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The weather has been a real downer lately, with usually overcast skies, rain or mist and high humidity. Just walking around campus leaves me drenched in sweat. If we have had any sunny days, they’ve been on work days, so I just haven’t been out and about to take any photos lately. This seems to be the normal scene lately.
However, I have a backlog of photos I took earlier in May that I’ve been meaning to show, so, until I decide to do some wandering around to take some new shots, I’ll post these older ones over the next few days.
Progress continues to be made on next year’s big event, the 2012 Yeosu World Expo, and, in addition to the construction at the Expo site, roads are being widened, new hotels are being built, and a general sprucing up around the city is being undertaken. There’s a long section of wall, about head-high, near the Expo site. Previously, it was just a dull gray block of concrete, but last May, high school and university students set about painting some murals on it. Here are some of the results.
Of course, all the animals and mythical creatures do have meanings associated with them. Here’s a sign that explains what they mean. You’ll definitely have to click on the image a time or two to be able to read it.
There are several more paintings that I didn’t get shots of that day, so I’ll have to go back and nab the rest of them. When the weather is nicer.
I’ll get some more shots up later or in the next few days.
This is the first post, then, about my recent vacation in Thailand and Laos. Let me say congratulations, though, to Yingluck Shinawatra, leader of the winning party in Thailand’s recent election, future Prime Minister and sister of deposed ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Hopefully, the election will help to unite the country and heal the wounds caused by all the strife there recently. Some commentators on Thai politics think it will be a good thing, but there are those who think another military coup is possible. I left the country just a few days before the election, and, while I did see more than a little campaigning going on, I didn’t see any demonstrations or acts of violence. Good luck, people of Thailand!
Next, I have to comment on the quality of Thai Airways. I used to enjoy flying with the “Smooth as Silk” airline, but lately their service has really declined. The quality of the food served on flights has gone down noticeably from, oh, say about five years ago; the attendants, while not surly, don’t seem as interested or caring; and the in-flight entertainment has become sub-par. On the trip to Bangkok, all we had were the overhead video monitors–no individual seatback screens with video on demand (older planes, I guess). On the trip back to Korea, we did, indeed, have the video on demand, individual screen system–nice. However, less than halfway through the flight, the system went down–no video, no music to listen to, nothing. That made for a much longer flight. Yeesh! I’m gonna have to start booking my travel on another airline, methinks. Sorry, Thai Air, you’re gonna have to pick it up quite a bit to keep my business.
Ok, I got that out of the way. I only stayed in Bangkok for one night, so I didn’t get around too much. One thing I always do in Bangkok is eat at the Bourbon St. Restaurant, which, as you might guess, serves mouth-watering Cajun cuisine. It’s only about a kilometer or so from the hotel, so I could have walked there. I felt like having a little fun, though, so I decided to take a motorbike mototaxi, a rather unsafe way to travel in Bangkok’s notorious traffic.
It was around 7 p.m. and Sukhumvit Road was experiencing its usual rush-hour jam, so taking a regular taxi probably would have taken around half an hour. On a mototaxi, it took about 10 minutes, with the driver weaving between the non-moving cars and buses, working his way to the front of the pack waiting for the traffic light to change. Then, at the green light, he roared to the back of the next stalled pack and again squeezed to the front. You have to really keep your arms and legs tight to the bike–you’re the meat in a sandwich and the buses and cars are the bread. It’s actually not that bad in a traffic jam, because not too many of the big vehicles are moving–just watch the arms and legs. I took a couple of videos while I was riding on the back, holding on for dear life with one hand and holding my compact camera with the other. I’ll try to get one of them posted here for your amusement.
So, I did make it to the restaurant ok and had a great meal of red beans and rice. Fantastic! Be sure to give the Bourbon St. a try if you’r ever in Bangkok. It’s on Sukhumvit Soi 22. Check their website for directions.
Another thing I like about Bangkok is all the surprising cultural trappings that seem to pop up out of nowhere. I walked back to Sukhumvit 11 (no sense pressing my luck on the mototaxis), and this statue caught my attention. It looks like it might be a shrine of some sort, and it was located across the street in front of a bank or department store–I really don’t remember which. I didn’t notice it on the ride down, but that was probably because I was too busy taking the videos and trying not to die. 
More mundane transportation is the overnight train to Nong Khai. It departs from Hua Lamphong Station at 8:30 p.m. and arrives in Nong Khai around 8:30 a.m. The train is usually late by about 20-30 minutes, although it’s been on time occasionally on my past trips, but this time we were 2 HOURS late getting into the northeastern Thai city. Again, on the return trip, the train was almost 2 hours late arriving in Bangkok. Very unusual, but not a big problem for me, since I wasn’t on any real pressing time schedule. (Nai had a pretty long wait in meeting me, though.)
Here’s a shot of Hua Lamphong I took from a restaurant above the main waiting area.
