End of the Month Roundup - June 2013

The month of June is the busiest month that I had so far.  I was so busy with office works that I neglected my blogs. The result is that I only had four blog posts (one of them is a paid post) for this month.

Having most of my time eaten up by my work is disappointing. I feel that I lost balance and other important activities (religious life, wedding prep, blogging, pro-life activities, family time, etc.) can’t fit to my 24-hour daily schedule. If I can only forego sleeping then maybe I might be able to tackle non-work related tasks. :-(

I want to apologize to my fellow bloggers of whom I haven’t visited their blogs for a long while. I am glad that few of you kept on visiting my blog even though I failed to drop by your blogs. I will do my best to make it up to you in July.

I went to another beautiful place this month. A work-related activity gave me the chance to visit and tour the beautiful island of Bohol. I finally saw the world-famous Chocolate Hills.

Well at least all of my busyness and stress paid off.

I will talk about my Bohol trip next year after I finished all of my scheduled posts for my Thailand and Olongapo City trips.

I talked of two interesting places in Bangkok for this month. I featured the Holy Redeemer Church and the Lumphini Park.

Holy Redeemer Church

Holy Redeemer Church is unique for imbibing Thai architecture styles. This is a beautiful church. My only complaint is that the altar is also in Thai style.

Lumphini Park is a big park in the heart of busy business district of Bangkok. Many people go here to relax and exercise. There are some interesting views here but the best things that I saw are the crows.

I hope that I will be able to balance my time in July. I know that it will be hard because there are so many things that keep on coming my way. I pray that the Lord help me in everything.

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P.S. I want to send my “thanks” to Average Jane for giving me the list that she used for her wedding prep. I’m very happy to receive it from you Ate Tin. Thank you very much for the big help. :-)

Lumphini Park in Bangkok

I was fascinated by the crows of Lumphini Park that I dedicated one blog post about them. I was talking too much about them that I noticed that I no more space to talk about the park where I found these big black birds.

Crows are not the only interesting things that visitors can see in Lumphini Park. The park is a haven not only for the black birds but also for the health buffs. Lumphini Park was the go to place of those who want to jog and to exercise.

How to Go to Lumphini Park

Lumphini Park is located at the heart of the business district of Bangkok so it can be accessed by buses and taxi cabs. The best way to reach the park is by riding the underground MRT train and hopping off at the nearest MRT station to the park, which is the MRT – Silom Station. The exit of the MRT – Silom Station is located near the big statue of King Rama VI at the park's main gate.

Few Things about Lumphini Park

Lumphini Park is few of the wide open spaces in Bangkok. This place is precious for the residents of Bangkok because it is one of the rare spaces where they can enjoy nature. I bet that many Thais are thankful to King Rama VI, who donated the royal property to be converted to Lumphini Park.*

King Rama VI

My hunch is not incorrect because saw garlands and incense oferred to King Rama VI. There is even a kneeling cushion placed for those who want to honor their old king.

This is not the first time that I saw a statue of a Thai king to be laden with flowers and incense. I saw many Thais honor the old kings and even pray to them. I even saw similar practice done for the statues of local heroes and notable people. It makes me wonder if the Thais are worshipping their kings and heroes of old.

Lumphini Park was named after Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha in Nepal.*

The good thing about Lumphini Park is there is no entrance fee. Anyone, even foreigners, can enter this park without paying a single cent.

What to See and Do in Lumphini Park

As I had said, the park is a haven for health buffs. The place is very safe for joggers and many Thais and some expats go to this park to jog in the early morning or late afternoon. Lumphini Park has wide open spaces that are perfect for aerobics, tai chi and picnics. Lifts and other exercise equipments were set-up to be used by park visitors for free.

The park also has playgrounds for the kids.

Like Chatuchak Park, Lumphini Park has an artificial lake where one can “sail” using the pedal-boats for rent. Riding the two-seater boat is perfect for bonding for couples or father and child.

It seems like Thais like to have clock towers in public areas. I have seen one in Chatuchak Park, Chatuchak Weekend Market and even in Chiang Rai town of Northern Thailand. Lumphini Park also has a clock tower.

It is a pagoda-inspired clock tower. It actually looks good and I rank it as the best or second to the best clock tower I've seen in Thailand.

I enjoyed looking at it. I even toyed with my camera taking pictures of this clock tower.

The photo looks old, right?

Strolling around Lumphini Park, I saw Thai structures like this one:

Another weird thing that I saw is a big globe in the middle of greens.

This is no ordinary globe. This is a sundial given as a gift to the current king's sixth cycle birthday. Can you guess what time did I took the photo of the sundial?

These are the few things that I saw during my stroll in Lumphini Park. I know that the attractions are not enticing for tourists, especially those who have tight schedules. It is better that you go to grand tourist spots like the Wat Arun and Grand Palace instead of spending your time in Lumphini Park. But if you have some time, then I suggest that you drop by this place and relax a little before continuing your trip around Bangkok.