Random Monday's: Happy Chinese New Year from Bangkok
Hello Steemian friends,
We hope you all had a fantastic weekend! We sure did!
It's the dreaded Monday and the start of the working week for most of us, but what will make us all happy? Thinking of what a great weekend we just had and the memories we will keep for a little while longer.
We have seen some wonderful posts about Chinese New Year over the weekend and Sam wanted to do a post straight away, but Becca reminded him that the weekends are for us. We could spend some time on Steemit in the morning to interact, but we shouldn't look at a screen all day! Therefore, we might be late as the major celebrations are done, yet Chinese New Year festivities goes on for two weeks in some countries!
Chinese New Year in Bangkok
Becca had a day off on Friday and Sam finished his classes by 15:30, so we decided to join in on the Chinese New Year celebrations in Chinatown in Bangkok. Sam had to quickly pick-up his suit for his brother's wedding as the tailor said it would be ready by Thursday. His brother's suit as a bit too tight, so they need extra time to adjust his suit (one week till his wedding!), but Sam's was perfect. Looked like a movie star!
From the tailor, we had our delayed Valentine's meal - afternoon tea - at Veganerie. Becca loves the shakes here and why not spoil ourselves with a gluten/lactose free blackberry crumble?
Sam had a quick look at Google Maps and realised we could walk part of the way through Lumpini Park (Bangkok's version, but much smaller scale of Central Park in New York). We got to see the sun go down and the joggers rushing past us as we got in their way. As we approached 18:00, everyone stopped to listen to the national anthem on the loudspeakers. It's like a moment in time is frozen for a minute.
We finally jumped on the MRT (underground/subway) at Silom and headed down two stops to Hua Lamphong, which is a short distance walk to Chinatown. The underground was packed with Thais, expats and tourists from all over the world. Many were dressed in red as was Becca. Sam doesn't have a red shirt (apart from his football team's shirt), so he opted to wear Salmon Pink (close enough). Apparently, this year wearing green or purple is also a sign of good luck. Keep that in mind.
It seemed like half of Bangkok had crammed and crowded themselves in the narrow streets of Chinatown. It was agonizing to walk around as you wouldn't walk, but shuffle. Apart from the crowds, the shows and festivities were well under way. We managed to see the Lion Dance first, but not as good as some of the videos we have seen. We saw lines of people queuing up to take pictures with actors dressed up as the Sanxing (Chinese Gods: Fu (Prosperity), Lu (Status) and Shou (Longevity)). We were just observers in all of this. We don't celebrate CNY, so it was a chance to see what the traditions are like. Though, we knew we had to go to the Chinese temples as many believers feel if you were born in the Year of the Dog, you would have bad luck. So, making an offering and a prayer to the Gods at the temple with help relieve some of the bad luck to come this year. Interestingly, Donald Trump is born in the Year of the Dog. Bad year ahead? We shall see.
Chinese New Year festivities wouldn't be completed without trying some Chinese food. Since we had a snack before (mistake!), we opted for something simple to fill the stomach. There were many food stalls along the road, but we wanted to get away from the hectic streets. We found ourselves in Canton House, which we have been to before. We chose this restaurant as it's quite popular in Chinatown (luckily, not when we came in, but literally five minutes after there were queues). The food is tasty and prices are very reasonable. The five Dim Sum dishes and a jug of beer we had came up to 405 baht ($13 or more or less 2 STEEM).
After the quick meal, we decided to roam around some more to digest the food and to soak up the atmosphere. As we headed back to the MRT, this is when we got caught up in the Dragon Dance parade. It amazing to see the difference as @kokuryo explains here.
Tired from a long day already, we decided to head back home before the firework display. However, we would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who celebrated Chinese New Year:
Happy Chinese New Year!
We hope this year brings you great happiness and prosperity!
Stay Classy Steemians!
Random Monday’s is a post written by the @travelling-two every Monday to keep their blog spontaneous and to not focus solely on travel, food, nature and their other passions.
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I love all the colours and lanterns in your pics! It's definitely worth it to celebrate local, and try to figure out what's happening around you ;-)
@soyrosa it's worth the hustle, but next year we will probably go on one of the quieter days (as it's on for like a week). Yet, the atmosphere was amazing and as you said lots of lanterns and colours, so best to go at night.
Always on the lookout for local activities as that's what gets you out of the house on the weekends! Thanks for stopping by and taking your time to read and comment. :)
@soyrosa right? I love bright colors and lanterns too. Going to a lantern festival in Vietnam soon because I just need bright and shiny objects in my life lol
Thank you for reminding me of Bangkok, my wife and I lived in Thailand for several years, and it still has our heart. Also loving the new banner for the Steemit Travelers discord channel! Excellent piece worthy of upvoting and resteeming kob khun kha :)
Where in Thailand did you live with your wife @lumpa? I'm currently living in Chiang Mai. Thanks for spelling kob khun kha...I never knew how to spell it haha and I've been trying to write Thai people on facebook with jacked up Thai lol
Hi @nomadicsoul we lived in south on the island of Koh Phangan for over 3 years and then we oved way up north and lived in Chiang Mai for another 4 years :) You're welcome for the spellcheck, although I'm not sure I have it right....maybe @travelling-two can help out?? :)
Sawasdee khrap @lumpa mai pen rai! We are glad it brought memories to you. How long did you live in Thailand and was it long ago? Sam being half Thai came back regular whilst he grew up in Europe, but we have decided to live in Thailand and see how it goes. So, we can assure you that there will be more Thailand featured content to come.
