05.25.11

My Purpose In Life

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Hmmm Moments, Uncategorized, family stuff at 1:04 am by Administrator

Yesterday I spent time sorting through my “things.”  We all have hobbies in this house, so there tends to be lots of “things” to sort and organize here.  And it made me start to think (again) about all the people who have been displaced from their homes with hardly any of their personal possessions.  I was just looking up info on the millions of displaced people in Pakistan due to the 2010 flood.  And of course I thought of the Japanese who have been displaced due to the tsunami and nuclear disaster.  I thought of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced in the Ivory Coast, and now of the hundreds of people affected by the floods in the Mississippi region and thousands in Joplin, Missouri. . .  There are so many people now who are out without their usual comforts.  I know I thought about it when we had fires here in the Los Angeles county as well and that really spurred me to organize my stuff because if there were a warning to leave the house, I wanted to be able to grab stuff quickly and go.  But a lot of my “things” would be left behind.  I am reminded of how these things are not that important.

I’m not really sure what I want to say.  I guess I’m just wondering again about why things are and why God does things or allows things.  Why is it that some people have had to endure so much suffering?  I guess we all suffer to some degree, but I have never had a day go by where I have not had sufficient food to eat.  I’ve never lived through a war zone.  I’ve never been displaced. I’m not rich or anything, but I do live very comfortably.   It’s not that I feel guilty or anything because it’s not like I did anything knowingly wrong to live this way.  It’s just that it makes me wonder what my purpose in life is.  Do I have a purpose?  Brian has told me that my purpose is to serve my family.  The Bible says that women will be preserved in child bearing.  I know not all women have children or can have children, but it does seem to imply taking care of children.  As I type this Micah 6:8 comes to mind:

8He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

I think back again to the thousands and even millions of people who have been displaced.  Is there anything a Christian gal like me can do for them?  I can’t possibly help millions of people, so what do I do with that knowledge?  How can I apply Micah 6:8 to that?  I’m thinking that it’s my job then is to teach my children to know these things.  I need to teach them to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God.  And hopefully that will spread as they grow and live their lives so that everyone they come in contact with will share those things.  And maybe in that way some needy people will be reached.  We can’t all be Rambos or Florence Nightingales.  But then again, the Bible doesn’t require that of all of us.  But it does require all of us to be just, merciful, and humble.

Marlakins

05.24.11

Time-Lapse Map of Nuclear Explosions from1945 to 1998

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, History, quotes at 1:08 pm by Administrator

My youngest son found this time-lapsed video of all the nuclear explosions from 1945 to 1998.  It starts out a bit slow in the beginning as the a-bomb comes into development.  The first being detonated in New Mexico, the Trinity test followed by Hiroshima (Uranium) and then Nagasaki (Plutonium).  A few months later all the other testings follow starting with Able and Baker as part of Operation Crossroads in the Bikini Atoll.  It gets crazy with all the subsequent nuclear tests, literally thousands.  I believe the first underground test was done in 1951, and in 1963 above ground testing was banned and only underground testing was done.  But other countries were not included with that agreement, so I think India, Pakistan, and later North Korea tested their nuclear bombs above ground.  The video only covers up to 1998, so North Korea doesn’t show up.

timelapsedmap

Enjoy watching your tax dollars at work!   The video can be viewed here.  Gives us a little peak as to why nuclear reactors are so dear to the establishment (nuclear reactors are essential for the development of nuclear bombs because it’s through nuclear reactors that plutonium and tritium, etc. are developed for the making of nuclear bombs.  We are a warmongering country after all, so we need this shit).  The B Reactor at Hanford, Washington was the site where plutonium was made for the first bomb test (Trinity), and the bomb used on Nagasaki (Fat Man).  The site left a lot of radioactive contamination today and has cost billions of dollars to clean up.  The clean up is ongoing and runs to the tune of about 2 billion a year from some sources I’ve read.

20Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

~Isaiah 5:20

Marlakins

05.22.11

Judgment Day?

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, God at 12:47 am by Administrator

Well, it’s May 22, 2011, and we’re still here.  Surprise, surprise, the world didn’t end. . . In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out this link.

