China & Mongolia - Day 4

Noi, Mi, Suthas and Pe Nom at Zaisan Monument.

As per warning by many sources, we, 5 of the group, get first hand experience when check in that the seat is full (though it was booked and confirmed) and have to wait for the next available flight to Mongolia. Finally on a last minute, thanks to the helping by Khun KriengKrai, TG manager, four of us including “lucky me”, get upgrade to business class and can board that flight, left only one of our group, Pe Add at the Beijing airport.

After warm welcome by Mrs. Ganzorig and check in at the Gobi Hotel, we visit the Winter Palace and then the Zaisan Monument.



Picture of Chinggis Khaan, the Great Warrior of Mongolia at the “Tumen Ekh” where we enjoy the traditional singing and dance, especially the fantastic gymnastics.



The guys test the temperature in one of the sauna room.



Dinner in sauna room with sauna dress.

China & Mongolia - Day 3

Mi, my roomate at Summer Palace



Khun Suthas and his family at Marco Polo bridge
The entire bridge is made of huge granite blocks, with carved stone lions crouched along the railings on both sides. No two lions are alike.



Temple of Heaven (หอฟ้าเทียนถาน)
The Temple was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven.

China & Mongolia - Day 2

Today our first visit is at the thirteen Ming Tombs.
A small stone tablet indicated the direction to the entrance of the underground palace of the Tomb.



Inside the wax museum



After riding the cable car, we then walk further up to the 9th level watch tower on the Great Wall. Great Wall has been announced recently to be one of the seven wonders in this century.

China & Mongolia - Day 1

After breakfast, our trip in Beijing starts at the forbidden city, north of Tiananmen Square. It was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Since yellow is the symbol of the loyal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City.

Pe Daeng and Pe Noi.



Pe Louise and Pe Arm.


A graduation party for Pe Daeng on her Ph.D degree. There would be a three generation Doctor in her family: her father, Pe Daeng, and her son (soon-to-be).

A Reunion Day

A reunion lunch is arranged for TISCO and Ex-TISCO at Chanphen Restaurant at Rama IV Road. We mostly were working at TISCO at the same time before some of us moved on to work at other companies. At that time we either had lunch or hanged out on Friday night together.



SHI40 Kor1 - small group meeting
Back row: At, Ann and On
Front row: Lek, Hui, Puey and Aor
It is such a long time since we last get together. If it is not because On and Ann come to Bangkok, maybe this meeting would never happen. How lazy we are - just to arrange the meeting, or maybe everyone is busy with everyday life!!!

Ayudhaya Trip again!

With a clear sky in the morning, we, eight of the gang, get together to have lunch at Ayudhaya Province. Our first stop is at Chok-Am-Nuay restaurant near the market.



Before moving on to Tha-ga-Rong Temple (วัดท่าการ้อง).



End the day at "Cup of Tree" tea house, here we sample each of the desserts available at that time.

Good memory in Myanmar - Day 5

Dhammayangyi
A square shape with porches casting out on all four directions. It was built in late 12th century.



A nice seller draws small paintings to give away to us - a very basic effective marketing technique.



Shwe Zion Pagoda enshrines one of the four replicas of the Lord Buddha tooth receiving as a gift by the King of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).



A beautiful decorative opened wall of the building at Shwe Zi Gon temple.



Still in Bagan.
Old Bagan contains hundreds of pagodas and shrines on the bank of the Ayeyarwaddy river.



Noo Ta is trying to capture the Buddha image.

And that is the end of our Myanmar trip for this time, but for sure it is not my last trip to Myanmar since there are also a lot of places that I still want to visit or revisit like Bagan. But the most important thing is their people, Burmese people. For those that we encounter in this trip, they are all nice, service-minded, polite with the good temper.

Good memory in Myanmar - Day 4

Maha Myat Muni Pagoda in Mandalay.
The original image was made out of alloy but fine foils of gold were glided on and it now weights over a ton. The golden crown of the image is decorated with diamonds, jades, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. It is the most ancient Buddha image in Myanmar. It was cast in the life-span of Lord Buddha in the seated posture of relaxed deportment, namely Bumi Phasa Mudras, symbolic of His Conquest of Mara.



An old Palace at Mandalay.



Our wing at the hotel in Bagan



The deluxe wing of the hotel.



We climb up this pagoda to view the field of pagodas in Bagan.



Sunset in Bagan.

Good memory in Myanmar - Day 3

Visit the Kyaikhtiyo Pogoda before departing to Mandaley.

Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda is a 7.3 meter pagoda on top of a bigh "Golden Rock". The massive golden boulder is right on top of the Kyaikhto mountain. Legend says that the boulder maintains its precarious balace due to a precisely placed Buddha hair inside the Pagoda.

Good memory in Myanmar - Day 2

We start our day around 5 a.m. in the morning to visit the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda again. It is the most sacred pagoda as it enshrines the relics of the three earlier buddha and the eight haris of the Gautama Buddha.


