Rock Stars on the Floating Market

This shot pretty much sums up how the boys are received wherever we go in Thailand, so far. (Note adoring fans in background.) We could be in the greatest tourist attraction, yet our boys still seem to steal the show. For Nate, its a lot of fun. He "wai"'s like a native, and his manners cause people to grin widely and laugh. For Philip, the attention is disconcerting. He shies away and still doesn't know how to handle the stares and smiles, my sweet little man.

Saturday we hired a taxi down the street to take us to the biggest floating market near Bangkok. Still about two hours away, it was a pleasant ride. When we got to the pier we all took a little ten-minute walk to get a feel for the place. The drivers all push heavily for you to take a boat tour, and it seemed a little too involved for us-we are people who like to skip the tour and venture off on our own.

Besides, we wanted to make sure we got a taste of something cooking on these floating vendors before some tour guide whisked us away (to a cheesy vendor where the guide gets tipped for bringing in the gullible tourists, you know the deal.)

We flagged over this lady to grab a cheap bowl of rice and some fried chicken for a snack. Behind us on the pier was your typical maze of stalls with tourist trinkets and harem pants (the kind you see on all the backpackers that fool you into thinking they just stepped off a trek in Nepal.) Obviously, in order to see more, we were going to have to get ourselves a boat.

So that's what we did.

It turned out the boat tour operators were not a hard sell after all. We listened to the shpiel and then kindly asked them to skip the monkey place, the elephant ride, and the coconut farm. Since we're here for two more years, we would have plenty of time to do all of them, but with a toddler its wisest to tackle these adventures in small bites!

We hopped in a fantastic long tail boat, and the boys were thrilled to have it all to ourselves! And we took off through the canals. We passed the prettiest homes along the waterway, all of them up on stilts. After spending two months in the city, it was nice to see more traditional Thai homes.

When we got closer to the market, we did get a little bit of the push to buy from a few particular trinket vendors. After picking up just a few small souvenirs, we realized the prices were better at Chatuchak for the same exact things. So we pressed on.

This one stall was a true gem, however. We've often picked up sidewalk art on our adventures because they are really affordable, and fun to frame and hang as a reminder of where we have been. This was the floating market equivalent, so we chatted up with the artist and bought a few pieces to take home. I really want to keep them for ourselves, but come Christmas we may have to part with them and share them as gifts, they were so pretty. We shall see. I should be the good person and gift them, but they really caught my eye!



The floating market was crushed with tourists and vendors by the time we got there. As hectic as it was, it was still relaxing for us as we could sit back in our vessel, pick up a snack or two, sip from a coconut, and bask in the aromas of fish or sausage be roasted.



Our oarsman was a great guy, and kept smiling the whole way, even when we found ourselves in a floating traffic jam. The only stress we encountered was keeping the boys' fingers inside the boat, or from having to juggle pomelo slices while taking pictures!



Outside the market, a lot of people still transport their goods on the waterway. Fruits and food were being sold door to door. Coconuts were carried to the market, not only for the tourists because every house we passed had mounds of coconut hulls on the ground outside.



The only stop we had requested was to the Wat, so onward we went. Philip loved speeding down the canals, and insisted on riding in the very front the whole time.



I especially enjoy going to the Wats, as they rely a great deal on the contributions from tourism. So they are welcoming to outsiders, children, and anyone curious as long as you are respectful. They are also very beautiful, usually in colors and gold.

We bought offering bowls to contribute when we got there, and each of the boys had a chance to drop coins in the offering bowls. They rang the bells of course. Philip and I stepped up the the Buddha statue and lit incense out of respect.


On the way out we could buy pellets to feed the fish, so the boys were entertained by that too. Again, you gotta love Buddhist reasoning-buy some fish food, hey its good for the fish, and brings good luck for you! Sure, why not? Its hard to argue with that.

We had a fun ride back to the pier, and decided to head back home. Both the boys were exhausted, and it was getting near that four-PM-downpour-time. Turns out this trip was a winner with the kids, and we will most definitely come back.

But, again, we'll skip the monkeys.

The Amulet Market

Or also known as "When Things Don't Go Your Way."

Yesterday we mapped out an intricate plan to get into city, tour the Grand Palace, and see the Emerald Buddha. It involved taking a train, switching onto one going in almost the opposite direction, taking a shuttle down the Chao Phraya river, and then going back again. So, the first part of this excursion went just fine: we got on the right trains, and the right express boat. The problem was that this was H.M. the Queen's birthday, and as such, the Palace and all its grounds were closed to the public. Oops.

So we strolled past Wat Maharat and took a left. And there, parked on the sidewalk, were the amulet vendors.

