THE ULTIMATE
Welcome To My Life Is An Adventure - by Dawitt Abraha On Dec 6, 2017 "DAWITT ABRAHA" wrote: HAPPY DECEMBER 2017! (Yes) ; indeed. (A)bsolutely It is soon going to be a really brand new year: (2)(0)(1)(8)! (O)ne (O)f (A) (K)ind(!) We have not had another year named: (2)(0)(1)(8) It is on it`s way and will be here soon, really soon. (S)o; I am adjusting my moods and my attitudes to welcome it in with all my full heart and (M)ake (T)he (B)est (O)f (I)t. (B)e (F)ree (B)e Happy (Sparkling eyes) (Happy) (Happy). (D)o not be timid. (F)ace your fears. (L)iberate yourself. (B)e in touch with nature. (H)ave lots of tantric love-making with your beloved goddess. (H)appiness manifesto by (M)r. (D) (Oh) (Oh) I have the privilege of finding "home" in different avenues of life from my and others travels and travel adventure stories, poetry, music and dance, chi gong, meditation, yoga, tai chi, philosophy, discussions and conversations, cycling, swimming, power walking/jogging, to climbing up mountains. These and such other experiences juicify my life. My life is tsibouk ="great" in Tigrinya - sabai" sabai ="good" in Thai, "Aloha" in Hawaiian. Much Aloha to you all! Good morning There's the moon out tonight, again! Three nights ago on Sunday December 3, 2017, I alobg with the world witnessed the phenomenal SUPER MOON! I am out on my balcony star - gazing and counting the stars till I dozed off onto my roll-out bed. It is so quiet and calm at this time of the night. The full moon is bright enough that I can see clearly enough around my balcony and into my bathroom/toilets. MAKE EVERYDAY A GREAT DAY! The Passing Away of His Majesty King Rama IX of Thailand INTRODUCTION: A brief background History King BHUMIBOL Adulyadej or King Rama IX of Thailand was one of the longest reigning monarchs (from 1946 to 2016) in modern day history. The beloved Thai King passed away after a period of illness on October 25, 2016. The greater than life father figure; a personification of Thailand. It is common to hear Thais address him as "My King". He is all they know. On October 25, 2016, Thailand embarked on a 365 day official national mourning period. There was a lavish commemoration of the late King Rama IX and an elaborate farewell ceremony with all the bells and whistles of pageantry pomp and majestic ceremony inside and around The National Palace in Bangkok on October 25, 2017. Every region and every major town/city of Thailand was having a replica ceremony to bid farewell to the beloved King. At The International Conventions Center located in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. (October 26 2017). This event was part of the official national cremation ceremony of the late King Rama IX of Thailand. I got to the grounds of The International Conventions and Exhibits Center at 11:45 am. Out in the open massive parking lot (large enough to accomodate a couple of football fields); I could see a sea of Thai people dressed in black with some dressed in their beautiful national or tribal costumes. There were young, old and families with children. I also spotted a few foreigners in the mix; three of which were black skinned. I came across Andre, an ex-marine from America who explained the purpose and organization of the day. He had been in line since 9:00 am. By about noontime, Andre with his Thai girlfriend and family had about a couple more hours to reach the flower laying portal. There were winding lines from four sides all leading to a tall structure where the population was supposed to lay flowers as an honor in commemoration of the late King Rama IX. The lines were orderly. I could read solemn and veneration in most faces; something to be expected during such an occasion. It was a very hot October day with temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s celcius. The organizers and the volunteers provided free water (sometimes cold), free snacks and meals. There was free medical care for anyone requiring first aid and the like. There were several ambulances on stand-by by the clearly marked nurses stations. Nurses and paramedics with green cross and red cross badges were walking around checking on the crowds, that was very assuring. I observed a few rather elderly persons being carried away onto stretchers. There were some shaded seating areas under tents for observing the processions, for waiting and for eating. I was struck by the deep seated admiration that Thai people in general terms display towards their beloved departed monarch, there braving the scorching heat of the day. I was there as an observer with the freedom to stay as long as I pleased. It was a special occasion and I pressed on. I had options and I exercised my freedom. I cannot but admire the freedoms that I have as an outsider who does not belong and who does not have to and is not expected to conform and who does not fear sanctions however my decision turns out to be. At about 1:40 pm came across Roger, a black Canadian scientist who moved here to write his books and for the convenience of living in