my first batik! (nirvana studio, ubud, bali)

my teacher's Ubud studio: www.nirvananaku.com

embroidery: young urban indonesian male art form (denpasar, bali)

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dude with killer skillz
embroiders "young weezy" on
a black baseball cap
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daily offering ingredients (payangan market, bali)

balinese cooking class (payangan village, near ubud)

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this is the way tempeh
is meant to be eaten!
so so delicious
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(tempeh chunks grilled over a coconut husk barbecue with peanut sate,
tempeh deep fried in coconut oil and braised with lemongrass, kefir
lime, chili, veg bouillon and coconut milk, tofu kare -curry- and a
vegetable salad with fern tips and sprouts)
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pura taman ayun (garden temple, mengwi, bali)

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rice terraces (near jatiluwih, bali)

early morning swim? (villa sabandari, ubud, bali)

daily offerings (sanur, bali, indonesia)

heaven on earth (villa sabandari, ubud, bali)

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a rainy june day
enjoying afternoon tea
over the rice fields
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indonesian oolong
with fresh apple crumble
white herons glide by
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freshness of washed earth
mingles with plumeria
this perfect moment
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ass-skin gelatin (hu qing yu chinese pharmacy, hangzhou, china)

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take two of these
and call me in the morning
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highly decorated high-rises (chongqing, china)

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sichuan art students
paint several city blocks
incredible designs
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chinese propaganda-graffiti: then and now (chongqing, china)

haba snow mountain from tiger leaping gorge, china

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hike, eat mountain farm food
play angry birds at night
what more would i want?
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french kids trek in chucks
we come in technical gear
naxi wear sandals
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this motley crew
converges on the mountain
to enjoy fresh mint tea
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po po hanging out on a cliff at tiger leaping gorge, china

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naxi grandma chills
mid-day on a cliff over
the world's steepest gorge
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jade dragon mountain at the black reflection lake in lijiang, china

grass is napping in lijiang (yunnan province, china)

lijiang old town (yunnan province, china)

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a beautiful dog
languidly watches the crowds
of tourists pass by
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chinese noods!

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who knew you could buy
chinese noods for 4 bucks
at the siem reap airport
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khmer cooking class at le tigre de papier, siem reap, cambodia

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the wonderful smells
of lemongrass, kefir lime
mix with coconut
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khmer cooking class- banana flower salad

man vs. nature: nature wins, ta prohm temple (cambodia)

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a strangler fig takes
hold of a
rooted in a door
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bayon temple (cambodia)

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sending compassion
equanimity, joy, love
in four directions
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banteay srei, citadel of women (cambodia) - naga (dragon) detail

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fierce and intricate
carvings tell a bloody tale
so beautifully
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banteay srei, apsaras at the citadel of women (cambodia)

wat's up? (angkor wat, cambodia)

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Angkor, that's wat
sunrise over the temple
that began the end
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(wat means "temple" in the khmer language)

aki ra, cambodia landmine museum (siem reap, cambodia)

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former child soldier
now deactivates some of
the 3 million mines
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the road to siem reap, cambodia

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motos carrying
bamboo cages filled with pigs,
kids walking to school
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our bus, white cows, trucks,
men carting plastic jugs on foot
all share the highway
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the best $1 i ever spent on a meal

...was in phnom penh's toul tom poung (russian) market
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cut fried taro rolls
fresh wide rice noodles
in coconut milk
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chewy
fragrant
filling
$1
nuff said
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rice paddies, en route from phnom penh to siem reap, cambodia

choeung ek killing fields near phnom penh

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this stupa contains
the skulls and bones of thousands
of Cambodians.
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1975
in a former longan field
the khmer rouge killed
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people they feared were
a threat to their power-
teachers, doctors, monks,
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farmers who resisted
and their entire families,
tortured and bludgeoned to death.
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khmer rouge leaders
were just like the people they killed-
teachers and monks...
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3 million dead
20% of the
Cambodian population
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genocide shows how
power and fear turns brothers
and sisters like me
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against each other
while other nations armed and
fueled the destruction.
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tuol sleng S21 prison and torture center, phnom penh

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(above: mug shots of prisoners at tuol sleng, some taken just before torture and murder)
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21,000 people imprisoned and tortured at this high-school-turned-prison, electrocuted and water boarded, mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, politicians, farmers, doctors, teachers, laborers, lawyers, people who talked back or at the wrong place at the wrong time.
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i easily could have been there too.
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