Ratchapeuk Gardens

I wrote this blog entry in early September, saved it as a draft, and then forgot about it. I though it worth publishing even though it's old news now...

This was another day off outing. Ratchapeuk is a spectacular garden/flower/architectural show that opens in Chiang Mai over the cool season. During August it was open free to locals because it's not really ready for visitors yet. It made a lovely day out for us.

There are lots of examples of Thai architecture from different parts of Thailand and different eras. This is Rachel on the second story of a Lanna-style house (northern Thailand including Chiang Mai.) And Mum, can you tell what that is I'm carrying? An essential part of every good picnic!

Victor is outside some Central Thai houses.

There were some plants looking beautiful.

And this is Victor with our car in disguise. (Can you spot it?)

Victor preaching

This is Victor preaching in a Karen village church about 2 hours from Chiang Mai. (That's on a motorcycle on bad, mountain roads.)

As one of his responsibilities at our church he goes once a month to visit the villages in this area. He preaches, encourages, takes medicines (it's a long walk to the nearest doctor so villagers tend to go without basic medication), cuts children's hair, prays, and generally helps out however he can.

I'm not sure why these photos ended up in one like this but I thought it looked great so I'm sharing it with you.

Kindergarten

Today I finished learning the last of the Thai alphabet! Tomorrow is my exam to see if I pass Kindergarten...

I've really loved learning this new alphabet. I think all that I'm good at is best demonstrated in Kindy - remembering lots of details, writing neat little letters over and over. And I still love the teacher's praise just as much this time round!

Here is a sample of my homework book... the first letter of the Thai alphabet: 'g'. Every letter in the alphabet has a matching word. 'g' has 'gai' (chicken).





't, patak' - makes a sound half way between English t and d. There are 44 consonants in Thai.

Numbers 5 - 9. Thankfully Arabic numerals are used much more than Thai. But sometimes things are cheaper if you can read the Thai numbers...













A sample of vowels. The vowels are ridiculous. There are 35 vowels (actually there are different ways to count the vowels, but I've learnt 35.)
















And Victor and Khaw resting while I do my homework.