now that we are mostly settled.

  

Finally Made it to Thailand

Hello loyal followers!  We have made it to Thailand after 2 months of preparations and it has been an exciting but very busy 2 weeks.

The last week in Guam was busy and very stressful, we spent the week trying to fit our life of needs and wants in 12 suitcases and a few personal/carry-on bags, which ended up being 13 suitcases and my diving travel cases.  A lot of things we wanted to bring just didn't make the cut but it will be cheaper to purchase new than pay extra baggage fees and buy more suitcases.

So what has happened so far and how did we do it.  Our last few days on Guam we stayed at the Pacific Island Club Hotel.  Mainly as a reward for the kiddos and to make the move exciting.  The hotel has a decent sized water park and the kids had a great time on the waterslides and play areas.  The hotel provided free shuttle service to the airport so we took advantage of this and let them handle all the luggage.  United Airlines was awesome helping us get everything check in and I am glad to report the flights were uneventful.

We arrived in Bangkok around 10:00 pm, quickly made it through immigration utilizing the express line for people with infants or the elderly.  Jeremiah is not an infant anymore but he was in a stroller, lucky we were not turned away.  If you haven't heard the immigration cue in Bangkok can be up to an hour wait at times.

By the time we made it to baggage claim all of our luggage was there waiting for us.  We asked for some assistance from some airport workers and loaded everything onto four luggage trolleys.  Off we went to meet our ride which I prearranged the week prior.  Our flight was a little early so we waited about 20 minutes for the driver, which was perfect because it gave us a chance to get some drinks and use the restrooms prior to our 2 hour drive to Pattaya.  The driver arrived and he was wonderful in loading all the luggage.  He must be a Tetris champ because he somehow fit all the luggage into his van utilizing about every available space possible.

2 hours later we arrived at the Atlantis Condominium, a two bedroom that we found on Agoda, we have it booked for 2 weeks.  This was the only hiccup as the property manager for the unit was not there to greet us.  Several phone calls by the driver and one of the condominium guards and finally we found out what unit we were in and where the keys were at.  6 trips with a luggage trolly from the van and up and down the elevator we made it into the condo around 3 am.  Time for some showers and much needed sleep. Lucky all the kids crashed, unluckily only for about 4 hours.

Mom Dad we're hungry!!  We were not really jet lagged as the time zone change was only three hours but we had been up for about 24 hours.  Christina and I really wanted to keep sleeping, but the little ones had a different idea.  So off we went exploring, a quick check on Google Maps and we located the nearest strip of restaurants.  Of course as soon as the kids saw a pizza sign we knew where we were eating brunch.  Nui Pizza is this great little pizza shop that also serves pancakes!! Banana pancakes to be exact, and when they came out what I thought was cream in the hazy low res menu picture, was actually a scoop of ice cream!!  Needless to say, all the kids have wanted to go back to Nui's to eat for the last week.  We have eaten there three times so far.

That pretty much sums up 24 hours.  Yes I left out parts about the kids whinnying from time to time, and the couple of minutes of stress involved trying to get on and off the airplanes, but overall it really wasn't that bad.  And banana pancakes and with an ice cream topper makes you forget about all those little negative things.

We will let you know in our next blog about the house hunting, scooter shopping and grandpa (gramps) arriving. If you are enjoying our story so far please like and share with your friends.

Staying behind with 4 kids

How hard can it be to stay behind while my husband processes out in San Diego?  Well, let me tell you it is no easy job and the picture says it all.  Lol

Joe has been gone now 2 1/2 weeks and everything in me has been tested.  There is the selling of the last few items (the biggest one is Joe's Hyundai Tucson), making sure the all the paperwork is completed so the van can be sent back to the states and make the appointment for shipment, get all the records from medical and dental to take with us, make sure all our prescriptions are filled to last a couple months while we look for a doctor, sign the lease and pay rent to stay in the house on base so we are not homeless, and the list goes on.  Let's not forget in addition to dealing with the coordination of the move, there is the daily life stuff to coordinate too.  

Ayden has appointment after appointment and so does Zachary and me.  Having the worlds largest Typhoon swing just past the Guam and with no generator, shopping for the possibility of the power going out (which it doesn't  of course because I was ready).  Make sure everyone is aware of last day our children are attending school (kids go 2 hours a day for specials) and daycare.  Not to mention the kids are homeschooled so I have to make sure they do their work and keep on task while going through the last few things before we pack our final suitcases.  FUN!  The good news is, kids are forgiving and forgive you when you spend less time with them.  The bad news is, kids are evil and take advantage of there being just one parent.  LOL  

It has been stressful but it is worth what is to come next in 1 week, a dream come true, moving to Thailand.

How we can move to Thailand

How are you guys just going to move there?  Is it allowed to just move to a different country?  

Well, its sort of complicated and simple.  Simply we are tourist and we have to stay within the rules of tourist visas.  Currently there is a 6 month multiple entry visas that we can apply for.  The visa is good for 6 months but we can only stay in country for 60 days at a time.  So every two months we need to take a trip outside of the country.  This should not be a problem for us as our plan is to use Thailand as a home base to explore Asia.  Additionally we plan on going to the good old USA twice a year.  We will make our travel plans around/within the visa rules and request extensions and reapply as necessary. 

In January I plan on attending a Instructor Development Course for my Dive Instructor Certification and then take the PADI instruction examination.  Once an Open Water Scuba Instructor then I will pursue obtaining a business license as a freelance PADI Instructor in Thailand.  From what I have read, an attorney in Thailand will structure this business and then I can obtain a work visa which is good for one year.  I really don’t want to work but if I have to teach a class here and there for a work visa so be it.  A little extra spending cash to fuel my dive addiction couldn't hurt either.  With me having a work visa I should be able to get the family a visa since they are my dependents.  I say should because the rules are sort of vague when I look on the internet.  I plan on going to the consulate in Los Angeles and finding out what exactly the rules are.

For our initial arrival we made a reservation at a condominium for a few weeks.  This will give us time to find a house to rent and buy a van.  We want a van so everyone has room to stretch out on road trips and enjoy the traveling.  We thought about an SUV but it might be too cramped for the seven of us plus luggage, camping gear, and scuba gear.  We are looking to purchase a Toyota  Commuter, we rode in several last time we were in Thailand.  We could take out the last row of seats and we would have more than enough space for our gear.  One of the financial hurdles is as foreigners we cannot obtain a loan so we have to pay cash for a car.  We don’t want a beater van, we want something reliable that will not strand us in the middle of no where.  So this mean taking a significant portion of our saving to purchase a vehicle.  Oh and I didn’t mention vehicle in Thailand new and especially used cost considerably more than they do in the United States. 

All of our household goods were shipped from Guam to storage in California.  It can remain in storage for one year which is part of my military retirement, but they probably will not be there that long.  Planning a late spring return to the states in which our household goods will get delivered to us in Texas.  We will either buy a small house or we will just put everything in a storage facility.  Our Ford Transit Van is being shipped to Texas, that way we have transportation for all seven of us when we visit.  We want to travel to Texas every summer and Thanksgiving or Christmas to visit friends and family.  Plus take some trips around the US during this time.  Great for the kids to see the world but they need to know the USA and its history.  

So where are we at with our plans right now?  I am typing this on my flight to San Diego to out process from the U. S. Navy.  I will be there for three weeks in which I plan to visit the consulate in Los Angeles and do some diving in Southern California and Mexico.  The family is staying in Guam until I return which is the last week of October.

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