I am sitting on the big couch in the living room and it is dark out already, 6:03 pm. Deeds is bringing home some take out as she is just leaving the downtown office. Take out - that's funny. Most good food can be bought on the street here, not sure if that is take out or not?? I guess a lot of food here is called take home.
We slept in our place for the first time last night. Was really nice. What a great breeze we have blowing through the place. Deeds had a glass of wine on our monstrous patio last night, I was drinking water. Spent the afternoon representing Thanachart Bank at a golf tourney. Seems none of the working stiffs could afford to take a day off so they called retired guy to fill in for them. What a great day it was. Perfect weather, nice breeze blowin and I shot 84 with 3 three putts!! So things were good. Won absolutely nothing though. I am not that guy. They were raffling off an iPad, a 32" flat panel tv, trips to islands and stuff. I won absolutely nothing. My brother once won a toaster at a church bazar or was that bingo? Can't remember it was that long ago slansky won anything. Ow wait, I did win a draw for nephew Kyle's hockey team. Take it all back. One of the luckiest guys around. Hehehe! No seriously I feel like I am. Don't give a shite about that other stuff. Also allows me to leave early cause I know!!
Deeds gave me a call early on Tuesday morning about the golf. "Do you thinkyou could take someones place at the tournament? she asked. I had just got my clubs out of hock the night before and was itching to go. "Well let me take a look at my calendar" I said. Hmm, Busy on Tuesdays as usual, rest of the day looks like nothin, tomorrow, yep dawn till dusk, nothin. :I'm in" I shouted.
So Deeds gave me the contact info and I got hold of Kuhn Bobby to see what the details were.
"Just meet us at the hotel and you can catch a ride in the van with the rest of my staff". "What time do I need to be there" I questioned. "Well we want to be away by 4:45 so it would be good if you showed up at about 4:30"
Now you know Bangkok is a very lively town. But even BKK is closed down and quiet at that hour. This is early and it was very tough, but that is what crazy golfers do around here to tee off at 7. It was a one hour ride, breakfast and then walk out to the 9th tee for the shotgun start. I played in a fivesome. Which is rather typical here. We walked, which was nice. So like a real 18 holes for me, cause I don't push or pull a cart, I have an electronic caddy, this time I had a Thai caddy. She pulled my clubs all around. Gave advice on putts and cleaned and pampered the golf gear. On top of that I met three awesome guys from Japan. They were ex US military who have all retired there. They fly in to play in this tournament every year. A charity event that results in building schools in the north of Thailand. Great cause. Raised 1,000,000 Baht, which will build a five room school house complete with desks, blackboards, etc.
It was an awesome day with these guys. What great fun we had, teasing the thai caddies and just joking and tellin stories. After the tournament festivites I was looking for a ride home, didn't want to stick around waiting for Khun Bobby and his staff as they were kinda cleaning up. So I went to one of the Americans, he still works with the military, servicing the US embassies in asia. So he hooked me up with a van full of marines who work at the US embassy here in BKK. They had no trouble giving me a seat and being all What can I do for you sir. Are you comfy back there sir. Was real cool. They were all 20 - 24 ish. Not real tv, story book, kick you butt type marines. But marines nonetheless. Saved me about an hour and after getting up at 4 in the morning, it was a godsend for me.
I missed a chance to play with the guys from Japan on the weekend though cause I thought I was going to Phuket today. That kinda fell through because Kara and Julie lost, now they are coming to BKK a day early so I had no real reason to go there just for one day?! On top of that I have a bit of a cold coming on, been fighting it for two or three days and there was a ton of stuff to do and shopping as well for the apartment.
Things are shaping up. This blog is proof we now have internet. We got gas delivered to day and maybe have some drinking water for next week. Otherwise we just buy huge ol jugs and cart them up the elevator ourselves. In todays shopping adventure I was assisted by our driver Phatsin (pronounced pat-cin). Always helps when you have someone who can read the labels!!
Now I know I promised pics as soon as we got here. However, the place is a little bit of a mess. We are trying to clean up for Kara's return and unpack and blah blah blah. So pictures later.
Sawadee Krup
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Next move >> Hawaii Tower
It looks like the day has finally arrived. Payments have cleared both sides of the ocean and our friends at Asian Tiger have informed us they will deliver our goods to our new address this morning. Yehaaa! Because I am off to Phuket on Thursday morning to see Kara and Julie play some volley ball. Diane gets to unpack!
The move is just in time as well. I like The Somerset. You are pampered here. Great pool. Amazing amount of sun. And Sukhumvit Soi 16 is a great neighbourhood. Some great upscale restaurants like Kuppa and Ten Sui where we went last night. But we need to settle in. Have a place we can call ours.
