Out In The Morning,

making our way to the Sukhumvit Road,

 but before we joined it we past the 6 wheeled truck we had seen some time before,

 we were soon full steam ahead,

 considering it was a bank holiday,

 the traffic was really light, except for this fully laden baht bus,

 as we approached the elephant park on the other side of the road, we spotted these two ladies making their way to Pattaya, I guess to start the Songkran celebrations,

 we turned off of the Sukhumvit Road and made our way inland,

 arriving at the Viharn Sien or Anek Kusala Sala,

or as it is locally known the Chinese Temple, which is not only a temple but a museum as well, it is located 15 kilometres south of Pattaya, off of the Sukhumvit Road (2km from Wat Yansangwararam), you turn left and go inland for about 2 kilometres, 

 a photo opportunity with Popeye and Olive Oil,

 a quick pose with the temple in the distance,

as we arrived on the right in the museum complex there are a few stalls where offerings can be made,

 and in front of that a freeze made of bronze statues,

 with mythical deities looking down at you,

 like this one, 

the tableau guarded on either side,

 by fearsome lions,

 we then made our way past some of the stone statues,

 each lion with a ball in it's mouth,

 time for a quick pose,

 then shoes off and inside,

 if you have never visited here before I would thoroughly recommend taking the time to travel out to the museum and temple,

 the shear size and number of exhibits has to be seen to be believed,

 we made our way towards the rear of the ground floor,

 taking pictures on the way,

 until we came across the Terracotta Army display,

 there were a few of the figures on display,

 if you want to know more about the terracotta army site click on the link under the first figure, there is so much we do not know about the site, just 2 facts from the link, firstly although only 8 facial moulds were used in making the 6,000 soldiers, each terracotta soldier appears to be unique in its facial features as clay was added to each to give each warrior it's own distinct look, secondly even 40 years after its discovery, less than 1 percent of Emperor Qin’s tomb has been excavated, just imagine what archaeological treasures might be unearthed in the other 99% of the site yet to be seen,

along both sides of the main hall there are a number of showcases,

 with paintings being displayed in them,

 in some the detail is meticulous,

 like this belt from the one above,

 another from one of the cases,

there were also examples of calligraphy on show,

 one thing I did notice was with so many exhibits it is so easy to miss some, looking at these warriors you can almost miss the paintings above them,

 like this one,

 we made our way to the back of the exhibits where there is a room dedicated to the founder of the complex,

 so a quick picture opportunity,

 the room itself is huge,

 with artworks on every wall,

 mostly black ink wash with a few delicate touches of colour,

 even the staircase here are works of art, there are a number of 'mini' pictures,

to look at and admire,

a waterside scene,

of a kingfisher and a lotus,

so much work must have gone into painting and it is so easy to miss and walk past without even noticing,

we made our way to the second floor,

where there is a huge indoor shrine,

outside another display of bronze statues,

later we will make our way to the top balcony,

it was a shame that the day was overcast,

if not the dragons,

which are on the roof-line of all of the buildings,

would have looked stunning in their bright colours against the blue of the sky,

I mentioned to the family that once in every 100 years when there is a full moon, like Brigadoon, the figures come to life, the strange thing was no one believed me,

well I thought it was a good story,

the last few times we were here I took a picture of this statue, 

for no other reason than he had a bat in his hand, but this time there was a difference,

resting on the fan that the bat was perched upon a number of visitors had placed some coins, I have no idea why,

we entered one of the smaller rooms on this floor,

the ceiling decorations looking superb,

even down to the smallest detail,

also on this floor there are two art museums,

showcasing rural life in a village,

and depending on the actual day of your birth,

a figure that your personality could be like,

there are other cases with traditional ceremonial boats in them,

that I believe are used on Royal occasions,

outside a statue stands guard,

beautifully modelled,

we made our way to the next floor,

past this impressive piece of 3D artwork,

when ever we watch the dragon dance on the Chinese New Year, the dragon always chases a ball, here if you look carefully you can see the dragon has caught the ball and holds it on the tip of his tongue,

we made our way up another decorated staircase,

looking at this picture I could just imagine the old man telling his grand children about the days of his future that have past,

we arrived at the top floor that also has a shrine,

and around the room,

there are pictures of Buddha and his teachings,

we had a look at the view,

and the bronze figures in the courtyard below,

at the end of the balcony,

another charming painting,

another bird in flight,

we made our way to the ground floor returning to the front of the building on the side we had not seen,

a few nights ago we watched one of the Mummy movies, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (or simply known as The Mummy 3), but I forgot to mention it, well this is the chariot that could have been used in it, 

a look at three of the four horses heads,

also here were a number of huge marble pictures,

imagine a flat piece of polished dark marble, then etching into the surface so that the lighter grey unpolished surface throws the dark polished surface into relief, 

well that is what has happened here, stunning,

we passed more statues,

until we came to the other set of showcases,

again displaying such fine artwork,

and workmanship,

but nearly at the end of the cases the designs changed,

to black ink wash drawings,

they look so simple,

but every stroke is so complex, I do not know how else to describe a few simple brush strokes but can then in their simplicity make such a pleasing picture,

off to the truck we went,

through the entrance and off to lunch, there is a set entrance fee for the temple and museum, just 50 baht each across the board, I have to say it, the best 50 baht I have spent, ever!

to Prichai Seafood restaurant in Ban Ampur, if you want to find the restaurant it is in the town of Ban Amphur, going from Pattaya go along the Sumkivitt Highway past the Ambassador Hotel on your right, then turn right at the next set of traffic lights, take the first on the left before the market, dive a few hundred meters and you will see some restaurant car parks on your right, Prichai is the second one,

crabs, they look good now, but will look better in a curry!

fresh fish,

and prawns,

all manner of seafood's are available here,

just point out which one you want,

'I want that one!'

the restaurant was packed,

luckily two of the staff recognised us, I am not sure if it made a difference but we had a table in no time,

with a nice view of the beach and sea,

we ordered a large plate of seafood fried rice,

to start with,

none of us had eaten any breakfast, 

so the dishes could not arrive fast enough, steamed mussels and prawns,

everyone had coke to drink, for me soda,

a second large plate of seafood fried rice appeared,

followed by two plates of prawn doughnuts,

Diana played Mum with the tom yum goong,

hello cheeky!

next a plate of tempura prawns and vegetables,

then it was time to start picking, curried crab,

along with garlic fried rock lobsters, all absolutely delicious, out of interest to give you an idea on pricing all of the above came to exactly 2,800 baht for the 8 of us,

so into the truck and home we went, then a pleasant surprise, one of the cactus put on a show for us,

it is just a shame that this flower lasts just one day, but there it is, 

 after an evening snack as we all enjoyed last nights 3D film,

we all decided to settle down and watch another one, everyone was captivated, Daisy May having great fun trying to catch the fish as they appeared to be so close to her,

taken using just the camera everything seems blurred,

but by putting one lens from the 3D glasses in front of it the picture looks normal,  

 this was the 3D we watched, Ocean Wonderland 3D, the story follows the narrator, a turtle through his world, great fun with some very good 3D effects, 

we rounded the evening off with Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which although both Diana and myself had seen before we both enjoyed watching again, as did the rest of the family, with that we were all off to bed.