Sooo cool. I had hoped to visit the amulet market sometime, so yesterday was as good a day as any.

Men and women had all varieties of amulets laid out on the sidewalk, prices clearly market. No haggling required, as most of them cost less than two dollars. So we knelt down next to the people examining them with magnifying lenses. The boys selected a few for their treasures and keepsakes.

Then we strolled a bit further, and as we reached the corner it began to rain. We ducked into this covered alley that made me feel like we were in some kind of backdrop from The King and I.

And another mystery corner later, we were eyeballs-deep in the amulet market. All sorts of pendants, tokens, cases for amulets, and amazing antiquities made of bronze and clay and ivory! Absolutely Indiana Jones, people.

Hidden behind those decrepit buildings along the Chao Phraya are the most fascinating shops filled with rows of Buddhas, religious staffs, masks, gems with supposed powers, and people poring over them to find something special.

Some are molded with the images of special monks who underwent life-changing experiences, their skills supposedly to be endowed into the talisman, and therefore bringing success and fortune to the bearer. Others bear the image of a specific Buddha, like the reclining Buddha. And then there are a great many of Ganesha and other gods and symbolic animals.

I love the ones the boys chose, and now we have quite the collection.

Like this one of Ganesha that N picked out. Pretty cool, since we had quite a few boat rides yesterday, and learned so much from our mystery tour...

Another Buddha Hits the Road

My apologies if this one isn't shown in great detail, but I don't want to give away who the recipient(s) shall be! But we made a special trip last weekend to Chatuchak Market to fill this Buddha box, and I really enjoyed selecting odds and ends to fill it. All of it overseen by the serene face of Buddha, whose hint of a smile even reminds me of the person I am sending it to this week. But stay tuned, maybe at some point I should share with you who I keep sending these Dharma Drops to, and gather a few of their responses to share. What do you think?

I think I should share some Awesome and Awkward Moments of the past week. Since there are always a lot to pick from:

Awesome:

1. I look forward to Mondays, no, I LOVE Mondays now because our housekeeper/nanny/cook comes back on Mondays, and her cooking is PHENOMENAL.

2. There is the possibility that we may adopt while we are here. It is one of my heart's deepest desires. I can barely type it, for fear its not possible. But it may be.

Awkwarrrrrrrrd:

1. Taking a little stroll down Soi 9 1/2 or something and finding ourselves in a mini Soi Cowboy situ. Ladyboys. Yes, ladyboys flirting with our little boys. Kept our cool and kept on going.....

Its starts out nice, with a few restaurants and bars. but next thing ya know.....

2. I keep trying to pay the gardener, but he keeps bringing my money back! I don't speak Thai, so I don't know why. When I ask the other residents what his pay plan is, they really don't know either. But I feel foolish anyways.

3. So, I have a job interview tomorrow. Great great great, except all but a few casual outfits of mine aren't going to arrive here for quite some time. I could get a suit made in two days, but I'm out of time. So I am going to stride into that interview dressed in nothing but my self confidence. har har.

Thankful Thursday

The day, yesterday.

The place, Funarium on Sukhumvit Soi 26 or other, Bangkok, Thailand.

Khun Kookai and I took the boys over to the fabulous Funarium. Much fun was had.

But now its Thursday, and on thursdays I like to reflect on what I am thankful for. And I like to get pretty specific. So this thursday I am thankful for the gift of laughter, because its easy to stop laughing. Life can get to you that way.

There is something healthful in laughter. It does something to you, if you realize how much you need it. I do. There have been times when our home hasn't had a lot of lightness. It got a little sad and dark at times. And heavy. I don't like heavy. I think the greatest mistake people make sometimes is overthinking things. So I try to keep lightness in my life.

And then the kids came along.

Now there's a lot of laughter. Sometimes you get serious about things that don't really matter, and I know it could happen easily to any of us. Dishes get dropped, walls get scratched, I don't know.....

But we are lucky. There's a lot of lightness and laughter in our home, and not a lot of heaviness. And for that, I am

so

very

thankful.

Ten on Tuesday

So, this is MY Ten on Tuesday, which will be five things I love, five things I don't, all about (you guessed it) Bangkok. It might be fun to look back upon this list every now and then, as I am sure my views about this city will change. We are still so new to Bangkok, and every corner has something wonderful and new to discover. Maybe time will toughen us up a bit...

Oh, and I will share with you Nate playing pirate with his treasure.....