Restaurant Review: Ten Sui is Japanese. Featuring sushi, shashimi, miso soups, tempura, etc. etc. The restaurant itself is very beautiful. A gracious looking place that is set back from the street. They have misting ponds that appear as if you are in the mountains and a flowing stream in front of the building to the front door. Very elegant. The food was for me surprisingly good. I am not a sushi guy. I like sushi a little bit but fell away from it because of the extra glutoneous rice they use. But here in the land of rice, you must get with the program. My only complaint with this restaurant as with many if not all if BKK is the air conditioning. Some like to show their prowess with buying big fast cars, in BKK it is having the AC on to the point that the customers nearly freeze to death. Ten Sui is a winner in that category. It was freaking cold. (Yes colder than George and Tammy's back deck on Melton. If I coulda I would have been wearing my purple coat.). For those who are coming and enjoy good Japanese food make sure you put Ten Sui on your list of places to go. I hear that the lunch is probably the best as it features a set plate that is reasonably priced and a good representation of different dishes because the dinner is a tad expensive
A Walking Tour Through The Old Farang Quarter
Back on the weekend we took a walking tour out of one of the many Thailand travel books we seem to have laying around. This one had a good mix of different things that make BKK into the cosmopolitan place it is. On this tour we saw a buddhist wat (temple), which is no surprise in BKK, a muslim mosque and the largest catholic cathedral in BKK. The tour we did added about half hour of extra walking as is our want to do. We meandered down a major street at 8:30 in the morning on Sunday. A very quiet day in BKK and a good one to get out into the downtown core.
The first destination on the walk was the River City Shopping complex. Now you will get sick of these books talking about places to shop in BKK. There are hundreds if not thousands of malls as we call them. Of course many here are grand. The Eaton Centre holds it's own but may be a little tired compared to these. But shopping compleses are part of the program.
River City sits on the Chao Phraya River. This main river in Thailand runs right through BKK. It was my first glimpse of the river. It is a back and forth river. Running hard into the ocean at low tide and nearly flowing backwards at high tide. River traffic is abundant with many ferries to take you across or up and down. There are many piers along the river and you can hop scotch all the way along. There are also the famous long tail boats of thailand. These boats are taxis, sightseers, etc. You have to see these to believe them. The motor sits right out on top of the stern shaft. The long tail boats navigate in Bangkok canals or near beaches. They use a car motor engine to be propelled. They run quite fast, loud and are a nice way to discover the canals around Bangkok or Thai coasts.
And like every taxi in BKK, when they see farang they pull over, even on the river. I was standing on the verandah at the Oriental Hotel and they came buzzing over. While walking around we were shooing away tuk tuk drivers every ten minutes. It gets to be a little annoying that you can't walk down the street 100 feet without someone asking you where are you goin mister. I take you for 50 baht 2 hours. Were are you goin mister!
From River City we expolered some side soi and saw great antiques and ideas for furnishing the apartment. We walked on, saw a glimpse of the Portugese and French Embassy. We continued on to another area of the walk were we saw the Haroon Moseque as well as Assumption Cathedral. Assumption was a very large area encompassing schools and other buildings in the complex.
Nestled right next door and only a step away from the river was an abandon building that a local said closed about 30 years ago. This building housed the old East Asiatic Company. A walk around the corner from there and we were at the Oriental Hotel. This is an upscale place. At one point I had to duck into the washroom. No paper towels here. There were linen hapkins to wipe your hands with. Major cool!
We finished off the day strolling back to the Mass Rapid Transit station and heading on home. Even had enough time at the end of this day to head to the pool for a refreshing swim. Great day!
Sawadee Krup
The move is just in time as well. I like The Somerset. You are pampered here. Great pool. Amazing amount of sun. And Sukhumvit Soi 16 is a great neighbourhood. Some great upscale restaurants like Kuppa and Ten Sui where we went last night. But we need to settle in. Have a place we can call ours.
Restaurant Review: Ten Sui is Japanese. Featuring sushi, shashimi, miso soups, tempura, etc. etc. The restaurant itself is very beautiful. A gracious looking place that is set back from the street. They have misting ponds that appear as if you are in the mountains and a flowing stream in front of the building to the front door. Very elegant. The food was for me surprisingly good. I am not a sushi guy. I like sushi a little bit but fell away from it because of the extra glutoneous rice they use. But here in the land of rice, you must get with the program. My only complaint with this restaurant as with many if not all if BKK is the air conditioning. Some like to show their prowess with buying big fast cars, in BKK it is having the AC on to the point that the customers nearly freeze to death. Ten Sui is a winner in that category. It was freaking cold. (Yes colder than George and Tammy's back deck on Melton. If I coulda I would have been wearing my purple coat.). For those who are coming and enjoy good Japanese food make sure you put Ten Sui on your list of places to go. I hear that the lunch is probably the best as it features a set plate that is reasonably priced and a good representation of different dishes because the dinner is a tad expensive
A Walking Tour Through The Old Farang Quarter
Back on the weekend we took a walking tour out of one of the many Thailand travel books we seem to have laying around. This one had a good mix of different things that make BKK into the cosmopolitan place it is. On this tour we saw a buddhist wat (temple), which is no surprise in BKK, a muslim mosque and the largest catholic cathedral in BKK. The tour we did added about half hour of extra walking as is our want to do. We meandered down a major street at 8:30 in the morning on Sunday. A very quiet day in BKK and a good one to get out into the downtown core.