Thailand. Without much ado, we embarked on discussing mathematics, the role of scientific research in social and poliical policy making. That was a respite from the intensive heat. He was with another friend and we agreed to pursue our exchanges of ideas at a later date. At around 2:00 pm I went and took up a seat with a good view of the crowd. People were coming and going. The lines seem to be slow moving. At around 2:40 pm the clouds started to gather up concentration. Thunder roared and it began to rain, first in sprinkles, warning the crowds of an impending thunderstorm. Some cars and some motor scooters were on their way out, resulting in a minor traffic jam. The roads were getting really wet, with puddles forming in a couple of spots. Temperatures began to drop, I could feel the breeze. The crowds were still moderately orderly. More and more people brought out their umbrellas.and stood in line. Some ran for cover under the tents and more ran inside the halls/buildings/porches and port-cahes of this luxurious International Conventions and Exhibits Center. Thunderstorms and rains came down in rages. The ceremony was temporarily halted. More and more cars began to leave. Time for me to go home. I live a short distance away from The International Conventions and Exhibits Center. End of the first of the five-day send-off period of the late King Rama IX of Thailand. THE WINERY On Thursday (October 12, 2017) VISITING THE WINERY IN NORTHERN THAILAND I was in Lamphoun area, about 35 kms away from Chiang Mai, my home base in Northern Thailand. I was visiting the winery. They make mulberry wine and strawberry wine. Their wine tasting bar is small; they sample red unsweetened mulberry, sweetened mulberry and strawberry wine. I find the last two, too sweet for my pallate. I bought two bottles of unsweetened red mulberry wine at 199 baht each, which comes to about US$ 6.5 each. Unlike many wineries, this winery does not conduct tours. They have a small garden to walk around their restaurant and for viewing a part of their mulberry plantation. The wine making facilities were out of reach to visitors. RESTAURANT We arrived there at around noontime. There were some customers there already. By about 1:30pm the place was buzzing with mostly young Thai couples and some other Thai families. Their restaurant mostly caters for locals and tourists including apparently middle-class and upper middle-class Thai clientele. The restaurant is situated by a lake with a man-made fountain. The menu has both vegetarian/vegan selections; but mostly geared to fish and meat lovers. I ordered grilled mixed vegetables, a small bowl of veggie soup and some grilled mixed mushrooms. Their servings are really huge. I barely finished one and half of my orders. I had to take away my grilled mushrooms. The whole business closes on Wednesdays. The waitress indicates that they get very busy on weekends as well. The location is in a small village called Mae Tha off of route 1033. From the super highway (route 11) take the exit to route 114 towards Lamphoun and then left exit at route 116 towards Pa Sang. From there make a left exit on to route 1033. It was not difficult to find it. My advantage was having a Thai speaking "chauffer" in the person of the (lovely) Dr Wimon Phetnajakk. DESSERT After the delicious lunch, we drove around to find the now famous "CAFE ROUTE 116" located on route 116 heading towards Sanpatong. Everytime I visit this cafe, I am reminded of the popular American song titled "On Route 66". I had "black forest" cake with hot jasmine green tea. My day trip is coming to an end Time to go back home to Chiang Mai before the impending rains and thunderstorms. My friend Anthony BaanNokk lives off the route 108 (Hang Dong Road). He had informed me earlier that route 108 had been flooded and parts of it would be deemed impassable or traffic jammed. He also alerted me that the town of Sanpatong had been temporarily cut off. We returned to Chiang Mai via the same way we had used to get to the area. I really dislike going back to my destination using the same route I had gotten away from my earlier point of start. It is something ingrained into me. Life is sabai sabai, which means good in Thai . Mindful and grateful about my relative circumstances. Sunday Mornings Inside Rustic Market (July 16, 2017) Jing Jai (JJ) Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Going out cycling (bike) early in the day before it starts to get warm and then hot. So pleasant are those hours! Later in the morning I headed onto the Sunday Morning JJ Market to shop for my weekly supplies of fruits and assorted fresh-from-the-farm vegetables, other organic produce, forbaked goods, hand-made arts and crafts items, miscellaneous goods, snacks, fresh coconut water and assorted juices. And to mention the meeting and greeting of my Sunday Morning friends, listening to jazzy live music and a host of interesting stuff. The main event happens after all the shopping around is accomplished. Sunday Morning hang out around the white coffee truck