Tokyo Saudade- Another Day

10:00 am
...this day started in Ginza, Matzuya Ginza, one of the biggest department stores of Tokyo, in the food section....desert section :) So much variety (!) from traditional macaroons to the most Japanese, wouldn't remember the name, sweets. Thing we've never seen anywhere else. I wish I could eat everything at once.  We went for the most bizarre  once.  I'm still wondering about the beans in the cake.. Wouldn't it be better with chocolate?  Macha green tea cake was pretty amazing, need to make one at home.

TOKYO SAUDADE-Asakusa Temples

Asakusa is one of the old districts in Tokyo, famous for its temples and more of a traditional atmosphere then any other neighborhood in Tokyo. It is considered that this district existed during edo period. This is as well the oldest geisha district, where you can still find about 40 working Geishas,as well as old kimono stores with new and vintage kimonos just off nakamise shopping street.

Kaminarimon ('Thunder Gate) leading to the temples through Nakamise shopping raw

TOKYO SAUDADE- Rost in tLansration

We didn't have enough time to explore everything Tokyo has to offer. We tried to grasp it's every corner with camera or with our mental memory. We wish we had more more days in this amazing city. We will definitely come back again, but so far these are the few of the multiple memories we can share. Our journey started in Tokyo subway. Getting around at first wasn't easy as we don't understand anything in Japanese, but we figured our way to the temples eventually through "foRRow Light and Reft".

lost in translation already

        

Koh Samui- Names on a Brick

Fisherman's village is situated on Bophut beach and is one of the most preserved areas in Koh samui.
Serving in the past as a french outpost of the island the village shows off its old wooden shop houses, mixed with some modern architecture and beautiful ocean vistas in between them. Here you will find romantic dining nooks overlooking the water, boutique stores for jewelery and clothing, as well as traditional souvenirs and knock offs of famous brands.

Koh Samui in One Day

One of the days on Koh Samui, we took a scooter and went to explore the island on our own. Being one of the biggest islands in Thailand, Koh Samui is much more natural in its character then Phuket and can be circumnavigated by car or bike in just couple of hours. We didn't have any particular plan, and went where ever the road would bring us :)

 Early morning, looking at the Big Budda from Bang Rak beach.

A night of light...

As mentioned in the previous post, our occasion was so special that our resort couldn't help it but give us a night of light.  We had 3 lanterns to send out to the world and to make our wishes.. It felt so special and magic...Hope it all comes true... thanks Ratilanna..

 

TRIBAL MARKETING

Traveling to the northern tribes of Thailand was another unusual experience. Most of them come from Tibetan-Burmese-Chinese origin. Each one has their own culture, language, dress code :) and traditions. Extremely colorful. Rich with goods, poor with teeth...All the different tribes live in small villages, each about 15-20 households( their houses built on stilts, underneath which domestic animals are usually kept). Most of the tribes believe in nature, guardian spirits, soul and supreme substance. Agriculture practice (especially paddy fields) and hand crafting are the main sources for the tribes income. Oh yeah.. and the tourists of course...

Doi Suthep or Know what you eat!

Our next day in Chiang Mai was a cultural journey to Doi Suthep, one of the most important temples in the North, meaning when you tell a monk that you went to Doi Suthep, they all get super excited and look at you with a lot of appreciation. So the temple is located on the hill and opens up to beautiful views of Chiang Mai. Getting there was a little work out-306 steps up ,but the effort was well paid off by the beauty of the temple and its tranquil atmosphere.

On the way up, we have noticed multiple food stalls with fries, fried bananas, strawberrys and lots of other local food. Hunger was approaching, and going all the steps up on empty stomach didn't feel right...Hmm smells good, we said and decided to have some snacks. Strawberrys with sugar, salt and chilis looked interesting and some fries with chilis nearby. These were not regular fries, but they looked plain enough and nothing to worry about. Eating and wondering around a little more, we met a thai man, who happened to work in the states long time ago. Chatting a little about Thailand and New York, out of curiosity I asked what is the name of the thing that i'm eating? The answer was:"Ohh,, this is really good! It is fried pork skin!!!"""....
The following picture was taken right at that moment- my reaction was predictable...sh..t..what the hell??? as i was almost puking out all this fries i just ate. The lesson learned the hard way-Know what you eat!!
and never ever I ate without knowing what it is.....

