Try It All

We have been researching the internet where we might want to settle initially when we move to Thailand.  We also have been researching where we can find good "Thai" Thai food here in the Eugene, Oregon area.

Thanks to Yelp and some recommendations from friends and family we have been working our way through the menu at Ubon Thai Kitchen here in Eugene.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/ubon-thai-kitchen-eugene

Pla and Bill are the owners and Pla is the chef.  She was born in Lao and moved to Thailand as a child.  She and Bill have a place in Thailand where they spend part of every year.  Their plans are to open a restaurant there in a few years.

It's really nice to eat fantastic Thai food and watch their photos of Thailand scroll on their TV in one of the rooms in the house attached to their food "cart".

There is definitely a reason why this place is considered the most authentic and best Thai food around.



The photo above shows the Special Pad Thai and the Herb Stir Fry we had one night.  Both are excellent and spicy!



 

The Pumpkin Curry (above) is one of the most highly rated and talked about dishes.  Lin loved it and I thought it was good, but isn't my favorite curry.  My favorite curry (so far) is the very spicy Green Curry (below).



 

We've also had the very good Panang Curry



 

...and the very flavorful Red Curry



 

It's really amazing how all the curries taste so different from each other but all are awesomely good!

One night I ordered the very, very spicy Pad Pet which I loved and Lin found to be a little too spicy for her taste.



 

Last night, while I was having the Red Curry, Lin had the Lad Na.  So far it has been her favorite dish.



 

Pla and Bill have told us to come by sometime and see their photos of Thailand and we have talked about where we might want to start our adventure there.

To that we give a very large Wai!

Where Should We Retire?

A couple years ago we decided that as soon as we could afford to we would quit the rat race and retire overseas.....but Where?

We began by looking at Panama, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, and other South American countries. We would still be close enough for visits back home to visit our son and daughter-in-law.

After lots and lots of research we decided to make our first retirement spot in Cotacachi, Ecuador. We would start there and if we liked it stay for awhile or move on to another location if we felt like it.

Then last June our son finished his Masters of Special Education degree at the University of Oregon and decided to apply to the JET program in Japan to teach English there. He was accepted into the program and he and Lisa moved to Japan and will probably be there for the next 3 - 5 years. She is also a teacher, with her Masters in Science Education, and within a week or two of being in Japan has gotten a teaching job there as well.

Our feeling is that they will not return to the US as the state of Education in this country is deplorable and they both love to travel and enjoy other cultures. When his JET obligations are over we're sure they will either find another teaching program in Japan or move to a different Asian or Indian country to continue their careers.

We have been liquidating all of our "stuff" in preparation for our move when we retire. Our house is in the final stages of escrow and if the 1%ers don't screw things over for the buyers we will be FREE of all the anchors we have accumulated over the years.

These events caused us to look into retiring in Asia/Southeast Asia/India to be closer to them for visits. And that led us to decide that we will start our retirement in Thailand.