Lumpini encounter

What a beautiful day. I think I'll find a sunny spot in this tree to sunbake.



Oh no. A pesky photographer has spotted me. Go away, pleeeease.



He won't go away. I'm outa here.



Bye bye. Don't try to follow me.



photos taken Lumpini Park, Bangkok

Dinosaur adventure

Once upon a time when Grandpa was visiting Kalasin in north-east Thailand his friend Larry said, 'You know, John, Kalasin is famous because they found a complete dinosaur skeleton here.'

'I wonder if there are still any dinosaurs around,' said Grandpa.

'Na. Don't you know anything? They died out years ago. But if you like we could go and take a look where they used to be.'

So Larry and Grandpa set out on Larry's motorcycle. When they stopped Grandpa noticed there were lots of pools of water lying on the ground.

'Hey Larry, what do these pools of water look like to you?'

'They look like pools of water. It is the rainy season you know.'

'Yeah but, haven't you noticed they are shaped like dinosaur footprints.'

'John, you have a wonderful imagination.'

'Yeah. Well what do you reckon that is?'

'Larry,' said Grandpa, 'that sure looks like a somethingorothersaurus to me. I wonder if it's friendly.

'John. Don't go any closer.'

'Well there's only one and there's two of us.'

'Oh, yeah? Well look over there.'

'Wow,' said Grandpa. 'This is really cool. Wait'll I tell my grandkids about this.'

'You can only tell them if we get out alive. Look, they're coming closer.



Just then Grandpa felt something bight him on the bum. He turned around and this whatsitosaurus looked like it was looking for a fight. As you can see, Grandpa wasn't afraid he squared right up to it.

And hit it so hard that he pushed its head out of the top of the picture that Larry was taking.

But there were too many of them.

'I think we're done for,' said Larry.

But just then…

...this guy turned up out of nowhere, grabbed Larry and Grandpa in each of its hands and with one mighty leap took them all the way to Bangkok where Grandpa was able to take this picture.

'Now, how am I going to get my motorbike back?' said Larry.

'I guess that's another story,' said Grandpa.

The End

A visit to Hell

In Vientiane there is a place called Buddha Park which has lots of statues of Buddha but it has other statues that are not so friendly as the Buddha statues. It also has this strange building. Inside the building is Heaven, Earth and Hell.


To get into the building you have to go into the monster's mouth. When you are inside it is dark.


You climb some stairs and there are windows so you can look out on the park.


Eventually you come out at the top. But there is another entrance at the top. This one takes you first to Heaven, then to Earth and then…


...to visit the monsters in Hell.

Quick get me outta here!

Would you dare to visit the monsters in Hell?

There are more pictures of Buddha Park here.

love from Grandpa

Strange creature

What do you think is happening here? I took this photo of a wood carving on a temple door in Mahasarakham. The creature on the left looks a little like a giant bird and a little like a dragon but it has tusks and a trunk like an elephant. I wonder what it is going to do with the elephant. Do you think it is going to eat it? The elephant doesn't seem to be trying to fight it. Maybe it is rescuing the elephant. From what? I don't know. What do you think?

love from Granddad

Strange creatures in Thailand

Last weekend I went to visit Maha Chedi Chai Mongkhon which is a very special temple not far from where I live in Thailand. And there I met these strange creatures. Fortunately they were all friendly.

First was this dragon. You can see it is waving its paw.










Next was this dragon fish that was jumping out of the water because it was so glad to see me.





There was also a dragon-tortoise and you can see from it's smile that it is happy to see me too.


love from your Grandpa

Strange pet

Hello

I had a visitor last week. Do you know who it was? It was Izmaillah and Isaac's Dad. He came to visit me in Bangkok. I took him around to visit some of my favourite places in Bangkok. Wish you could have all been here too.

We went to a market where they sell pets. There were lots of fish shops—that's pet fish. One shop had lots of rays like this one. I think it wanted me to take it home. I wonder how you take care of a ray. Do you think you could cuddle it? Even if you couldn't it would be a really cool pet, hey?

Soon I will be leaving Bangkok and going to another country. Do you know which one? I've never been to this one before. If you come back and read my blog again later you will find out.

love from your Grandpa

Dragons in Bangkok

Hey, just thought I'd let you know there are still dragons in Bangkok. Sometimes I don't even notice because I'm so used to seeing dragons these days. Recently I went for a walk in Chinatown and this one was right in the middle of the footpath. It didn't mind me taking a photo. In fact, I think it is posing quite proudly. What do you think?

love from Granddad

Another strange creature

One day in Bangkok your Grandpa saw this creature and it looked very lonely so Grandpa gave it a kiss. It looks really happy now.