The first destination on the walk was the River City Shopping complex. Now you will get sick of these books talking about places to shop in BKK. There are hundreds if not thousands of malls as we call them. Of course many here are grand. The Eaton Centre holds it's own but may be a little tired compared to these. But shopping compleses are part of the program.
River City sits on the Chao Phraya River. This main river in Thailand runs right through BKK. It was my first glimpse of the river. It is a back and forth river. Running hard into the ocean at low tide and nearly flowing backwards at high tide. River traffic is abundant with many ferries to take you across or up and down. There are many piers along the river and you can hop scotch all the way along. There are also the famous long tail boats of thailand. These boats are taxis, sightseers, etc. You have to see these to believe them. The motor sits right out on top of the stern shaft. The long tail boats navigate in Bangkok canals or near beaches. They use a car motor engine to be propelled. They run quite fast, loud and are a nice way to discover the canals around Bangkok or Thai coasts.
And like every taxi in BKK, when they see farang they pull over, even on the river. I was standing on the verandah at the Oriental Hotel and they came buzzing over. While walking around we were shooing away tuk tuk drivers every ten minutes. It gets to be a little annoying that you can't walk down the street 100 feet without someone asking you where are you goin mister. I take you for 50 baht 2 hours. Were are you goin mister!
From River City we expolered some side soi and saw great antiques and ideas for furnishing the apartment. We walked on, saw a glimpse of the Portugese and French Embassy. We continued on to another area of the walk were we saw the Haroon Moseque as well as Assumption Cathedral. Assumption was a very large area encompassing schools and other buildings in the complex.
Nestled right next door and only a step away from the river was an abandon building that a local said closed about 30 years ago. This building housed the old East Asiatic Company. A walk around the corner from there and we were at the Oriental Hotel. This is an upscale place. At one point I had to duck into the washroom. No paper towels here. There were linen hapkins to wipe your hands with. Major cool!
We finished off the day strolling back to the Mass Rapid Transit station and heading on home. Even had enough time at the end of this day to head to the pool for a refreshing swim. Great day!
Sawadee Krup
Friday, October 29, 2010
First of Many?
Today Kara and Julie arrive. That's right, our first visitors. And guess what. We are not even in our apartment yet.
APARTMENT UPDATE: Dateline Bangkok. The lease has been signed by the bank and will be in the hands of the landlord by Monday.
Hold it. Monday. Monday is the 1st. We kinda thought we would move casually over the weekend. Now we have to negotiate an additional days stay here at the Somerset! This might give you some indication that things are just a little laid back here in Thailand. No rushing around trying to get things done a week early to get some extra revemue. So it looks like we won't be in the apartment until at leastTuesday. We have all our own new sheets and pillows, comforters. So beds will need to be made and of course we still have to get all our dishes and pots, etc out of customs/storage before we can think about having our first sleep in the place.
So here's hoping we are in the apartment by Wednesday. I guess we will have to play this a little by ear.
So our first visitors. Kara and Julie arrive tonight at 6. Deeds will meet them at the airport express train that comes into downtown. It only takes 15 minutes from the airport and hooks up with both of the major mass transit systems that are running through BKK. Takes a lot longer by car and so is the preferred method of getting out of the airport, trust me. So expect to be taking the train when you come to BKK and we will meet you at the train station or at the airport and accompany you on the train into the city. So much easier for all!.
The hotel/apartment we have is a two bedroom so we should be able to cope with our guests. Not much living space or kitchen space here but they are only in town for two sleeps. Out to Phuket first thing Sunday morning. Their VB tournament starts on Wendnesday. Go to this link to follow Kara and Julie http://web.me.com/volleyocity/Dream_BIGG_1/Home.html
We should get into some site seeing or assistance to same with K & J on Saturday. Not sure how they feel. Julie was a little under the weather a few days ago, hopefully better now.
I will be skooting down to Phuket myself on Thursday to take in a bit of the action, fly back on Saturday. Kara is sticking around in Thailand for a few days and will be stopping with us again. Hopefully this time it will be in the apartment.
To all the regular followers I sent out a bunch of photos of our Wat tour. Hope you enjoyed those. Pics of the apartment will obviously have to wait until we are in the place.
Keep enjoying
Sawadee Krup
APARTMENT UPDATE: Dateline Bangkok. The lease has been signed by the bank and will be in the hands of the landlord by Monday.
Hold it. Monday. Monday is the 1st. We kinda thought we would move casually over the weekend. Now we have to negotiate an additional days stay here at the Somerset! This might give you some indication that things are just a little laid back here in Thailand. No rushing around trying to get things done a week early to get some extra revemue. So it looks like we won't be in the apartment until at leastTuesday. We have all our own new sheets and pillows, comforters. So beds will need to be made and of course we still have to get all our dishes and pots, etc out of customs/storage before we can think about having our first sleep in the place.
So here's hoping we are in the apartment by Wednesday. I guess we will have to play this a little by ear.
So our first visitors. Kara and Julie arrive tonight at 6. Deeds will meet them at the airport express train that comes into downtown. It only takes 15 minutes from the airport and hooks up with both of the major mass transit systems that are running through BKK. Takes a lot longer by car and so is the preferred method of getting out of the airport, trust me. So expect to be taking the train when you come to BKK and we will meet you at the train station or at the airport and accompany you on the train into the city. So much easier for all!.
