By the Nam Song River

The Nam Song river wends its way through mountainous terrain; these limestone karsts tower over the river and continue beyond it.  We were on our way from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, from the new capital to the ancient capital.  Much of the journey would be spent driving through these mountains.  And we would be spending one night on the road, in Vang Vieng, a little town nestled beside the mountains, by the river.

Vang Vieng today is a sort of backpacker paradise.  It has many restaurants and guesthouses for backpackers, with the restaurants essentially comprising raised seating areas with lots of cushions.  There the backpackers sit, snacking and drinking and watching TV - largely reruns of American sitcoms.  We would be staying somewhere else - in one of the older guesthouses, which had been redeveloped a few times and catered to (ahem) a higher class of tourist.   Right by the river, it had fabulous views of the mountains and was within walking distance of the toll bridge and small tribal village.

We visited the village briefly (it was getting late, and the cows were already on their way home).  After a good dinner (pork ribs, papaya salad, a soup of young bamboo shoots, fish, and vegetables),we returned to the guesthouse.  There, we were greeted by the strains of "Blowing in the Wind".  The owner of the guesthouse was no mean guitarist and singer - some folks in our group knew him. We spent the evening by the river, singing away.

The next morning, we woke early and after a visit to the morning market visited a series of limestone caves (filled with stalagmites and stalagtites), again by the river.  We were early, so had the caves mostly to ourselves.  Then, we continued on our journey through the mountains to Luang Prabang. 

Spectacular, majestic scenery was all around.  The winding road took us up and down the mountains. It was an exciting journey, though a little worrying at times, particularly after we had to stop because one driver, going too fast, had gone off the road into a ravine and the car was being winched up.  Fortunately, we also had a good driver who didn't speed, kept his eyes on the road and tooted his horn every time we rounded a corner.  We arrived safely at Luang Prabang that evening.

To end off, here is a little video of the singing session that evening in Vang Vieng.  I asked for a traditional Lao song.  This one, is about the national flower of Laos - the frangipani.Here he is singing it together with others in our party. 

Temple-Hopping in Vientiane

Big and small
Originally uploaded by Taking5

I had been looking forward to visiting Laos for some time, after my classmate invited me over. Finally, 4 years after our first invitation, we made it over! I've decided that I'm not going to do the day by day updates which I used to do after my previous holidays. Instead, over the next few posts, I hope to share a few highlights of our stay.

Laos is a deeply religious Buddhist society. Like Thailand, Burma and Cambodia, young men go through the rite of passage of becoming monks for a while. My friends called this the equivalent of national service for them!  Indeed, there is merit for all of us to take a few months off to pray, reflect, and to learn what it is to depend on the charity and compassion of others. This can only inculcate these virtues in one's own life.

According to my friend, we had arrived the day before a major festival - when 450 monks would gather at Wat Ong Teu, a major monastery, to celebrate Vientiane's 450th Anniversary as the capital of Laos.  Indeed, when we arrived, the temple was crowded.  Large containers had been set out for people to "make merit" and donate to the temple.  The central prayer hall, or "sim", was also filled with groups of people dressed in their best - praying, checking on their fortunes, and taking photos of themselves before the altar on this important occasion. 

The large crowds were thankfully missing from the next two temples we visited that day - Wat Impeng, Wat Sisaket - and the Ho Phakeo temple.  Presumably, every one was at the big festival.  Wat Impeng is just next to Wat Ong Teu, and the sim was opened whilst we were standing there taking photos of the exterior. My friend told me that the brightly coloured murals on the front wall of the sim had been restored through donations, as were the two smaller shrines facing the temple. But beyond just helping preserve and maintain the buildings, the temples receive other forms of support from the community -  each household is also assigned to a particular temple and they will support it financially and with food. 

Later, we visited two other temples - Wat Si Muang, where people pray for their requests to be granted, and the Pha That Luang, the majestic stupa which is a symbol of Laos.  Wat Si Muang (as would be expected) was crowded.  A number of children were there (my friend says that they are praying for good exam results!), parents with a newborn, and so on.  For those whose requests have been granted, they return to the Wat, buy a marigold-decked "tree" from one of the stalls outside the sim, to offer it at the foot of the Buddha in thanksgiving.

But the highlight of the day was definitely Wat Sisaket, the oldest wat in Vientiane - because it was the only one left standing by the Siamese following their invasion of the city in 1828. The old sim was being restored whilst we were there, and we could not take photos of the murals in the interior.  But the cloisters were amazing - they were lined with statues of the Buddha, with small niches in the walls each containing 2-3 miniatures (see starting photo). Altogether, there were over 10,000 statues of the Buddha in the whole temple complex with over 6,000 in the cloisters alone.  The sim and cloisters were surrounded by a quiet, green park which hosted its own large shrine as well as a number of stupas, some containing the relics of some Laotian dignitaries.

We had just visited a handful of the many wats in Vientiane but all of them were well-maintained and cared for.  For a nominally Communist country, the deep religious roots of the society and the people of Laos are evident for all to see.

More Laos photos on Flickr.

Martia

Back for her portrait
Originally uploaded by Taking5

Something like a month ago, Martia went missing. She had a run-in with the dog next door, and ran off thereafter. We could not find her, we did not know if she was injured or not. But she never came back. So we can only imagine the worst.

She was a shy, sweet cat, who was very much the lowest cat on the rung. The other cats would bully her and try and steal her food (she was always the one who got her food last as a result). On the rare occasions I fed the cats, I would stand above her and protect her whilst she ate.  She trusted so few, it was a privilege indeed that our driveway became her home.  I don't have many photos of Martia, largely because it is difficult to get her to pose (she is scared of the camera).

