Danger ahead, maties!
Of course, I had to see what all the fuss was about – turns out they were just cutting trees on the side of the road, nothing special.
Category: Photos
Thainglish Part 1: Assy Nail
Better than Naily Ass?
Taken at Fairy Plaza, Khon Kaen, which fills all my ladyboy needs.
Note: This photo and the ones of my office were taken with my new mobile phone – and I really like it.
Cows in my backyard
I woke to the sound of bells and a desultory “moo.”
Like my bro said, now I’m in the inaka. I like it.
venemous dinner
it tastes like shrimp, yo. the pilsen was pretty good, too.
the buy (part 2)
(click on photo to enlarge)
Can you make out what tasty treat we came across?
Broom Man
We live in a gated community near Mahasarakham University (where Nam is heading up the Japanese Studies department). Every day a few vendors are let in to peddle their wares/offer their services. There’s the ice cream truck, which I have heard (the song is different from anything I have heard in other countries, but just as distinctive) but not seen. There’s apparently a knife man who comes by on a bicycle/whetstone contraption, which I have seen on old TV shows and read about in books, but never seen with my own eyes. And then there’s the Broom Man, who rides around on a reverse-tricycle motorized push cart:
The Broom Cart in its full pimpalicious splendor; our house in the background.
That’s my father in-law’s 40-year old Ford Capri behind it, which deserves a post of it’s own in the near future… It’s now a hybrid (as in mixed origin, not power system) American/Japanese/French/Thai supercar which I asked my brother in law to put racing stripes on (I’m sure it once had at least 25 horsepower).
Honda Power!
Nations rise, civilizations fall, but the Broom Cart will outlast us all.
I think I’ll write a blues jam about the Broom Man.
The coolest thing about the Broom Man? He’s content with his life. He showed me the workings of his cart and his full range of products, and it made me want to cry how much he was selling them for… But the Broom Man smiled, and all was well again.
I bought the bamboo rake for a dollar fifty, and he was on his way.
The View from My Bedroom Window
Bring on the gazelles and gorillas and shit.
All I can say is, this is the first time I am living next to a forest, and I love it. I go to sleep to the sound of wind rustling through the trees, plus the assorted sounds of as-yet unidentified forest animals, birds, and insects. Every day I wake to a refreshing breeze blowing through the room (we leave the windows and the sliding glass doors open) and more clean air than you can shake your pecker at. We have been trying to get back behind our house to just scope it out (I actually want to buy some of it if possible, but it may belong to a temple so I might just ask if they can break off a small parcel for a fellow buddhahead), but we can’t find the right access road. Hell, I’ve only been here for a few days – we’ll try again soon.
Yesterday we went to go see some of the land that my wife’s family owns.
All I can say is, boy that Brahmin sure has big, red ____.
(This bull was trespassing. We dont own any cattle. Yet.)
Shaka – The Oldest Buddha in Japan
He resides in Asukadera, in the town of Asuka Mura, where I stayed for five months when I first came to Japan 13 years ago. We visited our relatives’ church there a few days ago.
The most amazing thing about this Buddha is that he survived fires and earthquakes that ravaged the very temple built around him – he was the only thing left standing, and the villagers protected him by wrapping him in straw. The current temple was rebuilt for him around 180 years ago. Unfortunately, whoever tried to repair his face did a very poor job of it, but he still projects a lot of power.
He’s the oldest Buddha in Japan.