Was up quite early for a Saturday morning to prepare for a bike ride in the countryside.  This customized Spiceroads tour was 45 km starting in Min Buri, a northeast suburb of Khrungthep.  We rode with a couple we’ve recently met, Tam and Markus, and Tam’s younger sister Poun.  Coincidentally, Markus is from San Francisco, too.

Our guide was the same one I had on my last Spiceroads trip, and once again we had a fun adventure.  It was sunny most of the day and clouded up and started raining only once we were in the canal boat on the way home.

Pictures for your enjoyment – I’ll add some video clips soon as we saw a few things that really need movement to be properly conveyed.

Above left: Tam and Poun engaged in a struggle right out of a Greek myth.  Above right: Tam, Markus, Poun and Tawn pose as our bikes are assembled.  Below: The gang is ready to go: Tawn, Chris, Markus, Poun, and Tam

Left: Along the way we stopped and walked about 50m back into the jungle to see a large nest of bats.  They were everywhere and quite active, flying from tree to tree.  I shot some video and will include it in a later post.

Below left: Tawn at a rest stop, a pavillion overlooking the rice paddies.

Below right: Lunch!  We stop for traditional central Thai food at a roadside restaurant.  Dishes include an omlette, deep-fried fish, stir fried prawns, and tom yum goong soup.  Yummy.

Above and below: We arrived at one temple to find a procession of about 100 villagers including a jazz combo that would have been at home at a New Orleans funeral.  The lively procession was leading three young men through the steps to becomming monks.  The young men are wearing so-called “naga” robes, named after the nine-headed serpent that protected Buddha from evil spirits.  They will don the saffron robes in a ceremony tomorrow.  Note the shaved eyebrows.

Above: We met a long-tailed boat take us about 45 minutes back to the mosque from which we originally set out.  Below: Back at the mosque, tired and exhausted, we pose for a few more pictures.  In the final picture, our guide is on the right.

Sunday afternoon Tawn and I drove up to Ayuttahya province, about an hour north of Bangkok, to the country estate of Pim’s parents.  Pim, Tawn’s friend since high school, is the mother of a adorable one-year old who serves as my surrogate niece here in Thailand since my two nieces are 8,000 miles away.

The estate, called Khum Tawan, means “Estate of the Sun” and is a very large complex with a lake, a canal, large gardens, and an entertainment villa overlooking the lake.  It is very nice.

Here are some pictures and a video segment I shot.

Left: Tawn and Pim   Right: Tawn and Chris   Below: Tara and her nanny play with her mobile phone

Above: Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, Tara, and Dad.  Below Left: Tara and her cake  Below Right: Tawn, Tara and Pim with Tara’s birthday present from us.

The video is quite large, about 13mb.

(With all due respect to the Thais, who don’t consider Thailand a “foreign” land.)

Over the past seven months of living in Thailand, one of the biggest challenges and one that I haven’t always consciously acknowledged, is that of not really having many friends here.

To be certain, I’ve been very fortunate to have Tod as someone who not only makes a good Thai tutor, but has also been a fun companion and good listener, being able to provide me with the balanced perspective of a Thai who has lived overseas for a decade.

Then there’s Masakazu and Mitsu, but they seem to always be unavailable as Masa flies for United and is away for twenty or more days a month.

And Tawn is certainly not without friends, all of whom have been kind and hospitable towards me.

But it is different than having a full set of friends here.  While I’ve never been the type of person who is in regular contact with all my friends – undoubtedly they are nodding their head as they read this – knowing they’re there has always been a source of comfort and support.

So in the past few months, since returning from the United States in March, I’ve been actively looking for more opportunities to make new friends.  The time spent is starting to pay off.  I’ve made friends with a fellow student at Union Language School, a Japanese guy named Kaz who has a Thai partner.  Also, I’ve met a Thai guy name Tam whose partner, Markus, is from San Francisco. 

Slowly, the connections are being made.  These things take time, right?

Today Kaz and I ate lunch at a small Thai restaurant (outdoor place) whose proprietor was the poor Issan version of the character Beverly Leslie (played by Leslie Jordan) on Will & Grace.   Funny audio clip from the character.  If you know the series and the character, you’ll know what I mean.  Otherwise, the reference will be lost on you and it isn’t worth explaining in any detail.

