Bruce’s Visit – Part 2

Posted on 10 October 2008 by christao408

To recap the bulk of the rest of Bruce’s visit, we had a very busy several days as I played tour guide and tried to show him several different slices of our life in the kingdom:

Floating Market

After the year and a half of volunteering as an English teacher at Bangkhonthiinai village, I became very familiar with Samut Songkhram province – Thailand’s smallest – and especially the weekend nighttime floating market in the town of Amphawa. My debt of gratitude to Ajarn Yai, the former director of the school, is deep as she has been a gracious host anytime I have guests to bring to the floating market.

Ajarn Yai arranged and paid for a canal and river tour in the late afternoon, following a route that took us several kilometers down the Mae Khlong River and then cutting back through the smaller canals until we returned to the market area in Amphawa.

It was a fascinating opportunity to show Bruce “life by the water” – a fixture of central Thailand and an important cultural touchstone as so many references in language (and even driving habits!) can be traced back to Thais’ relationship with bodies of water.

Since Ajarn Yai insisted on paying for the boat ride, Tawn and I insisted on paying for dinner afterwards at a riverside restaurant. Not without a big fight, though: “I’m your big sister!” she protested, pointing to Thai custom that the puu yai – senior person – pay for dinner.

As I’ve explained to her several times, I can’t let her pay every time we have a guest in town; that’s not fair to her. Of course, “fair” is a very different concept in my mind than in hers. For Ajarn Yai, “fair” will be when we finally take her to the United States for a visit.

Road Trip – Ayuthaya

Long before Bruce arrived, we had discussed a road trip to Thailand’s wine country – Nakhon Ratchasimaa province, also known as Korat. Yes, we do have a small wine industry and as we found out, they produce some decent wine.

We started out in Ayuthaya, the second capital of the Kingdom of Siam. Located about ninety minutes north of Khrungthep, the city is full of ruins including a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our first stop was Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, above and right, on the south side of the city. Quieter than many of the other temples, it was famous as a place for meditation and still houses a large community of monks and nuns. The large chedi or stupa is still intact and you can climb it for quite a view.

After lunch and a stop at the Ayuthaya Historical Study Center, a decent museum that helps put the ancient city into context, complete with scale models of how the city looked before it was ransacked by the Burmese in 1767, we headed to see some of the ruins.

In the 17th Century, the city had a million inhabitants and strong trade relations with the Dutch, Portuguese, English, French, Chinese and Japanese. Many Western visitors remarked how illustrious the city was, with the temples and many palace buildings decorated in the same fashion in which Khrungthep’s Grand Palace is.

Back out into the warm pre-thunderstorm afternoon, we visited Wat Phra Si Sanphet, once the largest temple in Ayuthaya. This is the famous one with a trio of large chedis still standing in a row down the center of the park. The surrounding walls have tumbled down, whether a result of the Burmese cannon fire or just a matter of time and weather.

There were surprisingly few visitors and Bruce was able to film a lot of video footage on his new camera while Ken and I tried to remain in the shade of the magnolia trees. Afterwards, we stopped at a nearby market to watch the making of roti sai mai – a dessert popular among the Thai Muslim population with thin pandan leaf flavored crepes are stuffed with spun palm sugar – and, of course, to eat some.

Our last stop in Ayuthaya was the elephant kraal. North of the city, this is where the wild elephants were herded so ones could be selected for use in battle.

Today, it is where the elephants that visitors ride at the historical park are housed, bathed and fed. Run by a pair of farang women, there is a program where guests can stay several days in cottages and learn more about the elephants while helping out with the chores.

We arrived at feeding time, with a pair of elephants unloading pickup trucks full of grass and bringing it to the other elephants. For the most part, it looks like the grass is ground up before being served to the elephants, using a cement mixer as a gigantic food processor. The elephants that were doing the heavy lifting occasionally snagged a few blades as a snack, having to be urged back to work by their mahouts, or guides.

A baby elephant gets a shower while playing around and trying to drink the water.

