• Paisleys Abroad
  • Paisleys Abroad

435 World Tour

Exploring Europe and Asia, one family squabble at a time... Read more
  • L'art partagé et l'art singulier

    November 9, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Dale and Lara finally got to a gallery walk on their last rainy Friday in Montpellier. We saw Yann Dumoget and his “peinture partagée” - Dale loved how you could recognize different places in his artwork (like the sea, a volcano, the desert), and then see how members of the public graffitied them. Then we went to the Musée d’art brut et d’art singulier (raw and outsider art) - it was filled with wondrous and creative paintings and sculpture - many of the artists were institutionalized with mental health issues, and were not initially recognized as artists for this reason. Dale noticed lots of cats, Lara loved the powerful colours and (sometimes playful, sometimes disquieting) creativity. We are posting a few photos here to “educate” (sorry, copyright reference...). Thank you in advance to the artists!Read more

  • Leaving montpellier

    November 10, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Tonight is our last night here in Montpellier. 😢. Tomorrow we are going to be on the train, headed for barcelona. Montpellier seems like it went by so fast. It feels like its been a week since we got here! I really wish we were staying here for a little longer. :(
    If i had to describe our time in Montpellier in 5 words, they would be: Bikes 🚲, beach 🏖 🏝, baguette 🥖, ice cream 🍦, and the pool 🏊‍♀️.
    -Chloë
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  • Gift of music in public spaces

    November 10, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    This post is late coming (a throwback to France) but I wanted to recognize the absolute magic of open access instruments in community spaces (as a good Canadian Heritage girl). In the Central train station in Montpellier stands a piano, free for anyone to use. I walked by it almost everyday - from early morning to very late at night, it was almost never unoccupied. The train station is open 24/7. I saw all ages, genders, colours, and genres represented over my 2 months there... it was very inspiring! We lived close, so on warm nights, with our windows open, the music could reach us as we fell asleep. Here is just a small taste...Read more

  • Barcelona

    November 11, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We got to Barcelona yesterday afternoon, from Montpellier, via train. Unfortunately, we only got to spend one full day here, and we’re leaving tomorrow at 4:30 in the morning for the airport! I love Barcelona, because it is so pretty, and has really cool buildings and parks. Also, the weather is a perfect temperature, (21 degrees C) not too hot, not too cold, which probably sounds pretty nice to all of you in Ottawa! 😄🌨
    Yesterday we went to Antoni Gaudì’s Basilica of the Sagrada Famillia, which is a giant church with lots of pillars. Then, mom and dad went out for dinner, while we got KFC and watched a movie in our apartment. Today, we took the metro and spent the morning at the Parc de Gùell, (Antoni Gaudì) and a few other places too.
    Turns out the Spanish language course I took on Duolingo did not help very much here, because the only things I learnt were food names! After a long search amongs tourist shops, I finally found Barcelona socks! Also, one last thing, on our way to the Sagrada Família, we took the metro, and there was a man who got on the metro with an amp, a speaker and a violin, and started playing ‘Despacito’!
    🎶 🍗 🚂 🛩
    Chloë
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  • Escola Baldiri Reixac

    November 12, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    An elementary school located in the middle of Antonio Gaudí’s Parc Güell. Imagine having your school day observed by over 3 million visitors each year. At least the grounds are inspiring. I learned that the older students work on English presentation and conversation skills to be able to interact and share information with the tourists who walk through the park.
    (Sorry, this is a repost - Geoff)
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  • Estimem a Barcelona!

