My Sweet Mermaid

~ Chapter 43 ~

+Mel's POV+ 

It's been about 2 weeks since we arrived here in Thailand and Lili told me to dress cute and comfortable. It has been a while since I wore a dress so I put on a long dress that was floral and long sleeved. I pulled the string to tighten the dress making it a corset. I styled my hair by doing a half up, half down ponytail with a bowtie and put my jewelry on. I grabbed my small purse and looked at myself in the mirror. I smiled and walked downstairs. I put on my sandals. They were black with ankle straps. My toes were painted pink and I was excited about our date. 

"Babygirl, are you ready?"

"Yes." I seen Lili look up from her phone and she smiled.

"You look beautiful." She kissed my cheek.

"Thank you baby and you look great." I complimented her outfit. 

She was in a white long sleeve shirt. She had a couple chains hanging around her neck. Grey baggy pants and her white Nikes. She put her hair in her usual style and we left to our date. 

"So, what exactly are we doing?"

"I don't know. Samuel gave us a driver to take us to our destinations. I know we have one thing in the morning then another to finish lunch and dinner for the sunset." 

"Well I'm excited." I smiled and she kissed my cheek. The music was playing and we were looking at the view.

"The view is so pretty. I should travel more." I was staring at the trees and hills. The buildings far off in the distance and the big body of water with islands and I was in awe even though I see this everyday. Seeing the water made me miss my family and friends.

"We can do all the traveling we want. Especially after Silas is gone."

"I hope so." We starting pulling into an area with a giant statue far down and the driver parked. 

"Here is your first destination, Miss Liliana."

"Thank you sir and have a nice breakfast while waiting for us to finish." 

"Will do." We got out and walked ahead to the giant statue. 

"The Big Buddha Phuket." Lili spoke. I took pictures so fascinated by the sight. We went inside and someone came up to us.

"Hello, you must be Miss Liliana. I will be your tour guide for the next couple hours." The lady spoke and I had no idea what she said. I remember Lili telling me about the language here and it's Thai. Lili smiled and spoke to her. I was caught off guard that Lili knew the language. They finished talking and we started following her.

"I didn't know you knew the language."

"Baby, I'm over 400 years old. You think I wouldn't know languages with traveling a lot to make allies with kingdoms?" I rolled my eyes. 

"She's going to speak in English so you understand. She assumed you knew the language but I told her you were new to the environment." 

"So what you see above us is a buddha statue. This statue was dedicated to King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej and there smaller Buddha statue that is made from brass was devoted to her majesty, Queen Sirikit. That will be off to the side where we will be walking." I smiled looking at all the intricate designs on the statue.

"The statue stands 45 meters tall and 25 meters wide at the base. Fun fact is this was all from donations from the locals and people from all over the world. You can still donate to help with maintenance and future projects of the statue." 

"Aw that's so cool and sweet of everyone." I was moved by the fact everyone wanted to help with building this statue. We walked around the statue to the brass statue. 

"It's so pretty." I mumbled. 

"There are restaurants around for if you want breakfast after this tour is done. Right now we will be going into the temple up the stairs." We started walking back to where we were orginally at and walked up the stairs. We walked through the doors and it was wooden flooring. I seen what looked like three headed elephants. I seen bird statues also. We walked to the elephant statues against the pillar. 

"Thai elephants are the national animal. They have been used as transport for years. They were trained for heavy labor to transport logs. These elephants gave Thai people jobs and have been hunted and traded between other countries and provinces in Thailand. They are very intelligent and strong creatures. Elephants were also used for war because they were huge compared to everyone else. They were armored and trained with small spears to get used to the pricks. Thai royals and elephants were in a type of relationship to help each other. Elephants are very important to Thailand, culturally as it symbolizes the practice of Buddhism." I wanted to touch it but I moved my hand down. The girl giggled.

"You can touch it." I looked at her shy.

"Ah I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I see you're very into what I'm teaching about." 

"It's interesting to learn about the world. Everything has meaning and its beautiful on how the world is with animals. Some people treat animals horribly, but they are such beautiful and amazing creatures." 

"They truly are." We continued on with the tour and finished. We said bye to the tour guide and I got a souvenir from the shop. I smiled while we were on our way to the next destination. I looked at the little buddha and elephant keychain. 

"You seem happy about this date so far."

"This was such a history experience and I learned so much and the view was so pleasing to the eye. The statue too." I was rambling and seen her smile. 

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

"I'm glad you loved it. You don't have to apologize for being interested about anything. I think you're rambling is cute. That's what I love about you." I smiled wide and pecked her lips. 

"We arrived at our final destination."