Happy Thai's New Year--Songkran Splendors

Daddy arrives Bangkok safe and sound and just in time to celebrate the special festival--The Thai's New Year aka Songkran Festival. Unfortunately, there are some political problems on Songkran's day here in Bangkok which shut down every activity just for a day :( However, we still celebrate the traditional New Year with the family. We celebrate our this holiday from April 10 to April 17 but most of the main events take place during April 13-15.

Songkran is a Sanskrit word in Thai form which means the entry of the sun into any sign of the Zodiac. But the Songkran in this particular instance is when the sun enters the sign of Aries or the Ram. Its full name is Maha Songkran or Major Songkran to distinguish it from the other ones.". You can also find out that "This is the time for Thais to pay homage to Buddha images, clean their houses, and sprinkle water on their elders in a show of respect."

A show of respect... I think to appreciate the older and traditional aspect of Songkran we all visit a temple in the morning of April 13th and then visit Tara's great aunt in the afternoon in Chonburi (the town near Pattaya). We have lunch in Pattaya and we find Thai McDonald's for Tara too :) Then pay respect at Tara's great grandmother grave. We saw a few water splashing a long the way but not as much.

We all exhausted by the end of the day. We just rest at home for the rest of the evening and enjoy the family time. So glad that Daddy is here with us :) We miss him very much.

Toys & Games Festival

Mostly in the evening Ta and Yai always take us out to eat. Usually we go to "the Mall" since it is only 10 mins drive from their house and there are so many restaurants to choose from with variety of cuisines. Then after dinner, we all take Tara to the play area. Today she rides three different toys :) For those three toys, it only cost $1 for all of them!!!!

Department store in Thailand normally was built with 4 or more stories high. This one has 4 floors which including 20 movies theaters and huge convention center room on the top floor. During this week there is a "toys and games" Festival in the convention room of this mall. Imagine a huge room full of toys and things for kids to do and play!! Tara just loves it. Ta takes Tara up there and explores all the toys. Then they ended up play air hocky together :) I think nobody win the game since Tara keeps the disk to herself everytime she can catch it!!!

On the way out Tara takes some pictures with her favorite Princesses poster...enjoy :)

Dress Fitting

One of the missions when we are here in Bangkok is to get Tara's flower girl dress make. Today is Tara's fitting day for the non-complete version of the dress. There will be some adjustments before the final one complete this weekend. This is only the first layer of the dress. There are 4 layers for the skirt part. Mommy just takes some photos--you can tell how much Tara loves to be in the dress. She said she looks like Princess...I can't wait to get the complete one and show it to you all :) Enjoy

Hua Hin--The oldest beach in Thailand (round 1)

Alright, our first vacation trip is here. My favorite beach town, Hua Hin. We only spend 2 days here this time but when Daddy arrives. We will be here for 4 days....can't wait. So we gonna call this trip our survey trip. We have a good time. Tara's uncles, Duke and Dew, and Dew's girlfriend, Ploy, are there to help Mommy entertain Tara :)

This trip we all go to Hua Hin in a big bus since we are going with the National Defense Group where Khun Ta is a member. Khun Ta organized the whole trip which include 102 people. One of Khun Ta's friends owns a seaside beach house which is really beautiful and he and his wife kindly enough to host the dinner for the whole group. They also have singers for entertain us too. Tara has fun dancing with Khun Yai too :) Of course, food is endless and all delicious!!!

Even though this trip to Hua Hin is a bit short but both Tara and Mommy are still having a lot of fun and good time. Tara still has a lot of pool time as well. Hua Hin is a charming little town. We all arrive Bangkok safe and sound. We decide to take Daddy back to this beach town again by choo choo train. Hope you all enjoy our story so far. We will see you back in a few weeks.

Siam Paragon & Siam Ocean World (Round 1)

Today is an exciting day for both Tara and Mommy coz my Aunt will take us to the newest mall in town called Siam Paragon. It was finished last year and it supposes to be one of the biggest mall in Thailand. We head there for early lunch. Along the way to our restaurant, Mommy passes so many yummy treats!!!! couldn't resist :) There are so many cakes, sweets, dried fruits to choose from and the best part is they are not that expensive at all!!!

