The Time Traveller

Even by my own standards, I have spent a lot of time flying recently, with most of my flights going through Bangkok. Annoyingly, Thailand immigration officials insist on stapling departure cards into passports. When I finally decided to unpick them, I counted 7, and that's just since I landed in Thailand to begin my fieldwork 12 weeks ago. Twice now I have entered Thailand for less than 24 hours - mainly because Bangkok is such an important transport hub in southeast Asia. Yesterday, we flew to Penang for 1 day in order to dump my kgs of fieldwork paperwork and collect far more useful things for the Himalaya than notebooks and pens, such as quick-wicking t-shirts, a sleeping bag, waterproofs, iodine tablets and head torches. But it's back to Bangkok now for 12 hours as the flight to Kathmandu goes from there.

A familiar sight:

Nepal

Off trekking until the 13th of May so will be out of contact.

The Royal Wedding

So, where were you when Wills & Kate got hitched?

Well, at the exact moment they said their vows, we were stuck in a taxi in the notorious Bangkok traffic, having done everything we could to get back from the middle of rural Thailand in time for some TV. The cabbie was tuned into Westminster Live and we could just make out their voices behind the Thai translation. Quite a lot of ye olde English in there and there seemed to be a lot of Thai translation stumbling with a lot of English words thrown in. Caught the end of the proceedings on youtube's live streaming...

Faasai

'Faasai' means 'clear skies' in Thai, and the tag-line of this eco-resort in Chanthaburi, a province about 3 hours south-east of Bangkok is: Where the forest meets the sea. It is, indeed, a beautiful spot.

If you're looking for something off the beaten track and away from all the other 'farang' (tourists) with options to hire bikes, motorbikes, swim in the sea, hike in the mountains, play badminton on the lawn, wander the elevated boardwalk above the nature garden or just sit by the pool watching the water fountains in the garden ponds, then faasai is where to go!

Cabbages and Condoms

Cabbages and Condoms is the name of a restaurant in Bangkok founded by Mechai Viravaidya, a former politician and activist who has popularised condoms in Thailand. In 1973 he founded the Population and Community Development Association (PDA). PDA is now the largest NGO in Thailand and focuses on family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention. From the time he began his work, the average number of children in Thai families has reduced from 7 to around 2. His restaurant is well worth a visit, providing decent food, support for the NGO and interesting talking points such as a figure of Tiger Woods made entirely out of condoms - with a note stuck to him saying 'hope you used them, Tiger'. 

The Pleasures of a Ladyboy

Kathoey is a Thai word for male-to-female transgender persons or very effeminate gay males. Usually, they continue to self-identify themseles as a type of male but exhibit varying degrees of femininity such as dressing as women or undergoing medical procedures. Others may wear make-up and use feminine pronouns, but dress as men and are closer to the western category of effiminate men.

To be honest, you might look twice when the man in front of you with the long pony-tail, blusher and nails uses the feminine version of endings (kaa instead of the mal kraap), but you get pretty used to it as spotting them is common. On a couple of occasions I've been fooled by she-males, but only because a colleague who knows pointed them out to me. Otherwise I would genuinely have thought they were women.

Anyway, that's all background. All I wanted to do was ask how to exit the enormous mall, but instead I walked into a big cloud of powder, perfume and prancing ladyboys, fully dolled up and dispensing make-up advice, padded bras and tools in a frantic hive of camp activity in the centre of the mall.

I asked the one that looked least ladyish, but his insistence was ALL ladyboy and his wrists all limp, and before I could gather my wits, I had been placed in a chair and was being puffed, pampered, prodded and powdered.

Whoa there, bit heavy on the eyebrows? But she misunderstood me and painted them over again.

Resurrection Station

One of the Biblical passages often used in funeral services is taken from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy (33 v 27a):

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are his everlasting arms.

The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the cornerstone of Christianity. If we really believe in the resurrection, it changes our attitude to everything in life; our whole perspective such as our attitude towards our possessions and hope in the face of the tragedy of death. This life is only the beginning. Phillip Yancey writes:

'There are two ways to look at human history, I have concluded. One way is to focus on the wars and violence, the squalor, the pain and tragedy and death. From such a point of view, Easter seems a fairy-tale exception, a stunning contradiction in the name of God...

There is another way to look at the world. If I take Easter as the starting point, the one incontrovertible fact about how God treats those he loves, then human history becomes the contradiction and Easter a preview of ultimate reality. Hope flows.'

There is an empty tomb. Happy Easter!

Holy Saturday: God on Mute

This post is adapted from Pete Grieg's book 'God On Mute: Engaging the Silence of Unanswered Prayer', Published by David C. Cook, 2007.