    November 12, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We all agree that two days is not nearly enough time to explore Barcelona... everyone wants to come back at some point. We focused on Antoni Gaudí, famous Spanish modernist architect - and visited several of his sites and buildings. Gaudí is playful and reverent, light and dense all at the same time. He is quoted as saying (translation) “To do things well, first, you need love; second, the technique”. I am inspired! LaraRead more

  • Airport in Qatar

    November 13, 2018 in Qatar ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    We just arrived in Qatar 🇶🇦 after a six hour flight. We had to wake up at 4:30 in the morning, and we had some bus trouble in the way to the airport...🚎🛫 now we have to wait three more hours until our next flight, to Chiang Mai 🇹🇭. Right now we are in the airport. The flight we just took was really fancy, (for us ;) ) and it had lots of tv shows and movies. 📺 For breakfast, we had the choice of a cheddar omelet, 🥚
    scrambled eggs, 🥚
    or pancakes 🥞 and porridge 🥣 (bleh). Lunch was chicken shawarma with a vanilla coconut sponge cupcake. I found out that I love shawarma!
    We will soon be in Thailand!!
    Chloë
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  • We're in Thailand!!

    November 15, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We just got to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand, yesterday morning at 6:30 am. We were so jet lagged, that we fell asleep a few hours after we got settled into our new teak house, and when we woke up, we thought it was the next morning, even though it was only 3:00 in the afternoon! Afterwards, we went exploring around our neighbourhood, and discovered a day market selling clothes, shoes and Thai food/sweets. For dinner last night, Malcolm and I had pork satay and rice, and my parents had green curry chicken soup, and chili cashew chicken (Dale had a peanut butter sandwich, of course!). When we went to sleep for real, every single one of us woke up at 1:30 in the morning, because we were still so jet lagged. I ended up getting out of bed at 11:00 am. Then we went out for a snack and card game at a local bakery, and on the way home we stopped at a Thai restaurant, and had rice, chicken pad Thai, and spicy pork with basil. The whole meal only cost 130 Thai baht, equivalent to 5$ Canadian! We live in a teak house, which is an old wooden house, where only the living room, bedrooms, and one of the bathrooms are inside. The rest of the house is outdoors. I only have one pair of shorts out of three, that apparently aren’t too short to wear in Thailand, and only two t-shirts out of five, that cover my shoulders enough. The bad things here, are that we have no washing machine, or dishwasher, but it might be okay, because there’s a laundromat around the corner, and my guess is that we won’t be doing many dishes anyways. I don’t think we’ll be eating at home very often, because getting groceries is more expensive than eating at restaurants here! The temperature here is 33 degrees C outside right now, so that means most of our house is hot. A few yeas ago, someone turned this original teak house into a bar, but it closed down because it’s across the street from a temple! Now it is a house again! All the cars and motorbikes drive on the other side of the road, which can be annoying for me because it’s not what I’m used to.
    Chloë
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  • Hedgehog cafe

    November 17, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Last night we explored around our neighbourhood, and we came across something called a ‘hedgehog cafe’. I think it’s kind of like the cat cafe in Ottawa but I’m not sure because I haven’t been to the cat cafe. At the hedgehog cafe, you bought a combo of
    — 1,2,3, or 4 drinks
    — a waffle or piece of cake
    — and a pass to ‘enjoy the hedgehogs’
    We got three mango smoothies, and a water. The lady brought two hedgehogs to two separate glass cages with open tops. She also gave us each a pair of gardening gloves, a towel (to clean up) , a pair of tweezers and a bowl of dried meal worms. We got to play with the hedgehogs and give them meal worms. There was also a bunch of guinea pigs, and we got to feed and play with them too! They were so cute!!
    Chloë
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  • The International Language of Ping-Pong

    November 17, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    Malcolm and I wandered through the old city to a physical education park where we found the Chiang Mai Table Tennis Club. For a whopping 2$ we acquired day passes and enjoyed a couple of hours of ping-pong. After a while we invited a young Thai fellow to join us. He was much better than both of us, but very polite with his play. His parents were so excited to see us playing together that they asked to make a movie with their phone, so I grabbed a picture too. We couldn’t say much to each other except smile and laugh at ourselves. Before we parted ways, we exchanged a wai (a bow with the hands clasped in front of our chins) and more smiles.
    - Geoff
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  • Wat Daowadung

    November 22, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    This Buddhist temple is only a few steps from our home and quite apart from the Old City temples. It is small by comparison to other temples and quite peaceful. We had to dress appropriately to visit the Wat, women must wear long clothes to cover down below their knees and at least over their shoulders while men need only wear shirts with short sleeves and shorts. Once we had removed our shoes, we were invited into the temple by several elderly ladies who brought us sticky rice treats and offered us chairs to sit.

