Sunday, March 30, 2008
Bangkok, Thailand
The highlight was definitely the bicycle tour through the narrow streets of Chinatown and into a long tail boat down the river (Chao Phraya) along different canals into the plantation areas outside the city. Plenty of monitor lizards all along the river. (We were missing our friend (the lizard) who used to inhabit our pool... only briefly.)
We stopped off at several temples (wats) along the way. There are hundreds of Buddhist Temples - they seem to be around every corner. Here we were able to see one of the famous temples (Wat Arun, Temple of Dawn) from the water and the Grand Palace (A walled city built in 1782- no longer occupied by the king who now lives in a palace in north Bangkok instead. Too many visitors, I guess?!) Some of the houses along the water-- houses on stilts, women washing clothes & dishes, cooking, kids swimming (with the lizards, I suppose!) and enormous catfish. They're not allowed to fish in front of the temples. So, wisely, the fish tend to live there- and are fed quite well. There's also a famous floating market- which we skipped this time.
Lion Dance for Chinese New Year Celebrations
Andrew dressed up for Chinese New Year (CNY). He loves to dress up and say "I Chinese man". It's quite a celebration here in KL.
CNY can be traced back thousands of years, to the legend which tells of a mythological creature that is said to have once terrorised China, gobbling up people on the eve of CNY. Back then, to ward the beast off, red-paper couplets were put on doors, firecrackers were set off throughout the night, and huge fires were lit. Drew's preschool did a Lion Dance which is usually done by grown men, not 2 year olds. The Chinese believe the Lion Dance will bring good fortune, as well as ward off evil spirits.
More celebrations (usually the first few and last day of CNY in Malaysia as public holidays)! Firecrackers (which keep us up most of the CNY), mandarin oranges (even given out in stores where you shop) and giving/collecting ang pow (money in red envelops). Ang Pow is definitely Nathan's favorite thing about CNY-- everyone hands them out to the kids.
Nathan danced in the MKIS production of the first grade lion dance. They made their own lion masks out of boxes and danced around proclaiming: “Kong Hee Fatt Choy” which means “may every year be filled with extras”. (Ask him to sing it sometime!) The lion dance was followed by a very American "LINE DANCE" to the tune of Achy Breaky Heart. Yep, the one by Billy Ray Cyrus.
Pictured: All of the 1st graders at MKIS. Nathan (in red t-shirt) is the 7th from the right on the row by the blue lion.Photo of the boys after-- Andrew was very happy to watch all the excitement.