So things I love?
1. Food. Can't be beat, and if you go out to eat you can do it on the cheap. If we stay away from the places that look fancy, we spend less on a night out than we would making our own dinner. And generally, the less shmancy the restaurant looks, the better value you get of a meal. A winning formula, once you get the hang of it.
2. Fruit, or food part two. I'm sorry, but where have you been all my life, mangosteen and pomelo? Rambutan? And why is watermelon and pineapple and kiwi so much better here? It just is. Sorry America.
3. Being in a land of my fellow petites. A man actually called me "long legs" the other day! THAT is something I would have never expected to be called.
4. Colors. Everything here seems more vibrant or flambouyant somehow. Even the taxis are bright pink or red or yellow.
5. Having my right-hand woman, Kookai. She's totes awesome. Cooks fantastically, keeps our house in order, and the kids like her a lot. I was not going to go straight to the live-in situation, but now that we hired her I am so glad we did. She frees up ALL my time so I can enjoy our children more.

Not so much....

1. Humidity. Heat.
2. Soi dogs. The street dogs here, while there aren't too many, are unpredictable. So when you spot one, you must guard your children just in case. And Myles has to stay in our compound away from them.
3. Sidewalks, OH. MY. GOD. why do the women here wear heels everywhere? The sidewalks are crazy, I'm not kidding. And much of the time they are taken up by vendors, so you find yourself walking in the road. And they are really dirty. Uneven. And just rickety. But you learn to deal with it.
4. Tipping. Because its a total mystery here. There really is no tipping, unless you look around and people are tipping. But generally its not proportionate to the size of your bill at all-just a 20 baht note and you're fine. And really you don't tip in a taxi. But if you don't, you might just get a driver who expected that you would. Sheesh!
5. Cockroaches.

How To Identify a Sex Tourist

I might have promised a pictorial on the attire of Bangkok women, which at first thought would have been amusing. Except, once I thought about it, there is enough woman-on-woman hate in this world. And vituperating some very attractive women for wearing short skirts and platform heels really would only make me look like a very bitter jealous woman. And finally, I actually love the way they dress. This is a culture where if it feels good, or makes you feel good, you should go ahead and wear it. No thai woman has ever looked at what I wear in disgust or disapproval, so why would it do it to them? So if you were waiting for me to poke fun at how there is no 'fingertip rule' for skirt hems here, or such, it probably isn't going to happen because I might just join them because its so damn hot here!

But I can poke fun at men, can't I?

So, enter the subject of sex tourism. Because its pretty obvious here. I see it every day. Not prostitutes on the street, exactly, but the obvious fact that this place is heaven on earth for lonely men. Single women, well, you will become very unhappy if you come here and hope for ANY attention from the opposite sex. We can't hold a candle to the young women here, and if you have come to accept that (like me) you'll do just fine.



NOT a sex tourist.

NOT a cute Bavarian-themed pub.

Things aren't always what they seem here, and I've had to be very careful about that. A massage parlor may not be an ordinary massage parlor (although most of them, like the one that advertises "men on men" around the corner, are pretty straightforward). Karaoke is not, I repeat NOT, karaoke. Pubs that look oooooooohhh so cuuuuuuute may actually be a brothel, and not the kind of establishment for people like me. Exhibit A:

Can I have a beer and some atmosphere, hold the sex please!

To be honest, if a guy that has some trouble finding female company in the States wants to come here, all the more power to him. Its easy. Its not complicated. And the women are really pretty. But when they walk by me and the kids going down the street there is that split second of awareness on their faces. Like we are reminding them of what the rest of the world sees. Holding up that mirror for just a quick moment. I swear I don't give dirty looks, its not me!
Or maybe I eye-roll. I don't know.

So let me break it down for you. This is what I see EVERY DAY:

And upon closer look, this is why it is so conspicuous.

Note the chunky white dude. The outfit is practically the sex tourist uniform on Bangkok: sweaty shirt, flip flops, godawful plaid shorts. They may look different at night, but this is pretty much the day uniform.

Operation Dharma Drop

Its that time again! The third installation of "Operation Dharma Drop" is ready and packed up for shipping. I had a little bit of fun with this one, after the obvious Bhudda (one of my favorites so far) and a little pretty pashmina. The placemats are sold EVERYwhere here, but they add that little Thai flava' with those cute elephants.

I spotted this strange "Black Black" gum at the store the other day. Its made with coffe powder, hmm? Probably terrible, but what the heck. And then, for your dizziness, bug bites, and whatever ails you, please enjoy the Siang Pure Oil! With a face like that, why wouldn't you?

Just for fun, I leave you with a few shots from our street at night; my new favorite restaurant, Suk 11, where each table is adorned with a candle, batik covering, and complimentary bottle of bug repellent!

And then there's the VW drive-up bars. This cracks me up. They pull up after dark, set up the bar, turn on the neon lights and some dance music, and there ya have it. The boys like to stop and boogie once and a while.

