We Arrived At The Thai Buddhist Temple In Wimbledon,

Wat Buddhapadipa,

  or the Buddhapadipa Temple as it is sometimes called,

 it is set in 4 acres of ground, 

 and today is a special day for Thais, 

 Songkran is the Thai New Year's national holiday. Songkran is 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14 to 15 April,

 and every year,

 the temple grounds are open for the festival,

  but also welcomes visitors of any faith to view the grounds and temple as long as they are respectful at any time of the year,

 Steve kindly drove us there,

 there was so much to see,

 with tables set up in front of the temple, 

 we walked around the grounds, 

 one of the Thai traditional dancers, there was a stage set up for music and dancing shows,

 one of the cherry trees full of blossom,

 looking back at the temple,

 turning around there was the sand temple exhibit,

 I decided to walk past this shrine,

 to have a look at the pool,

 and continue to a quieter part of the grounds,

 it all seemed so peaceful,

 looking back towards the main house,

 and temple,

 I will cross that bridge later,

 but first a walk,

at the base of many trees,

 there are small religious figures,

 each with its own meaning,

 it seems strange to be in London, 

 and see all of the things that are so Thai,

 I continued my walk,

 following the pool,

 and then,

onto the bridge where there was a very nice tree in the distance, that had brightly coloured leaves,

 walking past the stage,

 there was still plenty of room,

 to see the performers, but as the afternoon arrived the place became packed with people,

 there were of course lots of food stalls,

 selling all manner of Thai dishes,

 for the taste of home for many people,

 also lots of goods to take home,

 like these,

handicrafts from Thailand,

 a few more people stopping for the show,

 it was getting very busy,  

 we all meet up in one of the other food stall areas,

 some of the queues were 15 or 20 people long,

 good job the cooks have big pans! 

 the wait for the food was worth it though, Kai, Linda and Cathy, have now received small water bowls,

 and join the queue to give prayers, 

 and pour the offering of water,

 over the shrine, 

 as is the Thai custom,

 back to the sand temple area to collect a pot and some sand,

  where you make sand temples,  

 after making a donation,

 it is time to make the temple,  

 and here they all are,

 flags on top,

 and a quick pose before we left for home,  

 in the evening it was gladrags on, 

 passing this cherry tree, 

 Diana had to pose under it, it really was full of blossom,

we made our way past the church,

to My Place just past what was once the Beckenham police station,

 we were early,

 but there were already a few dinners there,

we were joined by Steve,

and Kai,

 who very kindly bought me a present and a card with this badge in it, 

 'Cheers!' from the girls, 

 and from me as our starters arrived, tiger prawns for myself,

Diana went for squid in a chilli sauce,

 mussels for Kai,

 and a mixed seafood avocado salad for Steve,

 yummy! 

 on to our main courses, both of the girls chose sea bass, Steve went for roast lamb,

lamb cutlets for myself,

 'Cheers!', again from me, well it was my birthday, 

 the girls as happy as ever, 

 and here we all are, 

 for dessert the girls shared a sticky toffee pudding, Steve was too full to order dessert,

 I settled for a port,

 we all walked back home, 

past the church,

 to our home,

 a quick pose, 

 then a glass of bubbly, 

 which I had to drink quickly as I overfilled it, 

 so Cheers from the girls, 

 and Steve and us, 

 69 years old,

 we said our goodbyes to Steve and Kai, I wonder what the next year will bring? I will only be making this one post today as we will be going out shortly, and with that we were off to bed.