From the Land of Smiles...

catching up

Hry everybody,

I'm sorry that i'm so behind in posting, but i'm working on getting caught up. I just posted about the Bangkok Rock Festival...i know, i know, it was over a month ago, but i'm working on it...

Hopefully within the next 2 weeks or so I should be all caught up. And i'll try to get pictures up too.

-Lauren

a mermaid puppet...it wasn't used in the show

at the puppet show

a puppet and i

the garden on the island

peep and I

pook and peep in the garden

a really old kiln

...doing the detailed work...

a guy doing pottery on the island

elephant rides...we didnt go on one

...

monks again

monks

...

me

...

a headless buddha

...

I believe these hold the ashes of important people (kings maybe)...they're sealed

ayutthaya

building witha throan room in it

me again

in a courtyard

peep taking a picture

the chinese building

another building

view of the chinese building from the tower

a tower

peep and pook

the bridge

peep, my host cousin, me, pook

me

notice the different styles of architecture

a statue of the king (inside)

palace

Bangkok Rock Festival

Hey Everybody,

I realize that this is really really late, but i'm trying to get caught up...so here's this entry that never got posted...

A few weekends ago (the weekend of the 18th and 19th) I went to a Rock Festival in Bangkok. It was amazing, It was sooo much fun.

I went up to Bangkok on the Friday and met one of my friends there. We decided to make a day trip into Chinatown, since we'd never been there. And we decided to take the water Ferry there. So, we took a cab down to the river and got onto a ferry, with some confusion. A thai lady (the meanest thai person i've ever met) told us to get onto the wrong ferry. Luckily the ferry people were nice and let us off at the next stop (for free) and we took one in the other direction. Then we rode the ferry for quite a while down the river. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. It made me really nervous too, because there were so many monks on it, and I was sooo worried that i, or another woman, would touch one by mistake. Its really really bad for a woman and a monk to touch. And i think if it happens all the woman who are there have to do some sort of prayer and little ceremony or something. Anyways, we did make it to chinatown without incident. Then, not having any idea where we were, we wandered around the streets for a while. It was cool, we were just wandering around market streets, some with stuff, some with food. We bought a kilo of shampoo (rose apples) and then some random egg tarts that looked kind of like butter tarts. Eventually we decided to look for the temple that we had come to see. It has one of the largest golden buddha's in the world. Unfortunately though, once we got there it had just closed (i didn't know that temples closed, but apparently they do)...so we went for coffee and arranged to go meet some of our other friends.

We met up with them and went to the night market, because none of them had ever been there. We didn't stay too long though, because nobody was really in a shopping mood, although we did buy a few things.

The next day we slept in and went for breakfast and then tried to decide what to do about the concert. We ended up going and meeting a friend (our newbie, Vee) at Siam Paragon, and then taking the BTS (skytrain) to the stop where there were supposed to be free shuttles to the concert. When we got there it turned out that there were no shuttles, so we had to take a cab. We eventually got there though, and after waiting in line to pick up our tickets we went in. We got in there just in time to hear the end of the set of the last thai band. I felt so bad, because my friend had come to the concert to see the thai bands, and then we'd missed them. Our spirits were lifted though, when we got a phone call and met up with all of our other friends, who we hadn't seen in a while. Then we went and walked around the concert venue, looking at all the stalls and games and stuff.

Anyways, we watched the first few bands, and they were pretty good, but mostly we were just hanging out and waiting for Franz Ferdinand and Oasis. Just at the end of the last band before Franz Ferdinand a couple of our friends come running over to us. They said they found a way for us to get into the front section (it was divided into 3 and we were in the back). They had just gotten into the front by going in with a crowd of ppl, and when they came out they got a stamp of an A on their arm (so the guards didnt have to keep checking for tickets) an dthen when they came out they pressed the stamp onto another person's arm while it was still wet. It was genious. So, by the time that Franz Ferdinand came on, we all had stamps and were making our way up towards the front.

They were really really good. I didn't really know too much of their music, but it was still awsome. It was ridiculously hot though, being in that huge crowd and dancing in the thai heat...After their set half of us just sat right down and a few ppl ran and bought lots and lots of water.

Then Oasis came on. They were amazing. It was sooo great. We got pretty close, and a few people went off by themselves and got right to the front. It was so much fun, the big group of us all together singing and dancing (and sweating like crazy, 555)...Awww, and when wonderwall came on we were all singing and in a big circle. It was kind of corny, but still awsome. They played the longest set, since they were the headliners, which was great. And by the time they were finished we were all sooo exhausted, but it was amazing.

After the concert we had to split up a bit, since some people were going with their host family, and the rest of us tried to catch cabs. It took forever...we had to walk soo far, but eventually we got one and made it back to our hotel, where we crashed right away.

The next day we got up and ate and did a bit of shopping on Khao Sarn before going to the concert. And this time we made it in time to see the thai bands. They were pretty good, although i didn't understand what they were saying. I did know a few of the songs though. There were only 2 that day thoug. Then we wandered around trying to look for concert t-shirts. We hadn't bought oasis shirts the day before because we'd seen some ppl with festival shirts, and we wanted them. We kept asking around and people kept telling us that there weren't any, but we knew we had seen them. Eventually, ashley and I found the group of people wearing them and asked. It turns out that they had made them, so we couldn't get any. We were a little upset, and confused..I mean, that was a bad move for the people who arranged the concert, not making shirts. Defeated, we went and got some dinner before the next bands went on.

