On the River to the Grand Palace Day 3 Part 1

Well, here we are, back to Bangkok. Monday the 27th we went on the river to go to the Grand Palace. We met some friends and walked down to the pier. Somehow we got mistaken for TOURISTS, no idea how the people got that impression. Anyways, we were hustled onto the tourist boat instead of the regular boat. The main difference between the two was that on the tourist boat there was a guy mumbling into a loud speaker that we couldn't hear and the small fact that the tourist boat costs 40 baht as opposed to 15-20 baht on the regular boat. Anyways, we made the most of it and took plenty of tourist-type pictures. Since we were on the boat and all.
Now before you get too excited, this isn't our boat. Many of the hotels on the river have a boat that will ferry you to the hotel if you want. For free apparently. Our boat was less glamorous and somehow I forgot to take a picture of it. Shocking since I take pictures of everything else.

We saw lots of interesting buildings. This is the Chee Chin Khor Moral Up-Lifting Benefiction Foundation. Now I don't know what that means, but is sounds very important. Plus, the building was very cool too!This is the Princess Mother Memorial Park. We didn't stop.
I call this one "Small Pink Building with Colorful Swirlies." Maybe I should be a consultant for naming important structures. What do you think?
You know how people in the states will try to imitate Asian architecture and decorating styles? And how it doesn't usually work in our landscapes and western houses? It soooo works here. Look at this cool set of buildings!
Check out the longtail boats in this picture. Can you see how big the engines are? We will show an up close look at those in another post.

On the river you see can see the imposing buildings, but also catch a glimpse of some places that seem to have grown out of the water.
We managed to get off at the right stop, thanks to the loudspeaker we were straining to hear. We went in search of the Grand Palace. Now, here is a tip for any of our friends that may potentially come here to a touristy spot. There are unfortunately some people who are interested in taking advantage of the lost tourist. Hence, if you are lost, don't act like it. (We weren't, I'm just saying IF you are.) Even if you know exactly where you are going there will be ones that try to "help" and tell you that where you are going is closed and suggest an alternate place to visit. Do not pay attention. Proceed to your final destination and find out for yourself. Now, if you are lost, what to do? Go INTO an actual place of business, talk to a respectable shopkeeper and you will be in a much better position to succeed in finding your destination. We did have a wily stranger tell us that the Palace was closed for a "special festival, til 1 pm, today only." Why he thought we were tourists I have no idea.  I mean we did have our Lonely Planet Bangkok Guide book out along with our very well used map, but who doesn't?  Just common sense to want to know and be sure of where you are going.  It's called street smarts!!  Anyways, we didn't listen and the Palace was NOT closed.

We did find it.

As we approached the walls, we heard a loudspeaker warning tourists not to trust people outside the palace walls. And to confirm it, they have a sign. Can you read that bottom line?

"DO NOT TRUST WILY STRANGERS"

Well, that is all for this one. I don't want to overwhelm you with pictures since the Grand Palace was VERY picturesque. Equals TONS of pictures. So, until next time, Ta-Ta!

Under the Sea Day 2 Part 2

After the excitement of the Market we dropped our purchases off at our hotel and went and found some food.  Well deserved after all that energy expended in the heat of shopping!  Then we found ourselves a serene, cool and air-conditioned hole.  Actually it was a rather large hole, the basement of a shopping mall that contained "Siam Ocean World!" Siam Ocean World salts their aquariums with salt imported from the Promised Land.  Or somewhere over there. Very chic.  We both enjoy aquariums and it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon and evening.  Very relaxing.  For the first time we saw Giant Clams!

Look at the size of these Spider Crabs.  We have seen them on Planet Earth but I didn't realize quite how large they are.  This one is almost as big as this child!

Obviously the glass magnifies things a little but these things were huge!
There was a very deep and beautiful reef tank that was 2 stories high, you will see it below and then further along in the blog as well.  First we saw it from the top story.  And later we saw it from below. So relaxing to watch the fish.

Check out this fish.  It looks like there are brains on top of his head!
 
