A gift from Siam

My friend Audrey received a vintage Siam Fork and Spoon set from her late aunt as part of her inheritance.  She was going through her things and came across it again and the name Siam sounds familiar from the movie The King and I, and had to look it up.  Then she realized that Siam is known today as Thailand.  She immediately thought of me, my mom was born in Thailand and at that time it was still known as Siam.

Audrey decided to pass this vintage Siam fork and spoon set to me since it would have more sentimental value to me than any of her children or grandchildren.  She thought that her aunt got it from the 1964 New York World’s Fair. I was so happy to have received this gift, thank you so much!

Siam or what is known today as Thailand is rich in culture.  Our family lived there for 4 years and I had some schooling there and that’s how I knew how to read and speak Thai. For nearly 1,000 years, the westerners have called the country Siam and the capital city was Ayutthaya.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram, late afternoon photographs by G2nfreeb

In 1949 Siam became Thailand and the capital city is Bangkok.

View of the Business district skyline in Bangkok photographs by Akrapon

All Seasons Place, Bangkok photographs by Sam Ruaat

When I think of Siam, I think of the ancient traditions and tropical abundance.  The country is reigned by King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his reigning with compassion and kindness to his people.  He was born in Cambridge Massachusetts and is the world’s only American-born monarch.  He ascended the throne of Siam in 1946 at 18 years of age, his dedication to his duties and his people is extraordinary and in return he is loved and respected by all Thai citizens. Below is a picture of the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace of Thailand photographs by Tevaprapas Makklay

Thailand is the largest rice exporter in the world

Rice fields near Chiang Mai, Thailand photographs by echiner1

Source including photos.

Rice Paddy July 30, 2010

This is going into the ninth week of rice planting and a huge transformation from last week. Again, I visited the rice paddy after work.  It was very hot today but not humid like last week and what a beautiful sight!  The aroma of the rice plants and the sounds of the rice paddy are so nice.  Most of the rice pods are out by now because of the hot weather, somehow it speeds things up by ten-fold or is that just a normal process for rice to mature rather quickly at this time of the year.

I think this is ready to make Kao Mao, young sticky rice that you make into dessert.

This is a purple sticky rice.  Normally it’s harder to tell when they are this young since they look just like a normal sticky rice and the rice pods don’t start to turn purple until they are a bit more mature, but this rice pod sticks out like a sore thumb.

These are not sticky rice, but a normal white rice that were planted 2 weeks ahead of the rest of the rice paddies.

The dragonflies are beautiful and I’ve yet to capture a different species.  Many are hovering in the middle of the paddy and I wish I had a better zoom lens.  I’m happy to say that I’m still sticking with the manual mode on my camera and loving it.

The damselfly is a lot smaller than a dragonfly, which several years back I mistaken it to be the baby dragonfly.

A closeup image, notice the body is very long and narrow.  They are tiny and hard to capture with a camera, almost impossible with a point and shoot and it takes a lot of patience.

This is my first time seeing a white caterpillar, eventually it will turn into a beautiful butterfly.

I absolutely love photographing the butterfly.  This time was a lot more work on my part chasing after them, unlike photographing them at the Butterfly Exhibit where there are plenty to choose from.

If anyone want a high pixel photo of these photos please let me know, I’ll be more than happy to email to you.

Came to ask for charity

This is a translated article from Koosang Koosom Magazine, written by Siri/Luksee in Thai Language, translated by Nye.

About 14 years ago shortly after my late husband passed away, I sold our house and divided the money among the children and came to live with my daughter and her family until she decided to build herself a home.  I then moved and rented a studio apartment in a newly built mansion that’s in the same neighborhood as my daughter.

It was a beautiful mansion, nice and peaceful,  and not to mention that it was brand new.  I was the first to occupy my studio.  The first night that I moved in, as soon as I turn off the lights to go to bed, I heard someone walking around dragging the feet.  It was going around and around, then came to a complete stop right by my bedside, and as soon as I turn on the lights the sound disappear.  I can’t say that the sound came from outside because it was right next to my bed where I was laying down.  Also it was real late at night, almost 1 am (01:00) and as soon as I turn off the lights, the sound came back.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time since it was a brand new room and I was the first tenant living there.  I normally said my prayers every night before going to bed, and take off my Buddha chain necklace and hang it on my headboard before I go to sleep.  This gives me some comfort and I would lay there every night listening to the sound until I fall asleep.

One month has passed and the shower head in the bathroom quit working.  I reported this to the mansion manager and he sent a plumber to fix the next morning.  I was worried about my Buddha gold chain hanging on my headboard so I put it away in a dresser drawer at the foot of the bed.  After the plumber left I forgot to hang the chain back on the headboard and something happened that night.

Normally I’m a night owl, I would read a book, watch TV until real late before turning in.  And since I live alone I didn’t have to worry about bothering anyone.  But that night I didn’t feel like watching TV and went to bed early.  I was still wide awake and all of a sudden I felt someone get in bed with me.  I lay side-way and this person was pushing from behind.  My bed was very small, not enough room for one person and having two people on it almost pushed me off my bed.  At the time I thought it was my late husband that passed away teasing.  I said out loud, “Don’t tease me, you are dead now and I will say my prayers and send you merits (Tum Boun).”

My Garden July 28, 2010

My garden still looks very green, we have been getting thunder showers on and off and this has helped the garden tremendously.

I didn’t have enough time to focus on the Red Cardinal and it flew away.  This is the official state bird for North Carolina so there are several living in my backyard.

My string beans didn’t do too well this year, I only get a few string beans every once in a while.

I have plenty of chili peppers this year, some came up on their own and they are a very hardy plant.

Pickled Crab Apples

I’m working on translating a ghost story, but on the meanwhile this might interest you.

Pickling is a process of preserving and storing food.  I pickled my cucumbers last month and they turned out real good so I’m using a similar recipe for the crab apple that I picked from my dad’s garden last Saturday.

I soak the crab apples in ice cold salt water for several hours. Then put the crab apples in canning jars.

Ingredients: brown sugar, black pepper seeds, chopped garlic, distilled vinegar, sea salt and water.

Instruction: boil cold water in a stock pot, add sugar, sea salt, black pepper seeds, chopped garlic and distilled vinegar when the water starts to boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then turn off the stove and let it sit to cool. Add the cooked water in a canning jar of crab apples and close tight with a lid. I’ll keep these in my pantry and it should be ready in about a month or so.

The Buddhist Lent Day at Wat Greensboro of NC

Today is Kao Punsa at our local temple Wat Greensboro of NC.  Kao Punsa is the tradition of Buddhist Lent or the annual three-month Rains Retreat known in Laos and Thailand as Punsa, which dated back to the early Buddhism in ancient India, this is the time where monks spent three months of the annual rainy season in permanent dwellings. This is to avoid unnecessary traveling during the period when crops were still new for fear that they might accidentally step on young plants. In the ancient time, the Lord Buddha left earth for 3 months to visit his mother up in heaven, he wanted to show his gratitude by chanting for her during this Lent period. It is also considered inauspicious to get married or move house during the Lent period, and after the end of the Lent period then the calendar is open for weddings.

Young Buddhist worshipers getting ready for Alms giving.

I forgot to take my camera off the spot metering mode, it looks kind of odd but I think this image has a strange composition also.

Alms giving

After Alms giving, we then offered food to the monks.  This year we only have 2 monks that Kao Punsa at Wat Greensboro.