2009 New Year in Singapore

So I spent a few days in Singapore to pass the new year. This was my first time, and I'm glad to have also met up with friends of friends and my housemate Jloh and her family. This picture is with the "durian dome." Doesn't it look like a huge durian?
The diverse cultures that makes Singapore special was really something for such a small place. Although the majority of people are from Chinese backgrounds, they really try not to give preference to one ethnic group or language. I like to navigate the diversity through sacred spaces and, of course, food!
Here is a Chinese temple, and the rubbing of the belly of a Bodhisattva for good luck. Naturally, with the coming new year, the temples were crazy full of people praying, giving offerings, and burning incense.

This is a statue of the Hindu God/dess Kali in little India doing her destroyer thing.
The little place I stayed in was a family owned spot (they were so warm!) near Bugis station in the Malay-Muslim side of town. Right down the street was this beautiful mosque (below).

There seems to be two big things to do in Singapore: eat and shop. Now every big city has a variety of food choices. But compared to other cities in the region, Singapore excels and is unique for the restaurants and food joints that specialize in and master a specific dish. And locals go out to the many restaurants and eateries to eat a particular dish or two. It goes something like: "We'll go to this place in Chinatown for the best chicken rice," and "To this noodle stand for the best seafood soup," "let's go to Zam Zam's for the best moktabar and biryani." (Which was fortunately right in my neighborhood so I went twice. As for the chicken rice, I tried a few pieces, the best I could do, and yes, it was amazing! I decided to emphasize the 'flexible' in my flexitarianism and be let by locals for this trip. Below are JLoh's pics of Zam Zam's biryani, and Chinese rice chicken, veggies and sauces.)

As for the second big pastime, shopping, well, I'm not a big fan! That IS a problem, since there are more malls and shopping centers crammed into the city than you can imagine. Really. Malls in the lobbies of hotels, malls in the subway, malls every other building! And all as air-conditioned and as interconnected as possible, which after three days made things feel artificial.

I should mention that I was starved for art so Jloh and I went to some decent museums. Notable was a powerful and sober photo commentary by Chien-Chi Chang. One part documented the explosion of 'buying' brides through marriages of Taiwanese men and Vietnamese women. Others included looking at migrant workers in Chinatown New York.

Luckily, the crowds and shopping centered-ness didn't burned me out until just before I left for the airport, so the trip was really fun, and its always nice to meet new people.
Happy New Year to all. Bring in the Year of the Ox!

Super Richy, Meeting a Vishnu Avatar

Recently I had the chance to meet a flesh and bone Vishnu avatar in Chiang Mai, Thailand. His name is Super Richy, and he says he has been spiritually inclined since childhood and is the avatar - incarnation - of the Hindu God, Vishnu. John B, a friend of mine who teaches Buddhism, was helping him prepare his English for presentations he was invited to give in Germany. Of course when some of us heard he was a well-known meditation teacher and Vishnu avatar, we wanted to meet him at once! John arranged for him to practice his presentation with us. He was so nice to let us listen, ask questions and take pictures.

Despite all the hype about him, he is as humble and soft spoken as they come, and doesn't go around advertising himself as a walking gift from the heavens. What he thrives on is sharing his experiences with meditation and passing on his techniques to those interested in improving their spiritual lives. His book is Super Richy: It's Not Easy to Be Me. He was gracious enough to pose with it above.

Now whether or not one believes in Vishnu avatars and incarnations, it was still great to meet someone like him - a young spiritual (Super)star, who has energized and transformed so many, especially Thai Buddhists. Thank you, Richy, it was great to meet you.

The Angkor Wat Complex, Cambodia

A while ago my uncle Joe asked me to post pictures of my trip to the Angkor Wat complex outside of the town of Siem Reap, Cambodia. One of the restaurants near my hotel was called “Angkor What?” which was also my question before I came to South East Asia. Angkor was the ancient capital center of the Khmer Kingdom that lasted from the 9th to 15th century. The ruins of Angkor were abandoned for many years, being cared for at times by a few monks, and fortunately spared from the Khmer Rouge’s destruction. Being abandoned for so many years, nature entwined herself into many of the buildings. Nature spills into the city of Angkor Thom above, and below trees grow out of a building.
Angkor Wat is the name of the main temple. Like many others, Angkor Wat are dedicated to Khmer Kings, who are understood as ruler-gods, following the Hindu mythology that was the dominant religious tradition. There’s symbolism all over. Angkor Wat is designed to evoke the temple-mount Meru, home of the gods; there are also sculptures of god/desses and mythical animals; carvings linings the wall that tell sacred stories, like the Ramayana, and the Churning of the Sea; along with many other carvings that tell historical narratives of the time. Yitaudl stands in front of it here.
Another interesting temple was the Bayon for the huge faces built into the structure. It seems it could be faces of one of the gods, Vishnu or Shiva; or, perhaps King Jayavarman VII himself who commissioned it; or, a few say maybe the face of the Buddha when the dominance of Hinduism give way to Buddhism toward the end of Khmer rule. The Khmer kingship system follows the Hindu tradition of the devaraja, or literally god-king, whose rule is by nature sacred and absolute. The current dynasty in Thailand follows the Theravada Buddhist system of the dhammaraja, literally the dhamma-king. The dhammaraja's rule is effective and sacred insofar as the monarch exemplifies dhamma (or dharma, the Buddhist truth).
The Khmer were in Thailand at one point, and Siam has adopted some of the Khmer kingships practices from them. For instance Thailand uses Hindu Brahmins and rituals and even much Khmer vocabulary associated with the devaraja tradition, which makes sense given the supreme reverence given to the monarch here in the kingdom.

Since Buddhism became the dominant religion, many Buddha images find a home in the temples, and they are sacred to many Buddhist visitors. Yet, given the Hindu context of the ruins, it’s not a surprise to find a host of Indian travelers, some on half pilgrimage half vacation. We made friends with a few of them, and they are as useful as a tour guide, being familiar with all symbolism and stories, and being very excited to share about their own religion. It was so much fun to talk with them and discuss the theology together!
Banteay Srei was my favorite site for the wonderfully elaborate depictions and floral details of the carvings that have a red tint—never a bad color. Widely considered a Goddess temple, it is also possible that the intricate cravings may have been done by women. It was also nice because it was away from the bigger temples and you could really take the time to enjoy it.
We were there for 5 days, three full days exploring temple sites. I was ecstatic, I love ruins! But as Yitaudl put it after the day 3, she was “Wat-ed out,” and all of them started to blur together. It was a really great experience, and I would love to go back. Not only to retake pictures of some of the sites we trekked to, like the River of a Thousand Lingas with ruins scattered through a river, but also see some of the others farther out and even more enshrouded in jungle! This is the remains of the female principle that contained a Linga now lost or stolen.