Can you tell which one is Grandpa and which one is the creature?

love from Grandpa John

Alligator fish

Hello

One day my friend took me to a restaurant near Muang Boran. They had a pool with fish in it. My friend said, 'Look, that's an alligator fish.' There were several of them in the pool. I'd never heard of them before. They looked like fish with alligator heads. Maybe they were there so you could order them at the restaurant. I don't know because the menu was in Thai and I don't read Thai very well yet.

I looked on the internet to see if I could learn anything. I found there is a fish in America that is called an alligator gar. It looks very much like this one. Perhaps someone brought some to Thailand. They grow quite big. This one was about a metre long but they grow much bigger. There are photos on the internet of alligator gars that are over two metres long. It says they can grow up to four metres. And sometimes they do bite people.

So, next time my friend takes me to that restaurant, I don't think I'll bother to put my hand in the pool.

love from your Grandpa John

Witches of Phanom Rung

Once upon a time when Grandpa John was visiting Muang Boran in Thailand, he went to visit the Phanom Rung sanctuary. Grandpa had been walking around Muang Boran all day and was feeling a little tired so he needed a rest. He sat down on the ground in the shade and had almost fallen asleep when woooosh.

Grandpa opened his eyes and looked up. There were two witches flying around on broomsticks. They must have flown really close to Grandpa to wake him up like that. Grandpa knew it was dangerous to stay around but he also knew that if he told you this story without a photo you might not believe him.

He watched the witches for a while. They didn't seem to be paying him any attention. They were just having fun flying around the old ruins, chasing each other, playing tag. So Grandpa got out his camera and carefully tracked the witches with it. As they came close to the ground he got this shot for you.

Grandpa would have got a few more photos but just then the witches noticed him. They started to ride towards him really fast. Do you think they wanted to be friendly? Grandpa didn't wait to find out. He picked up his bag and ran. Grandpa might be old be he can still run fast. He ran faster than those witches flew until he was out of the sanctuary.

When Grandpa had run a long way and was out of breath he stopped to take a rest. He looked back to the sanctuary. Those witches were flying above the sanctuary and laughing so hard they probably peed themselves. Grandpa thought about going back to see what they would do but he decided to go on and look for other adventures instead.

The end

Danger at Muang Boran

Once upon a time when Grandpa John was visiting Muang Boran he saw some lions. Well, they were actually statues of singhas which are a magic type of lion that often guards temples. Some kids wanted to climb on the statues and the Mum who was with them called out 'Don't climb on the lions. It's dangerous.' Actually she said it in Thai but my friends told me what it meant in English.

The kids called back, 'Don't be silly Mum. They're only statues.' This is very unlike Thai kids because they are usually very obedient towards their parents and don't answer back.

One started to climb on the singha's back. 'No don't!' The mother called, 'You'll turn into...'

But she didn't finish because the kid became a statue too.

I don't know what happened after that. I took the photo and then I left. I wonder if the statue kid turned back into a real kid again.

The end

Anondha fish

Once upon a time when Grandpa John was visiting Muang Boran in Thailand he decided to to to Sumeru Mountain which is the pillar of the world and the centre of the universe. The mountain is supported by the giant Anondha fish. If you look at the left of the first picture, you can see the tail of the Anondha fish. The fish goes right around the mountain. Your Grandpa knew that it would not be smart to mess with the Anondha fish. But not everyone is so clever as your Grandpa.

The Anondha fish lies with its mouth open and out of the water. Because it's a magic fish it doesn't need to stay underwater. Because it lies so still some people think it is a statue. They think it is safe to climb on it and some are even silly enough to walk inside its mouth.

This man was looking pretty smart inside the fish's mouth. But he didn't stay there long. Grandpa took this photo then looked away.









When he looked back the man was gone. The Anondha fish had swallowed him.

If you ever visit Sumeru Mountain, take your Grandpa's warning. Look at how big the Anondha fish is. It didn't get this big just lying there and holding up the mountain. Don't mess with the Anondha fish.

The End

PS: If you click on the pictures, you'll see them a little bigger.

