Monday 27 June 2016

Wat Koh Kaew - Ayutthaya



Wat Koh Kaew (วัดเกาะแก้ว) is a Wat which we visited on our trip to Ayutthaya and is sometimes referred to as the Monastery of the Crystal Island and is still an active temple in Ayutthaya in the Kramang Sub-District. 



BUT as I write this I find there are other temples in Ayutthaya with the same or similar names? There is a Wat Koh Kaew in Phuket...



A wonderful description can be found here.



I was simply taken by the simple beauty of it all 



and it was clear that it was steeped in history - a wonderful place.



We found a much more than we imagined.

Ayutthaya was certainly a place to visit if you want to visit any number of temples.



 








Tuesday 21 June 2016

Phuket Town and Street Art.




This is a brilliant map of where the Street Art in Phuket Can be found.

Thank you to Khun Theerasak Saksritawee.

And here are more in Phuket...

I have started a map but I have not yet visited them all (June 2016).






Wednesday 15 June 2016

Chillva Market


Chillva Market is a relatively new market which is near to Tesco Lotus, John Gray Sea Canoe office, Bon Cafe and local shops. This is another market in the close vicinity of others and I have to admit that I was first anxious that Phuket Town does not really need another market but I was more than happy to say that this one has something different.


So what is here that I have not seen?




I love this pussy cat logo - a good idea.



I like the use of the trailers and the subsequent use of them to be the fronts of restaurants, then there is an upstairs.



I was surprised to see a number of the shops which had air-conditioning - for me not necessary but possibly for them. Most of them are as above.



So how much is there in these little shops? I could not hope to record them all - I would have to go again and again - then again my daughter would not mind...



Then there was so much food you could purchase BUT there was a lot of my favourites.



The roti glob was wonderful...




Not sure about these pieces of animal though.


But there were somethings made with cheese - but the queue was too long - next time...


Interesting that there was a cake shop displaying their link to WongNai - a popular App in Asia.


There there was a Pizza truck!


Then there were some more traditional seated set up stalls - again holding a plethora of the more normal items that are found in the markets around Phuket.


A dreamcatcher...


I do like this T.Shirt but don't tell Nike... There was a small amount if simple bars - but only one coffee shop (Rush Coffee), maybe there are enough in Phuket?



And there are toilets at the back.

Chill is open 7 days a week and from approximately 4pm - good luck...



 





Saturday 11 June 2016

Kong Thong printing house


Kong Thong Printing House is somewhere which I pass by many times when I wander through Phuket Old Town.




If the old culture of Phuket is what you are looking for then this is it. 



What can I find out about this - well nothing but here is it's location on Wikimapia and a business reference.







Sunday 5 June 2016

Singing bird competitions


Singing bird competitions are something which I am unable to indicate when they will be, where they will be 




- this one I captured as we were driving somewhere...



This was set up by the side of a road - the frame looks very simple and then the birds in their cages are hung on the frame. At intervals 'their keepers' approach the birds, sometimes covering it and them returning to watch.



Their are judges on the other side keeping a record of something. I believe this to be pitch, melody and volume.



There apparently is a lot of money riding on these competitions... Here is some information.



So I looked for something to help me understand it and found almost nothing to help me understand it all - but I didn't find a lot - but it really is quite beautiful.





Thank you to all the Thai men who welcomed me in to take photographs