Road Trip – Pak Chong

We continued to the northeast of Ayuthaya about two hours, arriving in the small town of Pak Chong shortly after dark. Pak Chong is the first city you reach in Nakhon Ratchasimaa province and serves as the gateway to Khao Yai National Park, Thailand’s oldest and second largest. Pak Chong at sunrise:

We found a relatively new tourist class hotel. It was clean and the beds were comfortable, so for 700 baht a night (about US$20) it seemed like a pretty good deal. This far outside of the big cities, I think our options are limited. The receptionist suggested a really nice restaurants that is located on the banks of a small river. Decorated along the lines of a Cracker Barrel restaurant, the restaurant served pretty good northeastern Thai food, although the grilled chicken was a bit tough.

Khao Yai National Park

Tuesday morning we started out early and drove the hour up to Khao Yai National Park. We were afforded gorgeous views and lots of lush foliage.

From a view point looking north back towards Pak Chong.

There is a lot of wildlife in the park, including a herd of 200-300 wild elephants. While we didn’t see any elephants, we did encounter several other animals including a few monkeys and deer.

At one stop, there is a salt lick that “Friends of the Park” – a volunteer organization – created so that animals would have a place to eat their minerals in good view of the road. The salt lick is shown above and below is the accompanying warning sight at the viewing point.

It reads, “Do not walk to the Salt Lick – you smell bad to wildlife.” Ain’t that the truth?

After stopping at the interpretive center we decided to take a short walk behind the center to see a waterfall. Our information was bad and we ended up taking the long way around.

Imagine, if you will, that the interpretive center was at noon on a clock face. We started walking along the trail, only to eventually discover that the waterfall was at the eleven o’clock position, which we could have easily accessed if we had walked the opposite direction!

The trail was overgrown and in places, completely veered off into uncharted territory. Along the way, we discovered a bit more of the local fauna than we wanted to: leeches. Here’s a view of the leeches we acquired and the larger ones we managed to avoid.

Mostly small but those things really have a strong grip. One burrowed through my sock and was pretty firmly attached to my leg. Five days later, I still have a purple welt from where its mouth was.

The further we went, the more precarious the trail became. To be certain, the forest there is beautiful and cool, but if we hadn’t heard the sound of a waterfall in the distance, I think we would have turned back.

We arrived at the waterfall and were terribly underwhelmed. There are probably several in the park that were much more spectacular, because this one was more of a large rapids than anything else. As waterfalls go, I think the Erawan Falls in Kanchanaburi province are much nicer, especially as I didn’t encounter any leeches there.

Sadly, Bruce was the most affected by nature, suffering at least a dozen leech bites and having to pull them from between his toes. Let this be a lesson to all of us: no shorts and sandals when you are in a national park. On our way in to the park, we saw several truckloads of tourists who had these leg warmer type of padding around their legs, even though they had long pants on. I thought perhaps they were protection for snake bites but realize now that they were designed to keep leeches off you.

Tough way to learn the lesson but glad we know that for next time.

After Bruce had had enough of nature we headed down the mountain to search out a pair of wineries. They were pretty easily found and, sure enough, as you get up into that region and drive down some of the two-lane roads, you could easily imagine that you are in Sonoma County, the Barossa Valley, or another wine producing region.

Above, vineyards at PB Winery. The higher-end shiraz was pretty decent, albeit pricey. The lower-end shiraz had the bouquet of molasses and was so young as to be nearly illegal. The drive is pretty, though, and it was interesting to see what this nascent wine region is producing.

By this point in the afternoon, we were hitting some rain and decided to make one last stop before heading back to the Big Mango. Our destination was Chokchai Farms, a large cattle and dairy operation near Pak Chong.

Left, traditional “old west” farm architecture amongst the tropical foliage.

Chokchai is the most modern and productive cattle operation in Thailand and ostensibly their cows get a lot of opportunity to pasture, although I wasn’t able to take the farm tour thanks to the monsoon rains that arrived. Instead, we hunkered up in the Chokchai Steakhouse and enjoyed a good steak lunch with inexplicably overcooked vegetables. Really, they were aiming for Midwestern US cuisine with frozen carrots and green beans that had been boiled to death. Only the steamed cabbage and daikon radish were fresh.

We returned to Khrungthep around rush hour, leaving unexplored many other parts of Nakhon Ratchasimaa province that I’ll have to return to in the future. In particular, the capital city of Korat, about which I’ve heard good things, deserves some exploration.

Bruce’s Visit

Posted on 8 October 2008 by christao408

As mentioned before, we’ve had a houseguest for the past week. Bruce came for a visit from the United States and I’ve been busy playing tour guide for much of that time. We have seen a lot of things and I’ve been so much on the go that I haven’t had time to properly update the blog – especially since the political unrest here in Thailand has increased recently and deserves some attention.

