The Concatenation

Takin to learnin

2010-09-22T20:05:00.001-07:00

Alright. It's been way to long since I've posted anything (I wrote this prior to posting honeymoon photos). So...I need a project of some sort. Food related, but of course, always a good excuse to take photos.

I'm going to just brainstorm a little.

Something that has been on my mind is to master a dumpling creation of some sort. I don't know of any place in Portland that I can easily get amazing, heavenly dumpling. They are soo good. I'm always reminded when thinking about Asian food - it's all about the texture and quality of the basic structure. Dumplings are not all about what's inside - they are about the texture of the experience. That's thought #1.

Soups would be a good and appropriate thing to work through. I could do a soup lineup, documenting their creation. French Onion would def. make the cut along with some roasted vegetable bisque of some sort.

I would love to do some sort of butchering! Despite how great it would be, I don't have enough experience to legitimize mangling a well slaughtered animal, it's too expensive, I kinda need a guide for that. One day, breaking down a pig, one day. I could break down chickens and make chicken stock!

Bread would be great...aside from the fact that Margi is allergic to gluten.

Another great project is beer! A slight investment that might initially be prohibitive at this time, although documenting some brews would be great. Hazelnut brown anyone?

I didn't realize I had this many ideas of the top of my head when I took to writing a few words.

Anyone have any votes / thoughts?

Honeymoon pt.4

2010-09-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

So much Chicken Katsu! Ohhh, so good!

Our last photo in Maui......oh wait...we didn't make the flight so this is almost our last photo in Maui!

Honeymoon pt.3

2010-09-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Lunch at Haliimaile General Store

We got some great passion fruit at a street fruit stand!

Climbing trees!

Honeymoon pt.2

2010-09-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

Sunrise at Haleakala

She looks good huh? Yea.

An art lost in the generations.

2010-04-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

There's something intriguing about a pipe right? Maybe a step back in time. Somewhat of a lost art, a lost ritual of life. I think cigarette companies have done to tobacco what Mr. M#donald has done to the hamburger.

There are a number of factors that go into a good pipe smoking experience. Packing the tobacco is essential - otherwise you have too fast or too slow of a burn, both resulting in not so nice a smoke. Lighting and smoking is another subtle method. A pipe needs patience, to draw slowly, over time. Drawing in only often enough to keep the tobacco lit and smoking well.

It's a shame there aren't more places you can still puff a pipe legally in Portland. Now that smoking is outlawed inside, there are only a few places left with a permit. Most of these shops are exactly for smoking, so, one can feel the need to purchase something, maybe a cigar, every time they want to smoke. There aren't too many months in the Willamette Valley that cater to a nice time being outdoors smoking a pipe with out slowly turning in to the wet cold. Thankfully, there are some good tobacco shops in town where you can smoke and chat with a tobacconist, of which there are few legit ones left.

I would say Portland is one of the better places for a pipe smoker, at least on the West Coast. That is something to be thankful for.

Here's to a lost art, pipe smoking.

Oh the beautiful little....seed?

2010-02-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

It's really not a bean...it's a seed. Coffee is a fruit seed. Nevertheless, if these seeds are done right, they carry quite an intriguingly, obsessive following. I'm one of those obsessives.

The picture above is of my ceramic single cup drip and my Stumptown mug. All the oils blooming on top are a response to hot water, making it very clear that the coffee is fresh.

Coffee is quite the complex agriculture product. Coffee cherries are grown at high elevations, picked, de-pulped, dried, shipped, roasted, ground, and carefully brewed in a number of different ways. The complex journey of this seed into your cup rivals the complexity of flavor one can experience within the cup itself. With double the flavor compounds of red wine, coffee is one of the most complex drinks we consume as far as taste buds are concerned.

**Although, too often we drink coffee that simple tastes of carbonized oil infused by the actual roaster, not the flavor qualities naturally present within the bean. Burnt toast all tastes the same ;). **

There's a wonderful balance between science & art, technique & sense, so present with coffee. It's incredibly sensual and kinesthetic, all your senses engaged. A long day preparing espresso leaves my hands ingrained with pleasant oils that are exposed as these roasted seeds are crushed, oils from remote regions of Africa, Indonesia, and Central America.

It becomes a tangible as well as emotional pleasure and appreciation. We should think twice before we easily disregard the importance and complexity of that which we eat and drink daily, of those subtleties we risk missing in the food and drink that bless us from the ground; from God. I sometimes become frustrated with how insignificant we have made food and how significant we bless technology or material possessions. Is it at all ironic that we watch football on systems of entertainment costing thousands of dollars while eating hot dogs that cost us a dollar a pack?

As I've returned to Portland there's been a slight anxiousness within me to begin making great coffee for people again. I've been working a bit at a cafe that a friend owns and just today finished a second interview with Stumptown Coffee Roasters, here in SE Portland. I should hear whether I get a position with Stumptown within a few days. I'm hoping it works out - Stumptown is a great company, committed to people and great coffee.

-Jonathan William

Taco's

2010-02-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

Ever since watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservation episode on Mexico, I've been secretly obsessed with tacos. One particular taco stand that they visited pleasantly sits in my memory. Wet tacos. Ever kind of meat simply pulled from a simmering kettle of fat and flavor. Tongue, eyes, tripe, whatever. Cut it up and place the tender goods in a warm hand made pressed tortilla -wonderful.