    We were joined by a young monk named Somsi (sp?) who sat with us and chatted about the life of a Buddhist monk in Chiang Mai. He explained about their daily routines and how someone might become a monk. We learned that some of the youngest monks have been orphaned and are taken in by the monasteries. There are female Buddhist monks, but they have many more rules to follow than the men. Some Thais don’t want to socialize with the monks because they use “elevated” words which not everybody knows.

    Somsi’s English was excellent so I asked him how he had learned? He told us that the monks study English at school but YouTube is the best source!
    - Geoff
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  • Muay Thai

    November 23, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Yo everyone, its Malcolm😜
    Muay Thai is a kick boxing fight that uses eight limbs to fight. To be a fighter you have to have a strong set of fists, knees, legs and elbows. Muay Thai is just like boxing but using legs to kick your opponent. We take a Muay Thai class twice a week with a training group half an hour away from our house. At the start of training we do skipping with heavy ropes for 15 minutes non-stop but most of the time, Dale and I get on huge bouncy tires and jump with weights in our hands. After that we do stretches for 10 minutes but for me its more like break every bone in your body because all the trainers keep pushing me to do extra work. After “stretches” we all get seperated into 3 groups: Dale and I go with Sep, the adults go with Bagi, and Chloë works with Tam. Everyone works on different stuff for most of it but sometimes we all go to the punching bags for fist strengthening. At the end we all come together to repeat the stretches.
    That’s all for now but I will talk to you all soon!
    Malcolm🤩😎😜🇨🇦💩💩💩🥳🏀🗺👦🏻
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  • Loy Krathong and Yi Peng

    November 24, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    These past three days have been the Thai festivals ‘Loy Krathong’ and ‘Yi Peng’. Loy Krathong is a celebration that translates into ‘to float baskets’. The baskets (krathongs) are made out of thick slices of banana tree trunk, pieces of banana leaves, pretty flowers, and you stick incense and candles in it, then, once you’ve lit the candles and incense, you float them down the ping river, on the first full moon of the twelfth month (Thai lunar calendar). Make sure you make a wish when you float it! This year it was November 22. Yi peng is at the same time, but for yi peng you float lanterns into the sky. There was so many people in the main streets that you could barely move at all! If you’ve been to one of these festivals before, comment your experience!
    Chloë
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  • At the Bear Hug café near our house

    November 24, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Normally I don’t post food photos, but the cuteness factor here was so over-the-top, that we just had to share. If your kids are cranky from heat, math, and Muay Thai sore muscles, the fix in Chiang Mai is apparently sweets shaped like bears (with a latte for mama and a bacon burger for dad)! The café is also equipped with stuffed bears at the tables. I think Malcolm has finally found his birthday meal restaurant... so we’ll be back in 3 days.Read more

  • Wat Pha Lat - The Monk's Trail

    November 29, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Today we got up bright and early to try and beat the heat on a hike up Doi Suthep, a mountain just outside of Chiang Mai. We met up with Gene and Susan who joined us for the first part of the hike, and then we continued off on our own. It is called The Monk’s Trail because, before the road was put in, it was used by the monks on their ascent to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep near the top of the mountain. About half way up, we reach Wat Pha Lat, a former resting place for the monks on their journey to the top. This Wat is built around has several serene pools that are filled and emptied by small waterfalls. Since this is midway on the road to the top, this beautiful place is usually ignored by the tour busses so it remains peaceful and is fun to explore almost completely on our own. Past Wat Pha Lat, we continued on a very steep trek for another hour to finish at our goal, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. After exploring the temple, we rode back to Chiang Mai in the back of a songthaew with several travellers, all of whom were at least half our age. They were all very impressed that the kids had hiked themselves up to the top!
    - Geoff
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  • Meeting an elephant family

