Winter Holiday Parts 4- Bangkok

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We arrived in Bangkok on a Thursday and were immediately hit by the heat and humidity. Must have been in the high 30's everyday that we were there. Going on recommendations of friends in China, we had booked a hotel on Rambutri Street for two days. We did not realize that we were in the absolute center of twenty-something backpacker heaven - one short block from Khoa San Road - the Mecca of all backpackers. New experience for us- we kept thinking of Chris and his trip a couple of years ago - wondering if he had gone here, stayed there, eaten here or done this! As it turns out, he has and he did!


Our first order of business was Rick’s appointment, which turned out great. The Bangkok Nursing Hospital is used by many Maple Leaf staff because of the quality of the doctors and the facility itself. The doctor said that it was healing well, needed a lot of physio to strengthen the calf and return some flexibility. He thought that is achilles was not totally severed, but only badly torn - who knows? In two weeks he can take off the cast; around the house - for now short walks around the house/hotel without it. But we have to get him a pair of sandals as he only brought one sandal and one running shoe.

Our first hotel was very nice, but quite expensive for the area, so we decided that we would be more adventurous. We spent part of the next day exploring guest houses- which are available for $1- $40 a night. We decided on a mid range one because it had a pool- really nice in the heat after a day on the road. Unfortunately the place we wanted was not available on Saturday, so we were on the hunt again… landing at the DD on Khoa San road. We spent one night there, and then to a third place for the last three nights. It was so hot and humid that we loved the rooftop pools and spent part of everyday lying in the sun.


There is a lot to see in Bangkok and since we had 5 days, we tried to do something different each day. The Royal Palace was first on our list, but unfortunately, we got there later in the day, not realizing that it closed in an hour! Rick’s foot was sore, so we opted for a quick trip through the grounds. It was amazing to see the opulence and riches that the royalty lived in. At every turn you saw another more beautiful building. We kept comparing to what the European royalty lived in - cold stone castles with tapestries to keep them warm in winter. The Emerald Buddha - yes, made of emerald, was pretty impressive.

The next day we took the sky train to the Chatuchuk market - the largest outdoor market in the world. We only spent a couple of hours here because we had been through so many markets, and thought it was more of the same. But we were disappointed when we found out from Chris some of the sections that we had missed - he had spent the whole day here.

The following day we took the river boat to China town and were impressed by the preparations being done for the New Year festival- shopping, decorating, the whole place was bursting with red and bustling with people. Since we seemed have just missed Chinese New years everywhere we went, here is some advice that I found:

In the Far East, this is also the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Farmers take this opportunity to welcome spring as they plant for the new harvest. Thus, the Lunar New Year is also called the Spring Festival.

The events that occurred during New Year’s Day may impact your life for the rest of the year. Be careful in your actions. Be selective with what you eat. Greet people who will bring you joy. To ensure a prosperous and healthy year, you should enhance and stimulate positive energy flow at home, at your business and at work.

Everything associated with the New Year's Day should represent good fortune. To single people, good fortune may mean love and romance. Good fortune may mean good grades to students, children for families, jobs for the unemployed and health for the sick.

To help you find your fortune in the new year, we have put together the following Chinese New Year traditions and customs. You may also want to consult our "symbols" section as a quick reference.

BEFORE NEW YEAR's EVE
The celebration actually starts on New Year's Eve with the reunion dinner. By New Year’s Eve, you should have done the following:

Clean the entire home to get rid of all the things that are associated with the old year.
Put away all brooms and brushes.
Pay all your debts.
Resolve differences with family members, friends, neighbors and business associates.
Buy the following:
- red money envelopes

- oranges and/or tangerines

- circular candy tray

- flowers (especially plum blossom, peach blossom, water lily)

- a new set of clothes and shoes for children, preferably something red or orange.

Get new dollar bills from the bank. Insert the new dollar bills into the red envelopes. Now the red envelope is called a lee see or lucky money envelope.
(note: Very few modern families follow all the "cleaning" traditions.)

ON NEW YEAR’s EVE:
Get together with close family members (not including married daughters and their families) for the "reunion" dinner.
Pay respect to ancestors and household gods. Acknowledge the presence of ancestors because they are responsible for the fortunes of future generations.
Open every door and window in your home at midnight to let go of the old year.


ON NEW YEAR’s DAY:
Decorate your home with symbols of good fortune. Here are some suggestions:

- Colors: Bright red (happiness); gold/orange (wealth & happiness).

- Fruits: Oranges and tangerines (good health & long life); tangerines with leaves intact (long lasting relationships; fruitful and multiply as in having children); persimmons (happiness and wealth).

- Circular candy tray (candy for sweet and circular for togetherness).

- Flowers: If flowers bloom on New Year’s Day, it will be a prosperous year.

- Red banners or couplets with New Year wishes and symbols of good fortune in gold.