The hotel/apartment we have is a two bedroom so we should be able to cope with our guests. Not much living space or kitchen space here but they are only in town for two sleeps. Out to Phuket first thing Sunday morning. Their VB tournament starts on Wendnesday. Go to this link to follow Kara and Julie http://web.me.com/volleyocity/Dream_BIGG_1/Home.html
We should get into some site seeing or assistance to same with K & J on Saturday. Not sure how they feel. Julie was a little under the weather a few days ago, hopefully better now.
I will be skooting down to Phuket myself on Thursday to take in a bit of the action, fly back on Saturday. Kara is sticking around in Thailand for a few days and will be stopping with us again. Hopefully this time it will be in the apartment.
To all the regular followers I sent out a bunch of photos of our Wat tour. Hope you enjoyed those. Pics of the apartment will obviously have to wait until we are in the place.
Keep enjoying
Sawadee Krup
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Boycott LA Music
Hey, you have a blog, you blog about stuff, or as my American poolside buddy says, aboot stuff! Hahaha, Huh?
Anyway, I have to tell you the story of Lena's keyboard case. You may know that Shelly and Carolyn were nice enough to cart Lena's keyboard to Halifax for her. Lena loves the piano and years ago she talked aboot how hard it would be to leave her piano when she went off to school, wouldn't it be cool ma and pa if I had a keyboard so I could take that with me to school and keep on playin! So we did buy her a keyboard. The mother of all. An 88. Just like a real piano. So it is huge. Not just the kinda thing you strap on your back and go hikin with. When it came time to think about transporting this thing, if you don't have a van (like Shelly and Carolyn did) you will need to fly with it. Thus the need to buy a keyboard case.
(NOTE: Lena playing the piano is one of the things Deeds and I miss the most, hearing her play when she first walks in the door from anywhere, or just in the evening. It is part of what makes our house a home. Miss it!)
You know like the Rolling Stones have. Silver rim, black bullet proof vinyl, various handles and wheels.
I searched all round and finally ended up getting a decent price and free shipping at LA Music down on the Lakeshore. I have bought drums there, now in the custody of Scott, guitar that Lena has at home and now I ordered a piano case from them.
I placed the order just before leaving for BKK.
Piano then Lena had safely arrived in Halifax. LA promised free shipping on items over 100 bucks so I was good. I ordered the case on September 7. Two weeks delivery I was told. Perfect (see Deeds doing that arm swing right there, Perfect!). I told Lena to expect a call from a delivery type person and left for BKK all happy like.
By the end of the month I was Skype calling LA Music. Wassup! Daughter says no piano case. "Yeah well it has been ordered should be shipped to Mississauga and we will turn it right around to Halifax, one to two weeks, tops". Skyped again two weeks later. Order still shows up on the internet as processing. Finally got some email addresses and started bombing them (James Ricci) with emails. Well they apparently don't like to look at emails and certainly not to answer emails at LA. Seems to offend their artistic abilities. Maybe break a nail or something.
So you gotta phone, on Skype thank goodness or it would have cost me a fortune. Got the same run around, so finally I had enough and on Tuesday morning, Monday night October 25 in Canada, I sent an email saying I wanted my money back. Cancel the order.
Lena then lets me know that LA finally called her that same week. Turns out the case I ordered is no longer manufactured. The manager or whoever who finally twigged to this was upset according to Lena. It took them 7 weeks before they realized that the product I had paid for was not available!!!! Imagine how I feel!
What a group of nimwitted bolt headed bozos do they have working there? How can you order something from a supplies that they no longer supply. And how do you keep telling a customer it's on its way??????
Got some great advice for ya folks. Don't ever eat seafood that has flown farther than you have and DO NOT SHOP OR BUY ANYTHING EVER FROM LA music. They are awful.
Sawadee Krup
Anyway, I have to tell you the story of Lena's keyboard case. You may know that Shelly and Carolyn were nice enough to cart Lena's keyboard to Halifax for her. Lena loves the piano and years ago she talked aboot how hard it would be to leave her piano when she went off to school, wouldn't it be cool ma and pa if I had a keyboard so I could take that with me to school and keep on playin! So we did buy her a keyboard. The mother of all. An 88. Just like a real piano. So it is huge. Not just the kinda thing you strap on your back and go hikin with. When it came time to think about transporting this thing, if you don't have a van (like Shelly and Carolyn did) you will need to fly with it. Thus the need to buy a keyboard case.
(NOTE: Lena playing the piano is one of the things Deeds and I miss the most, hearing her play when she first walks in the door from anywhere, or just in the evening. It is part of what makes our house a home. Miss it!)
You know like the Rolling Stones have. Silver rim, black bullet proof vinyl, various handles and wheels.
I placed the order just before leaving for BKK.
Piano then Lena had safely arrived in Halifax. LA promised free shipping on items over 100 bucks so I was good. I ordered the case on September 7. Two weeks delivery I was told. Perfect (see Deeds doing that arm swing right there, Perfect!). I told Lena to expect a call from a delivery type person and left for BKK all happy like.
