Lotus at Flower Market

Lotus at Flower Market 2, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

Nelumbo is a genus of aquatic plants with large, showy, water lily-like flowers commonly known as lotus or sacred lotus. The generic name is derived from the Sinhalese word Nelum. There are two species in the genus, the better known of which, N. nucifera, or "Sacred Lotus," is the well-known national flower of India.
There is residual disagreement over which family the genus should be placed in. Traditional classification systems recognized Nelumbo as part of the Nymphaeaceae (water lily) family, but traditional taxonomists were likely misled by evolutionary convergences associated with an evolutionary shift from a terrestrial to an aquatic life style. In the older classification systems it was recognized under the biological order Nymphaeales or Nelumbonales. Nelumbo is currently recognized as its own family, Nelumbonaceae, as one of several distinctive families in the eudicot order Proteales. Its closest living relatives are shrubs or trees (Proteaceae and Platanaceae).
These plants are unrelated to the bird's-foot trefoils and deer-vetches of the genus Lotus.

More on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo

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Morning Glory

Morning Glory, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

Shot these beautiful morning glory at the school compound next to Holiday Inn, Gem Plaza, Ooty.

The name for these flowers is so apt.

As the name implies, morning glory flowers, which are funnel-shaped, open in the morning, allowing them to be pollinated by Hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other daytime insects and birds as well as Hawkmoth at dusk for longer blooming variants. The flower typically lasts for a single morning and dies in the afternoon. New flowers bloom each day. The flowers usually start to fade a couple of hours before the petals start showing visible curling. They prefer full sun throughout the day and mesic soils. In cultivation, most are treated as perennial plants in tropical areas and as annual plants in colder climates, but some species tolerate winter cold. Some moonflowers, which flower at night, are also in the morning glory family.

Morning glory is also called asagao (in Japanese, a compound of 朝 asa "morning" and 顔 kao "face"). A rare brownish-coloured variant known as Danjuro is very popular. It was first known in China for its medicinal uses, due to the laxative properties of its seeds. It was introduced to the Japanese in the 9th century, and they were first to cultivate it as an ornament. During the Edo Period, it became a very popular ornamental flower. Aztec priests in Mexico were also known to use the plant's hallucinogenic properties. (see Rivea corymbosa).
Ancient Mesoamerican civilizations used the morning glory species Ipomoea alba to convert the latex from the Castilla elastica tree and also the guayule plant to produce bouncing rubber balls. The sulfur in the morning glory's juice served to vulcanize the rubber, a process pre-dating Charles Goodyear's discovery by at least 3,000 years.[1]
Because of their fast growth, twining habit, attractive flowers, and tolerance for poor, dry soils, some morning glories are excellent vines for creating summer shade on building walls when trellised, thus keeping the building cooler and reducing heating and cooling costs.
Popular varieties in contemporary western cultivation include the Morning Glory "Sunspots" "Heavenly Blue", the moonflower, the cypress vine, and the cardinal climber. The cypress vine is a hybrid, with the cardinal climber as one parent.
In some places such as Australian bushland morning glories develop thick roots and tend to grow in dense thickets. They can quickly spread by way of long creeping stems. By crowding out, blanketing and smothering other plants, morning glory has turned into a serious invasive weed problem.

More on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_glory

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Bang-Pa Palace watch tower

Bang-Pa Palace watch tower, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

This is the watch tower built by the king to look around the palace and its surrounding areas at Bang-Pa In palace in Ayutthaya.

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Frangipani in Flower Market

Frangipani in Flower Market, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

One the most photogenic flowers in the world. Can never get enough of Frangipani. I shot these in the flower market in Bangkok. I have never seen this color till date in person. Thailand seems to have a lot of frangipani trees .

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Laughing Monks

Laughing Monks, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

I shot these cute little clay monks in Flower Market in Bangkok. These figurines are used as garden accessories . I saw quite a few of these in China Town in Bangkok too.

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Indian Building

Indian Building, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

This building is owned by a perosn of Indian origin in Bangkok hence called the Indian Building. These are luxury apartments along the Chao Pharaya river in Bangkok, thailand.

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Inside Grand Palace

Inside Grand Palace, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

Capture of the temples inside the Gran Palace , Bangkok, Thailand. Most of this is closed and reserved for the use by the Royal family of Thailand. A must see if you are a visitor to Thailand

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Orchids at Flower Market, Bangkok

Orchids at Flower Market, Bangkok, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

I shot these beautiful Orchids at FLower Market in Bangkok. Its a nice boat ride from N1 . If you are visiting Vimaneek Palace after Grand Place and plan to come by boat you will see this market 300 M from the boat peer. You can walk this and then take a cab. Its worth the walk.

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Street Food at China Town

Street Food at China Town, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

I never though when I visited China Town in Bangkok I will see these kind of foods. Being a Veggie all your life clearly creates an ignorance for all kinds of foods that are non Veggie.

Never seen so much seafood on the street and in so much variety .One should visit China town in Bangkok , Thailand if you are visiting. Its an experience. What amazed me was also the amount of dried and fried food that was selling. I plan to post a few more of these foods.

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Bangkok Skyline 7

Bangkok Skyline 7, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

I shot this image on my canon Xti Rebel. We stayed at the Lebua State Tower in Bangkok,Thailand . This is one of the tallest Hotels in Bangkok and is located conveniently from the Chao Phraya river and the BTS station.

Infact we loved the location as we could either take the Express boat the day we decided to do tourist spots (most of which are along the mighty river) or take the BTS to Siam for shopping.

I have quite a few of the shots from our room on 55th floor which I will be posting on Flickr

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Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok

Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

This is a the depiction of the mythological hindu story where the devas and asuras decide to team together to churn the ocean using mount meru to extract amirt (that makes someone immortal). The asuras were deprived of it by Vishu and devas became immortal having the amrit.

More on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_manthan
www.mahashivratri.org/samudra-manthan.html
I am also amazed how much of Hindu culture also prevails in Thailand which is a 95% Buddhist country.

Always used to baffele me as a kid how can that be done when my grandmother told me the story till i realized there is something called mythology :).

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