Blogs from Asia - page 10

As we travel through the country we often come across along the sides of the roads monuments consisting of piles of stones, usually surrounding some kind of post, with blue scarves, animal bones, and various other ephemera mixed in amidst the rocks. These are believed by Mongolians to bring blessings to travellers, and the tradition is to stop, pick up a stone from the bottom, and throw it up to the top, seemingly part superstition and part prayer, perpetuating the monument. I think the ritual is primarily Buddhist, but to me it feels Shamanism-influenced. We stopped at Pak Atzer ("Land of Stones") today. There used to be a Buddhist monastery situated in the valley, but this was abandoned in Soviet times when the monks were killed (there is almost nothing left of it, only some beautiful ... read more

url=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GWkRSVE1rN8/UaMly0bbIbI/AAAAAAAAAiE/lgIefLJpF0A/s1600/India+October+2010+049.JPGimg=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GWkRSVE1rN8/UaMly0bbIbI/AAAAAAAAAiE/lgIefLJpF0A/s200/India+October+2010+049.JPGSunita wrote: My mother will never let us marry, and I cannot disobey her. Thank you for being so understanding. Your beautiful, intelligent, English girl-friend will make you very happy. Yours faithfully, Suni He wrote: Come over to my place on Saturday and we can discuss the matter. Love Frank She wrote: I will be visiting friends with my sisters. Yours truly, Sunita. And so her visits to his flat stopped. Their working relationship necessarily continued, but all intercourse was politely formal, and purely verbal. Frank drew what little comfort he could from her occasional smiles. He related his unhappy story to his Nepali t... read more

Boat racing always the event on the Duanwu festival day, but here in Longhe, a small township northeast from Napo in Guangxi, the Zhuang people celebrate it in their own way on the Lunar 5th day of May, for the last 230 years or so they shot canon up to the sky that carry a small matel ring, it was an act to praised the almighty their Lord. People would fought their way to catch the ring when it falling back down from the sky that'd been carry the blessing from above. Everywhere in China Duanwujie is dedicated to the patriotic poet Quyuan, but in Longhe only the patriotism is related, they dedicated the day to a Shima King and a temple had been built over 200 years ago, for his effort to defended the country's ... read more

They were trekking through countryside inhabited by the Rai tribe, and their progress was frequently interrupted to allow Ungel to explain to each passer-by where they had come from and where they were going to. Frank was struck by the women, with their broad, generous faces, festooned with coin necklaces, a nose ring, large silver discs over the ears, and always a scarf, draped over the head, or tied in a simple turban. Red was the preferred colour. They spoiled the effect somewhat by wrapping their midriffs around with long lengths of cloth which give them a spare-tyre appearance. The little girls were taught from a very early age not to be idle, and no girl past the age o... read more

Today, I have officially been in China for six months. It’s hard to believe, really. But half of a year has flown by, and it’s been a wild ride. In trying to think of ways to commemorate this moment, I decided that the best choice was obviously a compilation of Jess-osophies that have come from this experience. Several of these are lines from previous blog posts… others are clips and phrases that have become catches for me… others still are words of wisdom passed to me from some of my best people. For better or for worse, these are the words I’ve come to live by in my six months in China: ~ I'm here, I'm safe, I'm comfortable, and I am freaking aweeessommmmeee :) ~ Small victories. ~ If it smells dirty, it is. ~ ... read more

Survived the overnight flight - just! Can't say it was easy after leaving home at 4 pm and sitting in heavy traffic for 2.5 hrs to get to Gold Coast. By the time we arrived at the parking location, took a shuttle to the airport, checked in etc the boys were "interesting." Thankfully they were tired by the time we took off but it was a bit rough taking off through that horrible weather. Oh .. Another benefit of Air Asia ... We got soaked boarding the plane (that's another funny story). Anyway Blake slept the most .. Dylan the least. They are coping surprisingly well given the severe lack of sleep overnight. Excitement is keeping them going (and free wifi at the airport now). Arrived in KL 4.30am local time. Met with vet bust low ... read more

So today is the Tuen Ng Festival which means Day off from work.... May post more pics later- I am going to head out in a bit to travel/ explore some of the small /side streets in the neighbourhood about a 20 min walk from here which is still more traditional Hong Kong. I am so excited for July ... One of my friends who I made in Hong Kong and I are going to head to Mynamar in Burma for 4 days ( 6/30 to 7/4) and see the temples, take the the culture and take a cooking class. We are also staying at a 5 Star hotel so we will check out the pool and spa too.. We are staying at the Govenor's Residence Hotel- here is the link so you can check it ... read more