Eat whatever floats....or all the roads lead to falafel

Our next day was well spent at the Damnoen Saduak -floating market outside Bangkok. The market operates on the weekends only and accumulates the most delicious thai food you could possibly crave. All the food is being cooked on the boats by locals and sold to the wondering tourists and thais as well.
Observation:
it is really hard to express the colors and the vibe with an amateur camera, Nikon d90 would be more then appropriate here.
 

Bangkok continued...

After visiting the grand palace we proceeded to Wat Pho-The reclining Buddha or the "Chilling Buddha" (Donny's invention). Gold Plated Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana.
So here it is- pretty cool:


An Observation: Thais love their king, no matter what they do or how they live, everybody talks about their king with a great appreciation and love, phenomenal.

Fried banana stall-we love the king:


Wat Arun-the Temple of Dawn, a representative of Cambodian style architecture was the next stop:


the view from the temple:

after visiting the temple, we got nicely accommodated at the Deck cafe on the other side of the river, sipping cold drink and enjoying the view.
The Deck,
Arun Residence,
36-38 Soi Pratunokyung Maharat Rd tel: 02 221 9158

in btw the temples we have passed by the amulet market where u can find an amulet for any occasion in life!!! they are sold in different sizes, colors,shapes and supposedly will protect u from anything u need. We didn't buy any as we are an amulets of each other :)






exhausted after a long day, we headed to a local spa place and got an amazing one hour massage for literary 15$ each.

An Observation:

after all these and another temples to come, we were amazed by the level of detail and ornamentation they include! Dear fellow designers and architects, it is incredible! Today we are in a new age of design when minimalism and simplicity ,technology and systematical approaches prevail everywhere, but this ones are unbeatable! And sadly or not, no technology can beat a cheap labor. this elaborated designs represent an enormous,incomprehensible,tedious work that is done by human hands, and it proves again, THE GOD IS IN THE DETAILS!

Buddah exhaustion or the God is in the details

Four days in Bangkok passed momentarily, we came out to conquer the temples and visited floating markets. Exhausted from the extensive day wonderings, evenings were spent in between high class bars for drinks and street markets for food. Occasionally passing by Patpong market-the red light district of Bangkok, we got to know about all the possible tricks one can do with his male/female distingwishers................................We escaped right away!

taking boat express to the temples:


The Grand palace and the Emerald Buddah .

Emerald Buddah is the most valued temple in Bangkok located on the grounds of the grand Palace which history dates back to 17th-18th -the fall of Ayuthaia kingdom and the rise of a new one by Rama I at the location of a nowdays Bangkok . The Emerald Buddah temple was purposely build by king Rama I to house a Buddha image carved from a large solid piece of green jadite (jasper). Too small to see on the pic ,but this is what it is about.



Indian Style Stupa, all gold!



oh yeah...by the way it is all bare foot



were caught by the rain , which can also be very romantic!!!

there is so much more to show, but have to escape to the silk factory, to be continued....

The land of smiles makes you smile

On the first day of our arrival to the "City of Angels" the Fabulous Journey decided to do nothing but indulge in a nice spa and rest. And since honeymooners usually get all the possible upgrades, treats and amenities, indeed, everything was fabulous.

few observations:

It is winter and it is 85F- how do u people, live through summer??
Everybody is smiling at us -is that because we are so white and tall? :)
Fruits are delicious, kinds are endless, we don't know them all - our pick: Passion fruit
We start to see our friend Jintana in every second thai person we look at ..!

Sawadeeka!