Friday was the celebration of the birth and enlightenment of Buddha, 24 May, therefore a public holiday. It was a nice break to a busy work week. I was able to do some exploring around the city and also caught up with some friends and family.
Friday I did some cleaning, a market run, and a little catching up on projects, as it rained most of the afternoon and evening. I bought some fresh fruit at the market to bring to a house warming party. I decided on watermelon, guava, papaya, pomelo, mangos, and rose apples. I also brought some monkey beans, which is similar to our peanuts in the US. The only difference is that the legume is smaller in Thailand. I bought them fresh off the coals from an elderly lady in the market, 20 baht per bag.
We arrived at the house, amidst the rain. The home was just built, and it is spectacular. I was greeted by several of Prom's Thai friends, his mother and father, and his sister-in-law. And it wouldn't be Thai-style without great Thai food and plenty of drinks. And, let's not forget on of the most important piece to any Thai get-together, karaoke! Yep, something about Asians and karaoke (every song sounds nearly the same as the one before it). After my introductions I sat with Prom and some of his friends (who knew little to know English). I was able to converse in broken phrases with them. As always I felt welcomed from the second I met them all.
Later in the evening I was officially introduced to Prom's parents. As Thai custom I wai'd them, as older individuals are highly respected. Neither parent knew much English, I spoke what little Thai I could.
I learned later, in my conversation with Prom, that his dad served in Vietnam. Prom told me how his dad still has a hard time with the topic, but not all bad memories. His dad also made a friend while serving, it just so happens that his friend was from Wisconsin. I guess they reunited years after their service, with the help of a translator. Prom told me that his dad and other Thai soldiers would trade their guns and cigarettes to the American soldiers, for lighters. The night ended with karaoke and 3 out of 5 kegs of Leo beer (Thai beer) finished. My glass was never empty the entire night. I would take three sips and someone would see my glass as far from full. I kept telling Prom that I was ok, but he said, "it's impolite in Thailand for guest to not have a full glass." So there you have it. If you see the chair next to him with the pitcher, know that that pitcher was for me, so that he could see to it that my glass was always full. As the night went on I could pick up a few words here and there. I hear his friend say something about the farang and ice. That's when I realized he was commenting on the fact that I didn't drink my beer with ice. Thai's are well of the fact that us Westerners don't drink with ice in our beer. Do you care to know the Thai rationale for ice in the beer? Prom has told me three times now, so I promise I wont lead you astray. "In Thailand do you know that we have two seasons, not like in America." I just smiled at him. "In Thailand we have HOT and *@*&!^ HOT, so we drink our beer WITH ice."On Saturday morning, I received a call from Chanphen (pronounced Shawn Penn, means full moon in Thai, as she was born on a full moon), wanted to see if I was still interested in a day in Chaiya. I was all about this. Chaiya is one of the oldest cities in Thailand, know for its temples and coastline, just north of Surat Thani. I headed over to her places and we left in the late morning. The drive was beautiful. We took a scenic route, as Chanphen or P'Phen called it versus taking the main highway. The winding roads took us along rice paddies, a shrimp farm, through rubber and palm plantations and over rivers. I enjoyed the drive, about 1 hour drive via car. Just 10 km from Chaiya, we stopped to see her nephews. We ate ate a local restaurant, where her oldest nephew has his own furniture business.
The restaurant was perfect. It was the typical roadside stop, great food included. Roasters and a couple dogs ran around the
restaurant. There were a handful of locals there, also enjoying the food. P'Pen did the ordering for the 4 of us. We sat and talked about travel, Thai and American stereotypes, and also about studying abroad. The youngest nephew, with un-broken English asked me several questions about travel, as he plans to head to England for his PhD in Chinese history. Soon enough the food made it our way. We dined on a late afternoon lunch of fresh catfish, sticky rice, and som tam (green papaya salad). And let me tell you, it was very good. I have never heard good things about catfish in the states, as far as it being a good eat. However, in Thailand it is another story. The fish had great flavor, included was an amazing sauce to dip it in. There wasn't a lot of meat on the fish, but a little went far for me. The papaya salad, is always a favorite of mine, spicy goodness. And lets not forget the rice. No Thai would dream of a day or meal without rice.
[Interesting tidbit: gin means to eat and kao means rice, the two words are inseparable in the Thai language. In phrasing it the two words are used to ask if you have eaten rice and to ask how you are. Clearly, any Thai that has gone without rice, can not be doing well.]
