To a mother, is there anything better than spending a vacation, even very short, with a child who has long since left home? I don’t think there is one. This is how I felt when I, over the past two weeks, visited Linda and her boyfriend Mitch in Bangkok, Thailand. Time passed by so quickly, and now I am going back to Beijing with many precious feelings and sweet memories of the trip left behind. With Linda’s and Mitch’s careful plan, in these two weeks, almost every day we went out and ate at different Thai restaurants that always came out with something just wonderful. I enjoyed Thai food very much, even though sometimes they were too spicy for me. But the dishes were fresh, light, and very tasty. I have to say that now I prefer Thai food to the Chinese food I have in Beijing, the latter usually being overly cooked and very oily. Every evening we played games, the way families spent times together in the pre-TV age. I wouldn’t say that I was a good player by any measure, but I enjoyed every minute spent with them immensely. We chatted, laughed, and ate a lot. Sometimes, Mitch and Linda cooked some American/Italian food that I have been longing for for a long time. Let alone to say that I was staying in their lovely lovely loft-styled apartment, modern, with high ceiling and a beautiful view especially during the night and rainy days. I swam every day, in order to get my strength back for more hard work, and for most of the time, I had this long and narrow pool all by myself.
Of course we went shopping, several times; and who wouldn’t do so in a city that has not only the largest weekend market in the world, but also so many modern and lavishing, high-end shopping malls. We also visited several royal museums: Suan Pakkard Museum and Throne Palace. I was very impressed by the striking contrast: one museum composed by traditional wooden and beautifully plain Thai architectures that are harmonious with the green nature and quiet surroundings; and the other one is a gorgeous and magnificent Western style palace with stunningly bright and colorful high dome-ceilings that are covered with traditional 
Western paintings and Thai designs. Yet, under the Western roofs, this palace now serves as a museum for the most authentic and ancient Thai artifacts that were crafted by hundreds of artisans for months and even years. The last Saturday of my stay, we went to an island that is very famous for a special type of pottery. Besides the potteries, I was most surprised by the local food, which is that they deep-fried everything, from meat, fish, to all kinds of flowers! For obvious reasons we did not try any of these. But, it’s very interesting to see how the local people spend their leisure time and eat their favorite food.
Today Bangkok or maybe the whole Thai societies exists in strikingly different worlds. On the one hand, the skyscrapers are everywhere, and many more are still under construction. In this city of over 12 million people, you can live a most comfortable modern life: people eat, shop, and have fun in these fantastic and expensive shopping centers, get rides on clean and cool taxi or skytrain, get the most effective and high quality medical care, and enjoy the most courteous service. On the other hand, thousands and thousands of urban dwellers eat on the street food stands under the burning tropical sun and breathing the gas-filled air, and live in those low and dark rooms that you can see everywhere. Sometimes, I stood in Linda/Mitch’s apartment balcony and looked down. There were a lot of aluminum-roofed small cabins around this tall modern apartment building. They were so close to this modern giant, and yet I knew nothing about the people living there. I often wonder what life is like living under those aluminum roof, and how much have their lives been improved with modernization.
In fact, those contradicting impressions you can also see easily in China and any developing countries. Yet, no one can deny a bright hope for Thailand. For here you see a country full of youth and energy, and a country that has the well functioning libraries where students are absorbing knowledge and weaving dreams, and also this is a country that continues to obtain strength and wisdom from its past and roots. Thai food is spicy, Thai fabric is brilliant, and Thai culture, in so many ways, is moderate and accessible.
This is a vacation from which I can’t ask for more, and a memory I will keep forever.
Great finally reading of your time with Mitch and Linda in Thailand, and seeing the pictures, especially the one of mother and daughter, a perfect picture of the happiness shared.
Hope one day to share time with you too in Hartford, Cleveland or who knows what corner of the world! Best regards, Nan (11-22-09)
Is this Linda’s mother’s blog? I’m not sure, but I posted the following message to a blog yesterday (Linda’s or Mitch’s?). Here it is again. Hoping to hear from somebody….Thanks.
Mitch and Linda, This is Cobby’s father in Athens, Georgia. Cobby has not seen the “House Hunters” episode, either, but he sent his mother and me a Web link to the show. We enjoyed it very much. I was a little surprised at first — when I saw property #1. That “house of a thousand tiles” (as Mitch correctly dubbed it) is several cuts below the sorts of sleek properties Cobby usually handles down in Hua Hin. Later, I found out that this program was just an acting job. All of you were pretty convincing, though. We liked the way you two, Linda and Mitch, listened so attentively to each other. You really seemed to be grappling with your “big decision.” After watching the video a few times, I began to suspect that Cobby was not actually a realtor in this story. He seemed a little bemused. When he followed Linda’s microwave remark with “Looks like NO baking…,” he gave himself away to those of us who know him well. Maybe a serious realtor would have soft-pedalled that deficiency a bit. That was funny to us — and quintessential Cobby. Our son enjoyed working with both of you (said you were “nice folks”) — and we got a kick out of watching the show back here. (Providence looked great, too!) Hope you’re having a good stay in Bangkok — and that you got a stove! Best wishes, Milton Leathers P.S. Linda, I’m guessing that you are of Chinese descent. Maybe the Thais can believe you are Chinese. Cobby hangs out with many Thai/Chinese (or Chinese/Thai?). He told his mother and me that his friends in Bangkok can believe he is part Caucasian. And they can believe he is part Hawaiian. But they don’t seem to be able to believe he is part Chinese. We all wear some kind of blinders, don’t we?