Let me begin with the political situation, since some of you have already expressed your worries and concerns.

To start off, rest assured that things are still perfectly safe here. Unless you decide to go wander through the middle of the protest area (which Bruce and I did on Sunday, before all of this boiled over), life in the city is proceeding as normal.

Sunday was a local election here and one of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD – the protesters) leaders was arrested as he came out of hiding in order to vote. Realizing this would happen, he gave his supporters a letter to read after his arrest.

Subsequent to his arrest, the protests swelled in size. They expanded to include the area around the parliament building, effectively trapping members of parliament inside.

When the police moved to clear the protesters, using tear gas and – some reports say – small explosives, there were dozens of injuries and two deaths. The autopsy report on one of the deaths indicate that the decedent died as a result of injuries from an explosive she had on her person, although I don’t know how that was established.

Among the injuries were at least two people with severed limbs, providing some of the most shocking early morning news footage I’ve ever seen on television. It is not clear how the injuries happened – do tear gas cannisters provide enough explosive force to tear off the bottom part of a leg?

Some level of calm has been restored, but the PAD has insisted they are the victims here and will remain in place until they have overthrown the government. In short, the cycle will continue.

Turning our attention back to Bruce’s visit, as I mentioned, we have been very busy. Some guests just grab the map, ask me to point them towards the transit system, and are off. Other times, I get the opportunity to revisit many parts of the city with my guests.

Bruce’s friend Fai, a Thai who lived in San Francisco many years and is back in town, was able to join us for dinner shortly after Bruce’s arrival.

We met for dinner at Greyhound Cafe and had a nice visit. While we haven’t met Fai before, he was very nice and reminds us of a friend in Hong Kong.

Left: Fai, Bruce and Tawn pose on the rain-slicked concrete in front of Paragon shopping center.

Unfortunately, Fai was heading out of town so there would be no more opportunity to visit with him. So I put on the tour guide hat – actually, Bruce ended up with the hat to protect him from the sun – and we set off. One of the first stops was the obligatory trip to the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and the Temple of the Reclining Buddha – a trio of sights that are really a must-see.

Down by the river, as we waited for the boat, we saw the funny sight of a lady washing her dog in the canal. I’m not sure which was cleaner afterwards: the dog or the canal!

Bruce brought his new High Definition digital video camera with him, able to record dozens and dozens of hours of sights and sounds. No doubt he will have a lot of editing to do when he returns!

With it being off season and a thunderstorm hanging over most of the city, we found the Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha emptier – and cooler – than I have ever seen it. While Bruce did the audio tour, I sat on a marble-floored sala – a pavilion – and edited training materials for my job. With a deadline looming and still a lot of work to do, I had to squeeze every minute of work out of my time spent as a tour guide.

Passing through the Palace area, I snapped two nice photos of one of the main halls.

Truly beautiful architecture, combining Versailles windows and arches with a classical Thai roof line.

Heading over to Wat Pho – the Temple of the Reclining Buddha – we encountered several touts, helpfully informing us that the temple was closed and would we like to instead go see the giant standing Buddha. Of course, this was just a ruse to get us to go visit “gem” factories.

Visitors beware: Khrungthep is full of these shady characters. I noticed it much more this time than on previous visits to the sights and was, frankly, a bit perturbed by it. Tourism is such an important source of revenue for the kingdom that with the downturn in bookings caused by the political violence, they can scarcely afford to lose more tourists because of scams.

We were rewarded for our perseverance: at Wat Pho we saw some craftspeople restoring detailed painting along the windows and door frames. I cannot imagine the hours they must have spent, hunched over or laying on their side to add the small swirls and flourishes.

While at the temple, we stumbled upon a monk conference. Literally, it was a gathering of monks including visiting ones from China and Hong Kong. According to one monk with whom I spoke, there were 10,000 participants. They were sitting on mats surrounding the main wihan – chapel – of the temple, until the rains came and drove them under the eaves. The chanting continued, though, as more and more monks arrived by bus and taxi, streaming inside and finding their appointed places.

There is some video below.

That sums up our first day of hiking about town. There is more to share and I will try to post it as soon as possible. Meanwhile, hope everyone is doing well. I’m quite behind on checking and responding to others’ entries so my apologies if I have missed any important events.

