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After an uneventful journey on the overnight train to Nong Khai, I met up with Nai and we decided to stay in the small border city for a few days before going to Laos. At the moment, I’m in Vientiane, and I still haven’t decided whether to venture up to Vang Vieng or to go back to Bangkok tomorrow and then to either Phuket or Hua Hin to take in a few days at the beach.
Nong Khai hasn’t changed all that much, unlike Bangkok, which has dozens of new buildings going up and old ones being torn down; the skyline seems to be in a constant flux, undecided as to what face it wants to show. Everything is open again, at least those places not destroyed by arson in the recent protests. There are very few signs of the trouble, though a cleaning man pointed out a couple of bullet holes in the metal railing of one of the skywalks near Central World, courtesy of the Thai army, he told me.
Vientiane is also seeing a lot of activity, with new construction going on in the city itself and along the banks of the Mekong, where a new waterfront park is slowly taking shape. It’s been very dry and hot here, though we’re getting a bit of rain this morning. I’m not sure where my next post will be from, but I’ll certainly have more later.
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Last week and the week before, I managed to wade through all the interviews, exams and paperwork associated with the end of a semester, and now I couldn’t be farther from that atmosphere. I’m writing this post sitting in an outdoor bar/restaurant in Bangkok on one of the side streets of Sukhumvit Road, one of the main thoroughfares and tourist areas of The Big Mango. I said goodbye to each of my classes and most of my students were happy to see me go, ummm . . . , that is to say, they wished me well on my vacation. If you’re interested, you can view the class photos I took here.
When I left Incheon Airport yesterday, it was raining and had been doing so for hours. Bangkok, in contrast, was sunny, humid and hot. When I walked out of air-conditioned Suvarnabhumi Airport, I was smacked in the face with the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of Bangkok. I suppose it was more like my senses being eveloped by a big, wet dish rag as I was immediately soaking with sweat. However, it was not an unfamiliar nor unpleasant feeling, but more like a welcoming one. For those who’ve never visited Thailand before, the impression can be overwhelming and off-putting, or addicting. I’m addicted.
The best time to see the city is in the early morning, before all the hustle and bustle begins and when it’s still fairly cool. That’s what I did today, taking the sky train a few stops up Sukhumvit from the Nana stop, where my hotel is located, then walking to the MBK (Mahboonkrong) shopping mall, with time out to take a few photos of the Central World mall, site of a huge fire during the recent protests.
Here’s a shot of the former Zen World, an upscale portion of the huge mall. This one’s from my compact digital cam, and when I return to Korea, I’ll post some from the big DSLR.
(EDIT: I keep beating my head against a brick wall, trying to upload the photo using the computer from an Internet shop near my hotel, but it just isn’t working. I’ll try again at another time and place.)
(EDIT AGAIN: Got it uploaded finally.)
It was a nice walk, with the only bummer being that I lost my Mio watch, which has a built-in heart-rate monitor, timer, and calorie counter. It cost about $100 and it was great for jogging. The watchband had broken and I had put it in my bag where my camera was at. There was about 3/4 of the band still attached to the watch, and when I took out the camera, the band must have hooked onto the camera strap and then fallen to the ground unnoticed by me. I’ll probably order a new one from Amazon.com. In the meantime, I’ll get a cheap timepiece here. In fact, I saw a street vendor who is selling Rolexes for $20. Wow, what a great deal!
I’m taking the train to Nong Khai tomorrow evening to go see Nai. I’ll post more later.
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Yesterday was a national holiday in Korea and in some other Asian countries, the celebration of the birth of Buddha. It’s actually a week-long celebration in the temples here, with brightly colored paper lanterns decorating the various temple grounds and other areas around the city. I haven’t seen or heard of any large-scale festivities taking place, but I’m sure there must be some events occurring in conjunction with the holiday.
