October 17, 2010

Yo Davitans!

It is Sunday afternoon here in Bangkok. I hope you all are well, all 1173 of you who have teamed up to improve our health.

Yesterday I got several hours of good work done, and a strong workout in the hotel fitness center. 24 minutes on the bike, 3 sets of both push-ups and curls, 1 set of crunches, 1 set of superman on the big ball, and a bunch of stretching. Total of 55 minutes.

My wife arrived in time for dinner at a good Thai restaurant near the hotel (funny thing is that the hotel restaurant does not emphasize thai food). I demonstrated medium discipline on the consumption front on the day overall.

This morning we left the hotel at 7 am to get out to a floating market well outside the city. This part of Thailand is filled with canals, and in parts of the countryside the canals are still the primary way of getting around and doing business. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, there is a floating market, which means people bring their food and wares to buy and sell.

There is a big floating market closer to Bangkok, but it now gets a lot of westerners, so I wanted something more pure. We found a smaller one out in the countryside – there were about 500 locals there at any one moment, and we were the only non-Thai people (although on the way out we did run into one other foreigner). There were about 50 boats in the canal, and people were doing business from boat to boat and boat to shore. We were even interviewed by a local newspaper, because they were so surprised to see us there!

We were very lucky, in that this was the final day of a lent-like period, and therefore 109 Buddhist monks also showed up. 109 is a lucky number and so it was the plan to have that number – and the monks moved their boats slowly up and down the canal, taking in donations of food and money to take back to their temples, for themselves and the poor. All in all, a fascinating morning.

We then took the long drive back into the big city. We visited the spectacular temples by the Palace and also a Reclining Buddha that is about 120 feet long and 30 feet tall even tho it is reclining. Now we are back at the hotel. I will head to the gym in a little bit, something I don’t think I would have done without reading the postings from some of you out there in Match the Mayor land.

Do Well this Weekend! You have 1173 others cheering you on !!!

KT