Bangkok Dangerous

You may know Bangkok from Nicholas Cage's terrible movie flop Bangkok Dangerous, but most know it as an economic and cultural center of Thailand. It was our first stop on our trip with Craig and Ranae, the first two days of which Kendra wrote about below. By the way, there was nothing dangerous about our trip to Bangkok (other than the Thai drivers in the city), I just think it's a funny term.

On the third morning of our stay in Bangkok, we ventured from BCGH to the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson revived the Thai silk industry following World War II, and with the revenue generated from his substantial success, he built an excellent house in Bangkok. Consisting of six antique Thai teak houses, the complex, now run as a museum, has excellent grounds and is replete with antiques from Thompson's collection. Mysteriously, Thompson disappeared without a trace while on a trip to the Cameroon Highlands in Malaysia when he was 61. People suspect foul play or CIA involvement in his disappearance, but nothing's been proven. The House-Museum is Bangkok's second most popular tourist attraction (surpassed by the Grand Palace) and we greatly enjoyed the tour.

My favorite part of the Jim Thompson experience, however, followed the tour. Kim Quinley gave us directions to an old, out-of-the-way factory that was one of Thompson's original facilities and still makes silk the old fashioned way. We took a single-track concrete footpath along the canal adjacent to Thompson's house down to a little bridge and crossed over. Boats sped down the green water and cramped shops and tiny homes lined the opposite shore. We pressed onwards until we saw the sign leading us down a narrow alleyway to the shop. What we saw inside was incredible. Two men were pulling on silk strands looped around a pipe and warmly welcomed us inside the tiny factory. We went into a stiflingly hot room to the left that had 4-foot tall cauldrons bubbling with deep red and pure black dye. The fibers being dyed hung above above the cauldrons and an old man eating his lunch greeted us kindly. We then went on to another room where a woman was using a big wooden machine to make fabric from the silk threads. It appeared to be quite complex and required her to coordinate all four limbs while managing the spools of thread. There was also a little shop area where they sold the products made from the wonderful fabric. It was incredibly authentic and I loved our visit to the little factory.

The next stop on our tour of all things Bangkok came in the form of the country's museum. I was, to be honest, underwhelmed by the experience but there certainly were highlights. Tales of the country's history wrought with stories of elephant combat were definitely of interest, as were the sections showing musical instruments, weapons, and ceramics. Our admission fee certainly wasn't used for maintenance, however, as the facilities (other than those visible from the street) were lacking in upkeep. If you're a history buff I think you'll find it interesting, but probably wouldn't recommend this stop to visitors myself.

Following our trip to the museum, we retreated for some rest in our air-conditioned rooms at BCGH. Craig, Kendra, and I then ventured out for a most enjoyable experience- high tea at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Following our very low-budget lifestyle in Khao Lak (Craig and Ranae thought our outrage of having to pay more than $1 per meal at a Bangkok restaurant was quite entertaining), such an occasion as this was an incredible contrast. Craig very generously treated us to the experience and I must say that I recommend it highly if you: 1) love expensive things and enjoy gorgeous high-rise views of the river and Bangkok skyline, 2) greatly enjoy tea and value the history of the tea room as the Author's Lounge, where numerous greats came to reflect and write (Merideth Jeffries- this place is made for you and we thought about you while we were there), or 3) hate your money. The decadence of the experience certainly came at a price, and we're extremely grateful for the experience. I'd also like to just quickly clarify that we're doing our best to be good stewards of the money we've been blessed with by our supporters- thank you again for helping us and making this trip (the mission to Khao Lak) possible.

The evening also had its adventures: joining the parade of Red Shirts (thousands of supporters of the previous Prime Minister who want the dissolution of the current government and an open election), $1 dinner of noodle soup from one of the legion of noodle carts along a busy Bangkok street, and a trip to the Night Bazaar at Lumpini Park, where we looked at the army of merchants selling all sorts of items.

All of this was just one day in Bangkok- a crazy city with destitute slums, luxurious tea rooms, and everything in between.