Here are some pictures from inside this mall and the restaurant we eat called Cafe Chilli :)

Inside Siam Paragon is Siam Ocean World is the largest aquarium in Southeast Asia where featuring marine animals which include; Penguins, Grey Nurse Sharks and Giant Spider Crabs (which is bigger than Tara) etc. The aquarium also offers a “Dive with the Sharks program” where visitors can scuba dive in the Open Ocean side by side with the sharks and rays.




When Daddy is here, we plan to take him to see the aquarium as well. They will also offer the Live Mermaid show. Tara's new favorite character is "the Mermaid"--she gives Dora a rest for now...haha

Day 6 in Bangkok - Meet with Dean :)

Today is just our normal day. Weather is nice as always (not too hot in the morning). We starts our day with normal breakfast--Tara loves the frying dough. It is like Beignets in New Orleans or Churos in Spain. Basically it is a frying dough. Tara calls it "Big Donut" Here in Bangkok, they will make it fresh every morning and it tastes really good. We always has it with fresh squeezed orange juice. Some people will dip it in sweet condenced milk...hmmm...yummm



After Breakfast, we just get ready for our swim lesson. Mommy enrolls Tara for private swim class here for 10 hrs. Mommy has to be in the pool with Tara too to help the instructor communicate with Tara since he is only speaking Thai. It is a nice pool just behind Yai's house. Mommy also get tummy exercise everytime Mommy goes to the pool with Tara :)



Then we go to meet Bua, my old roommate at OU. Tara has fun with her son, Dean. They just play with each other and I forget to take all the DimSum!! Boyd, they are so good. I've just got the pictures of the kids instead :) Enjoy

Day 5 in Bangkok - Salon Salon

After the family reunion party yesterday, today we decide to relax. Tara, Mommy and Yai go to the Mall, a big department store near Yai's house. Mommy needs haircut badly. So first thing first, we head to the salon. While Mommy gets the hairwash, Tara is watching. It is quite early, so there are a few customers in the store. So Mommy lets Tara has her hairwash professionaly as well...haha. Tara loves it and doesn't afraid at all. She loves to be pampered :)



Tara gets the real treatment from the salon :) and the hairstylist just braids her hair so nicely. The best part is it only costs Mommy $4 (including tips) for Tara's salon day!!!! UNBELIEVEABLE, isn't it?





Like I mention, it is a relaxing day. We just went to lunch at Japanese Restaurant and then took Tara to the play area in the Mall and she is so happy as you can see :)

Day 4 in Bangkok - Family Reunion

Today is our family reunion. We normally do this everytime when I visit Bangkok. It is really nice to see everyone and my new second cousin, Que. He is 9 months younger than Tara. I grew up playing with Que's father a lot since I was the only child for 11 years. We get together for lunch at my parents' house with lots of food as usual :)







Tara and Que are playing together nicely. Que is a little bit shy while Tara is approaching to him to play. Funny enough to see both of them interact to each other--one speaks English and one speaks Thai. Somehow, children always have a way to communicate to each other :) Tara is singing ABC song to Que and she changes the order of the alphabets. He told her that it is not correct!!! I brought a bubble machine for him as a gift and both of them have a blast :) Tara plays with the food cover and pretends that it is her helmet. She gots a water gun. So she and Que just takes off and plays.






Then after that my aunt and I bought Tara's 3rd birthday cake. Since we have 2 cakes and we have 2 kids in the party. So each of them gets to blow their own cake..without any fight...haha :) Tara loves the cheery on the top of her cake...that's all she eats :)




Then after the cake we just have our family pictures taken. We all have a great time and we will have another reunion again when Clint is here. This time we are going to have it at the beach for the whole weekend :)








I am very happy to be able to bring Tara and visit all my family here in Bangkok :)