A Student of Theology Reflects on the Death of A Student Of Philosophy

These are thoughts that come to me when I first heard, with disbelief and sadness, of the suicide of a teaching assistant of the Ateneo de Manila's Department of Philosophy.

Lorenz Tan, who would have been a Philosophy teacher, could not have chosen a more philosophical way to die. Socrates drank hemlock.  He locked himself in one of the rooms of the Philosophy Department, burnt paper and charcoal and allowed the fumes to gas him to death.

Demo Teaching [Theo Dept]

Start:	May 26, '08 09:00a
End:	May 26, '08 10:00a
Location:	Theo Dept, AdMU

for Th 131 (Marriage and Sexuality).

Annual Retreat

Start:	May 17, '08
End:	May 25, '08
Location:	Mirador Villa, Baguio City

Province-wide Annual Retreat.

I'll be offline for the next 8 days. I'll be back in Manila on the 26th.

Another Photo gets published!

screen grab

Although I didn't win this time, one of my photos got published again (as one of the favorites) in Bangkok Post (May 15, 2008 issue).

The screen grab was taken from an online edition of the paper.

Photo Contest: Bangkok Post

I got a pleasant surprise today as i opened my email.

i haven't been checking the newspapers lately so i didn't know that my photo entry won last week's Thailand's Top Destinations photo contest.

The photo below was published in the Bangkok Post, Thailand's english Newspaper. i googled for an online edition of the newspaper and found a (really really small!) thumbnail of that april 24 issue. it's printed on the upper right side of the paper.

*update: the prize is a voucher for an overnight stay in Horseshoe Point Resort and Country Club, plus a round of golf or a lunch at Siam Country Club Pattaya Plantation.

Nightview from across the lake

parang theme park sa gabi yung wat jong kum-wat jong klam

better if you zoom in.

Around and Inside Wat Jong Klam

Love Love by FourMod

Another Thai bubblegum pop on heavy rotation in my "Daily Commute" playlist. 

bridge over the river pai

last weekend, lin yaw, khui shing and i went to the long bridge that spans the Pai river. Beneath the bridge were huts that you can rent for 50 baht. Since the weather was peaking in the 40s last week, we decided to cool off in the river. We ordered bbq and Chang beer, and swam in the clean shallow waters. The riverbed was soft and sandy.

We enjoyed it very much that we went back the following day. We had prepared a dinner of chili soybeans and egg and curried meat, so that we only spent for Leo beer =)

Jub Jub: Action Song for Next Monday's Class

Yes, it's Thai bubblegum pop, and it's heavily playing on my "Daily Commute" playlist. I first heard this song during the Songkran festival in Chiang Mai. Of course, no one plays this music without doing the jub-jub dance. hehe. After teaching my english class how to sing and dance the hokey-pokey, I'll be teaching them this song/dance next week. i can't wait! hehehe.

um. detour. My Name is Longneck Ghost

clowning around with some of the longneck karen (Padaung) villagers in nai soi. they were very friendly.

we visited them after work hours. i tried on the neck rings and the ivory tusks, and one of them called me "LongNeck Ghost" in burmese.

thanks to khui shing for taking my pictures. hehe. i just couldn't resist being in front of the camera this time.

usual sight in the camp part2

some of the teachers and subject coordinators of the Karenni Education Department (KnED) inside Camp 1

Baan Mai Nai Soi, Mae Hong Son

usual sight in the camp part1

Baan Mai Nai Soi refugee camp, Mae Hong Son

Wat Jong Kum-Wat Jong Klang

Buddhist temple/monastery near the Lake Jong Kum in Mae Hong Son (taken late in the afternoon)

The area around the lake is a conducive place for strolling and eating out. There are several food stalls that you can choose from. Once you've ordered, you can choose to sit on the straw mats and eat on low tables set-up beside the lake. The area is usually breezy, and while eating, you can hear the banyan leaf bells from the top of the chedis, and the chirping birds (they can be quite noisy) perched on the mini-pagoda in the middle of the lake.

zoom in.

Looking for Curiosities

tuk-tuks, immolated statues, silver surfer buddhas, wooden longnecks

Scenes from the nai soi refugee camp

Some shots taken during my first day at the refugee camp in Nai Soi, which is about an hour's drive from the jesuit refugee service office in mae hong son.

The children are Karenni. They are war refugees from Karenni State in Myanmar.

sis, m chewing betel nut!

doon sa refugee camp ako nag-try. hehehe

Wat Phra That Doi Kong Moo

The buddhist temple overlooking Mae Hong Son. Because of its proximity to Myanmar, its architecture exhibits Burmese influences. I don't know how that translates architecturally though, since I've never been to Burma. hehe.

Doi Kong Moo is just a 5-minute motorbike ride from Khunlum Praphat Road, the main road in MHS city.





Zoom in.

LongNeck Ghost

yun yung tawag nung mga longneck karen sa akin. dumaan kami sa village nila kanina after work. nagkwento-kwento tapos nagpapicture ako with the brass ring. hahaha.

Food Hunting Around the Lake

sweating because of the heat!!! photo taken by khui shing

after browsing through a beginner's book on Thai, i tested my knowledge of numbers and haggling on the streetfood vendors around the lake.

me: sawatdee khrap!
vendor: sawatdee kha.. and the manang goes on babbling in thai which i do not understand...
me: nii a-rai? (pointing to a food that looks like pansit bihon)
vendor: the manang bursts out some word i can't figure out again..
me: ah.. (feigning understanding) ra ka thaoraai?
vendor: sip baht. (which i understand as 10 baht)
me: khrap. sawng.
vendor: ok, yee-sip baht (that's 20 baht, and she goes on to speak in thai again and hands over the pansit bihon)
me: khawpkhun khrap.
vendor: khawpkhun kha.

SUCCESS!