Mission: Impossible

For the next eight weeks or so, our 36-story building will be undergoing exterior painting.  We’ve been informed that painters will be working on our balconies through a one-month period on our side of the building, so the balconies are to be cleared off.

The problem is, this is where I wash and dry my laundry!  I can’t very well go a month without doing laundry.

So I’ve been trying to wash in small batches, looking above and below the balcony to guage whether the workers will be in our vicinity on any given afternoon.

The odd thing is, these guys aren’t using a traditional scaffolding: they’re just on a wooden seat dangling over the side of the building.

End of the Party

The tide of yellow shirts (worn because yellow is the color associated with Monday, the day of the week on which His Majesty the King of Thailand was born) has started to thin.  They are here and there, maybe ten percent of the people are still wearing them, but it is no longer the nearly one-hundred percent of people that we saw last weekend.

There is still a warm afterglow here in the Kingdom.  Thais are very proud of the coverage this event received around the world.  Most of it was quite positive, although I did run across a very disturbing message board on FARK.com (2bangkok.com first highlighted this to bring it to people’s attention) in which people, mostly farang, are discussing the anniversary celebrations.  The following comment, from “Nickthegun” in Oxford, England, pretty effectively illustrates some of the ignorance that was posted there:

“So, yeah, they love their king. Although it is kind of sickening to see some of the shiat the thai people have to live in and yet they still worship some guy in a golden palace who never wears the a pair of socks more than once….”

And an equally ignorant comment from “Hercules,” location not identified:

“I hate anyone being deified like the Thai people and their royal family.
I don’t care two hoots for the king. You can’t force me to respect him, you silly people.”

What is it with these people?  How about you at least get some accurate information before you start bad-mouthing a nation of 60 million people?

Fortunately, there were several responses from farang who had lived (or are still living) in Thailand, who provided some much needed balance to the messages, pointing out that the King has earned the respect and admiration of his people through sixty years of working hard on their behalf, putting his education and knowledge to work through a wide variety of agricultural, social, and scientific programs.

Being here has really allowed me to see something that I can say is certainly missing in the United States: a national leader who works selflesssly on behalf of the citizens and exhibits true moral leadership.  There’s not a single politican in the United States who I can think of at the moment who would fall into that category.  As for other countries in the world, I’d love to hear your nominations for moral leaders.  Anyone?

Rain and More Rain

This rainy season has been quite warm, but the past few days we’ve been having afternoon showers.  Today, in fact, the rain dropped the temperature a full six degrees, bringing it from a uncomfortable 34 C (93.4 F) to a more reasonable 28 C (82.4 F) by the time we arrived home about six o’clock. 

Rain clouds move fast here.  It doesn’t just start to lightly rain; it just cuts loose all of the sudden like the crumbling of a dam.  Here’s a short video showing how in the course of just two minutes, the sky gets much, much darker and visibility goes from about 1-2 km to being able to only see the next building over.

If you’d like to see some good pictures (better than I could take) of the barge procession, here’s a link to the Daily News website.

Included are some pictures of the light and sound show that was held on Saturday night.  The royal guests were able to see this but largely it was not visible from most points along the river.

Friday the 9th was His Majesty the King’s (yes, I realize I’m saying that as if I were Thai – When in Rome, do as the Romans) sixtieth anniversary on the throne.  In addition to a massive celebration for the public staged at and around the Sanam Luang parade ground across from the Grand Palace, the Royal Thai Navy completed the final dress rehearsal of the Royal Barge Procession that will be performed for His Majesty and visiting dignitaries (including royalty from twenty nations) on Monday the 12th.

Here’s a link to the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s webpage giving a lot more information about the barge processions.  I’ll provide a summary of the information here:

“The Royal Barges of the Kingdom of Thailand are the last of their kind in the world. One of the kingdom’s grandest spectacles, the Royal Barge Procession on the Chao Phraya River, the ‘River of Kings’, is an ancient tradition that was revived by His Majesty King Bhumibol in 1959. This breathtaking water-borne procession is reserved for nationally auspicious occasions and has been held fourteen times during the His Majesty’s reign.”

