The
Fearless Me in Beerless Bangkok.
I am on the road again (at least over the weekend) to the
all familiar Bangkok. After Bali in Jan 06, office became
a lot busier place for me and 3 months flew like a concord.
And when the invitation to attend an opening ceremony of
a forest monastery came about, I "jumped" and
asked my mum to come along as well. It will no doubt be
a short get away from the borders (or bothers) of Sillypore,
and serves as an opportunity to understand more about Buddhism
which I recently re-embraced.
It wasn't a long trip and thus it wasn't necessary to apply
for any leave. Left office early and rushed to the newly
opened Budget Terminal. First looks of it reminds me of
an air-conditioned warehouse but who really cares if I can
just board my flight and get out of Sillypore.
The flight to Bangkok was kind of shaky (it was a first
flight for the plane itself) and we landed in Don Muang
midst of rain. I told myself not to complain. It was S$163
per person for a return ticket including taxes. Met our
Thai contact and we speed past the jams on the airport highway
in the van she chartered for us. Bangkok doesn't seems like
the Bangkok I have seen on TV where protestors seems to
be hanging around everyday campaigning Thaksin (President
Of Thailand) to step down. |
| |
|
 |
The departure
hall of the Sillypore's very own Budget Terminal, just 5
days old. The setup was pretty basic, but I suppose it serves
its due purposes. After check-in and immigration, we got
into a transit area where all the folks wait for the flight
information TV to display which gate to go to. Out of a
sudden, the TV flashes a number 5 and everybody ran for
the gate in order to get a good seat. Nothing wrong with
that. It's budget and free seating. |
| |
A
candid shot of me and my mum (in deep slumbers). There was
nothing to do and I already flipped the inflight entertainment
magazine 10 times. |
 |
What a
spread! This was dinner at a seafood resturant in the outskirts
of Bangkok. I think the resturant is famous for catfish
and thus, we had 2. |
 |
Baby Buddha
(in wraps) points to the sky. |
 |
Dull in
colours, rich in dhamma. |
 |
It was
a wonderful Saturday morning at Wat Cherng Lane (Floating
Monastery). Pilgrims offering Dana while King Rama IX "looks"
on. |
 |
Frankly
speaking, it was quite a good spread. But then again, it
is just food. It purely existed so that all sentient beings
can prolong their lives in this world. |
 |
A quiet
moment with the Buddha: My friend tried to take a picture
of the Buddha in awkward angles so as to avoid the reflection
for the glass panel. |
 |
As the
name suggests, Wat Cherng Lane (Floating Monastery) is a
"floating" monastery because it was built on a
"pond" that leads to one of the sub-canals of
Chao Phraya. Notice the blue containers that keep the structure
afloat. |
 |
You may
wish to play football on this field but I think you can't.
It is actually a pond covered by duckweeds. |
| |
|
|
