… 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 …
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!
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.
I’m certain that anyone would come into an agreement that these laws do apply in life as well! We just have to find the perspective to see it.
The photo presented today was taken at the Bamboo Forest 竹林 in Kyoto 京都 – Arashiyama 嵐山. Like everyone else, I just took a photo of what is in front of, behind, to the left, or to the right…
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?
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
A few months back, I had a chance to visit Palio, an Italian-style village mall and I felt as if I were in Europe. Even though it looks like an Italian village, the place is filled with a variety of international foods, shops and products along its narrow walkways. The Palio has become one of the weekend getaways that is only a few hours drive from Bangkok. It is also a good place to take photos. The place is doing so well that some of my co-workers actually quit her jobs and moved to Khao Yai to open an outlet there!
So, be sure to visit Palio if you ever come to Thailand.
The photo below was taken at the Palio, that only has one “object” identifying that it was taken in Thailand.
Looks can be deceiving!
The “object” is a small and white sign written in Thai in blue and an arrow pointing to the right in red. [ ไปดูตูด -> ] guess what does it mean?
Let me translate it directly [go look at your butt ->] !!!!! However, it’s actually a restroom sign.
“Palio Khao Yai”, New Walking Street Shopping Center in Italian-style village mall, located among the the distinctive and spectacular views adjacent to Khao Yai National Park. Here you would experience the passion of shopping excitement of various unique products, services, venues and specialty stores to fulfill your needs and discover Italy’s charms & romance amidst the Italian façade buildings. (http://www.palio-khaoyai.com/)
This post is all about Natt wants to show his photograph taken by his new wide-angle lenses. So he said I had to write something because this is a view from my balcony. Here we go!
Bangkok is called officially in Thai as “Krug Tep”. It means “the city of angels”.
That means “the heaven”, isn’t it?
***… and then she stop writing… (20 days later)
oh well… I guess if you want to know about Bangkok, you would need to do a little searching on the web yourselves
Friends are a gift we give ourselves. But for our Bali trip, we need your help.
What a delight it is to be at Bali with your BFFs. Right? So feel free to vote for us. )
Humm… These are photos that we (InterContinental and Holiday Inn Bangkok’s Sales and Marketing team) have submitted for a shot at a trip to Bali! Of course not all of us would get to go, but we will work something out once we win it! (Positive thinking ^_^)
Well… I am not asking much at all… just a minute of your valuable time to vote for us, once a day… for 5 days. That is only 5 minutes total of your valuable time. Your vote matters as we are competing with everyone around the world. Well, hopefully a top 10 would be awesome!
Any clicks will help!
Simply click the images above to the FACEBOOK page and click “VOTE NOW”
Thank you all for your CLICKs.
(Maybe I’ll get to go to Bali and bring back memories to share with everyone here)
To construct something takes researching, understanding, planning, designing, engineering, refining,… the list goes on! To construct anything will definitely take time. Lots of time. However, the end result will definitely pay off nicely. IE, these men are spending days and nights to build a bridge for train tracks. Once the bridge is complete, the train then can go to many more places that it could before because of the river that prevented it.
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in ones favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: ‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it.’” –W.H. Murray, of the Scottish Himalayan Expedition
Dreams… are no different from the trains on tracks moving forward… Never backward.
photo taken during a boat trip at Chachoengsao, Thailand.
It is confirmed that Zen, a section of the Central World Shopping Mall, has collapsed due to fire. The building was set on fire today by the anti-government protesters. This building is only one of many buildings that they set on fire!
Bangkok will never be the same after today. Many significant places and buildings were destroyed by terrorists. Hence, the curfew is being enforced between 8:00 PM – 6:00 AM until further notice.
The Wat Phra Prathom Chedi in Nakorn Phrathom is the house of the remains of the great Buddha since… I don’t really know when. After doing some research on the website, I am yet to find a solid history about the Temple (Wat). But I am certain that it was already build for at least 20 years because I remember visiting this place when I was about 7 years old. Then, I found this temple to be huge but now I found it to be amazingly ginormous.
