Buddhist Shoulder

Have my first religion-related injury...... First, fell ON shoulder. (Technically, drinking-related injury.) Second, fell and stretched shoulder when suspended only by grip on a tree root while rest of body dangling down hill (trekking injury). Third, completely aggravated sore right shoulder by turning VERY large prayer wheels - always with right hand, and always clockwise. On the upside, suffering makes the blessings more potent. These blessings are sending messages of peace into the world. You're welcome.


Buddhist Shoulder - a bit like tennis elbow?

Everest and nuns

Incredible flight this AM. It was clear as we went along the Himalaya, so we had clear views of Everest. WOW.
I flew past Everest today.
I FLEW PAST MOUNT EVEREST TODAY.
HOLY COW, I FLEW BY MOUNT EVEREST TODAY!!!!!


Bhutan is nice, but feels very tame compared to Nepal :) We did visit a Buddhist nunnery this afternoon though, and were able to witness them praying. They play various instruments (cymbals, drum, long loud horns) and chant prayers. I was sitting beside a girl as she was turning the pages of her "prayer book", and one "hymn" they did was called 'A Light Shower of Blessing Flowers'. Cool, right?

Diwali in Kathmandu!

All is well here in Kathmandu. It is the Hindu Festival of Diwali here, and for the next 2 days. Yesterday we hung around until the office until we had a ceremony to welcome Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, into the place. It was cool. They made a puja, like an altar, with small cash bills, flowers, fruits, incense, colours, pictures, oil lamps....all led into the office by a mandala on the sidewalk outside, and then a trail of smeared cow dung with a few oil lamps and flowers to lead Laxmi inside. All of these were to attract her attention and tempt her to come inside. (Cows are sacred to Hindus - I think this explains Laxmi's attraction to cow dung.) Also, they annointed all of the money-making items in the office (computers, desks, filing cabinets, safe, telephones) with colours and flowers, again to attract Laxmi's attention.


We all did a small ceremony at the puja/altar, where we threw colours and bits of rice and millet at the puja, as an offering. And Deepak, as head of the household, gave each of us a tikka. That's a small blob of colour on your forehead, as a blessing. The ladies also got a small amount of cash.

Later, we went to Deepak's house, where he gave us beer. Hindus are not meant to drink alcohol at other times of the year, so this is significant. And Deepak's wife gave us round, fried, sweet rice bread treats (similar to a doughnut, but not quite) that are only made at Diwali.

Children came to the house, and sang songs and were given a bit of cash. It is said that if the singers come and are given money at your home, this will bring prosperity and wealth into your home this year.

Next, a band of troubadors came to the neighbours' house, wtih big speakers and trained folk dancers. They put on quite a show! Sometimes the dancers were performing, but other times it was a group dance to a popular song. (Keep in mind the Nepalis were all drinking, so they were happy to dance.) I joined in dancing to one song, thinking I'd just stay on the sidelines, but OH NO, nearly immediately I was in the middle of the crowd. I got plenty of compliments on my dancing. Seems all that time "dancing and bouncing my bums" in Africa has paid off in spades.



Another cool part of Diwali is that they worship different animals as part of worshiping the earth and a healthy ecosystem. So far, they have worshipped crows, dogs and cows. I didn't see how they worshipped crows, but on Dog Day, dogs were fed nice food, given flower malas (necklaces) and tikkas on their heads. It was the same for cows today - marigold necklaces and bright colours put on their foreheads.



Tomorrow is Brothers and Sisters Day. Will let you know how that goes.

in Kathmandu!

oh wowowowowoowow, the trip has been awesome so far

First, the greatest layover ever in Hong Kong.
Then 2 really nice days hanging with the Days in Singapore
And yesterday a super fun night in Bangkok with new all-Canuck friends Terry, Mike, little Darcy, Natasha and Samir. The short version:  got spiffed up and went to the Long Table, which is on the 26th floor. We were there in time for Happy Hour, so me n Terry drank half price prosecco. Yippeee! My fave! (Astute readers will recall that I see this as a sure sign that Gods love me when sparkley wine is on sale.) After much too much fun with a truly INCREDIBLE sky line view, we headed to N and S's swanky-assed apartment. It's only $2000 a month, but WOWOWOWOW, it would cost $6000 a month for similar in Vancouver. There, we had incredible Thai take out (cost = $8 for all of us), gin and tonics (another of my fave drinks) and smoked a hookah with rose-flavoured tobacco.
Too bad I don't have my photo-posting thing to put pics up now, so this will have to wait.

