After talking to the father of the church this evening, I have found out that… Portuguese were the VERY FIRST group of EUROPEANS that settled in Thailand hundreds of years ago and the 500th years anniversary of Thai – Portugal diplomatic relationship will be held in the year 2011.
Back to the story about the church… well, let’s make it easy… here is the story that was publish by Eric Lim, a Singaporean living in Bangkok who just loves to write about historical places in Thailand… I am sure going to look him up in person, so that I can learn much more about Thailand itself.
“Santa Cruz Church, the church of the holy cross, was first built in the reign of King Taksin, (1867 – 1782) a legacy of Thai-Portuguese relations that date back to the 16th century. Nestled among old houses on the river banks and newer buildings inland, the reddish dome of the old Catholic church is a prominent landmark on the Chao Phraya.
Descendants of the early Portuguese traders built the first Santa Cruz Church in 1770 after the fall of Ayutthaya. The Portuguese, the first Europeans in Thailand, arrived in Ayutthaya shortly after they captured Malacca in 1511. As the area was also claimed by the Thai King, the Portuguese shrewdly dispatched an envoy to the court of Ayutthaya in the same year to reassure the Thais of Portuguese intentions.
In 1516, Portugal signed a treaty with Thailand to supply firearms and munitions. With the treaty came with the rights to reside, trade and practice their religion in Thailand. This brought the first Portuguese friars in 1567 who established the Catholic Church in Ayutthaya. After the destruction of Ayutthaya in 1767, the Portuguese continued with their military support to King Taksin in his efforts to drive the Burmese out of Thailand. The supply of cannon and muskets contributed significantly to King Taksin’s army. In recognition of their services, King Taksin granted the Portuguese a plot of land to build a wooden church in an area called Kudi Jeen. Thus, the church is sometimes called Wat Kudi Jeen.
Over the next 65 years, the wooden church in Kudi Jeen fell into a state of disrepair. In 1835, Cardinal Pallegoix rebuilt and renamed the church, Santa Cruz Church meaning Holy Cross Church in English. The present Santa Cruz Church was rebuilt again in 1913 during the reign of King Rama VI (1910 – 1925). The two renowned Italian architects Annibale Rigotti and MarioTamagno took on this task. The result of their work has remained till today.
The gate to the spacious courtyard is a short distance from the Santa Cruz Pier on the Chao Phraya. A crucifix is in one corner of the courtyard and a statue of Mary within a beautiful garden in the other. Within a smaller courtyard, surrounded by a low wrought iron fence, stands the neat cream colored church trimmed in reddish-brown and topped by a domed belfry. The sidewalls of the church are decorated with stained glass etched with biblical images.
The church and the inner courtyard are closed on weekdays. To the rear of the church, away from the Chao Phraya, there’s a little cemetery with nine tombstones encased in marble.
The well-kept church grounds are quiet on weekdays save for the rhythmic strains of children reciting their lessons in the Santa Cruz Convent nearby and the occasional passerby on the way to the pier. Like an urban oasis with narrow sois (lanes) leading to the busy streets outside, the Santa Cruz Church is all that remains of Portuguese influence in Kudi Jeen today.
Well, I’m sure that covers most of the story about Portugal and Thailand. Ahh I got invited by the father to join them on a trip to the VERY FIRST Portuguese village in the old Capital of Siam, Ayutthaya, in November.
A week perhaps, since my last post. The absence was due to, as you may have already read from Hans’ previous post, a high fever that I had. Anyway, I was admitted for observation in the hospital! The cause of it is unsure but, as the doctor said, that it was due to a little bit of everything. Everything started off with the seasonal allergies, stress related (remember the eye twitching post last week?), lack of sleep, blood donation and I caught a cold from the rainy weather lately. So, all of that combine = an alarming high fever that they thought it may have been the H1N1 flu!
How high was the fever??? I thought I was on FIRE even though I was in an air conditioned room set to 24C. An hour of draining the heat in the shower at 3AM didn’t help much! Pretty much I get admit to the hospital few hours after that… yup
As a result… Quarantined !!! It wasn’t as bad as it sounds, but it was sure boring! The first day… OMG!!! test test test, examine examine examine… as much exhausted as I already was… now that I had to deal with all the screening! To make sure that if it were H1N1 or not.
