Banging Bangkok and Other Places in Thailand

It's that wonderful time of the year again, Lunar New Year Break! I started off my vacation in Thailand and what a wonderful start it was. 

Day One: Bangkok Culture and Art Center, Siam Discovery, and MBK
I landed in Bangkok around 12:30 from Shanghai. I ate lunch and found the train to take me to my hotel Siam@Siam Design Hotel. It takes my train about an hour to get from the airport to my hotel. My hotel was late in cleaning up but to make up for that they gave me a free snack plate and then upgraded my room to a fancier suite! I had a bathtub and a separate shower, a king sized bed, a small dining area, a couch, and a closet big enough to fit the king sized bed. I loved that hotel. 

Dragon outside of the hotel

I walked the two minutes over to the Bangkok Culture and Art Center which was a free entry. The art is on the very top floor and floors 1-7 are shops you can eat and buy knick knacks in, which is why the art is free. During my time there they had live art displays in the morning and in the evening they had various musical performers. I saw a high school marching band walk through the halls, heard an opera singer belting out on floor 8, and an orchestra perform on the ground floor. 

The artist would come here to "plant" flowers during his live art performance. 

Afterwards I headed to Siam Discovery which is a giant mall and ate at Jamie's Italian Restaurant (which I had no idea it was a chain). They had nail salons, clothes stores, restaurants, and in the evening they had night markets. 


The staff was so diverse and I was to find that all of Thailand was like this! There are a high number of Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians along with transgender individuals all over and everyone seemed very accepting. I saw small altars for different religions all over the country. I wished I had come to Thailand to teach!

Day Two: River Kwai
I booked a tour for the River Kwai and Burma Railway to learn about the Japanese treatment of Allied POWs and of the native Thai people. The Japanese wanted to build a railway from Bang Pong, Thailand to a city in Burma. The railroad would be 415 km long and using slave labor the entire time. 
We began our trip at the cemetery where the POWs were buried. The bodies were originally buried along the railway but later found and moved. American bodies were sent back to the states but some of the Danish, Australian, and British bodies are still in this cemetery. 

Next we visited the JEATH War Musuem. JEATH stands for Japanese, English, Australian/American, Thai, Holland who were all part of the Burmese railway construction. We watched a short film, visited inside a recreated living hut, and then took a boat ride to see the River Kwai Bridge. We took a short break before getting on a train. 

While I think the train ride, boat ride, and the people I met were great I found that our tour guide really lacked. Whenever we asked a question she didn't know the answer. She also didn't book enough tickets for us to sit down on the train, so quite a few of us had to stand for the hour and a half ride. I was one of those people. Thankfully a very nice Australian let me sit in his seat for the last 30 minutes. 

Later that night I met up with some people I met on the tour. I am convinced that I get lost in every country I am in, and this was that night. I tried taking the bus and thought it was fairly straight forward. However, the bus stopped at a station every block, which confused me. Was this my stop? Did this count as a stop?

I got off the bus and turned on my GPS to see that I was still 45 minutes away from the hostel I was to meet these people at. I tried getting a taxi but was confused by them. There were taxis with red, green, and white lights so I assumed red meant busy but I found later that white meant busy and red meant free. Waving down the wrong colored lights meant that I got no taxis and ended up walking the entire way. 
The group of people who gave me directions couldn't figure out where I was and even when I looked online I could not find this hostel. The group kept saying they were on Khao San Road, which I was also on, which snowballed my frustration. I eventually called my sister who got out Google Maps on her laptop in the Czech Republic to help me. We found out that this hostel was not on Khao San Road but two blocks away from it and on top of that it was down two different alley ways.  

Khao San Road

When I finally arrived to the now infamous Bed Station Hostel (*note* there are two Bed Station Hostels but only one is near Khao San Road) I found out why the directions they gave me were so poor. Yep, they were already three sheets to the wind. They realized what had happened to me and bought me a drink as compensation and we played card games. It was a fun night but at 11:00 pm I realized I had to get home. I had a tour early the next day and then I realized that the train system was shut off for the night. I walked the entire way home. Even in the night, Bangkok was about 80 F (27 C). 

A selfie after my long hot walk home. 

Day Three: Ayutthaya
This was by far one of my favorite days. I was with a tour group once again but this time our tour guide was amazing. Donna was very detailed about the temples, Thai culture, and even the local food and souvenirs we should buy. While we were looking at Buddhas, Donna explained to us that the fat Buddha was her favorite because "it was just like her." We asked what she meant and she said, "The Buddha is fat and happy and Donna is fat and happy!" (Yes, she referred to herself in the third person.) Later in the day she showed us how to fold a lotus flower and place it on the statues. She told us that laying a flower on a Buddha every time you see it means that the next time you are reincarnated, you will be beautiful. "Donna likes being fat and happy but the next life Donna wants to be beautiful."

This is my new beautiful best friend Donna.

We saw four main areas with Donna in the city of Ayutthaya. The first was Bang Pa-In Palace. We were there the same day the Thai King was which was exciting. We had to be out of the palace before he got there. If he was there at the same time as us, we would not be allowed to leave until he left. 

Next was the Buddha in the Tree in the ruins of a temple. To understand the significance of this we had to learn about Thai culture. In Thailand the head is the most sacred part of your body, no other person is allowed to touch it and your feet are considered the least holy. Putting your feet up on furniture is extremely rude in Thailand. In 1767, the temple was destroyed and the Buddha statues were broken. Since no one can touch the Buddha heads, they stayed on the ground except for one. This special Buddha head was picked up by a tree and lifted out of the dirt. It is considered a Buddhist miracle.

Third was the Royal Temple. We learned that you could lay gold leaf onto the Buddhas and people leave flowers on the altar as well. Donna told us that in Thai culture there is a god for each day of the week. Whatever day you were born on is the deity your should pray for to protect you.  Each day of the week also has a color. The Thai king's flag is the color of the day he was born on. Most families in Thailand also choose one animal to protect for their life. Donna's family has vowed to take care of catfish and dogs. While we were at this temple, Donna fed the stray dogs who followed her around very patiently until she fed them. It was like following a saint around. She also goes to the local pond to feed the catfish. 

Day of the Week Deities

Finally, we saw the reclining Buddha and headed to our cruise back to Bangkok. The cruise ship had a buffet of western and Thai food. That is when I became obsessed with Thai chicken. As soon as I got back to China, I made my own. 

Day Four-Five: Similan Islands
Day four was spent flying to the Similan Islands and checking into my hotel. Nothing too exciting but day five was the fun day. 
Apparently I had bought the "expanded package" for this snorkeling day but I had completely forgotten about that or maybe the people there just gave me the expanded package by accident. Either way, I was going to take it. The tour picked me up in a van and dropped us off at the snorkeling center. As per usual with these tours, there were quite a few people and we got lumped in a group together. We were all given breakfast and I was given a towel, mat, and snorkeling gear while everyone else had to bring their own or pay a little extra for those. Everyone had their swimming suits on under their clothes. 
The first island we saw was just to climb the small mountain and play on the beach if we wished. I could have started swimming but I decided against it because I would have had to skip out on the mountain and this amazing view! 

The second island is where we got to snorkel. Our guide told us that if we were strong swimmers we could go without a life vest on. I thought about it but decided to keep mine on. I wish I had an under water camera to show you all but it was amazing! I saw parrot fish, groupers, bannerfish, butterfly fish, and emperor angelfish.

We took a lunch break and I found that I got a bento box meal while everyone else had a buffet style meal. I had fried chicken, spaghetti, salad, shrimp, and mushrooms in my boxes. Everyone got pineapple and watermelon and rice as well. I felt very swanky. The guide gave me a snorkel and fins and I was able to do a little snorkeling in the bay of the island. At one point I slapped my left foot on a reef and got a small green bruise which has to be the best bruise story ever. 

We got another snorkeling excursion. I noticed that everyone was swimming around the same area and being the cool kid I was decided to swim on the opposite side of the boat where no one was. I was having a grand old time when I saw it...about 40 yards (36 meters) away from me was a shark! He was maybe only 4 feet long (1 meter) but it both scared and amazed me. Here I was in the same ocean as this shark! I didn't say anything because I was worried that maybe sharks aren't from that area and I could have mistaken this fish for a tuna or something. I found out later that it was in fact in a Grey Reef Shark and are common sights in that area!

11/10 would do again

Day Six: 
I flew back to Bangkok this day and that night was to go boxing. However, the driver took me to the wrong stadium by accident. Thankfully, the company was able to reschedule me for the next day. 

Day Seven: Wat Arun, Wat Pho, Grand Palace and Muay Thai Boxing
This day I had to take a taxi for the first time to get to my first stop, Wat Arun. Before leaving for Thailand I had learned that taxis can scam people by not using their meter. The first two taxis I hailed both refused to use their meter but thankfully the third one did. It only cost me 100 Baht to get to the temple from my hotel! (about 3 USD) By the way, shoulders and ankles should be covered when going to these areas, no ripped jeans allowed either. 

After that I headed back to the street to hail a taxi. This is when I finally learned about the taxis lights. After failing to get a taxi, a man on a moped and orange vest stopped by and asked if I needed a ride. I had seen these guys around, they are moped taxis! I hiked up my skirt and off we went to Wat Pho. Again, it only cost me around 100 Baht. 

This temple was giant. It is the home of the Reclining Buddha which has pearl laid into its feet. It is so big, it is hard to get a full picture of it, especially with the pillars in the way. 

They were many temples with Buddha images throughout the area and the stupas were in all different colors like yellow, green, and blue. They were so beautiful! I also got a massage before leaving the facility. 

My next stop was the Grand Palace. This place is truly massive. They have giants guarding the gates, multiple stupas, a museum, the palace of course, and where they keep the Jade Buddha. Pictures aren't allowed of the Jade Buddha but where it was kept was insane. The walls are covered in beautiful art and there is special place for Thais to go pray. I honestly thought that heaven must look very similar to this. 

The giants guarding the gates.

I ate lunch at a local restaurant where I ate some delicious Pad Thai Noodles and two very large glasses of iced lemon tea. Like I said before, Bangkok is hot. The temples close by 3:00 pm so I got another moped taxi back to my hotel, showered, and got ready for my boxing class. 

My coach was a tiny man, maybe 4 feet 5 inches (1.4 meters), but he was super flexible and had a ton of energy. When we did our stretching he looked at me like "Oh man, another one of these untrained losers." For those that don't know, I am just able to get my first knuckles to touch the floor and can barely do anything beyond that. However, he was fairly impressed with my boxing moves and we went on to perfect my kicks. Overall, I was happy with the training and was glad I got to enjoy the national sport of Thailand.  

Day Eight: Chatuchak Market
My last day of Thailand was at the largest weekend market in the world! I was here from when it opened at 9:00 am to 1:00 pm when I had to get back to my hotel, check out, and get on my plane to my next destination. The market closes at 6:00 pm and honestly I could have stayed there for that long and would have come in the next day. I went through the used clothes section, and up to handicrafts, and down to plants and gardening. I had a foot and shoulder massage, bought some soaps and fake flower arrangements, and had my nails done. Not to mention I got to eat mango ice cream!

A map of the market. 

The market is so big that each section has a subsection and then a hallway number so you don't get lost. 

I thought the wind chimes were so lovely and they are all supposed to be hand made as well. 

I loved Thailand and would 100% go back again. When I was telling my sister about it I said that I thought it would make a great honeymoon spot. It's warm, there are a ton of things to see and do, and everything is so cheap. Plus the people are incredibly polite. 

So from me to you, Kob Khun Ka for reading!

A Guide to the Underground

If you are from a town that doesn't have a subway or if you have never experienced a Chinese subway, here is a guide for you on how it works (as of 2019). 

*As a disclaimer, the Chinese people call the underground system a variation of English words such as metro, subway, or tube. Just know they are all the same thing here. 

1. You will need a ticket. You can go to a machine and get a one way ticket. The screens are able to turn into English. Just click what stop you want to get off and pay. Be aware that the machines have different payment methods. Some only take coins while others can take bills, credit cards, or Alipay/WeChat pay. 

You can also choose to go to the ticket counter. You can request to get a reloadable plastic metro card. There is a fee for buying the card and then you also need to "charge" the card with money. This can take up to 20 minutes to do and the lines are always long for these windows. They may request to see your passport. 

If you need to reload your card there are machines outside of most metro stops that you can use. Place your card inside the machine, pay with your credit card or Alipay/WeChat pay, wait for the machine to charge your card, and you are done. They are similar looking to the image below.

Image from https://www.smh.com.au

2. Now you have your card, yay! It will look like this. 

Image from chinahighlights.com

Now you will have to go through security. You will walk through a metal detector and your bags will go through an X-ray machine. 

3. To get through the gates you scan your card digitally. Just place the card on the blue circle above the green arrow. A screen will tell you how much money is left on your card. The doors will open and you walk through. When you scan the card you MUST be behind the post. Otherwise the subway gate thinks the gate is blocked and you can't walk through. 

