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Published: November 30th 2006
a little bit of humor
yes this pic is real. it's a picture in the main mall in bangkok. I thought it was funny how the girl is standingA while back I did some very exciting things in Bangkok. I wrote about them at the time so they are all in present tense. Sorry to not post them right away but internet is, as usual, a tricky thing in Thailand.
Today I went to Wat Prat Gaeo. Which is the royal temple as well as the four parts of the palace. Upon arriving at 8 (my host mom was getting her hair done elsewhere) I was met by a would-be, guide who charged 100 baht for a full history and tour of the whole temple. Including stories that went along with each significant figure, The Monkey and the Daemon Fight (which is written on a wall in pictures) , the Herbalist, and the fact that the king is considered to be a re-incarnate of a god; even though he is considered to be a god, he is still considered to be lower than Buddha. I also found out that even with Buddhism as a religion for 90% of the population Buddha never actually visited Thailand as he was originally Hindu.
I got to see the “emerald” Buddha , which is actually made of jade, it was covered
Traditional
it was interesting seeing this in a mall but these people are dressed for a ceremony of thai dance in plaster during a war against the Burmese so no one knew it was jade for a few hundred years. It has now turned into a very prominent artifact and no one is allowed to take a picture of it. I got a picture with the bonsai trees on the royal temple grounds. They are hundreds of years old. I got a picture with the guards of the area. Unlike the guards in Buckingham they smile when asked.
A boat tour later showed many figures of Buddha throughout Bangkok - all in a breath-taking view. Later my host mother took me to Chinatown. The only word for it was amazing. There were many people all smiling in a melting pot of cultures. During the day most stores are gold shops and during the night is food of all sorts. Foods available include shark-fins and a type of bird's nest; both are very expensive and part of the experience.
The next night I met my host brother's girlfriend. In Thai culture children do not date without their parents' extreme approval so a girlfriend or boyfriend spending a day or 3 with the other one's parents is not unusual. We
The hermit
a very old statue of "The Hermit" is of the story where a hermit helped "lord Buddha" (in those days that was close enough to a doctor) all went or sushi that evening. It was a little difficult with so many people on the road. My older host brother, Oct had to give us directions from the back seat. The rest of the trip was massive amounts of shopping and going on a sky train to get anywhere. It is quite convenient to get any where in Bangkok if you don’t mind waiting for a taxi or sky train.
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