While I was drinking coffee and deleting the posts of Disa, the spammer, I came upon my TBR list (To Be Read Challenge) that I posted in December. I've read about 60 books this year, but still haven't gotten around to most of the books below. Ah well, will be going on home leave soon so better bring a few of these with me.

List One:
1. Baghdad Burning II by Riverbend - I used to follow her blog but now I check back intermittently to see if she has posted anything new after 22 Oct 2007. She has blogged of her experiences as a Iraqi woman and her thoughts on the war, American troops and a life being boxed in by the violence and the aftermath of the occupation. In October 2007, the family decided to leave - and her last post was in Syria. What happened next? Where is she? Her first book was great and very intense.
2. The War of the Nerves by Ben Sheppard
3. Brasyl by Ian MacDonald
4. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen
5. Shriek: an Afterword by Jeff Vandermeer
6. Dark Sun by Richard Rhodes Vte
7. Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury - currently reading
8. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West
9. Wandering through Vietnamese Culture by Huu Ngoc Vte
10. Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith
11. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
12. Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen

Alternate List:
1. Echo House by Ward Just
2. A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
3. A Mercy by Toni Morrison
4. Indignation by Philip Roth
5. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
6. Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
7. 2666: A Novel by Roberto Bolano
8. The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
9. Sly Mongoose by Tobia Buckell
10. Kirinyaga by Mike Resnick
11. A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
12. A Grand Delusion by Robert Mann

Being spam-botted

Sorry to say, I've just put comments on verification and moderation cause some spam bot is leaving comments in Chinese on old entries. I myself find having to do the verification thing for commenting to be time-consuming when I'm on dial-up and sometimes the comments don't go through but I'm feeling desperate.

Anyway, I think I'll reconsider when and if the coast is clear....

I just can't imagine why these spam-bots exist. What benefit do they get in leaving messages on blogs, in other languages?

SWF - 7 August 2009

I took the train to Bangkok. There is now a rail link between Thanaleng, Laos and Nongkhai, Thailand. This is a view back towards the Lao side.



These guys were hanging out on the bridge. Not sure if they just like seeing the train go by or whether the cell phone reception is that much better.

I spent the next few days in Bangkok - dental work and sleeping. Finally felt some energy and walked around old neighborhoods I haven't visited in a long time.



River express taxi on the Chao Phraya River



Houses on stilts along the waterfront.



An unusual view of the Sanam Luang, the Royal Park. I remember a grassy field from 20 years ago, but with various gatherings and demonstrations, they have now paved it over.Although there were some banners in favor of one side of the current rounds of problems, there were no demonstrators so the park has become a parking lot.

With the skies looking so threatening, it wasn't long before the sky poured down on us.



View from the pedestrian overpass by the MBK shopping center, looking across at the Sky Train station. I was happy I got up the stairs before the rain started coming down.

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

SWF - 31 July 09

It's been six weeks since I last posted. I've been un-well, I suspect dengue fever. Fever, fatigue and whole-body aches. I have had zero enthusiasm about everything, even lifting my camera up. Fortunately, it's going away and I find myself with both the strength to carry my camera around, and the interest in looking at things and saying, "I'd like a picture of that."



Sky over Salavan on 12 July. The clouds look like nebulae.



The same evening - the moon looking through my window. Even though it's two days past full, it still looks big and round through the clouds.



The red glow at sunset at the Vientiane waterfront of the Mekong River. People like to sit by the river in the evening to relax, drink smoothies or eat other snacks.



And the sunset in the Xedon river in Pakse. The boats look like they are floating in the sky.

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

SKY 19 June 09

I've been traveling a lot. I broke a tooth and have had to have all sorts of dental work, requiring voyages to Bangkok. This was the scene on Tuesday 9 June at the Nongkhai Station.



The train had to pass through that weather later in the night.

It rained a lot while I was in Bangkok - these violent kinds of thunderstorms that can turn a street into a river in the period of five minutes, before the rain stops and the street drain and a half hour later, it looks like nothing had happened.

Last Saturday, I took a long walk around Bangkok and followed one of the canals. I hadn't walked here before - there are sidewalks on both sides of the canal, which run behind people's houses. It's surprisingly small town along the path.



