The Power Of Wind And Water

Feng Shui (or Wind and Water) can be seen throughout Asia, and I think it's becoming more popular in the US. When Nuch and I were looking for an apartment, I found a place that I liked, but Nuch found it unacceptable because, in the kitchen, the sink and stove shared the same side of the counter top - very bad Feng Shui.

However, when you find that something in your home or office is not aligned with the laws of Feng Shui, you can always call a Feng Shui master to tweak or offset the negative Feng Shui.

This was the entrance to my hotel in Singapore. You can see that the right side of the door is recessed into the building about 2 feet. This magical angle was no doubt recommended by a Feng Shui master to repel misfortune (or bad business) and attract good fortune and money.



It must work because I was somehow drawn there, although via the Internet. That being said, it will only work once because the place was a dive (i.e. there was no remote control for the TV!!), and I'll never be back.

Re-Timed

I've always liked Air Asia, but I'm afraid I just took my last flight with this budget airline.

Without a doubt it's a no-frills airline and for the most part they don't hide it. When making tickets they let you now that you have to pay extra if you want an in flight meal, if you want to bring luggage, or if you want to choose your seat.

That's why I was a bit put off when my scheduled flight at 10 pm was moved t 10:50 pm and instead of announcing that the flight was delayed, they nonchalantly "re-timed" it.

(sorry for the blurry picture)

I suppose it could have been worse. I could have been on the 8 pm flight which was "re-flighted" and combined with the 10 pm flight at 10:50.

Road Signs

If I were telling you how to get to my factory from my apartment, I would say - get on the outer ring road expressway, go over the bridge, and then get off on the first exit after the 100 ft. tall 3-headed elephant.

The elephant is actually a museum. Here's another picture.

Here's a little background from the Thai-blogs website. Only in Thailand.

The biggest tourist attraction in Samut Prakan now is undoubtedly the Erawan Museum (Chang Erawan). This giant three-headed elephant is an incredible 29 metres high and 39 metres long. If you count the building it stands on, then the height is 43.6 metres. A small window in the belly of the elephant gives you some fine views of the surrounding area. They started work on the structure back in 1994 and it has only recently been completed. You can't fail to notice this elephant as you drive along Sukhumwit Road on your way to Samut Prakan. It is truly an amazing structure. In fact, I think it is probably the only museum in the world where the building itself is far more interesting than the artifacts that it houses.

The inspiration behind the Erawan Museum came from the late Khun Lek. This successful businessman became rich as the owner of a dealership for Mercedes Benz. Instead of squandering his money, he decided to take an active part in preserving past cultures and handicrafts for future generations. Khun Lek was the man behind two other inspiring projects which are the Ancient City and the Sanctuary of Truth. More about these later. The three-headed elephant is the mount for the Hindu God Indra. Actually, the elephant is supposed to have thirty-three heads but as this isn't easy for artists to duplicate it is often abbreviated to only three heads. One of the original clay models, that they made before building the elephant, showed the God Indra mounted up on top. But, I believe this proved to be too impractical. So, they just built the elephant.

During the construction, about 3 years ago, a rumour started spreading about a woman that had made a wish to the elephant that if he helped her win the lottery then she would have his baby. Well, a short while later she did in fact win over a million baht in the lottery. She also became pregnant. By the time the national newspapers came to hear of it she was already in hiding. Not sure if it is true or not. Probably just an urban legend. But, enough Thai people did believe and a shrine outside the walls of the park soon became packed with worshippers. Lottery sellers do good business here on the 1st and 16th of every month when the winning numbers are announced.

There is another story that Khun Lek built the elephant in this location on purpose to block the way for a proposed outer ring road. While it was still being built, I heard from one of the family members that they were planning on donating the elephant to the King. A bit like the villagers that ordained trees to stop the loggers cutting them down. However, the outer ring road is now being built just north of the elephant. The ironical fact is that the family home was pulled down instead to make room for the road!

Last Days In India

Here are some random pictures from our last days in India.

One of our drivers told us - to driver in India you need 3 things:

A good horn, good brakes, and good luck.

But mainly they used the horn.


On the way back from Agra, our driver stopped off at a small hotel for water and a bathroom break. In the middle of the desert, this hotel had a grass tennis court.

One of the many, many sacred cows that roam the streets. I wish I had gotten a picture, but they also eat trash.

