Ladies or gents?

Here's a confusing one:

Is this the men's or women's restroom?














The Chinese says "Men, do not enter" (more literally: "Men: halt!") But the English "Men's stop" implies that this is the station or pit-stop for men! Also, foreigners often can't read Chinese, but many will memorize the characters for "man" and "woman" so as to avoid embarrassment at public restrooms. But of you look for 男 (man) here, you'll still get it wrong!

Seoul, South Korea

Drummers I came across at Insadong, in Seoul, Korea

Shiding-to-Maokong hike

Just for starters... please check back later.

Old World Forkedfern (Dicranopteris linearis)

Misc. photos from Bangkok

Now some miscellaneous pix from my recent trip to Bangkok.

Royal Cemetery at Wat Ratchabophit

Little India, with the domes of the Sikh temple
Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha visible

Video: entering Saphan Han Market

Red Shirt rally

Riverboat approaching. This is a part of Bangkok's
public transportation system.

On the river boat



Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), floating down the Chao
Phraya river. It's a problematic invasive species.





Wat Ratcha Orasaram, final resting place of King Rama III

Same temple. Note the Chinese influence.

Oleander (Nerium oleander)

Bangkok Protestant Cemetery

Shell of the Channeled Apple Snail (Pomacea canaliculata),
another invasive species.

Misc. photos from Calcutta

Motherhouse, the headquarters of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity



The Maidan, Calcutta's biggest park


The entrance to South Park Street Cemetery, one of the

most amazing cemeteries I've ever visited

A crow (Corvus splendens) in the cemetery


Milk spurge (Euphorbia neriifolia) that has grown into a tree.
It's intermeshed with Bougainvillea.


Video of the cemetery

Calcutta street scene


Video of the street. I held the camera at waist-level and walked fast, to prevent people from looking at the camera!

Another street scene

The curry restaurant I found


Here's something for my friend Sandhya:


St. Paul's Cathedral


The interior of the cathedral

Songkran - Thai New Year

It just so happens that I'm in Bangkok for the Songkran festival.

This is a time when people traditionally pay respects to elders, give food to monks, pray at temples, wash Buddha images... but the biggest emphasis is splashing water about! Which is nice considering that April is the hottest time of the year.

One of the big hubs of activity and partying is Khao San Road, where I'm staying.


People carry bowls and bottles of water, and increasingly popularly, squirt guns, particularly the "super soaker" type, and they soak passersby. Gangs of water-gun wielding young 'uns often engage in shootouts with each other! Even a quick trip to the corner 7-11 guarantees a soaking!

People also smear a water/chalk mixture on others' faces.

A lot of fun!

Bangkok!

Now I'm in Bangkok!

I've already visited the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery twice, and I also visited the Royal Cemetery. Besides that, I've been recovering from intestinal... uh... discomfort, but I feel OK now.

I got together with my friend Harry who I got together with in Singapore last August. We talked of many things... of cabbages and kings... had beers and smoked "shisha" (apple and fennel seed flavor). (Yeah, it looks like "hashish" spelled backwards, but trust me, it's not!!)

Here he is.

I'll be here for another week. That includes the Songkran festival.

Tollygunge Cemetery

This morning I decided to make the trek out to Tollygunge Cemetery, to the south of downtown. Fortunately it doesn't take long to get to: 20 minutes by subway, and a 15 minute walk. But the subway is insanely crowded! Plus the name of Tollygunge Station was renamed, further complicating matters. But it was worth the trip.


Tollygunge Cemetery gate


Later I had a tasty vegetable curry at this wonderful little restaurant I found.


Sacks of hot chili peppers I saw on the street

More Calcutta

Day two: I saw more than just graves, but I did still see graves.

I saw the Black Hole monument (the Black Hole prison no longer exists). I saw the gigantic building known as the Victoria Memorial.

In no particular order, here are the pics. When I get my own wireless connection I'll fix them.

Calcutta, a graver's paradise

(Hi, there are pictures now, but they're completely unorganized. Some weird changes have been made to the way they allow them to be edited and placed, and I haven't mastered it yet, so it's a mess.)

Hello from Calcutta! (They call it Kolkata now, but I'm a traditionalist.)

I'm sitting in an internet cafe across the street from the Mother Teresa House.

I chose to come here because of all the historic cemeteries. I visited South Park Street Cemetery, the Scottish Cemetery, Lower Circular Road Cemetery, and Mother Teresa's tomb. There is much more to see.

A rickshaw. This is the product of Japanese engineering from the late 19th century, and its design endures.














I would like to take the opportunity now to sing the praises of South Park Street Cemetery. It's a truly amazing place. Gigantic monuments and pyramids. Thousands of graves. A true shelter from the chaos of the streets outside. It's like the Protestant Cemetery in Penang, but on steroids. If you're a graver, you have to see this place!

The Scottish Cemetery fell into complete disrepair after 50 yeas of neglect. But in 2008, and organizaton started clearing away the dense underbrush and is gradually working on restoring it. It's not in the best condition, but its future is bright.

Lower Circular Road Cemetery is sprawling, and contains many new graves. People are still being buried here.

And Mother Teresa's tomb is quite nondescript, and is wrapped in a tarp right now. Some construction is going on beside it.

Longshan Temple

The day I went to Herb Alley, I also visited Longshan Temple.

Here, two young ladies perform poah poe (pronounced "bwah bway") in front of the Old Man Under the Moon, a god of love and marriage.

 

More to come...

Herb Alley

Just around the corner from Taipei's famed Longshan Temple is a lesser-known attraction: Herb Alley. It's a tiny covered lane with a number of shops selling medicinal herbs. Walk in, and you'll be hit by the aromas of a myriad herbs.



A view into the alley. On the right, there are some large Aloe vera plants hanging. And the brown tangled masses are the roots of Uraria crinita.


Visible in the photo below are prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica), also called nopal; milk spurge (Euphorbia neriifolia), which though itself poisonous is said to treat cancer (herbal chemo?); a fruit of the screw pine (Pandanus odoratissimus), which can be brewed into a tea, is hanging from a pink cord.



Left to right: common rue (Ruta graveolens), turmeric (Curcuma longa), and fo-ti (Polygonum multiflorum) roots. Behind the fo-ti roots are Tinospora cordifolia vines, said to be good for the liver.



Outside the alley there are some stalls selling herbal teas. I bought a cup of tea brewed from the chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata). It's supposed to rid you of toxins and harmful bacteria.



If you go visit Longshan Temple, be sure to stop by Herb Alley and take a look around. You may find the cure for what ails you!