City of Angels

Pics taken during my first ever trip to Bangkok just before christmas last month :-

The Grand palace and Wat Phra Kaew:-





Wat Pho:-




Wat Arun :-





Ayuthayya:-





Wat Ratchanatdaram:-






Wat Suthat:-






Golden Mount & Wat Sraket:-





Democracy monument:-


Phrasumen fort:-


Chao Praya with long tail boat and phr pinkalo bridge:-


Bagkok was in a word : "OVERWHELMING!", there's just so much to see and do there that despite spending 5 nights in the city i was left wanting MORE... MUCH MORE!!!!
It's also a city of contrasts not only materially with gleaming luxuries against a backdrop of slums but spiritually as well where you can ascend to the sublimest heavens in its Wats and descend to the sleaziests of hells in its "bars".
In short Bangkok makes you feel alive in ways you may have never thought possible and after my much delayed first trip there, I very much look forward to returning!

Christmas Stars A La Saigon -

Here in Vietnam they have developed a uniquely Vietnamese Christmas decoration by adapting this star shaped traditional lanterns which is usually made for the mid autumn (mooncake)festival into a Christmas decoration by incorporating Catholic style holy images in between the five points as well as giving it a christmasy touch with other acessories.


Most of them can be lighted like lanterns and some also have twinkling electric christmas lights installed on the stars.


And they can come in really huge sizes like this one which was 20ft in diameter!!

These stars are used to create a really beutiful effect like in this church.

The Vietnamese really seem to have a particular liking for stars as the christmas decor of choice here like these multicolored twinkling stars complete with the Holy Infant Jesus statue in the center:-

Happy Mid Autumn Festival!!

On the eve of the Lantern (Mooncake) Festival, Luong Nhu Loc Street in Cholon (old chinatown), Districtr 5 of Saigon becomes what can best be described as a sea of people and motorbikes flanked by walls of lanterns on other side as the Saigonese go into a last minute buying frenzy of a dizzying array of lanterns of all conceivable shapes, ranging in size from the gargantuan to the miniscule.
I'll let the photoes speak for themselves:-