Random thoughts for random people

She looked so happy, tha I had to take a picture of her... grape woman! :)

i have hat hair! :)

Price of Being Careless in Thailand: 300 Bt

Yesterday, we went out of Bangkok to Ayutthaya, which is Thailand's old capital to visit a few of the ancient ruins and temples. I really didn't expect much, because I'm not a big fan of sight seeing as the others are. But I surprisingly had a very "enlightening" day, no pun intended. (Get it? buddhas are enlightened... ahh I was never good at these puns!)...

In short, the story of Ayutthaya is that it was burned down in 7 days (what is it with the number 7?). The Burmese had attacked Ayutthaya over 300 years ago, burned down every building, and cut off every Buddha's head. Personally, I was really saddened by this, not because I am Buddhist, but the fact that it is ironic that religion can not live in harmony with each other. I don't understand, how can something that preaches good, be so evil. To me, it is definitely not good enough to use religion as an excuse for violence. There have been so many religious battles in the past, and I could probably even argue that the reasons for more recent events, like 9/11 had religious undertones. Sad isn't it? Does there really have to be only ONE God? Even if you believe that there is only one God, is it necessary to impose this on everybody else?

The best part about yesterday's trip was walking through all the ancient ruins. It was just so amazing. To think that all these structures were created over 300 years ago without any help from technology is just phenomenal. You would have been impressed.

I also got to perform a lot of "luck" rituals, like pour oil over candles, hit drums, and pray to the huge Buddha! I have enough luck on me to last me a year! Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket, just kidding!

We left Ayutthaya at about 8:00 PM on the very last mini-van bus I was again squashed with 4 large males in the back of the mini van. The one-hour ride seemed much longer as my butt was in a constant numbing state. It didn't help that the guys kept on grabbing their balls, because it was "sticky" and spreading their legs. Nasty!! :P

I ended the night with a bit of an adventure (sort of). I had accidentally left my wallet on the mini-van. When I realized this (70 steps above the ground) I quickly yelled to my group "I lost my wallet, going back to get it".. and I quickly ran down the stairs. I normally dislike walking down stairs because it hurts my knees, but I had to because of all my ID. Well after reaching the mini-van, I spent a good 10 minutes explaining to the driver what had happened, and demanded that I be allowed to check the back seat. After 10 minutes of begging, and pleading, he finally opened the door. Once he opened the door, I realized that this was not my van! My van had a TV in it... and then I freaked out... and quickly looked for someone who could translate for me. Luckily I found one, and he helped to explain the situation to the driver for me. ***Thank you so much dude *** To my surprise, the driver that I was talking to was *not* my driver... they just all wear the same plaid shirt! I was also in major distraught when I found out that my bus was already back on his way to Ayutthaya!!

So after realizing that I was really upset, and looking like I was going to cry, the taxi driver told me to get in his van. I got in, without really thinking, I just wanted my wallet back. We basically ended up chasing down the other taxi-driver. We drove so fast down the highway....

well anyway, the end of this story is pretty good, because I found my wallet :) yay! and it only cost me 300 baht (because i gave a reward to the 2 drivers)... :)

enjoy the pictures!

After a long day of sightseeing, Gift (our host), and Florian shared a fanta shaved ice dessert! I had one too, but with 4 colours!! :) hhehehe

Headless Buddhas

Look at all those stairs I had to climb to get up there..... what a work out!

Here are some beautiful kids we met at the temple, the one on the left was trying to tell me something... but i obviously did not understand. :) the other 2 are posing for the camera.

Les french guys... infront of "reclining buddha"... :) reclining buddha is about 8 nhung long :) hehee

Me hitting the drums for good luck!

A wider shot

Here is the last temple we visited. Notice that the Buddha heads look newer then the rest of their bodies?

This is my favourite dog of the many, his name is Ploy... he was really fluffy, and playful... :)

Here is a banana leaf flower. Pretty!

Then we went to visit our friend's house for a much needed rest. she had 13, or 14 dogs.. look, this is one is sniffing the other's butt.. ewww.. Her dad had named three of the dogs "Val", "En", "Tine"...because they had bought those 3 dogs during v-day. :) cute! ... her house was sooo big... it had 3 ponds, with real fish, and lotus flowers. She even had a banana tree, and coconut trees in the backyard.

More scenes from the 2nd temple, notice all the buddha's are headless??

Here is the second temple we went to :) I really liked this one, it reminded me of scenes from some chinese movies ...

The guys... from L - R = Florian (france), Brian (ottawa), Ryan (vancouver) ... goof balls!

Here's the new addition to this property. It housed a really tall Buddha (Amitobha) which, I would say, is about 10 Nhung High :)

The first temple we visited. I love the palm trees, and the ancient ruins were totally impressive.

I'm not sure what these animals are, but they're cute in an ugly way. they look like little rats, with thick tales and a monkey face. maybe this is a hybrid monkey/rat?

Political Riots, and more..

Political Riots...
Tomorrow will mark the end of all this crazy campaigning that is happening in Bangkok. I've been surprisingly very interested in this election, because of all the issues that are arising, such as scandals revolving around buying votes, falsely eliminating candidates, and very crude speeches. For the past few weeks, from my bedroom window I have been hearing roars of cheers, and grunts from people who are either happy, or unhappy with the politicians running. It is an interesting dynamic to witness. One of the major issues that is arising is the possibility of one government party taking over (i.e. there will be no opposition party). The general fear among the public is that with only one party in power, that party will be able to easily override balance and check systems (which Thai politicians are known for)... so in short, the thais are afraid of increased corruption.

If Thaksin is voted in for a second term tomorrow, there is great fear of violent outbreak. The atmosphere is intense as officers are preparing for riots and so forth, particularly in the South where Thaksin is least popular. People are so afraid, that those who live outside of Thailand to work are reluctant to return home tomorrow to vote.

The "and more" part...
For those who know me, will know that I love to eat! Thai food has definitely been an adventure for the taste buds, but I was really craving some good-old fashion western food.

The Potluck

I had a pot-luck party at the apartment yesterday. Oh my goodness, it felt so good to sink my teeth in something other than noodles, and rice. In particular, the pastas, and dips were my favourite. :) Thanks team Canada for that!

There was a wide selection of food, we had everything from Thai dessert to mcdonald's (americans!)... I've posted the pictures below.

The bad part about hosting a party is the clean up, i spent a good 4 hours cleaning up after everyone left yesterday... gross!!

back to doing HOMEWORK....