Dragon Lotus 龙莲寺

Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, also known as Wat Leng Noei Yi or Lónglián Sì (龙莲寺) in Mandarin Chinese, is the most important Chinese temple in Bangkok, and the spiritual center for the Chinese-Thai community living in and around Yaowarat Road. It's name means "Dragon Lotus Temple", and it dates back to the late 19th century. The entrance of the temple is in a little courtyard on a side street off of Yaowarat Road, and is kind of hard to find!

the temple entrance

Unlike the majority of temples in Thailand which are dedicated to Theravada Buddhism (the Southern Tradition), the Chinese temple is Mahayana Buddhist (of the Northern Tradition). There are several subtle differences between the two traditions, which I don't know, but aesthetically a Theravada and Mahayana temple are noticeably different, as are the customs and rituals you'll see there.

merit-making supplies

At a Theravada temple, you might find statues of Hindu deities such as Brahma or Ganesha alongside statues of the Buddha. At a Mahayana temple, there are shrines to the traditional Chinese Taoist gods.

statues of Taoist gods

The Dragon Lotus Temple is dedicated to the triple Chinese spiritual tradition of Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, which are worshiped harmoniously together. Or so I understand. The truth is, I know very little about Theravada Buddhism, and less about Mahayana!

burning incense

In any case, it's an interesting place to visit when passing through Yaowarat Road, if only to see a unique aspect of Chinese-Thai culture in the heart of Chinatown.

monks

Double Dogs

I went to Chinatown this weekend!

It's not a neighborhood I get to very often - maybe a few times a year. It's busy, and chaotic, but very atmospheric and a lot of fun. Walking along Yaowarat Road is like visiting an entirely different country, and feels like nowhere else in all of Bangkok.

Chinatown

Bangkok's Chiatown is different than most in that the neighborhood is the center of cultural life for the city's Chinese-Thai population rather than a large expat or immigrant population. Especially in Bangkok and Southern Thailand, there is a large Chinese-Thai population.

tea for sale

One thing I always notice along Yaowarat Road is the smell... and I mean that in a good way! Delicious Chinese street food in cooking oil, roasting duck, burning incense, and the spicy-sweet smells drifting out of the generations-old Chinese herbal pharmacies mingle in the air.

barrels of tea

This is the place to buy tea in bulk! Every few shops along the street displays dozens of barrels of tea of all sorts, from all over China.

It's also the home to one of my favorite tea houses in the city: Double Dogs Tea Room.

Inside is quiet and cool, a tranquil oasis from the traffic and noise of the busy Yaowarat Road, where street vendors, gold shops, and century-old restaurants tucked into alleyways all vie for your attention.

inside the tea house

Double Dogs is modeled after a Chinese tea house, but quite trendy and modern. They serve all sorts of tea, from simple green teas to expensive delicate white teas, and matchas imported from Japan and whisked in a special bowl.

We ordered a tea set, which came with two teas of our choice off of the menu, brewed in single-cup servings with tiny little teapots to keep each cup of tea from getting too bitter. A kettle of hot water was provided to refill the teapots and brew each cup of tea individually. We picked a red tea with orange and a white tea.

tea set

We also got to choose four Chinese tea snacks off the menu. We got (clockwise from top left) orange cake, sesame fritters, peanut bars, and almond cookies.

tea snacks

Besides being a place to eat, the tea house also teaches calligraphy lessons and ceramic pottery lessons (where you can make your own tea cup). They also sell many types of tea and tea supplies (pots, cups, matcha bowls and whisks, etc). It's a really cool place to visit, and definitely one of the places that I don't want to miss whenever I'm in that part of town.

jars of tea

After all, I do love tea.

Erawan

Just off the skywalk running between the Skytrain stations Siam and Chitlom sits the Grand Erawan Hotel. Next to the hotel, just off the street, is the hotel's spirit house. But it's not like most others!

Erawan Shrine

Pretty much every building in Thailand has a spirit house. Some are bigger than others. Most are pretty small. The spirit house is for the spirits who are supposed to take care of the land and the building.

The shrine at the Erawan though, is much bigger! It's a full-sized shrine dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma.

the shrine dedicated to Brahma

Hindu? But isn't Thailand a Buddhist country?

Yes, it sure is. But Thai Buddhism is influenced heavily by both Hinduism and Chinese Taoism. Depending on the temple and which group of people in Thai society built it, it's not unusual to find shrines dedicated to the Hindu gods or the Taoist gods alongside the Buddha.

And, after all, the Buddha himself was Hindu in much the same way that Jesus was Jewish.

golden elephants

The shrine was one of the very first places I ever visited in Bangkok, and back then it felt so exotic and otherworldly. I remember going there with my co-workers on one of our first days in the city... Bagel Day! That seems like a long time ago now. Like I wrote last week, I don't want to take living in Bangkok for granted. I want to revisit some of the amazing places that made such an impression on my in my first year, but which I've slowly started to overlook. I don't want living in the city to make me blind to the amazing sights that I can find around every corner! I'm trying to have a new outlook to see Bangkok with fresh eyes once again!

beautiful shrine

As prayer bells ring and the temple musicians play the droning songs of prayer music to the slow and somber beat of drums, dancers perform ritual prayers in song for those who make a donation to the shrine. The Erawan Shrine is always alive with bright colors, the scent of flower garlands mingling with heavy incense, and the sounds of prayers and music. It's a colorful, beautiful, chaotic place!

dancers performing a prayer

The Amulet Market

I was in the Old Town over Mother's Day, and I paid a visit to the Loha Prasat, now fully gilt and shining. When I first arrived in Bangkok, the "Iron Castle" was painted all in black, but five years later, the spires glitter in gold.

