Out of all the sensational things that I photographed in Thailand this photograph in particular is the one that took me by surprise the most. It represents many things to me. When I look at it, I feel God, joy, silence and strangely, protected. I imagine that the lower light is me and the light above is where I come from and whether bright or dim, we are the same and therefore cannot exist without the other. To know what light is you must know the dark and to know darkness means cherishing the light.
I don’t really care for carpets unless I’m in an old stone farmhouse in Bourgogne.
Thailand has the most amazing colors and most of the time you’re walking on them. Tiles in the temples, in beautifully weathered restaurants or hotels, everywhere.
Seriously considering Buddhism these days.
During one of my last days in Thailand, I visited the Indian market to pick up some more gorgeous sarongs and floor length dresses. Feeling oh so hungry (when wasn’t I feeling this way?) I found this gentleman creating offerings in front of the food stall I was investigating. He looked so peaceful, so determined amidst all the traffic whizzing by him, the calls from nearby kiosk owners, etc. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. I loved the color of his skin, similar to my own and his hands…how he created beautiful offerings made of various types of flowers, all the while balancing a cigarette. Quels yeux!
Yes, it’s time to get away and I going to spend 16 lovely days and night in the Land of Smiles! That’s right, Thailand! I’m so excited. I know that I will meet warm, creative, hospitable people everywhere that I go and I hope that I am as wonderful to them as they will be to me.
I can hardly wait to float in blue/green water, watch children frolicking on the beach and of course, EAT WELL!
I leave you this amulet taken from Gahoe Musuem in Bukchon.
Have a great day and I’ll write again when I get back to Seoul. Ciao!
On our way to Dongdaemun market, buildings become more and more intimidating, so much so that I tend to look straight ahead, choosing only the sound of my heels and the strength of my legs as a wonderful distraction from the shadows that they cast, wishing that the buildings would share the sky, not block it out. I looked up and saw this green sign, a shade of green that leads me to think that it was possibly constructed in the 50’s or 70’s. The tower which I call flowertower, is located at Yangjae Flower Market. I don’t know why, but I love them both.
I have never been affected this deeply by flowers before. I mean, just look at them! I’m stunned and grateful. I even gently rubbed my nose and cheek against them. I feel as if I’m in love, seriously.
The shape, they look like animals when closed and burst with color when they open. Amazing.The woman at the stall let me buy some, I swear I would’ve been depressed had she not. I’m completely happy. I can hardly wait to wake up and see these beauties in my place!
Oh! Where can you find these? On my lunch break, I traveled to the largest flower market in Seoul: Yangjae Flower Market. It opened June 1991 and it is here that they have wholesale and retail flower markets. People gather here in the wee hours of the morning for the auctions. Here you will find a very large greenhouse, an arboretum as well as retail stalls having very kind and knowledgeable florists. I will feature orchids tomorrow. Enjoy!
Yangjae Flower Market
Subway line 3, stop: Yangjae
from there you could take a bus or a very short cab ride to the market.
I really like this. It makes me wonder if children are now thinking in these terms. Can you imagine if they did? What in the world would they say?
1st kid: Hey guys. You know, I was just thinking, remember when we had it real good, all we had to do was float and eat what Mom felt like eating. Now we have too many choices! Everyone is going bazonkers if food isn’t organic!”
2nd kid: Everything is organic since it’s we’re all going to return to the dust from whence we came…
Leave it up to the hood’ of Hongdae to stop me in my tracks. Korea is extremely conservative when it comes to sex, but this right here? Too good for words! Whoever designed this should have gone all the way by at least being cheekier with the color selection. I give it a B+.
It started yesterday when I received an email from a very special woman who is contemplating moving to Madrid. The DMB currently lives in Japan, quite a jump in cultures, non?
Fortunately I have a wonderful brother and he introduced me to flamenco music years ago and I’ve been loving it ever since. The passion, love for life and even agony I hear in the voices of those that sing flamenco makes me so glad to be alive. Joaquin dances the way that I feel most of the time, especially today. I sometimes think that I am destined to roam the earth, like a gypsy or Bedouin, this makes me sad at times but somehow it also makes me appreciate the wonders that I see on a daily basis. I have chosen my life it was not chosen for me and for better or worse, I celebrate all of it. When I look at this performance that’s what I see: a celebration of the joy, the pain, the blood that runs through the veins, creating endless energy and light. This is my life and it becomes greater by the second.