After the admittance, I must have slept about 20+ hours to wake up and thought it was just the evening of the same day. That was some rest! The fever was lower than the day before, but I was told to stay put until the resulted of the screening come back which took days! Nothing to do, apparently, my family brought my backpack and there was no PHONE! sigh. A life without phone is like a life without connection, without hearing words from or be able to text … was worse than the fever itself!
So what to do? Fortunately instead of staring at the ceiling all day, I get to study “How to speak Portuguese” because that was the only thing that left in my backpack. Read, fell asleep, eat, read some more, sleep some more, eat some more… repeat that for a few days! But during all those times, my imagination went wild! Have you ever dream in language that you don’t even know how t0 speak yet? I think I dream in Portuguese during my stay there. That was some fever, got my brain thinking that I can understand Portuguese already.
The only time that I got out from the hospital was for the TAN network opening that involved my cousin’s sis being the MC for the event and that the Prime Minister of Thailand was the honored guest speaker for the event. I must have gave the doctor a hard time just to sign me out for 3 hours release, sounds like a boarding school!. That 3 hours of freedom was good, get to see PEOPLE again and the best part was…. I got to eat REAL FOOD!!! Well, that didn’t last very long as I had to return back for final observation.
Finally, got released… the first thing I did was…. look for my phone! Amazingly, the phone didn’t die. I guess iPhone can stay idle for days. I was surprise because normally I had to recharge day by day from my daily use, browsing, itunes… etc! Missed call and unread SMS!… ! It was a great to finally get to hear her lovely voice after days of observation!!!
Okie… back to our blog
This was taken last night, after a day of staying home resting… I just had to get out to get some “not so fresh air” in the Bangkok. So I was off to the Victory Monument Bangkok that I must have not seen it for the pass 10 years! I was hoping for it to rain so I can try to get some wet looks of the city but… nope! There, I met another photographer who was shooting at the monument as well so we share some shots with each other… and WOW I was amazed at his picture using 20 seconds of open exposure! Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my tripod with me.
It was a night in Madrid, where I was going solo for the night all alone after letting my friends go to eat tapas and drink some beer. I was more interested in the city and because I wouldn’t have much of a chance to visit the city, hence I just keep walking and snapping at everything! phew phew phew! Here and there, mostly I was taking pictures of architecture but I felt that it wasn’t enough to remember the moment.
Not until I found this shot, the Vespa!
On a different subject… does anyone know what is the cause of eye twitching! My left eye has been twitching for weeks now! In Thai culture, we believe that the left eye twitching is a sign of GOOD LUCK! Or perhaps bad luck? Or perhaps… you know how when people sneeze, they said that someone is missing you… or is gossiping about you. Let’s hope that it is something “GOOD” that is happening when the eye twitches. Or actually… maybe it was just my eye twitching?
That was very superstitious of me, how silly!
Better stop thinking and rest some more, these storms and rain in Bangkok are starting to get to me!
Oh yes… another weekend! Time is really flying by! This is a view at the Rayong Resort while it was raining the last time I visited, about a month or so ago. I didn’t get to enjoy much of the sea due to the rain, but I got to spend sometime under the balcony that was absolutely empty! So there, I was listening to music and just singing along with it in the rain.
No, this is not the Santa Cruz church in Bangkok. Instead this is the Valencia Cathedral in Valencia, Spain.
The plan for this weekend is to find the aforementioned Santa Cruz church, the very first Portuguese church in Bangkok. Hopefully they will allow photographing inside the church so that I get to share the moment with you. It’s a way for me to get to know the history and culture of Portugal as much as I can before actually moving there!
I am learning to speak Portuguese! Not very good yet… still on chapter 3 out of 24 chapters! Well, but it is a start! Why Portuguese? Because I am going to need it in 10,967,287 seconds or a mere 3,046 hours away before I’ll be settling in Portugal! (POR-tu-guese) Until then, I am filling every minutes of the day with as many activities as possible to keep the time going!
TIME FLYS!
Hello Neighbor. Good morning! is the translation of the title today. Actually the picture was taken in Madrid, Spain… NOT “POR” tugal!
Why do I emphasis “POR” tugal? Because I was lectured for saying “POL” tugal! and sometime “PO” tugal which is wrong. So, everyday… while driving to work… one of my lessons is to say the word “Portugal” correctly!
