Paradise

Not much to actually talk about... we're at the beach... in Thailand.  Be jealous. :D

Ok, ok, there are some things to say.  This is the island of Samui.  Sometimes you see it written as Ko/Koh Samui - ko/koh means island.  The sand is white, the water is clear and the days are hot.  And the people are lovely and great.

We're staying in the area of Chaweng Beach, which is the biggest area on Samui.  There are lots of resorts, restaurants and places to shop.  There are also plenty of quieter places, if that is more your speed.  We have walked up and down the beach, sun-bathed, snorkeled a bit and kayaked around the bay to some smaller islands.

Look at our pictures, and start planning your trip.

Hot times in Bangkok

Yesterday (July 29) was yet another amazing day in Bangkok.  We went with Mama and Papa D to the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Wat Arun.  They were some amazing sights!

The Grand Palace is the "official" residence of the kings of Thailand, and the royal family and the government used to be based out of this palace until 1925.  Now, the palace is used for official ceremonies, like weddings and coronations, but the family lives elsewhere.  On the palace grounds is a temple - Wat Phra Kaew.  This is the most sacred temple in Thailand, and the one the king uses for worship.  The temple is also known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  The Buddha isn't actually made from emerald but a solid piece of jade.  And each season, the Buddha gets a different costume.  While this is a common practice throughout Thailand, this Buddha's clothes are changed by the king himself.

The Grand Palace complex is beautiful and so colorful.  Most of the decorations were hand-painted - either murals directly on walls or on pieces of porcelain.  And the eaves of the roofs have bells hung on them, so every time a breeze blows, there is a beautiful tinkling noise.

After lunch, we went to Wat Pho, aka the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  This Buddha is 43 meters long and 15 meters high.  It was quite difficult to get the whole Buddha in one picture.

Finally, before the rain, we crossed the Chao Prya River and went to Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn.  This temple is probably one of the most famous silhouettes of Bangkok.  You can climb up to the top of the temple for a view of the area, but we did not since it was about to rain.

The Grand Palace

Mural at the Grand Palace - these are scenes of life of Rama, Haruman and Tosakan

Yaksha - friendly demon guardian of the palace

Wat Phra Kaen

Bells on the eaves of the roof

Emerald Buddha - it is very hard to see the color in the picture 

The palace portion of the Grand Palace - built by Rama V in a mixed Victorian and Thai style

Reclining Buddha - can you see his feet?

Buddha's giant feet

Wat Arun from across the Chao Prya River

Wat Arun

View of Bangkok 

Fruits of Thailand

Today was a quiet day here; we went and wandered around several of Bangkok's malls.  Since we didn't do anything super exciting, I decided to show you some of the fruits we've been eating over here.  First, these aren't the fruits I was eating every day at home.  Much of what I ate back in the US - strawberries, blueberries, cherries, raspberries, pears - aren't available over here or, if they are available, are very expensive (I think I saw a pint or two of cherries today being sold for ~$20 US).  But there are plenty of native fruits to munch on.  Second, the flip side of the first point is also true.  Most of these fruits native to Thailand are not available in the US.  I think it is because they don't ship well...

Fruit boat at the water market - bananas, mangosteens and mangos.  

I'll start with something familiar - coconut.  These are hacked open for people to drink the coconut juice and scrap out the flesh with a spoon.  They are very refreshing on a hot day.

Another familiar fruit and my favorite - mangoes.  And these aren't like the mangoes we get at home; they are much sweeter and juicier.  I like them best with sticky rice and coconut milk.

This next one is called a mangosteen.  It is also called "the queen of fruits" in Thailand.  The outer coloring is like a plum, but the inside is creamy white and in sections like an orange.  

Unpeeled mangosteens in a pile and peeled mangosteens below (wrapped in plastic)

This one is a rambutan.  The long hairs on the outside are flexible, and you can peel off the outside husk with your fingernails.  The inside is the size of a small egg and firm but juicy.  And don't eat the pit in the middle.

Rambutans

This one is a lychee, probably my second favorite.  Lychee flavored ice cream, juice and cocktails are becoming popular in California, but it doesn't compare to eating the actual fruit.  The outer husk is peeled off with your fingers and the inside is the size of a globe grape.  