“On this auspicious occasion of the Sixtieth Anniversary Celebrations of His Majesty the King’s Accession to the Throne in 2006, monarchs and head of states from 29 nations from around the world will be joining Their Majesties the King and Queen as royal guests. The Grand Royal Barge Procession being organised by the Royal Thai Navy on June 12, 2006 to mark the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of His Majesty the King’s Accession to the Throne is set to be the grandest ever held in recent times.”

“The Royal Barge Procession is the ultimate reflection of the Thai fascination with water, the central element in Thailand’s rites of passage, festivals, and religion. …”

“The [52] barges, arrayed across the river in what is traditionally termed a battle formation, create a panorama of rare regal splendour. The blare of conches and trumpets, the songs of the coxswains, and the stentorian chants of the paddlers provide the right cadence for the oar strokes, enhance the spectacle, and mesmerize spectators into respectful silence – much as these same rare sounds have done for hundreds of years.”

“The [three largest] barges Suphannahongse, Anantanagaraj and Anekchatbhuchong are each manned by fifty oarsmen, two helmsmen, two officers and one flagman. The silver and gold paddles are raised high in unison at the end of each stroke, regulated by a rhythm keeper who taps the butt of his silver spear on the deck in time with the chanting of boat songs. [More than] 2,100 navy men manned the 52 barges in the procession.”

“The Narai Song Suban, King Rama IX has a figurehead of the god Narai on his celestial transport, a Garuda. … This new barge is of the same rank as the Royal Barges Anantanagaraj and Anekchatbhuchong. The barge is 44.30 metres long, 3.20 metres at the beam and 1.10 metres deep with a draught of .40 metres. …”

Tickets for the official viewing stands sold out weeks ago, but after a little exploration I found a promising vantage point: there was a small crowd waiting outside the gate for the old Internal Trade Department offices, which are slated for demolition.  Joining the crowd to wait, there were ticket holders who were allowed through the crowd, and there seemed to be the promise that the gates would be opened after all ticket holders had arrived.

A few times while waiting, vehicles pulled up and slowly eased through the crowd, police officers holding back the crowds while the gates were opened just sufficiently to allow the vehicles through.  Finally, though, the momentum of the crowd gathered and the officers were unable to hold us back as we pushed the gates open.  I was filming as this happened, caught up in the tide.  Honestly, I was a little worried because I didn’t know how the officers would react.  There were several seconds of heightened alertness as I waited for shots to be fired.

Thankfully, there was no violence and the officers finally conceeded to the forces of nature, no longer straining to hold back the human tide.

The situation on the banks of the Chao Praya River was quite good: the crowd was large and the land was flat, so views were a little less than ideal.  But we could see the whole river before us, from the ancient spires of Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn) to the Royal Thai Navy Harbour Department further upriver.  Heavy clouds threatened rain and blocked the sun and the breeze kept us comfortable.

As the first barges slowly moved past the crowd, the air was filled with the haunting echos of the chanting used to keep the rowers synchronised, a reminder that instead of just being a tourist spectacle, this is an ancient and extant tradition rooted in the religion and culture of the Thai people. 

The final barges in this 1.2-kilometer long procession glided past some 45 minutes later as the sun sunk into the western horizon.  Slowly, some of the crowd headed back toward Sanam Luang.  Others stayed by the river, reflecting on what they had witnessed.  It was evident by looking at the crowd, almost all Thai and many of them mature adults, that they had a deep appreciation of the moment and the importance of the occassion.

Below is a large (19mb) video segment that shows highlights from the procession.  It will give you a taste of the experience.

After the procession, some of the sailors were walking back upriver in their full dress costumes.  People in the crowd stopped them, asking to pose with them for pictures.  The sailors, many of whom come from poor families in the countryside, didn’t seem to know what to do with all the attention but gamely posed for the pictures as long as anyone asked.

In addition to the barge procession, there were festivities occurring throughout Rattanakosin Island (old city).  During the day there were displays and activities, including free haircuts as part of a employment program His Majesty had established.  This is one of many different schemes he has set up to assist the least fortunate of his subjects.

In the evening, there was an event at Sanam Luang with three large, rock concert-sized stages.  Frist there were speeches and then a candlelight ceremony at 19:19 (7:19 pm), a auspicious time for the ninth king of the Chakri dynasty.  The King’s Anthem was played and the entire crowd – I would estimate between 300,000 and 500,000 people – sang the anthem as they held the candles high.