Yes, we had the day off, but some institutions just can’t wrap their collective heads around the concept of a holiday. When we had holidays at the University of Montana, teachers and students never had to make up classes; here, we do. That’s what a holiday is–you don’t have to work, it’s a free day, so to speak. We have 4 holidays this semester and we have to come in and add extra time to our already-busy schedules to make up for the time lost. Ridiculous. If businesses in the U.S., at least, told their workers they had to come in at another time to make up for having July 4th off, for example, they’d have to pay time-and-a-half or double time. No such thing here. I don’t know about other educational institutions in Korea, but in this university, holidays are certainly not free time. Oh, well, grin and bear it, I guess.(My memory just got jogged–at Andong National University, there were 10 or so days set aside at the end of the semester to make up for holiday classes, but to my knowledge, no one ever actually made them up. Here, the powers-that-be would probably find out if we skipped out on make ups.)
At least yesterday was gorgeous, with lots of sun and warm temperatures. Today, however, is a different story, with rain forecast for the entire weekend. I walked down to the local market to buy some groceries and got caught in some fairly heavy rain. Luckily, I’d taken my umbrella, what’s left of it. The wind here at the campus on the side of a hill, whirls around, hitting you from all directions at once, it seems. I’ve had to buy 3 or 4 umbrellas since I got here, because they get turned inside out and the stretchers that support the ribs (check out this website for the parts of an umbrella) snap off, eventually making the whole thing about as effective as using a newspaper for cover.
More later.
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Yesterday, Wednesday, was Children’s Day, a national holiday in Korea. (Though I find that there are no real holidays working for the university–we have to make up all classes that are cancelled due to any “holidays.”) It’s kind of like Christmas for the kids, with gifts and time off from school for fun. It’s a day out at the amusement park, the zoo, the movies or just an afternoon playing games with mom and dad.
Celebrated each year in conjunction with the holiday is the Yeosu Turtle Ship Festival. I’ve posted a few times previously about Admiral Yi Sun-shin and his invention of the turtle ship, and Yeosu has a four-day festival to celebrate his achievements. Usually, there is an International Tall Ship Festival held near this time also, but it was cancelled this year due to the construction of the Expo 2012 grounds at the harbor.
I took a bus to the Ocean Park Walkway (see a previous post about the walkway here) and spent about 3 hours walking around the various exhibits and watching some of the local talent performing on the main stage. Here’s the main area before the talent show began. Later, the place was packed, not half-empty as it appears here.
Here are a few shots of some of the performances; much of the local talent was quite good.
Many of the older folks were wearing traditional Korean clothing that is considered their national dress– the hanbok. I persuaded this gentleman to pose for me. I assume the cap and sunglasses aren’t standard, but I thought he looked pretty cool.
There was an international fireworks festival later that evening, but, having jogged for 80 minutes in the morning (almost a record for me), I was pooped and decided to call it a day around 4 in the afternoon. In addition the forecast had called for rain in the evening (which we got), and I had a couple of early morning classes today, so, early to bed. More later.
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I’m still going through all of the older posts from the original MontanaRon blog software (Greymatter, check it out here), updating links and photos to make them compatible with Word Press. I was updating a link to last year’s Yankee outfielder Melky Cabrera from when he visited the Domincan Republic Yankee baseball academy back in 2006. To be sure that I have the links entered correctly, I visit the relevant websites. Jeez, I clicked on that particular link and, sure enough, there’s Melky, but he’s wearing an Atlanta Braves cap. Yikes, I’d just about forgotten that he’s no longer a member of the Yanks. Johnny Damon and others are gone, too, but the team has added a few guys that should ensure that the World Series Trophy remains at Yankee Stadium at the end of the 2010 season.
Spring training begins soon, and loyal reader OGM, Red Sox fan extraordinaire, should be able to inform us how many days until then. Also, I’m curious if the Infamous Red Sox Equipment Truck was able to depart Boston for sunnier climes or did the recent heavy snowfall interfere with this auspicious (for Red Sox fans) occasion? Inquiring minds want to know.
In my previous post, I mentioned our 3-day Lunar New Year holiday, but I just noticed that the U.S. also has a long weekend due to the observance of Presidents’ Day on Monday. Missoula and Great Falls, Montana residents look like they’ll have the same type of weather that we expect here in Yeosu, but Glendive, Montana, my home for 20 years, is supposed to experience low temperatures below zero Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy.
