Outshines the brightest stars

July 25, 2007
city of Ayutthaya

It's raining cats and dogs every day. (whenever I use the idiom, I always imagine the actual cats and dogs falling down from the sky. Perhaps, that'd explain why I've seen a lot of stray dogs and cats in BKK.) Good thing is the temperature has dropped to a comfortable level. I even feel chilled at nights. You may wonder how it could possibly happen to me who, back in Chicago, walked around in a tank-top and refused to have the heat on in my apartment during bitter sub-zero winters. I guess my tough skin's peeling off.

Not only the rain that's pouring down these days, but pedestrians also have to look up and watch out for alien objects that may fall from the sky. Remembered the news about scaffolding crashed down onto a car, killing three people, back in Chicago? It's happened here as well. But it's advertising billboards that came down on people. The disaster's caused by vigorous winds blowing over 30 MPH with heavy rainfall. According to law, the billboards're designed to withstand a maximum of 10 MPH wind capacity. (note: Bangkok is not a windy city, therefore 30 MPH brisk wind is pretty forceful.) Of course, the city said the incidents never occur before in its history. Now they have to revise the law. Nevertheless, with all the record-breaking disasters news happened around the world these days, if we connect the dots, we'd figure out what caused them. (need a hint?)

This week Mr. J came up to town from Koh Tao(Turtle Island) to pick up his girlfriend at the airport. He called Tim up to arrange our reunion.
(To refresh your memory, Mr. J is a friend of Tim from work and has been here for diving courses.) They planned to be in town for a few days. In stead of hanging around and repeating the same activities, I lured them into the out-of-town trip. Ayutthaya's only 86 km from BKK so a day trip is attainable.








The kingdom of Ayutthaya existed between 1350 and 1767 A.D. It's one of the most powerful cities in southeast Asia. In 1767 the city's destroyed by the Burmese army, and the ruins of the old city now form the Ayutthaya historic park, which's recognized internationally as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Most sites are within reasonable traveling distance of each other. The best way to travel around the historic sites is to rent a bike, which comes with a free map. To get better picture of the area, imagine a land in rectangular shape surrounded by the river. If you keep riding a bike along the river, you'll easily return to a starting point without getting lost. The ride's pleasant as the city's green and we could see the ruins from distance along a roadway. Some of the highlights included The Chao Sam Phraya National Museum, Wat Phra Si Sanphet, and Ancient Palace.

During the bike trip, we found a shortcut route to the other side of the city. We followed the trail through a park and through a narrow roadway built in a middle and along side of wild plants. And it's the ancient brick trail that caught my attention enough to cease my ride and take a closer look at it. It must have been built in Ayutthaya period, I thought. Then, walked further to discover a sign half-hidden behind a shurb that backed up my assumption. I looked at the trail and paused for a moment to pay respect to my ancients who, several hundred years back, had walked on the same road. It made me wonder what it's like to live in the most glorious period in the country's history. Were they grateful?

Ayutthaya has not only left us the evidence of once the most prosperous city, but also stories of our ancients who had given their lives in the war for the country and for the freedom their descendants'd have and be proud of. It's the freedom we've taken for granted.

The city'd left me something to think about that night.

The 700 Year Old City, Chiang Mai

June 15-19, 2007

From the east side of Thailand, we're taking you to the northen Thailand - to the city of elephants and malaria, Chiang Mai. (oh.. the malaria part was a joke..don't take the pills just yet)

Wikipedia described Chiang Mai as the largest and most culturally significant city in northen Thailand. Chiang Mai's historic importance is derived from its important strategic location on an ancient trade route. The city served as an important centre for handcrafted goods, umbrellas, jewelry, and woodcarving.








My favorite area at all time is still Ping River, especially at night when the the weather cooled down and we could feel the breeze from the river. Our ritual was to start the evening with a cup of cafeine at a coffee shop by the river (picture#3).
We'd hang out until the dust settled. Then moved on to the next door, "Riverside" legendary pub and restaurant, for a good meal and live jazz music. A couple doors down the street is also my favorite restaurant known as The Gallery. The food didn't get my attention as much as its interior design. The owner did an impeccible job on preserving its original wooden structure, illustrating a fusion of traditional Chinese style in stucco with molded motifs and Lanna style, Northern Thai Architecture. A picture I took while dinning there didn't do it justic so I didn't post it here. I suggest you make a visit to the restaurant and you'll understand why I jabbered about the place.