As the pagoda sits upon holy Singuttara hill, one can walk up using stairs, an escalator or an elevator. Wow!! how modern!!!



Kyaik Pun Pagoda at Bago.



A Burmese lady selling postcard and "Thanaka". She is a nice and good natured girl that finally Noo Ta buys one of her products.



Mer and Noo Ta at Shwemawdaw Pagoda.



Shwethalyaung Buddha - a new image one.

Our last destination for tonight is at Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda.

Good memory in Myanmar - Day 1

After arrival in Yangon this morning and deposit our backpacks at the hostel, we start our trip at Chauk Htat Gyi Reclining Buddha Temple.



Sule Pogoda near the hostel.
It is said to contain a hair given by the Buddha to two Burmese merchants.

Our last visit for today is at Shwedagon Pagoda.

Spring USA Trip - Day16

In front of Khun Jum’s house.
We spend the day shopping around town and went to have Korean dinner hosted by Jum and Khun Robert. It is very delicious one, sorry no picture.

And that’s the end of my trip.

Spring USA Trip - Day15

Visit Golden Gate in the morning. Couldn’t resist driving at the Lombard street. Victorian House. Was this one in the scenes of TV show long time ago: พริกขี้หนูและหมูแดง starring by my favorite actor and actress: ก้องและหมิว?? Then we walk along at Fisherman's Wharf at Pier 39.
Tonight Eak goes back to Thailand while Koh takes a flight to Seattle to visit her friend.

Spring USA Trip - Day14

Camel-by-the-Sea, a small lovely town. It is also one of the entrance to the 17-mile-scenic-drive.
Stop by at the Pebble Beach Golf Club for the golfers to view one of the famous golf courses; though impossible to play there. :-)

Spring USA Trip - Day13

We enter the park through the I-40 road on the southwest entrance and stop to explore the Yosemite Valley
From http://www.nps.gov/yose/
“….Yosemite Valley is world famous for its impressive waterfalls, meadows, cliffs, and unusual rock formations….”
Million of years ago, the granite block of Half Dome was larger, but there never was a matching half. Undercut by glaciers near the base, slabs of rock fell away form a broad vertical crack in the granite, leaving a sheer face. Remnants of the missing rock still project from Half Dome’s rim. There are more granite domes at the park than in any other place in the world. Massive granite domes form when large curved layers of rock “exfoliate” or slab off.
Half Dome is perhaps the most recognized symbol of Yosemite. Rising nearly 5,000 feet above the valley floor, it is one of the most sought-after landmarks in Yosemite.
Then we drive to the southern part of the park to visit the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. “….The Mariposa Grove is located 36 miles (one hour) south of Yosemite Valley, near the park's South Entrance. The Mariposa Grove is the largest stand of giant sequoias (also known as Sierra redwoods or big trees) in Yosemite….”

Spring USA Trip - Day12

Too bad that we have to continue our journey since Lake Tahoe is a lovely town with superb view. I wish to come back here sometime in the future, especially in the winter; although I am not sure that I can stand the cold weather or not.

Along the road to Yosemite National Park, the road is so winding that we all agree that our road to Mae-Hong-Sorn comes to second.

Tonight we stay at Bug Hostel near Yosemite National Park. The only hostel for this trip.

Spring USA Trip - Day11

In front of Boyd's house

Longest day on the road from West Yellowstone, Montana to Lake Tahoe, Nevada. We get there around 9:30 p.m. and have dinner hosted by Boyd at his restaurant, Thai One On. Its decoration is nice; it is our first Thai meal of this trip. We stay overnight at Boyd’s house.

Spring USA Trip - Day10

Wake up with the snow in the sky, I almost could not believe my eyes since it is “May”, Spring season!!!
We have to borrow the snow scrapper from the hotel to remove snow from the windshield.
Contrary to Grand Teton, here at Yellowstone, we see bison and elk so often that we just pass them without slow or stop our car for taking pictures anymore. Our main interest is at the Mammoth Hot Springs located in the northern part of the park.
“…the location of springs and the rate of flow changes daily, that "on-again-off-again" is the rule…” So the mammoth hot springs that we see today rarely has any water on. So we have to imagine that…..“…Travertine formations grow much more rapidly than sinter formations due to the softer nature of limestone. As hot water rises through limestone, large quantities of rock are dissolved by the hot water, and a white chalky mineral is deposited on the surface….”
We then drive to the northern part of the park, stop our car whenever we see a group of cars parking along the road. Most of them use the binocular to view wildlife. We see three of white foxes baking in the sun, a mom and a child grizzly bear playing together, a red fox and a group of pronghorns.
We then visit the Yellowstone canyon;
“…..Mineral stains mark the sites of hot springs and steam vents in the canyon walls. For thousands of years, upwardly percolating fluids have altered the chemistry of the rocks, turning them yellow, red white and pink….”
Fishing village that it is still cold that the surface of the lake frosts.