I kind of like the rickety, over-aged night train–it’s seems like an escape to the past, when people weren’t in such a hell-bent-for-leather hurry to get somewhere else. On the train, it’s not the arrival that’s important, it’s the trip. The train has a dining car, so I rocked and rolled my way down a few cars and sat down to have a snack. You meet all sorts of interesting folks. I talked to one Norwegian guy who co-owns a guest house in Vang Vieng, Laos, and he told me that the police up in the “frat” town (about which I’ve previously posted) had clamped down on the after hours (closing time–midnight) partying there. That’s excellent news–it’s a beautiful area, but the young backpackers that seemed to party ’round the clock had turned it into something less than appealing to older folks like me.
I also struck up a conversation with one of the police who patrol the cars, checking passports, watching for thievery, and other such mundane chores. I took a photo, but for some reason I had the settings on my camera messed up and didn’t get a clear shot of him. However, it does give some idea of the swaying motion of the train, so I kind of like it anyway.
So, I’ll end this rather long post with my arrival in Nong Khai and try to get some more photos and stories up this weekend. Stay tuned.
Before it gets to be too far past the fact, I’d better do a post on Children’s Day, which was on Thursday, May 5th. There’s really no equivalent holiday in the U.S., particularly since it’s an official national holiday, an off day for government workers (and English teachers ). That should tell you something about how most Koreans feel about their kids. That week was also the Turtle Ship Festival, which is held in conjunction with the holiday. The festival celebrates legendary Korean naval commander Admiral Yi Sun-shin, inventor of the turtle ship. I posted last year about Children’s Day and the Turtle Ship Festival.
It was a gorgeous day–warm, with brilliant sunshine and blue skies (no yellow dust blanketing the area). The festival area is located at the Jongpo Ocean Park Walkway, from where I’ve taken a number of photos, such as this one.
Last year’s festival was a bit on the small side, but this year’s was much, much larger, due to the upcoming 2012 Expo (May-Aug 2012), so one of my former advanced level English students informed me.
Naturally, there were kids with their parents everywhere you turned, playing games, having fun, enjoying the beautiful weather.
There were dozens of tents set up for food, cultural exhibits and local organizations, with a few surprises along the way.
Here’s a fellow demonstrating kitchen knives.
This guy was doing something with these hamsters (gerbils?); I’m not sure what, but they were rather indifferent to his efforts. They lay there, not moving, either tired or drugged. If the latter, the guy should be taken to the woodshed for mistreatment of animals.
Wanna buy a sword?
Small turtle ship replicas.
Korean junk food, with french fried sweet potatoes in the lower right corner.
This food vendor was pretty good at tossing and stretching his noodle dough.
You could also buy paintings depicting the defeat of the Japanese naval forces when they tried to invade Korea way back in the late 16th century.
And continuing to walk along, I ran into surprise #1–MontanaRon is shocked to see a Montana Native American!
Ok, not really. It was a Korean dressed in Native American garb, selling flutes. Pretty cool, though.
Just a few tents down from him, I stumbled onto surprise #2–schawarmas! A couple of Turkish fellows were selling lamb or chicken schawarmas (They had a couple of Turkish flags hanging in their tent, so I assume they’re from that country.)
Unfortunately, I had just eaten and wasn’t hungry at all. They were doing a booming business. It’s coincidental that a reader left a comment on the blog about schawarmas. (Alan, are you reading this?) And, while I’m at it, let me give a BIG SHOUT OUT to his website, which features tons of recipes for this fantastic mid-Eastern food. Check it out at ShawarmaRecipe.com I hope the Turkish guys are here to set up a schawarma restaurant–I’ll be one of their best customers. (Yeosu has very few options if you’re hungry for something other than Korean food.)
There were also a couple of stages set up for performances, but my timing was bad–nothing much going on in that respect, though this small group was hamming it up and playing music for the crowd. Check out the older Korean on the far right and the man kicking up his heels to the left of him.
This wasn’t too far from the new bridge, which still isn’t open.
Overall, it was a great afternoon out. I can hardly wait for the Expo next year when there will be dozens of international booths (along with their respective foods). Gotta go–gettin’ hungry for breakfast and gotta work soon. More later.
Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask. Did any of you watch the wedding on Friday? With an estimated viewing audience of two billion, I’m sure a few of you must have. I watched it for, let’s see, about 5 hours. Yeah, I watched the whole thing, including pre- and post-wedding coverage. I switched channels between CNN and BBC. The BBC channel here had a much crisper picture, so I spent most of the time watching it there.
I really enjoy the pomp and pageantry of these types of events, and the British monarchy does them better than any other institution in the world. I love the music, the clothing (how about those fascinator hats?), the tradition, the horse guards, and the celebratory atmosphere. The world doesn’t seem to have too many fairy tale stories these days, so this was, in my opinion, a feel-good event. Bravo, Great Britain. Fascinating. Hats off to ya. I just hope I live long enough to see a coronation.
