Over the last several weeks, I have been privileged to meet a Vietnamese woman named Lan.   Lan befriended me at the Cinematheque, a film club and a lovely little oasis from the craziness of Hanoi’s urban scene.   She volunteers there.  Her choice to do so indicates both her strong command of English (mostly self-taught, it seems), since Cinematheque shows foreign films from all over the world, but English is the common language (sometimes through subtitles), and her strong interest and curiosity about other cultures and realities.

Lan is single, in her mid-30s, I believe, and deeply values her independence.   She says she has been living on her own for 17 years, she comes from a rural area, and she has no family in Hanoi.  She sometimes travels alone, in Vietnam and in the region.  This is very unusual for a Vietnamese woman, and I believe her choice has not been easy for her.   In fact, she let me know that she had a very difficult upbringing, with an abusive father who beat her mother and abandoned the family for another woman.   This, I am  learning, is sadly not unusual here.

Lan is also a vegetarian, which is also pretty unusual for a Vietnamese.   Despite all the Buddhist trappings, Vietnam is not a vegetarian-friendly place.   I believe she does this out of a moral conviction though I have not spoken to her about her motives.

Lan has confided in me that she has had a sort of spiritual awakening in the past year.   She has found herself endowed with certain powers and abilities which she had not known before; these include a strong vision of former lives she lived in the past and the ability to speak in languages which she herself does not understand — she believes it may be Tibetan.   This happens most often when she enters pagodas and other places of worship.   She also sees shadows or presences around people, that indicate strong spirits surrounding them.  

She related to me a story about the manager of the Cinematheque, who had recently returned from Singapore.  When he passed by, she saw a vague shadow following him sensed a smell around him that was reminiscent of a funeral, so she asked him if he had attended one.   In fact, a week earlier he had attended the funeral of a very close friend in Singapore.   He was amazed she had sensed this, and relayed to her that after his friend had died, he received a telephone call from him, but recognizing the number he did not answer it.

She has told me several stories like this, which originally evoked some of my Western skepticism. But over time I have come to accept that there may indeed be something there.   And apparently I am not the only one; a woman from Singapore who heard about her experiences through a common friend flew here this week to meet her to hear first-hand about them.   This woman works for something called the Foundation for the Future, and I believe is trying to identify visionary people. 

Lan has offered to be my “private tour guide” in Hanoi, and I have gladly taken her up on it.  Tomorrow we are going to visit different parts, she the teacher and me the eager student perched behind her on her motoribike.

I think I’m going crazy here.

Michael Pitt.

If I never get to see this man, or his band Pagoda, in my entire life, I suspect that I’m going to miss something really special. And that’s fucking annoying.
I think he’s the perfect man, possibly the prettiest I’ve ever seen. Not the typical handsome and muscular drooling-object, like this one, but the messier, dirtier and passionately artistic guy. Like – are you kidding me, a guy that actually looks good with long hair!
Fml.

The last installment of my napkin art nonsense.   Towers, pagodas, temples, birds…

La Pagoda di rue Courcelles

Inaspettata, nel cuore di Parigi, una pagoda in puro stile orientale saprà incuriosire gli amanti di stranezze parigine.
L’atipico edificio sito all’angolo tra le rues de Courcelle e Rembradts, decorato di rosso, rappresenta una vera e propria oasi cinese in piena Parigi.

Contrariamente alla leggenda non si tratta dell’antica ambasciata cinese né della dimora tradizionale di un ricco orientale in pensione.
Il signor Loo, giovane cinese di buona famiglia, venne a Parigi alla fine del XIX secolo per gli studi.
A 22 anni si stabilì in piazza della Madeleine specializzandosi nel commercio delle antichità orientali e ne divenne presto il miglior esperto della città.
Nel 1929 Loo comprò una residenza in rue de Courcelle che si rivelò rapidamente troppo piccola per contenere le sue numerose collezioni.

L’antiquario fece allora appello a un architetto francese per realizzare la dimora dei suoi sogni: una casa cinese nel cuore della ville lumière.
Loo morì nel 1957 ma la società C.T. Loo occupa oggi il posto.

At least on surface, the only thing these two seem to have in common is country of origin..

Opel Admiral B, rusted and primered (as if to drive the point home)- sort of reminding us of the Chevy Nova from Death Proof:

The almost feminine M-B Pagoda:

Give us the big, bad Opel, actually- Hart to Hart can have the Pagoda.