named "THANKOFF" while consuming my morning freshly brewed tea/coffee, organic pastries and sometimes sharing with friends some of each other's purchases of the morning. Time to start solving the proverbial existential universal problems come challenges. Everyone of the regulars are ordinarily on their best behaviours. I hope it does not rain this morning. The weather channel is only predicting afternoon and/or evening showers . I like to listen to the rhythm of the falling rain; sometimes. In the words of Bob Marley: "Some listen to the sounds of the rains; Some others just get wet" Who really cares about the weather, As long as we're together. Have A Happy Day Everyday. Make it a Great Day! Chheerrrsss Lanna Expo 2017 (June 13 - July 2 2017) Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand LIFE IS LIKE AN EXPOSITION Life is like an exposition (!!) Life is like a show! It has a beginning; an intermediate period and soon thereafter the end comes by. At 8:00pm of July 2, 2017: The show organizers, the exhibitors of Lanna Expo 2017 (June13 - July 2 2017) are in a manner of speaking, proclaiming "everybody go home; the party is over !". There is a buzz of activities from dismantling display cases, display structures and display props to packing up unsold merchandise and multitudes of containers hovering around. Everybody, including the vendors and show organizers, seems resigned to accept the end, perhaps begrudgingly. Some seemingly are relieved that it is all over. Maybe successfully or just glad they survived the intense pressures of holding a show of such magnitude. WHILE it is time to wind down for the vendors, exhibitors, the show organizers, for the custodial crew, clean up crew and for security personnel; their "show" has just began. I see lots of trash bags and trash containers lined up. Security personnel are alert checking and rechecking exits and entry points. Wallie-talkies are busy. Like a burial or like a cremation ceremony the 2017 Lanna Expo (June13 to July 2) has been pronounced dead, marked expired and is off the shelf. See the rebirth of Lanna Expo 2018 next summer; all over again. The cycle will close now only to be reborn again soon, like flowers and plants get born out of the mud that the rains create. Life, I love you, It's always groovy (exclamation) "Lah-la- lah-la - lah" (Lyrics from a song by Simon & Garfunkel). Throughout the duration of the exposition of this year's Lanna Expo June 13-July 2. 2017: It was a deamatic show-case of Northern Thailand extravaganza inside the spacious and spectacular International Conventions and Exhibits Center in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. I enjoyed all the arts and crafts displays, all the cultural performances, dances, fashion shows, puppet show, varieties of food, lots of local products, massage services and products, Health and well-being demonstrations, various healing modalities, different styles of music, dances and performances. Lots of food items and lastly a sea of cuties. Ha ha ha !! LOL ! At the Sunday Morning Rustic Market (June 4, 2017) Jing Jai (JJ) Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand I arrived there around 8:00 am. Robert and Corona had done most of their shopping and were already enjoying their coffee. Ray and Pin are morning coffee and tennis aficionados. They have been living in Chiang Mai since that fateful day when they established connection on the tennis court, Keiko and Aek are not in sight yet. The White Coffee Truck "Thankoff" is the gathering around place . After exchanging pleasantries with both couples, I went straight to my favorite stalls and stands for my regular Sunday morning treats. I bought "samoosa" or vegetable pies, fresh-squeezed orange juice, some minced veggies with grape-fruit, steamed squash, grilled mushroom stems, tomato gravy, breads, muffins and steamed sweet potatoes. Then I went around and enjoyed my fresh coconut water, plus a glass of fresh squeezed carrot juice and another glass of fresh squeezed mixed fruit juice marketed promoted as "Alzheimer control" . By that time my stomach was getting almost full and at the same time there was a live band playing classical Thai numbers and some old time American ballads. All the while I am exchanging greetings with my Sunday Morning "friends". I went to sit down by Thankoff white coffee truck. Robert and Corona were in the throws of their Sunday Morning conversational mood. I chimed in to share an Al Jazeera documentary film about continental INDIA that I had enjoyed. I explained that India has over five million "genius" level citizens as per MENSA sponsored IQ test surveys. I broadened the discussions adding my interests in the international "nature versus nurture" scholarship/debate. I suggested further especially to Robert and Corona, as the good educators that they are, to look into a "CBS 60 Minutes" piece entitled STARR STUDENTS narrated by Anderson Cooper, a story about a young American millionaire, former hedge-fund manager Jonathan Starr. He founded an American style, American