Pratunam Market and a City View

Sooooo, when I signed up for a walking tour of the Pratunam Market, this wasn't quite what I expected. If you're looking for a tranquil market filled with stalls of thai silk, you will be greatly disappointed. If, HOWEVER, you are looking for a Halloween costume, like to collect tutu's, or are assembling a ladyboy dance troupe, this is where you want to go. Oh, and cheap school uniforms. Next to the schoolgirl costumes.

What confuses me is that there must be a huge demand for this sparkly stuff, because the market went on and on. And on. And on. And stall after stall had extraordinary costumes, sequin mini dresses, giant wings, and headdresses.

But we don't get out too much, so maybe we're missing that. I mean, looking for affordable childrenswear? I haven't had much luck unless we like the gangsta' look. But there is glitz and costumery anywhere you go. So I think we need to get exploring a little more in the evenings. Carefully.

Now, that's the look I'm going for!

Rumor has it, Sukhumvit Soi 11 is the place to be on Halloween, so there might be a little shopping trip back here for me sometime in the future. Why not? After all, I've never done the 'sexy pussycat' halloween shtick, or anything sleazy like that, so who would fault me for donning a pink wig and tutu just once?  We'll see.

After the walk-through, we each paid 300 baht to ride 83 stories up to the top of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel for a view of the entire city. Kindof cheezy, but worth the baht because I could finally take in how enormous Bangkok really is, yet in this little oasis right in the center of it all, we live. I can't tell you how lucky I feel!



Towards Chatuchak Market...

See if you can spot the embassy...

And in the center of this frame, yeah, that would be our neighborhood.

Welcome to Casa Rand

Please come in!

 So we are about to spend night #2 in our fantastic new home. It was not bad staying in the temporary apartment, don't get me wrong. I almost got a bit teary as we drove away, because the people there were so kind to us and the kids. But its time to move on, and settle into the home that will be ours on loan for just a few years.

So, come on in and I'll give you the Heather-version of the tour. I can tell you the boys really like having all the space, and they are going to enjoy the outside space even more.


There is not only a great pool with a kiddie pool that we share with only seven other families or so, but the street it TOTALLY gated off. Not to mention being in a safe little haven surrounded by high concrete walls and a solid gate that hides us way from the street? Well, my zombie lovin' soul is totally thrilled. Zombie apocalypse, bring it!

Phil says this area is the carport. And he plans on putting a car IN it. Now, I think its fabulous you can park under here, especially during the rainy season, but to me it just screams "patio!" and "party!" and "sangria time!" So the car is under discussion. I have priorities, people.

Closet!! Yes that's a flash, but behind it I am grinning ear to ear. Of course, there is nothing in there right now, but as soon as the lovely people in customs release our things I will be in heaven. (Our last house, the one we own and still love, has absolutely NO closet space.)

Then there is our room. Ok, more windows, tons of space. I would convert half this room to my sewing area, but there's an office room immediately off of this room as well! Someone up there loves me, I swear. So now I have a room to gather my Dharma Drop goodies, sewing and knitting, and keep it all out of my family's hair. And I think the sewing machine and my stuff are in customs as well.....


Which is really good, because I have a lot of sewing to do, before these rooms start to look like home. The furniture that is included is really nice, and its all very neutral. So we need color. Now.




The boys share a room. Not because we are awful parents and keep the best to our ourselves, but because the boys actually LIKE sharing a room. Bedtime is a gadzillion times easier with them together because they cooperate and entertain each other until they finally fall asleep.

HOWEVER, after watching Nate scale the bunkbed in two seconds flat, they were quickly disassembled into two regular beds. The hospital is really close, but I don't want to make that visit. Been there with a little brother *ahem*


They have a beautiful view too, not the usual city filth and alleys, but this pretty little house with a patio and garden. Not that they care. But as much as possible I have always liked having the curtains open, so that's a big plus.

Dining room table. Another first for us. We've always had just a little eat-in kitchen. I could really get used to this.

And finally, Nate making himself at home in the sitting area. WHERE IS MY UGLY GREEN COUCH? I thought this was standard issue! I actually feel a little left out, after seeing it in so many photos before. But how nice is this! Now we just have to keep the sticky fingers off it all, which happens more than I like to admit.

So, there you have it. Casa Rand. And I'm going to refer to these pictures as the "before" shots, because I'm sure by the time we are ready to pack up and move, its going to look drastically different! Can't wait for our stuff to get here, the bright quilts, the toys, the happy chaos that follows us wherever we go. This home is wonderful, but its too perfect for my taste. But all these shelves to fill, all those white walls to cover with our family and their smiling faces-it won't be long before we feel like its right.

And some friendly faces and laughter of friends would help a lot too!