    November 30, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Today, we took a bus to meet an elephant family and their owners. We were a small group - just us and two couples from Canada and the UK. First we fed the elephants bananas and long stalks of grass. There were Four adults and one baby named mini and a teenager named Bella.Then we went on a hike with the elephants and one almost brought a whole tree down. When we got back we had lunch of rice, passion fruit juice and delicious curry (for my parents.. I ate peanut butter sandwiches). Then we covered two elephants in mud (their shampoo) and brought them to a stream for a bath. We got really wet, splashing the elephants and each other. It was really fun! The elephants pick up sand with their trunks to keep mosquitos away, to dry off, and for “sunscreen”. Before we visited the elephants, daddy and I did some research and we learned a bunch of facts - their poo is used for lots of practical things, like making paper, and they have over 100 000 muscles in their trunk. I could see that they use their trunk for breathing, drinking, smelling, trumpeting, showering, balance walking up hills, a snorkel for swimming, grabbing food, and throwing sand. It is amazing! Then we gave them another snack and said goodbye. I slept on the long bus ride home. - DaleRead more

  • Muay Thai Fight Night

    December 2, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    We have been taking Muay Thai classes twice a week at a local gym. The coaches are excellent with the kids and with Lara and I. Two of our coaches were scheduled to fight this evening so I headed out to a stadium in rural Thailand with a bunch of the gym regulars to support them. It was great to see these guys in action. There are many rituals that precede each bout including both fighters greeting their opponents corner. Each fight consists of 5 rounds, a round lasts two minutes for women and three minutes for men. There were a few fighters as young as 8yrs old competing before the more seasoned veterans were called up. What struck me the most is how much fun the fighters are having. Each round begins with a high-five and ends with a hug, and they joke with each other between punches and kicks. It is truly a sport and not the grizzly display of bravado I was expecting. The last thing they do after the fight is over is go and drink out of their opponents water cup. Fun night, and I learned enough to know that I won’t be entering a ring anytime soon. I value my bones and what’s left of my brian cells too much.
    - Geoff
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  • The Sticky Waterfalls

    December 5, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Today we went to a waterfall but it was sticky. It wasn’t slippery, you could walk on it and climb it. It had three levels and one more secret bottom level. We started at the bottom and we climbed using our hands and feet. Some people used ropes for the hard parts. We played there for a long time and we also saw some green spikey things that were in a cave that looked like a lion’s mouth. It was really fun. When we were done at the waterfall we started a walk to a fountain, but I tripped and fell, so I did not go see it. Then we drove back home with Mr. Ning. In the morning, on the way to the waterfall, we stopped at a Wat that was very beautiful, but Malcolm and I did not get out of the car to see it.
    - Dale
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  • Fish spa

    December 12, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Last night when we were on our way home from Muay Thai, we came across a ‘fish spa’ which was a bunch of cushioned benches, and at the bottom of each bench there was a fish tank with at least 50 fish in it. Malcolm and I were the only ones brave enough to try it (my dad was too chicken to go near it). We got a 10 minute treatment for only 60 baht each (less than $3 each). First, you have to clean your feet with a wet cloth, then you stick them in the tank and all the fish come and nibble at your feet. Everyone who walked by was staring and smiling, and a few people decided to try it after seeing us do it. It almost felt like they should be paying us instead of the other way around because we attracted so much attention! Malcolm had to take his feet out of the tank after about 5 minutes because it felt so weird. It felt really weird and tingly but after a while it felt pretty good!
    🐠🐟🐡
    -Chloë
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  • Hike to Hmong Hill Tribe Village.

    December 15, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Lara sent me off with the Doi Suthep Walkers early this morning. The Walkers are a collection of local hiking aficionados and the current Chiang Mai travellers lucky enough to stumble upon their Facebook page (myself included). We climbed for close to three hours to a small hill tribe village where we enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by one of the families from the village. It was fun to be out with other travellers and talk shop, although none of them were also escaping from their young children for the day. Hikers from our group represented England, Romania, Finland, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Malaysia, China, and the good old US of A.
    - Geoff
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  • Trying to find community...