We saw your name on the Discord group, so hopefully we will be seeing some travel posts from you too. Will check your blog now.
Kob Khun Khrap for the upvote and resteem too! :)
We lived in Thailand for almost 8 years...looking forward to more of your Thai-flavored posts, and it would very kind of you if you would support me too! :)
Wow! 8 years, you must be a pro in Thai. Well, we know first hand its hard, so we don't blame you if you just got by with the basics. Thanks @lumpa we hope our future posts will bring back some good memories :)
Following you already (since your first comment) :)
Thanks @travelfeed! We hope to see more of you and hope you will be busy in giving upvotes and resteeming others too! :)
We're already working on the next round of curations :)
Hehe cool that I get to see Bangkok's version of New Year vs. how it is in Chiang Mai! I didn't see really anyone in traditional dress here! You didn't get to see dragons? Also, I love your logo at the bottom! I was debating making one...yours makes me want to!
Lots of people wearing red of course and a few in traditional clothes. We saw the Dragon and Lion dances, but we got most of the footage on video, which ended up being a bit blurry with our camera getting out of focus from time to time (working on it).
Yes, we noticed a few early Steemians we followed had their own banner, logo or even cartoon character, so we thought why not. It's our identity. We encourage you to make one!
Oh wow, you are in BKK now!
Did you plan to drop by Malaysia? Do let me know if you planned to do so.
We already visited parts of Malaysia back in August (2017). Spent three days in KL (2 on arrival and 1 on the way back) and in between we were in Penang. We loved it - especially the food in Penang.
You never know if Becca needs to make a visa run and Air Asia has cheap tickets to (usually) KL. We'll let you and any other #teammalaysia members know. :)
Two weeks for New Year? In Europe everybody would be knocked out for the rest of the month...
The sweets look awesome.. I'm just a vegetarian, not vegan, but I think I would love it, too =)
It seems as you had a very great day... sometimes its a good choise to let the laptop closed for a day!
It is long, but its the main holiday of the year.
What would you prefer two weeks for New Year and very limited holidays after that or like in most European countries (on average) having the 20 days personal holiday and 8 public holidays?
There is very much a working mentality in Asia. For example, in Thailand working for the public sector you would only get 8-12 personal holidays per year (depending on your level), but there are around 14 public holidays scattered around the year. It's quite shocking and we wouldn't put ourselves through that.
The sweets and the shakes are delicious. It is amazing that they are vegan. We are not vegan nor is Sam vegetarian, however we are implementing/trying to have more vegan meals. It's a slow adjustment with one meal a week so far :)
We got caught up in the excitement of Steemit and we still are, but we know there needs to be a balance to ensure we are not consumed by it all. Still finding that balance. In time and hopefully you can too!
last year I had the first time 30 days holiday plus the public holiday (before this I worked in a restaurant, just 20 days holiday and working every public holiday double)... I was shocked about all this freetime 🤪 but I used it in a wise way: traveling
I think if you try vegan food you discover so much new things, thats amazing!
Lucky you for last year with the 30+ holidays. We bet you did travel and traveled a lot!
In a way, Sam is dreading working again after his masters as he wants to stick out here in Asia as he wants to give it a go. He is dreading it because of the 'work only' mentality. However, if we stick it out for a full year or two, we believe the experience would be invaluable for when we do decide to move on. We'll see when it comes around.
You do discover a whole variety of new discoveries. Nutritional Yeast?! It's used to make vegan cheese (with blended cashews and a few other things)...who knew that...but it's freakin' expensive here! That's the challenge we face if we want to make our own.
do make it by your own its always the best solution... then you also exactly know what is in =)
Exactly! No hidden surprises ;)
EXCEPT YOUR OWN 😂😂😂
CNY is such an awesome time of year. Great that you got to celebrate it here! And wearing red too :-)
Although we don't celebrate it, it is actually quite fun and colourful! Well, Sam was sort of wearing red...it was red in certain lighting ;)
Looking out for other festivities that we don't celebrate to join in with the party! It's also a chance to learn about its custom and history. What's next? St. Paddy's Day?
Yes exactly. I celebrate everything these days depending on which country I am living in. Malaysia has so many different holidays it's unbelievable! Really enjoyable.
Yes we heard and believe that Malaysia has the most public holidays in the world as they celebrate many different culture's holidays. We feel it's the most diverse South East Asian country (in terms of culture). Singapore is up there, however it's bound to be as it's a cosmopolitan city/country with the business and trade going on.
Yes totally agree. I loved Singapore too, but whilst it's diverse it's not particularly open-minded on the whole.