It was great to catch up with Eric. We told him about our upcoming travels to Sukhothai, and he told us about his favorite sights there.
We were in Bangkok primarily for medical tourism. As we went to the dentist or the optometrist, we noticed Christmas displays. This polar bear was in the SkyTrain (an above ground subway and our preferred way to get around Bangkok).
At a mall we spotted this enormous polar bear.
With a carpet of white "snow", it was a magnet for Thais to take seasonal selfies.
A different shopping center had this huge tree sculpture.
A portrait the former Thai King as a young man, was nearby.
One of our favorite things to do in Bangkok is eat Thai food. On the way to a new restaurant we saw this building called The Pearl.
We went to Soei Restaurant, named for the owner and chef P'Soei. Our first course was kak moo pad ka prao, pork cracklings stir-fried with holy basil, chilies and kaffir limes leaves.
We love northern Thai food called Isaan. The next dishes were a dip of nam phrik pla yang and kaem pla too tod, fried mackerel heads.
Nam phrik pla yang dip is mainly grilled fish that has been minced. The dip is spread onto a betel leaf and topped with chopped ginger, lemon grass, chilies, lime and peanuts.
We also ate at a few Thai food courts. In 2013 Eric had told us how much he enjoyed the variety and good quality food available in the food courts, and we've been hooked ever since.
Another favorite Thai food for us is fermented sour pork.
We enjoyed a sampler plate at the new Eat Thai foot court. The nam phrik num dip is made of roasted green chilies, onion and garlic, so it has a lot of heat. Eating it with pork cracklings, sausage and sticky rice helped cool off our mouths.
After completing all our medical check ups we flew to Sukhothai. As Pete emerged from the air conditioned terminal onto the tarmac the heat and humidity made his glasses steam up.
We rode in a small turbo prop plane.
In Sukhothai we stayed in this cute bungalow.
Luckily we didn't need to use the mosquito netting over the bed at night.
We had elephant towel sculptures.
The next morning we rented bikes and got an early start. Pete is in front of our hotel, ready to roll.
We had elephant towel sculptures.
The next morning we rented bikes and got an early start. Pete is in front of our hotel, ready to roll.
Sukhothai was the first kingdom of Thailand. It was established 700 years ago and remained the capital for 120 years.
Some of the temples are in ruins with just the brick foundations and partial columns visible.
We liked this view of the water lilies in the moat as we entered the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bell-shaped stupa is in the Lanka style, which shows the early influence of Sri Lankan Buddhism in Thailand.
Pete is at Wat Mahathat, the largest temple in Sukhothai that was founded in 1292 and remained the main temple until 1347.
The temple has two of these 12 meter tall standing Buddhas.
We went closer to see the large Buddha. Flower offerings had been left on the feet, and in front were sticks of incense burned in pots.
Our first day of exploring Sukhothai was spent in the restored part of historic Sukhothai. In order to qualify as a World Heritage Site, the original plaster and construction techniques had to be used in the extensive restorations.
The four sides of the main stupa at Wat Mahathat are adorned with 168 stuccoed sculptures of Buddhist disciples walking with their hands clasped together in salutation.
Behind the Buddha the foundational bricks are exposed. Originally they would have been covered in plaster.
Wat Mahathat is so large with many Buddha statues, so it was possible to capture interesting angles that show Buddhas facing each other.
This Buddha had a particularly serene expression. Its hands are in the touching the earth mudra.
The Buddha was up on the third level of the main stupa. We enjoyed the curvy shaped arms and legs.
We noticed water features, both ponds and moats, throughout the historical park.
Wat Si Sawai is one of the oldest temples in Sukhothai. It was founded in the late 12th century as a Hindu shrine. The temple has three well-preserved structures called prang that represent the Hindu trinity. Temples like Wat Si Sawai reminded us of Angkor Wat, which we had visited with Cynthia in 2013.
The figures on the prang look Hindu as well.
The outer figures are nagas, multi-headed mythical serpents that are found in both Hinduism and Buddhism.
Just outside the temple ramparts was this tree with its incredible roots. Kristina climbed up for the photo.
Wat Sa Si is located on an island in a lake. We noticed the Lanka styled stupa in the Sukhothai bell shape here too. This photo shows Wat Sa Si from the other side of the bridge.
This is a closer view of the Wat Sa Si Buddha.