Not that I believed it, but it’s just one of those things where I would rather wait before commenting.   When I heard that some guy was claiming Judgment Day on May 21, 2011, I didn’t believe it because the Bible tells us that no one will know the day or the hour, Matthew 24:35-36.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”

Now having said that, apparently, this guy wasn’t claiming that the world was going to end on May21, but that it was going to be the beginning of Judgment.  That’s actually a big difference from the end of the world as the media is presenting it.  But even so, so far, I can’t see any “judgment” yet.  I’m guessing he was referring to the “bowls of wrath” mentioned in Revelation 16.  And it doesn’t look like that’s happened, yet, either.  As far as I know, the first bowl involves sores on those who have taken the mark of the Beast.  Uh, first there has to be a Beast and people will have taken the mark.  I don’t think that’s happened yet.  You know, “no one can buy or sell unless they taken the mark of the beast”.   So the beast hasn’t presented himself, yet, and thus people haven’t taken his mark because he’s not yet made known for us to take the mark, then the conditions for the first Judgment isn’t ready.  I wonder why those people who follow that guy would even believe him.  I’m guessing they don’t really read their Bibles, or if so, they don’t really understand what they read.  I’m not claiming that I know everything in the Bible, but that one seems pretty clear.

As a Christian, I do believe that Christ will come again, and we are to be ready at any time, anyway.  But since the Bible tells us that no one will know the time or the day, then as soon as someone puts a date on it, I figure that’s not the day, ha!

Thanking God for His patience so that more can come to know Him,

Marlakins

05.18.11

Acres of Skin

Posted in Book Reviews, Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History, Treatment Decisions at 12:53 pm by Administrator

For anyone interested in medical ethics and it’s history, I recommend Acres of Skin by Allen M. Hornblum.

Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison“>acresofskin

Originally I was gathering information on radiation when I stumbled across an interview with Allen Hornblum.  He was discussing why he wrote the book and detailed some information on medical experiments performed on prisoners.  While he admits that there were experiments done at several different prisons, Hornblum focused primarily on the Holmesburg Prison in Pennsylvania wherein prisoner experimentation spanned over the early 1950s to the mid 1970s.  These experiments involved many substances from soaps, lotions, shampoos, etc. for pharmaceutical companies to bacterial and viral experiments for the U.S. military, to mind control drugs for the CIA, and radiation experiments for NASA.

Personally I find it fascinating that humans can be so cruel and heartless towards one another.  Seemingly “normal” people have perpetrated horrific things upon their fellow human beings.  Things we ordinarily would think was “unthinkable” to do to humans have been, and continue to be, inflicted upon people as if they were merely animals or objects.  I find the duplicity a bit scary and a warning to be careful that I (or my family) not fall into that trap of condoning unethical practices.  References were made to the Nazi and the Nuremberg trials where some of the “defense” arguments some of the Nazi medical doctors presented were that “they were not doing anything that the American doctors were not doing themselves.”  The experiments done on U.S. prisoners and the mentally handicapped are examples of what the Nazi medical doctors were referring to.  One only need look into the published, peer reviewed medical journals to verify their claims.  The obvious duplicity was that we as American’s were pointing the finger at the Nazi doctors as being barbaric and inhumane sentencing them to imprisonment or death, while we were doing the same thing, but thought there was nothing wrong with it. It reminds me of reading early U.S. history about how slaves were considered only 3/5’s of a person and that even their children were born into condoned perpetual slavery.  That used to be thought of as proper, and even part of our accepted law.  As a Christian I believe we are to love one another, and there is no distinction between color or social status.  Yet, we see time and time again people abusing one another, both religious and non-religious alike.  I find it interesting how we “justify” questionable actions if “we” are performing them, while we can simultaneously “condemn” the very same action if “other” people are doing them.

Acres of Skin helped me to reflect upon my personal feelings regarding the “ends justifies the means” mentality.  I am conflicted because I know that I live my life using the very substances or technologies that I have found came from dubious means.  At the moment I try to limit that use as much as I can, but I certainly am nowhere near eliminating all those derived “benefits.”   Even some of the literature I’ve read to figure out ways to treat myself have come from very questionable experiments.  Where do we draw the line?