On Sunday, I arrived in Nongkhai in the early morning and took a long walk around town. The city reinforced the bank of the river to prevent flooding and erosion. And the broad sidewalk is a nice place to walk.



I took the following picture at the Waterslide Park in Vientiane. Yes, they have one - but it's out of the price range of most of the Lao and it does not attract expats or tourists. The slides are interesting for taking pictures. This one I photoshopped; it's kinda funny:



Back to reality - a view of Phonsavanh on Wednesday afternoon, after arriving by plane and having a few meetings, we went off for a beer and a view:

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

Skywatch Friday - 5 June 2009

At the start of the week, I caught sight of these clouds as I was walking home. By the time I got my camera out, they were just past their peak but still amazing. It's also amazing how quickly clouds can change.



On Tuesday, as we were driving down to Champasak, I requested a stop to take a panoramic shot of pictures of the Krading River.



After an afternoon and evening of thunderstorms, we headed to Salavan on Wednesday afternoon. The sky was so blue and clear from all the rain. While we stopped by the road, a whole family drove towards the distance in their tok-tok.



And today, the rain came and went.



In spite of the humidity, the winds in the evenings are cool and refreshing.

Sky Watch Friday 29 May

The weather has moved into rainy season, at a much faster gallop than last year. The skies are either crystal clear or covered with thunderclouds.



Although I haven't had much chance to post over the past month, I'm still taking pictures. I snapped the above picture on a moody late afternoon, where thunderclouds were directly overhead but the light from the sunset lit up the Buddhist temple from the side.



And a very luminous sunset over the Mekong river, looking over Thailand.

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

Gecko dreaming of becoming a butterfly

I took this picture late at night, because I realized I had not taken my picture of the day, then I found the shapes feature.... and it's cool.

ABC Wednesday: S for silver and sleeping

A couple of weeks ago, I walked around the Morning Market in Vientiane, looking for reflections and light. And I found silver. These bracelets were enticing - I took the picture but did not take my wallet out of my bag - this time.



And sleeping - this woman lives behind her shop, and her shop is an extension of her home, so she can take a nap anywhere and any time. Not sure about the profits though.

This is my contribution for ABC Wednesday. I thought I would get all the way through the alphabet this time - well I will but I've skipped everything between K and S.

Water

There's a lot of back-breaking manual labor jobs, with low pay. This truck delivers drinking water around Vientiane, with their staff of a driver and the man who carries the 50 liter water bottles to the houses and businesses.



I wonder what he is dreaming about....

While there is a municipal water system, we only use the water for bathing and cooking. Very few people use it for drinking water - too much chlorine. These men would be out of work otherwise!

Naga and camera

The Naga are serpents which move between earth and the other world, and have a central place in Buddhist images in NE Thailand and Laos. The legend is that the Naga King sheltered the Buddha from a thunderstorm while he was meditating. Naga images grace every templeyard, at the entrances to the buildings and along the roofs.



I bought a Nikon D5000 and I've enjoyed taking photos with it, even though I should stop a moment and read the instruction manual. This picture was a little dark and I didn't get such a great depth of field, so I played with it in photoshop. Turned out kinda cool in spite of my lack of experience.

From Bangkok to Nong Khai

I endured my dental appointment and then resolved to get back to Vientiane for a frantic week of work.

The new airport at Bangkok (well not so new, it's about two years old now) is gigantic and ultra-modern. I haven't gone through there so many times so I arrived two hours early so I could have lunch and make sure to get to my gate on time. Since my last visit, they have installed some beautiful large paintings. Here's a mosaic of images from two paintings:



Unfortunately, I didn't write down the artists' names. The painting of the picnic in the garden is like a Persian miniature but on a large scale. The other painting is of village life and I enjoyed the interactions of the community life on the wall.

I finished the book I had brought with me, so during the 50-minute flight, I stared at the map on the screen. I like watching how it zooms in from this view of Asia. It places me on the world.



Well, the original photo was a little boring, so I altered it a bit in photoshop.

Once I arrived in Udorn Thani, I got on a crowded mini-van to Nong Khai. I arrived late and enjoyed a late evening meal at the hotel. These tuk-tuks were parked across the street, ready to take someone around to all the sights in Nong Khai.