Chris and Tawn: The Early Years

Posted on 1 October 2008 by christao408

In the process of sorting through things (I’m always trying to get rid of things I don’t need to keep anymore, sort of a reverse pack rat) I came across some CDs of photos from 2000, when Tawn and I first met.

Dating all the way back to the 4th or 5th of January 2000, here’s the first picture I ever took of Tawn.

Cute, huh? What a baby face! Here’s the photo of one of our first dinners together, taken at the now-defunct Anna’s Cafe on Soi Saladaeng.

Yes, I had glasses back in those days. But no hair. It wasn’t until the middle of 2000 that I had lasik surgery.

Tawn moved to the United States a few days before Christmas 2000 and we flew back to Kansas City to join my family for the holidays. Even back then, Tawn was warmly welcomed to the family. Here we are at my brother-in-law and sister’s old house, opening Christmas presents.

Looking back at these pictures, I don’t think we’ve changed all that much. If you look at us up close, we have a few more wrinkles and a few more grey hairs, and I’ve gained a few kilograms since then, but not all that different.

Speaking of changing looks, Tawn just had his hair cut quite short on the sides. I’m always urging him to get the sides shaved because I like the way it looks on him. He’s always very hesitant, feeling that it makes his face look too narrow. I think it accentuates his face. Here’s the picture of the new haircut. You’re welcome to share your thoughts about it.

One final one, from March 2001, shows Tawn and my good friend and former roommate Anita at a birthday party held and Brad and Donna’s former house in Sunnyvale. Nice back-lighting!

Looking more recently, almost exactly two years ago, here we are at Bua and Pom’s engagement party. Bua very thoughtfully made CDs for all her guests, containing copies of the professional photos featuring the guests and, of course, the photos of the bride and groom and wedding party. It is nice because the photos you always take yourself never turn out so nicely. I hadn’t seen these before – they were hidden away on a CD that Tawn tossed into the box of computer things.

Tawn and me with his school friend Pim and her adorable daughter Tara. Tara, who is now going on four years old, always asks after me whenever Tawn goes over for a visit. She keeps asking why I don’t have any hair.

Finally, here’s a picture of the two of us at the engagement party.

Some of the best pictures of us have been taken at weddings. It helps to have a festive atmosphere and a professional photographer. And a glass or two of wine.

Results of the Physical

Posted on 27 September 2008 by christao408

Saturday morning was spent at Bangkok Hospital, undergoing a comprehensive battery of exams, tests, pokes and prods. Hospitals here, in an effort to reach out to expatriates and more affluent Thais, offer a range of physical exams that include everything from blood tests to EKGs to chest xrays, packaged with spiffy names and discounted prices.

Tawn and I met jointly with the doctor, an affable man in his late 30s whose jeans and Hawaiiam shirt said “weekend shift”. We discussed options and agreed that a package that included an EKG and a stress test would be good, so that we can get a healthy baseline from which to measure in the future.

As for the chest xray, which seems less common in a routine physical in the United States, the doctor explained that because of the higher prevelence of tuberculosis here in Thailand, chest xrays are a standard practice to screen for the disease. Given that a single xray only gives you the equivalent of five to ten days worth of passive radiation, it seemed a small price to pay for the assurance that I do not have tuberculosis.

First off, the measurements: height, weight, blood pressure (which was initially high but a few minutes later we retook it and it was normal), and samples of various liquids including blood.

I remember when I was a child, I absolutely hated getting shots or having blood drawn. Then at some point in my life I decided that it wasn’t that painful – depends on the nurse or technician, though – and it was actually quite fascinating. So now I don’t mind at all.

While the lab work was being done, we changed into our scrubs for the stress tests. At first, I misunderstood the instructions and changed into the bottoms, too, but in fact only needed to change into the tops. Stylish, huh?

I’ve never done a stress test before and it was quite interesting. You get wired up with various monitors and a blood pressure sleeve. The wires all run to a box that is strapped around your hips with a velcro belt, then the box is connected back to a computer. Then you get on a treadmill and start walking.

Every two minutes the speed is increased and your blood pressure is taken. This continues until you reach the target heart rate, which is (I think) 90% of your theoretical maximim heart rate, based on 220 beats per minute minus your age. So I’m almost age 38, so my target was 164 beats per minute. After eight minutes at ever-increasing speeds and angles of incline, I reached my target. My blood pressure was taken again and then I started a three-minute cool down period.