Here are some suggestions for food:

- Jai - a combination of food that represents good fortune. Jai comprises of ginkgo nut, black moss, dried bean curd, bamboo shoots, vermicelli and scallion.
- Fish and chicken represent prosperity. Always present the fish and chicken as a whole. Do not cut them in pieces. The head, tail and feet (for chicken) must be presented to symbolize completeness.
- Noodles represent longevity. Again, they should not be cut.
- Desserts include oranges, Chinese New Year cake (ni gao) and prosperous cakes (they look like golden nuggets).


DO’s & DON'Ts on NEW YEAR’s DAY:

- Greet others with "Gung Hey Fat Choy" which means "Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth".

- Give two lee see’s to each child. Because happiness comes in two’s, do not just give one. This is your way of passing good luck to the next generation. Business owners also give lee see’s to employees and associates.

- Wear brand new clothes - preferably in red. Children should wear new clothes and new shoes.

- Don’t wash your hair.

- Don’t sweep the floor.

- Don’t greet people who are in mourning.

- Don’t drop your chopsticks.

- Don’t say the number ‘four’ (Chinese homonym for death) or mention death.

- Don’t borrow or lend money.

As you prepare for this important holiday, think of the changes you want to make in your life ... perhaps spend more time with your family, reduce your credit card debts or pursue a new interest. Gung Hey Fat Choy ... and Happy New Year and now you know everything there is to know!


While we were in bangkok, our favourite method of transportation was the express boat. It cost about 50 cents for both of us to go as far as we wanted and return. One day we decided to see how far it went, so rode it to the end, took a tour around the market there and then came back. On our way back, we went to one of my favourite places (Rick was not as keen as I) - the Royal Barge museum.

To get to the museum, we had to follow a long, windy, narrow sidewalk through a local section of Bangkok to a ‘water’ museum just off a canal where some of the the royal barges -past and present - were kept. I had been speculating about the barges ever since going to the palace (which is just off the river) and how spectacular it must have been when the royalty travelled. And here they were - transportation that had been used by royalty.

On our way back we stumbled across a restaurant that turned out to be our favourite - a huge hot pot barbeque restaurant. It was like a big buffet where you got anything you wanted from veggies, meat, fish, noodles, dumplings, and cooked them in your own hot pot. Also there was another large buffet of precooked food and another of desserts. That plus the beer cost us less than $5 per person.

We unfortunately had to hurry the meal because we had tickets to a performance at the National theatre that night. Ironically the performance was done by a Chinese dance group and represented dances from 10 provinces in China. This was preceeded by a few Thai dances which were interesting and notably different than the Chinese. We had mostly wanted to go to see the theater itself, which was beautiful, and were surprised at how few people there were in the audience. First night, so we hope they got bigger crowds on following nights.

The six days in Bangkok went very quickly. Khao San road itself was an attraction in itself, where we spent most evenings. Some great little bars and music, lots of people, food, noise, hawkers, kids, beggars, taxis, tuktuks, but we were glad to be moving on to our last destination - Siem Reap.

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Photos

RamButtri Road
The Rambuttri Village guesthouse was a great find - clean, quiet, pool on the roof. This road was great for people watching - we were definitely on the old side!

Khoa San Road
This was the road with all the action- whew very busy and noisy, but we loved the second story bar that misted you as you looked out the open to the street below - did you do this one Chris?

The Grand Palace
This huge complex was built as the royal residence, government office and the home of the Emerald Buddah. This was carved from a block of jade and first discovered in 1434 in Chiang Rai. It had been covered with plaster thought to be an ordinary buddah until an abbot discovered a piece missing off the nose revealing the green stone underneath.

Chatuchak Market
This market is supposed to be one of the largest outdoor market in the world with over 10 000 stalls and over 200 000 visitors a day!

