Thai landscaping is all about creating atmosphere. Allow me to elaborate. We're staying in a 70? suite apartment building; the owners own a specatular home on the same property. They have a private, fenced in property, complete with gardeners and who knows what other staff. They own a swimming pool that rests between the apartment and their home, which they have graciously allowed tenants access to. The landscaping around the pool reflects Bhuddist values of peace and serenity; there are large tropical trees strategically planted to give shade on the deck. There are two white flowering trees, one on each side of the pool, planted in such a way that white flowers drop into the pool and float on the surface, creating amazing atmosphere! The owner's private grounds are planted with a beautiful garden of shrubbery, and has lovely, low wrought iron fencing enclosing it. I love it! and hope to expand my planning abilities for landscaping at home. Pigeons and doves lazily fly overhead to rest in the branches above, and coo for us to complete the effect.

Because of our close proximity to the equator (at least a heck of a lot closer than Lowe Farm's!), days and nights seem to be given equal status. As the sun drifts to the horizon and a hazy darkness comes to wrap itself around me, thegentle presence of pigeons gives way to night sounds of urban tropics.

Funnily enough, there are few mosquitoes. The few bites I have had, have welted signifcantly. They must like new blood!

Some nights, the chirping and croaking has been so loud, we wondered what was going on! It's a beautiful song I could listen to forever.

At any rate - walking down the lane in broad daylight, things come into harsh perspective as I look down and see huge frog road kill... flat brown frogs decorating the urban landscape.

The other day, Josh and I went for a walk down to a local fruit and vegetable market. Quite the experience. Local merchants selling the usual fruit and vegetables, cheap jewellry, hot food, AND raw fish and slabs of meat out for people to pick out for dinner. As we walked along, a live catfish jumped of captivity (a bucket of water) out on the path in front of us. No one knew exactly what to do as it flounced and flipped on the ground. Josh took control, reached out and gingerly grabbed it by the gills and dropped it back into the bucket. Hero of the day! He kept wiping his hand on his pants as we finished our trek to the market.