The goal of the stress test is to measure not only how your pulse and blood pressure increases during exercise but how quickly they recover after the exercise is complete.

After we were done with that, we had an hour to wait until the lab work was done and we could review the results with the doctor. So we went to lunch at the cafeteria, starved after having fasted for nearly fifteen hours.

During our visit, Tawn was assaulted by the hospital mascot, who was handing out brochures for some new service. It turns out that there’s a man inside that nurse’s body, kind of a twist on what is more common in Thailand: a (female) nurse hiding inside some men’s bodies.

When we returned to meet with the doctor, the results were pretty much as I expected:

Kidney, liver, lungs, and heart all seem to be functioning fine.

Cholesterol is a little elevated (235, target is below 200), which is lower than it was five years ago but has increased a bit in the past two years.

Weight is a little high (102 kilograms, about 220 pounds) and the doctor suggests that losing about ten percent of my body weight would probably help with my post-exercise recovery, which is a bit slow.

Bottom line: start exercising more and stop eating as much of things like this quiche, which I baked on Thursday evening. Considering how expensive cheese is here, that would probably help my financial health as well!

Singing in the Shower at Alila

Posted on 23 September 2008 by christao408

After several weeks of particularly intense work in both our jobs, Tawn and I decided to take a weekend break in nearby Cha-Am. At a travel expo held at Central World Plaza a few months ago, we purchased a voucher for two nights at Alila, one of the newest luxury resorts in Thailand, at a great price.

Two hours south of Khrungthep, Alila is tucked away down a quiet road. The architecture of the seventy-room resort is modern with clean lines, sparse furnishings, and a lot of peace and quiet.

The six buildings are laid out surrounding a center complex that houses a restaurant, a spa, one of two swimming pools, a bar and a library. The complex is topped by a second restaurant that floats amidst a huge reflecting pool.

The walls of the complex are lined with steel cages containing rocks, making for a stark and dramatic visual, while the complex is flanked by footpaths that lead to the beach and a row of trees that contrast the hard and soft sides of nature.

The minimalist design is unfussy and extends to the rooms, which are spacious with very high ceilings and lots of light. They are also very high-tech with an Apple iTV in each room, loaded with your choice of movies and music – they actually contact you before your stay and ask for your preferences of genres.

Despite the stark design, there are many cozy touches: tea candles, incense burners, an essential oil diffuser, and several light settings from “welcome” to “intimate” so you can set the desired mood.

The highlight has to be the bathroom, with its large windows, stand-alone bathtub, and the shower, which is situated in the middle of the room, in the open, with water that falls from the ceiling like an April storm. We wanted to take some pictures to convey the fun nature of the shower and thankfully there were some umbrellas located near the front door.

After settling into the hotel, we headed to “Red” (the pool-side bar) for the complimentary afternoon tea. It was crowded so the hostess suggested that we might light to take our tea in the adjacent library. Shortly after the tea arrived, the hostess returned and said that a table had opened up and asked whether we would like to move.

After an early dinner of Thai food at “Clouds”, the open-air restaurant that overlooks the reflecting pool, we called it a night and tried to catch up on all the sleep we’ve missed out on over the past few weeks.

We woke up bright and early in the morning, ready to attend the one-hour yoga class taught around the heated pool in the sanctuary-like spa. It was a good workout and stimulated our appetites for breakfast.

Left, the stairway from the downstairs restaurant to the upstairs “Clouds”.

The misty, cool weather of our evening arrival had given way to a sunny and warm morning. There was a stiff ocean breeze, though, so the heat was tolerable.

Breakfast was a buffet, as it seems is normally the case at almost every hotel and resort in Thailand. The selection of food – Thai, Chinese, and Western – was extensive and the quality was very good. It turns out that the chef is a farang and one result of this is that the quality of the baked goods is very high. The croissants were magnificent and Tawn had sandwiches twice during our stay, just to enjoy the really good bread.

After our late breakfast – and a suitable period of waiting – I enjoyed the pool area for a swim. The water was very warm, so I didn’t swim that long, but the design of the area is very relaxing and peaceful.

We spent part of our day relaxing in the room watching some movies and reading. Then, when the sun had moved a bit more to the west, we went to the beach and enjoyed the sand and water. It started to mist lightly, which added a rainbow to our beach view.