Gecko battle

Hello

The geckos can climb on my wall because they have sticky feet. One night I saw three geckos high up on the wall. Two of them were biting each others mouths. I thought they might be kissing. But one grabbed the other by the neck and would not let go. The one that was bitten kept wriggling around but couldn't get away. I thought perhaps one would kill the other and the dead gecko would drop onto my pots and pans below. They stayed like this for a long time. After I took some photos I went away and when I came back they were gone. There was no dead gecko in my pots and pans. I guess it's still alive. Maybe it still has a sore neck.

love from Grandpa John

Pet lizards

Hello, I live in a new house now. I got some pets that came with the house. Here is one of them.

'Hello,' I said.

'Gecko,' it answered.

'What's your name?' I asked.

'Gecko.'

My Cambodian friends say, 'No, it's not saying "gecko". It's saying "tokay".'

'Well, it sounds like "gecko" to me. So I'm going to call it "Gecko".'

'What do you eat?' I asked.

A mosquito flew past. Gecko didn't answer. Gecko was too busy watching the mosquito. Then, snap! The mosquito was gone.

'I like you Gecko,' I said. 'You can be my pet and my pest control.'

Gecko is about 20 cm long. There is another one here too. It is about 30 cm long. It said that its name is Gecko too. This is confusing for an old Grandpa who is 30 for the second time.

One of my neighbours also has lizards for pets. His lizards are much bigger than mine. See the second picture. He has more lizards than me. He keeps them in a swimming pool in his yard.

Maybe if you come to stay with me I could take you to visit. Do you think you would like to swim in his pool?

Silk-spinning dragon

In north-east Thailand I visited a village where they make silk. The silk comes from worms called silk worms. When I was a kid we used to keep silk worms. We had to collect leaves from mulberry trees for them to eat. Do you know anyone who keeps silk worms now?

After the silk worm becomes a moth it leaves the silk behind in a cocoon. It has to be taken carefully from the cocoon and that is this dragon's job. It has to spin around and the silk is collected on the spindles that are behind its head.

The dragon must like its job because it looks very happy.

love from your Grandpa

Rope dragon

In Bangkok I met a man who makes dragons out of rope. This is one of his dragons. Do you think it looks fierce?

love from your Grandpa John

Creatures of Wat Pho

Wat Pho is a temple in Bangkok. I visited it one day with some friends. In the grounds there were many of these strange creatures. Lucky they don't bite.

love from your Granddad

Dragons of Bangkok

Hello, guess what?

I'm not in China anymore. Now I am in Thailand. Can you find Thailand in the atlas? If you can find Xiamen in China and Bangkok in Thailand you can see where I flew. I took a plane that flew from Xiamen to Bangkok.

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and as you can see there are lots of dragons here too. Here are pictures of some that I met. If you click the pictures you can see them bigger. Do you like me to do them like this, or like a comic?

love from Grandad

Two-headed creature

I'm not sure what this creature is called. It has two heads, one at each end of its body. It's job is to hold the bell up. There must be plenty of these creatures because every bell has one and every temple has a bell. But I never saw one of these creatures without a bell. Sometimes people ring the bell. I hope it likes the noise.

Rock chat

Once upon a time there was a rock that wanted to be friendly but everyone who came near the rock ran away. The rock thought it must be because it was so ugly.

One day Grandpa John was visiting the park near West Lake in Hangzhou. He saw some tears rolling down the cheeks of the rock. 'What is the matter, Rock?'

'Nobody loves me. They all think I'm ugly.'

'Excuse me,' said Grandpa. 'Is this Yushui Pavillion?'

'Yes it is,' said the rock.

'I've heard about you,' said Grandpa John.

'You have?'

'Yes, the dragons told me about you.'

'Dragons? What dragons?'

'Oh, there are many dragons in this park. The dragons told me that children come here to play and it is dangerous because they could fall in the lagoon and the water is deep. Many Chinese children cannot swim.'

'Yes, I know,' said the rock. 'I yell at them "Be careful." But they always run away.'

'The dragons told me that you yell very loudly and frighten the children.'

'Do I? I don't mean to yell loudly. I want them to hear me so they don't drown.'

'Maybe I can teach you to whisper loudly. That wouldn't frighten them so much.'

So Grandpa taught the rock how to say 'Be careful children, it's dangerous to play here,' just loudly enough so that the children could hear but not be frightened. Now the children hear the rock and they play carefully so that they don't fall in the water. They are not frightened of the rock anymore. Some of them even give it a hug. If you ever go to China and visit Hangzhou go and visit the rock in Yushui Pavillion in the park next to the lake. Have a little whisper chat with the rock and tell it that Grandpa John sent you.

The end