miscellaneous rambling

This is one of the two ancient libraries of Angkor Wat. The blue-ish pillars, are reconstructed peices by the French government. Many of the temples are undergoing restoration by various world governments~France, China, India, USA etc.

You can go into the library, but there is nothing left inside. I was just able to get a monk into this picture before he left.

We went to a traditional arts college, where we saw people being trained to paint, lacquer, and carve artworks. It was small, but very interesting. ( although works were very overpriced..)

In the courtyard there are stone statues for display. You aren't really allowed on the grass, but I had Dallas run out there to pose for a quick pick with one of the busts.

My favourite temple at Angkor was the one within Angkor Thom, and was showed in the movie Tomb Raider. It’s completely overgrown with trees. Also the stones are askew, lying everywhere, and mostly covered in green moss. It gives the temple a very cool look and feel. The passage way here is large enough for person to walk underneath so you can imagine how big this tree is.

I knew nothing of Cambodia, except that there is a famous World Heritage Site there called Ankor Wat. I didn’t know where it was in the country either, but Dallas always wanted to go, and I did a little as well, although it was never a priority for me.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia. Top 3, along with Nepal, and Laos. Although my trip was short, and limited to the Ankor area, which is of course, a bit touristy, I kept my eyes and ears open, and I could feel that indeed, this country had it’s own feel to it. At first look, it may seem very much like Thailand, even the food is similar. But the Cambodians look different, have slightly different movements, and I felt very empathetic to their lives. I could feel that this is one country which has truly been screwed over by war for years and years. They have had peace for only about 30 years, and the country is still trying to rebuild slowly.

Angkor Wat, is only one of the temples in the Angkor area. It is a massive area that you could spend weeks in visiting all the temples there. Angkor Wat is famous because it is perhaps the most complete ( undamaged ) of the temples. It also houses some of the best carvings.

Despite liking some other temples better than the famous Angkor Wat, I did however, go back several times there. To take shots at Sunrise, and to see a special dance performance one night. This is one of my shots of Angkor during sunrise. Taken at 5:45am.

When I was working the kiln in October, a stray dog came by. She was friendly, and I took her in. Her name is Zipper, because she has a black zig zag "zipper" line on her back. ( natural fur coloring)
She is a mixed dog, but looks 80% beagle. A very very tiny beagle, but bigger than our other dog Ricecake.
She is very sweet, but unfortunately can be a bit noisy sometimes.
She's also very smart, and she gets along well with the students.

Couple of months ago, Dallas, me and some friends went on a hike to Bei Da Wu. Dallas hadn't hiked for a long time, and this was going to be a big trip for her.
Unfortunately, we encountered rain on the first night, and we couldn't summit the mountain the next day. We hiked down the trail, which had become a little dangerous with the rain. It was still a good trip, and Dallas tested her limits.

We plan to take the mountain again in the Spring. Trip is planned for March right now.

This is a shot of us above cloud level early on the first morning of the hike.

Late in the Fall, I took a weekend off to go Scuba diving on the Eastern Islands of Taiwan. This is taken at Green Island, from a cliff next to the road. The weather was very nice as you can see.

The diving was good too.

The kiln fire at night. This is when the flues are closed, created a reduction fire, which pulls the elements out of the clay, and creates more variation in the work when it is done.

Taken about 1 am on the first night of firing

One of my cups. I made a seal with my last name on it.

I marinated some pork and hung them next to the kiln to smoke it for lunch one day

It was alright, but a little too dry. Should have basted it with the sauce as well. J

In late October I worked for a month on and off with a friend who is a professional potter. He does raku, and the works are done with a wood fire kiln. The fire is continuously fed 24 hours a day for 4 days. I volunteered to do some all-nighters at the kiln, working it up to 1200 degrees Celsius. In addition to this, I also got to create some of my own pieces. It was a long process, and I documented the whole thing over 100 photos. I will put some of them up.

I don’t have too many photos from a trip to Thailand that we took earlier last year. But this one is worth putting up for you all. This is me getting a traditional Thai massage. It’s clothed, no oil, and as you can see, it’s not like what you might think it is.

However, I can tell you, that it is nice and you feel good afterwards~ although a little beat up.