September was a very busy month with an activity each weekend. We enjoyed some day trips, beach clean up, and birthday parties.
Ayutthaya
Ayutthaya was a kingdom of Siam that existed from 1350 until about the time the American colonists in New England started tossing tea into the harbor. The Burmese invaded and ransacked the kingdom, at which time the Ayutthayans moved south and eventually made it to the banks of the Chao Praya river, where they built a new city that is now known as Bangkok. Ayutthaya has been marked as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. We spent a day with a guide riding around in the back of a tuk tuk visiting many historical ruins, wats, and monuments. We learned a lot about this ancient city that was very progressive in its heyday with not only Asian trade but Western trade as well.
Our first stop was the train station where we hired a guide and a tuk tuk to take us around the city.
Crowded in our tuk tuk for the day.
Our tour guide was a very animated story teller.
We saw many ruins of the old city Ayutthaya.
This is a popular picture spot in Thailand. We have seen it in many publications and we were excited to see it for ourselves and to take our own picture. If you have your picture made here you are not to stand, you must be lower than the Buddha.
And this pose is supposed to make a better picture??
These people have paid money to the temple so they can drape the reclining Buddha in holy yellow robes. This is to pay respect to Buddha so their wishes may be granted.
As I mentioned, a lot of old ruins.
This Buddha is carved from granite and is around 700 years old.
Chloe makes a new friend.
This is a very old Wat (Buddhist Temple) that has been restored and is still a very popular worship center among the Thais.
St. Joseph Cathedral
Once again we find a beautiful Catholic Church in the middle of a Buddhist nation.
The graves surfaced many years ago and the skeletal remains were petrified. The cemetery is now a National Archaeological Site It was late evening when we visited the cemetery, which is enclosed in a building. The building has no lights so it was quite dark. Smyth thought the place was too creepy. Chloe thought it was creepy but very interesting. Lilli, on the other hand, thought it was a totally cool place to make a haunted house.
Our last stop of the day was the Portuguese Cemetery. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to settle in Ayutthaya.
The spirit house outside of the cemetery building houses St. Joseph and St. Peter.
At the end of the day we were heading back to the train station to meet our driver. The rain was coming down hard. The tuk tuk started sputtering and our thoughts were, "Oh no! Just get us to the top of this bridge so we can coast down the other side." Within a few blocks of the train station the tuk tuk died. Robert and Smyth started to get out and push us, but several people hopped off motorbikes to come to our aid. The bikers told Robert and Smyth to get back in the tuk tuk, and then they proceeded to push us to the driveway of a hotel. The tuk tuk driver had already called our driver and told him where to retrieve us. The doorman of the hotel and the tuk tuk driver both came with umbrellas to escort us to our car. You've got to love Thai hospitality.
Our tuk tuk driver.
We finished our day off with dinner at California Steaks.
Master Chef Thailand
For the past few years, cooking shows and classes have become very popular in the States as well as many other countries. Cooking schools are quite popular in Thailand, and many resorts offer weekend packages that are tailored for guests to learn Thai cooking. In response to this food frenzy that has taken over the world, the PTA at the school decided to start a cooking club for the mothers. Each week a woman will take up the pan and spatula and teach the other women a specialty or favorite family meal from her country. So far we have enjoyed Thai, Italian, and TexMex. We are looking forward to Indian, Korean, Japanese, Polish, and Brazilian dishes in the coming weeks. I still have not decided what I should make as American food. Any ideas?
Thai Noodle Wraps with Chicken
Green Curry Chicken and Noodles
Deep Fried Hard Boiled Eggs with Tamarind Sauce
Lilli and Zoe
Zoe is one of Lilli's best friends from school. She is from France and has lived here in Thailand for three years. She will be leaving at the end of this year.
International Coastal Cleanup 2011
Like last year, our family participated in Beach Cleanup weekend at a beach in Rayong as part of the Solvay Peroxythai team. The morning starts with a bunch of dignitaries giving very long speeches in Thai. In the middle of their speeches, you might hear the name of Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Dow Chemical, Solvay Peroxythai, and so on. Anytime you hear your company name you have to shout and clap, but who knows what was even said about your company. After the hour and a half opening ceremony, we are given our map to our designated area of clean up. And off we go to make the Thailand beaches even more beautiful.
There's Bob! Fourth from the left, called on stage to be recognized for whatever reason. We can only assume it was good as no one in the crowd was booing.
Smyth and Chloe are ready to start cleaning. Maybe I should give them a stick, gloves, and trash bag for their bedrooms.
Smyth and I chose the green trash bags as they were coded for "man made" debris, such as plastic containers, nylon rope, metal, and glass. Thank goodness I decided to stick with Smyth and not Robert. He had the black trash bag which meant "biodegradables", such as wood, seaweed.....
