DAILY PHOTO: Children’s Day, Cubbon Park

Posted on November 13, 2016 by B Gourley

Taken on November 13, 2016 in Cubbon Park, Bangalore

POEM: Sounds of India

Posted on November 13, 2016 by B Gourley

The whisper of two hands sweeping
A pre-dawn impatient auto beeping
Early morning bicycle horn
Its character croaked, old and worn
The tout calls, raspy and rhythmic
Some birds sing, and others mimic
Relentless, the screeching squirrel
Rattling the battling cats so feral

TING-TING, spatula on kadai
The sizzled speech of things that fry
Twenty talks held in ten tongues
The bounce of distant bongo drums
Puttering auto struggles for speed
The angry whine of steel wheeled steeds
Meanwhile Ladakh’s Martian soundscapes
The silent swish of saris draped

Snapping crackers and mortar booms
The thumping of neon nightclub tunes
Clacking high heels against sidewalk
Bantering bands of drunks cross-talk
Rolling shutters and clicking locks
The beep of setting cellphone clocks
Then nothing but the croak of frogs
And howls of nighttime alpha dogs

DAILY PHOTO: Sights at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Posted on November 12, 2016 by B Gourley

Front Entrance; Taken on October 30, 2016 in Singapore

Giant Prayer Wheel

Guardian at front entrance. Note: Even if you have 6 pack abs, you're an 18 pack shy of being on par with this guy.

Guardian: Even if you’ve got a 6 pack, you’re an 18 pack shy of this guy.

There is a wax gallery of modern Buddhists of note from across Asia

A Madame Tussaud’s of noteworthy modern-day Buddhists (Bodhisattvas)

The lantern keeper

Rooftop Garden and the Giant Prayer Wheel

DAILY PHOTO: Thian Hock Keng

Posted on November 11, 2016 by B Gourley

Confucius; Taken on October 29, 2016 in Singapore

This Chinese temple sits in the heart of Singapore’s Chinatown. It’s said to be the oldest Hokkien or Hoklo temple (i.e. Han Chinese) in Singapore. It’s a temple related to Han Chinese culture generally, rather than to a particular sect or religion. While the main deity is Mazu (a.k.a. Ma Cho Po,) a maritime goddess from Chinese folklore that is sometimes associated with Taoism, there is also a Confucian shrine as well as homages to several Buddhist Bodhisattvas (a Bodhisattva is one who has achieved enlightenment but sticks around to help others out of compassion.)

DAILY PHOTO: Port of Singapore

Posted on November 10, 2016 by B Gourley

Taken on November 1, 2016 in Singapore

I’ve been posting pics of Singapore’s tourist haunts, but it’s time for a glimpse into work-a-day Singapore.

The Port of Singapore is the world’s busiest transshipment port. Transshipment refers to a port that is neither the origin nor the destination of goods, but rather where they get shuffled between ships. And 20% of the world’s containers and half of the world’s crude oil travel through this port. It’s the second busiest port in the world by tonnage (FYI- Shanghai is #1, but at least in 2005 Singapore beat out Shanghai.)

I don’t have the best pics of this important aspect of the city because they were shots of opportunity. One shot that I didn’t even get a poor picture of was the ship-strewn seas viewed on descent into the airport. I’ve never seen such a high density of ships at anchor. Phenomenal.