I really wonder how long did it take and what method were used to build this temple. A curiosity that is best not to be understood by me… just so that I can keep my imagination going wild about it.
It was during a walk at Aum Pha Wa market some weeks ago that I found this little alley and this coffee shop. The use of space here is really amazing. As it seems, every inch of the space are use for one or more purpose!
Now imagine you are in the alley and were walking where there is everything imaginable to the left and right hand-side and even above of your head constantly everywhere you walk. Your eye will simply try to look at everything, but you won’t be able to unless you stop. The experience at the market was beyond explanation. I was there twice during the past few months, yet I couldn’t explore the entire market.
If you like to eat, here is the place for you
If you like to shop for souvenirs, here is the place for you
If you like to take photographs, here is the place for you
If you like to take a boat trip to see fire-flies, here is the place for you
If you like to “whatever it is”….
… Aum Pha Wa is the place for you
I Simply want to post the photo of the sunset at Wat Arun. Also, if you look closely at the temple, you can see the people that climbed up to (probably) take pictures.
I haven’t get the time to climb the temple yet. But when I do, I’ll be sure to share the picture of the view from the top of the the building.
A slight problem is… I suffer from a bit of acrophobia!
HOT… REALLY HOT! It’s 36 degree Celsius here in BANGKOK!
A day like this, makes me want to jump into the pool and just be cooled by the water. Or perhaps a nice boat trip in Chao Phra Ya river would be in order. A speed boat trip is one of the MUST DO thing in Bangkok. The trip normally includes visits to many different historical sites along the river. I, too, took the trip once a few years ago and was surprised by the amazing sites.
Really, anyone that comes to Bangkok must at least take a speed boat trip to experience the city!
It’s Aum Pha Wa Floating Market, one of the tourist attractions in Thailand. Finally I got to travel again during Songkran Festival (April 13, Traditional Thai New Year) It wasn’t anywhere far, it’s Aum Pha Wa… again! The last time we visited, we didn’t get to take many pictures, nor could we explore much of the market because it was already late.
Second times a charm! We were amazed at how many things were left unexplored the last time we visited. The picture selected today shows some of the interesting lifestyle that is hard to find elsewhere. Down to earth lifestyle or perhaps we can call it down to “canal” lifestyle!
Only later that I found out about the house in the picture is a home stay http://www.ruernsabay.com/ I guess the next time we visit, we should try to stay here. But my concern which is the loud noises in the area. On second thought, just a dinner in front of the house should be enough
Today, we have an honored guest, Dr Pahn Pintu-On to write today’s post. Dr Pahn always goes to Ratchburi, Thailand on the weekends to meet/see patients. She has been wanting to take pictures of this river after work, but due to the nature of her work she haven’t had the time to do so. I, on the other hand, accompanied her to the clinic and had a chance to take the pictures while I was waiting for her to get off work, but I really don’t know much about the place. So Dr Pahn would be the right person for it.
For all of my life, I hated “waiting”. I don’t want to wait for anyone or anything because I have too many things to handle in a day. So letting time fly without doing anything is not something for the type of the person I am. That why I always run out of patience when I cannot do anything but wait.
However, sometimes we have to wait and something is worth looking forward to.
Have you ever heard “the right time” or “the perfect moment”? I believe that everything has its own perfect moment; not sooner, not later. You can’t rush, force or do anything else but to wait and wait with patience. Holding your breath and let it happen on its own.
Like the way Natt took these pictures; the perfect moment to see “the colored pencils” in the river is just after the sunsets. If you want to capture this moment, you have to wait for it, wait for the right time. That why I haven’t had a chance to take pictures like these. Always too early, too late or too tired.
After waiting for an entire day, Natt finally captured “the perfect moment”. Look at these pictures, do you think that it was worth waiting for?
and waiting…
and waiting…..
and waiting……..
and waiting………..
and waiting…………..
and waiting……………..
and waiting…………………
and waiting……………………..
and waiting………………………..
and waiting……………………………
DONE waiting!!!