By the end of the month I was Skype calling LA Music. Wassup! Daughter says no piano case. "Yeah well it has been ordered should be shipped to Mississauga and we will turn it right around to Halifax, one to two weeks, tops". Skyped again two weeks later. Order still shows up on the internet as processing. Finally got some email addresses and started bombing them (James Ricci) with emails. Well they apparently don't like to look at emails and certainly not to answer emails at LA. Seems to offend their artistic abilities. Maybe break a nail or something.
So you gotta phone, on Skype thank goodness or it would have cost me a fortune. Got the same run around, so finally I had enough and on Tuesday morning, Monday night October 25 in Canada, I sent an email saying I wanted my money back. Cancel the order.
Lena then lets me know that LA finally called her that same week. Turns out the case I ordered is no longer manufactured. The manager or whoever who finally twigged to this was upset according to Lena. It took them 7 weeks before they realized that the product I had paid for was not available!!!! Imagine how I feel!
What a group of nimwitted bolt headed bozos do they have working there? How can you order something from a supplies that they no longer supply. And how do you keep telling a customer it's on its way??????
Got some great advice for ya folks. Don't ever eat seafood that has flown farther than you have and DO NOT SHOP OR BUY ANYTHING EVER FROM LA music. They are awful.
Sawadee Krup
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
The Wat Tour
I changed the background. Lets you see the pictures a little better than the dark one I had before, hope is ok.
So on Monday morning at 8 am we were wisked away in a large Toyota van, just Deeds and I to go on a tour of three famous Buddhist temples (Wat) in Bangkok.
The temples are in order: Wat Traimit - The Temple of the Golden Buddha, Wat Pho - The Temple of the Reclining Buddha and Wat Phra Kaew - The Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Wat Phra Kaew is on the grounds of the Royal Palace and so a walk around of these structures was also included on our half day tour.
I have included as many of the photos as I could here without making this a pic blog rather than a word blog. For those who are into Facebook, I have an album there.
It was a gorgeous day, sun was beaming down on us as we ventured in to see the Golden Buddha.
The story is that the Buddha image was kept from invaders for centuries because it was covered with plaster, appearing to be a normal plaster buddha. One day when the image was being moved it was dropped and workers discovered a shiny surface inside. They discovered a buddha image of 5.5 tons of solid gold.
You can see the wall behind the buddha. The walls are hand painted. Amazing work and detail all around the temple.
Our next visit to Wat Pho was equally amazing. The temple of the reclinging buddha holds an image that is 46 metres long.
The image is covered in gold leaf. Again the detail of the walls, roof -which is always painted red in temples, and even the bed the buddha is on is extremely intricate. The feet of the reclining buddha has inlaid mother of pearl depicting 108 different pictures.
Foot to head view here, with some view of the mother of pearl inlays.
This view shows the size of the feet and the intricate inlay of mother of pearl. Amazing stuff.
Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawihan or Wat Pho as the Thais call it is also home to more than 1000 buddha images, the most any wat in Bangkok holds. The wat is also home to a bodhi tree which claimed to be a cutting of the original tree in India where Buddha sat while awaiting enlightening.
Prior to the temple's founding, the site was a centre of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions and there are plaques all around the walls of a school building showing the methods to traditional thai massage from hundreds of years ago.
Wat Pho is part of a working monastery and there are monks coming and going. Here is the temple where prayers are held twice daily.
From here it was off to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Which by the way is not emerald at all. Wat Phra Kaew means Temple of the Holy Jewel and it houses the holiest of the buddha images in Thailand. This temple is the most sacred place for Thais. Full pants must be worn out of respect and no one gets in without, including yours truly. Deeds had a beautiful wrap over her shorts. And as I had mentioned off the top it was a beautiful sunny day. Which in Bangkok only means one thing. It was brutally hot and the sweat was rolling down my back. Then I had to put another pair of pants on overtop of my shorts. Sweat! Enough said.
This is Deeds at the Grand Palace grounds. The shrine is in the background, check out the cute little parousel she bought outside. Had to have it, the sun was that hot.
This is a shot of the interior of the shrine. The large gold dome houses relics of the buddha.
And below is the picture of the emerald buddha I acquired on the internet.
My shot is over on the right.
This Buddha image is small, just over 2 feet tall, made of green jasper or perhaps jadeite ("emerald" refers to the intense green color, not the specific stone) and since no pictures can be taken inside the temple the shot I got from outside is very tiny. Next time I will bring my telephoto! So the pic I have here is procured from places unknown and hopefully not illegal to reproduce.
There is a library on site that houses the buddhist scripture, one is on gold and the only version that sits in the library.
All through this tour we were taking pictures on our phones and sending to Lena in Halifax. Kinda like she was right there with us, kinda! Was way cool though, when you think about it. Technology is soooo cooool!
There were many more cool things at this place. Definitely I will go again to see this. I took many pics of all kinds of things, way too many to put up on the blog at this time. This last one here is of the Palace. It is only used now to host special events, when foreign dignitaries come to town, that sort of thing. This building was commissioned by Rama V. He had travelled extensively in Europe and brought western architecture to Thailand. They call this building europe with a thai hat!