He was huge too.  Like 3 feet long! He barely moved at all, the whole time we were in the aquarium he stayed on his perch.  We saw puffer fish, which the Japanese call Fugu.

I didn't realize that they were so large, these guys were at least a foot long.  Most people know that they are dangerous to eat.  In fact one Japanese sister that I worked with the other day said that you have to be a trained and licensed Fugu chef to serve it.

This eel fascinated me, I couldn't get a great picture but maybe if you look closely you can see that the inside of his mouth is the same spotted pattern as his skin.

We saw the Rock Fish.  The most poisonous fish in the world.  Look at him, so smug.
 
This aquarium had a River Monster Tank!  If you have seen the TV show you will know just how interesting that can be..  There were all these fish that we saw on the show.  I had never heard of them before we watched it and it was neat to see them in real life.  Yes, we are nerds that watch River Monster Reality TV.  It's way cooler than it sounds.  Honest.

Not the best picture of the fishes but you can see that they are monsters.

At this aquarium we had an entrance package that entitled us to lots of VIP perks.  Such as free popcorn, a free Pepsi, a souvenir key-chain, a tour of the aquariums inner workings and a glass bottom boat tour of the main tank.  Which was interesting, but not as glamorous as I thought it would be.  Still.  Got to do it.  The coolest part of the package was the Happy Feet Happy Fishes bit.

Yes, those are our toes.  And those are teeny fish.  They are cleaner fish and we enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with them for ten whole minutes while they cleaned our feet.  It was just like FEAR FACTOR!  Almost.  It was very strange but seriously cool.  I felt weird though because there were two Thai gals getting their feet cleaned at the same time and they had barely any fishes on their toes.  Ours were getting swarmed.  We clean our feet all the time here so I don't understand it.  In case you were wondering it feels like tiny tickles all over your feet.  I'm shocked Matt did it because he has very ticklish toes.  He was giggling the whole time.  Also in case you are wondering the tub was super clean and jetted and they disinfect your feet before you put them in it in the first place.

We made our way to the bottom of the reef tank where I fulfilled my lifelong dream of sitting in a shell and pretending to be the Little Mermaid.

Well, maybe it's not quite as cool as that.  Still.  It was probably as close as I'll get.

For Matt, no trip to the aquarium would be complete without gazing at his favorite sea creatures, the sharks.  They are really amazing creatures.

There were other cool things to see at the aquarium, I thought this was a pretty ceiling:

Check out this shark feeding station!  Matt dreams of being shark food, er, I mean diving with sharks.  Apparently you can actually pay people real money to get in some sort of plexiglass death trap and sit on the ocean floor somewhere in Australia while they chum the water for Great White Sharks.  Yup.

Meanwhile I checked to see if I could generate as much electricity on this bicycle as an electric eel does.  I totally can.

Of course the modern day sharks that Matt wants to get up close and personal with are nothing compared to the MEGALODONS of old!
 
Well that was all for the aquarium, then we were off to collect our souvenier key chain and watch our complimentary 5D movie.  Yes. 5D.  They shoot battering rams in your back and spray air in your face at the exciting parts.  I think I'll try 3D next time.

We are off on another adventure tomorrow so should resume posting next week sometime!  We miss you all.  Goodbye from Under the Sea!



Unless you want to see more pictures?  Ok, next time!