I'm now in Kathmandu, Nepal. Major disappointment today:  it was cloudy so did not see the Himalayas, namely Mt Everest, as I flew by. Pretty bummed, but maybe in a month?
Leaving in the morning for 18 days of trekking. SUPER cool.

Hong Kong!

I am posting this from Singapore.

On the way here, I spent a 9 hour layover in Hong Kong. I was last there in 1988, so thought it would be cool to see how it had changed. And WOW, has it ever!
When I was there back then, Hong Kong was the first place I visited as I traveled solo across Asia. It was foreign, confusing, had NO English and smelled like Chinese 5 spice. It was the first place I had ever seen beggars with deformities.
Well now, HK has english signs everywhere, directing you to any landmark you might like. The people speak english. There is a mass transit system that takes 24 minutes from the airport to downtown. The people seem to be from all over the world, not only China. It was modern and clean, and lots of new construction.

I especially liked the advertising for all sorts of things.

winging into Hong Kong

Hong Kong

easy peasy! English signs pointing your way to any landmark

Hong Kong

hangover from SARS and H1N1

view from Victoria Peak

slope stability works

more slope stabilisation stuff

lion statue

me, on Victoria Peak

No Smoking lion

found a display about dim sum. THis kid REALLY likes it

cleaning the photo display

I was highly disturbed by how much this child enjoys meat balls

is it a cloud?

I have NO idea why the Marriott chose to advertise with a spider as big as a pillow

Victoria Peak tram

Hong Kong

will be sterilised every 2 hours? A method of money laundering?

Hong Kong skyline from the Star Ferry

and now we know what Clark Kent wears

food experimentation in HK. Had to wait for the mochi to thaw for 20 mins. Tasty, but :(

skyline on Tsim Sha Sui side, HK harbour

construction on reclaimed land

BIG Update

I've been hopeless at writing on this blog for ages, so here's a biggie update!

I'm off to Asia on Tuesday at 2 AM. I'm going for 8 weeks!! One of my old high school galpals lives in Singapore, so I'm going to stay with her for a bit. Then she's connected me to her friend Terry who is currently living in Bangkok, so I've got a guide with a couch lined up in Bangkok! Then it's off to Nepal for 18 days of trekking. I've wanted to go trekking in the Himalaya for about 5 years, so I'm happy I'm finally doing that. I get back to Kathmandu in time for a 3 day festival of Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. Very cool. I love attending festivals as it is an amazing snapshot of local culture, and I am thrilled I will see this!


After Diwali in Kathmandu, I'll leave for 11 days in Bhutan, another mountain kingdom in the Himalaya. I have wanted to visit Bhutan for decades, literally, so this is HUGE for me. I had hoped to do some trekking there, as it is meant to be incredibly beautiful. But instead I'll be lucky enough to see a, you guessed it, FESTIVAL in eastern Bhutan. Bhutan is a very traditional country, unique and interesting, and not very open to the West, so I am so excited to see this place. Did you know that instead of tracking the GDP (Gross Domestic Product), they track the GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness)? How fantastic is that? Apparently the King noticed years ago that citizens of more economically successful countries were not necessarily happier, and he decided that happiness is more important than money. WOW. I cannot wait.

My friend Gary has just booked some of his trip, and will be joining me for part of the Nepal trek and for Bhutan. His friend worked with the Prince of Bhutan, so I am strongly angling for a meeting with the Prince!! hahaha, we shall see.

After Bhutan, I'll head back to Bangkok for another couple nights, and hopefully see Terry again.....if they have not yet moved away from Bangkok. (They have a great lifestyle where her husband works in internet something, so they just choose somewhere that sounds cool and live there for a few months.)

