When the word “beautiful” just isn’t enough!

… yesterday’s class was the end of my first week back to school at Chulalongkorn University. Going back to school for my Master of Architecture is amongst the best things I have ever chosen to do thus far. Getting to know new people, exploring our differences and making new friends is just fun. The class was about the Methodology for Research that will help under understand how to do research properly. Aside from that, we were taught and asked to be more of a Grad-Student rather than an undergrad-Student by using vocabulary that are suitable for a Master Degree candidate.

Therefore, it seem that I may not be allowed to simply use the word “beautiful” to describe the scenery of the Zen garden and the serenity pool at Arashiyama 嵐山 – Kyoto 京都. As a result, I find the garden and to pool to be very …

admirable, alluring, angelic, appealing, beauteous, bewitching, charming, classy, comely, cute, dazzling, delicate, delightful, divine, elegant, enticing, excellent, exquisite, fair, fascinating, fine, foxy*, good-looking, gorgeous, graceful, grand, handsome, ideal, lovely, magnificent, marvelous, nice, pleasing, pretty, pulchritudinous, radiant, ravishing, refined, resplendent, shapely, sightly, splendid, statuesque, stunning, sublime, superb, symmetrical, taking, well-formed, wonderful  

Even though the list are made of synonyms, it is very amazing to see how many words are out there that can also describes the meaning of “beautiful”. Just like in nature, there are so many things out there for us to appreciate and the Japanese have done it superbly, indeed!

The walk along the path to the Bamboo Forest 竹林 in Kyoto 京都 – Arashiyama 嵐山 isn’t an easy one.

I believed that the paths were created to make it harder to access the Bamboo Forest; not to test the visitor’s endurance but to allow them to enjoy the beautiful scenery that Arashiyama has to offer! If we were to walk a straight path from the parking lot to the Bamboo Forest, it would probably take us about 10 minutes to get there. The path has instead detoured us for perhaps an additional 40 minutes, but it made it a walk to remember.

The path lead us along a river with colored autumn leaves on the hillside across the river. Enjoying nature’s serenity amongst the simple and peaceful local lifestyle made the walk extra memorable! Every step, every turn, and every view we had along the walk is simple, yet very stunning. The selection of the materials used along the walkway and the colorful autumn leaves have made the walk akin to strolling in a work of art.

Sometimes enjoying life isn’t all about getting to the desired destination as quickly as we can… because getting detoured… isn’t always just a detour!

Live life! Be lost… and enjoy the detour!

Weather and seasons in Japan are a great lesson to everyone when one pays attention to it. The seasonal circle of Spring – Summer – Autumn – Winter… is just an amazing life lesson. Japan’s weather and seasons may be seen as a life cycle or a moment in life where there are moments to begin, moments to enjoy, moments to remember and moments that end. As long as the moon still rises, the sun still shines, and the planet earth is still spinning around…

…we can be sure that the moments to enjoy and to remember will be return.

Same goes for life, so don’t sweat it!

Life is all about perspective and viewpoint. Once I came to understand the concept of the differences in perspectives and viewpoints of people, it became so much harder for me to be so judgmental towards others. Because everyone has their reasons to do whatever it is they want to do, some of us may never understand because we are not in the situation they are in. But sometimes, we just do whatever everyone is doing without knowing why we are doing it too!  Yup, this is life and there is so much more to discover.

Sometime I think that everything in life can be seen as Newton’s laws of motion as follows:

Newton’s laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those forces. They have been expressed in several different ways over nearly three centuries, and can be summarized as follows:

First law: The velocity of a body remains constant unless the body is acted upon by an external force.

Second law: The accelerationa of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net forceF and inversely proportional to themassm, i.e., F = ma.

Third law: The mutual forces of action and reaction between two bodies are equal, opposite and collinear.

Counting down, 12 more hours… goodbye Osaka, goodbye Kyoto and goodbye Japan. Till we meet again!

It is currently 2:00 am here in Osaka, Japan but I would like to stay awake as much as possible to absorb all the Japanese’ness before it is too late!

The trip is part of the Masters of Architecture of Chulalongkorn University field trip; visiting Osaka University to exchange ideas and research topics on architecture. Let’s skip the academic stuff because… you know how technical and boring it may be! But because of this academic discussion between the universities, we get to explore so many aspects that Kyoto, Osaka and Japanese culture have to offer!

The experiences are priceless! Many of the places that we visited were on my “places to visit before it’s too late” list! The Bamboo Forest is definitely on the list along many other places that I have unexpectedly visited these passed few days.

Life is just amazing, a journey to take, places to discover, cultures to explore and memories that last.  Simply PRICELESS!

It was weeks ago when I found “Hoklee Cafe” at the Dam Nuen Saduak floating market in Ratchaburi province. I was taking my grandma and mom to visit the floating market. However, we arrived there a little bit late in the afternoon and there were not much activities left at the floating market. So we simply looked for a place to just sit and relax. We just found the cafe by coincidence! Those that often travel with elderly people must know how often the elders use the restroom. For my grandma that is 78 years old, she uses the restroom every other hour! Because of that we ran into this awesome cafe the “Hoklee Cafe” at the Lao Tuk Luck, which is a section of the Dum Nuen Saduak floating market.

Based on the information I gathered from chatting with the owner of the cafe; the cafe was a house that was passed down from generations to generations. The house’s foundation and roof has been renovated but the interiors were kept un-touched to preserve its origins as much as possible. Currently the owner has turn the house into a cafe shop for a quick stop off point for the passers-by, either by foot travel or by boat. The owner and the community of Lao Tuk Luck  are trying to rejuvenate the livelihood of the community as it was seen years ago.