The Largest Market aka Day 2 Part 1

On Sunday the 26th we went to Chatuchak Weekend Market. We were told it was the largest market of its kind in the world. Definitely in Asia. They had absolutely anything you would want to buy. Bags, clothes, house stuff, pets and apparently a whole section devoted to clothing for every animal you can imagine. We were there 6 hours and barely covered 2 sections. There are many sections. However we were able to buy lots of stuff! Yes we. Matt got stuff too. We bought fake Levis, a new messenger bag, scarves, elephants (figurines, not actual elephants) a lamp, cards, gifts for our nieces (cannot wait to see if they love them) and others, jewelry. A very successful shopping trip. You have to bargain for stuff, and usually you can get them to come down a little bit. If you come here, I recommend walking around for awhile to get your bearings and looking at different shops and asking for prices, because it can vary and you don't want to get ripped off. If you can help it. Also arrive early. Seriously. The heat and people increase as the day goes on.
You could get lost in here! And I would have except I had Matt to guide me! I also recommend bringing snacks and water with you because you are so busy shopping that you don't have time for going to search for overpriced market food. Spend the money on stuff you can take home! Besides, it is rather tiring after awhile and you will want to go somewhere else and sit down and eat a good meal when you are through! At one seriously awesome scarf shop the shopkeeper gave Matt a stool and informed him that he had better sit, because "she will be at least a half hour." Matt and he both laughed at their little joke. Huh. Was not. Maybe 29 minutes at most.
She bought a lamp? Now before you say, what!?! Is she crazy? First a ginormous painting and now a lamp to take home? Well, I thought they were too cool. Part of the cool factor is that they are plastic and this whole lamp folds down to an inch think and 6 or 7 inches long. Cool or what? Also a stylish and sensible investment!
I got the biggest one. Score! Well, after awhile (6 hours, seemed like an hour or 2, tops) we went in search of AC! As we left we walked back to the sky train and it was as one friend put it, "like salmon swimming upstream." We were weaving our way through the crowds of people still pouring down the street to the market.
See all the people? As we left on the train I took some pictures of the market. I don't know if you can tell but the picture below shows the location of one of those all important toilets. We had to search only one time for it because the water we drank was barely replacing our perspiration. Have I mentioned before that it is hot here this time of year? These were western style toilets (still need to bring that Charmin on the go) but instead of one line for the next available stall they queued up in front of each stall like a line in a supermarket. So if you chose the wrong stall, which I did, 3 times, you may be waiting awhile. Good idea to find the toilet area before you are desperate so you don't end up clonking someone on the head to take their place in the lines. Which I did. Found the toilet before desperation set in that is, not clonk someone on the head.


Also I hoped that this picture could show the scope of the market. This one doesn't really do it justice as it shows just one central part of it, and it is way bigger than this but you see the rows and rows or buildings, each lined with tons of tiny shops, which are lined with even more things. I have several more pictures like this that I could line up for you, but I think you get the general idea.

Well, that's all for this one. Hope you will visit the Market if you are ever in Bangkok on a weekend!

Thailand, Day 1 Part 2

Well we are back to the zoo. We saw lots of cool animals. This kitty was especially pretty. It looks all black, but when the sun shines on the coat, you can see that it has spots like a leopard. Or some other spotted cat. I'm no zoologist and like I mentioned most of the signs were in Thai, but we thought this was one cool cat!

I think it is a Panther.

In a foreign land as a tourist you are often on a quest for one of these:

They were Thai style toilets. I didn't take a picture. I recommend that you buy those little rolls of Charmin to go and bring them with you if you have any plans to come here and visit places besides a resort or mall. Actually we recommend them for travel to any place with unusual toilet arrangements. Let's just say that they have come in very handy. VERY. If you are curious what Thai style toilet is, it's apparently alot like Myanmar style except it is raised 10 inches off the floor.

This Zoo had a Saltwater Crocodile!  Which I don't ever remember seeing before. And boy, I'm glad that I haven't met one in the wild! They have them in Myanmar though. Including the part we live in.  I doubt there are any in the city though.:D   In Australia they call them "Salties". This guy was HUGE!

You might not be able to tell in the picture but his head is like a foot wide! And he was probably 12 feet long. The plexiglass wall that was keeping us from his bone-crushing jaws was only about 4-5 feet tall. Matt was convinced that if we had some sort of food for him that he would jump over it. Thank goodness I wasn't carrying raw meat!  This one was a small one too, they can be over 20 feet long!

They had some super cute Asian bears. (Not the official name I don't think. Just bears found in Asia. Can't remember the name.)(Matt says he thinks they are Sun Bears. Those ZooBooks come in handy!)

