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Greetings from Thailand,
Today consisted of Wats, more Wats, and Buddha’s galore.
We started the day with a visit to the Erawan Shrine. In the 1950’s the Erawan Grand Hyatt Hotel began construction, but was plagued with several mishaps. In order to counteract the “bad spirits” believed to be causing the problems a shrine was erected. With the completion of the shrine the hotel has flourished. By the shrine are women in traditional Thai costumes dancing a thank you dance around the upscale shopping center. Harry and I enjoyed watching the balance and precise of the dancers. And FYI for all you business owners…. if your business is suffering, you may to erect a Shrine…. the shrine was followed by a Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and many other high end stores.
Our second stop was to visit the famous Jim Thompson of Jim Thompson Thai silk. Thompson was a former Princeton architecture graduate followed by a successful business entrepreneur in New York. The American came to Thailand in 1945 as head of the OSS Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA. In 1948 he founded the Thai Silk Company Ltd, turning the ailing industry into a thriving business once again. Thompson achieved mythical status following his disappearance on Easter Sunday 1967 while walking in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia during his vacation. Not a single valid clue explains Thompson mysterious disappearance.
Thompson’s famous silk was first seen throughout the world with the original movie The King and I. Thompson silk was used to construct each lavish costume worn by the cast.
Third stop…. Golden Buddha. A monk in Bangkok found the Golden Buddha in 1969. In fact it had been a big cement statue located in a city square. People would often place their shopping bags or sodas down on top of it while they took pictures. People went so far as to put their cigarettes out on the statue itself. Finally, a monk decided to take it back to the monastery and clean in up. He noticed cracks in the Buddha as he began to drag it away with the help of friends. When the pulled away the cracks they found a golden statue. It turns out that it was in fact the largest solid gold carving in the world. Harry recently used this story as a sermon illustration. It in many ways reflects our lives as Christian’s. Christ when he comes into our lives chisels away all the ugliness of life and makes us new. In a sense we need to learn to see the beauty of the new creation that Christ creates in us and not forget that we are made in the image of the creator.
Oh…and something we learnt on this Buddha stop….. we knew to take off your shoes when entering a Wat or holy building. The hundreds of shoes left by the door triggered that response. However, we did not know stepping on the threshold is very unlucky. You must step over the threshold. All doors have a threshold, which you quickly learn….trust me a have a few stumped toes from the threshold education. Thai’s say the threshold keeps the bad spirits out and your babies from crawling out. Yet I know several times Harry ad I entered these site we have quite visibly stepped on the threshold. The Thai’s must have thought we were crazy. Some crazy foreigners….clueless to the culture and rituals…and now endowed with bad luck. I should get some clarification on this luck thingy….I think I have had my share on the flight over….maybe I have counteracted the bad luck I had from before? I pray I have not added to the already insurmountable back luck from before!
I am so thankful our religion nor our denomination requires Harry to shave his head and wear a lovely bright orange sheet. Orange is just not his color!
Fourth stop…. Golden Mount. This Wat is one of the oldest temples in Bangkok. The artificial hill was once one of the highest points in Bangkok. However, soft soil, which led to its collapse and the 1960’s introduction of skyscrapers, leaves the Mount a prominent landmark…just not the highest point. Tourist still flock to the mount for the view. A circular staircase winds its way to the top. The view would be breath taking ….if you still had breath after the trek!
My favorite segment of the day was our dinner show at Siam Niramit. One of the things I miss about Atlanta….is the entertainment it offered. Throughout our years there… we have been season ticket holders for the Atlanta Opera, Ballet, Symphony Orchestra, and Zoo. We always had nosebleed seats, but it was still cultural entertainment.
Siam Niramit is Bangkok’s version of Broadway. The stage is listed in Guinness Book of World Records as the highest in the world. The show was a spectacular performance of Thailand’s art and cultural heritage. The show has amazing state of the art special effects and 150 performers and over 500 costumes. The show, entitled Journey to the Enchanted Kingdom of Siam,….which is the former name of Thailand. (Thailand means freedom in the Thai language)
The show began with a journey back into the history of the ancient kingdom of Lanna. Here we were able to see and experience the ancient culture of the Thai people. During this portion of the show…actual live animals were on stage. 2 elephants, 10+ goats, several chickens paraded around on stage in the various scenes. A local fisherman comes out….bends down and washes his faces in the river….we are all wondering how the water just appeared…maybe its an illusion? Then he jumps in the river cannonball style….and that’s when we realize in a manner of seconds, the stage has actually become a flowing river. The remaining act uses the river similar to the water effects of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Absolutely spectacular. When we thought we had seen an amazing feat….it begins to rain. The highest stage in the world begins to thunder lightening, and rain pours down from above. Absolutely magnificent.
Today consisted of Wats, more Wats, and Buddha’s galore.
We started the day with a visit to the Erawan Shrine. In the 1950’s the Erawan Grand Hyatt Hotel began construction, but was plagued with several mishaps. In order to counteract the “bad spirits” believed to be causing the problems a shrine was erected. With the completion of the shrine the hotel has flourished. By the shrine are women in traditional Thai costumes dancing a thank you dance around the upscale shopping center. Harry and I enjoyed watching the balance and precise of the dancers. And FYI for all you business owners…. if your business is suffering, you may to erect a Shrine…. the shrine was followed by a Burberry, Louis Vuitton, and many other high end stores.
