Sukhothai was the first capital of the first Thai kingdom back in the 13th century. Before the Thai kingdom, this region was part of the Angkor kingdom in Cambodia. Most of the ancient ruins are of Buddhist structures, but some are Hindi (from the Angkor period). I rented a bicycle and toured the area for a few hours.
The Duddy's wanted to take a longtail boat tour of the klongs, the canals of Bangkok. To be honest, I had not realized there were klong tours to be had. Their Explore(!) tour offered the afternoon tour as an 450 Bht option, but we went to the river and booked a two-hour longtail tour for 300 Bht each. It's actually 1200 Bht for the whole boat for two hours, and the boat fits about thirty people.
On the long cruise, the city disappeared, and it was nice and quiet. It reminded me of the Mekong Delta tour I took in Vietnam. I saw a couple monitor lizards mating in the water.
This, hours after Mrs. Duddy declared that she would not be eating street food.
I met the Duddy's, Emily's parental units, on a two-week holiday in Thailand. It also happened to be Emily's birthday (she just turned sixteen!) so we went out for a change.
We went to the Arab area around Soi 3 and found an Iraqi restaurant, aptly named "Iraqi Restaurant". When we entered, the conversation stopped (even from the television), and all heads turned to us.
No, not really. It was fine, and the food was delicious.
Simon and Annabel had just picked up their passports from the Myanmar Embassy and came over to the Woraburi. They couldn't believe it when I pulled out proscuitto slices from the fridge.
We went out for Ktv again on my last week in Taiwan. A lot of people showed up and we celebrated a couple birthdays.
Andy is a big fan of Steve-o from Mtv's "Jackass". Seriously. I gave him a copy of "Jackass: the Movie" and he loves it. It transcends language barriers.
An uncle took us out to eat near a lake in Fengshan.
The condo association held a ceremony in the lobby celebrating the Lantern festival, the full moon fifteen days after the Chinese (Lunar) New Year. We had some "soup balls", sticky balls made of rice flour with some sweet red beans.
One the many local eateries within walking distance of my parents' place was this all-you-can-eat lamb hot pot place. It was packed and the food was great. They had other things to eat besides lamb (I don't like lamb).
Like the candle balloons on Ko Samet, we wrote our new year's wishes on these pink ones and released them in the evening from the rooftop.
Andy and Wing sing it up at a kareoke bar in Kaohsiung.
Emily and Wing siddle up to Andy in a Ktv lounge. Kareoke bars are places where you share the stage with other bar patrons. Ktv places rent our private rooms with restrooms, a big tv and comfy sofas for your singing amusement.
Back in Taipei, this monument holds the Lincoln-esque statue of CKS and a museum in the basement.
