Songkran in Pattaya

For Songkran this year, we (Dech and I) have returned to The Rabbit, a lovely resort hotel in Jomtien, Pattaya. We have been twice before: once in 2006, and last year with my parents.

Stanley Kubrick Archive

I went to the Stanley Kubrick Archive at the University of the Arts in London yesterday. The Archive was donated by Kubrick's widow earlier this year, and is currently being catalogued.

I had a great surprise: I found that I am actually part of the archive! In one of the boxes is my list of Kubrick's Look photographs, printed out from my website.

my family revisits Bangkok

My parents and sister came back to Bangkok this month (they were also here in 2006). We all went to The Rabbit, Pattaya, where Dech and I stayed last year. I took them to Vimanmek Palace, a palace constructed entirely from teak. Vimanmek itself wasn't anything special (there was a compulsory guided tour, and guided tours aren't my cup of tea), but the smaller buildings in its grounds were more interesting: a museum of the Queen's silk dresses (with at least ten labelled as her "favourite") and an exhibition of the King's photography (with earnest captions proclaiming the artistic genius and philosophical significance of every image).

monkeys!

For the Songkran holiday, we went back to Chao Samran, and, on the way, we stopped at Khao Wang, the palace of King Rama IV, in Petchaburi. The palace is at the top of a steep hill, and the hill is home to hundreds of wild monkeys.

Songkran

Songkran, the Thai new year holiday, gets longer and wilder every year. This year, it lasts from last Friday until next Tuesday. Songkran is essentially an excuse to soak people with water, and everyone is armed with water-pistols, buckets, and hoses. Ice and talcum powder are sometimes added, too, for good measure. Also, seemingly everyone leaves Bangkok to visit relatives in other provinces, making the city a haven of tranquility. Our car was powdered and soaked while we were driving through Petchaburi.

Chao Samran

Last night, we had a short holiday at Chao Samran, a beach on the east coast 300km south of Bangkok in Petchaburi province.

We stayed at a "boutique resort" called Chez Nous, located right on the seafront. Our room was directly in front of their lovely pool, which was itself directly in front of the beach.

The whole area was extremely quiet, probably because we were there on a weeknight. We did see one other couple arrive, though it essentially felt like we were the sole guests, as no-one else ever used the pool or even the beach. Lovely!

We're going back again in April for Songkran (Thai new year), although it'll surely be much busier then (and our seaview room is fully booked, unfortunately).

sunflower field

Today we drove to see a field of sunflowers near Lopburi, two hours north of Bangkok. I love sunflowers, so it was fantastic to see a whole field of them.

Nakhon Pathom

Today we (that is, Dech and I) went to Nakhon Pathom, a town about an hour's drive west of Bangkok.

Nakhon Pathom is the oldest town in Thailand, and contains the country's earliest Buddhist monuments. (The UK equivalent would perhaps be Glastonbury, England's earliest Christian site.)

The town's major landmark is the Phra Pathom Chedi, the world's tallest 'stupa' (dome-shaped reliquary). Buddha relics are usually interred within the stupas themselves, and are therefore inaccessible to visitors, though the tiny bone relic at Phra Pathom is visible within a transparent philatory.

Kubrick exhibition in Belgium

The Kubrick exhibition, previously held in Germany and Australia, has moved to Ghent in Belgium. It is on show at the city's Caermersklooster from 5th October this year until 7th January 2007.

This post is from Brussels airport in Belgium, as I'm leaving the country after going to the absolutely amazing Kubrick exhibition here. The city of Ghent is charming, with its cobbled streets and Gothic churches.

I went to the exhibition with my friend and fellow Kubrick obsessive, Fili (of archiviokubrick.it), which was the best possible way to see it. It features various props from each of Kubrick's films, including iconic items such as the typewriter from The Shining and the 'starchild' from 2001. There are also pages from Kubrick's notebooks and scripts, and hundreds of previously unseen Kubrick photos.

holiday in UK & Belgium

I'm going on holiday to visit my parents and sister in the UK (from 1st to 11th November), as I haven't seen them since they came to Bangkok in April. On 2nd-3rd November, I'll be on an excursion to Belgium at the Kubrick exhibition.

Siam Ocean World

Today is Dech's birthday, so we went to Siam Ocean World, the aquarium at Siam Paragon. (Paragon, which opened last year, was - briefly - the largest shopping centre in Bangkok. That title has now been taken by Central World, which expanded this year.)

The sharks, weird fish, and other live creatures at Ocean World were fascinating, though the same can't be said for the much-publicised Polar Festival (polarfestival.com). Adverts for the event promise real animals, though the 'Festival' is a room with polar bears and huskies - all entirely artificial! They should call it the Plastic Festival. Even the igloos are plastic.

Also, Ocean World is screening Pirates, a 3-D film by Keith Melton. The film is advertised as 4-D, because its auditorium provides an additional level of sensory interaction. For instance, when a character in the film falls down, our seats tilt. When someone is dragged along the ground, the seats vibrate. We are sprayed with mist when actors are drenched with water. Rubber flaps tickle our ankles when we seen bats flying. In traditional terms of script and performance, the film was nothing special (Eric Idle, script-writer and co-star, must have been having an off-day), though the 4-D effects were entertaining. If 4-D was utilised for a genuinely exciting film, instead of this rather lame comedy, it would have great potential.

I was most interested in the aquarium's jellyfish tank, which was positioned in front of a large cinema screen. Abstract animations were projected onto the screen, viewable through the clear water in the tank with the jellyfish in the foreground. The effect was stunning.

Jomtien, Pattaya

We've had a short holiday at the beach. We stayed at a great place called The Rabbit, with traditional-style wooden houses overlooking either the sea or their (very lovely) pool in Jomtien, Pattaya (100km from Bangkok).

my family visits Bangkok

My parents and my sister (Claire) came to visit us in Bangkok last week. We took them on a tour of the sites, including Wat Phra Kaew (the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha), Wat Pho, Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn), Wat Traimit (the Golden Buddha), and the ancient city of Ayutthaya (where Claire and I went elephant-riding).

Malaysia

I've been on a brief holiday to Penang in Malaysia with Dech. We stayed at a hotel towards the northern part of the island, though Penang is a small place so it only took a short bus ride to reach the main town, Georgetown.