Local Area And Self Dicipline

I remember thinking yesterday that I should observe more of what is going on around me and add it to my Blog. Well today as I'm not working I had decided to stay in!!! I know so difficult to photo much. But a quick visit to my friends house made me look round. Only 200 metres from our house is a beautiful Wat. I stopped for all of one minute just to capture one of the building against the tropical forest backdrop. It is not the most ornate or beautiful Wat but it does have an air of serenity and peace as I've found most Wats seem to have.
All that done I must now get down to some work and get myself back into some form of self discipline. It is so easy to tell myself "Oh that, I'll do it tomorrow". Very lazy. So now I have set myself some goals. As I said earlier. I must learn Thai and I also want to learn the guitar and play with my Lego. I know sounds so easy but really sorting out the self discipline is actually very hard. Watch this space..... Might even add in a few Thai words in a month or two!!!
I know I covered these thoughts a few posts back but I will be keeping a close watch on my performance and try and measure how I step up to my aims. So here is one start. 2 Blog postings in 2 days.....

Laos

Quality not quantify is what I've always been told but in this case I've got both, good quality stuff and a lot of it.
So, a lot to write about. Visiting Laos. I thought another Land of Smiles. Well no its not! We had a few days there and enjoyed but the people were not as friendly as in Thailand, in fact I would go so far as to say they were generally miserable by comparison. Seemed very noticeable to us that few smiled. And I do not mean at us but in general. They, when chatting amongst themselves seemed to be far more serious and I did not see the usual Thai spontaneous smiles! Pity as it is an interesting place.
We went over for a 'visa run'. Reason being my work permit had been cancelled due to some error from when I last went overseas to Ha Noi last month. Anyway that was the reason for going to Laos on this occasion.
Getting there. First requirement was a visa. Available at the Consulate in Khon Kaen. Took all of 5 minutes. I timed it!!
Then on a bus to Vantienne. We drove to the boarder, go off and went through Thai immigration, got back on the bus and 100 meters up the road got out again for the Laos immigration. Then we were driven over the mighty Mekong River and on into Vantienne.

Khon Kaen to Vantienne is about 250 kilometers all up. This was done including the stops in about 4 hours at a cost of Baht 186 each. (That's about 4US$). Could not do that in a car!!!!


Well of course first things first. Food on arrival. Next to our hotel beautiful spit roasted chicken and Wanna jumped in to make her own 'Som Tam'. The food is basically identical to Issan food so for Wanna home from Home! Good start to the weekend.



We had a walk round and spotted a lady painting the "Ghost Houses'. I had always wondered how it got done. Also some nice old buildings and street scenes.Followed by a quick trip round a few temples. Interesting years ago people used to take your photo, develop it and come back an hour or two later to sell it to you. Now its digital and they carry a portable printer! Clever application of Technology.

As I said at the beginning of this posting we did a lot. Visited local markets and bought some silk.

Spotted a lovely old Triumph Motor Bike.

And last but not lease bought a Laos sandwich.

The sandwich is a beautiful fresh baguette, filled with pate, salad, meats and can only be described as delicious. Catch you soon.

April 2010 A Quick Month

I've been so busy over this month that I did not get time to record my travels or outline the bits and pieces that have kept me away from my key board.

Trouble with this approach is that now sitting down to write becomes a bit of hard work instead of a few enjoyable minutes spent typing and uploading a set of photos. How to cure this. Do a Vlog? Its a sort of easy/lazy way to get it all down on paper. I did one before and in making it I really enjoyed it a lot. Talking and having the video on the go seems to work well for me. Even had a some feed back from readers which is always good for the ego. (hint, hint).

Well, now enough of the introduction down to basics. April has been eventful. We have had a weekend in Chang Mai and another one in Khon Kaen. This along with the usual social events incorporating lots of food and beer. Not to be sniffed at I can assure you. All in all a good month and one I need to record for you and for me as a future trip down 'memory lane'. And God, I almost forgot I also went to Ha Noi, Vietnam for a weekend to see about some work. So you can see how for me time flies. I'll cover in a separate Blog.

Before I get you get to the Vlog one thing I noticed at Chang Mai airport was a sign advising not to carry 'copy' (means counterfeit) products into some European Countries. I though this concept applied to Thailand and ALL European Countries.

We had a great time in Chang Mai, did the usual night markets, watched Thai 'Pat Tong" a sort of football. (I took this clip on my phone.)

And apart from that we just generally relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. This time I did not take another set of Photos of the Wats, well only a few....

Interestingly the young Monks like their adult counterparts shave not only their heads but also their eye brows!

The main purpose of going to Chang Mai was to catch up with our friend Khun Pathan and his lovely wife Duan. They were having a house blessing and we had promised to go for so long that we just had to make it. And I'm glad we did. Great time had by all.

That's Wanna, Me and our Friend Khun Pathan in the picture above.
So apart from visiting Chang Mai, up in Khon Kaen there was April the 29th. A very 'lucky' day by all accounts and it therefore was taken as the day to commence the foundations of Wanna's parents house just down from ours. This is a separate subject. Construction is planned to take 6-8 weeks maximum, and I'll cover it over a series of entries and videos.

So on with the April Vlog....Just some ramblings.....Well maybe next time. I seem to have covered all I wanted in this here. Have the Ha Noi trip and Khon Kean house project to follow.

Wats And All

Busy weekend. Seems it started in a slow easy fashion and before I know it I was back at work Monday morning.
What happened? Well Saturday was intended to be a bit of a relax. You know what than means. a euphemism for doing nothing.
Didn’t work out as planned. Spend a few hours cleaning up a few things and checked out a few bits of stuff we had left in storage boxes. Even found my old rechargeable drill and grinder plus a few hand tools. They all needed some cleaning and the drill batteries recharging. So that took time in between coffees. Morning gone already. It did include a quick visit to us by Tee. He was all excited and he was trying plan a trip for Sunday up to Nakon Yayot. About 200 kilometers away in the national parks. Seems we could go to visit a famous Wat (aren’t they all ?) and see a large concrete dam and lake. All set in or close to one of the national parks. And if the water levers in the river are OK we are going for a river rafting trip. No sooner had we said “yes we would love to come along” then he said “Good. I’ll pick you up around 5 tomorrow morning.”. Before I could respond he was gone!!! So that is Sunday organized. Now back to Saturday.
Also found some time for baking and making yet another quiche. Why so many you ask? Well obvious really, they keep getting eaten. So by popular demand I keep making them. However I have given up following the same old recipe each time and added in a few of my own ideas. The usual bacon and cheese remains but I add a few different additions to each one, maybe a little curry powder and different spices seems to give them real added tastes. Last one included cocktail sausages and olives. Adventurous or what?... Hardly earth shattering or of the Jamie Oliver standard of ideas but I enjoyed it. Other big deal for the day… Making spaghetti. Yes I know, I seem to be going cooking crazy. Not really, its just that I am enjoying myself. And well, yes, Wanna had managed to locate some semolina flour. No mean feat in Thailand I might add. So I had to show my appreciation.
Finish the day off with a swim and relax in from of the TV. Rugby should be on but for seem reason I could not get it on my receiver. Bummer. Even earlier night than planned.
Ugh!!!! 4.30am and we’re up. Have some coffee and toast then get ready for the trip.
Made up some sandwiches and pack some water, drinks etc. And of course a quiche…. Don’t ask….
Checked camera, video etc and added in some spare towels and shorts(post rafting) ready to go and pick up the others. Six of us having a day out. Great.
And last but not least car keys and money. We’re off.
Tee drove most of the way and when we to there he was right. Beautiful spot and being early to the Wat (7.00am) we really were the early birds. However it did not take long for the place to start filling up and in no time it began to feel crowded. I was actually glad we had come earlier.
I should tell that by now the sandwiches had been eaten along with the quiche. That was before we arrived. Just a small snack during the journey. And we were all beginning to get hungry again….The place was quite calm if that is a good word to describe it. sort of lull before the storm. We wandered around and took a few pictures.

Wanna and the others wandered off to pray and we both ended up getting blessed by a Monk.

All made for a good start to the day. What next. A trip to the very large Concrete dam. Its apparently 2.3 kilometers along the top. That's a lot of concrete.

We stopped there for a while, again some photos and watched the fish swimming around. Yes big fellers they were to. I guess in the range of 6 kilos. Again everyone getting hungry. After our trip to the Wat it was time to move on to the Dam site. Followed by a trip to the water falls and a river rafting experience.

We even managed to fit in a good meal as well. All in all a great day out.

Loy Kratong

Monday night was special. It was ‘Loy Kratong’. One of the most popular and romantic of Thailand's traditional festivals. The festival is held on the night of the 12th full moon, which this year was on the Monday evening. Last night.
We went to the local Wat and whilst it was fun, it was somewhat low key this year. Perhaps also it was because we had been so often before over the last few years it was no longer a new thing to us.
The festival is to pay homage to the goddess of the rivers and waterways, Mae Nam.
‘Loy’ literally translates to "float", while ‘Kratong’ is the Thai word for a sort of tray made out of Banana leaves. We had one Loy Kratong each. Loy Kratong 'activity' is celebrated by floating these down a river. Again in our case it was a lake and the wind was blowing onshore. So they did not go far…. Not sure if this is a good or bad sign….
The romance input, is provided by a legend from the origins of the festival in 13th century during Sukhothai. The story goes, Nang Nopamas, a royal consort of King Ramkhamhaeng (the founder of Sukhothai), made the first kratong as an offering to Mae Nam. She set it afloat on one of the canals of the palace so that it would drift past her lover the king. The king was delighted with the creation, and this was the origins of the saying that if two lovers set a kratong adrift and it stays afloat until out of sight, their love will last forever. You believe that…..... Keep floating your Kratong...along….

So my video, which is not particularly good opens with a lantern floating in the sky. I tell you this as I doubt you would have figured it out on your own! Not a critism of you the reader but of my vidoe techniques.

It is made of paper and has a small flame/candle to heat it up so it lifts into the sky and floats away. Beautiful to watch. The rest of the video shows people placing their ‘Kratongs’ and a few shots of some food stalls at the evening event.

Crossed Legs....

Sunday saw us in Rayong attending a small ceremony to mark the opening of our Friend Phuk’s Internet café. Was a quick visit by us, due to no particular reason, but was quick because we arrived late!!

The ground floor was empty. Everyone already upstairs. We took our shoes off and rushed upstairs. The Monks were in full flow chanting etc. everyone was sitting on the floor crossed legged with their hands in the praying position. Plays havoc on my legs sitting cross legged even if only for a few minutes, let along through what seems hours of chanting. In reality about 5 minutes!!! I doubt I'll even get fully used to it. First I sit cross legged then move about then side almost sideways with my legs to the side to me. Best is if you can sit close to a wall and gently lean back. Takes the weigh off the ankles. Lovely....

Have been told it is rude to point your feet at the Monks. Easy for them to say... They were brought up sitting in all these different ways, whereas we tend always to be brought up to sit on chairs. All the chanting finally came to a close and I did manage to straighten my legs...There were a few 'creaking' sounds which could be heard coming from the direction of my knees!!!!

It was all followed by a super Thai lunch, excellent.

With all the prayers and Phuks commercial sense I'm sure it will be a good and successful business.

Bangkok Dangerous, did not turn out quite so bad....

Bangkok dangerous, did not turn out quite so bad, in fact a really great time. Relaxed but at the same time exhausted.
It had been along time since I had been able to have time with Sarah and Vivi so off we went Friday afternoon. Up to Bangkok.
We had a couple of nights there booking into a small old (read worn out) hotel on Soi 20. First evening was an Indian dinner followed by a walk round the small trade stalls lining Surkumvit Road and doing some shopping.
Saturday was all out… First the house of Jim Thompson. Jim Thompson was an American who came over to Thailand at the end of the second world. The hand weaving of silk, a long neglected cottage industry captured Jim Thompson’ attention. He devoted himself to reviving the craft. Highly gifted as a designer and textile colorist he contributed substantially to the industry’s growth and to the worldwide recognition accorded to Thai silk.
His house combines 6 teak buildings which represent the best in Thai architecture. On March 26th 1967 Jim Thompson disappeared while on a visit to Malaysia. No one knows how or why or indeed what happened to him. Disappeared without trace. Makes the visit to his house all the more interesting to have some intrigue added in.
Some beautiful; gardens and the houses are wonderful. Quite how one lives in a lot of up and down places I do not know but he certainly made the most of it all.
He had decorated it with old Thai statues of Lord Buddha etc. Some dating back to the 11th Century. My photos do not come anywhere near doing the place justice.
We enjoyed the guide tour and walking through the gardens. In a sense quite surreal as there is only a wall between this oasis of tropical gardens and the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. In fact it is only about 5 minutes walk from the National Stadium and the end of the overhead railway system. At which is a MBK mega store and I mean massive in being several kilometers along and packed with people buying phones. Cloths, gold you name it they’re buying it.. So quite a contrast!!
We went back there after the visit to do a little shopping. Bumped into a little old America woman looking for a book stall. So that became out first point of call in MBK. MBK is next to the national stadium. And outside was a small football pitch. Blue coloured grass?....
Quick lunch and off to the Grand Palace. Not the best timing, to go, on a Saturday afternoon when the roads are packed and the temperature is rising. Just very hot and no wind.
What a place. It really is a grand palace complete with walled gardens, a massive Wat and numerous building and statues etc. The Wat hosts a load of murals showing various scenes on the life of Lord Buddha etc. and I would suggest any visitor to Bangkok to find time to fit in a trip there. In fact essential to any list of ‘to dos’ in Thailand. I see little point in listing out all the details but the link below will provide you with all you need to know. http://thailandforvisitors.com/central/bangkok/ratanakosin/prakeo/ Really is worth a visit. One thing that did strick the 3 of us. The murals were being restored. The persons working on the restoratiosn were all young, so unlike parts of Europe the traditioinal trades appear here to be carried over from one generation to another. V Good. There were also several Thai students wandering around and stopping visitors and undertaking impromptu interviews. Sarah and Vive being amongst them. My photos are mostly of the Wat as by the time got the the Palace we were worn out!!!!
It was just hot and we expected rain at any moment as it was so humid and close. Well we made it back to the hotel still hot, no rain but the air felt really heavy. We showered and got ourselves ready for dinner. Just ready to go and down acme the rain, yes the tropical storm arrived and we were stuck in the hotel. And it poured just like standing under a bucked of water being thrown at you. Went on for hours, finally at about 9pm we made it out for a dinner, followed by a dance and live music. Soi 22 to be precise. No details available for the evening entertainment….No camera…..
This completed our Bangkok trip and Sunday saw us drive back to Pattaya. Stopped off at a friends for a quick pool practice and then an early night.