Bangkok Bound

We decided to stop being so cheap and got a taxi to the airport last Wednesday. We were on our way to Bangkok to meet my mom (my dad's passport "expired" and he was delayed). Of course, we determined this after standing in extreme heat and moisture for 45 minutes on the road side and knowing that it could be a very long trip for just a little bit less green. We had cocktails with John and Kim on the beach instead of roasting in the bus station, and our flight was on time. Air Asia has a reputation for being "Air Delay-sia" but this time, our prayers were answered and we met my mom almost immediately.

We stayed at the downtown Bangkok Christian Guest House. With an excellent location near both a station on Bangkok's efficient elevated-train system and Lumpini Park, BCGH affords its guests a convenient place to find a respite from the constant activity (and heat) of the city. We definitely recommend it to everyone reading the blog. 

Bangkok is called Krung Thep Mahanakhon by the Thais. Thailand used to be called Siam, which I have heard before (Siamese cats). We spent our first day visiting Tae, a friend of the Quinley's who has her own tailor shop. Derek and I each ordered a suit and Derek put in orders for his dad and brother. The material they use is very nice, and the creation of suits are quite inexpensive here. We toured the Step Ahead site in the Klong Toey slums, where we met some of the people who are benefiting from the center's loans. We met a man who's job it was to pull the nails off chicken feet...not sure why I felt that needed to be shared. Sorry!

We took the rest of the day to rest and had dinner at Bu Restaurant, where for the millionth time, they forgot to keep the chilies out of my basil chicken. That evening, my mom and I met my dad's cab. We were glad to have only lost 24 hours with him. By the way, if you have international travel plans any time in the future, you need to make sure that your passport is valid for at least six months after your scheduled departure. You are welcome!

We spent the next day running around the Grand Palace area. We saw Wat Po (famed "reclining" Buddha that is ENORMOUS) and we climbed Wat Arun (the steepest stairs you've ever seen...my backside is still burning!). The Grand Palace covers a ton of space, and all of the buildings are hand painted inside and decorated with mirrors and gold and tiles on the outside. It's overwhelming how ornate they are. We met a monk there who sat with us for quite awhile - his name is Dipak, and he is from Bangladesh. He told us he is very lonely and even had me talk to his sister on his cell phone (for the novelty of it, I suppose?). We've promised to write him, and have done so already, in the hopes that we might foster a relationship that shows him that, when you know our God, you're never alone. 

We took a canal boat to and from and did some market shopping on the streets. Dad left his hat at a little dive where we ate and bought another two minutes later for $3. Gotta love Thailand markets! Mom found a teapot she loved but we didn't buy it, hoping we could find another later, and when we didn't, we went back and bought it anyway. The seller was an old Thai woman with blue eyes...a very unique thing, indeed. 

I got a steal on a traditional Thai hat from a woman who was rewarding my efforts with the Thai language. She told me that most sellers give the hats to "farang" (foreigners) for 450 bt (about $14) but to Thais, she gives them for 100 bt (about $3). There is a lesson here...put some effort into basic bartering phrases and you'll be less likely to be ripped off. Besides, you gain their respect speaking to them in their own language, and still more if you even attempt it.

Toilet Paper is GOLD

It's unbelievably beautiful here. We spent yesterday at the beach after church, and even in the shade, we burned. We didn't care. I'm going back today, just to read, fully clothed, but it sure beats reading inside.

There were wasps building a mud nest under our towels that were drying on our porch. Derek went out and got the towels, and killed one with a bottle. He said it was a shame...apparently, they're "pretty." I hid in the room and watched from the window. Call me a coward, but I'm alive!

There's also a GINORMOUS spider living in the Thai Totes building. Gai wouldn't kill it because of some mumbo-jumbo about the "circle of life." Whatever. That thing was the size of my hand, and brown and fuzzy. The worst part was that I was sitting next to it for half an hour before I moved a few bags and discovered it on the wall. I thought, for some reason, that it was fake, because in my mind, there is no such thing as a spider that big in real life (outside of the rain forest, as we have learned). It's still there. Eww.

Last night, we had spaghetti and ice cream and french fries...mmm, home-cooked food and sugar! We watched an incredible clip about Burma. We were both blown away at the atrocities the people there continue to suffer. Burma is never in the news, but still maintains the third most brutal dictatorship in the world. Many of the Burmese are Christians, and they are hiding out in the jungles to avoid the government military. It's an unbelieveable tragedy. Please pray for the people and their country.

