Hazel Ceej

Skywatch : on an expressway to Pratunam, that area in Bangkok where everything is cheap. Reflections : history wings and things   I Heart Macro : floral tribute Friday's Fave Five : Anticipation mode. My entrails are somersaulting. Come, September, come! 1 Teacher's day . It's that time of year when I'm so in love with my profession. 2 New apartment, new furniture. In the move I found a photo which I thought I had lost forever. It's of my parents, the last and only one with my rarely-seen-in-photos father in it a few years before he died. I was just thrilled with the discovery. 3 A change I don't mind . It was originally Bali in three weeks. Thanks to an unexpected problem with the travel agency, it's now New Delhi.  Hello Taj Mahal! 4 Re-entry permit and visa report sorted . Always a relief to get immigration stuff out of the way. 5 I will be entertaining. A friend from high school I haven't seen in 26 years is com...

Museums, ruins, historical sites, mostly anything old - they are what make me go on trips for. I love those ohs and ahs I get as I behold them. Like on this one inside a World War II train in a war museum. This is what I call my Jonah moment. I was inside the train.  xxx  xxx But there's something in history that is depressing. At least in these finds I call train entrails or it could be due to having no idea what they are really. So while waiting for the rest of the tour group to assemble for the next stop I loitered in a nearby orchid shop for some cheer.  xxx Linking up with Ruby Tuesday Too * Our World Tuesday * Rubbish Tuesday

"The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods." ~ Elbert Hubbard It's been somewhat a long week for me here in the Big Chili. But I'm glad that toward Thursday things got a bit hyped up and suddenly it's Friday; time to conclude the week by recalling what's great in it: Coffee table books, a vintage flower vase and a Guess purse among the rest of the many bags, some still on the floor. Not exactly a spree but I did shop and it was fun. Recent movies . There was T he Lunchbox, Noah, Transcendence, The Amazing Spider Man 2 , all entertaining and all gave me some time off too much stress at work. I appreciate being reminded of what forgiveness is like from the Railway Man - for both Eric Lomax and Takashi Nagase. This is Kanchanaburi where much of the story took place and some scenes in the film were shot.   Leave approved without much ado . I am Vietnam-bound in eleve...

Elephant treks in Kanchanaburi are usually priced at more or less 20USD for 10-15 minutes. A simple ride, no jungle involved, costs less. A Khao San tour agency offered this surprise inclusion in their package - elephant trekking which was free, so why not? Gently our planet's largest land mammals see-sawed globe trotters on their back as they maneuvered rocks and growth. The water mark on the elephant's body gives one an idea of the depth of the part of the river it waded through. If the beast suddenly sat and rolled on the water, all this would turn into a swimming party. While snapping from behind I noticed another elephant ambling alongside us, without 'passengers.' Curious, I asked the mahout what's the name of our chang (elephant). He smiled, "Siripon." "And this little darling here?" "Baby, baby of Siripon."   The trek took us through cassava, tomato and eggplant fields. We passed by a tree where Siripon's baby tarried at th...

Elephant treks in Kanchanaburi are usually priced at more or less 20USD for 10-15 minutes. A simple ride, no jungle involved, costs less. A Khao San tour agency offered this surprise inclusion in their package - elephant trekking which was free, so why not? Gently our planet's largest land mammals see-sawed globe trotters on their back as they maneuvered rocks and growth. The water mark on the elephant's body gives one an idea of the depth of the part of the river it waded through. If the beast suddenly sat and rolled on the water, all this would turn into a swimming party. While snapping from behind I noticed another elephant ambling alongside us, without 'passengers.' Curious, I asked the mahout what's the name of our chang (elephant). He smiled, "Siripon." "And this little darling here?" "Baby, baby of Siripon."   The trek took us through cassava, tomato and eggplant fields. We passed by a tree where Siripon's baby tarried at th...

My latest visit to Kanchanburi was my third in thirteen years. Of the three visits, I enjoyed this most recent the most. Everything went as planned. We went with Good Times Travel. Their tours are well-organized and their mini-buses not crowded with tourists. They conducted the tour with just six of us: 3 Italians, 1 Thai, 1 British and 1 Filipino. Our first stop was the Sai Yok Noi Falls. My World Tuesday is brought to you by Klaus and the My World Team Sandy , Wren , Fishing Guy , Sylvia