We returned to the room for a mid-afternoon snack and another movie. This was a deconstructed caesar salad and a bowl of wild mushroom soup. Very tasty.

As sunset neared, we returned upstairs to Clouds, taking a sofa on the marble-clad deck to watch the water and sip some cocktails and share a club sandwich.

As the sun lowered towards the mountains that separate this narrow stretch of Thailand from Burma, they back-lit the dark clouds of the afternoon thunderstorm that approached us but mercifully swung to the north of us.

The mosquitos, which had largely been absent the night before, were out and several sprays of a lemongrass solution didn’t dissuade them so we headed indoors for dinner. One very nice thing was that the restaurants didn’t charge a corkage fee and we had brought two bottles with us to enjoy over the weekend.

From top left, clockwise: Mashed potatoes, breadsticks, T-bone steak with onion relish, a pair of fish sandwiches.

For dessert, we enjoyed a fresh fruit sabayon with crushed pistachio nuts on top, and a “floating island” with fresh berries on a vanilla pudding.

On our way back to the room, Tawn considered a late night dip in the pool. Thankfully, I was able to talk him out of it.

Here’s a video recap of the weekend:

We really enjoyed our stay at Alila and it reinforced that we should do more of these weekend getaways, as it makes for a wonderful mental break from our busy lives.

Tawn’s Birthday

Posted on 23 September 2008 by christao408

Tawn’s birthday was last Wednesday, so we went out for dinner at Lenôtre Paris, a Parisian outfit that has several cafe locations here in Bangkok. Owned by the Accor Group (Sofitel Hotels, Ibis Hotels, Motel 6), the chain offers a nice taste of French cuisine and very nice baked goods.

Early afternoon, Tawn text messaged his father, inviting his parents to join us for dinner. Beforehand, I cautioned against him getting his hopes up. Not surprisingly, Tawn’s father responded that he didn’t feel comfortable joining us for dinner and declined the invitation.

We made it a fun evening on our own, though, visiting the small location on Soi Thong Lor, the next block over from us and just a short drive further down the street.

Thanks to the drizzly weather, there were few diners, a great deal of privacy and, subsequently, very attentive service. We sat on the second floor overlooking the wet pavement and reflected lights as the busy evening traffic crept up and down the street.

Shortly after ordering, an amuse bouche arrived, breaded morsels of cheese on pea shoots. A tasty way to warm up our taste buds for the meal to come.

As an entree we shared the “Paris-Bangkok” plate: a small portion of duck confit, a cream of asparagus soup, a salade nicoise, and a goose liver pate. This was the culinary highlight of the meal, nicely prepared and packed with flavor.

For my main course I had the lamb chops with mashed potatoes and snow peas. I requested the lamb medium-rare and I think is was a bit underdone. While flavorful, one piece was particularly tough to eat. The connective tissue had not been sufficiently cooked and so there was a lot of chewing. It wasn’t bad but I’d probably not spend the money on this dish again.

Tawn ordered a fettucini carbonara, which for some reason he mis-read as having salmon in it. Instead, it arrived with lots of pork belly (bacon) that hadn’t been cooked enough to render more of the fat. The result was a particularly oily version of a dish that is already heavy. Again, the flavor was fine but it settled into one’s stomach with a rather solid “clunk”.

Finally, our dessert arrived, a Grand Marnier souffle that was wonderfully light and eggy, with a raspberry sorbet “lolipop”. While I was taking pictures, the bottom of the candle melted in the heat of the souffle, resulting in a waxy blue streak through the side of the dessert. Oh, well… happy birthday!

Crossing Asoke

Posted on 22 September 2008 by christao408

The airport link rail line, which will connect Suvarnabhumi International Airport (which opened almost exactly two years ago) to the center of the city, is taking shape. Even though it still has at least another year to go – probably more like two – it is exciting to see some progress being made.

After my return from the United States, I noticed that the construction of the tracks crossing Asoke Road was finally taking place. The viaducts on either side were completed first and finally the construction workers inched forward to build this connecting span.

Last week I stopped by the intersection early on a wet morning to take a look.

The first thing I saw was this monk, waiting halfway across the street, standing on the State Railway of Thailand tracks, for a break in the oncoming traffic. A minute later, there was a break and he continued across the street.