The Bible tells us almost nothing about this mysterious day, sandwiched between the crucifixion and resurrection when God allowed the whole of creation to live without answers. Although we know so little about it, Holy Saturday describes the place where so many of us live our lives: waiting for God to speak. We know that Jesus died for us yesterday, we trust that there may be miracles tomorrow. But what of today, the no-man's land between questions and answers, when heaven is silent? It's not that God says 'yes', 'no' or 'not yet'; it's that he's not saying anything at all. Where, we wonder, is God now?

If we can't see God in our situation right now, we may feel scared, angry or helpless, or we may just want to give up altogether. But the Bible assures us that God has not left us, even if we can't feel his presence. Jesus promised to never leave us and the apostle Paul assures us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. The Bible leaves us in no doubt that when God is silent, he is not absent. Even if that's the way it feels. Instead, God has switched off for a while our ability to be conscious of his presence in order to reduce our dependency on outward things so that we learn some vital lesson of life that goes beyond purely rational understanding. If this is so, then the silence and unknowing of Holy Saturday are essential to growing deeper in our relationship with God. The silence of God is intentional. It is one of the great disciplines. Sometimes God removes the stabilisers from our bicycle and his hands from our frightened lives. As we grow towards spiritual maturity, every believer is granted seasons of unanswered prayer. At such times we may be sure that God is weaning us off 'adult supervision', but that he has not abandoned us altogether.

It is one of the great ironies of life that our unanswered prayers can be used to craft the greatest answers to prayer that we will ever experience. As long as it makes sense to serve God and to live for him, our faith can only mature so far. It isn't until the facts that reinforced our beliefs are removed from our lives that we can truly 'live by faith and not by sight'.

Nevertheless, these seasons can be deeply disturbing. As a result, we often attempt to solve the problem of God's silence with simplistic explanations of complex situations, lopsided applications of Scripture and platitudes of premature comfort. In our fear of un-knowing, we leap-frog Holy Saturday and rush the resurrection. When we experience similar seasons of doubt and despair, we too may be sure that resurrection is on the way. However, the experience of God's absence is not one to be rushed over as if it has no value in the Christian life. The basis of this is Christ's own experience of forsakenness on the cross, a moment that speaks profoundly about the meaning of God's silence. In the cross we see the hidden God who is with us in our suffering.

Even when God is silent, he is not absent.

In the rest of the book, Pete Grieg provides ways to move beyond mere endurance to active engagement with the unanswered prayers of our lives: engaging the silence. 

It's Friday, but Sunday's coming

Dr. Tony Campolo tells the story of a little preaching competition that he had with his pastor during services at the church where he attends. Dr. Campolo tells how he preached the perfect sermon, perfect in every way. He had taken the congregation to the heights of glory. And as he sat down beside his pastor, Dr. Campolo patted him on the knee and simply said, "Top that." The older black pastor looked at him and said, "Boy, watch the master."


It's Friday. Jesus is arrested in the garden where He was praying. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The disciples are hiding and Peter's denying that he knows the Lord. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is standing before the high priest of Israel, silent as a lamb before the slaughter. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is beaten, mocked, and spit upon. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Those Roman soldiers are flogging our Lord with a leather scourge that has bits of bones and glass and metal, tearing at his flesh. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The Son of man stands firm as they press the crown of thorns down into his brow. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. See Him walking to Calvary, the blood dripping from His body. See the cross crashing down on His back as He stumbles beneath the load. It's Friday; but Sunday's a-coming.

It's Friday. See those Roman soldiers driving the nails into the feet and hands of my Lord. Hear my Jesus cry, "Father, forgive them." It's Friday; but Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, bloody and dying. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. The sky grows dark, the earth begins to tremble, and He who knew no sin became sin for us. Holy God who will not abide with sin pours out His wrath on that perfect sacrificial lamb who cries out, "My God, My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?" What a horrible cry. But Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. And at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple that separates sinful man from Holy God was torn from the top to the bottom because Sunday's coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is hanging on the cross, heaven is weeping and hell is partying. But that's because it's Friday, and they don't know it, but Sunday's a-coming.......

Today's Lunch Offerings

Toilet Humour

I'm getting to see quite a lot of Thai houses during my fieldwork, and even more of their bathrooms. Thai houses belonging to middle-class families can be a bit odd. Although they will be very ornate and gilded on the outside, have oversized redwood varnished tables, chairs and beds, that will literally be about all they have. Everything (at least downstairs) is open plan, with marbled floors, but no furniture. Everything is just piled up around the outside of the room, including washing machines, clothes, day beds and things normally kept in a garage. Upstairs, the only thing that might be in a room is an enormous and heavy mahogany bed, and again the clothes piled up around the room. It's like people ran out of money after investing so heavily in the dining-room tables, chairs and beds.