My thoughts on sticky rice, I like to dip my sticky rice in the som tam, like many Thais. It's different that steamed white rice, it has a chewier taste and can be eaten with your hands, as the grains stick together, hence the name. I do like it. This was a great meal to share among friends.
After eating we headed to Chiaya, to Wat Suan Mokkh, a temple. The International Dharma Hermitage temple is known for it's 10 day Buddhist retreats. P'Phen told me there were twp different places for people to go for meditation one side for Thai's and the other for foreigners. I went her to the Thai side. We mostly walked around and took in the setting. The setting was beautiful, lots of trees, vegetation, and fresh air. We walked around the temples and saw some beautiful modern art, as the temple was built in the last 20 years. As I walked around the temple, a monk sat on a ledge in the temple, talking with a dozen or so Thai's coming to hear his take. He sat with in his gold garb, with a long thin branch across his lap. The setting was peaceful, quiet and natural. P'Phen sat and listened, all the preaching was obviously in Thai. I sat some and also walked around taking in the setting and the paintings. 
Lotus, could fit family of 5
After the temple, we set out for some of the afternoon market. P'Phen got her afternoon coffee and I tried what I thought was going to be hot tea. Along the way a Thai dessert caught my eye - though at the time I had no idea it was a dessert. The Kahnohm (dessert in Thai) looked much like a 50 lb bird nest, felt like the lining you put under your silverware tray so it doesn't slide around, and the taste was a rubber-like texture with a hint of sweet. The lady behind the stall, offered me a piece to try. Just let me know if any of you back home would like me to send you some edible cheese cloth, should ship well. As for my tea, it was a sweetened hot tea. The flavor was nice, but it was way too sweet in my opinion. I believe condensed milk and raw sugar were among a few of the ingredients. P'Phen and I sat there and visited, I sipped my red-brown color tea, still unsure of what kind of tea it was. 
As we sat and talked about Thai food and culture, Chanphen suggested I try some salapao, a steamed rice flour bun with either pork or custard in the center. She told me that it came from Ranong, where they are known for some of best salapao in Thailand. Ranong was were I stayed one night up in the mountains before I reached the jungle village. Anyways, P'Phen tried the pork and egg and I had a sweetened one. It wasn't bad, not sure I would go out of the way to get one, but it was nice. I enjoyed it all. 
Around 5, we set out of Chaiya, after our short time there. Along the highway I noticed a lot of roots and interesting wood just sitting out along a fence line. I inquired about it, that was when P'Phen said, "oh would you like to stop?" I said sure. Soon I noticed beyond the fencing, was a large wooden building with lots of lumber and interesting trees along the driveway. We stepped out and a man waved at P'Phen, "she said, I know him, we are good friends." I swear everyone knows her, a common occurance wherever she goes. The man invited us in to what I thought was his business. I couldn't stop looking around. The wood work I saw was like nothing I had ever seen before. This was some of the largest whole-piece furniture I had ever seen. I learned that all of the wood was native to Thailand, from all over the country. Here I thought he was selling these large pieces, when actually he was collecting them. These pieces were larger that King-size beds. Tables were about 20 feet in length, chairs were made from beautiful, giant stumps, and several giant dragon couches and benches that varied from 10-18 feet in length. The pictures I took don't do the art justice, just know that the pieces were amazing. I cannot recall the name of the wood as it is a Thai name with interesting tones. When I asked about the quality of wood, I was told that it is better than teak, and much firmer.
As I sat and took in the several pieces, the three of us talked (P'Phen did the translating), the man repeated over and over that he wanted me to come again and that my family and friends are welcome. The man smiled the whole time and asked me many questions about my education, my background, the types of wood in the US, and about how college education works in the US. He was really into the education questions, as his son is currently studying in Boston. Let's just say that he is by far the wealthiest man I know in Thailand. He has his own rubber plantation just down the road from his home and is paying for his child to get a good education. He told me that he wanted me to come back so that I could visit with his son, as his son knows English very well. I could tell that he was really proud of his son. Just before leaving, we toured what I would call a glorified shelter area. It was cemented with center beams made of 1,000 year old trees. You will see these in the pictures below. The bark is removed from the perimeter of the tree, and the center is left to hold a building. The man said he aspired to turn it into a restaurant.
It's conversations, moments, and weekends like this that put many things into perspective.
House view from the road
Beams made from 1000 year old trees