Our tuk-tuk driver in Agra.

Doorman in Agra.

These are taken from a rooftop restaurant we ate at in New Delhi. Like Jaipur, we came across a wedding parade.

Here's the parade causing a traffic jam.

Another view from our rooftop restaurant and another dry and dusty evening.

While walking around New Delhi a Pterodactyl crapped on Uncle D's shoe. Luckily a guy was right there waiting to clean it up (for a fee). Boy, were we lucky. Hey, wait a second!

The trip home. Nuch switched flights and joined us on the way back. She also got us upgraded to business class for some much needed luxury and Thai hospitality.

Finally, home sweet home. Here's Uncle D with Nuch's dad's painting in the Bangkok Airport.

And that's it. So glad I made the trip and so glad to be back in Bangkok.

I have absolutely no desire to ever go back, but, at the same, I would suggest to everyone that they should go to India at least once in their lifetime.

Mystery Meat

During my recent visit to China we were offered the delicacy below as an hors d'oeuvres.

Try to guess what it is....

Duck tongue.

I didn't even know they had tongues.

Agra Fort: The Taj Mahal's Redheaded Step-Brother

Most places that share a bank of the river with the Taj Mahal are left forgotten - unless it's the size of the Pentagon. The Red Fort or Agra Fort is massive, certainly comparable to the Amber Fort in Jaipur.

This is what it looks like from the moon.


Agra Fort was built by a series rulers - the most famous being Shah Jahan, the ruler that built the Taj Mahal.

(stole this from the web)


(and this)

The rest are mine.

The Taj Mahal in the distance.

One of the many courtyards, this is where the Maharajahs met with regional ministers.

This is where the Maharajah sat when he met with his inner court. The crack on the right was apparently caused by a British cannon ball.

Once his own home, the Agra Fort would eventually become Shah Jahan's own prison where he was imprisoned by his son. If it was any consolation, from the Agra Fort windows he could watch the eerie silhouette of the his wife's tomb, the Taj Mahal, shrouded in the morning mist - actually, it's dust.

Death By Door Jamb

Before we pull in or out of the driveway, Nuch has me check for snails for fear of making escargot out of our slithering friends. When there's a cockroach in the kitchen, I don't find the nearest shoe, I get about 10 paper towels, softly grab it and release it outside. The ants from Nuch's mom's garden have basically moved in. All life is precious in the eyes of the Buddha and killing or even harming any life form is a moral crime.

But sometimes it's impossible to maintain a clean karma slate when the potential for death lurks behind every door or, in some cases, the door jamb.

Poor little gecko. What a way to go.

The Taj

Believe it or not, initially, UD and I did not even want to go to the Taj Mahal. Way too touristy for hardened travelers like ourselves.


But once there, it only took me two minutes to reach the pinnacle of tacky tourism, when through the mystical powers of perspective, I pinched the top of the Taj Mahal.

Touristy or not, the Taj is awesome and well worth a two hour train ride through the sh*t mines of eastern Rajhistan. Pictures can't do it justice, but I'll try.

Jaipur Train Station: When Oflactory Glands Go To Hell

I vowed to finish these Indian Trip Blogs before the end of June, but the new job has kept me busy and during my 2 trips to China of about a week each - the http://www.blogspot.com/ website is blocked by the Chinese government, so I can't update while I have some free time in my hotel room.

Anyway, after 2 days in Jaipur it was time to go see the Taj.

After our taxi ride of death from Dehli, UD and I decided to take the train from Jaipur to Agra.

I can describe the Jaipur train station in two words - "Sh*t Hole", and I'm not trying to be poetic. Literally, the place smelled of sh*t, there was sh*t everywhere along the tracks, and where there was no sh*t along the tracks someone was squatting there with their *ss hole hanging out taking a sh*t.

Here's UD trying to find a breeze to avoid the omnipresent smell of yesterday's curry.

As bad as the train station was, the cars were quite nice. In the future, I would definitely recommend taking the train - just don't show up too early.

Here are some pictures I took along the way.

Those little brown things are mud pies - human or bovine, I can't say.

Guy taking a dump.

The brightly colored sarongs worn by the Indian women were a pleasant retina massage against the dusty, desert landscape.

Boys running in front of a pond filled with water buffalo

One of the many shanty towns we passed along the way.