bangkok & ayutthaya, thailand: searching for siam

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We were sad to leave Lembongan, but excited to fly to Thailand to explore
Bangkok and Ayutthaya. It was certainly a change of pace, but it was
great
experiencing the cultural history of Siam. Amazing temples, shrines,
Buddha
statues in the Grand Palace, Wat Po, and Wat Arun. Beautiful architecture
at the Vimanek Mansion made of teakwood and the Jim Thompson House, an
authentic Thai house built by an American (I know, quite ironic). We also
spent a night on a dinner cruise down the Chao Praya River where a Thai
she-male sang cheesy 80s songs and even some Korean classics (there were
tons of Koreans on the boat...it brought new meaning to the word "FOB" for
us when we finally got off). To top it off, the singer busted out the
Titanic song by Celine Dion, so of course Teresa and I had to spread our
arms out at the hull of the boat. Aside from having to listen to 'Tina
Thai-ner', we had a good time viewing Bangkok at night and grubbing on
some
great seafood. We finished our Thailand trip by exploring the ancient
city
and former capital of Siam: Ayutthaya. Remember how I said that Beijing
had
scenes straight from the Chun Li stage in Streetfighter? Well, Ayutthaya
was like the Sagat stage! Giant reclining Buddhas, huge temples, and
palaces. Some scenes looked familiar from the movie, Anna and the King.
We
even found the Buddha statue that my brother tried to climb a few years
ago
when he was in Thailand.... well, he fell off and broke his arm. I
thought
about climbing it too, but didn't want to mess with Buddha. That's what
big
brothers are for -- testing things first! Thanks Steve.

On our last day in Thailand, we thought we'd try and go to church since we
weren't able to last Sunday. Of course, they had thousands of Buddhist
temples everywhere, but trying to find a Catholic Church was like trying
to
find a bonfide Thai woman in a pack of she-males. So we looked it up in
the
directory and found a church on the eastern side. Two trains transfers, a
cab ride, and some walking later -- we found a church. And guess what?
It
was closed for a Buddhist holiday! Wow, I guess Buddha takes precedence
out
here. Talk about no seperation between church and state - sheesh.

Some random observations:
- there really are tons of she-males in Bangkok. Its confusing for a man
when you see a pretty lady out of the corner of your eye, and you turn to
check her out and you look closely and you see a mustache or you hear a
deep
voice. I guess that's what I get...
- when you're walking down alleys in Asia, mysterious drops of liquid fall
from rooftops onto your head. Now imagine the sanitation in most of the
areas...Everytime it happened, I would freeze and scream like a little
girl
with a scraped knee. It's quite nasty.
- every now and then, we see people that look like our friends. we'll say
"Hey that waiter looks like Rose!" or "That driver looks like Jeff!" etc,
etc. I think the reason why is because we miss you guys. We can't wait
to
see you soon.
- I (Andy) haven't shaved since the wedding. I always wanted to see if I
could grow a full beard and mustache. Well, I can't. The result is
pretty
gross and Teresa can't wait until I shave. Everytime I try to kiss her I
make Chubaka sounds... its quite romantic.

Oops! We have to board our flight now. We'll write next time to tell you
about our time im Cambodia and Macau, China.

Until then,
Mr. and Mrs. Lee

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Photos

you in the mood?
lets just hope 'sue' is a hottie (subway station name, not what you think)

enough gold to...
last nelly's teef collection a lifetime

our 'reliable' tuk tuk
our primary mode of transport... and it wasn't very reliable

piggin out on dinner cruise
down the chao praya river... teresa put 3 types of seafood into extinction

andy thinks...
he has camera skillz...