But the toilets are the oddest thing about these houses. You can generally estimate the income of a family by looking at the toilets. Poor families house toilets outside and they are often a combination shower room too, so all the family toiletries are in there too. Squat toilets are de rigeur of course. Up an income level and the toilets move indoors, but are still squats. It's really only the top rung that have Western toilets, and the use of toilet paper is still a bit hit and miss. Soap? Rarely used. And even in these posh homes, the shower often still hangs over the toilet, so you get wet feet regardless.

I've got pretty used to squat toilets, although I definitely don't prefer them. One question though: which way to face? I always seem to end up with sticky ankles ;-)

Storm in a Teacup

The more I learn of other languages, the more I realise how rich and diverse is my own. English has over 250 000 distinct words, probably because it nicked most of them from someone else's language, but a word clearly not used enough is 'broiling'.

I thought of it today when I saw the clouds come storming in mid-afternoon. 'Broiling' is normally defined as 'to be very hot' or 'bake', and right before a storm it does get intensely hot and sticky. Add the clouds bubbling, smouldering and simmering in, and you've got a perfect recipe for a tropical downpour.

I caught this photo through the mosquito net in that funny greenish light that storms bring. It was around this time that the dogs started barking, and then I knew we were in for a big one.

Rounding the Square

Exercise is not very cool in Bangkok. Actually, exercise in Bangkok is always excruciatingly hot. But I meant a different kind of cool

Mostly, girls here put on their super-smart-and-matching brandname fluoro-lycra leggings and tiny criss-crossing sports tops, apply a baseball cap, sweat bands and lipstick, and then set off at an amble, arms punching the air as if they are running the 100m.

As I went around the square on my third lap (without the cool gear or accessories), I realised how quickly I have adjusted to this method of exercise. Frankly, it is Just. Too. Hot. To. Run. And with my colouring, I go bright purple before I've completed one lap, and then I distract those who are pausing for a stretch or a rest at the first sign of a glisten on their skin.

I was thinking about trying to combine my exercise with, er, a point. But the Tai-Chi in the carpark at 6pm REALLY looked rubbish and pointless. Back to rounding my square.

Chocolate Junkie

I guess it's easier to fill a Church with palm fronds when said Church is in a tropical country:

Afterwards I went to a mall in search of a photo expo, which tends to be where they are housed. I did find the photos, but they were a pretty horribly eclectic mix, featuring the following: 

nice enough, but then followed by this:

hmmm.

I did find this water feature in the mall though. It spouts water in arcs in time to classical music: 

And just to bring thoughts back to all things Palm Sunday:

...and my easter eggs...mmmm.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Book titles intrigue me, particularly good ones, and when you're at an airport at 7 in the morning, functioning on 2 hours sleep (that's what comes from spending a Friday night with the oil and gas industry [ex-Tesco colleague from my school days who is currently posted with Schlumberger to KL), you need a particularly, particularly good title to be able to make any kind of decision at all. So, I purchased Mohammed Hanif's debut novel, and then of course promptly fell asleep on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok. 

I can't quite get back into work mode yet though anyway...the University is still on its Thai New Year break and the place is silent. Which makes this afternoon's goals a siesta, and starting to scoff the Easter goodies my mum kindly brought:

They taste pretty good even upside down I promise you (can't get the photo to rotate).

On the radio

This morning's offering:

Ghostbusters!

Yeah. I ain't afraid of no ghosts...since at least 1984.

Postcards from Paradise

The Perhentian Islands (just off the east coast of Malaysia)

Schoolboy Error

NOT reading the second email from the flight company as I assumed it was a re-confirmation of my booking, only to find out at 0545 at the airport that the flight had been changed from 0725 to 1010.

..and the rest...

The first Chinese temple:

 And another:

 And then another:

 Er, yes, another:

 Ahem, yes....

 Ha! A Hindu one! Fooled you there!

 And soon enough back to the Chinese again:

 But we covered the other major religions too, as Penang does. A mosque:

 A Church:

 And then some colonial architecture. The town hall:

 Interspersed with, yes, you guessed it:

 And a regular street:

 And finally, the big guns:

Penang Again

In some ways, it feels like coming home again. Well, I've lived here for over 12 months in total, but it's great to see it with fresh 'tourist' eyes rather than my jaded version of late where the heat and lack-of-a-balanced-life bothered me. On the agenda? Just about everything:

The floating Mosque:

 The National Park:

 The butterly farm:

 The Tropical Spice garden:

 The new Mall:

 The dodgy English:

 The Beach:

 The Skyline:

 The apartment pool: