~ Friends ~

We are blessed with a lot of friends, new ones and 'old' ones, we met quite a few in Bangkok and we had so much fun meeting them! We played with them, we had a drink and some food in the park or met for dinner in a fancy restaurant.
We connected for the first time and shared some experiences, we LOVED to meet their children and see all those pretty faces. We talked about the past, future and present.
Friends... it is a good thing to have and to treasure... and we DO!

Thank You all for meeting us in Bangkok! I hope to see you ALL again sooner or later in life!!



After meeting in Pattaya all these lovely kids met again in Bangkok, to play for a few hours together, so much fun!
Vicky, Emelie, Jasmine, Patrick, Juliet, Nathalie and Martin!



Meeting for the first time!
Jasmine, Juliet, Khye & Jaxin! Such a great looking boys and girls all from Thailand!!



And here their parents Darren, Sharon, with me and Dirk. Just a quick last meeting before going back to Australia! How fun to finally meet after blogging together and being FB friends!



Jasmine and Juliet with Lily and Mik, meeting at a park, having fun together even though also meeting for the first time!



Here Dirk with Aod and Mel Ita, parents of Lily and Kim the proud father of little Mik! So fun to meet after chatting on FB for a long time now, but meeting for the first time!! So fun!! We missed Sharon though :-(



Here meeting our dear friend/brother Golf and his fiancee at the time Toey, now married just recently! So great to see again!



Here the girls together.



And the boys Golf & Dirk, former colleagues when Dirk was working in Thailand for Van Leeuwen.



And another shot with Juliet and Jasmine. By the way this was a great restaurant in BKK, worth going to: Long Table. Check it out and go there, great views and superb food!



And here we went with a previous colleague of Dirk khun Siriporn and her husband Khun Somdej. Dear friends of us who we meet all the time when we are back in Thailand! We had a delicious lunch at Chinese restaurant Lin-Fa at the Siam City hotel. We had the crispy Peking duck in pancakes, which was so divine and such a delicacy!!



So as you can see we are blessed with so many friends, all great people who we loved meeting and seeing again!!
Hope we all will stay in touch and one day meet again!!

Love you all!
Mireille

Wat Arun ~ Temple of Dawn

Can you believe that we have lived 5 years in Thailand and NEVER went to Wat Arun ~ the Temple of Dawn! So this trip we decided we should go and visit. While we were in Pattaya and we went to Ripley's Believe it or Not! we read some interesting details about Wat Arun. The temple is completely build out of china pieces that they had dug up from a sunken ship in the Chaya Praya, the river that it is on. That part we didn't even know!! Shame on us!



The name Temple of Dawn it got because the first light of morning reflects off the surface of the temple with a pearly iridescence. This is a gorgeous view and also when the sun sets, it is a very dramatic effect, however we were there on the middle of the day, when the sun is blazing hot!! So this first picture is not mine... the rest is.

We took a water taxi to go to Wat Arun, and this is the first sight you see.



Jasmine and Juliet in front of the huge temple demons. It was so hot that day, like any day in the city, you can't just stand too long in the sun! So they weren't too happy to pose for me :-)



Completely build up with pieces of china, just amazing!



Here a close up of the broken tiles. What a tedious job to build all these stupas...



You could go up and climb all the stairs to different levels, but it was too hot for me to climb those high stairs, so I just photographed the girls from a level lower...





Just beautiful to see all the details...





Luckily we had a blue sky that day, it makes all the difference in your pictures :-)



On the way back in our water taxi these monks were sitting next to us with their bright oranges robes...



Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn, is named after Aruna, the Indian God of Dawn. Sitting majestically on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River, the legendary Wat Arun is one of the most striking riverside landmarks of Thailand. Despite the name, the most spectacular view of the glittering monument can be seen from the east side of the river at sunset, when the spires of Wat Arun make an impressive silhouette against the skyline.

This Wat or Buddhist temple is an architectural representation of Mount Meru, the center of the world in Buddhist cosmology. In the mythology of Tibetan Buddhism, Mount Meru is a place that simultaneously represents the center of the universe and the single-pointedness of mind sought by adepts. Thousands of miles in height, Meru is located somewhere beyond the physical plane of reality, in a realm of perfection and transcendence. The four-corner prang of Wat Arun, which house images of the guardian gods of the four directions, reinforces this mystical symbolism.

Another day spend well in the City of Angels, but now it is time to go to the hotel and take a dip in the pool, because it is hot... hot... hot and humid!!

