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

Butterfly escape

Once upon a time when Grandpa was in Penang his friend took him to visit Penang Butterfly Park.

Penang Butterfly Park has many interesting butterflies and other interesting things too.

Grandpa saw many beautiful butterflies but he didn't touch them.



He saw a delightful duck but he didn't touch it.



He saw a terrifying tarantula and he definitely didn't touch it.



He got really close to a scary scorpion and even though Grandpa is a scorpion too, he didn't touch it.



When Grandpa met the biggest bug he'd ever seen in his life he became very excited. He looked around and everyone seemed to be looking the other way so he kissed it.



Next Grandpa was arrested by a Butterfly Park policeman who pointed to a sign.



They put Grandpa in Butterfly Park jail.



But don't worry, in the middle of the night while Grandpa was asleep a million butterflies flew into the jail and together they picked Grandpa up and flew with him out through a big hole in the roof of the jail. They placed Grandpa gently on the lawn outside the butterfly park.

The next morning when Grandpa woke he realised he was free. He got out of there as quickly as he could.

The end

The boy who turned into a plum tree

Once upon a time there was a little boy named Prunus who loved to eat plums.

'You shouldn't eat so many plums,' his mother told him. 'One day you'll turn into a plum tree.'

The only time that Prunus stopped eating plums was when there were none in the shops. And there were none in the shops because they were out of season.

When plums were out of season Prunus would become very sad. He tried eating other fruit but nothing made him happy like eating plums. He ate stewed plums out of tins but that only helped a little bit. He didn't become happy again until plums were back in season and on sale in the shops.

One year Prunus had been waiting a long time for his beloved plums to return and when they did he pestered his mother so that she bought three kilos of them. Prunus didn't wait until they got home. He started eating them in the car.

'Prunus, be patient. If you eat too many too quickly they'll give you diarrhoea.'

'I don't care. I just love plums.'

Prunus did love plums and they made him very greedy. He ate the whole three kilos before they got home. He didn't want to stop eating them. When he reached the last one he kept sucking the seed in his mouth. He sucked and sucked. He wanted to get as much plum off it as he could. He sucked the seed so hard that he swallowed it 'Gulp' straight down into his belly.

'Mum! Mum! I swallowed a seed!'

'Well, I told you not to be so greedy.' Mum pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. She got out and started picking up the groceries from the back seat.

Prunus raced around to her. 'But Mum, what will happen to it?' He looked really worried.

Mum kept picking up the groceries. 'Don't worry dear. It will come out when you go to the toilet.'

'Won't it hurt?'

'Maybe just a little bit. You'll be fine.' Mum shut the car door and walked to the house.

'But Mum. What if it doesn't come out?'

'Then the seed will grow inside your belly and turn into a plum tree.' Mum smiled.

For the next few days, whenever Prunus went to the toilet he checked to see if he could see a plum seed. He never did.

And inside Prunus' belly the seed sprouted a root. The root worked it's way down into Prunus' bowel where his poo was forming. As you know, poo is a good fertiliser and fertiliser makes plants grow. A shoot started to grow up from Prunus' belly.

Prunus could feel something funny going on in his belly but his mother said, 'Don't mind darling. It's just that plum seed trying to find its way out.'

Then one day when Prunus woke he found a branch was growing out of his mouth. It was already too thick for him to bite through. He went to the kitchen and said to his mother, 'Gare sa planch krowwem rom my mauf.'

'Don't speak with your mouth full, Prunus. Now hurry up and eat your breakfast. Don't be late for school.' She was too busy getting ready for work. She didn't even look.

Prunus sat at the table and didn't touch his breakfast. He still hadn't eaten anything when his mother left for work. 'Bye dear. Now hurry up. Don't be late for school.'

'Go to school,' Prunus thought. 'No way. All the kids'll laugh at me because of this branch growing out of my mouth.' He went down the backyard and sat on the swing. Prunus liked to sit on the swing whenever he was upset.

While Prunus was sitting on the swing another branch sprouted from his left nostril. Then one came from his right ear.

'Oh no! I really am going to turn into a plum tree.'

Another branch sprouted from his left ear and one from his right nostril too.

'Glelllp!' he called out but no one heard him.

Then his eyes popped out as two more branches grew from his eye holes.

'Nobody's going to come and help me now. And I can't even see.' Prunus thought. He was about to kick himself off on the swing when a root burst out of his bum and struck itself into the ground. Prunus could not move.
When Prunus' Mum came home later she couldn't find Prunus anywhere but she found a plum tree growing under the swing in the backyard.

In time beautiful plums grew on the tree. Prunus' Mum enjoyed the plums. 'I wonder where Prunus got to,' she thought. 'He would have liked these plums. Oh well, I'll just have to eat them myself.'

The End

Footnote: The inspiration for this story came when Izmaillah told me he once swallowed a plum seed and the seed never came out.

Illustrations by Izmaillah Ouedraogo

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.

The dragon mother

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, in China there lived a girl named Wen Shi. Her family lived near the Xi River in Guangxi Province. She had two sisters. Wen Shi often went to the river to catch fish and wash clothes for her family.

One day on the river bank Wen Shi found a large smooth white stone. The stone was very beautiful so she took it home and kept it. Every day she polished the stone until one day it cracked. Out of the stone came five baby snakes. Wen Shi was not frightened. She found some food and gave it to the snakes.

Wen Shi's family was very poor. They had hardly enough food for themselves but Wen Shi saved the best food and fed it from her hand to the five baby snakes. When the snakes grew Wen Shi took them to the river. They were naturally good swimmers and they helped Wen Shi to catch fish.

After many years the snakes began to change their form and Wen Shi realized that they were not snakes after all but dragons. To Chinese people, dragons are spirits of the water. They have the power to control the weather.





