March 2008

Nathan reading Dr. Suess to his little brother. Andrew more interested in a photo of himself!

Bangkok, Thailand

Jason & I went to Bangkok for our 12th anniversary. I managed to plan it as a surprise! We stayed in a gorgeous boutique hotel in town near all the "soi"s and Sukhumvit (another street). Turns out Soi is another name for street. And, most streets are named Soi.... something or other! With the help of our friend, Suzanne who planned most of our trip for us and the infamous Luxe guide (which is fantastic, by the way), we saw the sights, had massages (cheap!), shopped, and ate amazing Thai food in the largest city in Thailand (12 million people)!

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.

Pictured top to bottom, Chinese temple, Buddhist alter/shrine around an enormous tree, doorway in one of the tiny alley ways we traversed on our bikes, and monks walking.

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.

Thaipusam, Kuala Lumpur

Thaipsuam
Ron and I ventured out on the eve of Thiapusam to see witness the festival where over a million spectators and devotees came over a 5 day period.
Thaipusam is an Indian holy festival where devotees fast (vegetarian) before the festival and then spend all night in thanksgiving for prayers answered during the year. Men line up to have their heads shaved and applying sandalwood to cool themselves. Working themselves into a trance by the river to purify themselves, they then make their way to the entrance of the Batu caves and up the 272 steps to the temple.
Lead by what looks like a small band (beating drums); they smash coconuts and chant "Vel, Vel". Most spectacular of all have to be the kavadi carriers, who subject themselves to body piercing as a sign of devotion. Like firewalkers, the truly devoted manage to pull metal cages, hooked to their backs through bare skin with no signs of pain. Others weigh down their piercing hooks with limes. Some even pierce their tongues and cheeks with spikes (women also do this). The trance-like state is said to prevent them feeling any pain, and later (at the top of the Batu cave steps) hooks and skewers are removed and treated by priests with holy ash and lemon juice, leaving no scarring – adding to the mystery of this frenzy of worship.
Ladies normally carry milk in aluminum pots (pal kudam) on their heads as an offering. Couples, who are thankful for the safe delivery of a child, carry the child in a yellow sarong strung between sugar cane stalks.
it's a 10 minute walk from the river to the entrance of cave. But, it sometimes takes hours depending on the crowd and how much they stop to dance or rest.

Ropes attached to devotees body with hooks through his skin.

woman throwing coconut into fire for cleansing

Lead by drums, devotee carries heavy load topped with peacock feathers. Below, body piercings.

shaving head before

Entrance to Batu caves

women in yellow seeking offerings/donations. Man sitting on a bed of nails and under his feet. Pay him a little and he will offer a prayer for you and put a bracelet around your wrist.

child crying; woman in trance with spear pierced through her mouth.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Picture top left, view from cyclo ride (motorbikes everywhere, carrying everything imaginable from pigs, to 3,4 or 5 people, to crates so loaded down, you wonder how they can drive). Top photo on right, view from street in front of our hotel. Great boutique hotel- right in the middle of a narrow busy clothing market. Photos on far right, propaganda posters still being used around the city by the government.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Exploring the streets of the old quarter- there are 36 streets, each selling a certain product. On one street every store sells silk, another street just shoes, another vegetables, etc. There's some great shopping to be done -- a lot of unique art, embroidery and silk-- everything hand made in Vietnam and very inexpensive. Photo on top: you guessed it- dog. Many places "street food"- cooking on the street and people eat sitting in miniature plastic chairs (sized for kindergartners) or stools. We had some great meals.