Photo credit: essichgurgn (top), oldtech (bottom)

- Gyro

© Photographer | Agency: Dreamstime.com

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I took a trip to Botanic Garden in Glencoe, IL last Monday. It was pretty cool seeing what was left of the colors, but I have to say it left me wanting more. I kinda compare my visit to the Gardens to National Lampoon’s when the family visits Wally World and it’s closed. You build it up so much inside your head, but when you get there it’s somewhat of a disappointment.
It was still a fun spot to check out, and the most important thing is that it was something new to experience. They had a area which was a Japanese Garden. I’m having troubles uploading more photos, but this is just a taste…

New image in the panoramas photography contest

…
The Golden Pagoda photography picture

Situated on a hilltop in Air Itam near Penang Hill, Malaysia, the sprawling Kek Lok Si Temple is a magnificent example of a Buddhist temple. Construction of Kek Lok Si began 1890, is ongoing and is largely funded by donations. In 1930, the seven tiered Ban Po Thar or Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas, was completed. Architecturally, the pagoda combines a Burmese crown with a middle tier of Thai design, and an octagonal Chinese base, reflecting the temple’s embrace of both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism.

The panaromic photograph presented above was taken from the sixth tier of Ban Po Thar which provides an unobstructed view over the entire temple complex and surrounding condominiums, right through to Georgetown.

En Katmandú, se alza un templo construido por la dinastía Malla nepalí con la madera de un solo árbol y sin uniones ni clavos de hierro, alcanzando una altura de 3 pisos, siendo uno de los edificios  de madera más antiguos del mundo, se ha convertido en la principal pagoda de Nepal.

La ciudad de Katmandú recibe su nombre de esta increíble estructura en la plaza de Durbar llamada Kaasthamandap. Construido en el año 159 D.C. por el rey Laxmi Narsingh Malla, en un estado de conservación inmejorable, es la delicia de los visitantes.

Lo vi en Pekin Express. Más info.

simon white by Flickr

After our sleepy shenanigans the previous night, we woke up bright and early, rearing to go for our one full day in Yangon. First on the list was the Shwedagon Pagoda. This is an awesome temple, with lots and lots of gold, shrines and an uncountable number of Buddha statues. Apparently sunset is the time to visit – after the sun goes down they light up the stupa and you can see the diamonds in the top. Sadly we were there around mid-morning and didn’t get to see this, but it was impressive nonetheless.

From there we took another taxi to the centre of town to the Sule Pagoda. Not nearly as big as the Shwedagon pagoda, this is still impressive, but much the same kind of stuff. Gold, Buddhas and shrines. It disturbs me a little to see so much gold in these places when the people are so poor. What disturbs me even more is that the poor people like to buy gold leaf to stick on to the Buddhas. Buddhism is probably my favourite of the major religions, but still has many of the same problems.

Behind many of the Buddhas in the Shwedagon and Sule pagodas they have put circles of flashing lights, which I guess are supposed to represent a halo or enlightenment effect. This seems a little tacky to me, but the people there didn’t seem to mind.

From the Sule pagoda we walked around town, past various buildings, some colonial, some governmental, with what looked like some 15 year-old military boys with massive assault rifles outside. I guess maybe they weren’t really that young, most of the Burmese look a lot younger than they are, but it’s a bit disturbing. From there we walked through the street markets and were repeatedly accosted by people wishing to sell us postcards, which we declined because personally I never buy anything from someone in the street. That’s not to say they were rude about it, they made polite conversation before enquiring as to our interest, but then they got more insistent. The markets were nice and colourful though and above all busy!

We took a rest in the shade of the independence monument, which I guess celebrates their independence from us, the Brits. This was the site of some of the recent demonstrations against the military junta which took over leadership of the country 19 years ago after Aung San Suu Kyi won an overwhelming victory in the election. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest ever since and pictures of her are apparently banned, as is mentioning her name. Myanmar is a beautiful country but also a savage one.

One singaporean lunch and one hindu temple later, it started to rain and we got a taxi back. The rest of the evening was spent drinking beers back at the guesthouse.

We recently had a week break for the Fall festival, so some fellow foreign teachers and I decided to make a trip to the southern province of Yunnan. It borders Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Yunnan is considered the most ethnically diverse province in China, with 26 ethnic groups residing within its boarders. The east side of the Province runs up against the Pacific and the west side is high altitude, it is the the foothills of the Himalayas.

We took a train (25 hrs) from Changsha to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan.

John, during our first morning in Kunming, enjoying a cup of coffee at the Hump Hostel.

John watching someone drop his camera.

We spent a single day in Kunming. In the morning we walked around the city. In the city there are a pair of pagoda’s from the Tang Dynasty, built between 824-839.

Pagoda's were built to store ancient texts and religiosu relics.