Chinatown
This was the best Chinatown that we saw. They were busy shopping, cooking, decorating and getting ready for the 10 day holiday. Little did we realize that all this action would halt when the new year came and everyone spent the time with their families at home. Chinese New years is supposed to be the biggest human migration with millions of people going back to villages and homes to be with their families.A Chinese proverb states that all creations are reborn on New Year’s day. The Chinese New Year is a celebration of change ... out with the old and in with the new!
The Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year because it is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. It usually occurs in January or February. On February 12, 2002, Chinese communities around the world will ring in the Year of the Horse (Year 4700).
In the Far East, this is also the end of winter and the beginning of spring. Farmers take this opportunity to welcome spring as they plant for the new harvest. Thus, the Lunar New Year is also called the Spring Festival.
The events that occurred during New Year’s Day may impact your life for the rest of the year. Be careful in your actions. Be selective with what you eat. Greet people who will bring you joy. To ensure a prosperous and healthy year, you should enhance and stimulate positive energy flow at home, at your business and at work.
Everything associated with the New Year's Day should represent good fortune. To single people, good fortune may mean love and romance. Good fortune may mean good grades to students, children for families, jobs for the unemployed and health for the sick.
To help you find your fortune in the new year, we have put together the following Chinese New Year traditions and customs. You may also want to consult our "symbols" section as a quick reference.
BEFORE NEW YEAR's EVE
The celebration actually starts on New Year's Eve with the reunion dinner. By New Year’s Eve, you should have done the following:
Clean the entire home to get rid of all the things that are associated with the old year.
Put away all brooms and brushes.
Pay all your debts.
Resolve differences with family members, friends, neighbors and business associates.
Buy the following:
- red money envelopes
- oranges and/or tangerines
- circular candy tray
- flowers (especially plum blossom, peach blossom, water lily)
- a new set of clothes and shoes for children, preferably something red or orange.
Get new dollar bills from the bank. Insert the new dollar bills into the red envelopes. Now the red envelope is called a lee see or lucky money envelope.
(note: Very few modern families follow all the "cleaning" traditions.)
ON NEW YEAR’s EVE:
Get together with close family members (not including married daughters and their families) for the "reunion" dinner.
Pay respect to ancestors and household gods. Acknowledge the presence of ancestors because they are responsible for the fortunes of future generations.
Open every door and window in your home at midnight to let go of the old year.
ON NEW YEAR’s DAY:
Decorate your home with symbols of good fortune. Here are some suggestions:
- Colors: Bright red (happiness); gold/orange (wealth & happiness).
- Fruits: Oranges and tangerines (good health & long life); tangerines with leaves intact (long lasting relationships; fruitful and multiply as in having children); persimmons (happiness and wealth).
- Circular candy tray (candy for sweet and circular for togetherness).
- Flowers: If flowers bloom on New Year’s Day, it will be a prosperous year.
- Red banners or couplets with New Year wishes and symbols of good fortune in gold.
Here are some suggestions for food:
- Jai - a combination of food that represents good fortune. Jai comprises of ginkgo nut, black moss, dried bean curd, bamboo shoots, vermicelli and scallion.
- Fish and chicken represent prosperity. Always present the fish and chicken as a whole. Do not cut them in pieces. The head, tail and feet (for chicken) must be presented to symbolize completeness.
- Noodles represent longevity. Again, they should not be cut.
- Desserts include oranges, Chinese New Year cake (ni gao) and prosperous cakes (they look like golden nuggets).
DO’s & DON'Ts on NEW YEAR’s DAY:
- Greet others with "Gung Hey Fat Choy" which means "Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth".
- Give two lee see’s to each child. Because happiness comes in two’s, do not just give one. This is your way of passing good luck to the next generation. Business owners also give lee see’s to employees and associates.
- Wear brand new clothes - preferably in red. Children should wear new clothes and new shoes.
- Don’t wash your hair.
- Don’t sweep the floor.
- Don’t greet people who are in mourning.
- Don’t drop your chopsticks.
- Don’t say the number ‘four’ (Chinese homonym for death) or mention death.
- Don’t borrow or lend money.
As you prepare for this important holiday, think of the changes you want to make in your life ... perhaps spend more time with your family, reduce your credit card debts or pursue a new interest. Gung Hey Fat Choy ... and Happy New Year!

Express boat
This first day we took the tourist boat before realizing that we were several times more than we needed to. Many people take this boat for commuting, shopping and travelling. It went about an hour up and then the same distance back down the river.

Royal Barges
Here are displayed just eight of the over 50 barges that make up formal processions. That may seem like a lot, but during the Ayutthaya period, when the river was the main means of transport, royal barges apparently numbered in the thousands. The Abbé de Choisy, in his account of the first French embassy to Siam in 1685, writes of the embassy traveling upriver in hundreds of barges, some of which were the King's own.
That was then. When the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya, all the barges were burned. Rama I, who established the new capital in Bangkok, had new barges built in the image of the old ones. By this time, the barges were reserved largely for ceremonial use, most especially the annual katin ceremony in October or November. The king and royal family would travel down-river in a procession of barges nearly a kilometer long to Wat Arun, where they would give new robes to the monks.
The use of the barges was largely discontinued after the coup of 1932 which overthrew the absolute monarchy. Most royal properties, including the barges, were confiscated by the civilian and military governments that came to power after the coup. To make matters worse, many of the barges were bombed by the Japanese during World War II.
His Majesty discovered the barges in their sorry state some time after ascending to the throne after the war. He had the barges restored and also re-started the annual katin ceremony. However, as the boats have gotten increasingly fragile, the barges are only bought out on very special occasions.
The barges on display vary in size and function. The most important of all is the Suppanahong, or 'Golden Swan,' with its figurehead prow in the shape of a huge golden swan. The barge was built by King Rama I, but then had to be rebuilt by King Rama V. Next to it is the Narai Song Suban with King Narai riding a Garuda on its prow. This barge was built to commemorate the king's 50th anniversary on the throne. Around the sides and back of the warehouse are display cases with oars, flags and other paraphernalia of the procession ceremonies

Hot Pot Barbeque
We found this to be a popular way of eating Siem Reap as well as Bangkok. Delicious.