Top Ten food's to eat in Thailand!

As we had visited Thailand four time's in our 5 month trip we thought we would share what we have learned about the best food's of Thailand! 

Top 10 food's

1.Mango sticky rice.

2. Thai Green Curry

3. Penang

4. Pad Thai

5. Banana Pancakes (from a street vendor)

6. Mussaman (or Massaman) curry

7. Deep fried Banana

8. Chicken with cashew nuts

9. Tom Yum (spicy prawn soup)

10. Fried Morning Glory

Top 10 fruit's

1. Mangosteen.
2. Mango
3. Pineapple
4. Dragon Fruit
5. Coconut
6. Rambutan
7. Durian
8.Banana (they're different)
9. Langsat. Look's like a tiny potato but when you peel it it resembles a Lychee in taste.
10. Rose apple

What to pack for asia with kids

These are the thing's that we have 'needed' or picked up on the way, most thing's you can pick up on the way because Asia sell's everything for cheap and cheaper(excuse the bad grammer) than at home. A lot of backpacker's we have met have gone with nothing and done a big shopping trip in the first few day's around the market and mall's! We bought half at home half here, just depend's what you prefer i suppose! 

General:

•    Plenty of sun lotion (its quite expensive over in Asia and sometimes it can be hard to find the higher factors)
•    Insect repellent. (With DEET if you want guaranteed protection). Although other types of protection are widely sold around Asia. 
•    A Swiss army knife. (for Cutting food, Opening beer, to fixing that dodgey Mosquito Mesh on the Window)
•    Laptop. (not a necessity if you want to save space, but most guesthouses have free WIFI in the room)
•    Phone (we bought it over here)
•    2 in 1 conditioner
•    Camera, (A small digital is ideal)
•    Razors
•    Toothbrush
•    Toothpaste 
•    After sun best to buy a water based one.
•    Soap
•    Small sponge to share
•    Deodorant
•    Malaria tablets, Malerone for the children. It is not lisenced out here so get it at home, it can be quite expensive unless you have a small child.(you can buy doxycycline in boots in Thailand.
•   Cards
•   1pair of Sandals
•   Sunglasses

For the ladies:

•      1 pair of socks
•      Hairbrush
•      Long trousers light weight (you can buy these in Asia they sell them almost everywhere)
•      Long sleeve t-shirt
•      2 t-shirts
•      2 vests
•      2 pairs of shorts
•      Hair bobbles
•      Hair clips
•      Contraceptive pill
•      Tampons
•      2 swim suits (you can wear bikini’s in most beach resorts)
•      4 pairs of knickers
•      2 bra’s
•      1pair of sandals
•      hair serum come's in handy but it's not a must! 

Men:

•      2 pairs of shorts (not denim)
•      1 long sleeve t-shirt
•      1 pair of long trousers
•      3 t-shirts
•      4pairs of boxer shorts
•      1 pair of socks
•      1thin jacket
•      1 pair of sandal’s

The Kid's:

•      1 pair of lightweight long trousers,
•      3 sets of PJ’s long arm and leg light coloured
•      Nappy’s, as many as you can take, they do sell them in Thailand so don’t worry if that is where you are starting. It can be hard to find bigger sizes but i wouldn't worry too much, we alway's ended up finding some
•      4 t-shirts
•     1 long sleeve t-shirt’s (They are hard to find in Asia too)
•     2 pairs of shorts
•     A few paperback books.
•     A small cuddly toy
•     2 toy cars   
•     2 pairs of shoes
•     A towel    
•     A hat

And a hell of a lot of patience!

Everywhere has cheap and cheerful laundry facilities. We do our's once every 14-20 day's depending on how dirty we get ;)  

How to watch your favourite show abroad

Ever gone on holiday and missed out on a whole week of you're favourite show? Have you been travelling a while and craving those programme's you watched religiously at home like I am?(okay so now i sound like im advertising! hehe)
Daily motion is for you! :)
I had a search around google because I was really really missing Home and Away(yes the australian soap opera) and my Facebook feed kept telling me all the new stuff that was happening but i could never access any of the spoiler's or video's because I am in the 'wrong' country!
Daily motion is very similar to youtube but video's get taken down less often as they are not reported as much. Obviously the video's are constantly streaming so if you have bad internet connection its not so good, but with a good WIFI connection you can watch almost anything on there and the Picture quality is pretty good for most thing's especially my favourite show home and away. I have been told there are other site's similar to this one so leave me a comment if you know of any similar site's or if you found this post useful

How we celebrated Chinese new year in Malaysia.

This is how we knew it was going to be a great day!  

We woke up to Zachary with a face full of make up, he must have been copying mummy! ha

Taking lots of photo's at dinner, Isn't that one weird! Zach look's so cute!

A show on Jonker street in Melakka, We couldn't understand most of it (I say most because malaysian's switch from malay to english mid-sentence) but they played lots of silly game's which was fun to watch!

And finally lot's of firework's to finish off an amazing day!

Here's why you shouldn't over look Laos

When anyone has asked us which country we like'd best we always reply as quick as a shot Laos! Yes it's a malaria country, yes they are lazy in laos, but dont let that stop you Laos is the most beautiful country we have ever seen, it isn't overgrown with tourism yet (watch this space) but you can book a ticket to and from anywhere as its Backpacker heaven. Its also so chilled out and relaxed(which is good at at least one point in any trip).

In Laos we spent time in Lagoon's with elephant's, beautiful Temple's. Its the heart of the Mekong river. Do not let the fact that it is landlocked stop you!

 You can spend day's on end at the lagoon's and waterfull's and they are just as fun as any beaches the twinkling clear crystal water make's you never want to leave(and they have rope swings!)

