Bangkok: Turning the Clock Upside Down

Arriving in Thailand we "lost" a day and had to adjust our internal clocks to 8 hours difference. Since we checked in at 1:30 am we had to sleep immediately even though our bodies thought it was mid day in Portland. It has taken several days but I think we are now on Thai time and we will hopefully adjust to the 2.5 hour difference in India time tomorrow when we fly.

We have spent the last two days getting to know the area around our hotel and finding a place to purchase our air tickets to India. More important is we have been eating lovely Thai food and fresh fruit. Here is a fruit stand near our hotel. Our favorite is fresh pineapple thrown in the blender with ice.







We are staying in the backpackers area between Khao San Road and the river, which makes for great people watching and inviting little cafes. You can buy anything in this district, often from backpackers who have decided to lighten their loads.








This morning we took a tuk tuk to see some temples.















Here is a really tall standing Buddha.
We stopped at the Temple of Good Luck and burned some incense and candles in exchange for a wish.

I loved the floral offerings which lined the street in front of each temple. These are Lotus blossoms and other flowers I don't know the name for.We happened upon a lovely jazz festival in the park and an aerobics class outside in the high 80s; I didn't join in.



In the middle of the day we retreat to our cool, tile floor, air conditioned room to recover.

Bangkok: Obama Fans and Lunar Eclipses

We left our warm bed early Wed. morning and arrived in Bangkok, via Seattle and Tokyo, just after midnight Friday after 20 plus hours of air time. Our young taxi driver to our hotel zipped along the tollway happily chatting into his bluetooth with one eye on his music DVD on the dashboard video screen. At some point he asked us in almost unintelligible English if we liked Obama and raised his fist in solidarity when we said we did.

I hope the SMA eclipse party had a better view of the moon than Portland residents. As for us, we were zooming along in plane with the shades pulled down and the lights dimmed and no idea whether it was day or night. We missed Thursday entirely because of the International Dateline.On the plus side, we did see several movies, the best of which was Things We Lost in the Fire. The worst was The Jane Austin Book Club. (Sorry SMA book club members but it was just too soapy.)

Our hotel in Bangkok, the New Siam II, is comfortable, clean and air conditioned. When we checked in, the guest ledger page didn't have another US passport listed; our kind of hotel. We had a $4 breakfast buffet across the street at the sister hotel on the River.

Today's plan is to purchase a ticket for next week to Bangalore and to eat some real Thai food.

Our Cabo Adventure

Actually, Cabo didn't disappoint; it was all about enjoying the ocean, reading, eating and relaxing with friends. This photo of the view from our room says it all.

The resort we stayed in, Pueblo Bonito Los Cabos, was walking distance from town and grocery shopping. We were not used to having all the prices quoted in dollars and the menus reflecting US prices so we four cooked in the room some days to ease the sticker shock.

Our friends, Lynn and Phil, graciously provided us with a separate unit from their timeshare weeks so we all had plenty of space to spread out and watch the DVDs they brought and take our daily siestas.

After a week of lolling around, with a few walks on the beach thrown in for an attempt at exercise, we flew to Guadalajara and spent three days wandering around window shopping in the lovely shops. Now we are back in SMA preparing for our next big adventure which promises to be not as relaxing but very interesting. Stay tuned...

The Blessing of the Animals

On January 17th Mexico celebrates the Feast of St Anthony the Abbot, a hermit-saint who died in the deserts of Egypt on January 17th in the fourth century. Legend has it that during his periods of prayer and fasting in the desert his only companions were the animals so on this day animals are brought to the churches throughout Mexico to be blessed.

The church in the Plaza Civica is prepared to bless any animal you bring as you can see from these photos I took from this year and last year. Lots of birds and dogs, a Makeda look-alike and even a hedgehog!





This little guy had a tiny turtle in his bucket.



We went with our friends Yolanda and Victor and their two miniature Schnauzers , Dumb and Dumber. (Don't ask me which is which.)

2008 2007

Next year we want to go to the countryside where the churches get more of the farm animals and horses.

Hungry anyone?

With the holidays we seem to eat out more with friends and maybe this unusually warm December lets us get out more so I thought I would show you some of our favorite places to eat. There are so many that this may be a long blog. I made the photos small so if you want to get a closer look at any of the photos you can click on them to see a larger version. Feel free to add your favorite SMA eateries in the comments since I've left a lot out.