Well, I’ve taken quite a few photos around Yeosu, and, being the small city that it is, I sometimes feel that I’ve run out of things to photograph. So, I’ve decided to take “theme” photos–shots that fit into a particular category. Right now, I’m looking out for business signs. Here are a couple of examples.
So, what is Nudee?
a. bar
b. house of ill repute
c. strip joint
If you said bar, then you’re correct.
Try your luck with this one:
What kind of business is it?
a. tanning salon
b. health food store
c. cosmetics store
It’s a cosmetic store. Hope you got that one correct.
However, more interesting are the various “cutesy” icons that are used on restaurant and other business signs. Here’s an example of the type that I’ll be posting. Obviously a restaurant that serves chicken. I’ll have many more of these later.
Here’s an article about the dangers of Korean culture for young Thailand imitators.
In the mascaraed eyes of Thai teenyboppers, South Korea is ground zero of hip.
So the writer of this article begins his story. Korean boy and girl bands, movies and soap operas are all the rage in the Land of Smiles and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Thai authorities, however, warn that the mascara, big eyelashes, and skin pigmentation used by Thai teenyboppers are dangerous to their health. They’re even blaming an outbreak of dengue fever on black hosiery, another Korean import, worn by women between the ages of 10-24, because “the mosquitoes are drawn to the leggings’ dark hues.” Weird response by Thai authorities, unless, of course, they’re more worried about the cultural inroads being made than by the unreal possibilities of physical harm. In the article, the writer touches on this likely reason for the warnings by the Thai administration. An interesting read. Check it out. (Disclaimer: No, I don’t wear dark hosiery nor wear big eyelashes. I am, however, quite envious of the dark, luxurious, thick hair of Korean kids. Is a toupee in my future?)
My journey to Marrakech was all too short. The city itself is very beautiful, its copper- and salmon-colored walls and buildings, especially in the light of the setting sun, providing a beautiful contrast to the green trees and vibrant gardens that abound on the broad avenues. Though I didn’t see much of the city, I have fallen in love with it. Meknes is a tightly condensed city, much like a clenched fist, whereas Marrakech is much more open, more soothing to the senses.
The legendary Mamounia Hotel, inside the walls of the medinah.
As the train gains distance from Casablanca, the countryside becomes much more sere and barren as you approach Marrakech. The red, rocky soil is broken here and there by gleaming white mosques rising from the occasional village. The land doesn’t appear to be able to sustain crops, but flocks of sheep, their tan coloring matching the fields, roam in the treeless fields outside the villages.
The conference itself kept me fairly busy, so I didn’t really have that many opportunities to roam around outside the main tourist area–the fabled square of Djemaa-el-Fna, where acrobats, snake charmers, story tellers and musicians compete with the aromas of dozens of open-air food vendors, sizzling kebabs beckoning the hungry masses. I was there only during the day, which was unfortunate because I was told that nighttime is when the place really starts to dazzle.
Nearby is the Koutoubia Mosque, one of the most famous of Islam.
Surrounding the square are the labyrinthine alleyways of the medinah and the souqs, or shopping stalls. Nabila and I spent a few hours in the square the first night there, and Hakim, she and I went shopping in the souqs the next day. On Monday, John, Kathy Nyikos (an English Language Specialist and the main speaker at the conference) and I tried to lose ourselves in the medinah. Luckily, because I had to catch the train, we didn’t.
Mouth-Watering Spices For Sale in the Souq
Sunday evening, the ALC folks, who put on a marvelous conference, invited the presenters and other involved people, out to dinner at one of the local restaurants in the medinah. I don’t remember its name, but we reached its rather discreet front door after walking for about 20 minutes through the winding alleyways. You wouldn’t think that anything special lay beyond that door, but when we walked inside, we were transported into a magical world, a throwback to “1001 Nights.” What a beautiful setting to dine. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my camera, so I have no photos of this charming restaurant. There are many like this scattered throughout the medinah, apparently most of them bought and refurbished by foreigners. We were treated to a six-course feast that included numerous appetizers, a lamb-and-quinze dish, chicken baked in a crepe-like covering and a scrumptious, flaky, sweet dessert. During the meal we were serenaded by a Moroccan trio of musicians, which included an oud, a doumbec (Moroccan drum), and a young lady with a beautiful singing voice. All in all, a once-in-a-lifetime treat for a Montana steak-and-potatoes guy.
I stayed on for an extra day because Mohammed, Hakim and a few other Moroccans told me about the horrors of taking the train on the last day of Eid, when EVERYONE is trying to make their way back home. I went to the station and was able to change my ticket to Monday. The ride back was uneventful; I read, dozed off, read some more and wandered around the train car talking to Mohammed and some new teacher friends. It was a memorable trip. I plan to return to Marrakech on my own in the spring when I can take more time to explore this beautiful location.
