Muffin's View of Pattaya, Thailand

I mentioned in my previous post that Muffin and I were on a girls-only vacation last week in Pattaya, Thailand. As a single mom for the week chasing after her, I didn't have time for lots of gorgeous scenery photos. I had to get quick snapshots of Muffin being cute to post to Mike's Facebook page.

Road through the resort. No cars allowed!

Beach across from the resort.

I highly recommend Rabbit for a family vacation.

Road between resort and beach; during the day no cars are allowed.

Shrine at the resort.

And to the tiger at the zoo, Muffin just said, "Pooh, pooh."

Last day at the beach.

Kapa maki at the Bangkok airport.

We stayed at the Rabbit Resort, which I recommend for families visiting Pattaya. The owners go by Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit and they were very accommodating. No cars are allowed on the resort compound, and the road along the resort is closed to car traffic during the day so it's safe for kids to run around. There's an adults' pool and a kids' pool, and the kids' pool was perfect for Muffin to test out her swimming skills. The ocean is just across the no-traffic road, and the beach and water were pretty good for letting kids run around. A little debris after a storm blew through, but nothing worse than you'd find at a lot of U.S. beaches. On the best days at low tide the water was very shallow for quite a ways out and safe enough for little legs like Muffin's to wade without fear of undertow or giant crashing waves. There is no spa at the resort but they will arrange for a car to take you to a nearby spa and will arrange for a baby-sitter. (And Mrs. Rabbit herself checked in on the sitter while I was gone.) Pattaya is about a 90-minute drive from Bangkok airport. You can arrange a car with the resort or you can book an airport limo upon landing.

There is a water park within walking distance of the resort, although Muffin and her friend were a little too young for it. Muffin was more impressed that there was a 7-11 within walking distance. Every morning she asked if we could there for a chocolate milk. A good zoo is about a 45-minute drive. We had perfect timing on zoo day, with overcast weather while we walked around; the rain waited until we were back in the car on the way back to Rabbit. There is not much in the way of playgrounds or other kid-friendly areas in Pattaya. There are good restaurants and coffee shops within walking distance; outlet shopping is a short tuk-tuk ride away. The resort restaurant is pretty good and we ate most of our meals there.

We were there during the last weeks of the rainy season, which is the least expensive time to be there. If you are a sun bunny, this is not the best time of year to go. But if you want weather that is warm enough for splashing around in the pool or ocean without too much time in the sun, and afternoon rain storms that are conducive to napping, then it is the perfect time to go.

Thailand has Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, so if you live in a country that doesn't have those do you really need any other reason to visit?

The Hyderabad 10K

This morning I ran my first race in years -- the Hyderabad 10K. My experiences in India over the last year led me to expect a lot of exuberance with much less attention to detail than there would be at a race in the United States. And I was pretty much right.

Chip timing was offered for the amateur ten-kilometer run, which impressed me at first. So did the online registration process. However, when I went to the Expo yesterday to pick up my bib and chip, even though I brought the printed-out registration confirmation, they had me fill out a new registration form -- with all the same information on it -- then they went onto the computer to check my online registration. They asked for my id card but didn't actually look at it. The online registration had said to be sure to bring the credit card you paid with as your proof-of-purchase, but they didn't ask to see it. Also, during the race, as a backup to the chip timing they were writing down bib numbers and times at the five-kilometer mark and at the finish line they stopped me to ask my name as well. If this is all computerized, all you need is my chip! And why the redundancy of filling out new registration forms by hand when I have my printout? They looked at it and threw it away!

The race only started five minutes late, which was earlier than my friend and I expected. We'd been running the course for the last few weekends so had an idea of how to pace ourselves for the times we wanted. I actually felt great and went a little faster than my training runs. I kept thinking that I couldn't keep it up, until I noticed that kilometer markers didn't quite match my Garmin and maybe the race would be finishing sooner than I expected. When a particularly chatty runner started bothering me with only two kilometers to go (even though my Garmin indicated a half-mile left), I used the upcoming finish line as an excuse to say "Great job, finish strong!" and zoomed ahead for a good finish. (If he was able to chat, he should have been going faster, too!)

My goal was to keep a ten-minute pace and my final time was fifty-seven minutes! My Garmin tracked the distance at 6.04 miles rather than 6.2 miles. I'm curious to see my official time once they get it posted. I didn't notice a finishing clock at the line. The 9K Corporate Fun Run/Walk was starting as I finished and the line was crowded. They didn't have great crowd control and eventually they gave up keeping a finishing chute open and free of walkers. When my friend crossed the line a few minutes after me, she said she'd been walking and pushing people out of her way to make it to the finish. She may have finished in under an hour, but the walking crowd at the line took her several minutes to get through before she actually crossed the finish line in about one hour and three minutes. Also, once we finished we had to cross the road in front of all the walkers to get over to the refreshments table. Sorry Hyderabad, even with chip timing and starting only a few minutes late, you lose points for a messy, crowded finish line.

Now I don't know what to do next. I'd like to tackle a half-marathon if I can find one. I may have to travel for that. The Bangkok marathon and half-marathon have been postponed to my birthday in February. I like Bangkok and I like my birthday...

Travel Photo Friday: Bangkok, Thailand

Recently Mike had to go to Bangkok for about three hours' worth of work. We decided to turn the trip into a long weekend for the family.

We loved Bangkok. It's a big, modern, clean city but it also has some of the charming things we like about India. The food was great. The people were friendly. There's an easy train system (much cleaner than Metro and BART!). It's kid-friendly, but not particularly stroller-friendly. No worries for Muffin though. She just started walking, so while she tolerated the stroller for getting through the airport, she was anxious to try out her new skills to the delight of everyone who saw her.

Lumpini Park, which is a nice place for a stroll; we were surprised by the number of people out jogging.

You have to share the park with the local water monitors. Related to komodo dragons, but less poisonous.

Walking in the park.

Outside Central department store, where there's a fabulous grocery store with hot and cold food bars, and a Sanrio store.

Water taxi.

Asleep on the water taxi.

Family tuk-tuk ride.

Yum! Pork on a stick.

Photo Friday is hosted by DeliciousBaby.com.