So that was a hot a very interesting day for us. Wow, lots of cultural stuff, wetted your appetite about buddhism. Cool day. We were glad to get home and hit the pool to cool off. Actually brought a couple of cold ones with us and had a beer pool side. Nice! Enjoy
Sawadee Krup
So on Monday morning at 8 am we were wisked away in a large Toyota van, just Deeds and I to go on a tour of three famous Buddhist temples (Wat) in Bangkok.
The temples are in order: Wat Traimit - The Temple of the Golden Buddha, Wat Pho - The Temple of the Reclining Buddha and Wat Phra Kaew - The Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Wat Phra Kaew is on the grounds of the Royal Palace and so a walk around of these structures was also included on our half day tour.
I have included as many of the photos as I could here without making this a pic blog rather than a word blog. For those who are into Facebook, I have an album there.
It was a gorgeous day, sun was beaming down on us as we ventured in to see the Golden Buddha.
The story is that the Buddha image was kept from invaders for centuries because it was covered with plaster, appearing to be a normal plaster buddha. One day when the image was being moved it was dropped and workers discovered a shiny surface inside. They discovered a buddha image of 5.5 tons of solid gold.
You can see the wall behind the buddha. The walls are hand painted. Amazing work and detail all around the temple.
Our next visit to Wat Pho was equally amazing. The temple of the reclinging buddha holds an image that is 46 metres long.
Foot to head view here, with some view of the mother of pearl inlays.
This view shows the size of the feet and the intricate inlay of mother of pearl. Amazing stuff.
Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Ratchaworamahawihan or Wat Pho as the Thais call it is also home to more than 1000 buddha images, the most any wat in Bangkok holds. The wat is also home to a bodhi tree which claimed to be a cutting of the original tree in India where Buddha sat while awaiting enlightening.
Prior to the temple's founding, the site was a centre of education for traditional Thai medicine, and statues were created showing yoga positions and there are plaques all around the walls of a school building showing the methods to traditional thai massage from hundreds of years ago.
Wat Pho is part of a working monastery and there are monks coming and going. Here is the temple where prayers are held twice daily.
From here it was off to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Which by the way is not emerald at all. Wat Phra Kaew means Temple of the Holy Jewel and it houses the holiest of the buddha images in Thailand. This temple is the most sacred place for Thais. Full pants must be worn out of respect and no one gets in without, including yours truly. Deeds had a beautiful wrap over her shorts. And as I had mentioned off the top it was a beautiful sunny day. Which in Bangkok only means one thing. It was brutally hot and the sweat was rolling down my back. Then I had to put another pair of pants on overtop of my shorts. Sweat! Enough said.
This is Deeds at the Grand Palace grounds. The shrine is in the background, check out the cute little parousel she bought outside. Had to have it, the sun was that hot.
And below is the picture of the emerald buddha I acquired on the internet.
My shot is over on the right.
This Buddha image is small, just over 2 feet tall, made of green jasper or perhaps jadeite ("emerald" refers to the intense green color, not the specific stone) and since no pictures can be taken inside the temple the shot I got from outside is very tiny. Next time I will bring my telephoto! So the pic I have here is procured from places unknown and hopefully not illegal to reproduce.There is a library on site that houses the buddhist scripture, one is on gold and the only version that sits in the library.
All through this tour we were taking pictures on our phones and sending to Lena in Halifax. Kinda like she was right there with us, kinda! Was way cool though, when you think about it. Technology is soooo cooool!
There were many more cool things at this place. Definitely I will go again to see this. I took many pics of all kinds of things, way too many to put up on the blog at this time. This last one here is of the Palace. It is only used now to host special events, when foreign dignitaries come to town, that sort of thing. This building was commissioned by Rama V. He had travelled extensively in Europe and brought western architecture to Thailand. They call this building europe with a thai hat!
So that was a hot a very interesting day for us. Wow, lots of cultural stuff, wetted your appetite about buddhism. Cool day. We were glad to get home and hit the pool to cool off. Actually brought a couple of cold ones with us and had a beer pool side. Nice! Enjoy
Sawadee Krup
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Loooong Weekend
Hey guys. We just came off a long weekend in BKK. Very relaxing. Deeds is back to work this morn and I am doing stuff around the house, getting dinner ready. Grilled tuna steak with basmati rice/carrots/grilled street corn and baby asparagus. Mmmm mmm!
Surprise of the day for my honey when she comes home will be vodka soda with lime. A very relaxing hot summer drink. Since it is hot and summery here all the time why not. I turned down a cold Chang this afternoon knowing I was going to have a vodka this evening. Mine is with tonic. A Vonic with lime. Woo hoo!
So you heard I played my first Thailand golf game on Saturday. Not the best score I have ever shot, 92. But I will take it. Let me tell ya about BKK golf. #1. It is expensive. We got the Chairman of Thanachart best rate and it still set us back $60 per. Imagine what a normal mortal pays. Something like $140. Can't do that. My average game back in TO costs me about $33. And I figure to play here more than at home so I would hope for the ol economy of scale thingie to kick in and get golf for $24 per game. We'll see how this pans out.
