• Dao by Loso

It was 2 weeks ago since I last updated my Hmong neighbor’s rice paddy.  I stopped by after work on Friday and the couple were getting ready to leave.  His wife told me that her dog is missing, someone must have took it last weekend, either Saturday or Sunday and she really missed her dog now.  I do have to say that she is too friendly, a picture of her that I took awhile back.

Her husband said that we need some good rain, we’ve not had a good one in over a month or so now.  The paddy is thriving but the one that they planted in their back garden is not doing too well, apparently Na Hai or dry paddy is not as good as wet paddy in our area especially when we have a dry spell like this one.

Brown Grasshopper

The rice plants closest to where the water come in are the greenest and most healthy.

These are along the water path, very green in comparison to the rest of the paddy.

When I got back from Wat Lao Buddhavong, it was a pleasant surprise to see new things growing and blooming in my garden considering that I didn’t water it for 3 days.  My hen and chicks plant that I moved from a pot and planted on mulch has beautiful flowers blooming.

My sunflower is in bloom, I’m sure pretty soon it will be a feast for the birds in my backyard, I believed they ate most of my Junior sunflower seeds.

Lee’s Marigolds are doing well, my second sister and dad came to visit me today and they’re considering planting these next year.

These rooster comb flowers definitely add vibrant color to my garden.

So I finally get a chance to pick in abundance, first time picking my string beans and Thai eggplants. I finally have enough vegetables from my garden to make a Spicy Thai Curry Soup that I made on Tuesday.

My string beans are doing a lot better than I thought.

I gave some of the cucumbers to my co-workers, and made an apple/cucumber juice with the remaining, it tasted pretty good with a little bit of mint and honey.

My Thai eggplants, my dad was surprised to see that they look so pretty, his is not ready for picking.

This may seem kind of odd, but Max likes to eat string beans, cucumbers and carrots, I think he eats what we eat.

Continued from Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 the 30 Year Anniversary Celebration

As I’ve mentioned in my Lotus or Water Lily at Biltmore post that in Buddhism, the lotus is one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols and one of the most poignant representations of Buddhist teaching, so not surprised to see it here at Wat Lao Buddhavong. In Buddhist teaching, the roots of a lotus are in the mud, the stem grows up through the water, and the heavily scented flower lies pristinely above the water, basking in the sunlight. This pattern of growth signifies the progress of the soul from the primeval mud of materialism, through the waters of experience, and into the bright sunshine of enlightenment (source).

To be continued

Continued from Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 Concert Quebec Dancers

This year celebration marked Wat Lao Buddhavong 30 Year Anniversary.  The Wat has not always been at this location, and as time passed, they have grown and the main ceremonial building of the temple, The Sala Hong Tham  (Dharma hall), was dedicated on July 3, 1993.

There were many Buddhist worshipers attending the morning Alms giving, this one was on Saturday, I offered Alms both Saturday and Sunday morning.

The line to offer Alms, it’s nice to see fellow Buddhists still taking off their shoes to give Alms.

I Busa (donate money to barter for Alms offering material) my bowl for Alms giving, it was $5, and for those that live near, they can bring their own from home, but as for us, it’s not convenient to do so.

The ceremony of Songk Nom Phra (sprinkle water for blessing).

The event was covered by Lao Power TV, you can watch the first video here.

Phra Acharn Maha Bounmy Kittithammavanno is the abbot of Wat Lao Buddhavong.

A memorial service was held on Sunday afternoon in memory of the founders that passed away.

Another ceremony that is new to me and this was prepared by mostly the Thai Buddhist worshipers on Friday evening, there were desserts prepared for offering to Nang fhar and Tavarda (Angels) on Saturday morning at 5 Am, I took the pictures on Friday evening knowing that I couldn’t make it to the Saturday before sunrise ceremony.

Monks at the Wat Lao Buddhavong follow the Theravada Tradition of Buddhism but they have welcomed all Buddhists to the temple.

Continued at Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 Water Lilies in July

video by ArnuShawn: The highlight of the charming World Heritage Site Luang Prabang, Laos.

