Ancient Siam in Muang Boran

16 Thai Provinces in 10 Months

At the Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat in Phitsanulok Province, Thailand.

1. Chiang Mai

2. Phitsanulok

3. Sukhothai

4. Prachuap Khiri Khan

5. Ayutthaya

6. Samut Prakan

7. Chonburi

8. Bangkok

9. Nakhon Pathom

10. Kanchanaburi

11. Petchaburi

12. Nonthaburi

13. Suphanburi
14. Lopburi
15. Chachoengsao
16. Ang Thong

16 Thai provinces in 10 months for year 2011. Thank you Larry Love for colorfully marking our Thailand map and bringing home happy and precious memories from each place. We love you forever. God bless you more.

Thank you dear Lord Jesus for the gift of travel and for always keeping us safe and healthy.

Fun Travelling With Kids

My daughter was only eight months old when we had our first international trip together. She can’t walk yet then, so basically I carried her most of the time. I carried her in one arm while my other arm carried her bag full of extra clothing, food, diapers, toys, milk and other stuff. Was the experience a nightmare? Oh, it wasn’t at all. If we are prepared, regardless when we travel with kids, by land, by air or by water, the journey wouldn’t be a disaster. However, there will be endless occasions when kids can get on our nerves when we travel. Here are few tips that may help you soften the travel woes.

Instead of dragging kids into a travel agency, where they will certainly get bored, book online and book everything ahead of time.

Organize your travel documents. Make sure you prepare a checklist of everything you will need. Keep all these documents and papers in one bag, so you can have them available at any time when needed. These include your passports, boarding passes and certifications especially when you travel with a child. In some immigration offices, they check for the child’s birth certificate and other documents indicating your relationship with the child.

Prepare a travel survival kit packed with first aid materials, medicines, small toys, games, feeding bottles, milk formula, diapers, and picture books. Portable DVD players, video games and other electronic things can keep kids trouble-free and occupied for hours. Bring CD’s (iPod or walkman) along and play music.

Pack snacks even if the airlines give these out. Keep your kids’ sugar content low, so they won’t be hyperactive during the travel. Snacks you can bring may include crackers, carrot sticks, pretzels or fruit.

Be sure that kids use the bathroom at every opportunity – before leaving your home, in the airport or station before getting on the plane, train, ship or bus.

Kids could be cranky at times when they are tired. So, before you travel, make sure that they had enough rest.

Hang on to your kids especially in a crowded airport or station. It could give you a heart attack if you lose your child even for only a few seconds. It is best to avoid that situation.

Whenever I travel with my daughter, I always put her in a stroller, big enough to carry her and my other ‘hand carry’ stuff. I also bring her favorite teddy and an extra soft blanket to make her comfortable. Since I travel with a child, I get prioritized in the queuing lines and we always get the front seats inside the airplane, where there is more space to move around. I always travel at night. That is just the perfect time when my daughter sleeps and when she awakes, she is in a different country already.

Travelling with kids could be a lot of fun. It wouldn’t be difficult or a nightmare as long as you plan carefully. Keep things enjoyable and safe and everything else will go a lot smoother for you and your family.

Bon Voyage!

For more reads, enjoy watching the slideshow below.

Traveling With Kids

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My First Fish Merit Experience in Thailand

A few Sundays ago, we visited our favorite Buddhist temple – The Wat Yannawa. Yannawa means “boat”.  So as its name implies, the temple is shaped like a boat. My husband loves to take pictures there and my daughter loves to feed the birds, turtles and the fishes along the Chao Phraya River. The river is right behind the Wat Yannawa temple.

Fish Merit

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While my husband takes pictures, my daughter feeds the fishes and I enjoy the views, three Thai students are performing a Fish Merit ceremony. They had a pail and in it were three fishes. After a ten-minute prayer, they released the fishes in the river. I wonder what’s behind this ceremony. Why do they do it? What happens when they practice it?

Below is the story on where and how did this merit-making start.

*In the time of the Lord Buddha, there was a temple named Chetawan Wihan which was under the charge of Saributr. One summer day, a young novice went to pay respect to Saributr. The abbot noticed an abnormal sign on the novice’s face and knew immediately that the novice would die seven days later. Out of pity, he told the poor novice about this and tried to console him. The novice then asked for leave to go home to bid farewell to his parents and relatives. He promised that he would come back to Chetawan temple within seven days in order to die there.

Two events happened on his way home. First, when he passed a water-hole and tried to get some water to drink, he saw fishes struggling in the mud. He felt pity on them, so he took off his robe, caught all the fishes and put them in his robe. He walked to a nearby pond and freed the fishes there.

Later, when the novice reached an old farm he saw three birds stuck in snares. He wanted to free them, but he couldn’t because that would mean violating the second precept of the Buddhist moral code (i.e. to abstain from stealing). So the novice just stood still looking at the birds and prayed for their safety. He prayed for a long time until there was a gust blowing in the direction where the birds were stuck. The snares shook until the wires broke and the birds flew away.

When the novice reached his home, he told his relatives about his imminent death, they were so sad that they decided to make merit for him. They weighed the novice and prepared a quantity of rice equaling the weight of the novice. They boiled the rice and presented it to the monks. They took good care of him day and night. Surprisingly, seven days passed and the novice was still alive and healthy, so he went back to Chetawan Temple.

When Saributr saw the novice, he was very surprised as his predictions had never failed before. So he asked the novice to tell to him what he had done in the past seven days. After hearing the story, Saributr realized that the novice’s escape from death was due to his meritorious acts done from his compassionate heart – freeing fishes, helping birds to flee and presenting boiled rice to the monks. All the merits done when added together were strong enough to prolong his life. This is believed to be the origin of the Buddhist tradition of freeing fishes and birds that has been observed by Thais as well as other Buddhists since the ancient times.

*Source: “Thaiways” Vol. 18, No. 15, 2001

From long ago until today, Thai Buddhists believe that they will make good merit if they release fishes, birds, and turtles at a temple. The idea is that you are doing good by giving a creature its freedom.

Of all the wonderful treasures in this world, there will be nothing more precious to someone than giving them a piece of your heart. Every time you share the goodness of your heart, you always end up winning, because LIFE IS AN ECHO. It bounces back to you what you have given.