My Birthday

I celebrate my 51st Birthday at Scala Restaurant, Siam Square.


Trying to use the monocle, the birthday present from P' Rochana.

Coca Restaurant

We have lunch at Coca Restaurant on Surawong Road. I regularly dined here while I was working at TISCO on Silom Road. The popular dishes included crab with curry paste, roasted duck, and the all-time famous Sukiyaki meal. Coca has recently been renovated to celebrate its 50 years anniversary. The place looks more modern and the food is still good just like before.

Mongolia

During July 9-15 I went to Mongolia, the land of the world's great warrior Genghis Khan. Our group consisted of 19 people. Most of us went to Beijing first but, since I used to go there a couple of years ago, I joined them later. We arrived at Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia on July 10. Mr. Gonzoric, the Mongolian diplomat, and Madame Densma, his wife, warmly welcomed us. They took care and reserved his own hotel, Gobi Sauna Complex, for us all. We have visited various interesting places such as the Mongol monastery, the Naadam Festival's Opening Ceremony, the 13th Century Mongolia, etc. We have stayed in the traditional "Ger", seen the horse racing competition, tried horse riding, and had fun shopping for Cashmier sweaters and North Face jackets, etc. Although the weather was rather hot and sunny, I had a memorable and wonderful time there.

For more photos of Mongolia, please visit my photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/anbunnag/Mongolia.

The Gobi Complex consists of a hotel and a sauna. The Sauna is very famous and always fully booked.


The VIP Room in the Sauna


The Fitness Club


We had the first dinner in the restaurant in the Sauna, where everybody had to dress in sauna uniform.

Winter Palace of Bogd Khan

P' Tim at the top of the Zaisan Memory Hill and Scenic.

Mongolian people paraded at the Naadam Festival's Opening Ceremony on Mongolian National Day.

Mr. Gonzoric and his son, Tem, took us to see the horse racing competition on the Mongolian National Day.


Behind me was the Ger, where we had traditional Mongolian lunch.



Dr. Sumet demonstrated how to use a Mongolian toilet in the middle of the grass field.


Aor, Nom, and Mi

We spent a night at the Terelj Camp, a resort for tourists, 55 kms from Ulaanbaatar.



Beautiful rock mountains


Khun Sivaporn and family


In front of the ger where I stayed with Khun Chanthra

Mi, Noi and Busaba were so happy that they turned crazy.


Khun Sivaporn and the Mongol warriors


On the hill we could see gers and camps in the distance.


It was a great honour to pose with Dr. Sumet.

Mongolian Food:


Looks like beef stew at a food stall at the Nadaam Festival


Fermented horse milk, or Arak, is usually the welcome drink in traditional Mongolian meals.


Mr. Gonzoric treated us to the traditional Mongolian lunch in the Ger. In front of him was bread and various types of meat - beef, lamb, horse, goat, etc., which he later distributed them to everybody. Most Mongolians don't eat vegetables. They prefers meat as it keeps them warm in the winter.


The Teppanyaki food style in a trendy Mongolian Barbeque grill restaurant in Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia is the Land of Blue Sky.

Some sweet couples :


Khun Pichai and Busaba


Khun Sivaporn and P' Rochana


Noi and Suthas


Mi and Tem

Senor Pico

Mom enjoys Pina Colada drink at Senor Pico, Rembrandt Hotel.

Dear's 23rd Birthday

Dear is 23 years old today. To celebrate his birthday, I prepare for him rocket salad with grilled sweet pepper and mushroom.


The main course is Spicy Beef Spaghetti, which is his favourite. The above picture was however taken after I have eaten half of it. Why do I always forget to take pictures before I eat?


The dessert is Birthday cake from Coffee Bean. In this picture Khun Yai helps Dear blow the Birthday candles.

Christopher Cross Concert

Christopher Cross performs his concert at Thailand Cultural Centre. His voice is still outstanding and the music is very firm although there are only four musicians.

Dear is very happy he finally gets his new car, Honda Civic, after waiting for over a month.

Today is the last day of the Royal Orchid Paradise at Paragon Department Store, where beautiful orchids are exhibited all over the mall.

Wat Indraviharn

We go to Wat Indraviharn on Visuttikasart Road every year to pay respect to Luang Por Toh Buddha image, make merits and dedicate to the deceased.

Luang Por Toh Buddha image, approximately 30 metres tall, was constructed in 2410 B.E. and took 60 years to finish. It was redocorated in 2525 B.E. using 24K gold plate mosaic tiles from Italy.

P'Oi, Um (P' Too's son), and P' Too in front of the beautiful Luang Por Toh image.

Every year we make it a family tradition to clean the Buddha images before sprinkling them with lustral water on Songkran Day.


Mom is posed with P' Tum, P' Pao, and all of her five grandchildren.

P' Ood, P' Toi, P' Taew, P' Tor and their family pay respect to Mom on the occasion of Songkran festival. They are my cousins, and children of my father's elder sister. My father has quite a lot of sisters and brothers. Including their spouses, the number of his family members are twelve. Ten have passed away, including my father at the age of 63. The remaining two include my mom who is now 87. Mom also has a lot of brothers and sisters but she is the only one of her family who still lives well and has a good health. She therefore has a lot of relatives who are nephews, nieces, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren, etc. I estimate the number is around 100. Every year, on the occasion of Songkran festival, Thailand's New Year, some of them come to pay respect to her.