As far as updating the old blog posts, I’m better than halfway, so I guess progress is being made. Maybe I’ll really push to get it done during my 10 days off later this month. Mr. Excitement, that’s me.  More later.
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This Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Korea celebrates the Lunar New Year, which will be celebrated in China as the Year of the Tiger. As well as in China and Korea, the Lunar New Year is observed in Viet Nam, where it’s known as Tet. Many Americans will remember the (in)famousTet Offensive of 1968 during the Viet Nam War. Here in Korea the holiday is known as Seollal, and it’s one of the two big annual events, the other being Korean Thanksgiving, Chuseok.
I won’t be doing anything special, probably just hanging around the apartment. It’s been raining since about the beginning of the week, but the forecast calls for clear to partly cloudy skies throughout the holiday. If it’s not too chilly, I might take my new bike out for a spin. I think because of the weather and the approaching long weekend, many of my students cut class today. As a matter of fact, no one showed up for my 6:30 p.m. Beginner class, usually a dependable group. So, I got out half an hour earlier than usual (I always wait a while before calling it quits, in case of late arrivals).
Earlier this afternoon, I went shopping for groceries at the local E-Mart, hoping to beat the rush. Fuhgeddaboudit! The place was packed. Luckily, I had a meager list of items to get and knew where to find everything. I grabbed what I needed, found a short line at one of the check-out counters and fought my way to the exit. A couple of other teachers were headed for E-Mart after their classes tonight–I wished them good luck.
In addition to having Monday off, we start a 10-day vacation beginning Saturday the 20th. Usually, it’s only 9 days, but Monday, March 1st, is Independence Movement Day, another national holiday; thus, the extra day off. Looking forward to a bit of down time. More later.
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Here are a few more photos of my recent trip to Laos. These are shots taken of a couple of wats–Buddhist temples. I did an early morning walkaround one day while we stayed in Vientiane. Nai was still asleep, and I forgot to ask him later the name of the wat pictured below. I think it’s Wat Sithan Neua. It’s a few blocks up from Fa Ngum Road, downstream of the Inter City Hotel. Anyway, it was a beautiful, clear morning, quite pleasant for just strolling aimlessly. Here’s a shot from outside the temple grounds.
Here’s some detail of the wall of the main entrance. I’m fascinated by the murals in Buddhist temples, both here in Korea and in Laos and Thailand. This one appears to show some highlights from the Buddha’s life.
This is one of the entrances into the temple grounds.
Later that same day, we went to Wat Si Muang to ask for blessings from one of the monks. On the temple grounds are a few vendors who sell incense, candles, flowers and wooden cages of small birds (sparrows?) which will be released later. One of the vendors sells long lengths of candles that are used to measure the length from your outstretched arm to your chest and the length around your head. The thin, flexible candles are folded at these lengths. Later, when the monk gives the blessing, he burns these candles. Nai, I and another unknown Lao fellow were blessed by a young monk. As we sat on the floor in front of him, the monk took a spool of string and wrapped it around the three of us and chanted for about five minutes, asking for Buddha’s blessing. Afterwards, Nai burned the incense and laid the flowers at an outdoor altar, where he also released the birds, about 6 of them in all. I’m sure they were happy to get out of the cramped cage and regain their freedom. I wonder how many of them are caught again. All in all, it’s a very peaceful, spiritual ceremony.
Inside the main temple, in an alcove beyond where we received the monk’s blessing, there is this jade (emerald?) buddha. It’s another area where people pray and offer incense and flowers. There were no worshippers in here at the time, so I took the opportunity to snap this shot.
That’ll do it for my Laos photos. The cold weather in this neck of the woods is supposed to lessen next week, so hopefully I’ll get off my lazy, but warm, duff and get some shots of Yeosu. More later.
