Grandma P's Ramblings Through Life

After our early morning time at the Kathu Procession, it rained all day. It rained and rained.....hard!

We went off to lunch in Phuket Town and I managed to turn the ordinary into something special.

We had to shelter from the rain as soon as we got out of the car. We were outside the new tourist centre in Thalang Road.....providing a bit of a history lesson.

Then we made a dash for it - under cover, where possible.
And so it was we were in a large hardware store. The shop has been run for about 100 years by the same family. We talked with the present owner, a young man of 71. His father is 98 and no longer holding the reins.
He was very proud of his staircase.

This is taken from a plaque outside the shop.But it has picked up reflections.
The Thalang Road history group have been making a real effort to promote the old Chinese heart of Phuket.



































The man was so pleased I had noticed his clock. It features the grandfather of the present king - and the present king is in his 90s.
The King of Thailand is the longest serving monarch, even more than our Queen and she will have been reigning for 60 years next year.



































But it is a hardware shop - with just about everything.
Anybody need a piece of string?



































Man's grandmother keeps watch over the business.

But we were in town for some lunch - back to Kopitiem. I like it.
Bill and I had the most delicious fried tofu, cashew nuts and pineapple.....and beer!
Beer should be off limits during the vegetarian festival.
This cafe is another Chinese family business going back for a hundred years. There are 2 cafes and a Chinese herbalist.
And I got chatting! Chatting through sign language.

Here she is, as a young woman, with her husband. We know he is 92.

Then we went to the Shrine of Serene Light, tucked away amongst the old houses.
A group of women were busy folding paper into all manner of shapes.
They sold them for the shrine. I had not realised, at first, that you bought them to burn.
We bought one for Jessica and one for John.




































Jessica adds her paper flowers to John's in the kiln, with smoke rising heavenwards.



































Not all the folded paper items were as small as the flowers.




































Seen in an art shop. I love this naive cat.




































Well, I have to have a cute child.




































We stopped and looked in a joke shop....and yes, Halloween is coming.
We probably drove the shopkeeper mad.
In another shop I encouraged Jessica to try on hats.
Who cares if it rains?
We can always make things interesting and fun.

Labels: thailand