TAXI!
Simply just want to share a moment while we were waiting for a boat that, after 20 minutes, never show up!
We were waiting at Tha Dian port across from Wat Arun (the glowing temple in the picture) after a full day trip in Bangkok.
Another trip that I almost get to join with Hans and Heather. I just received this via Email from Hans, the view outside of his window in Lisbon. Enjoy the trip! If you still can, would you try Pastry de Nata and Bolas de Berlim and tell me how does it taste like, or even better if you could go learn how to bake one! Thank you very much!
Enjoy the trip ^_^
A lot more to go! And that’s look like a load of driving!
There I was, resting after my very first friendly pre-wedding photo. The Mall that we took the photo, unfortunately I couldn’t remember the name of the place, is opposite of the Crystal Park, Bangkok. Here, I felt as if I were in the U.S.A. again because, to be more exact, it’s reminded me of the Arcadia shopping mall, Arcadia, CA.
But anyway, what I love the most about this shopping center is… the light-up wall and semi transparent wall. It’s reminded me of SCI_Arc, Southern California Institute of Architecture, administration office and the design of the place is quite simple and modern. Make me want to start designing again, but perhaps not yet.
For now, taking it easy… slowly but surely, for once
Less is more… a phrase that I first heard it in 2006 at SCI_Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) during a weekly lecture on Wednesday night. We were like, please not another cliche phrase, I guess the idea of less is more doesn’t really make sense at first in the state where everything get “super size” and that “more is better”!
Not until the class of Philosophy of Technology did I start to agree with the once thought of silly phrase, less is more. The class was offered at SCI_Arc during a summer by Marcos Sanchez, an amazing professor, that brought up the topic of hot media and cold media by Marshall McLuhan
Hot and cold mediaFor McLuhan there are two different kinds of media: hot and cold media. The hot media are those, which have a large influence on humans and its sensous perception. According to McLuhan these media even possess a “destructive strength” (for example “stone axes” see the point “the medium is the message”). The pioneer of the media ranks the writing, the phon-etic alphabet, the book, the photography and also the radio among this kind of medium. These ob-jects of communication place much data and de-tailed informations at the users disposal, which are mainly concentrate on one sense of the recipient.
It is affected by this, but remains rather passive in the behavior. The cold media have a small influence strength on humans. The reason for this is, that they offer little details and information, and are not optically delightful for humans. To use and understand these media humans must actively deal with these media. McLuhan calls the televi-sion, the telephone or the caricature as example for it. Finally we mention the fact that a medium is not only hot or cold, but must be regarded always standing in a relationship to another medium.
To my understanding, the cold media is the one that is “LESS” informative but allow for “MORE” interactivity with the media. I guess that is why I choose to do the black and white version for this photo, to allow interactive with the moment, the space and the time that the picture was taken rather than the hundreds of colors that were in the picture.
Who would have known that this roughly built, patched together wooden bridge would be able to withstand the load of people that walk on it, the wind that blows thru or the storms that come crashing upon it from time to time. I guess we just can’t simply judge its capabilities simply from the way it looks. It looks like a bridge and works like a bridge with its purpose to transport one from one side to the other of this path by crossing the obstacle below… therefore it is a bridge.
It is common for some to doubt the capabilities of the bridge because it does not look trustworthy, but for those who believe in it… get to walk and board the boat that take them to many amazing places that those who choose to stay behind would have never experienced!
I was simply trying to metaphor this with the idea of “LOVE” between 2 persons. Having love as a bridge for the couple to walk; it is important for them to TRUST in the LOVE so that both can surpass any obstacle that would get in the way to finally board the love boat where they get to share their life together.
So it seems that the most important part of this journey is that… one must TRUST in the bridge in order to find a bit of happiness. There is no way that we can test the stability of the bridge; even if we do… we won’t have the time to because the boat is leaving.