4. Wait for your subway to come. In China they have plastic/glass walls and doors to wait behind as a safety precaution. The doors will open as soon as the train comes. People will push and shove you to get on or off the train. You have been warned. 
I will say "jay gwa" when I get past people, it means excuse me, which makes me feel less of a jerk for pushing past people. 

5. While on the train in China you are free to talk, eat, and drink. Other countries like Japan and Thailand this is not allowed. In the Czech Republic you can eat on the train but talking should be kept to a whisper. That means on a Chinese subway you can and will get people playing music out loud, talking on the phone, and eating noodles on their commute. It can get hectic. You are expected to give up your seat to elderly, pregnant women, and people with children. However, the courtesy seats you see on trains in China serve more as guidelines than rules. You can sit down in the courtesy seat if you wish, but are expected to give it up as soon as someone needs it. 

6. Getting out of the subway you will need to insert your card into the post if you have a one way ticket. The post will "eat" your card and the gate opens up. If you have a reloadable card, scan the card on the blue circle once again and the gate will open. Easy peasy!

This has been my guide on how to use the Chinese Underground. This is the same as it is from Shanghai, Beijing, to Ningbo. Good luck to you. 

How to Didi

Most countries in the world are getting more into Uber and Lyft driving services. However, if you are in China then you have to use Didi. Here is a how to guide on Didi. 

1. Change the settings from Chinese to English. Click the person icon in the top left hand corner and these options will pop up. If it is Chinese and you can't read, merely click the gear icon. 
                                                    
The second box says language. You can choose only English or Chinese. 
                                                     

2. Attach your payment. Click the person icon, My Wallet, and this window will pop up below.  
                                                      
Choose payment method and this window will come up. 
                                                  
You can attach your WeChat, Alipay, or credit card to get this to work. 

3. Type in the orange dot area where you want to go. You don't have to choose where to be picked up as a GPS will automatically figure that out for you.
                                                      

4. Choose the service you want, Express, Taxi, Premier, or Luxury. 

Express is the cheapest and you can even choose Express Pool where you can go with other people and make your ride cheaper. Taxis are more expensive but if no Express cars will pick you up, taxis almost always will. Premier cars are nicer vehicles but with this option you can choose to be dropped off or picked up from airports more easily. Luxe is short for Luxury cars and offer "first class service" but this is so far only offered in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. 

5. Get in the car and go!

6. Payment is automatic once the driver drops you off. If a taxi driver you get from the app asks for payment, just tell him to check the app. They get confused by Didi at times. 

To reserve a car do the following steps. 

Click on reserve above where you choose where to go on the bottom of the screen. 

1. Choose a time and day to be picked up. 

                                                 

2. Choose where to be picked up. Do this by clicking the green dot and typing the location. 

3. Choose where to go by clicking the orange dot. 

    

4. Click "confirm" and wait for a car to choose you. FYI cars tend to cancel these often. Or your timer of 10 minutes may reach zero. If this happens you have to go back to step 1. 

5. Be ready for your car at least ten minutes before the time you reserved for, they always come early and are always grumpy if you aren't there early. If you are late, the car will cancel on you. They can also give you a bad rating for being late.

6. Payment is automatic!

Once you have a car ready to go, you have the options below to choose from. If you feel unsafe you can click Police and an officer will call or reach you soon and it will also message your emergency contact. You can call the driver or message them as well. If you can't speak Chinese you can choose one of the automated messages. 

The automated messages you can choose from will translate easily. If you try to type in English, an error message will come up so you have to write in Chinese. 

I clicked "Add a Quick Message" which gives you a chance to make a custom automated response. My quick messages say that the drivers should only message me and not call as I can't speak Chinese. You can see those in the picture below. Just letting you know, they still try to call. It's annoying. 

Didi requires that you go into the safety tab of the app and learn about how to report dangerous drivers or scam artists. I highly recommend doing this as well. 

When you are done with a ride click the person icon and then "My Trips." You can leave a 5 star review for your driver and can send them up to a 10 RMB tip if you wish. The drivers also rate you but I have yet to figure out how to see my own rating. 

Didi is a good app overall but as soon as you leave China it is impossible to use. Didi advertised to Chinese citizens that they could hail Uber or Lyft if they travel overseas with their app. I have been overseas with Didi and it has NEVER worked. It also refuses to work in English and tries to revert back to Chinese whenever I'm outside of China. 
If you are in China you will be forced to use Didi but once you are out of China you are forced to use a different ride share app. It's annoying to switch, but hey, that's China for you. 