Then I've got a night planned in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I had the option of flying directly back to Singapore, but instead chose the "less good" connection to give me a night in a place I've never seen before. Fun, right?!

Then....back to Singapore. At that point, I'll have 2 1/2 weeks of holiday left, and I have made no plans so far. Maybe hang with Laura and her family? Hopefully we could do a trip to Cambodia to visit the orphanage she sponsors. Anyway, those plans will be made when the time is right.

And then I'll be back in Vancouver on Dec 8.


Update on my projects

I have 2 great projects in the works:
1. a book about the good things that come from the adversity of cancer
2. Getting Gold for Canada


The book project has been in the works for a while, but over the last couple months, I have done some wonderful and inspirational interviews. People have made gains and found things such as: more fulfilling meditation practise; the ability to love more deeply; financial freedom; improved personal relationships; changed careers; etc etc. It is great!

2. the project about Getting Gold Medals for Canada has me working with competitive and elite paralympic athletes who do nordic skiing. This started because I watched my friend Jamie guide a visually impaired skier in Whistler last spring. I watched at the categories of nordic skiing, and was fascinated watching those competitions. As usual, I met some engineers in a bar and got chatting about what I was excited about, so the idea came up that the athletes should have better equipment. And that I should find corporate sponsors to do this, AND that if these companies has engineers working there, they could have a perk of working with elite paranordic athetes. I saw it as a perfect match!
Then I sat down with Jamie and Tony, who run the local nordic ski club in Vancouver, which happens to have many of the Canadian National Paralympic Nordic team. I pitched them my idea, and they were super keen! But then it came out that most of the paranordic athletes had not accessed the research and academic resources available in the Lower Mainland. WOW, I just assumed that was something that would have already been done! So the first phase of my project is to link athletes with researchers and students in Vancouver.
I have now met a few athletes and made some incredible contacts at UBC and BCIT. I am really, really excited! I've met a gal who is doing her Ph.D. in Human Kinetics, so she has many grad students and undergrads to approach. And I got connected to the Head of the Prosthetics Dept at BCIT who was shocked to hear that our best standing athletes do not have a sport-specific prosthetic. (Fyi, standing athletes have issues with lower limbs, such as amputations.) He's going to talk with his lab, and I may also look to form a partnership with folks at UBC too. And I met another woman who is a resident in at UBC Med School in Physical Medicine (this is physiotherapy medicine, and sports med, and rehab med, and prosthetics. It's a broad field). She told me she has spoken to some of her contacts, and they are excited as it's tough to find research subjects. WHAT?!? So here I am, finding a gap in athletes' development and connecting it to a gap in related research! How great is this? I'm thrilled!

I spoke last night with Sean, who is in a wheelchair and brand new to nordic skiing, although keen to compete. He doesn't have equipment yet, or really know how to ski. But I told him he's great, as he's a raw talent. He used to play hockey at an elite level, so has the "right stuff" to be competitive. One of the other sit skiers has spent years on trial-and-error to get his sled set up, although he is now on my list to be analyzed for biomechanics, to see if he is in the most efficient position. (Seriously. This guy is the top ranked sit skier in Canada, but has NOT had analysis done to see if he is skiing as efficiently as possible.) Anyway, I'm thinking that perhaps Sean could be put into our program at an earlier stage, and maybe shorten the learning curve to become an efficient skier? He is excited about my idea!

I see HUGE potential for this project, and I am excited.
Have I mentioned I'm excited?!?!?!?    :-D


What else? Healthwise, I'm great. I have a recurrence, just a little one. Anyway, we've known about it for 2 years now, I guess. I had to meet with all sorts of specialists last year. Eventually, a treatment plan was recommended, so that I would have another blast of radioactive iodine. They did say I could take thyrogen to do this, so it wouldn't be nearly so horrible, but.... I have currently declined treatment. It's a little speck of a tumour, and we're just watching it. If it grows a bunch, or I get mets, or whatever, THEN I'll have some I131. But in the meantime, I'm healthy and happy.

Fitness wise, I've set a goal for myself of running a half marathon each month for a year! I have one coming up on Sunday, and that will be one a month for 6 months, so I'm halfway there. :) I'm surprised how tired I am, actually. But it's going fine.


