Bangkok: The longest post I've ever made!

A couple of weeks ago, I left Matt to fend for himself while I took in all that Bangkok, Thailand had to offer. My friend Crystal had a few days off work so we jumped at the chance to travel and shop without our loving husbands rolling their eyes at every purchase we wanted to make ;) Bangkok has such a different feel from Singapore - it's dirty and crowded and you have to barter for everything - yet those are the very things that make visiting Bangkok so fun! While I'm not sure what Bangkok is officially known for, if I had to guess I'd say its shopping, temples, shopping, muay Thai fighting, and more shopping. From street vendors on every corner to night markets to weekend markets, you can truly find anything you need (and don't need!) there. Oh and the food! I love Thai food...which is tricky considering my peanut allergy and the fact that they put peanuts in everything. Thankfully, I carried a trusty note with me that explained I have a peanut allergy in Thai and it worked like a charm :) I took a million pictures so it was hard to decide which to post on the blog, but I think the ones I chose will give you a good feel for what Bangkok is all about!  

This is how the traffic was pretty much everywhere we went. At one point the traffic was so bad and we felt so car sick that we had to get out in the middle of the street and walk our way to the train. All part of the experience!

Food vendors lined every single street

This is the MBK, a huge mall, popular for people watching.

Our first dinner was at a restaurant right next to the main night market and the food was fantastic! YUM!

The next day we made our way to the Grand Palace and Wat Po. I snapped this picture of a "Tuk Tuk" taxi, a popular way for people to get around Bangkok. Tuk Tuk drivers go crazy fast on the freeways, zip through alley ways and weave in and out of traffic. You can't go to Thailand without experiencing a heart-stopping ride in one of these things!

Anyway, our first stop was the Grand Palace...and to be honest, the best word to describe is...Grand! It's absolutely massive and the temples and structures have the most intricate details throughout. It was built by King Rama I as the royal residence in 1782. The royal family no longer lives at the Grand Palace so today it's more or less a tourist attraction that can't be missed!

Surprisingly, I saw very few monks while in Thailand, but I did notice a few touring the Grand Palace!

This is a replica of the famous Angkor Wat which is in Cambodia

The centerpiece of the Grand Palace is the Emerald Buddha, a small statue which is actually made of jade and believed to be from Sri Lanka. It sits on a totally gold altar and people line up to worship him. Pictures are not allowed inside the temple, so the only one I could get is this one from a distance!

Soldiers marching around the temple...in the rain!

Our next stop was Wat Po, Bangkok's oldest and largest surviving temple. It dates back to the 16th century! To me, the main attraction was the Reclining Buddha, a 151 foot, gold-covered statue of Buddha depicting his passing into nirvana. All throughout the grounds of Wat Po, you can find ancient statues so after checking out the Reclining Buddha, I spent some time taking pictures of the statues.

As you enter the site of the Reclining Buddha, you walk down a long hall with open sections to see the Buddha from different angles.

The bottom of Buddha's feet are inlaid with tiny mother-of-pearl designs.

For our third night in the city, we decided to dig a little deeper into Thai culture and check out some Thai boxing! Muay Thai, the national sport of Thailand, is a contest of kickboxing fought by tiny little guys! We headed over to Lumphini Boxing Stadium and geared up to watch several fights including the main event. We had to sit ringside as we were told that the locals get a little rowdy. The fight drew in a huge crowd of people yelling, cheering, and jumping up and down. It was quite an experience...and surprisingly, it was my favorite part of the entire trip!

This is the fighter that was predicted to win the main event

This is the challenger

Before the fight, the boxers must perform the Ram Muay, a series of gestures and movements performed to music. It serves to show respect to the boxers' trainers and to calm the boxers (and yes, I definitely had to ask about that).

A live band plays music (the sound is very ear piercing and takes some getting used to) during the entire fight.

The crowd is ready!

A break between fights...with the predicted winner looking a little tired!

...and the winner is...

The Challenger...BLUE!

On our final full day in Bangkok, we spent our time shopping at the famous Chatuchak Market. The outdoor, totally un-airconditioned, endless market is said to be length of 5 football fields! I wouldn't know because we certainly didn't make it to the end. If you need something, its probably at Chatuchak...from housewares, to clothes, to accessories, to shoes, to pets, to food, to beautiful teak wood carvings...its all there!

Ready to shop!

Inside the narrow aisles of Chatuchak

Yep, they have everything...including clothed squirrels.

And like I said above, a trip to Thailand is not complete without a ride in a Tuk-Tuk!

Fire Walking...

Sorry for the lack of blog posting! It seems I've been busy over the past couple of weeks...though aside from a 4 day trip to Bangkok (next post!) I can't really remember what I've actually been doing :) Anyway...

About 2 weeks ago, I crawled into bed around 11 p.m. and set my alarm for the unsightly hour of 2 a.m. Now if you truly know me, you know that my eyes rarely see past 10 or 11 p.m., but every now and then something intrigues me enough to break my 10 p.m. - 5:30 a.m. sleep pattern. In this case, the something was Thimithi, a Hindu fire-walking ceremony. So at 2:15 in the morning, I met my friends Amanda and Cara and we took a taxi over to the Sri Mariamman Temple to see what Thimithi was all about.

