Bangkok: Jim Thompson House and Other Stuff

On Saturday I noticed something was definitely not right with my leg. I woke up sore and that's all I thought it was, "Wow, I'm out of shape if climbing a few wats did this to me but it will be gone in a day." It steadily got worse, but I didn't say much to Casey about it because I didn't want him to think I was a complete wimp from soreness. He talked me into going to this Jim Thompson place-something to do with silk-and I complained thinking it would be another boring museum.

 (On a side note because I forgot to post about it. At Wat Phra Kaew they had a little museum with all the weapons of Siam. Casey was ridiculously excited, like any boy, about this. It was hot and stifling to me.) 

Anyways, I didn't want to be bored but as soon as we walked down the street and turned into the drive I was awestruck. 

I wasn't sure what to expect as I had let Casey do the research. We paid 150 baht total to get in (I got a discount for being younger than 25), which is about 5 bucks. The history goes as follows (I'm summarizing poorly):
Jim Thompson was an army officer from Delaware who was sent to Asia. As an officer in Bangkok he fell in love with Thailand and returned after discharged to live there permanently.
He devoted himself to reviving the silk industry and was a very gifted designer and colorist. His house (where we visited) combined traditional Thai architecture through six teak buildings. The house is a full story above ground and building techniques are consistent with centuries old design.
Mr. Thompson later donated the house in 1959 to the public so that all proceeds would be donated to Thai charities and could be appreciated by all. In 1967 Mr. Thompson was visiting Malaysia and went for a walk in the jungle. He never returned and no one (or so it is said) knows what happened to him. His company and heritage live on.

And now on to the pictures. It's such a beautiful place that I wanted to share it with all, as I can see why Mr. Thompson did.

Below is his private gardens.

Fish were in HUGE pots all over. There was one we pet... uhh... touched. He must be use to it though because he just sat there.

The red building in the background belongs to the estate; the beige one further back is outside of the property-probably apartments.

There were orchids in more HUGE pots all over. 

He's a professional... The yellow balls below are the silk worms in their cocoons. They're unstrung one strand at a time.

A weaver thingy.

I was really excited to see the turtles.

More flowers!

See the leaves below in the top of the picture? They're about 5 feet tall!

Fishy fishy fishy.

We ate lunch at the restaurant afterwards. They had one of my favorites desserts/snacks! Mango with sticky rice! Yum! 

It was a beautiful experience and I'm glad Casey talked me into going. That evening we went further down on the MRT to the factory outlet, where we bought 2 meters of silk to make pillow shams with. 

Today, Sunday, we went to the downtown Bangkok ward where Casey saw a few people he knew. I'll talk about that in the next post if I can get online in Trang. :)

Bangkok: Wats

The past few days have been exhilarating yet exhausting. I'll try to type less and just let the pictures do the talking. On Friday we went to Wat Phra Kaew, a Buddhist temple and palace complex considered the holiest place in Thailand. (Think Temple Square for Utah...). Before we went in we got on a longtail boat that took us all around the canals and to see another wat, Wat Arun.

Wat Arun from the boat. We got off and climbed this wat. A rather strenuous climb... Strenuous enough that about where I'm standing in this picture (this was on the way up) my leg decided it didn't like me on the way down. It felt like my entire left thigh had a charlie horse. That quickly disappeared an then it just felt tight. I wasn't sure what had happened but thought I just over-exerted it and had a lactic acid build up. After a few minutes it felt fine.

The wat was ornate and beautiful, covered in colorful porcelain and actually moved from the other side of the river by King Rama I. 

We honestly didn't mean to get the random Buddha head in this picture but it works.

View from the wat looking over Chao Phraya River.

We then got back on the boat and went around the canals until we came back to Wat Phra Kaew. By this time Casey was experiencing some heat stroke so we sat down and slowly wandered through any shaded area while consuming copious amounts of liquid and mango.

The canals were gross but unique and truly showed a side of Bangkok not visible from anywhere else. Some houses were nice with gated communities and speed boats. Others were mere huts two feet above the water. It was interesting to see some one so wealthy living next to such squander, though. We would not see that in America. The longtail terrified me whenever it turned. I closed my eyes and told myself I can swim well, no matter how filthy the water is. Hopefully this video works. It doesn't look awful but I thought I'd be in the water any second.

Anyways, back to Wat Phra Kaew. Casey's overheating (despite the amounts of human antifreeze we put in him), the sun is out (it was supposed to be overcast), and I'm sweating so much that I don't have to go to the bathroom despite the 2 liters of water I've drank. I'll just bombard you with photos. :)

The picture below is right before we went in to the actual wat that houses the Emerald Buddha (which is really jade...). It has a huge history of theft and prestige but is considered very holy. No pictures are allowed to be taken inside but you are asked to kneel or sit down. Many people were praying, bowing, or worshiping. It reminded me that every religion has a truth. Buddhism teaches about light-about doing good and receiving good in return. There was a certain spirit there that I think would be in any place where something is so revered. 

The temple itself is very ornate. I thought of the Baroque period and wondered if they were influenced by this style as the western world was meeting up with the east at this time.

Below is Casey taking one of the breaks we so desperately needed.

There were these statue guys all over that reminded us of the third "Pirates of the Caribbean," dudes on the ship that are half fish. 

This is one of the palaces. The royal family use to live here but moved when they realized it was more beneficial as a tourist place.

One of the guards (like the Buckingham Palace guys) who Casey tried to get to laugh. Apparently he did last time he was here. I can't imagine standing in that full clothing in this heat! We had to wear pants or skirts to our ankles and closed toed shoes. I'll admit it bothered me when others tried to be disrespectful and get away with immodest clothes. I don't care if someone is immodest but when a tourist comes to a sacred place and is asked to respectful then they should be.

This was a small side garden we found with a cat (there all over) who was drinking, or possibly fishing, from one of the small ponds.

After this wat (we spent a few hours there) we came back in a taxi (at least to the end of the MRT line) and collapsed at the hotel. The ride in the taxi took 45 minutes and that was when the heat stroke hit me. I was nauseous and couldn't cool off. We got mildly burned but the funny thing was Casey's forehead where his hair covered!

I'll try to post once more before we leave tomorrow morning for Trang (yay beaches!). The next place we went has been my favorite so it might deserve an entire post. :)

Bangkok: Day 1

We checked into our hotel at about 1 AM last night after a crazy 30 hours of traveling. After we got in we walked down to a 7-Eleven to get some bread and bottled water. I, to be honest, hated the flights. I'm dreading coming home. I ached everywhere and couldn't sleep well. I finally figured out a good position by lowering the seat tray in front of me and sleeping on that. After a while my legs would hurt so I had to find something new. Our flight in from San Francisco to Tokyo was delayed about an hour so we panicked knowing our layover at NRT was only 2 hours. To make matters worse, we were supposed to arrive and depart at the same terminal but it got switched. We were able to make it and the Tokyo-Bangkok flight was delayed about 15 minutes as well. I just stood for the 25 minutes of downtime trying to make my legs remember what they're for. 

But it's all worth it. Our hotel is absolutely beautiful. It's only been open 3 months and has all sorts of new amenities, including a bidet. (Yeah, got some shocks from that but Casey loves it...) It's a smaller room but has awesome storage (think Ikea) and the windows take up the whole wall. It has two electronic shades that can be lowered for different light. It also has a kitchenette and washer/dryer combination that will come in handy. The shower is separate from the tub, which is huge and would honestly easily fit a Garrett. :) The best part is the view (all three photos from the windows)a. 

I didn't see this until the morning, of course, but it's beautiful at night as well. We're on the 28th floor. I think there are 32 total. It's built over and against a shopping center that based on world themes. We walked around for a few hours before taking the Sky Train to MBK shopping center. I'm not sure how that much merchandise can be packed in there. The upper floors have department stores with nice clothing while the lower floor has all the cheap, fake stuff. I got two skirts because I'm baking in jean capris. (It's been overcast but hot and humid.) At Terminal 21 (the shopping center below us) there was a "lucky cat" that I've been discussing in one of my Asian classes so I took a picture with it. (And let's admit it's a cat so I have to take a picture with it...) If you see a cat raise one paw at you consider yourself lucky. 

