Bird as a Monk

My friend and I (thanks for the pics Laura!) got invited to a monk initiation ceremony for our friend Bird. Young men often do stints as monks, for a week up to a couple years.

Kuala Lumpur: 80s design nightmare

So I went to Malaysia for a visa-run, visiting the capital Kuala Lumpur for three days. Let me say, KL is an 80s design nightmare. My friend and I (Laura...thanks for the pics!!) thought it would be cool...maybe even more of a scene than Bangkok. You know, maybe we'll go to a bar and people will actually throw their hands in the air!! (Bangkok Thais are so conservative and self conscious that dancing is practically like pulling teeth).

But KL turned out to be BLA! It was stuck in a weird middle zone, sorta like Cambridge, Ontario. Too small to have a local vibrant culture, but not big enough to have strength in diversity. I think KL had an economic boom in the 80s, which flattened out thereafter...leaving the city stuck in a brutal time warp. I thought I might have been lost at the Toronto zoo, circa 1996.

One good thing though, after coming from Bangkok, was that there was a some ethnic diversity going on...a mash of South Asians, Chinese and Malays (which are a historic mash anyway). I liked being in an Islamic city as well.

Sri Lankan Mary

Every day a Priest from the north of Sri Lanka sends me situation updates of his parish area, detailing how many people were abducted by government or rebel forces, students were shot or women were raped. The whole country is decending into full out chaos, with no functioning institutions to protect the people (ie. the judicial system, police system, the national human rights commission). The whole minority Tamil community is being systematically picked off with violence spreading to journalists, academics, trade unionists and business men. The Priest sent me this picture: their Lady is crying blood.

Hail to the radio!

I bought a radio and am now rocking the luk thung and mo lam...hella bumpin Thai music from "the provinces". There are lots of variations but I like the super bassy afro-funk and dub style stuff. Totally bizarre tunes with reed flutes and organs. If you want to hear some, ask and I'll send it. It's all I listen to now...

mmm thai cookin'

A chicken foot in the tom yum soup. Something I can't get used to, but can have some fun with.

Hey look I'm a (wannabe) model

A Hong Kong film company is doing a movie on an island in Thailand. They need unaffiliated extras for a beach scene...so my friend took these pics. If chosen I get free flight/accomodation and cash. Ney bad!

Tuk tuk drivers and hot shoes

A pic of one of our tuk tuk drivers stationed outside the apartment. While not a good pic of either of us, it's an attempt ot show off the hotest shoes ever owned by me. Bangkok is the shoe capital.

Chinese new year and hot cops

Bangkok, or maybe Thailand in general, seems to employ police and security people based on the hot factor. Seriously, they're all tall and handsome. We look way too giddy. Thankfully, Thailand still believes that uniforms should be skin-tight, regardless of the heat.

Pattaya

For an "all-staff workshop", we went to Pattaya, a famous beach town. Can you say spoiled brat??? We stayed at an amazing resort, Cabbages and Condoms, that contributes all its profits to social welfare projects in Thailand.

Nakkorn Si Thammasat

For work, I was involved in a Religious leaders peace exchange program. We got to go to Nakkorn Si Thammasat, in southern Thailand, visit various religious sites (Buddhist and Muslim) and sit in on discussion work-shops. The idea was to have Thai religious leaders who are dealing with conflict situations in the south learn from Sri Lankans who have been negotiating these realities for a long time, as a method of ethnic/religious conflict resolution (exactly what I've wanted to work on, eh guys???)

Nakkorn Si Thammasat is a centre of religious diversity, with Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and Christian communities represented here. It was chosen as a site to visit because of its history of religious tolerance.

We visited an Islamic private boarding school (for both boys and girls). Ya...we were causing a bit of a stir in the boy's quarters. The boy next to be seems a bit fixated on something....heeya!

Hey R. Turvey....these flowers were offerred for you. The cloth in the background is made up of hundreds of seperate swaths, some dozens of meters long, that women take as a (Buddhist) offerring to wrap around the temple

Kanchanaburi

Pics of Kanchanaburi's Erawan waterfalls. It's acouple hours northwest of Bangkok... a perfect day-trip escapade. From early January...pics courtsey of partner-in-crime Laura.

RA RA in KO LANTA

For my holidays I went to Ko Lanta, an island in the Andaman sea. I was slow taking pics, but my Thai friends I met sent me some....This is Mai. Him and his friends party all night, every night. Luckily they live in Bangkok, so they've been involving me in their escapades.

Yep, reclining in a tree.

Looking a tad too happy. This is Oui, he kicks ass. Functioned as the interpreter.

A shot of the restaurant at the guest house I stayed at. And my foot.

Holiday in Cambodia: the real city of ghosts

Cambodia endured one of the worst genocides in Asia, in the 1970s and into the 80s. The Khmer Rogue, a communist group that took over the country in 1975, killed millions of people in a case of "autogenocide". The Khmer Rogue was led by a bunch of paranoid maniacs that destroyed their whole party and anyone associated with members that were considered traitors. Thousands of people died during their policies that forced everyone out of the cities and into rural workcamps. This is a school that was used by the regime as a torture centre. They were extremely systematic in recording the people they tortured and killed. The building is now a museum filled with pictures of people before they were interred.


One of the rooms that was used as a private torture cell. When Vietnam liberated the country in 1979, torture victims were found in the rooms. A picture was taken of the scene and hung on the wall behind the bed.

Some Buddhists monks erected a stupa to put the "souls" of those murdered at ease. The skulls fill the inside of the glass stupa, on the outskirts of Phomn Phen.


Shot of the capital of Cambodia, Phomn Phen, from the back of a motorcycle.

Around Bangkok

This is one of the tuk-tuk drivers that is stationed outside my apartment-- and his pet goat. Recently, however, the goat has mysteriously disappeared and I fear for its whereabouts.


Apparently, if you are blind in Bangkok, your only recourse is to buy a machine that pumps backing tracks and walk around singing to it, in exchange for donations. This guy is working the weekend market.

Alternatively, if you are blind or disabled in Bangkok (Cambodia too) you can start a band and rock out with a bunch of like-situationed individuals. As pictured on the streets during a celebration for the King's birthday. Note the yellow shirts; representing the monarchy. People sport them all the time, especially on Monday cuz the King was born on monday.

I think Flava Flav is doing a stint as Mr. Thailand.

Also on the King's birthday, there was a huge outdoor concert pumping bad-ass Thai songs that resembled dancehall/dub style. The boys were pulling some crazy moves, a mix of classic Thai dance and dancehall. Thai Granny came along and taught me some moves.

RUKI

This is my supervisor Ruki, a Sri Lankan. For those not in the know, I am an intern at Forum-Asia, a regional human rights ngo. I am a research assistant working on Sri Lanka and north east India, monitoring and reporting on the respective conflicts. Ruki knows how to party--hard. For those in the know, he is wearing a cobra commander hat.

Lopburi

I went to a sunflower festival a week ago, got to eat delicious sunflower honey and ride on more elephants. Saw another Khymer temple, this one smack in the middle of town. Some of the temples were dedicated to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god; related or unrelated the whole city was overrun by monkies. Later, we went to a little waterfall.