A Life, Lived

A Public Service Announcement

School starts in 2 weeks. Time for this important reminder.

 

Sleeping with a Pet

Pet owners everywhere will get this . . .

We have a king-sized bed. I am one of those folks that sleeps deeply and does not move around. Paul, on the other hand, is known as 'kicky'. Because of this the cats generally avoid his side of the bed . . . my side of the bed, on the other hand . . . LOL

The 22nd ETFO Annual Meeting

This is the view from my hotel room where I will be spending the next week. The 22nd ETFO Annual Meeting takes place at the Sheraton hotel. Yes, I have been to all 22. I must admit, some of that early excitement has worn off a bit after all of these years. :-)

Over the next 4 days we will debate resolutions that will set the direction for the organization, pass a budget, elect a new Provincial Executive, hear from inspirational speakers, and most importantly - reconnect with colleagues from across the province.

Do you Get This?

Another Shooting in the US

Two actually - both perpetrated by radicalized white males with access to guns.

Cue this . . .

Travel Tuesday - Bangkok

A few more shots from my recent stay in Bangkok for this week's Travel Tuesday post.

Thai Cooking Class

It is had to believe that two weeks ago I was in Bangkok. The Congress Opening Ceremonies started at 4 and I had the day free. I booked a cooking class figuring 'when in Thailand . . .' I've taken a few Thai cooking classes but was looking froward to trying the real thing.

The instructions were pretty good - I knew that the class fronted on to a main street but you entered the building off of a back alley.

Now normally I'd not venture down a dark alley like that but the lure of a cooking class was great.

Once everyone arrived we headed out on a Tuk Tuk to the market.

The market was authentic - this was a place for locals to shop  . . . not tourists. Our instructor took us around and showed us various things. We all had market baskets to carry and soon they were full of the ingredients for the class.

Back at the studio we were ushered up to the air conditioned eating area and left with iced tea to recover from the heat, humidity, sights, smells, and sounds of the market.

Our assistant came and got us about 15 minutes later and brought us to the cooking studio. We each had a cooking station. All of the ingredients we needed for the first recipe - Green Curry Paste were measured and prepped. The instructor showed us the technique and then we were off.

When our curry paste was finished we were shown how to use it to make a green curry chicken with Thai eggplant.

The second dish was tom yum gai soup.

Once our soup was finished the instructor showed us how to make Coconut Sticky Rice which we would eat for dessert with mango.

Then we were shown how to make the classic Thai street food - Pad Thai.

Finally we went back up to the eating area (mercifully cool) and all of our dishes were brought to us to enjoy.

What a feast!

I've said it to a few people - the worst meal I ate in Thailand was better than the best Thai food I have had in North America and the food we made in the cooking class was truly amazing.

A Friendly Reminder

Travel Tuesday - Bangkok

I haven't posted much about my time in Bangkok - I was just too bloody busy with the Congress. Nonetheless, I did manage to find the time to take a photo or two. This should keep me set for the next few Travel Tuesday posts.

Bangkok Temples and Palaces

Last Saturday I had a free day in Bangkok. I booked a half day tour that took in some of the main sights in the old city. The tour visited the Temple of the Golden Buddha, or Wat Traimit, and Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, then explored the grounds that once housed the royal Siamese court. 

Located at the end of Chinatown's Yaowarat Road, near Hualampong Railway Station, Wat Traimit houses the world's largest massive gold seated Buddha measuring nearly five metres in height and weighing five and a half tons. In the past, artisans crafted the Buddhas in gold and disguised them from invading armies by a covering of stucco and plaster.

The Buddha at Wat Traimit was discovered by accident when it was accidentally dropped as it was being moved, revealing, under a casing of plaster, a beautiful solid gold Sukhothai style Buddha. Pieces of the plaster are still kept on display.

Our next stop was the former Royal Palace. Built in 1782 - and for 150 years the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative seat of government - the Grand Palace of Bangkok is a grand old dame indeed, that continues to have visitors in awe with its beautiful architecture and intricate detail, all of which is a proud salute to the creativity and craftsmanship of Thai people. Within its walls were also the Thai war ministry, state departments, and even the mint. Today, the complex remains the spiritual heart of the Thai Kingdom.

Within the palace complex are several impressive buildings including Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), which contains the small, very famous and greatly revered Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century. The robes on the Buddha are changed with the seasons by HM The King of Thailand, and forms an important ritual in the Buddhist calendar. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace around the turn of the twentieth century, but the palace complex is still used to mark all kinds of other ceremonial and auspicious happenings.

Our last stop was a temple known as Wat Pho - the temple of the reclining Buddha. It's one of the largest temple complexes in the city and famed for its giant reclining Buddha that measures 46 metres long and is covered in gold leaf. Wat Pho serves as home to the massive 46-meter long reclining Buddha image, the size of which must be experienced in person as it is simply breathtaking. The amazing feeling of taking in the sight of the enormous golden figure of the ‘enlightened one’ cannot be explained with words, and even more rarely captured in photos due to its massive size.

The temple grounds were beautiful and the tranquil setting almost manage to convince me that it was not a million degrees and humid as heck outside. :-)