July 22, 2001: Chiang Mai & Tribute to My Dad

Hi,

Sawaddi krab! (That is the all-purpose greeting in Thailand, any time of
the day. For women, it's Sawaddi ka.)

A friend of mine, Theresa Huang, is looking for a roommate in West LA. Her
place is opening up at the end of August. If you have any leads, please
email her at: thuang@alum.mit.edu. Thanks for your help!

I went to Thailand for a week and a half for work. I first stayed in
Pattaya (a coastal tourist town south of Bangkok) because it was close to
our manufacturing plant in Rayong. I spent a day there touring our plant
and discussing business with the plant manager and a few other executives.
It was very informative.

I spent the rest of my time in our Bangkok office, which is really in
Bangna, a suburb to the southeast of the city. Traffic in Bangkok is very
tight, but they do have some toll highways that are relatively quick. In
order to drive anywhere, it is necessary to make a large number of U-turns.


In Bangkok, I visited quite a large number of current and potential
customers. All of them are ethnically Chinese. Some of them are from Chow
Zhou (Teochiu), and some migrated recently from Taiwan. Many of first
group did not speak Mandarin, so my Thai colleagues translated the
conversation from Thai to English. However, with about half of the
customers, I was able to speak to them in Mandarin. I'm really glad that
my parents made me speak Chinese at home. (If you have kids, make them
speak a foreign language.)

If you ever go to Bangkok, two fairly good restaurants that my colleagues
took me to were: Riverbar Café and Brew Pavillion. Riverbar Café is right
along the Chao Phraya River. The food is good, view is great, and after
dark, there is live jazz playing. Brew Pavillion is very new, and huge
(sits 3000 people!). When you first arrive, you pick your table from a
computer screen. Inside, there is a large stage, like a rock concert. The
Thai singers there sing pop Thai songs and English songs. I hear the place
is completely packed on weekends.

Over the weekend, I bought a tour package to Chiang Mai, which is about 1
hour north of Bangkok by plane, close to Burma. On Friday night, I went to
a traditional Kantoke dinner. People are seated on the ground, and food is
brought to you on these large round trays. The most exotic items were
friend pork skin, sweet rice sticks, and friend banana. I sat next to the
musicians, and behind the stage where the traditional dances were
performed. There were a large number of dances, the most memorable was the
sword dance. A woman danced with 12 swords and at one point carried all 12
with her mouth.

After dinner, we went outside for more traditional dancing. In the
pictures, you'll see a yellow furry creature, kind of like a Chinese lion
dance. This creature came around the circular stage, and put his head in
the lap of some of the people in the first row. Well, I sat in the first
row, and when it got to me, it grabbed my green bookbag. I snapped a
picture with one hand while wrestling the bag from the creature with the
other.

Kantoke Dinner I
http://community.webshots.com/album/17718927TzIjvlPKao

Kantoke Dinner II
http://community.webshots.com/album/17719240PBcrYLCdwx

On Saturday, the tour bus picked me up from the hotel, and there were two
guys already in there, Tim Sato and his friend Art. Tim is Japanese, and
works for GE Capital. Art is Thai, and works for a bank in Bangkok. We
hung out the rest of the day together, along with our Thai guide. The
first stop was the Meo village, up in the mountains. The kids get dressed
up in their traditional costumes, and we give them a small tip for posing
with us. There is a lovely garden there, and I saw for the first time,
what marijuana and opium plants look like.

Meo Village:
http://community.webshots.com/album/17719717fMFNcqBMrv

Then we went to Doi Suthep, one of the most important Buddhist temples in
the area. It's quite large, and symmetrical. Everyone has to take off
their shoes, we had to rent baggy pants since we can't wear shorts into the
temple area. Art & Tim are buddhists, so they worshipped there. I'm
Christian, so I just stood around and took pictures. Outside the temple,
there is a beautiful view of Chiang Mai below.

Doi Suthep:
http://community.webshots.com/album/17720414NFdQXSjYOv

After that, we went to one of the king's summer palaces. It was very nice,
and there was a small reservoir. Again, we had to rent baggy pants. The
album below also contains some pictures of the famous night market in
Chiang Mai. It's a good place to test your bargaining skills. I think I
did fairly well.

King's Palace:
http://community.webshots.com/album/17721055iPccyYrBat

Finally, we went to some temples in Chiang Mai, and to several "crafts"
stores, which are really places where they try to sell you things, such as
silver jewelry, gems, gold, umbrellas, etc. In the evening, I took the
suggestion of my colleague and went to a really good restaurant called
"Goodview", right along the river.

Chiang Mai Temples & Craft Stores:
http://community.webshots.com/album/17721606GMPZzOkaTd

On Sunday, my tour package was to Doi Inthanon, while my former companions
went to an elephant training school. Doi Inthanon is the highest mountain
in Thailand, at 2595 meters. Unfortunately, it was raining very hard at
the top of the mountain. We stopped by a new stupa built by the king and
queen. At the peak, there is a buddhist shrine. After lunch, we went to
the Karen village (another of Thailand's hill tribes). There was a small
classroom there, and I thought it was interesting that they are teaching
the kids the parts of the body in English. The women there sit and weave
this beautiful scarf or cloth.