I hope that this has been helpful for you all! Good luck with your own Didi adventures. 

There is Only Peppa

Parents of young children complain that their lives seem to be overtaken by children's television. When I was a kid it was definitely Barney and Arthur that was on all the time but the new generation of kids really like Peppa Pig. In China, the kids and even the adults love Peppa. 

She is everywhere. Balloons, t-shirts, bags, on the sides of cars, and people even get tattoos of her!

"This is not the first person of our community to tattoo this on their body."

This Chinese Lunar New Year is the zodiac sign of the pig which means that she is even more widely found. It gives businesses a chance to sell twice as much stuff for New Year's, as long as the famous pig's likeness is on it. 

I asked some people here why Peppa is popular. Most of their answers revolved around the fact that they thought she was funny, in fact Peppa is a meme here. Many people showed me the video below as to when they became obsessed with her. 

If the video doesn't work for you I will give you a summary. Peppa Pig can't whistle and is disheartened by this, so she decides to call her friend Suzie Sheep to make herself feel better. Suzie tells Peppa she doesn't know how to whistle or what it is but when Peppa explains it, she gets it correct on the first try. Peppa immediately hangs up, leaving Suzie asking the phone over and over if Peppa can still hear her. 

The other explanation I have heard is that they simply think Peppa is cute and colorful. I agree she is colorful but I often have thought of the cartoon as ugly. It also annoys me to no end that her nose seems to be perpetually at the side of her face while the rest of her features are in the center. Maybe that is just me. 

Spongebob and Transformers are also very popular here but now whenever I go outside now there seems to be only one consistent thing. 

There is no Spongebob or Transformers anymore... 

There is only 

Peppa. 

Cats are Money's Best Friend

The phrase, "Dog's are a human's best friend," is the same in English as it is in Chinese. Dogs are seen as loyal and smart which is befitting of a human. If you go to any restaurant or store in China or Japan what you will see is not a dog but a cat waving you to enter. 

These cats are originally from Japan and called Maneki Neko or the beckoning cat. The left paw up means "welcome guest" and the right paw up means "welcome money/fortune" and both of them up is a welcome to both. The signs they hold up generally are statements about welcoming fortune and they will hold gold coins at times as well. These statues also serve as piggy banks. Maneki Neko are usually wearing red collars with a bell. This is believed to have been a popular way for Japanese cat owners to keep track of their animals back in the day (Pho, B. 2017). 

The cats can come in various colors but mostly they are white. They can be calico shaded, all gold, all black, or have spots in various colors like blue, red, and pink. Each color represents a different meaning. Calico cats are rare in Japan so it is supposed to bring more rare luck. Gold represents fortune and black is supposed to ward off evil. Black maneki neko are commonly carried by woman to ward off scary dudes! Blue cats are supposed to bring protection to families. Red is commonly used to represent luck and ward off evil. Pink cats are supposed to invite love (Pho, B. 2017). 

Where did these cats come from and why? No one is exactly sure but there are many folk stories floating around and even these stories have different variations. There is a story that a poor store owner took in a cat and fed it and the cat returned the favor by sitting in their window and waving customers in, making the store owner rich. Another story is that there were a group of samurais in a rain storm when a cat waved them into a temple where they finally could rest. The samurais were so grateful that they gave the temple a ton of land and often visited the shrine. The last story is that a woman was so poor she had to sell her cat to feed herself. The cat visited her in a dream and told her to make statues of itself to sell. The woman then became very profitable from selling the cat figurines (Pho, B. 2017). 

How did this Japanese cat get so popular in China? My answer is that I'm not sure. I can't seem to find any definite answer online as to when and where the cat gained popularity in China. Chinese culture is very ingrained in the idea of luck and wealth so it could be that some Chinese people learned about the beckoning cat's powers and were eager to get their own. You can find these cats not only in Japanese and Chinese stores but you may spot them in Chinese and Japanese businesses in the USA. Keep your eyes peeled for them. 

A dog may be a human's best friend, but if you looking to increase your piggy bank, cats should be the one you befriend. 

Source

Pho, B., Dang, D., Pan, E., Youn, S., Chirk, R., & Condon, T. (n.d.).  Maneki Neko: The 

Beckoning Cat. Retrieved January 27, 2019, from http://www.anthropology.uci.edu/~wmmaurer/courses/anthro_money_2006/maneki.html