Above: This is the bridge itself or, more accurately, the three bridges. The new in-city airport terminal (where you can check in for your flights before taking the train to the airport) is just out of the frame to the left of the picture. We are looking here from the southeast corner of the intersection of Asoke and the frontage road that runs along the railway track, towards the northwest.

Above: The bridges are very high and I was amazed to see this worker standing there without any safety harness.

I walked a little further up Asoke to peer over the construction site fence and see how the terminal itself is progressing, below.

It looks like the terminal walls have been completed, but the structure over the tracks is still being done. Also, ramps and much of the other infrastructure remains to be done. My understanding is the large lot around the building will be developed with car parks underneath and office, retail and other commercial space nearby.

In the distance you can see Baiyoke II Tower, the tallest building in Thailand and the tallest structure between Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

Posted on 17 September 2008 by christao408

The other evening I made pizza at home. Homemade pizza dough is so easy, I don’t know why more people don’t make it at home.

We also went to the grand opening party of a new Italian-Thai fusion bistro that is literally across the street from us. The owner is someone Tawn knows from work, having used one of his other businesses – a tea shop – for several press events.

The place is very cute and I’ll have to get some pictures to share with you. It actually looks a bit like our place but much larger and white is used much more throughout.

We thought it would be nice to bring a gift, since it was a personal invitation from the owner, so we brought an orchid with our business cards attached to a ribbon.

What do you think is the biggest mistake that people tend to make in relationships?

Posted on 17 September 2008 by christao408

During the course of all relationships, people make one of two mistakes:

Mistake #1: Being too focused on yourself and not focused enough on the other person. The tough thing about relationships is that you are no longer the center of the universe. You have to find a way to share that spotlight with another person. For many people, it is difficult to remember that and so you subconsciously (or not so subconsciously) keep the spotlight trained on yourself, to the neglect of your partner. No matter how understanding the other person is, or how much they are too focused on you instead of themselves (see Mistake #2, below), it will eventually sow the seeds of conflict that, if not weeded out, will choke the relationship’s growth.

Mistake #2: Being too focused on the other person and not focused enough on yourself. This is the situation where people end up in abusive or co-dependent relationships. For any number of reasons (“I don’t deserve love”, “He’s so good to me”, “He’s so great in bed”, “That’s my role in my culture”) some people put up with an unbelievable amount of crap in a relationship, being subservient to the wishes and desires of their partner, tolerating unacceptable behavior and feeling meek and miserable about it. No matter how great that other person is or how fearful you are that if you leave, you’ll be alone, people need to stand up for their rights in a relationship, for their dignity and equality.

There may be some people who manage to make both mistakes in a single relationship, but I think generally they are more likely to be inclined to one or the other mistake. They good news: we can correct the mistakes we make and even if we have to do so several times before learning our lesson, we can learn the lesson and go on to a much healthier and happier relationship.

I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!

Photo Exhibit for His Majesty the King

Posted on 16 September 2008 by christao408

At the Paragon shopping mall there is a photo exhibit on display, the results of a nationwide contest. The contest was held on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s 80th birthday last year and the photos were judged on different themes. There was a category of pictures specifically honoring the Thai’s devotion to their king. Another category was of general “life in Thailand”. Another was for nature photos.

The lighting wasn’t great, so I was limited as to which pictures I could capture with my camera. Here are a selection of the more interesting shots. The first two and the final one were noted finalists in the contest.

This first one is particularly interesting. Titled The Father’s Son, it was selected as an example of how people take His Majesty’s “Sufficiency Economy” theory very literally – to the extent of squeezing out the final drop of toothpaste from a tube. This picture appealed to me because that’s exactly what my father taught me when I was a child, to the extent of cutting the tube open to get every last bit out. How’s that for fiscally prudent Midwestern values?

This second photo shows a gaggle of preschool / kindergarten aged children wildly waving the Thai national flag and the yellow flag of King Rama IX.

Above, a special celebration around Songkhran (the Thai new year) at the largest Buddhist complex in Thailand, located on the outskirts of Khrungthep (Bangkok).

Above, a monk collecting alms from a soldier not long after the coup in September 2006.

The lighting was poor, so I didn’t capture this one very well, but the actual picture is very sharp. It is taken at the installation of a new Buddha statue at a temple, where community members and workers have a “laying on” of hands during a blessing. Interesting angle.