One Way to Make New Friends

 Hi all!

So, a new city. I know a few people here and I’d like to connect with more. So I joined MeetUp. At first I did not see many listings showing up but it’s the holidays now and everyone is wanting to connect. There is a holiday party at a restaurant and 64 ex pats are going - so far. I’d love to go to that. It has a wait list. But I also found a Christmas craft class and joined that. We were going to make advent calendars. 

Donatella, from Italy, was our host. What a charming, talented lady! Crafting is not my specialty but I enjoy being in relationship with women and sharing ideas, stories, coffee, chocolate and companionship. Women love being in community with other women. 

Megha, here, is from India. She helped Donatella set up the project and definitely helped me get settled in. 

Kate is from England. She is running a 10k in Ankor Wat. How fun is that! She’s been all over Asia. My dream!

Another lady who attended was from Viet Nam. She gave me the idea to get my teeth cleaned while I am here for 3 months. Medical and dental services here are abundant and reasonably priced. 

And I was from the US. 5 different nationalities coming together here in Bangkok to share - companionship. What a concept! 

Donatella’s idea was to use up recycled products - such as toilet paper rolls, extra scraps of Christmas wrapping paper. Each day, December 1 through 24, is filled up with comic strip stories, riddles, toys and treats. A surprise every day! And look what we came up with!

Here’s Kate’s. A beautiful snowflake! 

And here’s mine. A Christmas tree.

I’m giving mine to my new friend, my tour guide, Tiger, to give to his 2 sons to enjoy. 

I wish for each of you to have a wonderful holiday season filled with laughter, connection and love. 

And especially, I wish for

PEACE ON EARTH

Enjoy!

It’s Monday night in Bangkok

 Hi again! It’s Monday night at 9:04 pm in Bangkok and the streets are packed. Lots of teenagers are out and about - still in their school uniforms. Having dinner, enjoying their friends. 

I left a move at 10:30 p.m. last Saturday, and it was the same story. Streets packed with people. I feel very safe here. Thailand is 98 % Buddhist and I have met many people who go out of their way to help me. 

Leaving the theater I saw this going on in the main floor of my local high rise shopping center. A group Zumba class. How fun is that!

And locals eating, drinking and watching a soccer (futbol) match on a big screen t.v. 

It is so humid here that I am sitting still and yet, sweating. “It’s good for my skin” I tell myself.

Have a great day! Life is full of wonderful opportunities. 

Bangkok Buddhist Temples

 Yesterday I spent the whole day looking at Bangkok’s Buddhist Temples. We focused on 4 places, 

The Marble Temple

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha 

The Grand Palace

Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)

And recently included, the golden Buddha 

We started with the Grand Palace.  

My tour guide, nicknamed Tiger, first took us to the Royal Palace. Only a portion of the grounds are available for tourists to view. Tiger explained that the green being is a demon that is portrayed to protect the building and inhabitants. Sometimes the demons are to protect. 

As you can see, the palace grounds are very elaborate. There is a strong Chinese influence here. 

There are broken pieces of china shaped into flowers and decorations all over the walls of the buildings.

There are also Chinese paintings of flowers and nature painted on tiles all over the palace grounds. 

The stupas that you will see hold the remains of past kings and relatives of the king. 

These are mystical creatures. Part human and part animal. 

The grounds were incredible too.

Thailand has incredible water lilies! I love them! Some are so large that the wind catches them and they blow in a breeze.

Some outdoor corridors have painted murals depicting daily life in the courts or battle scenes 

Many walls are covered with mosaic tiles

Many of the rooflines have these “birds” along the edges

And many bonsai plants and trees

I added an update to this post. Yesterday a friend and I went to visit the Golden Buddha. I guess it is solid gold and worth a fortune. It is very beautiful. I will just add these photos of this temple for you to enjoy.

This is not a photo but rather an artists’ rendition of this temple complex

As you can see, the golden Buddha temple is magnificent! Enjoy the experience!

Central World Mall - Japanese Food

 First of all, let me say that this mall is incredible! There are 7 stories and 495 stores. It is the Ninth largest mall in the world. Their Moto is  “let’s be friends”. 

They are gearing up for Christmas now so there are gigantic inflatables in the air and outside in front. 

There soon will be a Christmas village with live music out in front.

Today I got a wonderful Thai massage at Montra and I’m having lunch at one of the many fine restaurants here. Today I am having 

Japanese. Tungkatsu 

And here it comes!

. . . delivered by a robot! 

A Native Thai Home

 We were very honored to be able to see inside a typical Thai country home. 

This is inside of the living room of a typical Thai (not modern) house. The whole family lives here. Sometimes 3 generations. 

This is their kitchen 

This is the hot plate where they cook their food

This is a baby bath tub

This is a special spiritual corner of their living room where they honor Buddha 

 

And this is the section of the house where they honor family

They grow and process coconut sugar on this plantation.

This is cooking a vat of coconut sugar. It is delicious! I like it better than brown sugar. 

They grind the coconut shells to make bark chips for gardening