Hi, everyone!
I’ve been learning a lot about Thai history! On the weekend before Grandpa came, Grandma and I and some of our Thai friends spent a day seeing some new museums in Bangkok. First, we went to the museum about King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). Rama VII had so many older brothers that he never expected to become king. He was king when Thailand wrote its first constitution. He was living in England when he decided he couldn’t be king any more. The very next year, the king of England decided he couldn’t be king any more, either! After Rama VII died, during World War II, his wife Rambhai Barni stayed in England. When she came back to Thailand, she moved to the country because she loved to work in her garden.
The building next to the King Prajadhipok museum has three more museums. We went to the Parliament museum, and the Cabinet museum, and the museum of royal decorations. Some of the medals the king awards to special people are very fancy! By the time we had been to four museums, it was time for lunch. We ate near the ferry pier for the Grand Palace, and then we walked to the Grand Palace to see another museum. This was a museum displaying some of the current queen’s special dresses for visiting other countries. They are made out of silk woven by rural women in development projects started by the queen, but they were all designed in Paris!
After that busy weekend learning about Thai history, Grandma and I got ready for Grandpa to come. I did yoga to get ready. Grandma finally found a lady making banana roti down the street, and I made sure those roti were yummy enough for Grandpa!
Last weekend, we went out on another history trip. We went all the way to Ratchaburi province to the Siam Cultural Park. I made friends with the elephant at the entrance right away! Then we went to the Hall of Fame, which has models of famous people from Thailand and other countries. I got to meet Ho Chi Minh, and Mother Teresa and Deng Xiao Ping and Mao Zedong. There were Buddha images from three different eras farther along the walk. The differences are in the way the hair looks and the type of clothing. I made sure to pay respect to all of them! After that, there were monks quarters and houses from the different regions of Thailand. The walls and windows are different, depending on how hot it gets and how much rain there is in that part of the country. It was fun to look at the different houses and to see the toys the children played with. I was excited to see an old sewing machine. It doesn’t look that much different from the one Grandma and I use, but look who made it! The day we visited the Cultural Park, Rochester had 15″ of snow. In Thailand, the tomatoes are getting ripe! When we visited the waterfall at the end of the park walk, the dragon decoration reminded us that Chinese New Year was going on. The Bodhisattva reminded me how important it is to be a good helper!
After our history visit, we stopped at an elephant park on our way back to Bangkok. We went to a magic show, and an elephant show, and a crocodile show, but the crocodile show made me scared and I couldn’t watch! Grandma took me to play in the playground, and then I could look at the crocodiles who weren’t in the show. I even made friends with one before we left!
On the Saturday of Chinese New Year, Chinese families celebrate at home. On Sunday, everybody goes out to celebrate! Grandma and I went to New Years on Yaowarat Road two years ago, but Grandpa wasn’t here last time we went. So Grandma and I and one of our Thai friends took Grandpa on Sunday evening. The roasted chestnuts were yummy! We had a very nice seafood dinner before we walked around in the crowds. Princess Sirindhorn came to the festival, so we had to wait by the side of the road until she drove by. By then it was dark and very crowded! We walked all the way to the end of Yaowarat Road to look for the dragons, but there was no dragon show because the Princess was visiting. By the time we walked back, all the merchants had spread out blankets in the middle of the road and were selling things. It was hard to find a place to walk! All the taxis were charging extra fares because of the holiday and none of them wanted to take us back across the river. So we took a bus to the ferry pier and a ferry across the river to the building where Grandma works. We found a taxi for the rest of the trip right away!
Today is Mardi Gras, but everybody here is still celebrating Chinese New Year, instead. Then Thursday is Valentine’s Day, and the decorations are already going up for that. When cultures meet, there are a LOT of holidays all at once! That’s a lot of celebrating for a little lion!
Love,
Lion-san
It all sounds very interesting! I noticed in the picture of King Rama VII’s wife that she is weaving! Our snow is nearly all gone. We even had rain Mon. Some of us are not so fond of rain this time of year. We are looking forward to hearing about your next adventure!