...and dead sea creatures.
After the beach cleanup we decided to see some local attractions in the Rayong area. We first headed to a museum aquarium. This was definitely a local operation catering to the Thais, as everything was in Thai, no English translations at all. The aquarium reminded me much of Sea Center Texas in Lake Jackson. It had displays on local fishing of the marine waters, off shore oil rigs, and the marine life found in the inlets in the area. Of course, at Sea Center Texas the information cards were in two languages, English and Spanish.
Cool fish.
Strange Statue Park
I'm a fan of roadside oddities (which could be a blog in itself). After our aquarium trip we continued on to another local attraction in the Rayong Province. This park is dedicated to a local man who wrote a story about a sailor who fell overboard and was captured by a lovesick sea monster. With the help of a mermaid, the sailor was able to free himself and return to life above the underwaters. I'm sure there is a lot more to the story, but I have not been able to find an English copy of the book and have only found a brief description in a travel guide. Nonetheless, it was an interesting stop and we enjoyed iced lattes at a little beach shop across the street from the park.
Chao Mae Tuptim
As I mentioned above, I like searching out roadside oddities in my travels. There's the famed shoe tree in Carroll County, Arkansas; the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas; the Orange Show in Houston, Texas; Jake the Alligator Man in Long Beach, Washington; the strange artistic Gospodor sculptures along I-5 north of Longview, Washington; and the list goes on and on. With the latest addition to the growing list I must make a disclaimer and perhaps a parental advisory. (Proceed reading with caution.) Robert and I spent a weekend in Bangkok and did some sightseeing on our own. Just a short walk from the Solvay offices is the Shrine of Goddess Tuptim. This Goddess is well known as the Goddess of Fertility. Thai couples wishing for pregnancy bring gifts to this Goddess. What could be more appropriate than a penis for the goddess of fertility? How about hundreds of penises? There, I've used that word twice now! Wooden penises, concrete penises, penises draped with flowers.... I am really out of control. Robert and I took a quick look around, snapped a few pictures, and got the heck out of there.
I gave you warning! So if you are offended don't be angry with me. I just report what I see. And you have to admit, it is an interesting cultural lesson.
Another Cultural Event
Don't worry this next bit of Thai culture does not involve anatomical parts. Robert was able to get tickets to the Mariinsky Ballet performance of Don Quixote in Bangkok at the Thai Cultural Center. The performance was in honor of the King of Thailand with the approaching day of his 84th Birthday. Birthdays that are a multiple of 12 are especially important to Thai people. So for this birthday many performing companies came from all over the world for two weeks of performances dedicated to the King. His birthday is on December 5, but there are many events leading up to the actual day.
We arrived at the Thai Cultural Center to red carpets and many flowers decorating the entrance. As we walked in, we noticed many ambassadors and diplomats lined up at the door. Wow, all this for us??? We went on into the theater and waited for the performance to begin. Among the whispering of people around us, we learned that Her Majesty the Queen was attending the performance! The very performance we were seeing! The doors to the auditorium were shut, and a silence fell over the whole sold out theater. One set of doors opened, and a very beautiful young lady entered the auditorium with several others. We all stood and faced her. She was seated four rows behind us. I learned, again from others around us, this lady was a granddaughter to the King and Queen. After she was escorted to her seat, she turned and faced the balcony doors, which we commoners did as well. This time the Queen of Thailand, Queen Sirikit, was escorted to the front and center seat in the balcony. At the intermissions and the end of the play, the granddaughter and the Queen were escorted out before any of the rest of us could leave. What a grand production to witness!
I was not able to get pictures of the Queen and her granddaughter, as I would have been hastily escorted out of the theater and I'm sure held in some dimly lit cell for many years. But I did get a picture of the stage curtain and the Queen's car.
September 30
Once again we celebrate double birthdays at our house. Chloe turned 14 and Robert turned 46. Chloe and friends went to the movie Abduction starring teen heart throb Taylor Lautner. Smyth, Lilli, Robert, and I went to see Cars 2 to celebrate Robert's birthday. After the movies we all met and had dinner at Chloe's favorite Italian restaurant Pan Pan.
Every year I get a picture of Chloe on Robert's lap with her birthday cake.
Chloe & Co.
Robert and the kids ready to dig into a black walnut cake.
A very busy and fun month comes to a close. We enjoyed spending some family time together learning a little more of the history of the country we live in, doing community service together, and celebrating birthdays. The kids enjoyed a weekend home alone while Robert and I enjoyed a weekend in Bangkok alone. We foresee the next few months being just as busy and fun filled as September. We have a vacation, more birthdays, and school trips for the kids all in the planning, not to mention a trip to Arkansas for Christmas.
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