Sawasdee Kha!
Mireille

Bangkok ~ the City of Angels

Our last destination on this vacation is Bangkok. The girls are so excited about this... but because of different reasons then you might think :-)
I promised them to go to Pantip Plaza a huge mall with 4 stories just of electronics, games, computers, photo equipment etc... to buy some new Nintendo DS games, and they were asking me since we left Samui, when are we going to BKK?? Well, the time has finally arrived!! And to get rid of the questions we went immediately to the plaza to buy their games. Girls happy.... we ALL happy!!

The other thing Juliet and Jasmine really wanted to see was the puppet show at the Joe Louis theatre in the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, this was one of their highlights the last time we were in Thailand when the girls were just 4 years old. We were extremely lucky to be there this month, since it was their last month of performing. So sad, but they had to close it down due to lack of interest of the public and so not making enough money to keep the show going!! It was beautiful though and we truly enjoyed this last performance!!

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the theatre, but at the entrance they had a doll from Joe Louis with one of his puppets.





Bangkok's Joe Louis Puppet Theater, also known as “Nattayasala Hun Lakorn Lek,” is one of Bangkok's top but most underrated attractions. It was founded by the late master of puppets Sakorn Yangkhieosod in 2002, whose English name was Joe Louis, and showcases the remarkable Thai traditional art of puppetry.

These were 2 people, one dressed and reacting like a doll, controlled by his master! The doll only reacted on the movements of the levers and would hang his body like a puppet if it wasn't moved by the other guy. All the movements went syn chrome, not one was missed. Really amazing to see!



Each doll has 4 people performing on it at the same time. One for each arm and leg, this training takes years to learn the skill and it went from Joe Louis to his children and now his grand children!



This set of last performances they showed you how the dancers were doing it, normally you don't see the people they are behind a stage. But this was just to show the public how hard it is to perform these dolls.



All the dolls are handmade, mostly by Sakorn 'Joe Louis' Yangkhieosod himself, but he passed away in 2007, so now his family continues the tradition. They also lost a lot of dolls when their house burned down, so sad!!



Unfortunately this is the final week visitors will be able to check out the legendary troupe in its 400-seat Natayasala Theatre at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar (which is a great one stop shopping plaza), as the last performance was set for Sunday, August 29. We were there on July 28th. Check out the link here, to see some backstage pictures of this amazing show!! I am really sad that this show is not there anymore. An ancient art that is disappearing from Thailand!

Thailand just an amazing country full of surprises, ancient art and plazas full of goods to buy!!

Sawasdee Kha,
Mireille

Songkran today in Thailand

I really love all the Thai festivals and after our first initial shock of getting a bucket of water dumped on us, or been shot at with a water pistol from hundreds of youngsters on Beach Road that first year, we knew later how to celebrate it in style!

If I would ask a Thai person to describe Songkran in one sentence it would be something like this:

Songkran is a long holiday to spend time being happy and excited with family and friends, respecting elders, going to the temple, playing with water, and eating seafood.



The Songkran Festival in Thailand (traditional Thai New Years) is the biggest and most sought after holiday on the Thai calendar. Songkran is usually thought of as a few inebriated day of throwing buckets of water and shooting water guns where everyone is a target.
It is traditional in temples all around the country to make merit by building sand pagodas. In Bangsaen the local people build both gigantic and beautiful sand pagodas.



The Songkran Festival in Thailand is not all about water splashing and having fun. Thai people also take time out to visit their local temples to make merit and also to pour rose scented water over the hands of their elders. They do this in order to receive a blessing and good luck for the new year. Some families also go to their local temple to pray and make merit for dead ancestors. The ashes of these ancestors are often contained in miniature "chedis" which are like upturned hand bells. Once finished, all of the family members will light joss sticks and then squat down to say a short prayer. The pagoda is then sprayed with scented water. Paper banknotes are later given to the temple as part of the merit making.

Traditionally, Thai people pour rose scented water over Buddha images and the hands of elders and monks. They do this in order to receive a blessing and also good luck for the new year.

Thai people also go to the temple to make merit by offering food to the monks and taking part in activities such as "chedi sai" where they build stupas out of sand.

The schools invites monks from a local temple so that the students and their parents could make merit.



One of the main events organized during Songkran celebrations around Thailand is the Miss Songkran Beauty Contest. The contest is a good way to view the most beautiful women in Thailand. However, don't go expecting a traditional Western type competition. The Thai girls are all dressed up in traditional clothes of this region and you won't find a swimming costume category at all. The winner of the contest will take pride of place during the Songkran Parade held in several bigger towns or cities.



One of the best Songkran Parades in Thailand is held in Phra Pradaeng District in Samut Prakan Province. It is traditional for the Mon people in this region to release birds and fish during Songkran in order to make merit for themselves. Many of the townspeople dress up in their best clothes and then parade through the town to Wat Proteket Chettharam.