We shopped for several hours and Casey showed me areas he remembers being as a missionary. It's fun to imagine him here 5 years ago walking chasing these people around. Speaking of the population I've noticed the kids-younger generation-are much nicer and friendlier than some of the older people. While we were at MBK one guy called Casey over to look at some watches. He said in Thai (before Casey spoke Thai to him) to a coworker, "Come talk to this farang," (a somewhat derogatory term for foreigners). Casey replied, "I'm not a farang," in Thai and the boy was a bit startled and embarrassed. I laughed at that for a while. 

The pool area with the gardens is beautiful. We came home and swam after shopping. Because the pool is on a lower floor I could take pictures of the hotel. 

                                                 

 Casey is standing on the edge of the pool where it looks out over part of the city.

This isn't the pool but a shallow relaxation area. We think... We joked about getting in it and claiming we thought it was the pool. 

These are the lounge chairs made out of tile in the pool. I won't lie. I love this place and if I didn't miss my pets so dang much I'd be tempted to stay forever.

And finally, someone please tell me what kind of tree this is! It's not a great picture, and I honestly thought it was a croton because of the leaves. It has flowers like lotuses though. I can't figure it out.

That's all for today. I'll try to post every few days.

Mundane Mercenary

Let's get this straight, self. You are posting under this blog for yourself. You are posting what you want because you can. You are posting this so you will keep posting, not considering who (if any) may read this.

Forget the worries about grammar or seeming way too preoccupied with your pets. Forget wondering what people who know you may think when they read this. You are posting this because you want to. And because it's the middle of the night and you can't sleep so to restrain yourself from baking more concoctions you will update your blog. It's been long enough.

You see, as you sit there in your Mormon underwear with a red apron and wait for your alcoholic chocolate cake (you hope it will turn out as a cake) to bake others are fulfilling their own selfish informational/media/etc needs. What's stopping you from getting up after being unable to fall asleep and tiptoeing over your dogs butt sticking out from under your bed to blogging whatever you please. An who cares if these paragraphs are filled with run-on sentences? There are worse things in the world-like the 8 extra pounds of fat you've discovered out of nowhere-which won't be helped with your midnight recipe fulfillment. Maybe someone will roll their eyes and exclaim "She's seriously worried about her fat when there are millions starving in eastern Africa right now?" Well, fine, let them roll their eyes. This blog if for you-for what you want to write-so stop worrying about what everyone else might think for once. Stop worrying about being a people pleaser. Stop worrying about everything you can't control and enjoy yourself for once. And stop worrying about why you're posting in second person and post it already.

Introductions 2: The Rug

This is the Rug, aka, Will.

I got this cuddly kitten the summer of 2009 from Vernal, along with his white sister, for my grandparents to have. After months of different names my Grandpa decided on dead ancestral names. The girl is Nezzy (after whom?) and Will is either from Willard or Wilford, not sure which, but I'm pretty sure he's a dead great, great, great uncle or something. Will can be a bit of a trying cat. He loves to lick which may not be so bad except he has a much rougher tongue than any other house cat I know. He loves to cuddle and purr and rub faces which would also be cute except when it's between 4 and 6 in the morning. He also has an obsession with lying on things. Any thing that is on the floor-like my books, or newspapers, or boxes, or laundry baskets. Mr. Will is still under two years old, so he has a bit of the pesty kitten still in him. For instance, he chews (doesn't eat) on my Majesty Palm. He also likes to sleep in roads, which leads me to how I got him (or he got me).

One morning Grandma came out to find Will sitting pitifully on the driveway unable to move meowing his most verbose meow. After taking him to the vet he was discovered to have a broken pelvis and would require 6 weeks of attentive care. Grandma didn't think she was up to that so I took him, put him in a crate in our spare bedroom, and began to wonder if he'd live. Casey, my husband, was gone for the summer when I received him so it was up to me (and a ton of help from Emilie, my sister) to rehabilitate him. This included holding him over the litter box when he couldn't support himself, shoving fluids down him, and holding handfuls of food in front of his mouth. We also discovered he had severely damaged his scapula resulting in a chunk of bone missing (we assume some of it might be floating around). For days he didn't go #2 and we though it might have damaged his intestines. I have a distant cousin up here who is a vet, and I pestered him for advice. He told us to give him time (that worked) and prescribed better medicines. Will was starting to show interest in moving around (Monster did not like this) when one night I was brushing him and chunks of hair started to fall out of just one place. He got this bald patch the size of my hand on his back/side. The skin peeled off and after discussing it I realized he had been hard enough the blood vessels that supplied the skin had been damaged. This lead to tissue death and an even goofier looking cat.