So......that's my update. It's a long one, as I've been soooooo busy, my poor blog has been sadly neglected. Terrible.

And now for Something Completely Different...

OK, so it's the day after I let my dog lick the table clean, and the swedesaw blade is still in the dishwasher. Since variety is the spice of life, I went to a Buddhist monastery outside Kamloops today.

It's 45 mins away from Kamloops, and a fascinating place. Ajahn Sona (Ajahn means teacher) greeted us, toured us through the main building, and answered plenty of questions. His history is that he has a Masters in Music from Toronto, and then "felt the calling" to become a monastic. The irony is that this is a discipline of intellectual introspection and meditation, where music and entertainment is not allowed...
The monastery is off-grid, and uses the newest green technologies. They do not even burn candles, but rather use the most efficient LED lights, powered by solar panels.

the main altar, with LED lights and Buddha from Thailand. The donor said she had it made with a big, "Western" nose so we'd feel better about our big noses!

The monastic life is pretty simple. They rise to meditate for an hour at 5:30 AM daily. Then breakfast, then free time to meditate or study or do walking meditation or think about meditation. Then it's lunch at 10:30 AM, which is the primary meal of the day. And the last meal of the day, as the monks are not allowed to eat after noon.
The afternoon is spent - you guessed it - meditating, until tea time. Everyone gathers in the meeting room, and Ajahn Sona takes questions. This was great, as of course I had MILLIONS of questions, although I tried hard to keep it down to about....10.

Ajahn Sona at tea time

After tea, there is a break of about an hour, then (ready for it??) the Evening Meditation session. We stayed for this, then drove home, exhausted. Trying to be an open vessel, letting thoughts drift past your consciousness, is really tiring.
The monks are not allowed to handle money, buy anything, make food, grow food or kill any living creature. So in other countries, monks will spend a good part of their morning receiving alms of food. Here, they rely on stewards and guests to shop, prepare meals and provide necessities. Something that surprised me is that they are not vegetarian. Since they are bound to receive food as gifts, there is no restriction that it must be vegetarian or vegan. In case you are wondering, they DO use toilet paper.

carving of a Buddha

What made Ajahn Sona most interesting to me was his background as a "Western Intellectual". He often compared Buddhist teachings to the Christian and Jewish faiths. (He said leaders of these faiths, as well as Benedictine Nuns, share discussions on many topics.) He spoke about technology and current events and seemed able to converse or expound on any topic. And his sense of humour and ease with all ages, especially kids, made it very relaxed.

Ajahn Sona at the front of the main meditation hall

Birken Forest Monastery is open to the public, and you can go to visit, or to stay, or to attend a retreat. Here's the link, in case you want to check it out.   http://birken.ca/monastics_in_dhamma_talks_info.html
There are many free resources available there, including hours and hours of dhamma talks on all sorts of topics. He said he's received comments that people may listen to them, and fall asleep. Haha, meant in the best possible way, of course!

detail of a carving in the monastery

A Hockey Prayer

Our Father, who art in GM Place, hockey be thy name. Thy will be done, GOLD to be WON on ICE as well as IN THE STANDS. Give us this day, our hockey sticks and forgive us our penalties, as we forgive those who cross check against us. Lead us not into elimination but deliver us to victory, in the name of the fans, CANADA... and the HOLY PUCK. AMEN!! Go Canada Go!!!!!!

We are very excited that the Canadian men will play in the Gold Medal game against USA!

The Olympics, Post 5

OK, tragic loss in men's hockey, Canada v. USA
everyone is sad and upset.
Many with American friends have taken an unhealthy dose of abuse over this.
Alright. Whatever.

But then on the news they showed how they produced the Punjabi tv feed of the Men's Hockey Game. A bilingual English-Punjabi speaker watched the game on CTV, and simultaneously commentated the action in Punjabi for Omni TV. This was cited as a great way for new Canadians to learn English AND to learn Canadian culture. I love CANADA!

From the Olympics, Post 4!