In the afternoon we went to Daguan Park. Daguan Park is very similar to Changsha’s own Martyr’s Park. Both are enormous tract of land, both have lots of people, both have nature-type things (trees and lakes), and both have a lot of amusement park rides.

Danny, left/ back, and Brenden, right, at Daguan Park

The park was fine, just a little too similar to what we’ve already seen in Changsha. The highlight for me were the these big inflated cylinders floating on the water. They were similar to the plastic balls for gerbils to run around in, but for humans and floating on the water.

Amazed, Brenden and I tried one out.

My backside. John getting a shot of my backside

It was exhausting and fun.

Me, left, Brenden, right

For the late afternoon, we went hiking in the hills on the outskirts of Kunming. Kunming is called the “Spring City” or the “City of of Eternal Spring” because of its temperate climate. And it’s true! The weather for the day we were in Kunming was fantastic.

From left to right, Brenden, John, Michaela, Sam, Danny, me.

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Nagahama Castle

As I rode the train northward through paddy fields and old wooden houses, the shore of Lake Biwa drew closer and closer as the I entered Nagahama City. This would be one of the two real sightseeing hotspots I would spend time in during the trip–the other being Otsu–and I was looking forward to what Nagahama had to offer.

After detraining, I headed out toward Nagahama Castle, which is about 10 minutes or so on foot from the station, near the lakeshore. Nagahama Castle is not the most impressive structure I’ve ever seen, and even though it’s a modern reconstruction, it has a certain charm to it. Upon looking through the museum inside, I learned that it was at located at a vital location near Sekigahara, a mountain location where the decisive battle between the Tokugawa and Hideyoshi alliances was fought in 1600 to determine the future path of Japan, which ended up being one of long-awaited prosperity and peace for more than 250 years. The castle is small, but the view from the top is impressive, as you can look out over Lake Biwa as well as out toward the rolling hills around Sekigahara. Gazing at the illuminated castle keep that night, I had to admit the odd-shaped structure was not overly impressive, but in my mind its historical significance has left an imprint in my memory that is far bigger than the fortress’ physical stature.

Kurokabe Square

Next I went to Kurokabe Square. This is considered the center of Nagahama, and its name comes from the stately old black-walled (“kurokabe”) building that acts as its centerpiece and gives the district its name. The two-storey building was built in 1899 and served originally as the Daihyaku Sanju Bank building, but today it is a well-known shop selling the famous glassware of Nagahama on the first floor and imported glassware and jewelry on the second floor. The shop’s goods were absolutely amazing, and since I had come all the way to Nagahama, I couldn’t resist buying a few glass animal figurines (which somehow made it home undamaged). The surrounding area also has a number of wooden Edo- and Meiji-Period buildings. I splurged at a restaurant nearby and bought sukiyaki with Omi beef, a regional specialty. Though expensive, this tender, delicious, high-quality beef is worth it. Afterward, I visited a couple of temples in town.

Glass souvenirs from Nagahama (turtle, pig, and blowfish)

In the morning I got up early to catch the ferry to Chikubushima, an island in the middle of the lake where a temple and a shrine are located. I threw my things in a locker and walked to the ferry pier, only to find that (1) the time schedule in my guidebook was out of date and I had just missed the boat I planned to take, and (2) even though I thought I was clever enough to arrive early in the morning to avoid crowds, so had everyone else in Shiga Prefecture. Thankfully, I got a window seat on the ferry and we set sail across the placid waters of Lake Biwa.

Chikubushima from the ferry

As the boat closed in on Chikubushima, everyone went out onto the deck to take pictures, but I decided to wait until the return trip–which was a smart move, since it wasn’t nearly as crowded on deck during the return trip. The approach reminded me a bit of the time I visited Alcatraz in San Francisco, sans the chill running up my spine. Chikubushima itself was not as good as I had expected, although the imposing old gate of Tsubusuma Shrine and the beautifully carved Buddha statue inside were impressive, and the bright orange pagoda of Hoganji Temple surrounded by vibrant tropical greenery was refreshing. The shrine boasts a unique way of praying: you buy a pair of round ceramic fragments, write your name on one and your prayer on the other using a brush, and then try to throw them both through a Shinto gate (torii) perched below on a rock in the water.

Buddha statue inside Tsubusuma Shrine

After boarding the ferry back to Nagahama, snapping said photograph, and relaxing in the air-conditioned cabin after a lot of stair-climbing, I started to mentally plan the afternoon. I would ride the JR line around the north edge of the lake and down to Makino on the west side, put my things in a locker there, go sightseeing further south in Katata and Imazu, then return and catch a shuttle to the hotel and find a restaurant to eat dinner at. Little did I know that a combination of incorrect information, misleading information, the reality of the countryside would nullify my plan.

