Happy Holidays! (Dec 2009)

yoko's mother in thailand (1)

it was in May when my brother called me saying, "i'm wondering what i can give my mother for her birthday..". we usually only take her for dinner or give some roses, but it seems he wanted to do something more this time, which i also had been thinking about. we made several skype conversations and finally decided to give her a 10 days thailand trip. basically, my brother payed most of the airplane fee, and i arranged the small trips here in and around bangkok.

it was her first time visit to thailand. although it was in the rainy season, and although we were really wishing to have cloudy days (because it's much cooler!), those 10 days became completely hot and sunny days...

here are some photos from our 2 days trip to Ayutaya with her. it was a beautiful place surrounded by rivers with lots of historic ruins of the world heritage.


one of the most beautiful and well-remained temples. you can climb up to the middle of the building and enjoy the view of Ayutaya city from there

beautiful stupas..


Dan and my mother at the feet of the reclining buddha


..and, here he is.



the famous buddha's head in a bodhi tree


some details remained. breathtaking beauty..


Ayutaya's famous river prawn with the long arms...


we went to a bar at night. an old man was singing and playing the guitar. (probably a traveler as well) he was actually VERY good and my mother enjoyed listening to his singing.. we had crepe, beer, and watermelon shake there. :-)


the next day, we rode on an elephant..


in thailand, most of the elephants are well kept and loved by the people. they are also treated as sacred animals. they cannot survive in the wild nature by themselves anymore so this is the only way that they can live...

yoko's mother in thailand (2)

have you ever tried the fruit, durian? it has very strong smell even before you peel off the skin. while we were walking in ayutaya, Dan found a cart selling durian on the street. he asked my mother "would you like to try it?!", and with her cats' level curiosity, she immediately answered "Yes!". we bought one package of already-peeled-off durian and went to a nearby park...


Dan opens the package. mmm..., i wonder if my mother can deal with this strong smell.


she smiles with a piece of durian. says "it's not so bad smell...". in the back, one big piece is already in Dan's mouth.


she starts trying a small piece


look at this complicated expression! (..and Dan's curious smile!)


all of sudden, she burst into laugh! what's so funny, mother!? :-O

she had some more small bites after that, but then gave the piece to me saying, "yoko, you are not having any. it's all yours". it was good, but the smell of the fruit stayed in my mouth for the next 3 hours or so.......

yoko's mother in thailand (3)

while my mother was here, Dan requested her to make some japanese dishes. i also cook it sometimes, but he already notices that my cooking is not as authentic as hers. it was 9 years ago when i left my country, and i had few opportunities to eat good japanese food or my mother's dishes. i was curious how much i remembered the taste of her dishes.

i asked her to make something very simple. she made simple but most traditional dishes. they were:


"chawan-mushi" (egg dish with lots of ingredients), "kayaku-gohan"(seasoned and cooked rice with various ingredients), and "osuimono"(clear bonito-flavored soup). she also made a small tofu dish and a veggie dish.


she talks about the dishes with Dan

Dan and i were actually shocked how delicious these dishes were. their tastes were so subtle and sophisticated. it's maybe because she grew up in Osaka/Kyoto culture. i hope i can reproduce this taste in my dining in the future..

***

of course cats loved being with her! she talks so gently and moves slowly, which cats generally love.


with Turi (girl)


with Zinfandel (boy) he was visiting her bed every morning!

***


she also had a chance to visit our house in the countryside. because of the rainy season, the garden looked like a jungle! if you would like to compare, here is the photo of the garden one and half years ago:
http://crocodilefarmstreet.blogspot.com/2007/12/
some-recent-photos.html

***


we also went to see a thai traditional puppet show in bangkok. it had live singing and playing the music instruments. i saw lots of similarities with japanese "ningyo joruri", and it was interesting for me and my mother. Dan seems to have felt "kind of weird" for their special way of singing and acting.

for the final night, she took us to a good french restaurant for our marriage celebration. i think we definitely gained our weights in the last 10 days!!! :-o

Panini and Turi

oops, i was writing about only Zinfandel these days! it's just because his asthma makes us pay more attention to him. Panini (the other beige color cat) and Turi are doing well and give us lots of smiles and laughs everyday.

whenever Panini finds us, he quickly lies down and shows his stomach. we have to give him 3 minutes massage then. he closes his eyes and looks sooo happy while we pet his stomach. he is such a "baby" cat and will be forever like that..

Panini with his favorite bed

Turi is very kind and independent. she is always cleaning the bodies of the other two. (we sometimes call her "cleaning lady") she still has a cute high voice and we love to hear that. she is the same age as other two, but she weighs only about half of Panini now.

Zinfandel and his asthma

it's so hard to see small animals like cats coughing and suffering for asthma. it was a year ago when Zinfandel started coughing especially at night. when the weather changes suddenly, he coughs even more, and we have to give him some medications. we give steroid pills, which works very well, but we don't really want to do it too much, so we started using the nebulizer at the same time.

this device gives him the medication by mist so that it works directly in his lung. it will dramatically reduce the amount of chemical he has to take. it also works so quickly.

first he didn't like the mist (probably it smells bad for him) and tried to escape in the middle. after several days, he understood it helped his breathing, and now he doesn't hate it any more. whenever we give it to him, he is sitting quiet and sometimes half sleeping. he gets it once in the morning (by Dan) and once at night. (by me)

i hear people say that the cats with a crooked tail will bring you fortune or good luck. Zinfandel is the one who has it, but it seems he is spending the most amount of our money among all our cats although he is giving us lots of happiness.... :-)


Zinfandel relaxing in my studio..


his crooked tail (a bit hard to see in this angle)

sunset view from my studio

about two weeks after son kran (thai new year, mid april), the rainy season is finally arriving here. in thailand, the rainy season is kind of nice. there is a strong squall for a short time everyday, normally about one hour or so in the evening time. the sky shows beautfiul clouds and sunset in this season. this day, my studio was completely dyed in red...