It's not a good idea to eat something with a TON of cheese in it when you haven't had dairy in almost two months. Let's just say missing half of the church sermen to spend time in the bathroom with the ant colony, without any toilet paper, was better than the alternative. Toilet paper should be treated like gold, because it is...hoard it!

Kim took us out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate a successful seminar. We had 50 teachers and mothers over to hear teaching on Positive Discipline for Children. The seminar was led by two Thai teachers who got their PhD's in America. They teach 101 principles that the people traditionally believe will not work in Thailand (no spanking, positive reinforcement, etc), but they have implemented the program here and have proven that it works. While the seminar was going on, I babysat two little girls for mothers downstairs. One mother gave me a little pink elephant satchel to thank me for helping. They watched cartoons and colored most of the time, but it was a long day, so Gai and I took turns. By the way, Felix the Cat is a demonic show, and it's even scarier in Thai...especially if you're watching it for 5 hours!

Our parents will be here on Wednesday, and we are getting so excited for their arrival!

Children of Takuapa

My mother-in-law is a teacher, and as such she had a strong desire to hear more about how kids learn here in Thailand. So, this is a short entry about the children of Takuapa that we are helping.

Step Ahead Khao Lak helps four child development centers in the area, and the Tapdawan Preschool is one of the farthest from our home base. Anne and I would take a motorcycle out there several times a week. It's a half and hour out, but the kids are always so happy to see you - the drive is more than worth it. They always point at me and say "Cheu Dao!" which means, "your name is Star"...they are always careful to reaffirm to themselves which of us is Dao and which is Fa (Sky). We each join different groups, each with about 12 children, that are led by two teachers each.

They sing songs and do crafts. We learn to count and I review the English words for fruits and animals with them. This helps the teachers, too, because their pronunciation needs some polishing. This is especially important when they are teaching the English words to kids, who will remember the word as it is said, right or wrong. They have very hyper Thai songs with movements, which the teachers lead with more enthusiasm than I could ever manage. They are getting very good at their ABC's (always with a rush through the "LMNOP" part, just as kids in the US sing it) and they love to watch themselves on video and on a camera screen.

The kids have "uniforms" which don't seem very strictly enforced. Most of the kids wear a light purple button-up shirt and red shorts or skirts. They also sometimes wear a dark purple cover over it, the purpose of which is a bit lost on me. One day, they were wearing what looked like blue soccer shirts, shown above. The younger kids don't seem to follow the dress code and show up in all kinds of outfits, many of which have English words on them that their parents probably don't even understand. However, Micky Mouse is a universal symbol, and there's no need to understand the language with something so very recognizable.

We have been told that these children come from families with very little, but at the center, they are treated with respect and loving kindness. The teachers are bright, wonderful, God-fearing women who clearly enjoy their jobs. They are creative, letting the kids show the fruits of their imaginations all day long. In turn, they teach me patience (regardless of their adorable faces, they are still 3 and 4) and a little bit of Thai. Anne once said that the best way to learn a language is to work with a child, since no matter how many times you ask them to repeat it, they will, and gladly.

After playtime, English lessons and songs, the kids have a snack and are showered outside. They are very funny, running around naked two or three at a time, but because I thought it inappropriate to capture those moments, there are no pictures of such events. Then, they lie down for nap time, and that's when we scoot off. You can view more pictures of the kids on our Shutterfly site, the link to which can be found to the right of this post!

Sea Gypsy Village Secrets

Right outside of Tapdawan Village, where we do many Step Ahead projects, there is a brillant beach with NO TOURIST TRAFFIC. After helping other volunteers attach an extra nozzle to the source for water to our Seed Project, we met them at the beach, which you can only get to by a very narrow and bumpy road by motorcycle. There is an abandoned resort there from when the tsunami hit in 2004, and Derek explored inside.

We walked to the sand and discovered immediately that the tsunami had also dumped tons and tons of broken coral and beautiful shells on the beach. The tide continues to bring in incredible specimens, the likes of which I have only ever seen in pictures. We rooted around for the best ones, but there were so many, it was hard to be selective.

