Bangkok

Bangkok is truly a city of contrasts, juggling the old and the new: fabulous old, golden temples sit amidst the towering skyscrapers and cars speed (well, perhaps crawl) past the three-wheeled tuk-tuks. It is aptly called “The city where anything goes but the traffic”. Outside modern malls you’ll find street sellers parked out front, selling everything from flowers to clothing to jewelry. You weave through the stalls to move to the next building, battling the heat, the noise and the traffic. (The traffic doesn’t move UNTIL you’re ready to cross the street.)

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We stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel the first few days. It’s tucked back off the main street, nice for making it a bit quieter. It is just so elegant. The entrance is wide, spacious, simple but elegant. The room we had was actually huge (even bigger than the one at the Shangri-la). We had a sitting area, fresh fruit daily, and a bathroom that is honestly as large as our front room/kitchen here in Japan – simply enormous. They also had a wonderful gym, yoga and pilates classes and ORGANIC VEGETARIAN restaurants!!! I felt like I didn’t need to go anywhere else.

We had an elegant dinner, seated at the edge of the pool, watching the lights play upon the water, the gentle, tropical breeze just cooling you off the tiniest bit. The dinner was fresh and exotic and delicious, though I must admit the 7 grain bread was absolutely the best. (Japan sells a lot of wonder bread and I really miss good bread.) Fortunately, they had the same bread at breakfast.

Wat Phra Chetuphon

This truly is “The city where anything goes but the traffic”. There were a number of times that, had we known where we were going, walking would have been MUCH faster. Fortunately, the metro/subway is pretty easy to figure out so we used it whenever it was possible – even took it to the end of the various lines and THEN caught a taxi. That way we didn’t have as long to sit in the things – though the air conditioning was kinda nice.
We spent one day out visiting some famous temples. At Wat Phra Chetuphon or “Wat Pho” as the gaijin tend to say, we saw the famous "Reclining Buddha" a 150 foot long, gold-leafed Buddha who has just reached nirvana. I have seen pictures of it but never realized how truly HUGE it is. The feet of the Buddha (15 feet tall) are covered with mother-of-pearl designs, portraying “108 auspicious scenes”. Please, don't ask me what "auspicious scenes" are. I can't figure it out.

Wat Pho

Our guide was delightful. He was truly a walking encyclopedia of Thai and Buddhist history. The number 9 is considered to be very good luck here (so is the number 13) and signifies many positive benefits. Without his guidance, we would have never counted the 99 ornate chedis (of every size, shape, color and motif). We would also have walked right by the “9” of most things (the layers in the umbrella, the lotus flowers going up the stuppa, the demons or men or Buddhas in a row and who knows what else). We also learned that though the primary disciples of Buddha were men, there were also some women.

Chao Praya River

After our tour of Wat Pho, we headed for the river for a cruise up the Chao Praya River. The river taxis are long boats with an extremely long shaft to the propeller. They really have a lot of maneuverability with the boats and they cruise around some pretty tight corners. I’m amazed at how much traffic there is on the river – big taxis, small ones, shuttle boats, barges, cruise ships (usually dining) and some I have no idea what they were for. They did a constant dance, weaving in and out in a never, ending song. The trip took us past the King’s Palace, many golden temples (and they are golden) and small hovels clinging to the banks.

The Grand Palace

Next stop, the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) are two of the holiest sites in all of Thailand. They are fabulous examples of artistically superb architecture. Everywhere you look there are golden winged eaves and birds, terracotta roofs, guardian spirits in porcelain mosaics or ringed with gold.

The Emerald Buddha

The lavish ornamentation of the main hall (Wat Phra Kaew) where the Emerald Buddha is housed, defies description (and, photos are simply not allowed). All are invited in to silently contemplate this tiny (roughly 2 feet tall) jade statue (yes, I know, it’s called the Emerald Buddha although it’s truly made of jade. The first monk who found it didn’t realize what it was because it was encased in plaster and he only saw a small tip of it that showed through a hole), situated on the top of a mythical altar. There was something very calming, very humbling about sitting in the room, amidst people of every religion, all paying their respect to this tiny shrine.

Grand Palace Ramakian story mural

The story of the Ramakian is an epic Indian story about Rama and his bride Sita. Here’s the very short version.The couple has all the bad luck possible; they’re banished to the forest, Sita is kidnapped, the white monkey king rescues her, great demons attack the good guys, Sita appears to die (but doesn’t), there’s a fire test, magic bow and arrow and finally they all live happily every after. Fortunately, the story wall does a much better job with the story and the details that go into it. They have been restoring it, mending the cracks and loss of plaster and have teams of artists repainting (with gold leaf in the appropriate places) the varied scenes. They are spectacular. You've got to imagine this...the story is portrayed on numerous walls around the entire temple grounds.