We rode our bikes to the northern part of Sukhothai to Wat Si Chum.
Wat Si Chum's Buddha is named Phra Achana, the which means "one who is not frightened".
Phra Achana is so large that it occupies the total space of the temple. It was restored between 1953-56.
This photo shows the graceful hand in the touching the earth mudra. Perhaps the plaster restoration also included covering the statue in gold leaf, or perhaps devotees have added gold leaf to the Buddha as a devotional practice.
Nearby we visited Wat Phra Phai Luang. The standing Buddha was barely visible in the crumbling ruins with a plant growing where the head should be.
How long has the stone Buddha been gone from here? We could see only the remaining feet.
During the 12th century Wat Phra Phai Luang had been constructed as a Hindu temple and Hindu details remain. But in Sukhothai's heyday, it was converted into a Buddhist temple.
We went looking for lights in the evening and found only this modern temple on an island lit up.
This was the bridge from the island.
We had to look a bit harder to find Christmas decorations in Sukhothai, but we did see a few like this beer bottle Christmas tree. Inside this restaurant were also dancing snowmen, but the photo didn't turn out.
The next day we visited the less restored temples of historical Sukhothai. All that was left of Wat Saphan Hin was a slate pathway leading up to this 9 meter tall standing Buddha. (We believe the standing Buddha was likely restored in the 1950s.)
A few strangler figs are slowly taking over the temples, another reminder of what we had seen at Angkor Wat.
This unrestored Buddha shows its laterite core. Laterite is a clay that is high in iron (hence the reddish color). When laterite is exposed to the sun, it shrinks and leaves air holes. It was used as building material at both Sukhothai and Angkor Wat.
To avoid some of the sun and heat, Kristina took to riding with her parasol.
Pete is next to the old Sukhothai city walls. It was fun to explore the large historical area of Sukhotai by bike.
We appreciated the occasional bike lane we could ride on. Thais drive on the left.
Here's another shot of a temple across a moat. This is Wat Chetuphon, which originally had four large Buddhas in different postures: sitting, reclining, standing and walking. We think the standing Buddha remains are visible in this photo.
Wat Chetuphon was built in the 15th century (later than most other temples in Sukhothai when the city was no longer the capital of Thailand). In front of the walking Buddha remains is a series of slate columns with a balustrade. The slate was carved to look like wood.
These elephants were at Wat Chang Lom. Supporting a bell-shaped stupa, there are 32 elephant sculptures around the base. We are glad we were able to visit Sukhothai as we found it beautiful and fascinating.
We flew to Singapore, and we saw modern elephant sculptures.
This art piece entitled Project Oasis was in Little India.
Designed to provide shade and place for visitors to rest, Kristina felt right at home with her parasol.
Nearby was another installation of Project Oasis. This time a colorful calf is kneeling to get a drink from its mother.
We went to Little India in Singapore to have tasty Indian food. We started with aloo tikki chaat, a spicy snack food made of potatoes and spices.
In front of Kristina are the main dishes of lamb rogan josht and fish tikka masala, along with the tandoori breads and raita.
This time in Singapore we noticed more street art.
We stayed in the Tiong Bahru neighborhood, which has historical murals like this one that celebrate a coffee house where people used to gather in the morning with their pet birds.
And this mural showed the original hawker centre in Tiong Bahru. Hawker centres started in the 1950s as an inexpensive way to eat.
These days hawker centre stalls are licensed from the Singaporean government to ensure that hygiene standards are followed. Kristina is about to enjoy some fishball soup (right) and chai tow kway, "carrot cake". The main ingredient of Singaporean carrot cake is white radish that is steamed, then cut into cubes and fried with garlic, eggs and preserved radish.
Another day we had duck with noodles and bok choy. Almost every stall will offer chilies so we could spice up the food.
Also in the neighborhood was a durian vendor. He kindly cut open the durian fruit for us, making it possible for us to buy a whole fruit to enjoy.
We stayed in an Airbnb studio apartment on the 3rd floor of this building.
Downstairs was this bike. We didn't try riding in Singapore.
Instead we got around by bus. Singapore Mass Regional Transit (SMRT) is an easy to get everywhere.
We rode the bus to Chinatown so we could eat big headed grouper, a specialty dish made by a few vendors in this hawker centre.
We took the bus to the Singapore Botanic Gardens.