I got to feed the camels!

During WWII there was an air raid shelter built which they kept and you can walk through it. I've never seen one before so we took a little tour.

Very low entrance and exit.  Not a problem for me. The actual shelter was normal height.

By little tour I mean 30 seconds walk through including pictures.

There is a lake on the grounds and people can do various activities. We saw a group of children taking art class:

So adorable! You can rent a paddle boat. We didn't. We were already getting all the exercise we could handle walking around. People, it was so hot, I can't even express it. Hot and humid. Felt like somewhere in the 90's which I know you have all been experiencing back home. But the humidity takes it to the next level. For some people the humidity makes their hair go flat. Not me. My hair just got bigger and bigger as the day would go on. I'd look in the mirror and go WHOA!!  (Have you seen the Lion King?)  Anyways, back to the zoo.

These giraffes were in a good mood:

These tigers were not:

For the first time in my life I got a good look at a white tiger:

So beautiful! (Thought my cousin Nathan would like the tiger pictures:) We actually saw a great big one in the Dominican Republic at a park but it was in the back in the cage so we couldn't really see it well.  I have always wanted to have one as a pet.  Someday I will.

The bird area you could go in and hang out with some of the birds with no cages to get in your way.

Outside some local birds were searching for food. We have this kind of bird in Myanmar everywhere too:

Dad, do you know what these are?

This next picture was taken SPECIFICALLY for one particular friend in Worland. You know who you are, and friends in Worland, you know who it is, so make sure he sees it!
Inside joke guys, sorry. :D

I loved looking at the Hippos. They are so big. Check out the size of the tusks!
And it eats HAY! Such a funny looking critter.  Did you know Hippo means "horse"?

Well by the end of the afternoon our feet hurt and we were ready for some food. We went to Siam Paragon, a massive mall here that has a gourmet food court. As you can see, Matt is making excellent progress with chopsticks. (Especially compared to one of my earlier posts!)

Yummy food. By the way, in Thailand they bring you the chopsticks if the meal calls for them, and if you don't need them then the spoon and fork will do. If you ask for chopsticks when they don't bring them you will look really idiotic. We had read all about it in the Lonely Planet Guide book though and avoided looking idiotic that time. (Exception is if they forget to bring utensils altogether. That could be stressful if you don't know what to ask for.  I don't know if that would ever happen in Asia though.  The service here is excellent.)

After a dessert that looked as good as it tasted:

We went back to our lovely hotel and rested up before Day 2!

Thailand, Day 1 Part 1

Arrive Thailand. I think I'm going to do several smaller posts rather than one or 2 big posts. Due to the zillions of pictures that I mentioned before. It's easier on me, and frankly easier on you. I'm sure you all are absolutely DYING to see each of our pictures, but I'll put a selection on here and I'm sure you will be grateful for the small doses. We took the express train in from the airport and looked at the countryside/city on the way in.
Our room was waaay beyond our expectations.
 
After getting our stuff settled in we went in search of FOOD!  Took our first Tuk-Tuk ride.  Those of you who have been to Thailand will notice it's especially clean.  That's because it was the hotel Tuk-Tuk, not your normal street variety.

Check for us in the rearview mirror!

After a refreshing bowl of meat and noodles we decided to play tourist.  Our first destination? The Zoo.  Not like we never saw one of those.  However it was mid afternoon and we weren't ready for anything TOO intellectually stimulating. As an added bonus the signs are mostly in Thai so no need for learning any useful facts.  We saw lots of animals that I had never seen before.  (Lets face it, Boise Zoo, which was the one I have mostly been to is not super big.  Or varied.)  Matt however is an experienced and seasoned Zoo-Goer (yes, Bill, that is my new word for the day:D), and had seen most of the animals before.

Picture for Dad and Kache

We saw a pygmy hippo, another first.  We took a picture in honor of Andy and Tera, since this animal is native to Liberia.  We miss you guys tons!



Well, that's all the time I have at the moment.  We will share more later!