The entire length of Thanon Ratchadamnoen – purposefully designed by King Rama V in the style of Les Champs Elysées in Paris – from Sanam Luang past the Democracy Monument to the Metal Palace at Mahakan Fort – was packed with people.  Only a single lane of traffic was able to creep along in most areas.  Along the way, a lone McDonalds was overrun with hungry, yellow-shirted subjects.

After the ceremony at Sanam Luang concluded and before the concerts began, there was a spectacular fireworks display, first launched over the Grand Palace and then launched at the opposite end of Sanam Luang, surrounding the crowds with brilliant colors.

With the Iron Palace and Wat Ratchanatda as a backdrop, a musical and dance performance was conducted for visiting dignitaries.  There were traditional Thai dancers, a flag squad, a 30-meter long Chinese dragon, video images projected on a water screen, live musicians, and a laser light show dancing overhead.

By this point, I had cosumed my camera’s entire memory card and was hot and sweaty from several hours of traipsing around.  Traffic was choked and the number of pedestrians so thick that any chance of finding a taxi or tuk-tuk was nonexistant.  So I started walking, relying mostly on instinct and one glance at the map, weaving past Thip Sa Mai restaurant with its world-famous pad thai, across Khlong Ong Ang, and through Chinatown before finally arrived at the Hualamphong train and subway station.

Sorry for the back-and-forth nature of this week’s entries but I wanted to provide you with both the latest and most up-to-date information on the happenings here in Bangkok, while at the same time delivering a recap of my trip to Hong Kong.

On Tuesday I was scheduled to fly home from Hong Kong to Bangkok at 8:45 in the evening.  Figuring that a late arrival would not be a lot of fun, I called the THAI Airways ticket office in Hong Kong and asked whether I could standby for an earlier flight.  The response I received was a little non-committal and it sounded like the best bet was to go ahead, check in, and see what the agent at the airport said.

Fortunately, Hong Kong has a really nice Airport Express train service that includes check-in services on both Hong Kong Island as well as in Kowloon.  So I took a taxi to the Central Airport Express terminal, which is tied into the new IFC building (the tall building in the center of this picture) and mall complex, and checked in.

Unfortunately, the agent there told me that because of my ticket type (mileage award travel) I could not make changes once I had already started travel.  I think that if the agent had actually been an employee of THAI (this was a Cathay Pacific employee working on their behalf), he or she might have looked at the loads for an earlier flight and said, “okay, there’s a seat we’re not going to have filled so let’s go ahead and put you on that flight.”

Since an earlier flight was not an option and heading back to Chris and Tehlin’s house would have been cumbersome, I went ahead and explored option “D”: Disneyland.

The previous day, Big Michael told me that he, his sister, and her boyfriend would be going out to Disneyland using some free passes from a friend who works there in Human Resources.  He invited me along, but I had declined thinking I would be taking an earlier flight home.  My plans had changed, though, so I called him up to see if the offer was still available.

So after killing some time with rides on the Star Ferry and on the HK Island Tram, stopping at the general post office to mail some postcards, and eating breakfast, I took the MTR out to Sunny Bay on Lantau Island, where I connected to the MTR Disneyland Shuttle.

The Disneyland Shuttle is a spur line that connects from the futuristic Sunny Bay station to a point about a five-minute walk from the front gate of Disneyland.  The Sunny Bay station is also unique in that it is the only MTR station that has open-air platforms, the rest being enclosed with glass walls and doors.

Left: Sunny Bay MTR station

Here are a few shots of the specially-designed Disneyland Shuttle train.  While the same basic design as used on the rest of the MTR, the seats are plusher and laid out into little seating areas that are good for families and groups of people.  The interior has starry skies painted (or actually adhesed as these are stickers) onto the ceiling, and statuettes of various Disney characters.  The most noticeable thing, though, are the Mickey Mouse windows.

I met Michael and his sister and her boyfriend at the Disneyland MTR station and we proceeded to the front gate.  Michael’s friend was there with the tickets and we were soon on our way into the Magic Kingdom.

Above: Big Michael on Main Street USA; Chris at the same point but looking back at the train station.