 In this gem of a country you can go tubing in one of the most legendary river's in the world.(If you dont know what tubing is, its flowing down the river in a rubber ring/dingy) you seriously couldn't want for more ;)

Do not miss Vang Vieng, even if you are a family, yes there are many bar's but those bar's are filled with people watching friend's and family guy, so go there even if its just to watch TV, & Chill at the nearby waterfall for a week or so.

I hear you say youv'e heard it's expensive? Laos is as cheap as Thailand & I can almost guarantee you will have more fun! We stayed In a bungalow on the Mekong for $8 per day with Aircon!

Why im so exited to go home

I just can't wait to cook my own meal's. Eat at my own table, and start on some fun creative stuff, I have missed it so much these past 5 month's, but that's not to say I haven't enjoyed myself. Its been amazing. We have seen thing's I never thought i would see, and this is definitely not the end.
The comfort's of home are pulling me back though, what I wouldn't do right now for just a normal old snuggle on the sofa with a cup of coco!
You really don't know what you've got until you leave it all behind and run off to south east asia.

Here's some thing's im super exited to do!

1. Sleep in my own bed.
2. Watch TV all day.
3. Wear a thick coat.
4. Get everything organised. i.e buy a calender.
5. Ive had load's of DIY idea's and obviously not been able to do them! 
6. See people in the street that I know.
7. Take zach to see friend's and family.
8. Eat cheese on toast.
9. COOK COOK COOK! 
10. sit on a sofa and not a bed.
11. only have to carry daily essential's and not life essential's.
12. Shopping.
13. Plan a party!
14. Get off this stinking laptop and use a desktop computer.
15. Cleaning. YES I actually miss cleaning!

So basically I miss my boring old day to day life. 19day's to go!

10 Must have's on the road with a toddler!

10 Must have's when Travelling with a toddler! 

1. Child back carrier, this has been a life saver when Zach has been too tired to walk or on long walk's.So this is our top must have item for going away on a long trip(or any trip to asia). I recommend you take one of these if you're planning on doing the same. For us it has meant not having to deal with the im too tired tantrums, and there are barely any places we cant go because we have this! and it can be used as a seat when there aren't any around. Dont get me wrong he doesn't sit in this all day, but we love ours and probably couldn't travel without it until Zach is out of toddler mode.
The one we use is the Deuter Kid Comfort 1which has a bag at the back to carry essentials like wipes nappy's change of clothes etc!

2. Books; Bedtime books, Number book's Letter Book's They are really portable and we make sure to get paperback so they are lightweight too. All such lifesaver's for long road trip's and Evening's in the hotel.

3.Crayons and a Colouring book, Zach wont colour for long but it keep's him occupied when ordering meals and trying to multitask!

4. Essentials like wipes, nappy's, cotton wool, bum cream, Sun lotion, after sun, Mosquito repellant. If you have a favourite brand of nappy take them along, but all of the country's we have visited have had there own brand for reasonable prices, and they are generally good quality. Mama Poko and Dryper's are what we have found to be the most frequent. We usually have one pack of wipes but mostly use the Bidet shower spray and then dry. Sun lotion is very expensive abroad so take advantage of 2for1 offers at home, I also recommend buying Mosquito repellant at home because many country's don't sell it containing DEET.

5. Favourite toy, we have one stuffed teddy and a couple of few small car's, then a few bits and bob's that we have picked up on the way! Just don't go overboard on toys, they can do without.

6. Laptop, For DVD's Skyping and social networking. We have the small Macbook Air which is super small, so it doesn't take up too much space in the bag.

7. More T-Shirts than bottoms/pants, and Warm clothes. Zach is so messy, We have six T-shirts for Asia Including one Longsleve. Obviously what you take will depend on if where you are visiting is warm or cold! We only have one pair of warm clothes and it does us fine for here.

8. I-pod's and book's, Playing Cards, for downtime for Mum and Dad, we would lose our sanity without these thing's, Sometimes Clive draw's too!

9. We bought a silk Sleeping bag for Zach whilst in Vietnam, but a sheet would do the same Job, for cold air con.

10.Semi-Organisation to avoid toddler meltdown's we all know that you can't have a fixed schedule on a long trip, but bed time's and food time's are something that help keep Zach to feel secure.

Happy Travelling!

Teaching on the road.

Teaching Zachary whilst we have been away has been hit and miss. There are big things he has learned that wouldn't have necessarily been taught at home, then there are things that are difficult to teach out of our backpack.
Zach has learned heaps about Asian culture just by being in Asia, In Asia baby's and toddlers are everyone's and it is not uncommon for the waitresses in restaurants to take kids to meet the rest of the staff while Mum and Dad order food. He has seen other religions in practise and learned that people are different.
Sometimes it is hard to teach that not everyone is a friendly waiter or happy tourist, so this would be a drawback, I have tried to instill that its only okay when Mummy says so.

Travelling is such a wonderful thing there are an array of animals in every country. Zach has been enabled to learn about animals in a bigger way than seeing them at the Zoo. Touching animals that you wouldn't very often get to touch in a western country. Seeing animals in the wild that dont exist in our 'so called wild'. These are just some of the things you're kids can learn whilst being away from home for long periods of time.
On long bus trips we work on speech sing lots of songs and go through our ABC, 123, and Shape's and colour books. I suggest getting a good one of all of these in paperback, we keep ours in a plastic folder and they are super light weight. We also have a couple for bedtime which are really good.

Sometimes whilst travelling Zach misses out on socialisation with other kids his age. Dont get me wrong he gets to play with other children because you meet loads on the road in villages, local parks, Play area's, and hell in shops and on the market because a lot of asian people take their kids to work with them. I just would have hoped for a little more social time for him though as he has took a liking to wearing scuba gear outside of the pool!

There is so much to be learned just a plane ride away. So go and book a ticket travel Mummy's! x