As much as we would like for him to turn around, he can’t as he is a statue, a part of the El Prado Museum Fine Art. We didn’t actually visit inside of the museum. We were taking a short cut to get to Retiro Park and found a place to rest after hours long of walking!
As for the picture, it was taken by … when she got a hold of the camera for just a few minutes but she captured so many great pictures in those few minutes compared to me spending hours and hours, trying way too hard to get a few good pictures… I don’t even know if mine were any good!
I guess, trying too hard doesn’t always take us to what we were trying to achieve! Instead… just relax, do our best, don’t force it, just let it be… and then everything will work itself out!
It has been a while since the last time that I went to church. Another Sunday passed by and I am yet to find a church to attend regularly. In place of going to church, I spent most of my Sunday in, what I would like to call “pastry lab”. A pastry lab indeed, because no matter how many times I repeat the recipe… I can never produce the same pastry!
That is why… Practice makes perfect. Let the facade be the example of hard work and years full of practice to make the perfect facade for the Saint Mary of Valencia Cathedral.
As for the photo at Santa María la Real de La Almudena, a Catholic cathedral in Madrid, SPAIN, I took this just weeks before I left Spain. Walking in the sun for hours, I was lucky enough to get a shot at this because … was exhausted from all the walk and wanted rest ASAP! So there I went, snapping photos as much as I could before we went to have our brunch near the Palace.
A mother holding her child… an unconditional love… a purest gift… the greatest joy. (This is Me… trying to write a poem)
I don’t think I can ever put words into defining what I would tell my mother on mother’s day. 2 Days ago, it was Mother’s Day in Thailand.. 12 August 2009. I couldn’t find a picture or word to tell her how much I care for her and love her.
Today, I found the one photo… with an inspiration by a mother that wouldn’t want to miss a minute spent with her child, a great mother indeed.
Dear Mother and mothers, I would like to dedicate to you, A True Angel by George W. Zellars.
A mother is special, she’s more than a friend.
Whenever you need her, she’ll give you a hand.
She’ll lead you and guide you in all that you do.
Try all that she can just to see you get through.
Good times and bad times, she’s there for it all.
Say head up, be proud, and always stand tall.
She’ll love you through quarrels and even big fights, or heart to heart chats on cold lonely nights.
My mother’s the greatest that I’ve ever known, I think God made my mother like He’d make his own.
A praiser, a helper, an encourager too, nothing in this world that she wouldn’t do.
To help us succeed she does all that she can, raised a young boy now into a man.
As another week passes by, what would be better than to enjoy a few cold L’s of San Miguel beer while relaxing and watching a movie at home. Talking about it reminds me… I should go take them out from the freezer before they explode!
Long day, Long week, TIME FLYS… yet, something is missing.
This is the Emerald Buddha that is MATTER to all THAI and is the one thing that can bring all THAI together. Thai’s had gone thru great lengths to secure the Emerald Buddha with the belief that the Buddha will bring luck and fortune to Thailand. With the legend (according to wiki) that the Emerald Buddha was created more than 2000 years ago, it is amazing to see something from that era survive well preserve till now.
In the photo, the Emerald Buddha is the statue in the lower middle inside the temple thru the entrance. Beside the amazing history of the Emerald Buddha, pay attention to how detailed the temple itself is. Everything is hand made hundreds of years ago to specially house the Buddha. I spent quite some time staring at the wall, entrance and ceiling, amazed by its detailed decoration and design. I am still amazed by those details just by looking at the photo.
Currently I am on medication due to allergies from dust and the weather. It’s side effect is SLEEPINESS! Directions: One after breakfast and one after dinner. The one after dinner is not really the problem but the problem is after breakfast because it make me really lazy and sleepy. I have been trying to stay awake thru out the day during work! There were times that I just blank out at the computer’s monitor, day dreaming! And that was how I got reminded of this picture I took of the Sleeping Buddha at Wat Pho weeks ago and I would like to share it with everyone before I fall asleep in front of the computer!
Bangkok is full of amazing places to visit! I hope that I get to visit everything there is offered by the city before I have to depart, once again.
