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Let’s get serious about Serious Temples

in Udon Thani there is a very nice temple in the middle of the city with some very interesting surroundings and architecture, Wat Pothisomphon

Even the HQ has a very nice design
Remember the does and don’ts at temples
Assembly hall
got work to do
The main pagoda (stupah)
Stuck in the middle with you
Every picture tells a story, don’t it?
A Snaking view
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Bangkok on a dime, or 2, or 3, or 4, or …..

hi tech central control next to the bed. Great idea for a hotel
Love at first bite
Sunan buying durian. Alain and I demur and let her eat our portions as well. We are being polite?
the authoritarians. of what?
OK there was a saxophone but I was too busy to notice since I talking with Alain who I hadn’t seen for so many years
I was wondering if these are earthquake proof
“Hey! Don’t go away. We have some more food to eat.”
I see fisherman’s wharf has moved to terminal 21
Honey, they shrank the bridge!
This reminded me of the windy day when mom was driving our Volkswagen Square back across the Golden Gate Bridge and the wind picked it up and moved it into the lane to the left. A little bit out of control we were.
Support our brave bridge builders!
The walkway of pretty lights
I asked about the sign and found it really means if you buy one for 1,000 baht you get three T-shirts in total
so is it 21,000 to own it or to push the button?
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Comic Temple? Partly!

temples are held in reverence for their religious sanctity. This temple in Bangkok, Wat Pariwat Ratchasongkram, has a little different bent on expression, enlarging it to include modern attractive icons to highlight inclusive of Buddhism. Just look at the photos and you will understand everything. I took so many photos so I’m splitting it into several PHLOGS. It would take several hours walking around this temple area to identify every icon.

You can see that people have placed gold leaf on this image
Under construction
Money for construction seems to be rolling in
modern architecture in contrast
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Bangkok is interesting, if you notice everything.

In Chinatown there is a very special restaurant with some very special food, Dragon Cafe
I hope they don’t break down this pillar
In terminal 21 there are some very decorative lights
Warp speed to San Francisco
Reminds me when I was a kid with plastic models
some old buildings in Chinatown
Just in case you want to know how long to boil an egg. From multiple perspectives and possibly from different universes
Free breakfasts served in the room
Some motorcycles are not new, surprise
Alain comes back from Saudi so we go to see a saxophone which never appears. Notice he is making a point or maybe just pointing or maybe just joking or maybe…..
Hot pot hot pot hot pot
Everybody loves DURIAN except for those who don’t. It seems to be love or hate
a different restaurant in Chinatown serves very nice Shanghai noodles and seaweed salad, and different kinds of GYOZA as well, 168 Gyoza
A good suggestion, take a photo of old buildings I want a photo of and I will take a photo of but I take a photo of somebody taking a photo. It’s OK, he’s a returnee so he follows orders
Check the photos and wait for lunch. Sunan is so hungry she is eye eating somebody else’s food

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NOT Missing the miscellaneous

A good bowl of noodles in the morning helps get the stomach moving, especially when you’re waiting for your motorcycle to receive proper maintenance at the Honda shop
Bangkok downtown from the air
Adding a new Buddhist sticker to my motorcycle
TONKATSU. Sometimes Japanese food refreshes me emotionally
Peanuts is everywhere in the world
I was at the airport in Buriram when a team was getting their luggage ready for loading on the plane to Bangkok, all looking the same; suitcases that is.
Doraemon is also everywhere. Hello KEN!
Lao flag stickers for my motorcycle
Somebody used a sharpie on this guy’s face to make new eyelashes. He is running for election, Or a beauty contest?
Cheese Roti. Try it sometime. Tell them not to put sugar on it
double steamed chicken on rice. Very nice
Selling murder weapons at the gas station. Quite a demonstration on this metal pipe.
KAITENZUSHI. Without any customers how long will this conveyor belt sushi keep going around and still have fresh sushi on it? I didn’t stick around to find out
Someone stole my shoes at a wedding ceremony. These are my new ones.
NAMTOK flavored noodles with pork. tasty. The coffee was the worst tasting coffee I had all year
Don’t I look so pitiful? By the way, this is what I call “High Fashion”.
The one on the upper right also went on my motorcycle. Is it to warn people?

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Chatting at Chatuchak

in Bangkok there is a very large open market frequented mostly on Saturdays and Sundays call Chatuchak. Normally they have all the shops open and they sell virtually everything but because of Covid most of the shops are closed or have gone out of business and on the date we went only the shops selling plants on the walk-throughs were open. Here you can see a lot of the different kinds of plants you’ll find in Thailand. Some are very interesting. Don’t ask me what any of these plans are because I don’t know anything about plants except what color they are.

Sunan buying cactus
Monks looking to spruce up their quarters
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More Buriram – Wat Ram (it rhymes)

The central hall
going, going…..GONG! Maybe doing this can help a friend feel better. It can’t hurt!
Well know and respected monks at this temple
A friend. These guys are all over the place
another friend
he was wary of me
These are nagas protecting the entrance
One hall with very nice artwork
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Around Buriram

Durian ready to eat. Love it or leave it
Grilled chicken and pork
The green Kawasaki is behind the Ducati. I wonder where Kawasaki got the inspiration for their design?
Sushi is now everywhere in Thai markets, especially local ones
And this sushi vendor has a nice Japanese lantern saying that they serve hot pot food. Well, at least if it’s not correct it does provide some Japanese atmosphere
The market is very busy
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the treasures of Buriram – Wat ban Takhong

Buriram is in the Northeast and is very much an entryway into the part of Thailand that used to be part of Laos. It is called Iisan. This area has always been somewhat disrespected and is a poor farming area rich with inexpensive laborers for the rest of Thailand. The food contains some of my favorite recipes and the people are so nice and friendly. I like this area. Buriram has the best known soccer team, Buriram United, and is well known for it’s F1 race track. It is a small town, as well as a province, with big aspirations. I recommend visiting as an entrance to the rest of Iisan.

Wat ban Takhong is a minimal temple but has some interesting architecture. Watch out for the guards at the gate. They have big sticks.
The attractive temple structure.
This is basically Khmer (Cambodian) architecture with a Thai style steeple.

This area was part of the Khmer empire as opposed to the areas farther East which were Lao areas.

Representing the agricultural economic base?
Khmer artwork
It looks as if there was a structure housing a statue.
Every temple has their dogs. People often dump unwanted cats and dogs at the temple for the monks to take care of. But this becomes a heavy burden for the monks and medicine is expensive so it’s not really the best solution but it is a partial solution that society has organized.
You can have your remains buried in style at the temple
got a new sticker for my motorcycle
big breakfast. really too much for me but tasty