Still alive, still happy

I just realized that while I'm taking pictures and contributing to several photography communities, I haven't kept up with my own blog. Well, whoever is following me, here's a special picture:



I just bought a new camera, in anticipation of a dental work I'll have to endure tomorrow. And I'm learning how to play with photoshop, so I can turn three turtles into six.

I took this shot at the park next to the Emporium shopping center in Bangkok.

Sky Watch Fruit 17 April

I've been spending the week of Lao New Year in Xieng Khouang. My closest friends are here, and I've been going to several baci, or string tying ceremonies, every day. The only problem is that I don't have access to fast internet so I haven't had a chance to upload pictures and post journal entries. And I haven't had the time, what with all the activities going on.



Lao New Year means traveling around and visiting friends. Usually, there's a small ceremony with an elder, who usually had been a monk for several years, chanting Buddhist prayers and then blessing everyone to have good luck and health in the coming year. The blessings are made by pouring a small amount of water on the person's back, to wash away the bad luck of the previous year and bring good luck for the coming year.





We went for a picnic at a friend's farm outside Phonsavanh. They put up the buildings in the foreground, but other people had cut down the trees to raise upland, dry cultivated rice.

The weather contributed to water blessings. Usually, Lao New Year is the hottest time of the year but this year, there was a lot of rain. Didn't make us feel like having water fights.

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

SWF - 10 April 2009

Bangkok haze was thick last week - though it started raining every day. Not just rain but the kind of deluge which makes you think that the whole atmosphere is coming down. It did bring down the dust and pollution, so the clouds building up on the weekend were very impressive against a clean sky.



This photo was taken between the Champa trees. The Champa flower is the national flower of Laos - though there are none in this picture.



I'm posting a bit early this week because it's after midnight and I can't sleep. The night is hot, humid and sticky. Hot season.

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

SWF - 3 April

I viewed the skies in two places this past week. In Vientiane, the hazy skies became more clear when washed by several thunderstorms. I arrived in Bangkok on Weds morning, just after a storm so the sky has been unusually clear here as well.

Last week, I went on one of my long walks. I was enjoying the shape of a palm against the intense blue sky when I saw something special in the tree.



He was cutting ripe coconuts out of the tree and lowering them to the ground by a pulley system.

I also passed this temple entrance on one of my walks last weekend. At first, I though the shapes in the triangle were cut outs, revealing the sky behind. Then I looked closer and realized the illusion - often tiny mirrored tiles are used in the decoration.



Even in the closeup, it's hard to see the joints between the mirrors.



The weather in Bangkok has been nice the past few days - well hot, but not the painful kind of hot that comes with smog. This is a stitched together view of one of my favorite places, Lumphini Park in central Bangkok.



And a view of the building craze still going on in Bangkok:



I remember there used to be a great market here, plus several sleezy bars I enjoyed going to. One of the bars, the Cock and Bull, had a great Philippino country-western band. After working Saturdays at the refugee camp, we'd often take the late afternoon bus to Bangkok for the rest of the weekend and stayed in a rundown guest house near here.

This is my contribution to Skywatch Friday, whose members post pictures of the skies around the world.

That's my world! 31 March

A few shots of my life on this Tuesday. I woke up in Vientiane.



I took this picture before I started my morning run. This is a picture of one of teh Naga heads which will adorn the stairways leading into the new building housing the Buddha images. I wanted to get a shot of the workmen molding the images but they have eluded me.

So I set off on my three mile route. About halfway through, I saw this thundercloud lurking over Thailand on the other side of the Mekong.



I didn't think that it was coming in our direction so I trotted off on my regular route. Just as I was turning back, the storm hit and I had to stand on someone's porch until the rain slowed down a bit. It was just a bit surprising - it's been unusually dry at this time of the year so I'm glad for the rain.

Later on in the day - after a morning full of meetings, and finishing up odds and ends at work, I headed over to Thailand and took the overnight train to Bangkok. This was the scene at the Udorn Thani station.



The sleeper cars on the train are comfortable and not very expensive, so it's usually a nice ride to Bangkok. I kept waking up during the night though. Around midnight, I saw these people waiting at a train station.



I wondered where they were going at this hour of the night.

This is my contribution to That's My World.