Drawing in the Park (Nov. 5, 2014)

Today was pretty quiet. I got up, caught up with some phone calls to friends, chatted with some people in the lounge area of the hostel, then got dressed to go out. I felt like doing some drawing, as I haven't done any since I arrived in Bangkok. There is a really nice park not too far away from here that I told you about earlier, and it has a lot of nice things to look at. So I walked down there, with my sketch book, and sat for several hours drawing. It was really nice and there was even a little breeze so it wasn't too hot. Well, all is relative, but you know what I mean.

Oh, before I forget, I told you I bought a new pair of thin cotton pants at Asiatique last night, so I wanted to be sure to include the photos with me wearing them, so you could see. They are fantastic and so cool and comfy. I love the colours in them and they have elephants on them so they are very Thai.

A bird's eye view 

Love my new pants

Back to Lumpini Park.......I drew this beautiful clock tower that has such a Thai flavour to it. I need to return to finish it, but it is very detailed as you can see below, and interesting. At 8 am and 6 pm every day, no matter what people are doing in the park, or anywhere else, the National Anthem plays. It's the weirdest thing because when this happens, people in the park who are running, using the outdoor exercise equipment or playing frisbee, hear the countdown for this anthem, then stop whatever they are doing and stand perfecty still while it plays. This happens all over the city, and everyone stops for the time it plays, then resumes whatever they were doing. Even the lower levels of the Sky Train Stations hear it, as well as all other malls, streets, parks, etc. It is very interesting, but you kind of look around when everyone stops, to see what's up. It's a bit freaky at first.

In the park, before I got started drawing, I used the bathroom. Livi, take a look at how the toilet looks and figure out how you would use it. Pretty cool, but a little different than what we are used to. Not all toilets are like this, but some of the public ones do. So far, all the toilets I've seen and used are like the ones we have at home, but not this one.

Think you'd like it Liviah?

Then I went for a little wander to find what I felt like drawing. I came across this on my wander, which is a sculpture in stone, of the signs of the zodiac. The one stone I took is the Gemini stone, but all of them were so pretty. I also took a photo of the clock tower that I drew.

Clock Tower that I drew

Gemini stone

Full stone zodiac sculpture

The banks here are huge!

Taxi cab

I came back to the hostel just after 6 pm and hooked up with Alice, my roommate, who had gone to see the temples today. We decided to go for dinner to that restaurant we tried the other day, after she Skyped her family. I had a nice chat with Sandra while she did that, so it was great. Then off we went. Since we had such a great time at Asiatique last night, I decided to give Martin, the guy I waved to in the restaurant last time, who told us about it, and see if he wanted to join us for dinner. He had already eaten, but said that he would love to come and meet us for a drink while we ate. So half way through our food, Martin showed up. Oh, btw, the food was amazing again. I had a traditional Thai dish of stir fried basil leaves with pork, and organic brown rice, and Alice had Pad Thai. Their food is delicious. I had a bottle of water, and you can see how cool the top is. You just kind of pull the tab off so you don't need a bottle opener.

Water bottle with cool lid

Yummy food

After our dinner, Martin asked if we'd like to see where he lived, in the condo next door. We definitely did, so we walked over and he took us on a tour. The condo is quite fancy, and has an outdoor pool on the top floor that changes colours. There is a full exercise room with glass all around it, and a games room with pool, air hockey and fooseball. Then, there is a garden as well on another floor that has real grass and bushes all around the floor and you can see the city for miles. It was really pretty with all the lights at night. Then we went to his apartment which is a one bedroom apartment. It was tiny, but very cute and it came with all the furniture, washing machine, appliances, etc. He said that his electric bill for a month is 30 dollars, and about 10 for water. It's crazy! I didn't take pictures of his apartment because I didn't feel comfortable asking him to do so. 

Pool on top of Martin's apartment

Then he told us about a Muai Thai boxing club near our hostel as well as a fancy but reasonably priced massage studio. He offered to take us for a walk to see these, on our way home. We were thrilled, and he pointed out many cool things along the way. It was like a private, guided insider tour of the area. Everyone around here is preparing for the Lantern Ceremony tomorrow. It is always done on the Full Moon, which is also tomorrow, and it's when people make these beautiful lanterns, and write their wishes and put these wishes in the lantern wrapped up on a small paper. Then they light them and release them on any type of water. It's also quite special for couples. Like Valentine's Day apparently. This sounds so cool. I am going to buy a lantern from a street vendor, to release too. We are going to the river to see this lantern ceremony, then try to find a Blues Bar that I read about in the Lonely Planet. It sounds really good. Martin is going to join Alice and me for that which is great because we always learn something new about Bangkok. Martin is teaching me some Thai words, that I will include in the next blog. He's emailing them to me and I have already forgotten them.

Before I sign off, here are a couple of the girls in our hostel, making their lanterns for the ceremony. So pretty, aren't they?

Girls making their lanterns

Beautiful lanterns

That's pretty much all for now. We returned back to the hostel, showered and turned it. More later. I think the lantern ceremony and full moon will be awesome. Can't wait to share that.