Overall, I give Acres of Skin two thumbs up.  Hornblum discusses many more examples of prison experiments, including quotes from interviewees (mostly former inmates who were involved with or knew about the experiments) and various people who would talk to him about the Holmesburg experiments. Hornblum also discusses the moral implications and the outcomes of various experiments, including the subsequent banning of prisoner experimentation and the closing of the prison as well as other aspects of Dr. Albert Kligman’s, the primary doctor who organized and operated the prison experiments, medical research and experimentation operation.  I found the book well-written, informative, and easy to read.

Marlakins

04.16.11

Today I’m Sad

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, God, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments, History, family stuff at 12:21 pm by Administrator

If I were to describe my mood today, I would say, “a bit sad.”  Ordinarily I should be happy.  My oldest son is finally “officially” graduating with a BA!  The ceremony is to take place in June.  Last Wednesday I went with him to his Grad fair and picked up his cap and gown, took his grad pictures and all those extra stuffs associated with graduating.  I was very happy for him.  We even discussed the possibility of him going off to Korea and teaching English for a year.  Course the doting mom that I an would go with him!  LOL  It’s not the highest paying job, but a nice diversion and experience for a young man.  Then the reality of the Fukushima reactor still spewing out radioactivity relatively close by South Korea hit me. . . Radioactivity from Chernobyl traveled hundreds and even thousands of miles leaving elevated radioactivity in places still today such as Germany and Sweden.  I’m sure other places, too.  Should I let that get in our way?  Weighing the possibility of genetic damage and subsequent cancers, deformities in offspring, and other health concerns, should we risk that?   I have to use my head and opt to forgo South Korea.  At the age of 46, I’ll likely never see South Korea in my lifetime since nuclear radioactivity will last longer than my lifetime. I’m not only sad for myself, but sad for my children, not to mention the millions of people living in those contaminated zones.  It’s really tragic.

I think of when I visited Tokyo as a teenager with my dad years ago.  It was very nice.  I had thought that one day I’d like to take my boys there for a visit.  Now we’re not likely to ever go.  Such a beautiful place, such a shame that it has been needlessly contaminated.

Am I over reacting?  Well, I’ve been trying to educate myself on the matter and have been trying to soak up what everyone is saying and weigh the material.  While I don’t want to be paranoid, I also want to be responsible and not be willfully ignorant.  I do believe in the consequences of that.  I have to do my best and then trust God for the rest.  But I do believe God expects us to do what we can to help ourselves first.  He has given us all that we need, but we have to reach out to use it.  God finds no pleasure in sluggards as the Bible even tells us that, “the slack hand will be put to forced labor.”  Proverbs 12:24  “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.”  There’s a lot about laziness in the Bible.  Another example is Proverbs 19:24 “A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.”  That seems to indicate that a lazy person won’t even feed himself.  No, I don’t believe we just wait for good things to happen to us.  We have to strive for good.  Thus, do I just walk into a radioactive zone and pray that I’m spared damage?  No, I should do my homework.  I shouldn’t be lazy and expect God to preserve me.  I have to use the good judgment God gave me and act according to good sense.

The topic of nuclear power and radioactivity is very complicated.  There is so much out there that I’ve been trying to learn and understand.  While I understand that nuclear energy is very controversial, I’m still amazed that there are those who feel it is safe and clean.  I just can’t see how any informed honest person can believe that.  But then again I’ve been amazed to find how little some people know about radioactivity at all.  I’ve even met someone who didn’t know what Chernobyl was!!!  Oh my, no wonder our rights have been so easily trampled.  Many of us have been in the dark.  I’m still learning a lot and finding so much that I didn’t know.  The contamination to our earth is much worse than I had known, and it’s making Revelation 11:18 much more meaningful to me,

“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.”