After the dinner, we crossed a street to check out a furniture store (that its achitecture made my jaw drop once again). We browsed through the showroom and agreed that its furniture reminded us of an upscale furniture store in Chicago. later, to find out on its website that their export market is in the US including that store and its subsidiary. I can pay only one-fifth of its price tag to get the same kind of
furniture with the same quality. Well... I am in heaven.

To cross off our must-do list, the next day we paid a visit to Bann Tawai, handicraft village. There were a few stores that stunned me with its originality. if you know me well, you'd know that I have a thing for furniture, particularly minimalist influence. I'd get carried away if I found one of the kind piece. And I don't care if my wallet'll be empty for the next few weeks. LOL. Below is what I bought from the store;




The next thing down the list was to check out Maesa Elephant Camp&Nursery. So we hired a personal guide to get us there. He drove north-west of Chiang Mai, through the picturesque Mae Sa Valley, about 30 mins to get to the Camp. A half-day program included elephant bathing, skill demonstrating such as playing football and painting, elephant riding, and visiting its habitat.





The tamed elephants like to play with human. The size of their bodies may freak people out, but the reflection of their eyes are nothing more than innocent and curious act, which made me want to pat them.

We finished the trip by going to pay respect to Buddha relic at Wat Prathat Doi Suthep. (picture#1and2) To reach the temple which is located at the apex of Doi Suthep, we needed to climb up a naga staircase of 309 steps. it wasn't bad after all. When we came back down, we had a driver drove us to NimmanHemin Street, the new hip area in Chiang Mai (picture#4). If you happen to be in that neigborhood, it'd be worthwhile to check out Yesterday The Village Hotel. http://www.ayesterday.com/

Need further information? Please click on the link below;

http://www.tourismthailand.org/destinationguide/list.aspx?provinceid=38

My Sacred Hideaway, Samet Island

June 11, 2007 - Our first and official grand trip

Samet Island was actually my first priority on my must-go list. I have special bond to the Island. It'd take up the whole page if I was going to explain why and how. To keep it short, Samet Island had been a big part of my life growing up. There was times I was going through a difficult time. I packed up my stuff and came to the island alone. A few days later, I was revived. As simple as that, it helped me get through one of those days a number of times.

After a week-long (non-stop) celebration of Mr.J and B's arrival, which involved booze, shopping, sightseeing, and booze(and more booze), we decided to leave the crazy city for a serene place like Samet Island. Three boys and I hopped in a bus the following day. One of them was Tim, and the two other were Mr. J and B who came all the way from the US to make their dreams come true.

Two hours and forty minutes later, we arrived in Rayong. There we met up with K.Brian, our good friend who also used to live in Chicago. He offered to show us around and took us to the island. As we got closer to it, I could feel my excitement glowing. I looked at it up close. It'd been 8 years I'd been away and my love hasn't aged a bit. The dirt road was still there. The sand was still white. And the clarity of ocean...still took my breath away. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.







Samet is my sacred hideaway. For someone, the island may not live up to their expectation. For me, it's everything I've asked for. Even this time, it did its magic on me again. My 'homesick' vanished. (if you know what I was referring to...)

FYI:
Samet is a well-known island in Rayong. The city's located on the Gulf of Thailand, about 190 km from Bangkok. Getting there is easy. We took an air-conditioned bus at the Ekkamai bus station, which leaves every hour. The bus arrived at a ferry pier in Rayong. From there, we took a half an hour ride ferry to the island.

A Note on a (seem-to-be) Normal Day

This morning, I read the local/global news as usual. Here's what I found;

Chicago this week weather forecast: Min. 64F Max. 83F
Bangkok this week forecast: Min. 77F Max. 90F , with widespread thundershowers across the country until end of May.

Do those figures put you on alert? Yes? No?

Whether you notice or not, it's happening. What we thought that's so far away from reality is coming to pass at a fast pace. The Global Warming consequences take early effect and congratulate to every one of us, we can see and feel it in our lifetime now.