The wind, the breeze, the soft bright light that shines thru the clouds have provided me a with a very good place to just sit and relax while listening to Portuguese lessons on the iPhone. After 30 minutes of so of listening to the lesson, I just couldn’t resist taking a nap right there only to be woken up later for brunch; fresh fish that was just caught from the river just hours ago, Dork Kare (a type of flower that was home grown) fried with garlic and soy sauce, Fried Rice with Ham and a few more dishes that I couldn’t remember what they were. It was such a good meal and location that we thought we were in a restaurant.
It was at my uncle’s house that is still under construction. It has been under construction for that past 6 years! He is really taking it easy but the end result is amazing!
The house across the river has been there for ages! The last time that I was actually swimming in the canal must have been about 15 years ago! There were a bunch of us, children, jumping into the river and swimming from this side of the canal to the other. I was not a strong swimmer yet, so I wasn’t really swimming any where.
After a few days, I learned how to float thus learned how to swim! I also learn how to fish at this very spot as well. It wasn’t anything fancy like the modern fishing pole. My fishing pole was made of a really thin bamboo tree with a string and hook attached to it. I spent hours and hours just sitting by the porch trying to catch fish!
Great memories! Good times.
It was a great time when we didn’t have to worry about anything but playing and having fun day after day!
Last week, while I was visiting one of our relative in Ayuthaya as my Auntie and Grandmother were busy with the families, I was walking around taking pictures and I found this little hut. I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw a few people went inside and just sit there. Minutes later a bus showed up. So there! it is a bus stop!
I find the bus stop to be very inspiring for my dream house. A place that is isolated from the city but yet is well connected thru the world with Internet, TV, Radio, and so on. The majority of the house in Ayuthaya are lifted in the air about 2 meters high, as when the rain season comes, the water will rise about a meter or so.
Ideally, the dream house is lifted above the rice field. Providing the change of view thru out the year with the change of color of the rice field through out seasons and also protecting the house from being flooded when the water rise.
I’ll keep this short because I must fix all the photos on Flickr as the Thailand album is having problems. The problems caused by the syncronization between iPhoto and flickr! The entire album is lost so I must re-link, re-upload, re-update all of the photos back to the blog.
This is going to take some time! Sorry for the inconvenience as there might be some entries where the picture disappears!
After I kept taking pictures with “typical views and compositions” as I always do, I just couldn’t make it any more interesting than it was! I was trying not to only capture its color or its architecture and design. I was trying to capture everything and I couldn’t do it with the typical direct shot.
That was when I started to look down and rest on my neck and to my surprise, i fell in love with the reflection of the pond on the ground then I fired away, taking a lot more shots at the ground. I’m sure I caused the passers by to wonder… “what is he doing? Taking pictures of the floor? That is one crazy guy!”
After the visit at the Wat Pra Kaew in the Grand Palace area, we ended up walking until late evening and that was when we start driving to Yaowarat for dinner. Yaowarat is famous or being the Chinatown of Bangkok. The district is filled with all varieties of Asian food! Another reason for people to go visit is Yaowarat is gold. That’s right, the majority of the chain jewelry shops have had their beginnings here in this very district, Yaowarat!
All the signs are the advertisements are from jewelry shops! I wasn’t staying late enough to wait and took the picture when it was all lit at night. We had to leave because it was starting to rain and there were no places to stay dry!
There is some amazing information about the Chakri Mahaprasad Hall, as a part of the Grand Palace at wikipedia! You should read the details as I don’t even know much about it myself, so I can’t really tell you much that isn’t already written, except that it is an AMAZING place with AMAZING architecture and AND culture! After years and years in Thailand, this is the first time that I actually visited the the Grand Palace. I must have visited a long time ago when I was really, really, really small!
Ahh… now I can feel that you want to be here too, don’t you?
Still so much for me to explore as I plan to explore it slowly during weekend.
I must have taken this photos a few weeks ago when I had my Laptop serviced. I couldn’t upload the picture until now. My family was planning to visit the temple as I also wanted to take the picture of this amazing temple, which I will not reveal to you, yet. But it was raining by the time we arrived so we went to a mall for lunch and an hour later we went back as the rain had stopped.
We spent a few hours there, walking from one temple to the next. After having taking so may photos that are so clear and detailed, I find this photo to capture the moment and the beauty of the temple at its greatest. When something is so detailed, you begin to look for the flaws in its perfection. But when something is so crude and blurry… you will use your imagination to paint and complete that canvas yourself.
Complete the photo with your imagination.