I have since learned that there have been many more nuclear accidents that have been hidden from us.  Many more parts of our earth have been contaminated and left uninhabitable for generations.  It’s likely that all of us have some nuclear contamination already.  The video presentation, Chernobyl Heart, is only a glimpse of what so many people have suffered as a result of nuclear energy. So many other people who suffered nuclear exposures have been forgotten like all the military personnel and civilians used in nuclear tests and experiments.  People we never hear about, but who have suffered greatly.  Not only do we not hear about them, we are lied to that they never existed.  Even today, these children in Belarus and the surrounding areas are little known and would be still unknown if not for the kind people who documented Chernobyl Heart.

chernobyl.heart

Part 2

Part 3

It’s maddening to think of how much we spend on the military and this is what we get for it–death, destruction, and contamination.  (Nuclear energy was harnessed by and for the military.  The main reason it was pushed onto the public sector was to keep the technology alive during “peace time.”  Check out the story behind Windscale aka Sellafield.)  No wonder the 24 elders in Revelation spoke of “destroying those who destroy the earth.” This reminds me of another parallel concept in the Bible, “Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.”  Matthew 26:52 “52Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”  I think of all these things and I get angry.  But mostly and more recently, I’ve been sad.

Marlakins

03.14.11

Can a Man Take Fire in His Bossom, and His Clothes Not Be Burned?

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Health-related--Natural Alternative Treatments at 12:04 am by Administrator

Yeah, I know.  Proverbs 6:27 is referring to the consequences of adultery, but I do see a principle here regarding reaping what we sow.

More specifically, I’m very disturbed about the situation in Japan and their “venting” nuclear power plants.  It’s really heartbreaking to learn about the destruction and hardships the Japanese are now experiencing in wake of the earthquakes and tsunami, but the damaged nuclear power plants are REALLY upsetting to me.  I mean the gulf oil spill was bad enough!  I keep checking in on the status of Fukushima, and if it’s not annoying enough to read that U.S. Senators like Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell say, even in the face of the nuclear crisis in Japan, that “they are still open to expanding nuclear power capabilities in the U.S.” (Update:  Obama Administration, Senators Stand Behind Nuclear Power Amid Japan Meltdown Scare, by Elise Foley at the Huffington Post), then to read, Radioactive Releases in Japan Could Last for Months, Experts Say posted today in the New York Times by David Sanger and Matthew Wald, I can’t help but vent myself!

After my dad passed away, I felt numb and lost.  I put all my books down and haven’t read anything significant since.  A little news, yes, but not like before.  But this recent crisis in Japan must be knocking some of my old self back.  I “feel” some of my old passions again regarding the destruction man is causing to the earth and the people.  Sure the earthquake and tsunami were acts of nature (at least if you don’t believe in HAARP’s capabilities and all), but nuclear power plants were/are avoidable.  They don’t have to be built.  I believe the dangers outweigh the good and that nuclear energy is basically a Faustian bargain.  I’m saddened that we can’t go back to when nuclear power was not discovered and harnessed.  I’m saddened to think of all those people who have suffered radiation exposure and continue to suffer today from it (countless birth defects, cancers, heart defects, etc. in the Ukraine, Japan, Iraq, etc).  I’m saddened to think of the people being exposed right now, and all the suffering they will endure through no fault of their own, but as a result of the decisions made to build nuclear plants without their choice.  I have to remind myself that there will be justice in the end because I do believe in God and judgment day.

Marlakins

05.23.10

Aid to Gaza?

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations at 6:12 pm by Administrator

People never cease to amaze me.  Life, it seems, really is a struggle between good and evil.  The trick these days is being able to identify which is good and which is evil.  Our news outlets, be it with misinformation or lack of information, makes that task difficult at times.   But since the Bible tells us that there’s no law against love and that it is the first and foremost commandment, and that we are nothing without love, then I would assume that charities and humanitarian aid to the needy is a good thing.  So I’m kinda excited about the news that the Freedom Flotilla has finally hit the seas after years of planning.

Only a few more days and the Freedom Flotilla should be arriving at Gaza.  The convoy of nine ships, both cargo and passenger ships is from the UK, Ireland, Algeria, Kuwait, Greece and Turkey, and is comprised of 800 people from 50 nationalities.   They are carrying humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza in hopes of helping the Gazans as well as breaking the almost three year long siege.  In response to their efforts, Israelis have claimed that they will dispatch two boats to coastal areas around Gaza  in order to prevent a convoy as they claim that this “aid” is against Israeli law.