Since its opening, the Hong Kong press has criticized HK Disneyland for failing to meet attendance expectations.  The crowds were very light on Tuesday, although the weather was not the best so that could explain some of it.  That said, I don’t think we waited more than five minutes for any ride.

Speaking of rides, HK Disneyland has many fewer rides than the other Disney parks to which I’ve been.  They are already in the process of adding two additional rides (including an Autorama) to the park, but each of the three themed areas (only three, no Frontierland) have maybe two or three major attractions along with a few other ones.

For example, there is Space Mountain, a Toy Story inspired Space Blasters ride that uses the ride technology from the Haunted Mansion (a conveyer belt of pods that can be rotated), the Jungle Cruise, the Magic Teacups, and the Dumbo ride.  But there is no Splash Mountain, Matterhorn, or Indiana Jones ride.

Space Mountain is a true recreation of the original with a good queuing system, great music effects, and it is a lot of fun.  While in line a short video shows on overhead flat panel screns providing an introduction to the safety procedures for the ride.  It rotates through Mandarin, Cantonese, and English and has two narrators who take turns speaking: a woman and a man.  They are interesting because their accents are flawless (Big Michael verified the Canto and Mandarin for me) and they both have a pan-Asian sort of look.  A very Disney choice.  Plus they are wearing these cool futuristic jumpsuits.

The Jungle Cruise as very well done with some added fire and water technology that maybe has been included in the original Disneyland and Disneyworld rides but which I had never seen before.  The cruise is integrated into the Tarzan’s Island attraction, which replaced Tom Sawyer’s Island from the original Disneyland.  Left: Jungle Cruise passes Tarzan’s Island.

The video below includes some scenes from the Jungle Cruise.  It also includes the over-use of the word, “cool.”  Sorry that I couldn’t come up with any more original description.

The highlight of the day was the Lion King Festival, an indoor show that basically condensed the entire story of the Lion King into a 25-minute spectacular with a cast of about 30 people.  Situated in a theatre-in-the-round, it looks like nothing so much as a Cirque du Soleil production.  There are even cool fire effects.  It was well put-together and the way that language issues were dealt with was interesting: the songs were in English as was the main narration, but there were two “monkey” characters who served as sort of a chorus to amplify (but not repeat exactly) the narration in Mandarin.  Overhead monitors provided supertitles in simplified Chinese characters for Cantonese speakers.

The most noticable thing about the park was that the castle is very small.  Maybe this is just my faulty memory, but I recall the castle in the original Disneyland as being bigger and, especially, taller.  This castle seemed downright puny, especially when viewed against the backdrops of the mountains on Lantau Island.

The picture above that shows Big Michael on Main Street USA illustrated the point well; the castle looks like it is so far away from him, but it is only about a three-minute walk!

So by six o’clock I had ridden everything, some things twice, had watched a show, had dodged a thundershower, had eaten a Char Siew pork burger, and done battle with a stubborn ketchup packet resulting in stains on my shirt and pants.  It was time to head to the airport.

All in all, Hong Kong Disneyland is a very nice park and upholds the Disney standards of cleanliness and friendliness quite well.  People are a little less perky than their counterparts at other parks, but good overall.  Until it has more attractions, though, the incentive to be a repeat customer is pretty minimal.

Just returned home about midnight after having walked several kilometers from Sanam Luang (in front of the Grand Palace) to Khao San Road then all the way through Chinatown to Hualamphong Station.  I actually filled up my entire memory card (512mb) in a single afternoon and evening shooting pictures and short video segments of the Rama IV’s 60th Anniversary celebrations.

There were hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people at the celebrations.  I’ll write more about it after a good night’s sleep, but here are some preview pictures:

The Thai flag and the Chakri Dynasty flag

Royal Barge Procession (dress rehearsal for Monday’s full state ceremony)

The Grand Palace at dusk as tens of thousands of people walk past from the river side to the grounds at Sanam Luang

Crowds gather along Thanon Ratchadamnoen with the festive gates and lights

There was so much going on and so many things to do while in Hong Kong.  Here are some observations and other parts of the trip that haven’t fit into earlier reports.

Chris and Tehlin, the couple with whom I stay, live in the Bel-Air Residences, a series of towers build right along the coastline on the south side of Hong Kong Island, just about a 5-minute drive west of Aberdeen and a minute east of Cyberport.  They live in the second phase of what I believe will be a four-phase development.  The third phase is being built across the street from them, literlly blasted into the bedrock of the island.

