Return to Ayutthaya

Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Ayutthaya, Thailand

Might as well carry on with Thailand, since it’s Wesak / Buddha Purnima, and I have pretty much nothing else to write about. Here’re some pictures of Ayutthaya, the previous capital of Siam (Thailand). It was ransacked and destroyed by the Burmese in the 18th century (they’re arch rivals and frequently waged wars). It is named after the Indian city of Ayodhya, the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama, and the setting of the Ramayana epic, which features prominently in the culture and arts of Thailand and South East Asia.

Somehow or other, we always end up in Ayutthaya on visits to Bangkok. This is the third time in memory that I’ve visited. The first, I have little recollection, apart from remembering that it was quite a nice place, with lots of ruins and statues of Buddha draped in yellow cloth. I might have visited with Michael Har, a colleague and friend from my Ireka days (don’t really remember). Those were the days of the film camera (late 90’s or early 2000’s), so there might still be some photos tucked away in some boxes, somewhere…

The second visit, I remember vividly. It was raining cats and dogs, and whatever God could throw down. We spent the whole day waiting for the rain to subside, looking at ruins from the confines of our car, or was it a bus? We finally braved the rain and explored a little of the ruins in pouring rain, and were thoroughly drenched, nice! (See pictures of our exploits in my earlier posts of Apr 2009 and Feb 2006). This was the last trip the family made overseas with my beloved Granny, who was becoming increasingly frail due to old age. I remember changing my plans from visiting East Malaysia and Brunei, to visiting Thailand with the family. Glad I did this as she passed away not many years after this.

And here’re pictures of our third visit – in burning sunshine, for a complete change. Nice for a thorough suntan, which the missus wasn’t very happy about!






Wat Mahathat, Ayutthaya - with leaning towers, half-destroyed temples and headless Buddhas


The Buddha of the Tree, at Wat Mahathat – a famous postcard / souvenir view of Ayutthaya




Views of the Chedi's (Thai stupas) of Wat Phra Si Sanphet – at the heart of the Ayutthaya Historical Park, this was where we braved the rain in our last visit


Temple at Wat Phra Si Sanphet


A Sleeping Buddha near Wat Phra Si Sanphet (I think it is Wat Lokkayasutharam, thank you Google Map), how can a post on Ayutthaya not have a Sleeping Buddha?


Wat Chaiwatthanaram – reminds me of the Temple of Doom, with a Khmer (Cambodian) styled prang (central spire)


Wat Phu Khao Thong




Wat Yai Chaimongkon, Ayutthaya, Thailand




Buddhas at the Wat Yai Chaimonkon

Justin 4 Ers Old

Happy Birthday Justin! With Amy, daughter of our friends, Dong Weihong and Li Lei

Justin’s turned 4! And for a change, I’ve decided to upload something recent, instead of past old events. …OK, it happens that I actually have the camera in my work bag, so... that explains, hehe.

This year has been a year of high adventures. We’ve visited 7 countries, flew umpteen times, stayed in a host of different hotels, visited I dunno how many places, travelled thousands of kilometres on road… and snapped a gazillion photos with the trusty ol camera, and the phones, and the tab, whatever we could get our hands on basically. So here’re some photos of Justin’s adventures this year. Just a very random selection. Luckily he doesn’t like to keep still for photos or we’d have a gazillion more photos of him.

Just a quick update. Justin’s started schooling now. No pictures of him at school, yet. (Pretty impossible to make him stay still for a photo, as usual). He spent the first week at school in Kindergarten 1st year (KG1), drove the teachers’ crazy within that one week, changed his class to Pre-K (the year before KG1), and that’s where he is now. He loves school, coz there’re lots of play stuff and friends, and nobody forces him to eat at school. He has daily battles with his mom at home about eating.