Israel claims that they are concerned that the aid could fall into the hands of Hamas, but some of the items listed as “banned”  for entry are things like crayons, nuts, fabric, many building materials such as cement and wood, plus water purifiers, generators, and other necessities for rebuilding the damaged neighborhoods in Gaza.  Sure Hamas might get a hold of some of those items, but they are necessary for the civilians, too, especially the crayons. . .  No doubt this type of ban would severely affect the normal lives of civilians since it would make it extremely difficult to rebuild their damaged city.   I believe there are about 2000 items on the banned list.  Here’s a small YouTube clip that lists a few more of the items on the banned list.

banlist

And here’s a short clip of the Rachel Corrie (one of the ships in the flotilla named after the U.S. gal who was run over and killed with a bulldozer as she tried to help protect/save a Palestinian home), which left around the 14th of May from Ireland and shows more of the humanitarian supplies they are carrying to Gaza.

RachelCorrielaunch

I’m hoping that all works out well, and hope that there won’t be any harm done as a result of the “standoff” these people are likely to face with the Israeli Navy and Israeli protesters.  According to this article titled, Israel’ navy will have it’s work cut out, this flotilla is taking along two months supply of food for everyone on board in case it takes that long to get the supplies in to Gaza.  They are anticipating they might meet resistance before they can deliver their goods.  They are also hoping for more international recognition, so hopefully that will make their plight safer and successful.  Now let’s see if our mainstream media even bothers to give them any air time.

Marlakins

05.07.10

Quote Friday

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, quotes at 4:37 pm by Administrator

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

–Paul the Apostle, Galatians 5:22-23

04.27.10

On Being Good Stewards

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Playing the Tourist, knitting and crocheting at 12:13 pm by Administrator

Some people like to accuse Christians of disregarding the earth because of what they “think” is taught in Genesis 1:28.

28“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

It’s the word “dominion” that they like to run with.  And in reality, I can see why some people run with that word because I have seen it myself where “some” Christians do in fact reason that this world is only temporary so we have every right to do with it as we please be it cut down all the forests and pollute the land and air with wild abandon.  They want no restrictions.  However, I would like to assert that not all Christians believe that.  I for one think that Genesis 1:28 refers to man being good stewards of the earth, and the “dominion” part of it has to do with our ability to reason and our capacity to think and plan/organize.  This is a far cry from recklessly plundering our natural resources without regard of the future ability of the land to regenerate healthfully.  Just think that within the very same verse God instructs man to “be fruitful and multiply.”  How can man fulfill that command if he pollutes the environment so badly that nothing will grow, and animals struggle to reproduce, and their own children are born with birth defects as a result of that pollution?   Therefore, I submit that having dominion refers to being good stewards of the earth that God provided for us, not a license to rape the land, air, and oceans.

So in my little ways, I try to be a good steward of the earth, too, by trying to do green things.  Granted sometimes it seems so overwhelming as I look at our trash cans and realize that we do in fact contribute to a lot of waste that clogs up our landfills.  I have endeavored to recycle and cut down on plastics and anything toxic that I can think of.   But I am guilty of owning and going through several computers and various electronics, consume countless batteries and other excess packagings, and enjoy long-distant traveling.  But with this duality, I have become sort of a pack rat with things that aren’t donate-able.  I hate to waste and throw things away. . .  so I try to donate old stuff when I can.  But what to do with the undonate-able stuff?  Then on Earth Day I happened to see a video of a woman using scraps of fabric from old shirts and turning it into yarn that she knit up into scarves.  Oye!  I’ve got lots of old rags. . . even old jeans and bed sheets that aren’t really donate-able, but I still don’t have the heart to throw away.  What to do?

Well, I decided to try it and make a small rug out of one of my old bed sheets.  Here’s how it looked when I started.  I had already started ripping before I thought I should take a picture of my progress.

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After I stripped the sheet down, I started to connect the pieces by just tying the ends together and wrapping it up in a ball.

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Then it was ready to knit.  This is what it looked like half way through.

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And here’s my little rug completed!

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Yeah, I know, kinda of a funky rug, but hey, it works!  Not sure if I’ll just leave those ties sticking out or tuck them in or what, but I’m loving that now my old sheet that was essentially unusable is now going to be used again.  It’s completely washable, too!  And the added bonus to this project is that I not only recycled, but “upcycled” something.  Heheheh.  I love it.