Doi Inthanon:
http://community.webshots.com/album/17724689RpvLMzYZsS

Finally, we stopped at two waterfalls, which I really liked. Since our
tour was earlier than schedule (due to the rain at the top of the mountain,
I had some time to just hike around the rock formations near the
waterfalls. After that, my guide dropped me off at the airport, and I flew
back to Bangkok. Overall, it was a very good trip.

Two Waterfalls:
http://community.webshots.com/album/17725403PRcdMoCUtx

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you could ask a single
question of a dead relative, what would it be and of whom would you ask it?"

In March, I sent out an inspirational piece from John Piper's book, "A
Godward Life". It is his tribute to his father, who is retiring at age 80
as a pastor. Well, my mom suggested that I should do something similar for
my dad, who is also retiring next Sunday as the long time pastor at our
church in New York. I share what I write with you to encourage you to
write a tribute to your own father, and thank him for all the things that
you have learned from him.

Since this email is so long, I'm not sending out a humor piece this time.

-Josh.
_________________________________

Preface: Here's how John Piper introduced his tribute, which I find to be
very fitting:

Ten Lessons I Learned From My Father
>From John Piper's book, "A Godward Life"

Honoring My Father in His Eightieth Year

When my father invited me to speak at his nonretirement "retirement"
banquet at age eighty, I did not have to pray about it. There was no
question about the Lord's will. A son will say yes and honor his father.
I told the guests that these are the things I would say at my father's
funeral, but now it is a high honor and joy to say them in his hearing.
And now I get to publish them for others to read, even while he lives and
ministers. May his honor spread. God has been good to me.
_________________________________

Tribute to my father, Pastor John Li: Here are the top ten things I
learned and/or admire about him, and thank him now for teaching me.

1. Spend time reading the Bible and praying with your family every day.

When our family first came to the U.S. when I was eight years old, my
parents decided that we should get together every night to read a chapter
of the Bible in Chinese and then pray together in Chinese. Even when my
parents come home very late, they would wake my brother and I up and have
this short devotional time. Our family still does this daily tradition
even today! Someday when I have a family, I also want to carry on the
tradition of reading the Bible and praying together every day.

2. Perform acts of service for your family.

>From 7th to 12th grade, everyday my dad made two sandwiches for me for
lunch. He also dropped me off at the subway station. My dad usually cooks
dinner every night, and is a wonderful cook.

3. Prayer is very important.

Every morning, my parents wake up early to pray. They also pray together
at night before they go to bed. I really appreciate them for praying for
me everyday. Whenever I tell them about a concern, being sick, or
something, my dad would say, "Pray about it!", and I know that my parents
would pray about it as well.

4. Be willing to spend time to help others.

When I was young, I observed how my dad is always willing to help other
people. If someone called late at night with a problem or needed help, he
would talk with them or even go over there to talk with them. If people
needed a ride to visit their relatives in the hospital or go somewhere
else, he was willing to drive them.

5. Love to travel and seek new experiences.

My parents love to travel. They have been to quite a large number of
places all over the world. I think I've inherited a love of traveling from
them.

6. Have compassion for anyone who does not yet know the Lord.

My dad really cares about everyone he meets who has not accepted the Lord
as their personal Savior. When he travels to other countries for vacation,
he still brings tracts and goes to the local Chinatown area to pass them
out to Chinese restaurant workers. He sees every conversation with people
as an opportunity to witness to them.

7. Show hospitality to others and share God's blessings with them.

When I was young, our family would host visitors at our house all the time.
We had missionaries, pastors, students, and children of my parents' friends
stay over with us. I remember one particular pastor who visited us very
often, because we always played Chinese chess together, and he always won.

8. Keep your Chinese heritage.

My parents heard from their friends that it was very easy for kids to learn
English, but hard to keep their Chinese. So my parents made us speak only
Chinese at home, read the Bible in Chinese, and sent us to Chinese school
on Saturdays. Now I really appreciate this, because as I travel throughout
China and southeast Asia, most of our customers at ethnically Chinese, so I
can speak to them in Mandarin. I only wished that I learned more Taiwanese.

9. Importance of learning and education.

One of the main reasons my parents decided to move to the U.S. was so that
my brother and I can go to school in the U.S. and get a good education.
Also, my dad (and my mom) both love books. They have thousands of books.
I think I inherited my love of books and of learning from them.

10. Be friendly and out-going.

My dad is a strong extrovert. He enjoys meeting new people. He is not
afraid of approaching strangers and introducing himself and getting to know
them. I think I inherited this trait from him as well.

Thank you dad, for being a good role model. I really appreciate your love,
sacrifices, and prayers for me. May the Lord bless you richly for your
faithful service!