My Vietnam Family

Saigon Steve here. Just reporting in from my new home in Vietnam.

Here I am with my adopted family. We're just enjoying a few of the
sights in this wonderful country.

I wanted you to see this statue, Melbah. Her face reminds me so much of
you.

This is Lien's sister and her niece enjoying the beautiful (deph)
gardens of this Vietnamese theme park. Her sister is studying English at University. I think her face is vibrant.

At the end of the day, Bill and Lien invited me to have dinner with a
few of her family members at a favorite restaurant. The main course
was Goat Satay. Every few minutes we would all do the Vietnamese
toast together: "Moh...Hye...Bah...YO!!!!!!!!" (One, Two, Three,
DRINK!!!!).

During the day at the Theme Park I helped 78 year old auntie to get
up and down the steps. So when it came time for dinner, she plunked
herself down beside me, held tight to my hand and didn't let go for
the evening. It's a good thing I only needed one hand to eat.

So how how are the Vietnamese people treating me so far?

A Life In a Day 2

Songkhla, Thailand, January 29, 2006

I had already experienced so many amazing sights at the Bird Sanctuary. So now I headed to Hat Yai and on to the Coastal City of Songkhla to relax on the beach (again)...

When I got there I gave a call to Jookie's Uncle, who happens to be Major Chit; the head of the Thai Malaysia liaison Embassy in the City.

He met me at the Embassy and introduced me to his men.

The next thing I knew, he had arranged for a lieutenant in his command to act as official translator and off we went on a sight-seeing tour. We drove onto a Ferry and across to an Island that houses one of Thailand's top Museums of History. My translator made a call to his wife to say he would be staying in town to show me around. I objected. I told the Major I didn't feel right about taking lieutenant Sadit (Sah-deet') away from his family just for me but I soon learned that when Major Chit gives an order, we obey.

This is a view from the Museum overlooking the longest bridge in Thailand, from the Island to the Mainland.
What I notice most about Songkhla is the Architecture. The lines are clean and the building techniques are the best I've seen anywhere in the Country. This is a look-out structure for seeing the Ocean and the Mainland.

This is a silk tapestry from the Museum. Mom.

The Major was honored to be photographed beside a portrait of one of his favorite Monks.

Then we headed to another Viewpoint Structure up a Mountain in Songkhla. You can see the Blue water of the Gulf.

Remember when you called to make sure your Uncle had not made me join the army, Jookie? That's him talking to you on his Cell Phone. And that's what we were looking at. So Soay!

Just down from the Citadel is a Naga staircase, built on orders from King Rama V, around 1900. The Major and the lieutenant took me all over the City to show me the sights, feed me great food and finally to this place where my new best friend; 'Suw' gave me a wonderful Thai massage (100 baht for one hour).

Suw is the one on the right. I'm not really sure who the others are but they all live there too. The one in the back is 'Pon'. They fed me very well and I gave them Canadian souvenirs.
I finally got to my hotel about 11:30 pm. When I reflect on the events and the beauty I experienced, it's hard to believe I did so much, in two separate Cities, in the same day

Ayuthaya: Mar26

So I'm on a bus with small Oi's husband who is driving me to a place not on his route. We travel from 4 pm Friday, all through the night.

I don't know if you can see the picture on the front of his bus but it shows his majesty, Ramses IV who is the King responsible for introducing technology to the Country.

This is how I felt when the bus arrived in Bangkok at 2:30 Saturday morning. Yor (the Driver) had driven me past the turnoff to Ayutthaya and right to the Bangkok terminal so that I could get a bus to the Ancient city from there. Finally at 4 am the bus arrived and I headed to the city.

At 5 am I arrived at my Guesthouse. This is the woman who takes care of the place. Her name is 'Dim'. She's a sweetie Pie. By the way, the shirt I'm wearing is a gift from Joy in Ubon. I just casually mentioned one day that I was interested in getting a more lightweight shirt. The next day she just handed it to me. Thank you again Joy!

After a little sleep, I had a foot massage from a place that really knows their stuff. This woman pointed out some things she said I need to have checked based on what my feet were showing her; mostly to do with my prostate. Ouch. I took a picture of her chart and noted the numbers she pointed out. Something to check on when I get back to Ontario. Her T-shirt says: "I love Healthy Foods." (Enquiring minds want to know).

Those of you who follow my Blog will remember my very dear friend Jook. She lives an hour away in Bangkok. When she heard I was interested in exploring Ayutthaya she offered to be my guide at the ruins. She rented us a couple of bicycles (40 baht each) and we were off.

This is the entrance to the Palace grounds.

So much of Ayutthaya felt so familiar to me. It was if I was returning to my home town. Jook says that this was the original Capitol of Thailand. It was destroyed by the Burmese after 300 years, in about 1700. The buildings were once covered with gold, which was stolen, leaving the Palace and Temples a burned out husk. The Bangkok Palace of the present King, is a duplicate of Ayutthaya's structure, but not as intricate.

Jook says this is the Goddess of the Rains. Her job is to bring the rains to the earth so that things will grow. Thailand has been experiencing a drought this year so her presence is especially welcome right now.

This is a view looking from the Palace grounds to one of the lesser palaces.
Treasure Hunt

I thought it might be fun to place an object in the Ruins for you to discover. See if you can identify where this is.

I placed this 1 baht coin here. By the way, the green bracelet is a good luck bracelet and was a gift from Gai. The strings are good luck from a Buddhist monk. The day I was blessed by the Monk, I was given these strings and we all took turns putting them on each other's wrists as symbols of our friendship.

Then I placed the brick back on top where I found it.

If you can tell me what I inscribed on the coin I'll buy you dinner. I hope you like fried grasshoppers though...

Now under the category of really stupid things to try, let me tell you about the monument I climbed.

It's one of those things that is so easy to do but so hard to come back from. When I stood at the top and looked out, the view was magnificent.

I walked to the inner chamber and looked at the alter. Then I turned around and walked to the edge that I had come up.

I had to master my fear to even begin the descent. It was the same feeling I had the day I jumped off the 40 foot waterfall in Chiang Mai, except this time I couldn't chicken out. There was only one way down.

When we finished the tour, I came back to the Guest House and said goodbye to Dim.
I went back to Bangkok with Jook and there I embarked on one of the boldest adventures since arriving in Thailand: eating at a Thai McDonald's.