Better than Booties Baby Socks

These are the first socks I have ever made. They are for my boss who just had a baby girl.



Pattern: Better than Booties Baby Socks from Interweave Press by Ann Budd.
Yarn: Kuigo sock yarn
Needles: US 0 double pointed needles

Calorimetry

Pattern: Calorimerty from knitty.com
Yarn: I forget
Needles: US 8

Thailand - Day 14-15: Back Home

We took the ferry back to Phuket. We decided to stay close to the airport at a beach called Nai Yang. After some fried fish for lunch, we rented chairs and umbrellas and relaxed for the rest of the day. In the morning we went to the airport, back to Bangkok, then back to Los Angeles. What a trip!

Thailand - Day 12-13: Koh Phi Phi

From China Town we took a taxi to the airport and amazingly it only too half an hour, but it cost 500 baht. We got into the Phuket and went straight to the pier in Phuket Town. We were lucky enough to share a taxi (and the cost) with another couple from Germany. The boat to Koh Phi Phi took about 2-hours and when we got there all of the hotel and boat workers were yelling like crazy at all of the tourists. We decided to call the Natural Resort from Let's Go and they said the price was 3,000 baht ($85). A little more than we wanted to spend, but there didnt seem to be very many other great choices. We hired a long tail boat to take us the the other side of the island. We check all the of hotels around us, but the Natural Resort seemed to be the cheapest. When we finally checked into our room we were very disappointed, so we decided to stay just one night and move somewhere else in the morning. We decided that we would sperge a bit and have a nice dinner at the $500/night hotel next door. We had a wonderful Thai-fusion meal, bottle of wine, and even ordered our desert out on the lounge chairs on the beach. It was really wonderful, I felt like we were really being pampered.

The next morning we moved to a nearby resort, although I think it was owned by the same company, it was so much nicer. After checking in we lounged by the pool all morning. At a quick buffet lunch, that was just so so. In the afternoon we decided to hire a speed boat to visit the smaller Koh Phi Phi Ley. Shortly after leaving it started poring and our driver ducked into a cove in the giant limestone cliffs to try to stay dry. Finally the rain let up a bit and we decided to keep going. Sure enough as soon as we started going again the rain stopped. The first stop was in a small cove for snorkeling. Although the water was not super clear we saw tons of tropical fish, coral, and sea cucumbers. Next we went to Maya beach, where "The Beach" was filmed. It was a beautiful cove, but not very good for snorkeling. The last stop was Monkey Beach, but we didn't see any moneys anywhere. That night we ate at the pricey Holiday Inn resort. We brought a bottle of winde back to the hotel and watched TV until we both feel asleep.

Thailand - Day 9-11: Bangkok

From Lampang we took a local flight back to Bangkok. To save some money we decided to take a shuttle bus to the city center. When the bus left the station it was making all kinds of weird noises, so the driver decided to take us back to the station and change buses. We waited and waited for the second bus to arrive. Then it was a long ride into Bangkok, so after 2 hours we finally made it into the city center. After being dropped off a few miles from Chinatown, where we would look for a hotel, we decided to take a taxi. The traffic was ridiculous, I think I could have walked faster, but we were both too tired.

We checked into the the hotel, which was a bit dirty and had a crazy bathtub that was raised off the floor, but was one of the cheapest hotels we could find in Bangkok. Most of the bathrooms in Thailand have been interesting. They range from bucket flush toilets where you cant sit down and showers with no hot water and no door to pretty modern "American-type" facilities. You really never know what you are going to get.

We set off walking around Chinatown getting lost, so we decided to take a tuk-tuk to Siam Square and MBK for some shopping. This seemed to be where the young Thai's bought all of their trendy clothes for cheap. I bought a pair of jeans and shoes. We decided that metered taxi was they way to go for the rest of our stay in Bangkok, since the tuk-tuk driver really overcharged us.

Day 2: Today we spent most of our time in the Old City. Wat Phra Kaeo was just amazing, it sparkled so much in the sun. This was defiantly the most beautiful Wat I have seen in Thailand. No wonder it was built for the King. The Wat also housed the Emerald Buddha, the most famous Buddha image in all of Thailand, which was much smaller than I had imagined. He sat on top of a HUGE gold shrine, which was pretty impressive.

Wat Phra Kaeo

Later in the day we walked over the the Massage School in Wat Pho to find a room full of beds with student performing Thai massage on customers. We were asked to change into pants that were a lot like mahout pants and were directed to our bed. Thai massage is about stressing and pulling muscles and is not quite as relaxing as a traditional massage. I walked out feeling very relaxed, however there were a few moments were pretty painful.

Reclining Buddha in Wat Pho

Even though we didn't want to stay in the "tourist ghetto" of Khao San Road, we did check out the market and tried some of the street food (Pad Thai and fresh pineapple). It was a very lively place, but just as travel books described, full of tourist. From Khao San we took a river boat to down the Chao Phraya River to the Skytrain. This light rail system was very modern confortable. We stopped a Jim Thompson's to buy some silk presents and a couple items for ourself. You could tell that this is was a very fancy store. We walked thought the Patong Market before getting to the theater for a lady-boy show.

Day 3: We decided to get out of the congestion and pollution of the city and take a 2 hour bus ride to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. When we got to the market we hired a longtail boat for a 1 1/2 hour tour. Many of the things at the maket were just tourist junk, however it was fun to ride though the market in a longtail boat and see some of the surround homes. We were also able to stop at a small traditional dance studio and see a performance.

