Ouch.
Losing the Super Bowl hurts just as much halfway around the world as it does at home. And that’s all I have to say about that.
I know what I’d be making for the game if I was at home…
…but instead I’ll be eating pho in Vietnam. Sad face.
Check out this black and gold recipe from one of my favorite food/travel bloggers Akila and her Steelers-loving husband Patrick at The Road Forks. May I note that they don’t even live in Pittsburgh and their dog wears a Steelers shirt. Steeler Nation is awesome.
Steeler Nation Comes to Cambodia.
Tomorrow morning, at 6:30 a.m., from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we’ll be watching the Steelers play the New York Jets in the AFC Championship game at Heinz Field. And though I’m not a morning person, and it won’t be nearly the same as watching the game at home, it will be awesome.
I realize not all of my readers may not be Steelers fans. To outsiders, it may be hard to understand the fanatical reverence Pittsburgh has for its Steelers. It may be hard to understand why being away for the entire season was a serious concern we had about taking this trip. It may be hard to understand why I just won’t shut up about it.
There’s many reasons why Pittsburghers love their Steelers. Because they are blue-collar work ethic, personified. Because they’re in contention, almost every year. Because they’ve won more Super Bowls than any other team in the NFL (6, to be exact). Because it’s tradition. Because it’s contagious. Because they get you through the winter, without fail.* Because it’s fun.
*The Facebook status of almost all of my Pittsburgh friends for the last few weeks has mentioned something or other about the game. People are pumped and in cold, dreary January, what else is there to be pumped about? At kickoff during Sunday’s AFC championship game, the temperature is supposed to be 13 degrees. We met an American guy from San Diego in Thailand and the topic of sports came up. I don’t really follow sports, he said. We’re usually outside doing things instead of watching t.v. Well, in Pittsburgh, there’s nothing to do in 13 degrees. Except sit in the cold at Heinz Field, of course.
To give anyone who wonders what is like to be at Heinz Field during the playoffs a taste of the excitement, check out this video:
I’d tell you to put watching a Steelers game at Heinz Field on your travel bucket list, but be prepared to pay a scalper top dollar because every.single.game is sold out.
Merry Christmas, Thai style!
This is the first Christmas we’ve been away from home, which means it is also the first Christmas we’ve spent in a warm place. Forecast for Chiang Mai for Christmas Day: 86 and sunny. Forecast for Pittsburgh: 29 and snow showers.
Christmas is the one day where we’d rather be in the cold. This year, there’s no Christmas cookies; no decorating the tree; no family get-togethers; no 24 hours of The Christmas Story; and no presents for Fabulous on Christmas morning. Every year, I start the holiday season off by playing my favorite Christmas album, A Very Special Christmas. It is missing from our ITunes collection and I can’t find it on the internet. It’s just not the holidays without the Pointer Sisters pointing out, Whoa! Here we go! Another year gone by!
Yet, this holiday season has not been as different as we would have guessed. We saw Christmas decorations before Halloween. We went Christmas shopping and heard the same Christmas tunes, over and over. We saw lots of twinkling lights and there’s been Christmas trees in the lobbies of most of the places we’ve stayed in December. Santa even knew where to find us, even though we don’t have a chimney and didn’t put cookies and milk out for him and carrots out for Rudolph. Courtesy of Santa, we’re staying in some fancier digs tonight and tomorrow and may even treat ourselves to dinner at a real restaurant that isn’t on the side of the road. We plan to finally watch Bad Santa while lounging on our giant bed with multiple pillows (what luxury!) We even got to watch our first Steelers game of the season today – for the win, nonetheless. Thanks, Santa!
Santa climbing up MBK Center in Bangkok
Santa the Roaming Gnome roaming through the streets of Chiang Mai
New fancy digs...
...which we better not get used to because after we leave, we'll be spending 2 days crossing into Laos by boat. I hear it is BYOC (bring your own cushion).
Turns out that even though Thailand is 95% Buddhist, there are signs of Christmas everywhere. Even more so than the occasional Christians or the abundance of ex-pats, I’m guessing that Christmas is popular here because Thais love any type of celebration. Yep, Christmas in Thailand isn’t half bad, even though our thoughts will be in Pittsburgh. We wish everyone, wherever you are in the world, a very Merry Christmas. FedEx has your presents, so you’ll have to just enjoy scenes from the holidays in Thailand instead:
Thais posing in the middle of a giant snow globe in Bangkok; why, I don't know. I don't ask. I just capture.
Christmas tree in a Bangkok mall
Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, where you could get a neon sign wishing folks Merry Christmas or with a man peeing. Your pick.
Chiang Mai ladies wish you a Merry Christmas.
Homemade ornaments at the Sunday Market in Chiang Mai
Presents. More specifically, presents, on a barge, on oil drums, randomly in the middle of the canal in Chiang Mai. Only in Southeast Asia.
Couldn't do the annual Christmas Eve photo in front of Sean's parents' tree, so one taken in the mirror of the lobby of where we stayed for the past three nights on the way out the door will have to do.
Let’s Go Pens!
image from the postgazette.com
Pittsburgh Penguins, that is. Opening game of the 2010-2011 regular season tonight at the new Consol Energy Center – kick some Philly butt!