Loha Prasat

The sun was beating down, and I was getting really hot. I took shelter from the sun in the covered awnings of the nearby amulet market, which backs up to the temple.

on the temple grounds

An amulet market is definitely a place to find all the colors of Thailand! You can find everything there, from statues to talismans to Buddhist rosaries.

Buddhist rosaries

I don't really know the significance of any of these amulets, but I just like to look. It's all so colorful, beautiful, and exotic.

amulets for sale

I wandered around aimlessly for a while, mostly trying to avoid the direct sun while I cooled off for a few minutes in the shade of the market. Nearby, some saffron robed monks perused the amulets, and a few old ladies examined some colorful strings of prayer beads.

the amulet market

I've fallen into a sort of routine lately. I haven't gotten very far out of my neighborhood lately. Most years, I travel on every holiday and explore Bangkok and the surrounding areas on the weekends, but this year I just haven't had the time to do so. I want to make it more of a priority to get out and explore whenever I can. After all, I live in a beautiful, colorful, exciting city. Why should I miss out on experiencing all the amazing sites that I can?

amulets behind Loha Prasat

Mother's Day at Wat Saket

Today, the 13th of August, is Mother's Day here in Thailand.

This long weekend, I'm saving money and taking it easy by staying in Bangkok, but that doesn't mean I have to sit at home all day! I set out on an adventure in the afternoon to visit one of my favorite places in the city.

Thai flag and flag of the queen

I headed out on one of the famous "khlong" boats from the neighborhood where I live towards the Old Town to Wat Saket, the Golden Mount Temple.

Golden Mount

I've been here many, many times. In fact, it was one of the first places I discovered in Bangkok five years ago when I first moved to the City of Angels. Wat Saket is special. It's cool, shady, and breezy. Even though it's bright and hot outside, climbing the Golden Mount feels like walking through a leafy jungle. Though you are still in the center of the city, it almost feels like you have been transported to the countryside.

a hidden shrine

Since it's Mother's Day, many people were wearing blue, the color of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager (who's color is blue). Others are still wearing black in mourning for the late king.

A lot of people were at the temple today praying and making merit for the holiday. It was busy,  crowded, and lively.

golden prayers

It was so hot today! Although it's officially the monsoon season, it's not raining every day, and when it doesn't, it's like an inferno outside. I know it's my own fault for choosing midday to climb the Golden Mount! I stopped at Golden Mount Coffee halfway up the slopes of Wat Saket for a delicious Thai iced lemon tea to cool down.

an iced lemon tea to cool off

It was a really nice day! I've been working really hard lately, so it was really good to get out and explore, even if it's somewhere I've been many times before. I'm trying to recapture some of the charm that I found in Bangkok when I first moved here. I'll try to go out more on the weekends and discover some more "colorful Bangkok".

The Rains Have Come Again

I think it's fair to say that we are well and truly into the rainy season now. The monsoons have arrived, and how!

a rainy evening along a canal near my school

 Buddhist Lent began on Vishaka Bucha Day, or Vassa, a few weeks ago (when I was on Koh Chang). The "Rains Retreat" has begun, and the monks have all returned to their home monasteries for a period of seclusion and meditation.

The heat of the summer has passed, and the Thai kingdom is covered by dark clouds and the constant threat of heavy tropical rain. There's a more somber feel over the region as the rains arrive and the summer slips away, but I like it. At least, it's worlds better than the hot season which has been oppressing me since I got back to Bangkok a few months ago.

I don't really mind the rain. Even if it's pouring out and I haven't brought my umbrella, it doesn't really bother me that much to walk in the deluge. There's something almost freeing about walking home down a deserted sidewalk in the pouring monsoon storms... as long as I can always return to my nice dry bed and a cup of hot tea in the evenings, I don't mind at all.

Exotic Animal Cafe

I've been to a pet cafe before, but never anywhere like the Little Zoo Cafe.

Over the weekend I visited the new branch at Siam Square. Instead of the normal cat cafe, this one has a number of exotic animals to watch you drink your coffee.

white fox

There were plenty of little dogs and calm cats wandering the cafe...

little dog

...as well as fennec foxes.

fennec fox

You can only enter the area to meet with the exotic animals at certain times during the day, and you must be accompanied by the staff. Groups are only allowed in for a short time, and the animals are rotated throughout the day.

learning about the white fox

You never know what kind of creatures you might run into.

raccoon

ASEAN at 50

Friday was the last day of midterms for the first semester of this school year. I had to proctor in the morning, but at noon I got to leave school and go to the mall!

I wasn't going to shop or anything, though it was nice to get out of the office for half a day! ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (a sort of Southeast Asian EU) is celebrating its fiftieth year of existence.

the expo

Last month I took one of our students to an English speech competition. She had been chosen as one of twenty students in Thailand to present her speech at the Ministry of Public Relations. ASEAN's official language is English, and the competition was to encourage students to think about and write a speech discussing what ASEAN means to them. From the twenty that day, our student was chosen as one of the six finalists!

round table discussion on ASEAN

Those six got to attend a special expo on Friday at Siam Paragon to present their speeches to the ASEAN ambassadors to Thailand, the Minister of Public Relations, media people, friends, family, and anyone else who wanted to attend. It was a really big day and lots of fun!

Besides the speeches, there was a round table discussion from ASEAN members discussing the issues of the organization going into the future, displays about snacks from across the region, demonstrations of crafts, and cultural shows.

snacks!

It was really nice that the school let me go to this event! I really enjoyed getting to represent the school as an English teacher on such a big day. I had a lot of fun, and I'm so proud of our student who got to present her speech for ASEAN's 50th anniversary!

I also enjoyed the ASEAN snacks.

food presentation!