Ah, Martia. Our only consolation is that apparently she gave the dog a few nasty scratches before my mother and neighbour separated them.

On a more cheerful note, we were temporarily fostering Bonnie (or Sookie as she is now called). We found Bonnie on the roadside, much like little Smudge. But unlike Smudge, she was skittish and it took a few nights to capture her. She got used to us pretty quickly and I managed to find a home for her. Sweet little Bonnie! 

Adorable little Bonnie photos on Flickr.

P.S. It breaks my heart but the day after I put this up, Bianca too went missing.

Imagine

This is possibly my favouritest moment in Glee:

The Youth Olympic Games are Here!

As I type this,  the Opening Ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore is underway (I'm watching it on TV).  Now that it is officially here, I find myself quite caught up/interested in the games. Maybe it is because the Olympic flame drove past my house last Sunday (well, actually the main road outside my house). Or maybe because the "Give Way" signs on the roads are a constant reminder of the Games.  Or the inspiring story of little Wei Jie following the flame for 15km wearing flipflops. 

Whatever it was, I found myself standing on the roadside yesterday at noon, waiting for the flame to pass down Lim Liak Street in Tiong Bahru (the day's route is here). My colleagues had volunteered for the honour of bearing the flame and I was happy to be there at this historic moment to support them.  We waited for a bit and two buses of young people drove past, cheering and waving (we waved back). Then, the flame appeared and my first colleague's moment of glory had arrived! 

All too soon, however, he had to pass it on to the next torchbearer (another colleague).  The moment was over.

And, as I type this line, the Opening Ceremony has just ended. I loved the spectacular ending- the last torchbearer, Darren Choy, the 15 year old sailor, running across the reflecting pool to the lighthouse at the end - and the flame streaking up the tower to the lamp on top. It was so special moment - that last lone runner, the reflections on the water, the mist and lights in the background.  At this mystical, magical moment, I felt proud of Singapore. 

Gardens Galore - Singapore Garden Festival 2010

For the third time, I brought my mother to the Singapore Garden Festival - the third time the festival has been held.  As always, we walked through the two huge halls of Suntec City until we were footsore, and till my camera battery was running low (such was the number of zoomed shots, macros etc which I had taken). 

Some SGF highlights:

The huge figure of "The Man Who Planted Trees", an allusion to the story by Jean Giono.  The figure greets visitors to the Festival, and I must say is truly imposing.  Except, that I regret not taking the effort to view it in the far more natural surroundings of the Botanical Gardens, where it was "grown", before being transferred to Suntec. 

This year, I somehow found that the gardens were a little less memorable than previous years.  Somehow, the underwater garden featured in SGF 2008 really took my fancy. This year, somehow the imaginative and creative element was somewhat lacking in the Fantasy Gardens.  Nonetheless, I rather liked the enclosed garden, "Hortus Inclusus", meant to represent a monastry garden, surrounded by pear trees trained in the form of a grill.  There's a technical name for this which of course I can't remember. 

Another favourite (from the landscape gardens) was probably the "Mystic Rainforest", which was really like a cube of rainforest transferred wholesale into the Suntec halls.  I liked the dense smell of moist earth, the dead leaves scattered on the ground, the snakes twined on the branches and the packaging around the cube.  Sorry, I'm not a fan of "Modern Kampong" which won Best in Show.

I always like the immense variety of beautiful, vibrant orchids displayed in the Orchid Festival, and this year was no exception.  Here, I fear, is where my camera is really strained to its maximum capacity.  The "Community in Bloom" is also very interesting - this year, it features some wall garden equipment or "Vegge Pipes" which enable one to grow plants vertically. 

What I found new and fascinating this year was the bonsai.  These perfect miniatures invite one to view these sturdy little trees from every angle.  This little example on the right won a prize (I can't remember what).  

As always, I am amazed at the immense crowds at the garden festival - the serious photographers, the camera phone crowd just snapping away for a photo to remember the event.  I always meet someone I know too.  It's  such a comfortable, neighbourhood type of event and it's no wonder people go year after year.

P.S.  Just re-read my review of the first SGF 2006, and am pleased to note that I had in this post noted the importance of being more inclusive, involving community gardeners.  Obviously, NParks has listened!

P.P.S.  My photo set on Flickr is here.

A Meeting of Cats

I attended the Cat Welfare Society "Mad Hatter Tea Party" event last Sunday. It was held at The Garden Slug, the comfy diner just down the road (which explains why we went).  I rather liked was meeting all the cats and hearing a little more about them during the Cheshire Cat competition. 

Let me introduce you to just a few:

 Toto, the big and beautiful cross between a Scottish Fold and a British Shorthair.  Weights almost 7 kg!!  His placid and easygoing temperament made him the favourite at the Cheshire Cat competition.  A creature of routine, he likes sitting by the door to wait for his humans to come back from work.

Juju's  owner informed us that this poor cat had two broken legs.  I forgot to ask how these were sustained.  But Juju's mobility is definitely affected as he stayed most of the time in the little baby chair.  But still, as you can see, a rather handsome cat!

Smokey turned up a little late for the competition but he  is after all a true Deuteronomy amongst cats.  He's 18 years' old, and was carried in by the son of his human (who must be a good 6 years at least younger than him).  Smokey was the only cat who was attired for the occasion, in a handsome Argentinian jersey (by contrast, his humans were in Brazilian strip - what does this mean)?  He's blind but can still find his way around the house.

I'll put up a few photos on flickr later on but in the meantime, photos from the event (by official photographer) can be seen on the CWS Facebook page.

P.S.  My photos here.