The course was awesome. Maybe one of the best BKK experiences according to other players in the group. The course just opened to the public on October 1. Beautiful. One of the marketing guys tells me they are already in talks with the LPGA for a tournament next spring. Didn't bring my phone out so no pics for this blog but I will go back and pics are guaranteed.
#2. Golf in Thailand is the quietest game ever. You are assigned a caddy and she drives the cart. So there are four carts per group. You actually onlly talk to your playing partners on the tee box and a little at the green. (We are amateurs so we are not likely to be beside each other after tee shots! Only meet up again at the green and tee box!) And of course these caddies do not speak much english, actually they only speak golf. So it is awfully quiet and lonely on the ride to your next shot. Not great for the kibitzing that normally goes on during a round of golf.
This doesn't bother me that much. Me being the ultimate single golfer and all. I like to just play the game. There are other people out there with me most of the time but the intersection of them and me is casual and very loose flowing. It will be interesting to see if that mannerism or method will work here as well as it does back home. The aloofness will be amplified by the language issues.
I suspect when I play during the week by myself I will end up playing with Thai, Japanese, German, etc. So the small intersection of our limited language knowledge will draw down the discussions that take place. Really confining it to the three classics. Nice shot, Great shot and either of these with Aw or Oh in front!!
Of course you can short form when you are 48 yards away on the other side of the fairway by just saying -- Shot as you turn to address your ball. The other player adds his own Nice or Great implied! It is an easy game after all.
Saturday night was laid back and just the two of us for dinner. Yeah Deeds got away from me but not for long!
Sunday we did some pool time and then decided to trek out to Chatuchak Market. This is the monster market I talked about in an earlier blog. We figured we can get around now that we know what we are up against, right. Nope. We got lost twice and had to get help figuring out where the jello we were.
But mission accomplished. We found some great material to make lamps out of. Nice vases and stands of various kinds and the people will turn each of these into lamps for us for just an additional $15. So we figure to order up about 10 lamps for all the bed side tables and for the living room. Gotta do this because the only ligthing in the apartment is overhead or sunken lighting. It is just too harsh. Almost 95% of all lights you see here in Thailand are the small energy saving lights that a few of us use back home. Everywhere here. Electicity is very very expensive so they conserve as much as they can. We have even seen escalators that are activated by motion sensors. They are dead still and you think they are broken until you get within 20 feet or so and then magically they start up!. We have a long way to go in North America before we stop being the greedy little piggies of energy!!
I also picked up a great Chang Beer tee shirt. $3. Anyone who is an Everton supporter now knows about Chang Beer. Local Thai lager. Very tasty. I like the two elephants personally. Just think they are cool!
Well enough for now. Monday was a trip to three different Wat. Or temples as we know them. And the Royal Palace. Took about 200 pictures. I will put them up for you to view and tell you the story in tomorrows blog. Enjoy
Sawadee Krup
Surprise of the day for my honey when she comes home will be vodka soda with lime. A very relaxing hot summer drink. Since it is hot and summery here all the time why not. I turned down a cold Chang this afternoon knowing I was going to have a vodka this evening. Mine is with tonic. A Vonic with lime. Woo hoo!
So you heard I played my first Thailand golf game on Saturday. Not the best score I have ever shot, 92. But I will take it. Let me tell ya about BKK golf. #1. It is expensive. We got the Chairman of Thanachart best rate and it still set us back $60 per. Imagine what a normal mortal pays. Something like $140. Can't do that. My average game back in TO costs me about $33. And I figure to play here more than at home so I would hope for the ol economy of scale thingie to kick in and get golf for $24 per game. We'll see how this pans out.
The course was awesome. Maybe one of the best BKK experiences according to other players in the group. The course just opened to the public on October 1. Beautiful. One of the marketing guys tells me they are already in talks with the LPGA for a tournament next spring. Didn't bring my phone out so no pics for this blog but I will go back and pics are guaranteed.
#2. Golf in Thailand is the quietest game ever. You are assigned a caddy and she drives the cart. So there are four carts per group. You actually onlly talk to your playing partners on the tee box and a little at the green. (We are amateurs so we are not likely to be beside each other after tee shots! Only meet up again at the green and tee box!) And of course these caddies do not speak much english, actually they only speak golf. So it is awfully quiet and lonely on the ride to your next shot. Not great for the kibitzing that normally goes on during a round of golf.
This doesn't bother me that much. Me being the ultimate single golfer and all. I like to just play the game. There are other people out there with me most of the time but the intersection of them and me is casual and very loose flowing. It will be interesting to see if that mannerism or method will work here as well as it does back home. The aloofness will be amplified by the language issues.
I suspect when I play during the week by myself I will end up playing with Thai, Japanese, German, etc. So the small intersection of our limited language knowledge will draw down the discussions that take place. Really confining it to the three classics. Nice shot, Great shot and either of these with Aw or Oh in front!!
Of course you can short form when you are 48 yards away on the other side of the fairway by just saying -- Shot as you turn to address your ball. The other player adds his own Nice or Great implied! It is an easy game after all.