Since we had visited the gardens in 2013, we chose to explore the Heritage Trees garden that was new to us. This Senegal Mahogany was planted in 1980, and we were amazed at how fast-growing it is.
We also visited a small bonsai section nearby.
And there were plenty of blooming flowers.
Kristina brought her parasol to beat the heat while strolling in the garden.
Since we had visited the gardens in 2013, we chose to explore the Heritage Trees garden that was new to us. This Senegal Mahogany was planted in 1980, and we were amazed at how fast-growing it is.
We also visited a small bonsai section nearby.
And there were plenty of blooming flowers.
Kristina brought her parasol to beat the heat while strolling in the garden.
This sculpture, entitled The Passing of Knowledge, is by Victor Tan Wee Tar. Water symbolizes knowledge that is passed from generation to generation.
Some of the sidewalks had cool leaf prints.
Pete was able to photograph this dragonfly on a water lily.
We took a break in the shade. Pete took a seat next to this cutesy cat.
An exhibit illustrated how Singapore is the Garden City, including the S$5 bill features a picture of the botanic garden.
And the Singaporean coins have flowers on one side.
This is Jun-ichi Inada, the Japanese Landscape Architect who, from 1983 to 1994, implemented the Singapore Botanic Gardens' Master Plan. He is shown here receiving the Public Service Star in 2016 for the eleven years he spent greening Singapore.
We enjoyed looking at an exhibit of Jun-ichi Inada's notebooks.
He also painted scenes to show his designs for aspects of the garden.
Another day we decided to return to the Gardens by the Bay, this time for a late afternoon and evening visit. Behind us is the Supertrees Grove as we entered the gardens.
We weren't surprised to see Santa making a visit to the Flower Dome. There were long lines to get a photo taken with Santa.
The Flower Dome had lots of Christmas decorations throughout.
Including part of Santa's workshop.
We liked seeing the blooming amaryllis, a living reminder of Christmas for us.
Inside the conservatory they grow dahlias in December.
Pretty pink and white fucshia were also blooming.
Here's a close up.
These African gazelle sculptures are part of the permanent exhibit in the Flower Dome.
We liked seeing the blooming amaryllis, a living reminder of Christmas for us.
Inside the conservatory they grow dahlias in December.
Pretty pink and white fucshia were also blooming.
Here's a close up.
These African gazelle sculptures are part of the permanent exhibit in the Flower Dome.
As is this wonderful dragon.
It was getting dark we went into the Cloud Forest Dome. We had visited it in the daytime in 2015, and more photos are available of this magnificent conservatory here.
There are lots of orchids in the Cloud Forest, and also this cool orchid sculpture.
We also liked this hybrid Dahlia and Passion Flower sculpture.
It was getting dark we went into the Cloud Forest Dome. We had visited it in the daytime in 2015, and more photos are available of this magnificent conservatory here.
There are lots of orchids in the Cloud Forest, and also this cool orchid sculpture.
We also liked this hybrid Dahlia and Passion Flower sculpture.
We noticed a number of tree root sculptures. Look closely to see herons in this one.
And here's an eagle.
The lego "plants" were new too.
Here's a closer look at the lego pitcher plant.
When it was completely dark we went to the Winter Wonderland display in the Supertrees Grove to enjoy the holiday lights.
They had a Christmas music and lights program that featured the Supertrees. This photo shows how the bottom part of the "tree" is a living wall.
This is the same Supertree, a few moments later and with different colored lights.
The largest Supertree is 50 meters tall. They are really impressive at night with lights.
As we walked from the Gardens to the bus stop we crossed the Helix pedestrian bridge. The shape of the bridge (as emphasized by the spiraling red lights) was inspired by the curved shape of DNA.
We loved the lotus flower ArtScience Museum building on Marina Bay.
The ArtScience Museum and the whole Marina Bay Sands complex was designed by architect Moshe Safdie.
Throughout Singapore the malls were all decked out for the holidays. This 20 meter tall twirling princess was part of the Enchanted Christmas display.
The ceiling decorations in another mall were a Christmas carousel with unicorns and reindeers.
And we saw plenty of Christmas trees like this one decorated with brass instruments. We send holiday greetings and best wishes to you and your family!
For the next two weeks we'll be traveling in Malaysia, and we'll post another blog in the new year.