I went to Nagahama Station and saw that the next train would be leaving in a half hour. As the departure time approached, an announcement from the platform speakers informed us that the trains were now delayed a couple of minutes, followed by another that they were delayed by 30 minutes, meaning I would be waiting an hour just to get on the train. The train finally arrived, 40 minutes late, which just goes to show how dangerous it is to rely on JR (in West Japan, JR seems to have trouble handling busy travel weekends). I had to switch at Imazu-Shiotsu station for the Kosei Line, but thanks to that lovely delay, my train had left one minute before and I now needed to wait another hour until the next one came. After about 35 minutes I got impatient and decided to go call a taxi, so I went down the longest station staircase I have ever seen inside a train station and asked the station attendant for the nearest taxi company’s phone number. As luck would have it, the train arrived at that very moment (apparently the Kosei Line was delayed, too), so I ran up the longest staircase ever with my bags in hand and barely slipped through the door and into a vacant seat before it departed. We soon cut through a tunnel and rushed out into the breathtaking, verdant scenery of northern Biwa.

Around Makino Station...absolutely nothing

Despite the information on JR’s website, when I asked the station attendant where the coin lockers were, he gave me the “are you insane?” look and told me there were none. I couldn’t very well go sightseeing with my bags in tow, so I called the hotel, but despite their claim to be a lakeside resort, they didn’t even have a pickup service from the station. This meant I would have to haul my stuff 15 minutes to the place. Furthermore, there was nothing resembling a restaurant near the station–mostly just old houses and paddy fields. With a groan, I put one foot in front of the other. With trains that arrived only once and hour (and unpredictably delayed), my arrival at Makino several hours later than planned, and my legs worn out by the time I walked through the hotel’s front entrance, it seemed as if things that day would not go as planned.

Fortunately for me, when it comes to trips, I thrive on unpredictability. Stay tuned for part 3.

See part 1 and part 3 of the journey.

To see a map of my journey, click here.

I am running a little late on this one but thought I would post the pictures and info anyway in case any of my readers had not seen it yet. Things have been super busy here at my house lately the beginning of the week is scouts and that means I am just really busy.

I am in the middle of helping my son as well, he is a neat kid likes to play with the Cricut and makes things, I still cut a lot of it out but he puts it all together etc. Well he is making little people from the 2 paper doll carts for  apage about thier Troop Golf Merit Badge class and I have been helping him with making the shirts look like Boy Scout uniform Shirts, it should be a cute layout when he is done with it.

Ok onto the carts the first one we have is a nice Asian cartridge, I like this one I am a sucker for little geisha’s and cut asian things I have to say though if these end up being the end cuts I love the Panda with his but in the air, I love panda bears and these are super cute, I also like the Koi Fish as well looks a lot like the Yudu Art Koi which is good means I could use these on my shirts instead of buying the small pre-made Yudu art:

Pagoda

Next we have a very nice Western Cowboy type Cartridge, I like this one for so many reasons but I can see the possibilities with this one, think of all the great Boy stuff I can make for my boys having 3 sons and many country cowboy men in my family this will go a long way:

Old West

And last we have a Dinosuar Cartridge, again really great for the little boys and big boys in my family and yours, envision the boy who is obsessed with dinos think of how you could decorate his room with this cartridge and a stack of bazzil cardstock:

Dinosaur Tracks

Very nice, I am loving all the new stuff coming out soon, I need to get a second job just to keep myself from going bankrupt buying all of these great things

These are rumored to be full cartridges so this is only a smidge of what will be on the final cartridges, I am not sure of any release dates but if I hear of something I will update again, I forsee these being available somewhere though before the end of the year (don’t quote me on that though I am just guessing).

I am still waiting to get my hands on Designer’s Calendar I cannot wait to play with that one, they have a lot of new things out there waiting to be released I know we are all happy customers waiting to play

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake shook parts of north-western Burma today, damaging Buddhist temples believed to date to the 11th century.

The moderate earthquake occurred just after 2am with the epicentre about 260 miles north- west of the commercial capital, Yangon, said Thein Htay, an official from the national Meteorological Department.

The quake was felt in several towns in the north-western Magway Division, none of which are densely populated or have high-rise buildings, he said. There were no known casualties.

Residents reported damage to two ancient Buddhist temples in Ohn Pwetaw village and a pagoda in Yay Nan Chaung, saying the structures were believed to have been built in the 11th century and were known for their colourful frescoes.