It turns out that the next few weren't that good, and we wanted to leave, but I also really wanted to see Snow Patrol, who were second last. Eventually we just got tired of waiting though and decided to leave. On our way out though, we decided to try to buy the shirts off the staff (there were staff shirts). We were unsuccessful, and then a few guys really looked like they wanted to sell them, but they said that their boss would be mad. My friends gave up, but i suggested that we go ask the boss, i mean, whats the worst that could happen??? It turned out that the guy was really nice, and we talked to him for a while. We found out that they had arranged the entire concert in only 2 months, thats crazy. And he even gave us some free stuff, and tried to get us t-shirts. He went around asking all the staff if anyone wanted to sell theirs, and we ended up getting 3 (although there were 4 of us). We were waiting to see if he could get a 4th, when Snow Patrol came on, so Chris and Kat told Ashley and I to go watch while they waited.

Snow Patrol was really really good. And they seem like really nice guys too, they thanked the crowd sooo many times. I'm definetly going to pick up that cd. We didn't stay for the whole set though, because we felt bad for Kat and Chris, so we went back outside. It turns out that they hadn't been able to get another shirt, so we were on our way. On our way out the manager came out and walked to his car to get business cards to give us. Then he gave us hugs (really strange for thailand) and told us to give him a call. We were pretty excited about that. Then we caught a cab to the hotel, which was alot easier tonight because the concert wasn't finished yet.

It was a really awsome weekend.

-Lauren

Ayutthaya and Bangkok

Hey Everybody,

I had no idea how behind I am in this blog...and my mom comes in 2 days, so i'm going to try to catch up before then...I may not be successful in that though...

Okay, a few weeks ago (the weekend after school finished) my host sister Peep took me into Bangkok for a day full of travelling and activities. In Bangkok we picked up my other host sister Pook, her boyfriend, and a host cousin that i met for the first time. Then we drove to Ayutthaya, one of the ancient capitals of Thailand.

When we got there we had something to eat and then we went to the Summer Palace built by King Rama V. It was beautiful and really large. King Rama V was apparently the first king to really go out and visit and learn about other countries and other cultures and he truly appreciated all of them. He even sent all of his children to school in other countries. You can see all of this in his palace. There were buildings of all different architectural styles...there was a chinese building, a victorian building, a bridge with statues of greek or roman goddesses. The palace was really beautiful...I'll put some pictures after.

After that we went to ancient Ayutthaya and walked around some of the ruins. They're amazing. I don't think I could ever get bored walking around and seeing them all. The bad thing this time is that now its summer break, so there were alot of tour groups and school groups there. It was better when I went to Sukhothai in December, because we basically had the whole place to ourselves. This was still all really beautiful though.

After that we went to an island near bangkok. I guess its technically an island, but its surrounded by rivers. We took a little ferry boat over and then walked around a bit. It was a really cute little island. We walked and went to see some pottery being made, and the really old kilns that were still there (i'm not sure that they're still used). Then we rented bikes so we could see the whole island. I was wearing a long skirt, so I had to tie it up in a really strange way so it didn't get caught while i was riding. I got some weird looks for that. While we were riding around it was really cool. It turns out that the majority of the roadways are just raised paved blocks, and are just barely wide enough for two motorcycles. Needless to say, there aren't any cars on the island. And alot of the houses were up on stilts as well. We stopped at a garden along the way. We walked around on wooden pathways raised from the ground and the flowers were on either side. It was really pretty, although sometimes the pathways didn't seem too sturdy.

After the island we headed back into Bangkok. We dropped off my host cousin and then went to the Suan Lum night bazarr. While we were there we went to see a traditional thai puppet show. It was soo cool. The puppets are beautiful, and each one takes 3 people to move. So those 3 people are all dressed in black and at all times move (in unison) with the puppet. It must be so difficult. They do versions of stories from the Ramakien. And they had translations into english on screens next to the stage, so I could follow the dialogue. I really enjoyed it.

Then our night still wasn't over...we went to a German brewrey for dinner (still thai food though). The food was alright, although they didn't have very much seafood on the menu. It was okay though.

After that, Pook wanted to take us out to one of the best clubs in Bangkok, so we went to RCA (the area). The club that we wanted to go to was called Route 66 and had 4 sections in it (North, South, East and West) with different types of music. Unfortunately we couldn't get in. They told us that all the tables were full, although they kept letting other people in in the meantime. Oh well, I don't think we were dressed right or something. So we went to the club next to it instead. This one was still really good. There was a room with techno music, one with hip-hop, and one with rock, but the band was just finishing up when we got there. It was cool, I had a good time, although i'm sure I would have had more fun if I was there with my friends. Plus, It was really really crowded, there wasn't even much dancing room.

That night we stayed over in Pook's apartment in Bangkok and drove home early the next morning because Peep had to work.