Chicago temp. at this time of year isn't supposed to be warm as the record. Bangkok, on the other hand, isn't supposed to have heavy rain until the rainy season, which begins from June-October. Well, it has rained "everyday" since mid April and continue into May. Widespread rainfalls are expected throughout this month. I've been told it's just a tropical storm. It could happen during the draught season and it'll be gone soon.

O.k., I'll believe them.

I'll try to pretend there's nothing to worry about. I'll try to pretend the reason I'm awaken by the sound of heavy rain pouring down on my roof as if the sky is furious every day, is nothing but the out-of-season storms. It will come and go.
I'll try to pretend Global Warming won't affect my daily life. I still have shelter, food, and clothes. What else do I care about?

And for those whose lands got flooded and their farms which's the only source of
income got destroyed by the storms. They can re-build it next year when the weather's back to normal, right? Nothing is in danger, and not to worry about.

I'll try to be ignorant.

what about the global economy, food, and pollution? if we don't take action immediately, it'd be too late to fix. We're not dealing with human here, we talk about the mother nature, the Earth, the World - the place we all live on. What if some day the Earth's atmosphere's devoid of oxygen and its food sources're depleted. What'd we breath in? What'd we consume?

I'll try to be ignorant.

Global Warming is no longer a fictional.
But wait, the topic is too serious. I'm not ready to discuss it. Besides, who cares about Global Warming. Look around. Nobody cares because their life sucks enough that they can't even make ends meet.


I rather put a stop to it and go shopping.

I'll try to be ignorant.

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(The rain is pouring down at the moment)

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Here are steps that we can do to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

1. Make sure the dishwasher and washing machine are full before running them to save energy and money.

2. Unplug your cell phone charger, TV and other electronics from the wall when you're not using them. Even when turned off, they use small amounts of energy.

3. Make sure to turn off lights and other energy-sucking devices when they aren't being used.

4. If you're leaving your computer for a while, put it on stand-by. You'll be able to restart it quickly, and it'll take less energy than shutting it down and then restarting it.

5. Do not leave the water taps on if not in use and turn off the taps properly, because one drop of water per second would waste 2,700 gallons of water per year.

6. Use reusable bags whenever you can. A plastic bag could take up to several hundred years to decompose.

For more tips, check out http://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Global-Warming

SongKran Festival

Here came the official Summer of Thailand, April is the month people wish it to pass as soon as possible. The heat index ,as of April 25, was 110 F. Well, how do we live in such climate? Once you get used to the weather here, 110F is no longer a freaking digit and 85F seems like 60F on good days.

Well, there was a celebration this month that can't be neglected to mention. It's the Thai New Year (April 13). Thais looked forward to that day because, first off, it's a long holiday weekend. People get to go back to their hometown, spend time with their parents and do some activities together such as going to Wat (temple). It's also a good time to re-evaluate their inner self and abstain from any wrongdoings. Observing the old tradition reminds them of who they really are. A new appreciation for life could be found at this time as the positive energy and good vibe're flying high.

Over the course of the long holiday weekend, Thais celebrated the New Year with traditional water festival called SongKran Festival. It was originated as a way to pay respect to elderly by pouring a small amount of purified water on their hands. The elderly, then, give them blessings in return. The youths also do it in a more
fun way. They splash one another with water to relieve the heat. Since April is the hottest month, it somewhat has turned into a water-splashing war. The water'd come
in a variety of containers (i.e. squirt guns, hoses, and barrels). They'd drive a
car around and spatter water at pedestrians by whatever equipments they have in hand. (Note: just water, no other substances) People won't get mad if they get splashed. It's an exception for SongKran. I wish I could have taken some photos to post on this blog. I didn't dare carry my camera around as it's likely to get wet and (later) broken. Tim went out one night to join the festival at a bar. He wasn't aware of
the ongoing war so he kept his cell phone in his jeans pocket without any protection. Well, needless to say what happened to that poor phone.

Asides from the event/weather update, Tim and I've spent most of our time overseeing his house renovation, yet still a work in progress. On our day off, we hang out with a few friends at a local bar. If the name Kao Sarn Road, Bars behind Lumpini Park, Ratchada Pisett, and KaSett NaVamin sound familiar to you, then welcome to the "old-timer" club. :) We hope, next month, we'd find time to leave the city for some islands. After the house renovation project's complete, we'll start looking into a job search. Until that time, I assure you'd find interesting articles up here. And of course, suitable for every age.