standard school in the middle of nowhere in Somaliland (as opposed to Somalia). It's worth noting that 90 % of the first batch of graduating high school students got accepted into American colleges. These include MIT and OBERLIN college. If this is not amazing, then what else is!? Soon thereafter Oded joined in and later on followed by Eiko. THE conversations are getting more and more interesting. Nidda joined in and so did Nanthikan. Corona stepped out to talk with their "friend" Martin. Robert followed her. I was engaged in listening to what everyone had to bring to the table. I believe on that morning, we may have tackled all the most important problems of the whole wide world. Hahaha! Around 11:00am it had started raining (first it was only a drizzle). We dispersed and went inside the main covered market hall. Normally we gather and hang outdoors around the white coffee truck "THANKOFF". When the rains stopped, it became time to run "home" or to wherever. I loaded my motor bike with my weekly supplies and headed on home. (End) On Saturday morning (Feb 11 2017) Kad Muuaang Market in Sanpathong, Northern Thailand. The Kad Muuaang Market is a Saturday morning weekly event come rain come shine throughout the year. Reportedly; it is one of the very first such markets in Thailand, having developed to its present day expanse from its humble beginnings. It is a sprawling flea market as large as two football fields at the same locale. I traveled alone early in the cool hours of the morning, visited there to be an observer of the sales of chickens, ducks, cattle (cows and water buffaloes), exotic plants, fruits, veggies, motor scooters, bicycles, clothing and everything else. It begins around 5:00 am, I arriving there around 6:45 am and by that time the market was well underway. Was amazed by the extensive variety of products on sale; mostly cheap Chinese imports and some locally manufactured. I did not observe any significant presence of local artisans of arts and crafts. The clientele was predominantly Thai with only an occasional sighting of a westerner here and there. The orderliness conduct of business is notable. Prices range from 30,000 -60,000 baht a head of buffalo. The cows make a call and response sounds among them; repeatedly. The buffaloes were silent throughout the morning. I bought a couple of them and left them with my friend Anthony Baan Nokk in the nearby village of Doi Lor. Hahaha! It is now 11:45 am. The market is winding down. The density of the clientele is getting sparse. Some of the vendors have started their closing shop routine. On my way out I noticed a small group of deaf Thai students. I approached them and with my rudimentary American Sign Language (ASL) exchanged some pleasantries. I managed to garner their attention with a dose of gesticulation and body language. Thai people are polite and generous with their ubiquitous smiles. With the aide of Google Translator, I proceeded to tell them of my lovely deaf sister, Sabba. I informed them of Galladet University For The Deaf and that Sabba and her deaf husband attended and graduated from Gallaudet University in Washington DC. They were pleasantly amazed. I smell like a cowboy with cow and buffalo dung on my shoes! But it was fun and I like to learn and enjoy new experiences. I may now need to buy a rice field for my certified healthy buffalo team to plough! Ahh! It is a miracle I may have “stumbled upon" a new mission in life --- growing organic brown rice. Hahaha !! Six T-Shirts (in January/February of 2017) Between late December 2016 and January of 2017 my youngest sibling (ALEM SEGED) came to visit me in Bangkok Central and in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand (or was it only to see this part of SE Asia?). I had a great time showing him around and I should also admit, showing him off to the world, the first medical doctor in our family. My father would have been elated if he had lived longer. I happen to be the first born male in the birth order. by Eritrean tradition; I have been bestowed that expansive role of "fatherhood" vicariously. Our father was magnanimously larger than life, that has unfailingly corroborated by all financial and by social accounts of the living and of the departed. Allow me to add; by friend and a few foes alike. I fail to fill in his large shoes. Alem Seged went back to his busy life California, USA, he left me behind some great memories and the custody of six t-shirts. I check in to my guest room closet cabinet, what do i see? I see you, sometimes you stare, pleasant surprise, befuddled, amazed, Six T-Shirts beckon, by proxy, your absence and your presence, simultaneously. You may wish to note that you are at the back of my mind; come back revisit anytime, no need for booking; I grant you open room standing reservations. Here I share a piece of my mind; too much work is a proven health hazard. Webmaster: Dawitt Abraha - Email: [email protected] - Copyright © Protected - All Rights Reserved 2021
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