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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

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.

January 8, 2016 by Photojimsf Categories: Gay TravelTags: blogging from the road, bluetooth keyboard, Cafe UB, coffee shop, coffee shop office, Googel Nexus 7, Jim James, photojimsf, san francisco, Thailand Leave a comment

The Idol Garden

This is my delicious purple version of a Ganesha statue I ordered from Amazon. It’s presiding in a place of honor in my elephant shrine. Oh look! There’s a skinny old Santa lurking in the background on the left.

Thanks to the amazing Samsung Galaxy S4, I also created green, blue, and orange versions of the same original image. They’re the first group of images to appear in my new “Idol Garden” gallery on Smugmug. I’ll be featuring more images of Ganeshas, Buddhas, garden gnomes, gargoyles, cigar store Indians, and other mythical creatures I’ve encountered in my travels.

PS — More about Ganesha, Lord of pleasure and no worries, on Wikipedia.

PSS — There are affiliate links to Amazon, and Smugmug on this page.

Thanks for dropping by!

January 6, 2016January 6, 2016 by Photojimsf Categories: Tea TimeTags: art photography, elephant shrine, Ganesha, ganesha statue, garden gnome, idol, idol garden, Jim James, photography, photojimsf, purple Ganesha, Smugmug, statue Leave a comment

Azure Blue Sunflowers

How’d they get that color? Probably the Blue Fairy. Gepetto and Pinocchio anyone?

Actually, these were a fiery orange-red, on sale out front at Urban Flowers in the Castro, SF CA. I was fiddling with the tint option in my photo editor and found this color gave it a magical feel.

Click on the picture, or on this link for more amazing floral photography at The Daily Flower, another of my internet blogging experiments.

And, thanks for dropping by.