Continued from Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 Concert.

This year, instead of the local Lao dancers from the Virginia area, the dancers were from Quebec, Canada.  This part of the show I really enjoyed, below is Lao Khaen dance.

Hmong dance

The event was covered by Lao Power TV.

Continued at Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 the 30 Year Anniversary Celebration

Our family attended the annual July 4th celebration at Wat Lao Buddhavong in Catlett Virginia this past weekend, this year turnout on Saturday was not bad but Sunday was very few and far in between since it drizzled some.  I think it was a disappointment for many that went to see their favorite singers and they weren’t there, several Thai ladies that sat behind me asked if Mike Piromporn was performing, and I knew earlier from a Thai performer, Gorvidt that he was the only one from Thailand.  I think they were very disappointed and left shortly after that, it’s ashamed that the Wat (Temple) didn’t post any poster of the event like the previous years.  I didn’t get to stay and watch the whole concert, the music was too loud and I had a migraine headache so I left after I saw Gorvidt.

This is Voradeth Ditthavong, a famous Lao musician.

One of his songs Mayurie that he sang at the concert.

Jonny Olsen was playing his Khaen demonstration.

Jonny Olson was singing a Lao song while Lao Johnny played the Khaen, they looked like they’d make a great team.

Lao Johnny had a little helper, she is obviously not ready for a stage performance based on the noises that she was making.

Gorvidt was once a famous leading man for the Thai Drama (Lakorn) and movie in his younger years.  He is now a producer, and also actor but plays mostly the villain role, and he sang on Saturday and Sunday concert.

On Sunday, we stayed long enough to see Thai singers, the Snap band, playing string music.

A Lao singer that I didn’t catch his name.

People that were there on Saturday, not a bad turnout.

Continued at Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 Concert Quebec Dancers

Seems like I’ve been lazy as the name of the post, but I’m actually on vacation this week and have a chance to visit Lazy 5 Ranch again.

It’s a privately owned  exotic animal drive thru park that offers a 3.5 mile safari through the gently sloping pasturelands of Piedmont, North Carolina. There are over 750 animals from six different continents. We can see these animals from the safety of our own car or ride on their horse drawn wagons, luckily we didn’t make a reservation and they were able to arrange some spaces for us on a wagon ride, this is my best view thus far.

One of my favorite animals are the Asian water buffaloes, I didn’t get to see one this close when I visited Laos last year, so this is a real treat for me.

Some animals you can feed them off from the bucket, but as for the bucket stealer like the water buffalo, you’ve to feed them from your hand, and it could be very slimy at times.

A peacock is sitting on her eggs, I’m not sure if the strawberry patch is made especially for her.

A huge Tortoise.

A heart shape pond.

I believed the name of the place came from the 5 sons that they have, but lazy or not, I’m not certain.  I think the lazy might be referring to touring the place on a lazy day, like us on this day.  This place opens 365 days per year, so there is no holiday.  They feed the animals twice a day and what we feed them is only a midday snack, it’s definitely a nice treat, for us and the animals.

I heard from my GI Joe sister that Takkaten is coming to Wat Lao Buddhavong July 4th, 2009 concert. I’d love to see her in person, also that Mike Piromporn is also coming, (but not officially confirmed).  The person that is coming for sure is Jonny Olsen.

Video by Suryap, France, June 28th 2009. Interview by LAOFR-TV, Suryap.

• Return to Innocence

I was greeted by this little guy again, never did catch his name, you know what they say about small dog, it’s all bark and no bite.

It has been two weeks since I last posted about my Hmong neighbor’s rice paddy, and the rice plants have gotten a lot taller.

The weather has been real nice in the last week or so, but not ideal for rice paddy since they need lots of water.  This paddy sits at the bottom of a hill, and when it rains, it gets the benefit of the rain water.  No rain means that they’ve to put water in the paddy daily.

I’m not sure what kind of insect this is, there are several that I saw. I finally found the name, it’s called rice brown plant hopper, not a good sign for paddy owner since they can do serious damage to the paddy.

Image below is photographed by William M. Brown Jr of Damage to a rice field in South Korea caused by the brown plant hopper.