Check out the Lao Tuk Luck facebook for more information and photos of the community.

My grandma was really pleased with Hoklee Cafe as it was very peaceful, calm and breezy yet classic and elegant in its own way. Be sure to ask for the Lao Tuk Luck’s community when you visit the floating market.

Good morning Bangkok, it’s currently 5:45 am in Thailand. Good afternoon and good evening to everywhere else on earth.

First of all, I am so excited to hear about the news that one of my Bangkok photos was selected as part of the “35+ Most Beautiful Cityscape Photography From Around the World” Who would have thought that a photo taken while getting ready to visit Bali last year would be selected. Be sure to visit the link ” “35+ Most Beautiful Cityscape Photography From Around the World” because the blogger really put together a nice collection of cityscapes from around the world. So many places that I wish I’ll have a chance to visit in this lifetime. I’m sure that you  feel the same too.

This is the first time that I got a chance to post on the blog in a while. Boot camp is not over yet, as I still have a few months left. However, we are allowed to use computer and have internet access from time to time. Well, let’s talk about the boot camp at another time. Today, I am sharing one of the night views taken at Pattaya, from when I had a chance to visit a few weeks ago during our 10 days break from boot camp. It was the best 10 days off ever!

Pattaya, the famous night life city that is well-known around the world. And because of it’s fame, it is quite hard to find a calm and peaceful corner of the city. Normally I stay at the Holiday Inn Pattaya, but it was fully booked. So I gave “The Zign Hotel” a try which is just a few minutes away by car from Holiday Inn. The hotel provides an amazing views and a great swimming pool to float around under the nice blue sky.

Just relax…

The rest you’d just have to be there to know about it. Enjoy the views!

P.S. The panoramas were taken by PaHn. Such an amazing view isn’t it?

As he said in a former post, Natt is now in boot camp, doing what a man should do for his country, working out for his six-pack. :p

Today, I accidentally found this website. It’s about the most beautiful photographs of big cities around the world. Guess what! The first photograph under the topic was taken by Natt. It’s a view from my balcony.

I’VE GOT ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEWS OF BIG CITIES IN THE WORLD!!!!!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, Natt’s not going to be allowed to use mobile phone. So, I can’t tell him about this good news. Maybe I should try to write a letter.

http://www.tripwiremagazine.com/2011/04/35-most-beautiful-cityscape-photography-from-around-the-world.html

Dear readers…

Tomorrow I’ll be going for 6-months to boot camp. The boot camp has been waiting for me since I was 21.

I haven’t had much time to write or any chance to take many photos these past months due to “things” that had to be handled prior to me departing to boot camp.

Hopefully this boot camp will help me get fit & firm up my aging body.

The boot camp schedule includes 10 weeks of basic military training, 1 week of rest and another 13 weeks of working “somewhere,” as they see fit. Hopefully, I’ll have some time off to update www.TwoStepsBehind.com now and then.

The hardest part, in my opinion, is the basic training that includes running, sit-ups, push-ups, digging a hole, climbing fences… etc. Yup, that is a real challenge for me, a person that hasn’t been working out for years.

Well, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do!

That’s just how life is… just like a tree that has to withstand anything that comes along.

Merit-making has been part of the Thai culture for generation after generation, because they believe in karma and because they are Buddhist. Good karma is gained by doing good deeds, but if that is not enough, merit-making helps increase good karma as well.

Thais make merit here and there from daily worshiping the house’s shrine, also known as Thai spirit house, to weekly visits to a temple praying for health, wealth and protection. Aside from the daily and weekly merit-making, Thais would look for a chance to do “9 temples of merit-making in 1-day”.

9 temples of merit-making in 1-day is often done on special occasions such as international New Year or during the Songkran Festival (Thai New Year), praying for a new beginning for the year and year-round health and wealth protection.

My mother and grandmother are Buddhists as well, so I had the chance to plan a 9 temples of merit-making in 1-day trip for them. For many, they would plan the trip in Bangkok, Thailand where the great grand palace located along with many popular temples that is close by to each other. Doing a 9 temples of merit-making in 1-day trip in Bangkok involves a lot of walking, tuk-tuk riding and ferry crossing from one temple to the next, because it would be unwise to drive in Bangkok due to horrible traffic.

Instead, as I have an elderly person along, I planned the trip in Ayutthaya, the formal capital of Thailand that is just an hour or so drive from Bangkok, because it would be less walking for the elder as I could drive them around from one temple to the next and also have a chance to re-explore the formal capital.

The photos selected today are the different Buddha from the following temples:

1.     Wat Phananchoeng

2.     Wat Yaichaimongkol

3.     Wat Suwandararam

4.     Wihan Phramongkhonbophit

5.     Wat Thammikarad

6.     Wat Naphrameru

7.     Wat Choengthar

8.     Wat Kasattrathirat Worawiharn

9.     Wat Thagarong

At the end of the day, my mother and grandmother felt accomplished, anew with a peace of mind and are ready to take on another year ahead.

Be sure to include the 9 temples of merit-making in 1-day as part of your trip’s plan the next time you visit Thailand

1.     Wat Phananchoeng

2.     Wat Yaichaimongkol

3.     Wat Suwandararam

4.     Wihan Phramongkhonbophit

5.     Wat Thammikarad

6.     Wat Naphrameru

7.     Wat Choengthar

8.     Wat Kasattrathirat Worawiharn

9.     Wat Thagarong