I had something like "beach burnout" with the shells - if you've seen a hundred perfect shells, the next perfect one doesn't seem like that big of a deal. So, we had a field day and stuffed my cotton pants full of delicate treasures. What Derek's mom would give to see this place (she is a big "shell" fan)! We had to be careful not to step on them, but they were everywhere, all the way up and down the shore.

This is a little-traveled portion of Bang Sak Beach (view video on our Shutterfly site), and though there were some fishing boats parked off the shore on this side, on the other side, there is nothing but beach and silence, as far as the eye can see.

Tacos, Thongs and Donut Thievery!

There is a baby gecko living somewhere in our room. I saw him run under the table, and went to yell "Je-!"...so to save myself from almost taking the Lord's name in vain, I named him Gippetto. I haven't seen him since, but he's welcome in here, to keep Derek entertained and to eat the bugs, if there are any. There is a big toad that lives in the kitchen too. He's yellow and black and bumpy. According to Anne, he comes out each morning, though I've only been up early enough to see him once.

Yesterday, we said good bye to our friend, Anne, as we dropped her at the Phuket airport. We're hoping to visit her again later in the year in Taiwan, where she'll be in school with two of our other new friends, Brandon and Zach. To celebrate her departure, we made tacos with homemade tortillas. We even took the extra dough and made sopapillas! She's an excellent cook. Then, we watched a "questionably acquired" Sherlock Holmes (an excellent movie, if you can stick with it until the end) and "borrowed" some other movies from her vast collection.

We struggled with directions from Gai to get to the massive grocery store in Phuket where the center does its shopping once a month (Tesco Lotus). Derek offered to drive, bless him, because I get so frustrated driving in cities. While shopping, I got a sample of a mini donut they had set out, and grabbed one for Derek too. Like the Garden of Eden, when we walked passed the area before leaving, we took one more sample apiece, complete with frosting, while the girl stared at us in disbelief. We learned from Gai at lunch while recounting our adventures that those were NOT samples, and that we had just stolen 4 donuts - and done it right to their face! We were horrified. In line to check out, I got scolded for not getting bar codes for our fruit, so I had to run back to the area and have a gentleman show me how to weigh the food and print the receipt. Who'da thunk?!

We went to the mall and I finally landed some painting supplies. We saw a tourist with a VERY see-through dress and a very visable thong underneath. It was a bathing suit cover up that she was wearing without anything under it...unbelievable! Did I mention that our more recent trips to the beach have revealed very topless older German women? I'm wondering, especially at that age, what benefit it could be to tan your breasts? Ugh...I shudder to think!

Most tourists here are from Germany and the Nordic states, with very blonde hair. They are ALL a red-tan color, where they've either pushed their tans over the limit, or they all burned sooo badly when they first arrived and by the time their vacation is about to end, they finally turn a sort of red-tan.

And, lastly, I have a huge crush on the mannequins here. They have electric colored hair and the SCARIEST faces you've ever seen. They're like dainty clown women. Observe:

Bus Crashes and Man-Eating Spiders (We're Fine, Promise!)

This weekend was an interesting one, to be sure. We planned to take a trip to Phuket Friday morning, but we overslept, so we decided to go to Khao Lak National Park and trek down to a beach about 1.5km away. To avoid paying the "farang" (foreigner) tax to get in, we went to the restaurant and bought a Coke, then hiked out from there. Coca-cola is the unquestioned Dominator of the beverage market here, and their aprons and cardboard cutouts are in every restaurant we've visited.

We started through the rain forest, and maybe 10 feet in, I see threads of a spider web going across our path. So, I duck down and slide under it. As I turn to wait for Derek, he has a terrified look on his face and can't spit out what's wrong. I'm thinking he's seen a ghost, or a giant snake, but for awhile he just gawks. Then, he points right above where I have just crossed to the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life (including TV programs). The spider, which we later learned is called a Golden Orb Web Spider, is about 8 inches from leg to leg and has bright yellow and red coloring on its body. There are yellow balls of color on the joints of its legs, and it has very beady eyes. We considered turning back, but to avoid wasting our trip, we nickname the spider "The Gatekeeper" and duck and run under him to continue. This is the best picture we could manage, but keep in mind, this is not life-size. It also dropped down a few inches while Derek was trying to get the picture, but thankfully climbed back up.