I admit that prior to seeing the ceremony I knew very little about it, but thanks to the internet, I'm now well informed! Here's what I learned: the fire-walking originated in South India and is in honor of Draupadi who is considered the incarnation of Mariamman. In Singapore, the ceremony begins at a temple in Little India where the priest leads a procession of people to the Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown where the actual fire-walking takes place. The street is then lined with countless male devotees ready to cross over the hot, burning coals. The priest is the first to cross followed by the rest of the men, each proving their faith. Their belief is that if they are truly devoted to Draupadi they will walk the fire unscathed. Those that don't have true devotion or faith may suffer from burns. If you want to read more about the entire ceremony, you can do so here.

Now back to my personal ramblings and thoughts :) When we arrived outside the temple, we were completely confused. We saw hundreds of devotees lining the street and large projection screens to watch the fire-walking, but we wanted to SEE it live. We absolutely stuck out among the crowd, but thankfully all the Indian people were more than happy to help us out and tell us where to go. We were allowed one very fast walk through the center of the temple, directly in front of the fire walking, but I wasn't able to take any pictures during that time. Eventually, we made our way back around to another side of the temple and worked our way through the crowd to a place where I could hold my camera high up in the air and snap away. The temple was PACKED shoulder to shoulder with people so after seeing what we wanted to see, we left to go back home around 3 a.m. As I crawled back into bed that morning, I thought about the entire event and how the whole thing made me feel pretty sad for the people. I drifted off to sleep, but not before thanking God whole-heartedly for the fact that I don't have to walk across burning coals to prove my devotion to Him! And I'll do it again right now...thank you God for allowing me to pray to You and honor You no matter where I am! Thank you that I don't have to prove my faith by walking on fire. Thank you that I can make a mistake and You are right there to forgive me! Thank you for sacrificing Your son and allowing me to be saved through faith with a promise of eternity in Heaven with You! AMEN! 

The temple was jam-packed with people.

We worked our way through this crowd to try and get a few pictures...

I believe this guy was praying to his god while crossing the burning coals.

This guy ran across - he must have really been able to feel the burn from the coals. What does that say about his devotion?

After they walk the fire, they immediately step into a pool of muddy water to cool their feet

After they successfully walk the fire, they head over to a designated area to give thanks to Draupadi (I assume) and rub tumeric on their foreheads

Lisa Comes to Singapore!

As I mentioned in the post below this one, my sweet friend Lisa came all the way out to Singapore to visit me and we had SO much fun together! Her 10 day visit wasn't long enough to fit in every activity that I had originally planned, but we certainly crammed as much as we could into the days that she spent here :) We went to the zoo, Chinatown, Little India, the Black Eyed Peas/Beyonce concert, had dinner at the hawker center, got pedicures, went to Malaysia for the day, spent 2 fabulous days in Indonesia relaxing on the beach (Cara came with us too!), shopped Orchard Road and "forced" her to try lots of delicious and not-so-delicious foods like squid, jelly fish, chili crab, tofu and octupus...but don't worry, we fed her lots of normal food too :) Her time was up before we knew it, but thankfully we managed to make lots of fun memories so that we'll never forget the time she came to visit me on the other side of the world!

 Lisa feeding a giraffe at the zoo

First dinner in Singapore: squid and jellyfish, yum ;)

On board the hippo river cruise

It was Matt's first time on the river cruise too! The necessary Merlion shot :)

Afternoon in Little India...it was crazy crowded!

Matt and Lisa trying samosas in Little India

Shopping along Orchard Road

Dinner at a hawker center

Our arrival in Indonesia

Dinner at the Cove

Breakfast :)

Shopping at Pasar Oleh Oleh

Concert!

My very sweet friend Lisa who I've known since high school just spent 10 fun-filled days with us. We had a fabulous time taking her around and showing her the sites...but more on that in the next blog :) The main reason I mention her is because her visit to Singapore all started over a casual conversation about the Black Eyed Peas and Beyonce. See, she'd heard on her local radio station back in the states that both would be performing over here and being the fan that she is, she told me about it in a "hey, here's a fun fact" kind of way. Well, before we knew it, she was booking a flight over here and I was purchasing tickets to the concert! While neither Matt nor I started off as huge fans of either group/singer, we thought it'd be a fun experience for us to be able to see a major concert in Singapore...and boy, were we right! We had a BLAST!! We met up with Bryce and Crystal before the show and stayed together through the end....and the end was late because Beyonce didn't even start until MIDNIGHT! Anyway, you may have noticed that I said Matt and I did not start off as huge fans, but after seeing the show, we have really come to like the Black Eyed Peas and even more, we now have a much bigger appreciation for Beyonce. That woman put her ALL into her show and won both of us over! That just may do it for my concert-going in Singapore, but I'm sure glad we went. Here's to a good time with good music and great friends! :)

Waiting for the concert to start...and already a sweaty mess :(

Lisa, me and Crystal ready to rock out!

Matt and Bryce

"I gotta a feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night!"

Beyonce, making bigger fans out of all of us!

...and, thanks to Matt, not only can you see pictures of what a good time we had, you can also experience it... :)