View allAll Photos Tagged NewNormal
A tree that likes wet feet. I am constantly amazed by the patterns of tree roots in the rain forest - they are so different to those I am used to
Tham Kra Sae Bridge was built by war prisoners of WWII. It received the name Death Railway due to the large amount of prisoners that died during the construction of the bridge. Now many people visit the bridge to learn about the history as well as view the incredible structure which is built into the side of a cliff, right next to the powerful Kwai Noi River.
Lin Hui is the star of the show at Chiang Mai zoo and to go and see her is an extra entrance fee that costs more than the original zoo ticket! She obliged by eating her lunch right in front of us.
Lin Hui is the only panda in Thailand and is on long term loan from China. She gave birth to a daughter some years ago and as soon as she was old enough she was repatriated to China, where she still lives in captivity
One of the objectives of our roadtrip was to visit the migrant schools in the town of Mae Sot on the border with Myanmar. My daughter had gathered together a heap of donated clothes, toys and bric a brac as well as raising money from within our own school community to help the Burmese teachers who work at the schools teaching migrant workers' children. The teachers and families live in often desperate conditions and their lives are incredibly difficult.
This remarkable lady is the headteacher of a school for Muslim migrants. She teaches the children in the front room of her house with her 100 year old mother also in attendance.
Today's set of pictures are all from Wat Rong Khun, also known as the White Temple. It is a Buddhist temple with a difference. Built on the site of an old dilapidated temple, eclectic Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat footed the bill to design and construct a contemporary and unusual temple which doubles as an art exhibition. The juxtaposition of both traditional Buddhist themes and modern influences, including murals of Mickey Mouse, Superman, Kung Fu Panda and Michael Jackson, all add to the intrigue and surprise of this famous tourist attraction. Visitors will also get to see a Wolverine hand, aliens, peace signs, guns, and various cheeky and quirky innuendos.
Most temples in Thailand are gold but Wat Rong Khun is white, the artist felt that gold “was suitable to people who lust for evil deeds”. Wander around and see the Bridge of the Cycle of Rebirth which leads to the Gates of Heaven. You’ll see two guardians and outstretched hands represent temptations and worldly desires like greed, lust, alcohol.
Political Correctness is a perfect example of the hive mind. In reality Political Correctness is Cultural Marxism, and it is of the spirit of antichrist. But when the antichrist comes to power, he will unveil the ultimate hive mind. “The whole world marveled and followed the Beast. All who live on the earth worshiped the Beast, saying, ‘Who is like the Beast?’ The Beast had authority over every tribe and people and language and nation.”
Take the Mark of the Beast, be one with the Hive, one with the apparatus, one with the Machine. Its tentacles will control you—a consolidation, a network of minds, the ultimate Hive Mind. You will be a hybrid, a new creation made in the Image of the Beast. Algorithms, feedback loops, possession, you will bear his name, you will bear his number. You will be a child of the Dragon. You will be one with the Head. You will be one with your god.
The Zombie apocalypse: zombies who cannot think for themselves; Human hybrids, who are a microchip short of brain autonomy, a microchip short of a brain. Whoever controls your brain controls you. Welcome to the Twilight Zone, where truth is stranger than fiction. Frights, camera, h-action, your future will be terror-ific! HAHAHAHAHA! Tales from the Crypt!
Wat Khao Angkhan is a modern Buddhist temple built atop an extinct volcano that affords you views over the vast forest and paddies down below.
The wat displays elements of Dvaravati, Khmer, Chinese, Sri Lankan and Thai temple artistry.
The site is thought to have served as a religious sanctuary during the Dvaravati period in the eighth and ninth centuries, evidenced by sandstone markers inscribed with images of people, lotuses and Dharma wheels. Today the most eye-catching structure is a 50-year-old clay-red ordination hall topped by depictions of Khmer-style gateways leading up to Sri Lankan style bell-shaped chedis. The entire complex is surrounded by rows of fairly large seated Buddha images.
An ancient historical record claims that ashes of the Buddha were enshrined here way back in the year 535 BCE -- an obvious falsehood considering that the Buddha was probably still alive in that year. Nevertheless, the famous Thai meditation monk, Ajahn Panyawutthitho, did apparently discover some ancient relics when establishing Wat Khao Angkhan in the 1970s, placing them atop the ordination hall.
...........makes eating breakfast quite difficult.
The We're Here group members are thinking about what is normal today for the Normal?! group today.
Quiet Life
Japan
September 1981
U.K. #19
“Here we are stranded
Somehow it seems the same, beware.
Here comes the quiet life again?”
This is Scarborough station. Whilst taking the picture I was very absorbed in what I was doing, trying different angles and enjoying the locomotive. Once the guard disappeared round the corner I suddenly realised how strangely silent the place was and that I was the only one standing there.
Normally to take such a picture would be almost impossible due to crowds of people, especially the weekend before Christmas.
The ‘new normal’ has soon become, well, normal. Scenes of busy stations now look like they are from a different world.
I hope though that the bright sun in the picture shows a sign of hope for the future. Let’s hope that in 2021 the ‘new normal’ is looked back on as a ‘temporary normal’!