He still loves cars and all types of vehicles. His favourite toy of the week now is a garbage truck. He can name most of the cars we see on the road – Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Renault, Honda, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Land Rover, BMW (his favourite), Audi, Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Ford, Mercedes…

He talks a lot now, but only on topics that he likes, …like cars, and drives us crazy. His own language has more or less died out in favour of Standard English now. He no longer calls himself Duntin, and will correct me if I call him that (which I still do sometimes, purposely, hehehe). Here’re some of the last traces of Justin’s language before it’s completely forgotten – Engain, Blathy, Plato, Thurken, Chicken, Dedi, Heva, Endader, Pepe, Ers Old, Compinter, Kiwi, Konhe, Dra-dra, Masala, Moodles (again, battery, petrol, curtain, kitchen, already, have to, another, paper, years old, computer, his wee-wee, his bump (because when he was young, every time he passes gas, his mom will ask him ‘kaun hai?’ meaning ‘who’s that?’ in Hindi), rumble strips on the road and anything rough, noodles, also noodles…) Also, previously, for any word starting with an S followed by another consonant, the S would be silent. For example Step, Stand, Stone, School and Spit will be Tep, Tand, Tone, Cool and Pit respectively.

OK, I’m leaving it at that for the time being. No time (and no more imagination) to come up with good writing ideas nowadays.


Justin, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India, on New Year’s Eve, Dec 2012


Mihintale, Sri Lanka, Jan 2013


Dambulla, Sri Lanka, Jan 2013


Ayutthaya, Thailand, Mar 2013


Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand, Mar 2013


Ferry across to Penang, Malaysia, Mar 2013


Khoo Kongsi, Penang, Mar 2013


A waterfall at Lake Kenyir, Terengganu, Malaysia, Mar 2013


Feeding the deer, Lake Kenyir Resort, Terengganu


Perhentian Islands, Terengganu, Mar 2013


MacRitchie Reservoir, Singapore, Apr 2013


A small temple at Lalpani, between Fulertal and Jiribam, Assam, India, May 2013


Justin and mommy, Dubai, Sep 2013


A boat ride to a sea arch, Qantab, Muscat, Oman, Oct 2013


Bimmah Sinkhole, Oman, Oct 2013

A Long Time Ago in Thailand

Nothing much happening and have not explored new places for quite some time, so here’s something from the past – our family gathering in Bangkok in 2005.


The Grand Palace, Bangkok
(From right: big uncle (tuapek - dad’s eldest brother); big auntie (tuako - dad’s eldest sister); dad; granny (dad’s mom); big uncle’s wife (a-mm); and on wheelchair: second uncle (jipek - dad's second eldest brother)


The Floating Market in Damnoen Saduak


Granny & Jipek at the floating market


A Jedi Warrior (Gary Siteworker) in Ayutthaya


Pickle Art in the Ayutthaya Market

Thailand is seeing a little bit of unrest currently. Isn’t it strange that beautiful and peaceful places like these could sometimes become quite scary? I noticed that many of the places we’ve been to have had their violent spells at one time or another. I can recall a few more – the Mumbai terrorist attack, the bombing of Jaipur (May 2008), the frequent bombs in Guwahati (last one just last week), the Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan (June 2008), the never-ending Kashmir unrest, the riots in Darjeeling (June 2008), the on-going war in Sri Lanka.

Let’s just hope that violence does not spread to our own homes. On a brighter note, Anu’s 1 month pregnant. And for those celebrating their new years at this time whatever they’re called – Songkran, Vaisakhi, Thingyan, etc – Happy New Year!

Ayuthaya

Ayuthaya is the ancient capital of the Thais. It’s in ruins now, compliments of the Burmese invaders who sacked the city …centuries ago. Me, my dad and my uncle are an enthusiastic lot when it comes to exploration of old cities and ruins. Our philosophy is, the wetter, the better. Best time to explore is when the site is half-flooded, when it’s raining dogs and cats, so that you’ll be soaked through, socks, shoes, underwear, etc. wonderful!


Ayuthaya


Frolicking in the rain at Ayuthaya (my dad and my uncle, an enthusiastic lot huh?)