    December 17, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    One of the things I love to do when travelling is find and join in local community activities - I find it especially rewarding when these include music or dance. In Thailand, of course, it has proven more challenging - the language barrier means I can’t read posters or do a thorough social media search. Here are the fruits of my labour so far... I learned a) outdoor local music shows don’t only get rained out in Ottawa, b) being an expat might be a bit like being at camp - lots of amateur performances amongst cliques, and c) a hearty sing-a-long hallelujah chorus is possible anywhere at Christmas time! - LaraRead more

  • Karen People - Hill Tribe Village

    December 18, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We visited a hill tribe village located in the national park Doi Inthanon. The climate is perfect for year round farming, so the Karen are able to produce most of what they need to live. We saw all kinds of fruit trees including mango, dragon fruit and tamarind. And a variety of crop fields (rice, corn, onions, garlic). The Karen people live in raised houses and keep their animals underneath. One of their only market crops is coffee. We had a chance to see the bushes where the red cherries come from, the press that extracts the bean, the racks of drying beans, and the roaster. Lara used a hand grinder to grind her own beans for a very fresh cup of coffee that hadn’t travelled more than a few metres land to cup. The kids, of course, found several animals to play with and Geoff had a chance to visit the local school.Read more

  • Doi Inthanon National Park

    December 19, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today we took a trip to a nearby national park. It was really nice to be out in the fresh air and away from the hustle and concrete of Chiang Mai. We started at the Wachirathan waterfall and finished at the royal pagodas (twin chedis) of the former king and queen of Thailand. The pagodas are quite beautiful and ideally located on the highest mountain in Thailand. They are surrounded by large and well maintained gardens.Read more

  • Kio Mae Pan Nature Trail

    December 19, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We are at the highest point in Thailand. We spent a couple of hours on this amazing mountain trail with our guide Om. The trail winds its way through a tropical cloud forest jungle, a bio region that is unique to only a spare few places on the planet. The forest is full of moss and ferns that gather moisture from the clouds as they condense on the branches and leaves of the trees. We arrived too late in the day to see the clouds rising out of the forest, but the humidity amongst the trees is a lasting reminder of where the forest gets its water from. We emerged from the forest onto a sub-alpine meadow and spectacular views of the valleys bellow. Before we re-enter the forest, we can see the twin pagodas across the valley.Read more

  • Cooking class

    December 22, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    A few days ago my Mom and I went to a Thai cooking school (Lana Smiles Cooking), to learn how to make some traditional Thai dishes 🥘. This is how the day went: first, we walked down to the Tha Pae gate, where we met one of the people who would be taking the class with us, named Mino. Then, we got picked up by Pim and Nim, the instructors, in their songthaew-like pickup truck 🚘. The other people doing the class with us were: Mino (Italian) 🇮🇹, Colleen and Rachel (American) 🇺🇸, Caleica 🇧🇷 and Eddie 🇳🇱 (Brazilian and Dutch), and of course, Pim and Nim (Thai) 🇹🇭. The first thing we did was drive to a market which was pretty far away, and Pim told us about some of the ingredients we would be using for the meals 🌶🌶🌶. Then, we had about 15 minutes to walk around the market separately and buy/try stuff. Mom and I found some delicious oranges 🍊, dried mangos 🥭, and some yummy fried dough that tasted a lot like Canadian Timbits 🍩!! After that, we drove to the cooking school, where we learned how to make different kinds of Thai noodle dishes, curries, spring rolls, desserts, and soups 🍜 🍛 🍨 🍲 🍚 . After we made each course, we got to eat it while it was still hot! I didn’t eat too much, but everyone else there was stuffed by the end of the day (I brought most of my food home for my dad to eat, because he loves Thai food!) It was a very fun and delicious way to spend time with my Mom!
    - Chloë
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