One year there was a terrible drought. Without rain the people could not grow rice and many would starve. Wen Shi asked her dragon children to make it rain. The dragons used their power and the rain started to fall on the farms of the villagers. The people were so grateful. They gave Wen Shi the name 'Mother of the dragons.'

At this time, Qin Shihuang was the emperor. He heard the story of Wen Shi's dragons breaking the drought. He sent gifts of gold and jade to Wen Shi and asked her to bring her dragons to Xianyang which was the capital of China at that time.

Xianyang was a long way from Wen Shi's village and by now she was an old woman. She was not well enough to make such a long journey. Her dragons realized this and did not want her to make the trip. But Wen Shi knew she could not refuse the emperor. She boarded a boat to start the journey.

The boat started off towards the capital but instead of going forwards it began to go backwards. The dragons had hidden under the boat and were pulling it backwards.

When the emperor heard what had happened he relented and allowed Wen Shi to stay in her village.

Wen Shi never left her village again until she died. When she did the dragons were filled with sadness. The took human form and were known as the five scholars. They buried Wen Shi on the northern side of Zhu Mountain.

The End

When I was walking around Wuzhou in Guangxi Province, at the top of a hill I saw a huge statue. I walked to the top of the hill. It was quite a climb for an old grandfather. At the top was a statue of Wen Shi, the Dragon Mother. It is 30 metres tall. There were also many dragons. I took these photos at the top of the hill.

love from your Grandpa

The turtle and the sword

Once upon a time, early in the 15th century, the Chinese seized control of Vietnam. There was a great Vietnamese hero, named Le Loi, who travelled around the countryside calling the people to stand up against the Chinese.

'But what can we do against the Chinese?' the people asked. 'There are so many of them. They are more powerful than us.'

Le Loi asked Heaven for help and Heaven sent him a magic sword. With the magic sword Le Loi led an army and drove the Chinese out of Vietnam. When the Chinese were gone, the people made Le Loi their emperor. He was known as Emperor Ly Thai To.

One day when the emperor was by the lake he saw a giant golden tortoise swimming on the surface of the lake. The tortoise took the sword from him and dived under the water.

The people of Vietnam believe that the tortoise returned the sword to Heaven. Ever since, the lake has been known as Hoan Kiem Lake which means Lake of the Returned Sword.

The end

This is a traditional story from Vietnam. It is believed there are still tortoises in the lake. People are always looking for them. They say it is good luck to see one. The one in the picture died in 1968. It was 2.1 metres long and weighed 250 kg. It's remains can be seen in Ngoc Son Temple, on an island in the lake, where your Grandpa took this picture.

love from Grandpa John

Swallowed

Once upon a time Ben said to his Dad, 'Gee, I hope Grandpa goes back to Ayer Keroh he might get some more cool photos of really strange creatures.'

'I don't think he can,' said David. 'He's leaving Melaka soon. He probably won't have time.'

'Oh please Dad, ask him if he will.'

'I'll ask him but I don't think you realize how dangerous it is for Grandpa, going to places like that. He only does it so you can get some stories. I hope he doesn't get eaten. There'll be no more stories for you then.'

So Grandpa did go back even though he was busy. He didn't want to disappoint Ben. And guess what he saw:



'Fantastic,' thought Grandpa. 'Ben will love this one.' He got two good photos before the creature charged making a terrible roar and with saliva dripping from its open mouth.

At first Grandpa wanted to get a photo of the charging creature but he realized it could be his last photo ever. He dropped the camera and ran.

Grandpa ran through the forest as fast as he could. But Grandpa is not as young as he used to be and the creature was gaining on him. Then he saw a cave and decided to hide in it.

It was very dark inside the cave and Grandpa sat down on the soft ground to get his breath back. And then it got darker as the cave door closed. Cave door? Caves don't have doors. But the light had gone out completely.

'Where am I?' thought Grandpa. Fortunately Grandpa had his mobile phone with him. No, he wasn't going to call anyone but his phone has a little torch in it. He shone the light on the soft ground and it looked like...well it didn't look like ground, it looked fleshy, like a huge tongue.

'A tongue!!! Oh no. Where am I?' thought Grandpa.

There was a passage leading back and Grandpa started to walk along it. 'I'll probably never get out of here,' thought Grandpa. 'But if I do, I think the kids will like this story.'

And then the cave started to move. It was moving upwards.

Whatever it was that Grandpa was inside, was going up and Grandpa found himself going down. Yes, he started to slide further down the passage. In fact it became so steep that sometimes Grandpa would roll down the passage. And it was really bumpy, like bony ribs on the walls of the passage.

This was a very long journey but eventually Grandpa reached the end of the passage. Ahead he could see a narrow opening and light. He squeezed through the opening and out into the daylight. He and the creature that he had thought was a cave were now high up a huge tree. And the creature was the biggest... 'No it couldn't be,' thought Grandpa. 'They just don't come this big. It can't be real. I must be dreaming. But in case I'm not, I think I'd better get a photo of this creature otherwise the kids will never swallow this story.'

Grandpa looked around to see if the other creature had gone. There was no sign of it. Cautiously, Grandpa climbed down the tree. The great creature he'd just come out of didn't seem to be aware of him.

On the ground, Grandpa crept back to where he'd dropped the camera and then went back to the tree. He decided against climbing the same tree again. The creature might notice him this time, so Grandpa climbed another tree and he took this photo.


Yes, it's true. Your Grandfather had been swallowed by a huge snake, maybe the biggest in the world, came out the other end and lived to tell the tale.

But Grandpa is not going back to Ayer Keroh Forest again. Never, ever, ever. Well, not unless all the grandchildren come with him too.

The End