Saturday night was laid back and just the two of us for dinner. Yeah Deeds got away from me but not for long!
Sunday we did some pool time and then decided to trek out to Chatuchak Market. This is the monster market I talked about in an earlier blog. We figured we can get around now that we know what we are up against, right. Nope. We got lost twice and had to get help figuring out where the jello we were.
But mission accomplished. We found some great material to make lamps out of. Nice vases and stands of various kinds and the people will turn each of these into lamps for us for just an additional $15. So we figure to order up about 10 lamps for all the bed side tables and for the living room. Gotta do this because the only ligthing in the apartment is overhead or sunken lighting. It is just too harsh. Almost 95% of all lights you see here in Thailand are the small energy saving lights that a few of us use back home. Everywhere here. Electicity is very very expensive so they conserve as much as they can. We have even seen escalators that are activated by motion sensors. They are dead still and you think they are broken until you get within 20 feet or so and then magically they start up!. We have a long way to go in North America before we stop being the greedy little piggies of energy!!
I also picked up a great Chang Beer tee shirt. $3. Anyone who is an Everton supporter now knows about Chang Beer. Local Thai lager. Very tasty. I like the two elephants personally. Just think they are cool!
Well enough for now. Monday was a trip to three different Wat. Or temples as we know them. And the Royal Palace. Took about 200 pictures. I will put them up for you to view and tell you the story in tomorrows blog. Enjoy
Sawadee Krup
Saturday, October 23, 2010
A beautiful Saturday
Hi all......Diane here for my monthly contribution to the blog.
We are GREAT. Really enjoying Bangkok...food, people, discovering stuff, work and stupid cheap spa services. I went for a 2 hour 'traditional' thai massage today...when I left if felt as though I had stepped out of a core and stretch class....like all my muscles and joints had been oiled (hmmmm....tin man. Why do I keep referencing the wizard of oz?). 1st time that I have had a massage in the month I have been here...and loved it for many reasons, especially because they didn't slick me down with any oils. They have you put on a simple light cotton top and bottom (like pj's) and then deep massage thru the clothes. It cost 450 baht...or $15 CAD. Place was simply stunning.
Work is good....start up is my favourite time on a project....lots of things to figure out. 5 day week is hard though for this old girl...and taking some getting used to. Jerry golfed today (for the 1st time) with one of the guys I work with...so I had the morning to myself. Actually the first time I have had any time to myself and I was really looking forward to it...and enjoyed it immensely. I love Jer...but man, sometimes a girl has to have some alone-time.
I received my work permit on friday, so when we get into our new place we can have all of the stuff we had shipped over. Nov 1st is the move in date, but we are hoping to get in a few days earlier...as we already have some guests arriving. Kara & Julie are going to be in Phuket, Thailand for a (beach volley ball) competition the 1st week of November...and will spend a few days with us in Bangkok beforehand, and then a few more on their way home again. Actually, Jerry is going to go to Phuket for a couple of days (1 hour flight) to see them compete . How cool is that!!!
We are off to a night market now....looking for some lamps because furnished houses do not include them!? Will find some street-food for dinner. Last night we picked up some spring rolls from one cart, bought some bbq pork from another, and a grilled corn on the cob from yet another (total cost $100 baht or $3.30), brought it home and Jer made some awesome fried rice! Bottle of wine to accompany....$15
We are GREAT. Really enjoying Bangkok...food, people, discovering stuff, work and stupid cheap spa services. I went for a 2 hour 'traditional' thai massage today...when I left if felt as though I had stepped out of a core and stretch class....like all my muscles and joints had been oiled (hmmmm....tin man. Why do I keep referencing the wizard of oz?). 1st time that I have had a massage in the month I have been here...and loved it for many reasons, especially because they didn't slick me down with any oils. They have you put on a simple light cotton top and bottom (like pj's) and then deep massage thru the clothes. It cost 450 baht...or $15 CAD. Place was simply stunning.
Work is good....start up is my favourite time on a project....lots of things to figure out. 5 day week is hard though for this old girl...and taking some getting used to. Jerry golfed today (for the 1st time) with one of the guys I work with...so I had the morning to myself. Actually the first time I have had any time to myself and I was really looking forward to it...and enjoyed it immensely. I love Jer...but man, sometimes a girl has to have some alone-time.
I received my work permit on friday, so when we get into our new place we can have all of the stuff we had shipped over. Nov 1st is the move in date, but we are hoping to get in a few days earlier...as we already have some guests arriving. Kara & Julie are going to be in Phuket, Thailand for a (beach volley ball) competition the 1st week of November...and will spend a few days with us in Bangkok beforehand, and then a few more on their way home again. Actually, Jerry is going to go to Phuket for a couple of days (1 hour flight) to see them compete . How cool is that!!!
We are off to a night market now....looking for some lamps because furnished houses do not include them!? Will find some street-food for dinner. Last night we picked up some spring rolls from one cart, bought some bbq pork from another, and a grilled corn on the cob from yet another (total cost $100 baht or $3.30), brought it home and Jer made some awesome fried rice! Bottle of wine to accompany....$15
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