The fine wooden roof is still the original design of GT Andrews from when the station opened in 1845. In the distance are the ‘Excursion Platforms’ that were designed by William Bell and opened in 1883 to accommodate the burgeoning holiday traffic and day trippers travelling to the popular resort.
68031 ‘Felix’ awaiting departure with 1T66 12:34 Scarborough to York on Saturday 19.12.2020
The so-called 'Death Railway' passes through Kanchanaburi.
One of the most notable portions of the entire railway line is Bridge 277, the so-called "Bridge on the River Kwai", which was built over a stretch of the river that was then known as part of the Mae Klong River. The greater part of the Thai section of the river's route followed the valley of the Khwae Noi River (khwae, 'stream, river' or 'tributary'; noi, 'small'. Khwae was frequently mispronounced by non-Thai speakers as kwai, or 'buffalo' in Thai). This gave rise to the name of "River Kwai" in English. In 1960, because of discrepancies between facts and fiction, the portion of the Mae Klong which passes under the bridge was renamed the Khwae Yai.
This bridge was made famous by Pierre Boulle in his book and the film which was based on it, The Bridge on the River Kwai. However, there are many who point out that both Boulle's story and the film which was adapted from it were unrealistic and do not show how bad and poor the conditions and general treatment of the Japanese-held prisoners-of-war were. Some Japanese viewers resented the movie's depiction of their engineers' capabilities as inferior and less advanced than they were in reality. In reality, Japanese engineers had been surveying and planning the route of the railway since 1937 and they had demonstrated considerable skill during their construction efforts across South-East Asia.
Something blue(ish).... no, I'm not getting married, yet. This is another dress borrowed from my girlfriend. It's another that'll be on eBay soon. I still can't get over my hair. Lockdown is shit, but the no hairdresser rule has really given me time to grow it out and experiment. I'm also still buzzed that it's still not grey. 50 soon and still a good shade of brown. I used to be bleach blonde, but that was a long, long time ago now.
Tham Kra Sae Bridge was built by war prisoners of WWII. It received the name Death Railway due to the large amount of prisoners that died during the construction of the bridge. Now many people visit the bridge to learn about the history as well as view the incredible structure which is built into the side of a cliff, right next to the powerful Kwai Noi River.
At Wang Pho the railway has to take a precipitous route high above the River Kwai. This section caused enormous engineering difficulties and a large cost to human life as thousands of Asian workers and the prisoners of war captured by the Japanese occupying forces were pressed into work
Autoritratto scattato mentre ero in fila per fare la spesa al supermercato. Foto de autorretrato mientras estaba haciendo cola para comprar en el supermercado.Self-portrait shot while I was standing in line to shop in the supermarket. Bologna , Marzo 2020.
This is the temple that I saw from the mountain in the previous set of pictures. An 18-meter-tall Buddha built in 1973 is the focus of this well-known temple on a hilltop.
This summer we went on a 5000km roadtrip around Thailand to help us get to know our adopted country that much better. The first stop along the way was Wat Samphran, a Buddhist temple (wat) in Amphoe Sam Phran, Nakhon Pathom province, around 40 kilometers to the west of Bangkok. The temple was officially registered in 1985.
The temple is notable for its 17-story tall pink cylindrical building with a gigantic red-and-green dragon sculpture curling around the entire height. The interior of the dragon sculpture contains a spiraling flight of stairs, which has however deteriorated to a poor condition in places. It also contains a huge Buddha statue as well as many additional Buddhist statues.
Feels more like years than weeks since was last able to have a coffee and a muffin.
#ItsGoodToBeBack
Was hoping to fit in a train trip in the near future but seat allocation, something I had thought essential to proper Social Distancing observance on long journeys, appears to be a thing of the past, leading to a situation on said trains that, quite frankly, frightens me.
Until train travel involves reserved, pre booked seating, this lady's not for travelling!
Rant ends.
My daughter and I explored Sukhothai Historic Park on two wheels. It was the first time we had ever ridden a tandem and it was a lot of fun
It's a rare occasion I post what I'm wearing now, but this is my current office wear when I'm working from home. I find, if you dress for work, you're more productive. Well, that's the theory, but I find I'm on flickr far too often. A nice simple dress with, unusually, a front zip. Fully lined and feels great. More from that front zip soon...
One of the objectives of our roadtrip was to visit the migrant schools in the town of Mae Sot on the border with Myanmar. My daughter had gathered together a heap of donated clothes, toys and bric a brac as well as raising money from within our own school community to help the Burmese teachers who work at the schools teaching migrant workers' children. The teachers and families live in often desperate conditions and their lives are incredibly difficult.
This is one of the migrant camps that we visited.
In all the pictures from Maesot I have deliberately withheld names and locations to protect those depicted.
El movimiento "Alerta Roja" se ha manifestado esta tarde en Bilbao, Gasteiz e Iruñea para demostrar que se pueden convocar actos culturales, espectáculos y eventos, y salvar así a un sector que atraviesa una situación "límite".
An angry protester confronts the police, Anti-Lockdown demonstration, Downing Street, London, 29 August 2020
Usually Flores Pool Hall is a place where many of the locals enjoy beer and a few games off pool, with many outside waiting for a table, or just talking about themselves! In California many places have either closed early or are limiting the amount of people into their establishments to those that have been vaccinated only!