by Loti | Feb 8, 2013 | Thailand
Three seasons? Not Four? Thailand is unique with only 3 seasons, Summer, Rainy and Winter. The rainy season, when we hear about monsoons, runs from June until Nov, winter runs Nov until Feb and summer is from March thru May. But even the Winter is hot, with a record low recorded in 1951 of only 50 degrees in Bangkok. We were there in Jan and it was 80. The Emerald Buddha shown in the photo resides at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, where the murder of the King occurred back in the 40’s. The Buddha has 3 different outfits which are changed according to the season. Kind of sounds like playing with dolls, although the Emerald Buddha is one of the most revered Buddha’s in Thailand and the world. A ceremony is held each season where only the King of Thailand changes the costume or if the King is not available, his liaison. Note the 3 entirely different seasonal ensembles. All are made of gold as only befitting a Buddha in the royal palace. A very strange custom,...
by Loti | Feb 7, 2013 | Animals, Singapore
Half fish and half lion, a merlion. (That is a new one for me). This mythical creature was created by the Singapore Tourism Board in 1964. It represents a fish/mermaid to symbolize Singapore’s maritime industry and a lion which was spotted by a prince back in 11 AD as he stepped onto Singapore’s shores. The Merlion is 28 feet high, weighs 63 tons and is made of cement, with little red teacups for its eyes (not sure what that is all about) and porcelain plates for its scales. One of the most photographed statues in Singapore and probably the world, it is magnificent to behold as water cascades from his mouth into the bay. And for one month in 2011 it was made into a single room 5 star hotel. Temporary walls were erected around the statue, a bathroom was installed, and a butler assigned. Part of an art exhibit, this is one of the most creative marketing tools I have ever seen. The hotel sold out in hours and was publicized throughout the world. Quite a bargain for $125 US a night! So China has their dragon as a national symbol, Scotland has the unicorn and Singapore has its Merlion. I wonder what other mythical creatures...
by Loti | Feb 5, 2013 | Animals, Thailand
This is one of the students, a pig tailed macaque, at The Monkey Training College in Southern Thailand. He is learning to pick ripe coconuts from 30 feet off the ground (not sure why there are so many height things in Thailand–elephants, suspension bridges …). The school was started in the 1950’s by a Thai who wanted to use his peaceful Buddhism philosophy to teach monkeys without using violent force which was then an accepted way to treat the animals. Teaching monkeys to harvest was not a new concept as there is evidence of monkeys being used to gather fruit as far back as 2500 BC depicted in Egyptian stone carvings. For 6,000 baht ($200 US dollars), you can send your monkey to a 3-6 month boarding school. There they learn to spin coconuts free of their stem, untangle themselves from a harness around their waist if they get entangled, only pick ripe ones and throw them down from the tree. This is considered elementary school. For an additional tuition, they can go to secondary school and learn to put the coconuts in a bag and on a truck. Compared to a fit person who can pick about 100 ripe coconuts a day (you have to climb the tree each time), a male monkey can pick between 1,000 to 1,500 coconuts. Quite the labor force. Another very interesting profession although bird nest gathering still remains one of my top...