The dragonflies hovering over the rice paddy.

As I was heading home, I ran into Hawk. I once posted about his Ghost Rider Dune Buggie, and I can’t say it’s a small world, but definitely a small town.

Look at that thing go.

Video by jimd, bike trip through Laos

Video by Lao Avenir

When I heard the phrase ‘You can’t be great by yourself,’ I thought he actually has a point.  He went on and said even the greatest inventor needs expertees to test out his inventions, of course he needs someone that he can trust, the one that won’t steal his ideas.  Right…sounds to me like an ideal world or the Internet world where people share information and everyone is happy.

Of course, in a real business world, there is no such thing as trust anymore, even amongst friends or business associates, it’s wised to require a Non-Disclosure Agreements that parties agree not to disclose confidential information, even this is not guaranteed that your information is safe, someone might try to create the same application but alter it slightly and can get away with it, it’s a dog-eat-dog world we’re living in, the last couple of months has proved that for me.

I seem to be running into this type of people more and more this day, trying to take credit that is not theirs, twisting my words around, what ever happen to teamwork effort?  I heard on the radio a while back that the number 1 word that Americans like to use is a curse word, some might use as many as 100 times per day, shocked to hear this, such a  sailor mouth I thought to myself, and I didn’t understand at the time how can someone curse so much, now it all makes sense to me.  I think people need to focus less on the ‘ME!’ aspect, and more on the ‘WE’ as in teamwork.

I considered myself a very patient person, and here I have to keep telling myself to stay calm because time will take care of itself, and it has thus far.  Amongst all these stressful situations that I’ve to face, I’m still thankful that I’ve a loving family, Bo who is very supportive and understanding and Lee, a joy to be around and same with Max, a very happy dog, and of course, my garden, a place to sit and relax.

My string beans, it looks like It’ll bear some string beans this year.

From front to back, chili peppers, Thai eggplants, Cherry tomatoes, banana trees.

I have already picked the cherry tomatoes a couple of times last week.

Chili peppers are now officially hot!

A Frame is perfect for cucumber vines to climb.

Pennywort that my sister Sue gave me last weekend.

My 2 Gardenias, they’re not very tall but have many blooms.

I was talking to my second sister the other day about Lao, as in the country of Lao, but yet it’s spelled Laos, and my second sister said that it has been like that as long as she could remember.

Since the country was once colonized by the French, I suspected that the French misspelled it and we got stuck with the spelling of Laos instead of Lao like its pronunciation, and in Laos, it’s known as Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao to the local, or Lao People’s Democratic Republic, but she insisted that if the French pronounced Lao as in La-ous, then that must be the proper way to pronounce the country’s name.  I totally disagreed with her on this one, the correct way to pronounce something is according to how the native pronounce it, not by someone that just came in and pronounced it like how they feel.

My dad heard our discussion, he said “we are the one that gave ourselves the name La-ous, it’s from the Luang Prabang accent, they just spelled it like the way they heard us saying it, La-ous, so they spelled Laos.”  We looked at each other and started to laugh, makes perfect sense now, the Luang Prabang do have a strong accent [Correction 6/26/09, confirmed by AnuShawn that the Luang Prabang also pronounce Lao, but with a slightly different accent, and not La-ous], but is it really pronounced La-ous with the Luang Prabang accent I wonder? So La-ous must be the French pronunciation then. This must be like a rose, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, what matters is what something is, not what it is called. Lao, Laos, or La-ous is still Muang Lao to us.

As we get older, we lost more and more people that we loved, and for some, the father that you loved dearly. I hope this special day, Father’s Day will bring you peace and closure, he was and will always be a part of you.

As for me, I’m blessed to have our dad with us, I think my outlook in life has changed since my mom passed away, life is more precious now than ever.  It’s no longer the quantity but it’s the quality of life that I appreciate more this day.

My dad lives a more simple life this day, he spends a lot of his time in his garden and enjoying the visits from his children and grandchildren.

Updated photos: A Father’s Day cookout.

My specialty, tum maak houng or spicy papaya salad.