Gombo's is probably our first choice because you can't go wrong with their pizza and we haven't found a better beef and spinach lasagna or carbonara anywhere. The family of brothers has Hungarian roots and they serve with a special flair in very humble surroundings. It is a long walk across town to the neighborhood of Guadelupe but worth it, in spite of the heavy road repairs going on there right now.






Mama Mia's is our first choice for sesame crust pizza because there is almost always live music in their beautiful courtyard but La Grotta does have great sangria or house wine to go with their pizza in an intimate setting downstairs in the "grotto" or up.

El Rinconcita is like eating at a taco stand only the cart is in the courtyard of home and you are served by a pleasant couple who lovingly prepare the food in front of you. They have the best lemonada served in really large glasses and I love the fajita nachos.



El Burrito Bistro is my comfort food place; Melissa and Tim agree. Burritos aren't typical of this region but this is one place you can get wholewheat wrapped burritos or there is even a middle eastern burrito.




El Manson del Bosque is our choice for a family style breakfast where everything is well prepared and we can serve ourselves the fruit plate! (Yummy... fresh mango.) The extra bonus is that since it is a hotel you meet new and interesting people every time as well as the locals. We call it Ruth's since she has owned and run the beautiful hotel for over 30 years. You can usually see us there Sunday mornings.




Longhorn Smokehouse is a Texas import but sure has great brisket bbq sandwiches and beer. It is in the back of a dusty lot under a tent but the food and atmosphere don't suffer.






Ten Ten Pie has just expanded to the tiny plaza across the street and placed several umbrella tables under the bougainvillea with the dome of the main church in the background . They can always be counted on for a tasty snack of tacos al pastor. Right next door behind the pink wall is the Casa Rosada which has a beautiful courtyard and probably the tastiest margaritas in town.


I'll add two more, although these aren't exactly restaurants. The ice cream wagon, complete with a powerful horse to pull it, appears almost daily in a corner of the Jardin with a supply of tasty homemade ice cream in exotic flavors.


In the evenings we like to go to La Ventana's walk up window and get their rich hot chocolate to carry to the Jardin around the corner. We can sit on the benches there and watch the world go by. No better way to spend time in San Miguel.

Christmas in San Miguel

The Christmas tree is up in the Jardin so it must be Navidad. This post is written to answer a question from my sweet sister-in-law, Rhonda. She asked how San Miguel celebrates Christmas.

The celebration begins with 9 nights of posadas (which means literally "inns"). These are community processions where people walk each night from one church to the next asking to be taken in, recreating the experience of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem.

We love to join in as they proceed through different neighborhoods each night, carrying candles and singing the special posada song which requests shelter for the night. Each night we are invited for ponche (a non-alcoholic punch loaded with traditional fruits like prunes and apples and others with names I don't know.) Usually there are piñatas along the way hanging in front of some houses for the children to break and it is very merry. We participate for the community feeling rather than the religious tradition and are wamly included.

Christmas is a time for family and not of gift giving, although that is creeping south of the border with some of the businesses even having jolly santas as you enter the store. The gift giving for the children in Mexico is on Jan. 6th, Three Kings' Day (Feast of the Epiphany) which commemorates the gifts the Magi brought to the baby Jesus.

On Three Kings' Day families eat rosca de reyes, an oval shaped bread made with dried fruit. Baked inside the bread is a tiny baby doll, representing the baby Jesus. Whoever gets the slice of rosca with the baby must provide tamales and atole (a sweet milky hot drink made with corn flour and cinnamon) at a party on February 2. I have gotten the baby (sometimes there are several in the fruitcake) but have never yet given the party since I don't know how to make atole or tamales.

We wish all our friends and family Felices Fiestas y un Prospero Año Nuevo in 2008.

Virgin of Guadalupe children's procession

Like the Revolution Day, the children of San Miguel celebrate Juan Diego's vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe with their own procession. We just happened to stumble on the gathering at the start of the procession just down the street from our house. Here are a few of my favorite shots.









As the night grew darker, the procession began with the live "float" of Juan Diego seeing the vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Then the parents, with their children in tow or in their arms, marched down to the central square. The official holiday is December 12.