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As promised, here are some photos from my recent trip to Laos. I guess we can call this the food-themed post. If you ever make it to Vientiane, one pleasurable thing to do is to eat at one of the many outdoor restaurants lining the Mekong and watch the sun slip below the Thailand horizon across the river. It’s quite laid back, though you’re right next to the main road along the Mekong, Fa Ngum Road. Along here you’ll find the Inter (City) Hotel and the Bor Penn Yang rooftop bar, from where I took the first photo below. There’s also a lot of construction going on; apparently, the authorities are building some flood protection devices, as well as creating a new park in this area. The first photo shows some of this construction. This is near quitting time, so a few of the restaurants set up some of their seating on a portion of the construction area that won’t be used again until the next morning. As you can see, you can sit at a table or sit down on floor mats, Lao style.
The menus in these eateries are quite extensive, featuring Lao, Thai and some Western food. Here’s a shot of a variety of fresh food waiting to be used in some mouth-watering delight.
Nai is preparing to wolf down a plate of Mekong clams.
My favorite dish is grilled Mekong river fish. Here are a couple of the restaurant workers (sons of the owner, I think) grilling a variety of fish, prawns, meat, chicken and other goodies. Ahhh, cripes, I wish I were there right now, out of this cold weather, chowing down on grilled fish, stir fried rice and spicy papaya salad.
And, of course, the aforementioned sunset.
I’ll get some more photos up soon, but this week marks the beginning of my 4-week schedule from hell, so I’m not sure when I’ll be able to post again There will definitely be more later.
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I forgot to say Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Solstice or Happy Whatever You’re Celebrating this time of year to everyone. And, Happy New Year to come!
I’m spending the next few days in Nong Khai, Thailand before returning to Laos to finish out the vacation. I should be able to put a few photos up soon, so stay tuned.
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I arrived in Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport with nothing extremely noteworthy happening on the flight here. Viet Nam Airlines still leaves a lot to be desired–just so-so food and absolutely no in-flight entertainment. (They said that the system had a mechanical/electrical failure of some sort.) Mostly the cabin attendants were polite and attentive, but one guy was having a bad day. A couple of older Korean guys sat in the seats in front of me, and they seemed a bit goofy to begin with. The attendants handed out Viet Nam immigration forms to fill out at the beginning of the flight and, a bit later, one of the Korean guys tried to hand his passport and form to the aforementioned attendant, for what purpose–who knows? The attendant waved him off and went about his duties. About ten minutes later, the fellow again tried to give his papers to the attendant, who got a bit perturbed and told him (if hes gestures and tone of voice were any indication) that “I don’t do this–You
do it! Don’t ask again.” The Korean guy didn’t.
Then, one of the female attendants handed out lunch menus and about 30 minutes later our previous male attendants came along with the meals. Only then did the two Korean gents open their menus and proceed to discuss the choices with each other. I imagine the conversation was something like:
“How about the fish?”
“I don’t know. You hungry for fish? The beef might be ok?”
“Maybe. What does the beef come with. Let’s see . . . hmmmm.”
The attendant was really getting impatient by this time.
“C’mon fellas. Order already. Why didn’t you look at the menu before? I only got about 150 other passenger to serve. And look, the bald-headed guy behind you is laughing at ya.”
It was humorous, I thought, but I wasn’t laughing out loud. Really.
The Koreans finally ordered their meals and even managed to choose what they wanted to drink after only a little hemming and hawing. The attendant was surly the rest of the flight.
The Sky Cafe in Noi Bai looked the same as last Christmas. See the post below. (I wonder if they keep the decorations up all year round.) However, the rest of the transit area has changed.
I posted previously about the construction at Noi Bai. It’s finished and they opened up some of the usual duty-free shops–Tobacco/Liquor, Confections, Watches–and the rest of the ample concourse went to souvenir shops. But, every . . . single . . one . . . of them is selling the exact same stuff at the exact same over-pricing. What a waste. Another restaurant or two would have been nice; perhaps an Internet Cafe, bar or whatever would have upped the interest factor, but as it is, nobody used any imagination. Ah, well–on to Vientiane.
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