One of the more traditional events that takes place during Songkran is "song nam phra". This is the practice of bathing Buddha images with rose scented water. Most tourists, and even some Thai teenagers, seem to think that Songkran is only about throwing water at each other. However, it was originally more a bathing of Buddha images and pouring water on the hands of monks and elders. The latter ceremony is called "rod nam dam hua". Over the years people tend to spend more time playing water fights which is obviously more fun.

I got all this information from a website from Richard Barrow, he has extensive info on Thailand about all different kind of subjects, check it out!

The only thing I am worried about for this years celebrations are the Red Shirts that are creating all this commotion and unrest in Bangkok! I believe there are already 17 dead people... I will find out some more info and write about that tomorrow!

But seeing all these images makes me miss Thailand so much, I am so happy that in less than 8 weeks I will be there for 2 months!! Can't wait!

Jasmine and Juliet are still too young to enter a beauty contest, but they would make a chance, no? What do you think?



Have a great day!
Mireille

HAPPY 2010!!

OK, maybe a little late but I wish everybody a really great New Year!! A much better year than last year if yours wasn't that wonderful. I can feel it this will be a good year for a lot of people!!

We are back into our ritme of school since today, so I have time to blog, am over my jet lag... I was in 3 continents and 4 countries these last 2 weeks, so for now I stay put for a short while :-) However, people who know me know that this won't be for long!!

We were in the Netherlands visiting our families for Xmas and some good friends for New Years. We really had a good time, celebrating my cousin's Jesse 9th Bday bash on the 24th, celebrating Xmas and my father's Bday on the 25th, celebrating and having a feast of a dinner with Dirk's sister on the 26th and on the 27th a big Bday bash for my dad and some of his friends and colleagues because he turned 70! So a lot of food, meeting friends and family, last minute shopping in Holland, celebrating for the first time in 11 years Xmas in the Netherlands!! Fun, but COLD, WINDY, RAINY, so... probably it will take another decade before we return to Holland to celebrate Xmas... rather go in spring or summer....

Funny, they say the Dutch are rude or blunt, direct and open and normally I don't notice that so much, since I am Dutch myself... but I guess I've changed and adapted a bit to more different ways because I was pretty surprised myself about the directness of the Dutch people this time around. I've sent about 120 Xmas cards to all over the world, which I do every year. It is my only contact in paper form that I keep up as my tradition, and normally I get nice comments about my cards or Thank You's from people that I knew from the past and are still in my contact list but they are surprised they are still there. Most people really enjoy a real card these days... which I do myself as well... so I make an effort to create a funky card every year. Not the usual Xmas scene, too normal for me :-) so I start thinking about this around August, theme, colors etc.. etc..

Well, you have seen my card and you know what I am talking about... so here are some comments of Dutch people... no need to mention names, just sharing their comments: "I don't like the card, a bit creepy with that 3rd eye"..... and: "You are exploiting your children too much!" Not a Thank You for the card, although I prefer a much simpler theme, more Xmassy... NO, just a blunt/rude comment, not even a side comment, nothing else, just that! On top of that, these people didn't send us a card... I guess this is the last year that I will send them one too!

How many people send a Xmas card with a picture of their children?? Is it that mine is just a bit more out of the box theme, or are all people exploiting their children when they send a Xmas card with their children/dog/cat on it?? Dutch people can be so negative or jealous that they are not able to create a unique card, I don't know what it is... but things like this makes me happy that I moved away!! Some people can never be happy for anybody else, always negative... I learned by living in the USA that: If you have nothing positive to say, don't say anything at all!! The Dutch people could learn a lesson from this!!

But enough about Xmas cards, it's a new year with new challenges, adventures, fun times ahead of us and I am looking forward to create a great year, have fun galore, travel to new places and some old but much loved places, like Thailand!!
Did I tell you that while the soccer season is going on here in June/July and Dirk is totally excited to go to 10 games, YES, he has tickets to 10 games. Which would mean I would sit alone, be stuck in traffic and have to deal with all the craziness I decided to go to Thailand with the girls for 8 weeks! Koh Samui and Bangkok here we come!! WHOA!!
The girls have 10 weeks summer (here winter) break and it is cold here, boring because everybody goes home so we are relaxing on a beach in Koh Samui. The girls will go to Thai school in the morning, so hopefully they will absorb some Thai language and culture, how nice is that??!!

Pictures I can't upload yet, I have a new Mac Book Pro and haven't installed the camera's on here yet... so you have to wait for that a bit more. I need Dirk's help for that, but he is traveling....

Glad to be back behind my computer again, I just read some of your blogs and updated on most of you again!
Have a great week!
Mireille