Trust is a matter of CHOICE.
Without trust… we stand still
By simply TRUSTING in that LOVE… we, then, start walking,
The answer to the previous post…
…the entrance to The InterContinental Bangkok.
Welcome to the InterContinental Bangkok!
Today is a very important day, at least for me because it is the last day of my training BUT… yes there is a BUT…. but it is not the last day that I will be coming to the hotel.
As for every ending… a new journey begins.
I’ll Be BaCk! (imitating the voice of Arnold from Terminator) which reminded me of a scene in the movie. Check the youtube.
He came back alright… with a BANG! And soon, will I… perhaps not the exact same way he did
After months of walking past what I thought was just a decorative statue, I came to realize that this is no ordinary simple statue. The realization came when I noticed people paying respect by “wai” to the statue
“The wai is the Thai greeting and show of respect, indicated by pressing your palms together near your chest and bowing…
The wai is a unique, graceful action practiced throughout Thailand. It plays a very important part in showing respect and is central to Thai etiquette. For the most part Thais do not want to touch your sweaty, grubby little hands, so it’s a good idea to learn how to wai. The European kiss-on-each-cheek-greeting will certainly alarm a Thai, especially if you are a man doing this to a woman who isn’t your wife or girlfriend!”
After much curiosity about this statue that everyone wai to every time they walk by, I asked around to find out that the statue is Narayana on garuda, aka Pra Narai Song Suban.
I have yet to find out about the historical significant of Pra Narai Song Suban, however, I will update with more details after a bit more research.
“The Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand is the supreme law of Thailand. Since the change from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional democracy in 1932,
…
1932 Constitution of Thailand
The People’s Party, facing an internal power struggle and opposition from the King, promulgated a permanent constitution in 10 December 1932 that gave the monarchy a significant increase in authority compared to the temporary charter. The day is currently celebrated as Constitution Day.
The constitution continued to state that sovereign power belonged to the people of Siam. However, unlike the temporary charter, the monarchy would now be the direct exerciser of that power, rather than the branches of government. This royal power would be exercised by and with the advise and consent of the People’s Assembly, the State Council (the cabinet), and the Courts. However, the monarchy lacked any say in the composition of any of the branches of government and the royal veto could still be overruled. The monarchy was also made “sacred and inviolable”, in contrast to the temporary charter.”
From the outside of the El Escorial, all we see is the stone, cold, and harsh walls; but it has a totally different feel once we made it thru the wall. A very warm welcoming is waiting patiently for the residents to come home.
*architecture 101: A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air. (wiki)
There are many times in life that… I just can’t seem to find words, pictures, nor paintings to describe what I want to say. Today is one of those days, a day that is best expressed by Debussy – Clair de Lune (moonlight).
In this world you tried,
Not leaving me alone behind.
There’s no other way,
I pray to the gods let him stay.
The memories ease the pain inside,
And now I know why.
All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments,
Imagine you being here.
All of my memories keep you near,
In silent whispers, silent tears
Made me promise I’d try,
To find my way back in this life.
Hope there is a way,
To give me a sign you’re okay.
Reminds me again it’s worth it all,
So I can go home.
All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments,
Imagine you being here.
All of my memories keep you near.
In silent whispers, silent tears.
Together in all these memories,
I see your smile.
All of the memories I hold dear.
Darling you know I’ll love you,
Til the end of time.
All of my memories keep you near
In silent moments,
Imagine you being here.
All of my memories keep you near,
In silent whispers, silent tears.
By simply looking at this photo, I am reminded of the moment I was taking the picture. Grabbing onto the rail while leaning out to the side just so that I can take this picture. Just to think about it, gives me the chills and I get weak in the knees! This was taken at Wat Rat Burana, Ayutthaya, Thailand. I came up to this location by the stepping stone outside of the temple. I was hoping to find another way down that perhaps would be less scary than on the way up. This stair way was my option, no thank you!
