All the color and excitement of the Navaratri Festival

   Today was our lucky day! Over breakfast I read about the largest Hindu temple in Bangkok that was an easy 2 train hop, so we decided to see this today. By beautiful coincidence, it is the final day of Navaratri, the festival honoring the Hindu Goddess Durga and everywhere were families making shrines.

   I stopped and asked a guy what were all these gorgeous altars and though it took a few other people to help him translate, he said it was "for all the Goddesses, with a parade tonight". As we walked along (in the street, as these were all built on the sidewalk) each altar more beautiful than the last. The smell of jasmine and marigold, the statues, families all working as fast as they could stringing flowers, arranging fruits- it was amazing! 

   At one altar a boy handed us iced orange juice and food as it honors the Goddess to supply sustenance. No two shrines were alike and while a few were very professional looking, all were very lovely displays of devotion. 

On the two streets we walked, there must have been at least 250 of these wonderful shrines. As you see in the 3rd photo, most everything was made from plants and flowers by hand, even these snakes with money coming from their mouths!

   Once we arrived at the Temple itself, the details and colors were overwhelming...

 Inside it was bursting with worshippers, making the rounds inside of the different altars. I did go inside (barefoot) and though they didn't allow photography at the holiest places, here are a few pictures:

   There were long lines of people waiting to buy offerings and then you could go into the main hidden altar where bare chested priests would accept and place them for you. Over loud speakers, a woman's chanting prayer filled the entire block. Inside the temple it was very solemn while the street displays were more of a fun holiday vibe. Next year we will come back for the parade which is something to see, as the Goddess is pulled along in these golden chariots by hundreds of worshippers. 

   Thanks for stopping by! 

Never a dull moment in the neighborhood!

   Before moving to Bangkok, we did tons of research.....I mean TONS! Endless YouTubes of street food, studying google earth, hundreds of apartment sites, you name it! We even watched a video of a guy walking from one area of where we were considering moving as he walked to the train station so we could time it for distance!
   Some of what we wanted in our area were: lots of markets, access to a large grocery store, VERY close distance to the BTS sky train and away from the tourists. We wanted to live where regular Thai people lived and really get to be part of the community. One of our main worries was when it pours, they do have flooding in Bangkok and since they get almost 60 inches of rain a year, (compare that to Las Vegas' measly 3.5!) slogging thru dirty water on uneven sidewalks was a real concern.
   We chose the On Nut BTS as it had everything we wanted- a huge Tesco attached to the train station (hardly get wet!), several markets in the side Sois (streets), and the train gives us a quick 15 minute or so trip to the heart of the retail/hotel/restaurant center of Bangkok.
   Imagine our surprise when google earth stopped showing a quite large market and a big square of dirt appeared...what happened? Well, it turns out the right next door they are building a mall/hotel/movie palace- I mean, it is about 12 feet from our building! Now, there are 9 train stops to the center of town I had mentioned and each one has a mall there, with all different vibes. One is Japanese, one is super exclusive, another is world themed...kind of like Las Vegas. We thought our area was a bit far to have its own MALL, but someone felt otherwise.

     The VERVE sign is our building-- so while a little daunting worrying about the extra traffic, we are looking at the bright side of a movie theater next door! I will go into the movie experience in a later blog, but it is not to be missed.

   This is the view from our elevator-we can see daily changes as they work on this almost 24 hours a day. It is scheduled to open in October. It is right next to our pool and headphones are an absolute must due to the building noise. 

   Here is a small list of who will be opening--I am excited about the B2S store, which is as close to an art store as there is..it is pen heaven for any planners out there. Bangkok is ever-changing and pushing out further into the outer edges of town. The big fear I think is gentrification fever which uproots people who can't afford to live in their area anymore and some flavor gets lost. 

                                                                                                      Bye for now! 

Welcome to my Inaugural Posting!

   Thanks for visiting my blog on retiring to Thailand from Las Vegas--a huge change for us and I hope interesting to others who want to know what life is like on the other side of the world! My husband Jimm and I have traveled all over the place, but a trip we made to Thailand in 2015 was unlike any other we had experienced. We talked about our adventure for months and were kind of amazed at what a connection we felt for that exotic country.
   In 2016 when Jimm made the suggestion that we retire to Bangkok if I thought I could make the numbers work, I JUMPED at the chance. Looking back, I know I have always wanted to live in other countries...traveling has always been a part of who I am and to live in Thailand and also be able to see all over Southeast Asia was a bonus too good to pass up. Our lives have been conventional but in un-conventional ways, so in retrospect moving here is so "us"! To the family and friends who thought we were kidding, I only point to the way we have done things in our lives. My personal mantra "Nothing to it but to do it!"  sums it all up- because a dream without a plan is just a wish and if I want it to happen, I find a way!
  Fastforward 13 months later and through much reading, researching, watching youtube, emailing people and so much more we now live 14 hours ahead of Las Vegas time and it was absolutely the best decision for us!

   So as I sit here on the 28th floor of my 485 sq foot apartment, looking out at a cityscape of 14 million people in a major world city, I hope you enjoy following our adventure and on the way, learn about the culture and people of this amazing country...