Trang Street Scenes/ New Year's Day:

We are accustomed to seeing the streets of Trang bustling with mopeds, tuk-tuks, cars and people. But on New Year's Day, they were almost deserted. Not many shops were open, either, although we had been told that Trang almost never closes down entirely.







Still, it was fun to "window-shop." We weren't sure what these were but decided they are "home altars," similar to "spirit houses" but the sort that would be found inside instead of outside a home.





This is a government building (above) and a residence below.




We finally made our way to an indoor mall--and that's where everyone was! The mall was several stories high and crammed with merchandise and people. All the name brand logos could be found there and were very expensive by Thai standards. (I thought surely it would have "modern" restrooms, but no luck.)

We found a pizza parlor of all things and decided to give it a try. Super expensive compared to what we usually eat. You can get a whole meal for less than a dollar in a local restaurant and even less from a food vendor--but the pizza cost $15. (And I splurged on a Pepsi, the first soda I've had in...well, can't remember how long.)

We took the remainder home for dinner and watched a DVD we bought at the mall. I purchased two movies for less than $3.00 (new but maybe pirated?).

New Year's Day 2010 will go down as memorable.




Tinu serving up our pizza. We got a veggie pizza with barbecued chicken added. It came with corn, peppers, mushrooms and pineapple. Never had corn on a pizza before but we liked it. It was a nice break from rice/noodles and...whatever.

Tinu is a great companion to have on an excursion. She's been here only six weeks but speaks really good Thai already. Her native language is based on Sanskrit and so is Thai, so she can pick it up easily. Plus, she's all of 23 years old and learns faster. If I get stuck communicating something, she usually can step in and help. (See? The Lord is looking after me, putting us here at the same time!)