Damnoen Saduak Floating Market

On the walk back into the center of the city from the bus station we stopped at a mall for some lunch. Then we realized that we were still so far from the city center, we gave up and took a taxi to the river boats. We stopped at Wat Arun just before sunset. It was a nice Wat, but I was disappointed that we couldn't climb all the way to the top.

Tonight we decided to have a fancy dinner. We had a Thai salad of mixed vegetables, a shrimp with chili powder, and a fish dish. It was both great food and great service for about 25 dollars.

Thailand - Day 6-8: Elephant Camp

After getting a quick breakfast of pork and rice, we caught a local bus to the Elephant Conservation Center. Local bus drivers are a bit more daring on the road than I feel comfortable with, but we made it to the entrance of the Center in one piece. A small tour bus was nice enough to give Scott and I (and our huge backpacks) a ride to the center of the camp, 1.5 kilometers away. After signing some paperwork we were asked to change into out Mahout suits and were introduced to our elephants. My elephant was a 7 year old girl named Jan-na. Scott's, one of the largest elephants here in the camp, was named JoJo. We got to learn some commands, bath them in the river, and watch the real Mahouts perform with the elephants in the tourist show. In the afternoon we rode one of the "taxi" elephants, which were rescued logging elephants after logging became illegal in Thailand. These elephants were not as friendly as the performing elephants and therefore, became taxi elephants here at the camp. After the last performance, we took out elephants into the jungle for the night to eat and relax.


Our cabins were located amongst the Mahouts and other camp workers. We were told that they have to leave their families for many months at a time and have to build their our cabins in the camp. Back in our cabins we showered (we even had hot water and toilets), napped, and helped cook dinner in the outdoor kitchen. The other guests at the camp included a British couple living in Singapore, and older Australian couple, and two girls from Germany.

The next morning one of the mahouts knocked on our door at about 6:00 am to put on our wet mahout suits and get our elephants from the jungle. It was a lot harder climbing up the hill than it was yesterday on the back of Jan-na. After finding Jan-na pretty close to where we left her (we did chain them up), we brushed her off and bathed her in the river on the way back to the show grounds. When we got back to our rooms we found nice fresh, dry suit to wear. What a treat! We all washed off, dressed, and sat down for breakfast. Then it was back to the show grounds for training and bathing. In the afternoon we went to tour the elephant hospital. The students and some mahouts prepared dinner for us again and we noticed that they were preparing some thing different for themselves. They let us try some frog leg soup, but the rest looked way to spicy for me.


On the last day at the Elephant Conservation Center we were able to help perform in the morning tourist show with our elephants. By this time my legs and rear were pretty sore from riding Jan-na, but it was worth it. I was sad that we had to go. Simon and Alisa, the British couple, let us share their taxi back to the main road so we could catch the local bus back to Lampang. After sitting at the bus stop for 45 minutes I was getting pretty worried, when finally a green local bus came around the bend.

Back in Lampang, we got the same taxi driver to to take us back to the Riverside Guest House. This time they only had air-conditioned rooms left, I was annoyed at first, but it turned out to be totally worth 600 Baht. Our room was much bigger and had a lovely window and off course the air was great. A Crazy taxi man charged us 500 baht to take us to Wat Phra That Lampang Lung. I think he was totally lost on the way back and dropped us off in the middle of a huge street market. We wondered around and realized we were not to far from the guest house. We tried some sticky coconut candy and some other street vender foods. We also found a bowling alley, so we decided to play a game.

Thailand - Day 4-5: Sukhothai

Since neither Scott or I had a watch, we asked the front desk at the Eagle House 2 to knock on our door at 5:00 am. It sort of worked, just an hour late. We were still able to catch the 8:00 bus to Sukhothai, so it all worked out. The ride took about 5 hours and we were able to find a lovely guest house out of the Lonely Planet called to TR Guest House with an air-conditioned room for 350 Baht. We were both sore and tired so we decided to would take it easy for the rest of the day. We asked the owner for a restaurant recommendation and he decided he would just take us in his car. No one in this place spoke English and fortunately a lot of the menu had pictures, so we ordered Pad Thai, chicken soup and a noodle dish (which I think was local to Sukhothai). It was all very good and really cheap. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading and using the internet on the porch of the guest house.

Then next morning Scott and I were ready to go by 7 am even without an alarm . I guess its because we have been going to bed so early and there doesn't seem to be too much to do here after the sun goes down. For breakfast I tried the famous banana pancakes and Scott had pineapple pancakes.

After breakfast, we took a bus to the Old City Historical Park entrance and decided to rent a moped for the day to see the sites. We rented one from a nearby coffee shop for 140 Baht. Although neither of us had ever driven a moped, it turned out to be pretty easy and and a great way to get around the Historical Park.

After seeing some of the ruins, we found a local street market and decided to have lunch at one of the stands. At the stand we choose, there didn't seem to be any kind of menu and the cook didn't seem to know what to do with two Americans. Finally someone sitting nearby ordered two pork noodle soups for us. It turned out to be absolutely delicious and only 30 Baht total. What a deal!

After lunch we went back to the guest house and decided to catch a bus to Lampang. Once arriving in Lampang we took a shared taxi to the Riverside Guest House, a teak housing with small but adequate rooms. We had dinner at a nice restaurant on the river, bought a watch (finally), and went to the pharmacist for some medicine for the large rash on Scott's leg. Although the pharmacist didn't really speak much English he gave Scott some ointment, so hopefully that will help.



Scott on the scooter we rented



Buddhas in the Old City







Me driving the scooter. It was a lot of fun.



More ancient Wats