New photos posted to the gallery. Check ‘em out. More later.
Everything has been moved back a couple of hours, due to Ramadan. So, for example, the patisserie, normally closed at 10 pm, now stays open until midnight or 12:30. It’s the same for most of the other shops also. Most of them don’t open until noon, instead of the normal 10 am. Around sundown, say 5:30 or so, the sidewalks clear out–the whole city seems deserted, with a few cars buzzing around. It’s a good time to go bike riding or walking, since everyone heads home to break their fasts, as I posted previously. Interesting and kind of eerie, but in a good way, I suppose.
Sunday, John, the RELO, and Evelyn Early, (I think that’s her name), the Public Affairs Officer of the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Embassy in Rabat, are coming to Meknes. The PAS used to be known as the U.S. Information Service. Neither are coming up on an official visit; Ms. Early is fairly new to the country and John is taking her to visit the ancient Roman ruins of Volubilis, about 20 miles from Meknes, and I have been invited to join them. So, it should be a very interesting, and photographic, journey.
I rode my new bike to Marjane today, a 35-minute trip to the Wal-Mart of Morocco. Bought some odds and ends for the bike, but also bought a new bath towel to replace the “Blue Demon” lint producer, that, after several cycles through the washer, shows no sign of ceasing its shedding. I’ll have to find another use for it. Any suggestions? Wall hanging? Substitute cat?
My permanent internet connection is supposed to be hooked up on Monday. I had to get a regular phone installed in order to get the 512K ADSL connection–the number is 212-55402717 (or 055402717 if you call from inside Morocco). Might as well put my address here also, in case anyone wants to send me some goodies (though I can get everthing here that I need or want, for the most part.) It is Immeuble LAKHSSASS, Apt. #3, Avenue Hassan II, Meknes, Morocco, 50000.
If you notice the time of the posting dating for this entry, be assured that it is correct. Yes, I’m listening to the late-starting (in Morocco) Yankees-Angels playoff game, hoping that the rain holds off in New York. HAH! The Red Sox got swept by the Chisox. Awesome! More later.
I took a walk this evening, looking for a good vantage point to watch sunsets, and I found several great areas near the apartment, but out of the downtown core area. Tonight there was a gorgeous sunset, but, unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me. Hopefully, I’ll soon be posting more great photos of my favorite time of day.
Walking back to the apartment, just after sunset, I heard the call to prayer from a mosque nearby, and then, seconds later, from across the small valley, several mosques in the medinah echoed the call. The sound of the amplified voices blending in their sing-song chant was very exotic and beautiful, coming, as it was, from several directions.
Before coming to the apartment, I decided to stop at the patisserie (bakery) just across the street and pick up a baguette. What I didn’t know was that a couple of chocolate-cream filled donuts with my name on them were waiting to ambush me. Yummmmm!
Another thing I’ve noticed here, a comforting thing for me, is that roughly 25-30 per cent of the men are either bald or have receding hairlines. I’m not out of place in that respect, unlike Korea and southeast Asia, the hair capital of the world, where I and the Buddhist monks were the only ones, it seemed, with balding or completely bald heads. Refreshing, Morocco is. More later.
Well, it’s kind of boring, so far, except for spending lots of money buying groceries and odds and ends for the apartment. It’s fun, though, to walk around at night and see all the shops lit up that I don’t notice during the day. I think I’ve found a health club–I hope so, because I haven’t found any areas suitable for jogging, though there are some very nice, broad, tree-lined side avenues just outside the town center. I haven’t seen any bookstores that offer books in English, though I did find an English/French dictionary that I’ll have to buy in order to gear up my rusty, novice-level French skills.
The weather has been nice, not too hot or humid, clear skies and a breeze most of the time. Perfect for sitting in one of the ubiquitous outdoor cafes. These are everywhere and I think there must be enough of them to accommodate the entire male population of Meknes if everyone decided to use them at one time. In them, the male part of the population sit with their friends and chat and ogle passersby while sipping on juice, coffee or mint tea. Women, I’ve read, are the mistresses of the house, in charge of its daily operation, cooking, washing, watching the kids, etc. The men seek “refuge” in the cafes. There are numerous bars, also, though alcohol is technically illegal in Morocco. I guess it’s ok to drink, as long as it’s done in the privacy of the home or behind the shuttered doors of the bars.
Here’s a view of the sitting area of my apartment. The kitchen is behind this view and the two bedrooms are off to the left. Quite nice, actually, if a little large. Heating in the winter (Yes, it gets chilly, I’m told) will be difficult. Notice the TV with the rabbit ears–worthless, as there are no local stations I can pick up. I’m supposed to get a satellite dish, cheap, soon. More later.
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