Turkey Day In Thailand

For the 2nd year in a row, Nuch and I joined John's Thanksgiving dinner.  Instead of going out, John decided to roast turkey on his grill. 

Here are some pictures.

The chef John with his masterpiece.  For being cooked on a grill, the turkey was incredibly moist.  Our compliments to the chef.

Nuch and Cindy.

Marc and his wife, Mon

Stewart and Scott eyeing the Dr Seuss-green mashed sweet potatoes

Scott had called dibs on one of the legs.   I was a little slow and must wait until Thanksgiving 2013 to get mine.

John's girlfriend, Jas, got the other leg.

Here's Nuch contemplating what to eat next.

Busy digesting among other things

And to remind us to be thankful - while going up to the Sky Train we came across a legless beggar crawling along the streets of Bangkok.

Forgoing Your Earthly Possessions

I forgot to add this video from Stewart's monk ceremony.

Just before he enters the temple where he'll take the final step towards monkhood, Stewart tosses out coins and candy to the kids (and adults) who scramble to get as much as they can.  It's fortunate he was not throwing out nickels or someone might have been killed.

Loy Kratong 2010

This past Sunday was the Loy Kratong festival - where Thais give thanks to the rivers by littering them with styrofoam "kratongs".

It's also the Thai equivalent to Valentine's Day, so Nuch and I had a romantic dinner at a nearby restaurant located next to a canal.  Here are some pics. 

Look, Ma. No Hands.

Last week Thailand won the gold medal at the Asian Games in Guangzhou. 

If you've never seen Tekraw, check out the videos below.  It's similar to volleyball where the object is to get the ball over the net without allowing your opponents to return it, but instead of using their hands, they use their head and feet. What's most impressive is that after two carefully placed set shots, almost every return ends in an inverted bicycle slam-kick.

Respect...

Classic Bangkok Post Typo

You wouldn't know it from my grammar and spelling, but my BA was in English Literature.  This is why I've always been able to overlook the regular errors in the Bangkok Post, one of Thailand's English-language newspapers.  As they say in Thailand - be careful when you point your finger because there are three fingers pointing back at you.  

But after reading the caption of today's headline, the Bangkok Post deserves to be called out.

Here's a close up of the top story - Parliament Locked Down.  Read the caption carefully.

You'll read that tomorrow the Thai parliament will meet to discuss changes to the constitution and  security forces are preparing for protests by the Yellow Shirts, or PAD.  Now, PAD is an acronym for People's Alliance for Democracy.  However, it appears that a red-shirted mole has infiltrated the Bangkok Post's editorial staff and changed it to "People's Alliance against Democracy".

If you've followed politics in Thailand the last couple years, you'll understand how this little slip up runs deep with irony.

- The PAD was a big supporter of the 2006 coup
- The Bangkok Post was the unofficial voice of the PAD
- The PAD was the unofficial voice of the Democrat Party
- After the People's Power Party won the post coup election, the PAD took over Government House and the Airport to force them out
- The PAD supported a judicial coup that banned the People's Power Party and allowed the Democrat Party to gain control of Parliament.
- Two years on, the PAD is now protesting against the Democrat Party for the same reasons it protested against the People's Power Party - national sovereignty, changes to the constitution, and I believe corruption will soon be on their agenda
- The Bangkok Post makes this typo, and it seems that Thailand has come full circle, but has somehow found itself upside down and backwards.  As they say in Thailand - "Same, Same, but Different"

Thailand Hot Dogs

Last week a cold front came through Thailand.  Once the temperature dropped below 75, it was time for the Thais to bring out their winter parkas, and of course, the shirts for their dogs.

Mental Enema

Last weekend, my buddy, Stewart, decided to check out of life and enter a monastery for 9 days.  There are many reasons to become a monk and Stewart has several:

- Both his dad and his wife's dad are very ill and any kind of luck is needed

- His wife's family has no sons, and because women can not become monks, Stewart has taken on this duty to bring honor and good fortune to her family

- Stewart has a son on the way, so now is probably a good time to make a clean break from some deeply ingrained vices

- You can never have too many Karma credits in your favor

- 9 days free vacation - even if it means waking up at 2am every morning, only eating one meal a day, and sitting indian style for hours at a time, it's often better than work.  As they say - a bad day at the temple is better than a good day at work.

All the reasons above are good and honorable, and I'm quite happy for Stewart and his family.  For me, I was mostly interested in the freak factor of a white guy becoming a monk in Thailand with the highlight being that I got to watch his head and eyebrows shaved.

So, let's begin.  Here's Stewart moments before he takes the first steps towards monkhood. 

Part of the ceremony is asking your elders for forgiveness.  Here's Stewart giving a heartfelt apology for all of his past trasgessions.

He, also, washes their feet.  This is his wife's mother.

The moment we've all been waiting for...

Before we get to the razor, everyone at the ceremony gets to take a little snip.  Here's my old boss, Joe T, who is also Stewart's uncle.

Here I am

The hair is collected in a palm frawn and used to make wigs for chemo patients - just kidding.

Finally, his wife, Peach, took some final snips before the razor came out.

Stewart wasn't too worried about his hair being shaved, but the eyebrows - you can never be sure how they will come back - if they come back at all.

Once the hair and eyebrows were gone, everyone took a turn rinsing his shiny, new scalp.

After the head shave, Stewart donned some white robes and the merit-making ceremony began.

Up until now, everything had taken place at Stewart's home.  Then, in the afternoon we moved to a temple tucked away in the Kao Yai hills, where he would spend his time as a monk.

One last phone call - he's probably ordering a pizza.

By this point, I had pretty much decided that I would never become a monk - even if it meant an all expense paid, 9-day vacation.

At the mountain temple, the last part of the ceremony began with a parade around the main temple hall.

Where we walked around the temple 3 times counter-clockwise.

Once inside the temple, Stewart took the final transitional steps from a normal civilian to a man of the orange cloth.

Here he is in his white robe.

After some chanting and a lot of kneeling and prostrating, Stewart was given his saffron robe and officially, became a monk.

Once the ceremony was completed, everyone sat and took pictures.  Then, Stewart was carted off to begin his sentence.