Bunch of lychee!

Lychee interior

Finally, the "king of fruits" in Thailand - the durian.  The fruit in its husk is the size of a basketball, and the husk is covered in spikes.  When you buy a durian in the market, the vendor will remove the pillows of fruit for you by hacking it open with a sharp knife.  Once opened, durians have an interesting smell to them.  Some people say it smells like rotting trash; I thought it smelled like the chewable amoxicillian antibiotics I had to take as a kid.  Because of the smell, durians aren't allowed on subways or in fancy hotels.  The texture and taste of the durian reminded me of vanilla pudding or custard, but, the riper the fruit, the mushier the texture.  I really enjoyed the durian, but, as I understand, most Westerners have to try durian a few times before they like it (if they like it at all).

Whole durian

Durian "pillows"

Golden Buddha

Yesterday, we went to Wat Traimit in central Bangkok, which is home to the Golden Buddha.  The statue has a long and interesting history, dating back to the Sukhothai period (13th-14th century).  The most interesting part of its story is, at some point, this 3 m/10 ft tall statue was covered in plaster, and in the 19th century moved to Bangkok.  The original temple it was installed in fell into disrepair, and Wat Traimit was built in the 1950s.  When the Buddha was moved into position at the wat, the rope broke and some of the plaster fell off, revealing a 5.5 ton gold statue underneath.

Today, it is a popular tourist destination, especially for the Chinese.

After visiting the wat, we took a quick ride around Chinatown on a tuk-tuk.  What is a tuk-tuk?  It is an alternate means of travel in Bangkok that is a three-wheeled vehicle - the front looks a bit like a motorcycle and the back has seating for 2-4 people (depending on how you squish).  It's an experience... just make sure you keep your arms in at all times. :D

In the afternoon, Tang and I went to Chatuchak Weekend Market, one of the largest weekend markets in the world.  There's something like 15,000 vendors at this place, selling clothes, souvenirs pets, food, literally anything you can imagine.  It is a popular place for tourists, and yesterday was no exception.  I only took one picture, and it doesn't really show the vast maze that this place is nor how crowded it was.  But it was super fun.

Wat Traimit

5.5 tons, 10 ft high Golden Buddha

Tuk-tuk, essential Bangkok tourist experience

Lunch - noodle soup with pork balls, red pork, crab, wontons and veggies

Kanom Chan - a Thai sweet made from pandan juice.  A very subtle flavor and very tasty

Map of Chatuchak - 27 acres 

One of the quieter alleys of the market

Aroy Mak!

Aroy mak!  This, in my horribly rough English translation, mean "very good" in Thai.  And that's one of the best ways to sum up today....

Tang and I were picked up early by the family, and we drove 1.5 hours south to Samut Songkhram (a district along the coast) for the local water market.  The water market shows how Thais along the coast (and Bangkok, to an extent) lived and worked and shopped before roads and cars.  Everything was done on canals and boats.

Today, these water markets are mainly a tourist attraction but super cool to my Western eyes.  We hired a boat and driver to take us through the market.  Along the canals, in boats and on the dock areas adjacent, men and women cooked food or sold souvenirs.  Most of the food was sold straight out of the boats, whether it was fresh fruit and drinks (including coconut juice straight from the source - check out my pic below!) or hot noodle dishes.  For the noodle dishes, the cooks brought their gas burners and big woks and all their ingredients into their boats.  The tourists floating by would order a dish, and it would be cooked right there in front of them.  Super fun morning!

After the water market and a walk around a park, we went to a restaurant by the ocean that Mama D really likes.  And we had some of the best seafood dishes I've ever tasted!  See the pictures and descriptions below.

Our boat to the market

Water market!

Making spring rolls on his boat

Boat full of fruit - bananas, mangosteens, and mangos

Coconut - tasty and refreshing

Boat noodles

While at the park, we saw some boys practicing traditional Thai ballet

Tasty lunch - L to R - grilled mackerel, crab in curry sauce and razor clams

Dinner at MK, a sukiyaki (or hot pot) restaurant.  You order your ingredients (veg, meat, tofu) and cook them in a pot in the center of the table.

More lunch - shrimp - and these were the small ones!