Our second stop was to visit the famous Jim Thompson of Jim Thompson Thai silk. Thompson was a former Princeton architecture graduate followed by a successful business entrepreneur in New York. The American came to Thailand in 1945 as head of the OSS Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner of the CIA. In 1948 he founded the Thai Silk Company Ltd, turning the ailing industry into a thriving business once again. Thompson achieved mythical status following his disappearance on Easter Sunday 1967 while walking in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia during his vacation. Not a single valid clue explains Thompson mysterious disappearance.
Thompson’s famous silk was first seen throughout the world with the original movie The King and I. Thompson silk was used to construct each lavish costume worn by the cast.
Third stop…. Golden Buddha. A monk in Bangkok found the Golden Buddha in 1969. In fact it had been a big cement statue located in a city square. People would often place their shopping bags or sodas down on top of it while they took pictures. People went so far as to put their cigarettes out on the statue itself. Finally, a monk decided to take it back to the monastery and clean in up. He noticed cracks in the Buddha as he began to drag it away with the help of friends. When the pulled away the cracks they found a golden statue. It turns out that it was in fact the largest solid gold carving in the world. Harry recently used this story as a sermon illustration. It in many ways reflects our lives as Christian’s. Christ when he comes into our lives chisels away all the ugliness of life and makes us new. In a sense we need to learn to see the beauty of the new creation that Christ creates in us and not forget that we are made in the image of the creator.
Oh…and something we learnt on this Buddha stop….. we knew to take off your shoes when entering a Wat or holy building. The hundreds of shoes left by the door triggered that response. However, we did not know stepping on the threshold is very unlucky. You must step over the threshold. All doors have a threshold, which you quickly learn….trust me a have a few stumped toes from the threshold education. Thai’s say the threshold keeps the bad spirits out and your babies from crawling out. Yet I know several times Harry ad I entered these site we have quite visibly stepped on the threshold. The Thai’s must have thought we were crazy. Some crazy foreigners….clueless to the culture and rituals…and now endowed with bad luck. I should get some clarification on this luck thingy….I think I have had my share on the flight over….maybe I have counteracted the bad luck I had from before? I pray I have not added to the already insurmountable back luck from before!
I am so thankful our religion nor our denomination requires Harry to shave his head and wear a lovely bright orange sheet. Orange is just not his color!Fourth stop…. Golden Mount. This Wat is one of the oldest temples in Bangkok. The artificial hill was once one of the highest points in Bangkok. However, soft soil, which led to its collapse and the 1960’s introduction of skyscrapers, leaves the Mount a prominent landmark…just not the highest point. Tourist still flock to the mount for the view. A circular staircase winds its way to the top. The view would be breath taking ….if you still had breath after the trek!
My favorite segment of the day was our dinner show at Siam Niramit. One of the things I miss about Atlanta….is the entertainment it offered. Throughout our years there… we have been season ticket holders for the Atlanta Opera, Ballet, Symphony Orchestra, and Zoo. We always had nosebleed seats, but it was still cultural entertainment.
Siam Niramit is Bangkok’s version of Broadway. The stage is listed in Guinness Book of World Records as the highest in the world. The show was a spectacular performance of Thailand’s art and cultural heritage. The show has amazing state of the art special effects and 150 performers and over 500 costumes. The show, entitled Journey to the Enchanted Kingdom of Siam,….which is the former name of Thailand. (Thailand means freedom in the Thai language)
The show began with a journey back into the history of the ancient kingdom of Lanna. Here we were able to see and experience the ancient culture of the Thai people. During this portion of the show…actual live animals were on stage. 2 elephants, 10+ goats, several chickens paraded around on stage in the various scenes. A local fisherman comes out….bends down and washes his faces in the river….we are all wondering how the water just appeared…maybe its an illusion? Then he jumps in the river cannonball style….and that’s when we realize in a manner of seconds, the stage has actually become a flowing river. The remaining act uses the river similar to the water effects of the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Absolutely spectacular. When we thought we had seen an amazing feat….it begins to rain. The highest stage in the world begins to thunder lightening, and rain pours down from above. Absolutely magnificent.
The second act took us to Blissful Heaven as seen by Buddhist. Not a lot of similarities with what I think my heaven will be. The entire stage was filled with smoke, which gave the appearance of clouds. The Buddha’s and women with headdresses like Buddha’s (but not sure what they are actually called) were dancing around… almost as if floating on air. Then out of the corner comes a female Buddha thingy and it goes soaring across the stage… almost too fast for the eye to comprehend what it is looking at….the Buddha woman thingy is about 20 feet in the air. Then all the women Buddha thingy’s start flying through the sky. Some slowing floating and about 10+ are just being flown as if they have been released by a slingshot. I was just trying to visually keep up with them so they did not collide with one another. Absolutely fascinating. And impressive.
The third and final act consist of the Thai joyous festivals. This required the use of all the cast, animals again… this time the elephants came from the audience….and wow do they smell. They also used the river to float candles and incents down river. It was beautiful and smelled much better after the stench left from the elephants. All in all the show was far beyond my expectations. We paid little over $30 per person. This price included a buffet….Harry favorite portion of the night….and our tickets for the show. We sat about 7 rows from the front and comfortable in the middle. Not the usual nosebleed seats we are used to in Atlanta.
We topped off the evening with a stop by our Thai Spa for a massage. Nothing like his and her massages for our anniversary trip. At least that’s the reasoning I have used with Harry…so far he’s buying it! Come on $8 for an hour! On the way home I happened to find the market. An outdoor market selling every conceivable knock imaginable…. I was in paradise! Harry just wanted to go back to the room. I cut him some slack…..I have plans for the market later….
Blessings until the next adventure,
Kristie
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