Here is a view from their kitchen window (a very nice kitchen and huge by HK standards) of the construction of phase three.  Notice how the very large backhoe in the lower left of the picture is dwarfed by the enormous size of the hillside. 

Proof that wherever there is land in Hong Kong, there is some money to be made no matter the obstacles.

On Friday evening when I had my two dinners, the first one was at Peking Garden in Central.  I didn’t include this picture with my earlier entry about the dinner, but the chef came out to the dining room and made hand-pulled noodles.  I’ve seen this done before at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s Japantown and it is really neat to watch.  The noodles have a wonderful texture, very toothy, and are so much better than machine-pulled noodles.

I also really liked that the group of diners in the picture were a group of middle-aged women who were having a marvelous time, enjoying each others’ company.  It is always nice when friends get together over a meal and have a good time.

On Monday morning, which I’ll talk about some more in tomrrow’s entry as there was a lot that happened, I had a few hours to kill so I did two of my favourite inexpensive sightseeing activities: riding the cross-harbour Star Ferry and riding the Island Tram.

The Island Tram operates several lines up and down Queensway Road running from Kennedy Town in the west to Shau Kei Wan in the east with a side branch running to Happy Valley.  This 100-year old operation is one of only three tramways still running in the world of this type, and it is the only one to operate exclusively double-deck trams.  Most of them are in traditional, reserved colors but a few have been decked out with advertisements.

For only HKD 2.00 (about US$ 0.25) you can take the 25-minute ride from one end of the line to the other, sitting in breezy comfort in the low-ceiling upper deck.  Unlike all other forms of transportation in Hong Kong, on the tram you pay when exiting.

When rounding corners, it always feels like the tram is top-heavy and will topple over, but it doesn’t.  Especially if you can get a front seat, it is a fun way to take in the city.  Here’s a brief clip that shows the view from the front seats.

While on the tram, I took a series of pictures of a young man who was carrying a bouquet of lilies.  While I’m not certain, I don’t think he was a delivery person. 

So I was thinking about all the interesting stories that would explain why he was carrying that bouquet:

Where was he going?

To whom would he give the flowers?

Why was he giving them?

What do you think his story is?

In addition to riding the Tram, I took a ride across the harbour on the Star Ferry.  These distinctive green and white boats have been plying between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon for more than 100 years and with fares ranging from HKD1.70 for the lower deck to an outrageous HKD 2.20 for the partially air-conditioned upper deck, you’ll likely find this to be the best value for ten minutes you’ll find when visiting Hong Kong.

For those of you using low speed connections (Hi, Grandpa) I’m sorry that I didn’t take any still pictures of the Star Ferry, only video clips.  For those of you with high speed connections, here’s a two-minute video of the Star Ferry complete with narration.  Has anyone else noticed latent filmmaking tendencies beginning to surface in my blog, visible through the increasing use of edited video clips with voice overs?  I figure it is time I make some use of my bachelor’s degree!

Tomorrow: Hong Kong Disneyland

Just an hour ago the banks opened for business and began selling the limited-edition commemorative 60-baht note in celebration of His Majesty the King’s 60th Anniversary on the throne, which is today.

The supplies were quite limited and when I arrived at the branch it seemed unclear whether they actually had any to sell or not.  In characteristic fashion, I was told (or overheard in Thai) that they would check, that they didn’t have any, that they were checking with someone else, and then finally one employee brought one over and told me that she would give me the one she had set aside for her mother because, as she said, “I think you love my King very much.”

From L to R: Cover of the envelope, Inside of envelope, Detail of the bill.

However, I was chastised for not wearing a yellow shirt.  Yellow is the official royal colour in Thailand and there have been a series of official (and knockoff) yellow polo shirts with the royal emblem embroidered on the breast.  People have been encouraged to wear them, or any yellow shirt, to show their respect for the King this weekend.  So on the street today, about 80% of the people are wearing yellow shirts.  I’ll try to get some pictures.

This evening is the final dress rehearsal for the royal barge procession.  I’m going to head down to the river and dry to find a good viewing spot, probably around Thammasat University.  Will post any good pictures that I take.