Sabaaydii May?

Trip Start Jun 05, 2008
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Trip End Sep 28, 2008


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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Soo with Fuj's departure, I guess I've officially become a Bangkokian and have moved in with my long-not-so-lost Aunt Margie who at 84 years old has spent 40 years living in Bangkok. We are in an apartment right at the heart of public transportation between New and old Bangkok and thus we are sandwiched in between the beautiful old hotel Grand Hyatt Erawan and about 4 super intense malls all of which contain gyms, cafeteria,s office, clothes, Mazarati car dealerships, theaters, and grocery stores..and whatever else you need.

This past weekend Auntie Margie took me to the open air Or Tor Kor Food Market which was suprisingly super duper clean! It sells everything from fresh vegetables to squid to prepared noodles dishes, to flowers and fruits to COW TONGUE and CHICKETN FEET! While I've tried cow tongue before, I'd never actually seen it whole and more importantly, never tried to imagine its girthiness. Cow Makeout sessions must be really really intense. The tongues are as long as my arm!

I went to visit Wat Pra Keaw in the old Bangkok and its situated in the Royal Palace which is relatively obsolete as a government house but still hosts several royal ceremonies. The bus I took was FREE!!! and the temple, well that was about $10 admission for foreigners) but they didn't charge for the clothes I had to borrow in order to cover my knees. Women must wear skirts or pants...to bad my "cockpack" knee lengths didn't fit the dress code so I donned a bedazzled purple sari skirt and a plain old man's yellow collard t-shirt and wandered into the temple grounds. The place was gorgeous, breathtaking, peaceful, and ridiculously hot. Some parts are reserved for worshippers only - understandable considering the number of tour guides and tourists braving it despite the heat.

One building holds an "emerald buddha" actually jade which has exchanged hands between the Laotions and Thais a few times during border wars but was discovered by a monk in Chiang Mai (up north) who upon chipping away at the brown plaster discovered this beautiful green buddha who now sits at the center of the Wat and is the object of many worshippers affections/prayers/donations/and fruit plates :)
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