So, I give Derek the pleasure of leading purely out of self-preservation. It was a very long hike, and after the first 40 feet or so there was no longer any concrete path. Some of the path didn't look like a path at all, and it was difficult to do because I was in flip flops (having not realized that there would be no path after awhile) and when we'd make our way over the tiny path of sliding dirt over the edge of a hill, we were both sweating so profusely that if we tried to hold on to support the other over an obstacle, we'd slip trying to hold on to skin. It was immensely humid (duh! rainforest) and was a bit of a trek. We found 2 more Golden Orb spiders on our way. I think the second one we spotted placed himself there on purpose, because we were too far at that point to want to turn back for our efforts, but we weren't exactly ecstatic about crossing under another to get to the beach that may or may not even be at the end.

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Additional commentary from Derek:
I need to take a moment and mention something really quick. These aren't the spiders that you see in your house that are almost 2 inches across and you're afraid to hit with a magazine. I wouldn't go after this beast unless I had a shotgun, and even then I would put the odds of surviving at just about even. As I told Kendra at the time, when the spiders from Arachnophobia  all get together to watch a scary movie, they watch a nature documentary on these spiders. The spiders from Jumanji were based on these spiders. Kendra starts down the path and I go to take the camera out of the backpack, absently letting my gaze follow the lines of a web above the trail as I reach back and holy-hell-there's-a-spider-the-size-of-my-face! In the Book of Daniel, there's a prophesy about 'the abomination that causes desolation.' I think it's about this spider. The body of it was easily the size of my thumb and our estimate that it was 8in long with legs fits with the size we found when I looked it up. And there were 5 along the trail- 5 of the big ones, at least; I thought it best to let the ones Kendra didn't see go undetected.
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We got to the beach and enjoyed swimming. We brought goggles and saw a few fish. There were virtually no shells on the beach, and when I'd find one, I'd discover that it was always still occupied. The pretty shells are always taken by the hermit crabs and what I think is a clam, because it has a foot that looks like a loogie that it sticks in the sand to suck it further down. We see a lot of white sand crabs, which are becoming very familiar. They live in holes in the sand and run to the water's edge when the tide rolls in to gather their dinner. They roll the sand around their holes, probably while processing it for food.

We hiked back, which took almost no time at all, now that we were determined to get out of the rain forest by night fall. We were careful to avoid the big spiders that we knew of, and tried to film them for the folks back home with no luck - apparently, Khao Lak's citizens don't want anyone to know how big these spiders really are, for fear that it will scare toruists away (sorry, Jordan). That night, we baked more sugar cookies from dough left over from the Valentine's Day party. The next day, they were all gone, which means between the three of us (Annie included), we ate over 100 cookies in 24 hours. Unbelievable. So much for the "Thai Diet."

The next day, we planned to go to Phuket, but (shock!) we slept in and decided to bag it.

Sunday, though, we actually got up in time to go to Phuket, and we stood outside our building waiting for the bus, which comes every hour. Forty minutes in, we flag the bus down and ready ourselves for what we thought was an hour ride. Once we reached Phuket, the bus was unable to slam on its breaks fast enough (which happens every so often) and hit a van, shattering its rear window. As far as we could tell, no one was hurt, and we only slid forward in our seats with the stop. WE ARE UNINJURED and suffered almost no inconvenience from this wreck except to spend 45 minutes sitting on the bus, waiting for another. After a few minutes, we were approached by a German couple sitting behind us. They wanted to know if we'd be interested in splitting a taxi with them, so that we wouldn't have to wait around. We agreed, but when we tried to get off, the little bus boy made us turn around. No one could leave until the policeman was finished assessing the accident.

We finally got on another bus, ended up in the bus depot, and found out we had 5 hours to spend before our bus returned to Khao Lak. The only problem was, we had misjudged where the bus station was and were nowhere near any markets or malls or beaches. The city is the undisputed King of Tourism in Southern Thailand, and here we were at the bus stop, unwilling to spend the money for a cab to the water. We walked a ways and found some sidewalk shops. Eventually, we found a mall with coy in the fountain. And, we found a Mister Donut!!! Not exactly the same as back home, but highly anticipated! We were happy. We headed back early, because the hour long bus ride is actually two hours long, and we had run out of things to do.

Pretty good weekend overall!