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Gigantic Three Headed Elephant And More Erawan Museum Bangkok

New Portraits In My Idol Garden Gallery

Ladies and gentlemen I’ve had the distinct honor and pleasure to meet a small group of mythological creatures from the Himavanta Forests surrounding Mount Meru. In case you didn’t know, that’s pretty close to the center of the universe in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology.

I found them hanging out in the gardens at the Erawan Museum, and was so tickled to have them pose for portraits, which I’ve posted in my new Idol Garden photo adventure galleries.

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The Museum Is A Temple

A gigantic three headed elephant sits atop the temple. Inside are housed priceless cultural icons and antiquities from several Southeast Asian religions. The place was founded by the same eccentric millionaire, Lek Viriyapant, who also built the truth sanctuary in Pattaya.

You can actually climb up inside the elephant, there’s a Buddha shrine in it’s belly, and slightly above there’s a lookout. Unfortunately no pictures allowed inside the temple and museum.

Mythical Creatures Lurk In The Gardens

But there’s plenty to see in the surrounding gardens. Chinese heaven-geese, elephant-lion-horses, elephant-fish, human-swans, and other mythical creatures can be found in this unique museum and gardens in the Bangkok suburb of Samut Prakan.

A worthwhile stop while in Bangkok. By the way it’s half price after 5 p.m.

How to Get to the Erawan Museum

Take the BTS Skytrain all the way to Bang Na station, and then take a bus #25 or #511 straight to the entrance of the temple – only about 3 – 5 km from Bang Na station.

Also, there’s tons of taxi’s waiting at a stand downstairs from the Bang Na station. If you can, show a picture of the three headed elephant to the driver. I had a disastrous ride when I went, because there’s another Erawan Shrine way on the other side of Bangkok. The one that got blown up last year. It’s a four headed Buddha.

The drivers know the three headed elephant Erawan by it’s Thai name, Chang, which means elephant. It can be seen from miles away so the guy instantly knew he was way off track when I finally got my uncooperative mobile phone to bring up the image.

Address: 99/9 Moo 1, Bangmuangmai, Samut Prakan, Thailand 10270

Links:

Erawan Museum And Gardens Website

Photojimsf’s Idol Garden Gallery

March 7, 2016March 30, 2016 by Photojimsf Categories: Gay Travel, Tea TimeTags: Asian religions, Bangkok, Buddhist cosmology, elephant statues, elephants, Erawan Museum, garden statues, gardens, Hindu cosmology, icons, idols, Jim James, Lek Viriyapant, mythical creatures, mythical elephants, photojimsf, temples, Thailand, travel, travel photos Leave a comment

Tongue Biting Good

Yesssssssss! Thai green papaya salad made just the way I like it, no chilies, just a little garlic. This at my favorite cheap cheap eatery in Jomtien Beach, Thailand.

Ran Nong Som, a family-run establishment right on the beach road has good quality food at very reasonable prices. (it’s on Jomtien Beach Road just past Soi 3 but way before soy 4).

Along with the salad, I had a huge piece of fried chicken thigh, and a Coke Zero with ice. Would that be considered a paleo diet?

I was so enjoying it, but distracted, that I bit my tongue, for the second time today. Fortunately I did not break the skin this time. But I did earlier this afternoon while I was on the beach gossiping with my buddy Paul about financial woes of the global economy.

When something bothers me, I google it and see if I can find relief. I read there’s a superstition that says when you bite your tongue, it means the next thing you were about to say is a lie.

That doesn’t describe me at all, paragon of virtue that I am. Okay, rarely, I might embellish a story just a teeny tiny little bit.

Continuing my Google quest, I found all kinds of hypochondriac causes, such as antidepressant medications, seizures, obsessive compulsive disorders, anxiety, stress, bruxism, and more.

Treatments involved psychotherapies, habit retraining, orthodontics, even surgery.

Towards the end of the research, I decided it was merely not being mindful while eating, saltwater rinsing all that’s needed.