This week will be Thai week, so hang on tight! I’ll keep it coming!
Inspired by London’s crystal palace, the Palacio de Cristal can be found at the south-eastern end of the Retiro Park. It was initially used to house exotic plants brought over from the Philippines. It is now mainly used for temporary exhibitions. (wiki)
It is an unfortunate thing to happen to an amazing structure, as the Cristal palace now houses absolutely nothing. Sure it was once a green house for exotic plants, but its name and glory are things lost in time, a time which has passed by. It has become outdated and has lost its value. The architecture at this scale should be occupied throughout the year; it should not be neglected nor only be used when it is needed.
A palace is not a palace if it were merely a decoration to a park. A palace is a palace when it is occupied and cared for.
To my eyes, this is a very lonely sight indeed. Once a place full of lives and happiness, now an empty shell waiting to be fill with joy once again, permanently. Until then…
Back to the Easter Holiday once again, it was April, 09 2009 just a few days before the Thai New Year celebration (April 13). I had only seen the picture of the Plaza Mayor in photos and postcards before. But once I actually had been in the Plaza, it was simply amazing! I have seen many plazas like this before on the Discovery Channel, but never before in person until that day! At that time, I had spent so much time taking pictures, I must have taken several hours at the Plaza Mayor.
Anyway, I told myself that day… “I am going to visit this place again but it would be with the love of my life.” Who would have known that just a few months later… I actually visit Plaza Mayor again.
Being a wedding planner is not easy, especially when you want to plan one for yourself.
I am not much of a speaker… I hope that this would explain how I feel for her. Is it classical, rap, hiphop, R&B? I have no idea! But it is a great song that I found on YouTube!
Two Hearts, One Love.
Verse 1
Reminince back when the first time we met
i thought to do something but i was too scared
of the main fact that i might get rejected
neglected even if i got selected
it was too much for a small heart to handle
had this dream me and you on the table
heads tight me and you with dim lights
no one in else in sight only you and i
the skys dim blue stars out too
you from the star it was gonna be true
when you howl my world me and you were together
i live one you yeah we be here forever
our loves my life when you give me butterflies
i see my wife when i look into your eyes
your my life your my friend you my motivation
my girl of my life you my new sensation
your more like no one else yeah your one of a kind
its hard to believe some time ichiban
i think you were sent to me from above
always intrigued two hearts one love
two hearts one love for life
two hearts one love till the day that i die
Verse 2
i was lost before but now im found
just thinking about you make my head go round
i love you for you and your personality
whenever im drunk you make it seem like a reality
if something wrong and im left in the dark
your the first one i talk to coz your whom who i trust
before i sleep i make sure that you brush
you my baby my sweetie my lil princess
i cant explain how much i love you
whenever im around you i feel so triggered
just feel so right like it meant to be heaven
having you in my arms means so much to me
when we kiss i just feel so much
how you change my day just with a single touch girl
theres no you can trust me with your heart
655 for life from the start
Chorus
your my life your my friend you my motivation
my girl of my life you my new sensation
your more like no one else yeah your one of a kind
its hard to believe some time ichiban
i think you were sent to me from above
always intrigued two hearts one love
two hearts one love for life
two hearts one love till the day that i die
Bridge
Still cant believe that you were mine
the love that we shared was so genuine
family first? well you come first
i love you so much that my heart gonna burst that it hurts
musical feeling inside the thought of the two of us goin to collide
everytime i hold you my heart beats fast
its you before my crew called outkast
bridge break
the love we have grows strong by the day
you my one lonely love where the word hoe’s okay
in bed its only you in my head and running now
which you would feel i was dead
instead im at home alone
atleast one hiss with your voice on the phone
and i do that i dont care about the bills
650 man that aint giving me the chills
i just think of you
when you watch that i wait with you
i share love and thats how its gonna stay
this love that we have bright white like a dove
After 1 year.. I guess she must have known it; she is now 1 year old (human year) as she ran away from home today, only to be found later by a boy. Thank you, whoever that is! Thank you! I was dreaming of her today that we were running and then took a rest somewhere, just like in this picture. Relaxing in the sun, getting ready to run… again.
Happy Birthday, my little blue eyed, Missha!
And couldn’t have her today if Qi wasn’t taking care of her… but opse… Missha ran away! What the -BEEP- ! The point is she is back.
