^+^ Love ^+^

^-^ The History of Saint Valentine' s day ^-^

The History of Saint Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage.The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270. At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feaSt. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.

^ v ^ Beautiful nature ^ v ^

( *+* ) UBON RATCHATHANI ( *+* )

Ubon, located 629 km from Bangkok, is one of the

country's largest provincial capitals. The area was

settled by people of mainly Lao extraction in the late

18th century, and as such the local population

have a strong affinity with their cousins on the

other side of the Mekong. Links with Laos are being

strengthened again, and the increasingly busy

border crossing at Chong Mek is developing into a

centre for Lao and Vietnamese goods and handicrafts.


Ubon ,lies on the banks of the Mun river and,

considering its size, is a very laid-back town.

The province's main attractions can be

found by following the Mun river down

to its confluence with the Mekong river,

known as "the Two-Coloured River". Here, boats

can be hired for trips along the river and sometimes

over to Lao village. Nearby, the Pha Taem National Park

has some beautiful scenery and a cliff with paintings

believed to be around 3,000 years old.

(*-*) Chiang Mai (*-*)

Night Bazaar

This extensive market sprawls along several blocks.

Roofed concession areas, regular shops and street

vendors offer a huge variety of Thai goods at bargain prices.

Designer goods - real and fake - are also on offer.

The Night Bazaar attractsforeign importers, impressed

by the discounts given to bulk purchases.
The origins of the market date from the days when

the Yunnanese trading caravans used to stop near the

Ping River along the ancient trade route

between Simao (China) and Mawlamyaing

(on Myanmar's Gulf of Martaban coast.

Wat Chedi Luang

This temple complex surrounds a very large and venerable

Lanna-style chedi (monument housing a Buddha)

dating from 1441. It's now in partial ruins,

damaged either by a 16th-century earthquake or by the

cannon fire of King Taksin in 1775 during the recapture of Chiang Mai

from the Burmese. The Phra Kaew ('Emerald' Buddha),

now in Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew,

sat in the eastern niche here in 1475.

(^-^) TheTaj Mahal (^-^)

Inside TheTaj Mahal , India

One of the Seven Wonders of the World (according to Collier's Encyclopedia).

This is an amazing piece of architecture! But at the end of the day,

it's not extremely functional (at least today, anyway). It's just a Tomb a

very large, beautiful, magnificent, expensive :) (in the terms of the day) Tomb.

When it was built in 1648 it cost a whopping 320 lakhs (or 32 million rupees which is

about $640,000). Absolutely AMAZING what could be done with less than a million dollars!

^-^The History of Children's Day ^_^

The History of Children's Day

While originally imported from China, the Boy's Festival has changed dramatically over the years. May 5th was originally adopted as a festival for boys corresponding to the Doll Festival for girls. However, gradually, the day became a joint day for all children and was renamed Children's Day in 1948 and made a national holiday. Despite this renaming, the symbols of courage and strength really honour only boys and girls are still celebrated in March.
At the end of April and the beginning of May, along with the Children's Day Festival, there are a number of other public holidays; the 29th April is Midori no Hi (Greenery Day), the 1st May is May Day, the 3rd May is Kenpoo Kinenbi (Constitution Day) and the May 5th is Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day). As such, it is common to get holidays for the entire week to 10 days depending on where the weekends fall. This succession of holidays is known as Golden Week.
While this profusion of festivals means there is a lot to see and do throughout Japan at this time, it is really a time to avoid travelling as many Japanese use the break to travel both within Japan and overseas and trains and other transport are packed past capacity.

( *-* ) My holiday ( *-* )

My holiday every year, my family and my uncle ’ s

family went to Cha-um . It is very beautiful and good view .

When I arrived Cha-Um.I sat down on the chair near the beach.

My sister and I swam and went for walk on the beach.

At lunch we ate seafood, somtam, fried chicken . It ’ s very delicious.

My brother persuaded me to play banana boat .

But I don ’ t like , because I was afraid of drowning .

I rode a bicycle along the road and stop by Ta-Lad-Pla.

And I come back home at 6:30 . It was great time for me

becauseI feel so happy and funny.