Okay, so that’s my little recycle project, but while at Santa Monica last weekend we saw a larger scale green project in the works there.  It’s a system called “SMURRF,”  Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility.

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The yellow tank in the foreground has dirty, gritty, oily water in it where it is filtered and cleaned.  As the water passes through the system it ends up cleaned as shown at this stage.

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As described in the placard, the water that is captured in the SMURRF system comes from the city storm drains, which contains a lot of debris and which ordinarily would go straight into the ocean without being processed first.  But this system captures some of that dirty water, cleans it, then recycles it to water the landscape.  I love it!  Not only is the dirt prevented from entering the ocean, but the lawns are also fed and maintained.

IMG_6178_00001

Thank God for people who have the genius to know how to put these facilities together.  Now that’s a good use of a scientific brain, and what I think would qualify as a good steward of the earth.

Marlakins

02.28.10

And Now for Thailand

Posted in Church Issues and Bible Interpretations, Playing the Tourist, food and restaurants at 1:43 pm by Administrator

Today I thought I would continue with my travelogue and share some of our pics from Thailand. I thought they had an interesting looking airport.  It was rather large and sci-fi looking.  Dad said it was a bit freaky looking, which I can see, heheh.  Here’s a small sample of the building as we approached.

philippines 2010 and beyond 006_00001

Imagine this same structure stretching out for a couple miles or more.  Not sure why, but it kinda reminded me of a big insect or insect dwelling or something.  Maybe I’ve watched too many Alien movies. . .

The hotel we stayed it was called the Baiyoke Sky, and is the tallest building in Bangkok.  Here’s what the building looked like as we approached it.

philippines 2010 and beyond 007_00001

Our room was on the 40th floor.  Aaron and I shared one room even though there were three beds in the room.  For a fancy hotel with large rooms, I found the interior design surprisingly a bit plain.  Here’s what part of the room looked like.

philippines 2010 and beyond 010_00001

On the opposite side of the beds there was a small lounge, bar and TV.

philippines 2010 and beyond 011_00001

Hmmm.  Not very exciting decor, no?  But the room was clean and very spacious including the bathroom, which was probably more than twice the size of my bathroom at home.

After doing a little snooping around the room I found a Bible written in both English and Thai.  Very interesting writing. . .

thai_bible

I found the Thai language difficult to repeat, and being that their written language is so different than English, I found it doubly challenging to figure out what things were.  For instance we’d pass a lot of building with Thai writing and I’d have absolutely “no” idea what was inside.

Here’s a picture of some Thai currency.

philippines 2010 and beyond 009_00001

It looks to me to be the picture of their king on their money.  The exchange rate at the time we were there was about 31 or 32 bhat to 1 US dollar depending upon where you exchanged money.  Speaking of their king, it seemed like they really loved their king and often spoke highly of him.  His pictures were in so many places throughout the city.

Here are a couple views of Bangkok from our hotel room window.

philippines 2010 and beyond 012_00001

Apparently, the shadow to the right is our hotel.  Here’s another angle from the same window.

philippines 2010 and beyond 013_00001

Large city, huh?  I didn’t know what to expect from Bangkok, but somehow I didn’t expect it to look like this.  It was pretty crowded and had a little similarities in the way to the Philippines.  However, I admit that it’s a bit cleaner than the Philippines and their roads seem more orderly even if it’s still a bit crazy.  One difference is they drive on the left side of the road like the Brits.  The Filipinos drive on the right side like us Americans.  They did have little tricycle-like taxis called “tuk-tuks.”  The name comes from imitating the sound of their engines.  Here’s a pic of one.

philippines 2010 and beyond 022_00001

Breakfast was served between 7 to 10AM on the 79th or 82nd floor depending upon the day.   This was part of one of my breakfasts.

philippines 2010 and beyond 026_00001

Along with this.

philippines 2010 and beyond 027_00001

Yum, I really do miss that kind of breakfast.  It really hit the spot for me.  They actually had a very large buffet, which included many types of breakfasts including the regular ham and eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, french toast, yada yada, but there was no way I was going to eat like that when I had all this other stuff to try.

Okay, so after breakfast we headed down to meet the tour guide.  I’ll post some of those pictures on the next Thai post.

Marlakins

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