Canadians are extremely enthusiastic drinkers, and it's getting out of control in downtown Van. Last night on the news they showed that the police were making folks dump out their beers, as drinking in public is illegal. One guy lost his beer, got a ticket for $230, and then he shook the hand of the police officer. Canadians are so nice, eh?

From the Olympiad, Post 3

Last night I watched ladies hockey: Slovakia v. Russia. Final score Russia 4 - Slv 2
What I loved:
a guy cheered GO BLUE! The crowd was mostly Canadian and supported the underdogs, Slovakia, in blue. But every time either team did anything good, the crowd went wild, waving Canadian flags!


I love that we support the underdogs, even if we don't know which country they are, and that we are just learning to be nationalistic, so wave our own flag in support of anyone. CANADIANS ROCK! We are so dang cute. Bless us.

Canuck Word of the Week!

oh yes, look at me, highly motivated and excited, and throwing out another gem of educative, uuhhmmm, education for our lovely Yankee neighbours! (Hey, Aussie readers, this can absolutely apply to you too. Drop me a note to let me know if you're picking up what I'm putting down..)

barley sandwich  (pronounced barley sandwich) - slang term for a beer
eg. think I'll just have a barley sandwich for lunch. Bartender, beer me, please!

Canuck Word of the "Week"

ok, obviously I have ZERO sense of time, since it has been about 6 or 8 months since I last attemped to educate our wonderful friends south of the border.
No matter!

here it comes:
GIV'ER  (pronounced gi VUR) - meaning 'go for it' or 'bring it on'
example of common use:  "Hey dude, should I take this huge jump??"  "Yup, giv'er."

Henri does Moochie Poochie

The rest of the world knows it as 'Macchu Picchu', which is Quechua for Old Man. Macchu Picchu was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911. I say rediscovered, since obviously the locals knew it ws there.
MaPi was an Incan temple, and is located in the middle of the jungle, on top of an unimaginably steep mountain. It can be accessed by: a) train, b) foot. That's it. The terrain is too rough even for a road.

Henriette in front of agricultural terraces. Coca, considered a spiritual and sacred plant, was the main crop grown here. Coca leaves are a local remedy for altitude sickness in the Andes Mountains, are very commonly used, and are legal in personal quantities.

llamas still range on the site
Temple of the 3 Windows

a photo of a flower? What a shock, on my blog!

The Incas considered the moon as a god, so these pools of water were mirrors for ceremonies to worship the moon.

The Incans considered 3 animals as sacred:
the snake - which signified intelligence
the puma - which singified power and fertility
and the condor - which ranged from the Earth to the Heavens

Temple of the Condor - chicha (a beer of fermented corn) and blood (both animal and human) was poured along the condor's neck and head as part of ceremonies.

Santa Catalina Monastery

Apologies to all Catholics, or anyone who might be offended by my flippant comments.

__________________________________________

Yesterday, we visted the Santa Catalina Monastery. It was a fully cloistered nun facility for 400 years until part of it was opened to the public in the 1970s.

There were a surprising number of plants. Of course, the nuns are too busy to tend them themselves, so they have gardeners now.

Sorry to Catholics, but I don't understand the whole scary tortured Christ thing. Burned fingers? Yuck. I'd choose a softer, nicer religion myself.


This lime flower smlled INCREDIBLE. Did not know that lime trees have thorns - huh. And how do nuns use limes? Margaritas, perhaps?

One of the courtyards within the complex.

A note on the colours: the stone was originally all white, as is common in Arequipa. But, in the 1800s, a doctor told them to paint a bunch of walls, as the nuns were haivng eye problems. So they chose rust and sky blue.

a nun's bedroom. the bed is under an arch as protection during earthquakes. (Arches are structurally stronger than flat roofs.)

a well-used kitchen. Again food is protected by an arch.

an oven. Pizza, anyone?

the cooking area is made of sillar stone, from a nearby volcano.

rust walls, a window and geraniums. Maybe I could be a nun? hahahahhaha

me n Aunt Henri at the group laundry area.

translation, anyone??

condor fresco

close-up of the menu in the Nun's cafe. Who knew nuns were so funny?

courtyard