Vimanmek Teak Palace

They have some tourist taxi services too. For one extremely cheap price, you can buy an all day pass on a slightly larger version of the river boat taxi. While we had theorized that we’d go to the end and work our way back, it didn’t work that way…temples and grounds close and 4:00 and we plain ran out of time. We did make it to Dusit Park, home of the Dusit Throne Hall, Dusit Zoo and the Vimanmek Teak Palace, the world’s largest golden teak mansion. We took the tour through the palace/mansion. The whole palace was built without nails (we’re talking 4 stories in places. The king had a three-storey octagonal apartment just for himself. The women had their own wing where the only males allowed were the king himself, the doctor and the young boys. It has become a museum displaying many of Rama V’s antiques and gifts given to the many kings; grand pianos, Ching dynasty pieces, crystal, silver, bronze pieces, jewels and many other gorgeous gifts.

Dusit Zoo

Took in the zoo too (naturally). Actually, we went because it used to be the royal botanical gardens and the landscaping was supposed to be spectacular (and it was). The huge water feature dominated the gardens and animals were interspersed between various features, flowers and landscapes. The giraffe/African area was really cool. These extremely tall 'huts' not only provided shade for the various animals in the enclosure, they also provided a place to put browse up high for the giraffes.

Living High

I truly could become addicted to staying in 5 star hotels. The service, the space the views, the added benefits...truly is nice to be pampered once in a while. The nice thing about Asia is that, right now, they're cheap enough we can even afford to enjoy them. Check out the pictures I've posted that show even more views of the hotels. The picture here is a view of the pool at the Metropolitan in Bangkok. Just to the left are dining tables - we had a poolside meal one night, basking in the wondrous, warm, tropical evening.

Bonsai Tree

This tree was enthroned at the flower show. It is 150 years old (no, it's not a typo). The interplay of dead wood and living wood was remarkable. There was a reverence paid to this little tree - everyone stopped and silently beheld it. It truly has an awesome presence.

Nagoya Dome Flower Show

Every year Nagoya hosts a spectacular flower show at Nagoya Dome. Exhibitors, decorators, individuals, organizations all work to present the most spectacular displays of floral arrangement - some quite elaborate - with every kind of flower imaginable. This year there were a number of spectacular orchid displays - they were HUGE - both the individual orchids as well as the displays. I never knew there was such an array available.

Cell phone and Coke machines

What, you might wonder, do cell phones and coke machines have in common???? Here, in Japan, and maybe only in Japan, you can use your cell phone to purchase coke products from specially marked machines. They're actually so easy that even a monkey can do it. To let you know that this is possible, the video screen you see prominently placed in the center of the machine (eye level of course and bright red to catch your attention)runs a clip showing you how easy it is to make the purchase. This picture has a girl but they also feature cutsie things bouncing around, as well as a chimp coming up with his (or her) cell phone and using it to buy a soda. What will they think of next???!!!

Ueno Park

If you’re looking for a place with lots of variety, Ueno Park is the place to go. It’s located in Tokyo and is the home for hundreds of sakura trees (cherry trees) as well as the homeless. You can find roaming entertainers there, just waiting to delight the crowds. Clowns with balloons entertained the children while a violin playing puppet serenaded visitors with classical music. It’s definitely one of the busiest places in Japan on the weekends – despite the cold, windy, wet weather.

Ueno Zoo

It is also the home of the Ueno Zoo – the first zoo in Japan. It is located in the midst of Ueno Park and houses hundreds of different animals. Like most zoos, it has some wonderful displays, some that are rather old and some under construction. It also includes some unique things… a totem pole, a tea house and a pagoda.

Maruzen in Tokyo

Later I had a chance to visit with Kaz and Kazumi – and we took off to visit the largest Maruzen store in Japan. For the uninitiated, that’s the largest BOOKstore – complete with a full floor of English books. It was great fun!

Yokohama

Yokohama was the next stop. The hotel I stayed in was absolutely fantastic - and the view for them 17th story was fantastic. We took a walk along the beachfront - gorgeous but cold. Landmark Tower is one of the sites to take in...the tallest "habitable" building in Japan. It's another qualified "tallest". Tokyo Tower is actually taller but since it's a radio tower....