Thankfully the pain is gone, and I truly enjoyed my healthy, or relatively healthy for me, meal at my favorite eatery in Jomtien beach.

Stay tuned for more of Jimbo’z fairy tales from afar, including a lurid story about breaking in a new foreigner in town at Boyztown.

January 18, 2016February 29, 2016 by Photojimsf Categories: Gay TravelTags: cheap eats, Gay travel, Jim James, Jomtien, photo adventures, photojimsf, som tam salad, Thai food, Thailand, tongue biting, travel Leave a comment

No Sapicey Please

Just how much heat can one put on the table? Plenty, as long as it stays on the table and not on my plate.

I do test myself on occasion, my limit is about one third of a red hot Thai chillie pepper. It’s enough to judiciously spank the tongue three or four times, spread eagled out over the course of a meal.

That’s about what you see on this decadently fatty dish of crispy fried pork with basil over rice. I’m so grateful the family run Ran Nong Som restaurant knows exactly how spicy I like it. Btw, they’re a sweet Cambodian family and it’s on Jomtien Beach Road, a few doors past Soi 3.

Many places, due to language differences or spite, will get it wrong and make it more spicy. Like the sweet chili fried fish I had in Bangkok last week. A perfectly good whole fish crispy fried but then smothered to death in a sweet pineapple tamarind sauce that must have had at least 30 of the satanic little devils.

Cheapskate that I am and not wanting to waste an $8 investment, I gulped a swig of Singha and jumped into the fire. Four heroic bites later and I was begging the Lord Buddha for compassion and mercy. A plate of plain rice and two Singhas later and my mouth is still ablaze by the napalm. I won’t even go into the ensuing violence on the throne back at the hotel.

It’s not a good idea to send a dish back in Thailand, especially at the budget eateries because it causes loss of money and face. You might end up with a spit loogie, cigarette ash, or cock roach in your food. Or they will try to twist it around and ask then why did you order spicy? The waiter or the cook most likely will be docked for the error unless you graciously apologise for misordering.

The most important Thai words to know when ordering:

ped = spicy

Ped nit noy = just a little bit spicy

Mai pet = no spicy

Be sure to add ka (if you’re female) or krup (if you’re a male) at the end. It means thank you please ten thousand times, and shows that you’re polite and classy.

Here’s more on ordering spicy foods in Thailand from the fabulously informative “Women Learn Thai” website.

It’s an amusing read with audio pronunciations and the comments are hilarious.

January 15, 2016February 29, 2016 by Photojimsf Categories: Gay Travel, Gripe City, UncategorizedTags: basil, chile peppers, crispy fried pork, Jomtien, mai pet, ordering Thai food, Pattaya, Ran Nong Som (restaurant), rice, spicy food, Thai food, Thailand Leave a comment

Google Nexus 7 Test Drive

I treated myself with two new gadgets this past Christmas:

Google Nexus 7 2013 model

1 By One bluetooth keyboard

Since they’re prior year make and model, I snatched them up via Amazon for less than half price!

I’m hoping to miniaturize my coffee shop office experience while on the road in Thailand for the next 7 weeks.

So far so good. The Nexus needed several Android updates (free) to get up to speed. 4.4.4 is where it’s at now. Still a tiny bit slow but that could be the signal strength.

This is my first post from a coffee shop via these devices, the pic was taken by my Samsung Galaxy S4, another prior year bargain at 1/3 the new price.

I’ll be looking at cases, let me know if you can recommend a good one? Especially if it doubles as a stand.

Wish me luck, and I hope to be entertaining you with all kinds of eye candy and stories from the land of smiles.

Btw, I’ll miss my coffee shop office here at Cafe UB, where the coffee is kick ass Ritual Brand, and the “David” bagel (cream cheese, tomato, cucumber, cracked pepper) including tip comes in under $8.

Thanks for dropping by, and later, later,

Jim

PS — There are affiliate links from Amazon for the products mentioned in this post.