While this is a horrible picture you can get an idea of his baldness. However, it's growing back. He's jumping again, and while has a slight limp, is back to his normal needy self. After a while of running around chasing and jumping on Monster he'll limp a little more, lay down, and pant. I love the panting.

 And while I know this to be way too long of a post about a cat, you need to know that my kitties are my children (for now). They constantly entertain and comfort me in their funny little ways.

Introductions 1

I haven't really introduced much about me or my family in this blog. In my opinion I'm rather boring. However, I have two... adoptees.... who are very entertaining (at least my husband and I think so). So without further ado, and a possible disclaimer, here are Monster and Will.


Monster is on the left and Will on the right.

It's almost impossible to get a good picture of them together so the rest will be their personal portraits. I'll start with Monster. She came into our lives this past winter. We saw her on the street in the middle of the night and as we ran during the day.


One day as we ran past her I stopped to pet her (I do this with EVERY cat). She rubbed and purred and followed us the few houses down to our apartment. I carried her the rest of the way inside where she ate some reserve cat food I have (for my landlords cat). After investigating the place she curled up on a rocking chair cushion and has pretty much stayed there since.

I know she looks all cute and cuddly. Yeah, right. She'd let us scratch and rub and then WHAM! out of nowhere she'd rip our head, finger, hand-whatever she could get-right off. We thought we would have to kick her out with how violent she could be.

But then one day I was rubbing her belly (this was a very rare occurrence) and felt two small, hard knobs. After investigating more we discovered she had BBs in her abdomen and legs. I still feel a new one occasionally. It opened up our minds to the fact that our kitty (yeah, she was now mine) had been awfully abused and didn't trust, well, anyone.

Now that we've had her for about 8 months she's practically a different cat. She loves attention and her belly scratched. We'll call and she comes trotting over. While she's gained significant weight, she's not overweight (she was a skinny little thing) and loves treats and take-out food. The other day she had some shrimp and about took my finger off getting to it.

She's extremely trusting now. With her shiny coat and hooded eyes she usually resembles an angry snob, but that's only true about a 1/5 of the time now. She has a canny habit of jumping up on my dresser each night RIGHT as I'm about to fall asleep and demanding scratching while purring and kneading the mattress. She then curls up on the corner by my feet and wakes me up in the morning with the same purring.

I could probably go on forever talking about her (I could about all the animals in my life) but this is getting pathetic. I'll save the next post for Willard/Wilford the Survivor.

Avoidance Behavior

Sometimes I think there should be a disorder for avoidance and procrastination. There are plenty of other disorders and science allows for behaviors to be classified. Why not avoidance?

I'm getting to something eventually. Just let me ramble for a while.

My husband gets frustrated when people use disorders to condone their actions or give excuses. He recognizes that something, such as OCD, may cause a person to be more predisposed towards a certain conduct. However, when the behavior seems to let people off the hook it drives him nuts. He believes people still need to be held responsible, unless they are clinically insane (then just lock them up...). Sometimes I find myself agreeing with him, but other times, I wish for a little more mercy in the world because I've needed that mercy myself.

What I was getting to... I'm taking summer classes at the University since my husband is working so much these few months. I'm also taking a CNA class at our local technology college. I find it's very hard to motivate myself to study, to review my notes and read the assigned text. Not only that, but I want to sleep in and take naps and be lazy like any summer should be.

So what I want to know is if procrastination is laziness or something more? Is that all I really am? Lazy? Because that sucks. Or is there some physiological explanation for people who are lacking motivation. Maybe I don't want to know. Maybe it's better to be lazy and chew myself out for that while trying to make some effort instead of saying "I have THIS", so it makes sense that I can't wake myself up.

Now for ways to make my professor more merciful... I wish.