The meat of the poor, the food of history intrigues me. Traditions of eating and utilizing all parts of the animal were born of necessity. Anyone can cook amazing ingredients to taste well, few can cook the neglected parts and pieces of the poor. That's why a slow cooked, flavor infused tongue taco sounds so amazing.

With these pictures in my head, I bought some incredible cheap pork and decided to try a bubbly pot of something for myself. Seared pork, simmered with onions, spices, and some dried Mexican peppers. Hours later, my tacos were really quite good. A recipe I would like to build on.

I took some more of this pork and slow cooked it with some potatoes, red cabbage, onion, and more spices. It came out pretty well.

There's something about a taco cook out that seems appropriate for tradition. I plan to make some taco recipe a staple in my life....as I find the right concoction of meat and fresh tortilla goodness.

Cheers

Gray Sky

2010-01-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today is a bit of a slow day, even if only for me. There is something about the weather that affects us, right? Returning home from traveling on lands of endless sunshine, the gray skies, they seem to slow people down. Cars still drive fast, the Blackberry hasn't lost it's use; yes I know. I've seen what seems like the weather on peoples faces. The empty streets and quiet restaurants tell me that people slow with the season.

I love the rain. It's peaceful. It gently gets in your face. It surrounds you. Our rain is most often gentle, the soft words of season. It justifies simplicity. It enables and encourages the reading of a book, a cup of coffee, and a warm cafe. If we listen, we are forced to engage ourselves.

This earth is overwhelmed with silence; we make noise so we won't hear it. We stay so busy that we cannot embrace it. The silence leads us inward. I think most people are uncomfortable here.

The sun will come. The season does not die. We will be encouraged once more with people in the streets, fruits of the harvest, and sunshine to lengthen our days. But why we love one and hate the other, I do not know. The seasons are good and needed. The seasons might even connect us with something deeper, something that cannot be realized directly.

We wish it were direct, but it is not.

PDX

2010-01-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

A break from my blog has seemed appropriate.

Life has changed significantly for me. I'm back in Portland, Oregon. My daily experience is no longer a sweet medley of a hot wok, fish sauce, soft rice, and steamed buns full of surprises. I'm back in the domain of fresh hopped beer, beautiful espresso, sleeve tattoos, and an enchantingly wet cityscape.

What was the Far East Concatenation is now - The Concatenation.

A flurry of ideas, questions, experiences, and expressions - this is a space for that flurry. A space for dialog with life.

Leaving Taiwan...

2009-12-07T22:26:00.000-08:00

I’ve constantly been in thought throughout these last 3-4 months of traveling in S.E. Asia and now being in Taiwan. For many reasons, I have decided to head back to Portland rather than continue to look for, and sign, a year long teaching contract here in Taiwan. This will be the end of my 3rd adventure in Asia, it has been really great. Nolan and Phil will continue to look for teaching positions and plan on staying as they get a good job. They will do great here and will make great teachers. I will miss them and I wish them well.

If you would like to keep up with their journey, pictures and all, I would refer you to Phil’s blog: http://theseasiachapter.blogspot.com/

My flight for PDX leaves this Sunday morning. Because of the time difference, I will leave at 9:45am from Taiwan and arrive at 8am in Portland on the same day.

I’m really excited to see everyone much sooner than I had originally expected as I flew to Bangkok. My plan is to get a job working in the coffee industry, find a place to live, and maybe a vehicle to get me from point A to point B.

Thank you for taking the time to keep up with my blog and our journey. I do plan to continue to blog, but am unsure at this time what that will look like.

Blessings,
Jonathan William

Night Market

2009-12-04T00:36:00.000-08:00

Rice sausage....it's good. We actually gambled for these sausages - if you win, you win three sausages, you lose, you have to pay. Gambling for food seems like a better idea than for riches.

Here we are with our friend Luke and also with a new Taiwanese friend named Stanley. Stanley also helped show us around the market, letting us know what we cannot go without trying. We are currently staying at Luke's apartment, his friends are out of town. It has been really great getting to know Luke, who is studying Mandarin right now, as well as a huge blessing to have a place to stay while we are looking for jobs.

Headed back to the MRT.

Night Market

2009-12-04T00:33:00.000-08:00

Here is the Taiwanese Oyster Omelet. It was okay.

Chewy.....kinda doughy.

Here is our new friend Lawrence with Nolan. He showed us around the night market and also took many of these photos. We both have Nikon camera's, so we were sharing lenses and camera's, shooting photos at the market.

Night Market

2009-12-04T00:30:00.000-08:00

This is another form of the rice bun filled with all kinds of varietal wonders. The difference here is that this bun is baked with fire rather than steamed. These meat filled buns are a crispy goodness.

Headed to a night market in Taiwan

2009-12-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

MRT heading downtown

Steamed buns - these are really good. Some are filled with meat and others with vegetables.

Noodles in Taiwan

2009-12-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

Spicy Wonton

Taiwan

2009-11-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

We made it to Taiwan safely on November 20th.

We've been staying with some friends and connections here in Taipei. We are in a town called Danshuei, the furthest north stop of the MRT train from Taipei.

Things are definitely new and unknown. We are slowly figuring out how to order food and building a list of place that we can eat via pointing to a picture or food.

I'm sorry that I have not blogged recently since we arrived. We do not have Internet where are staying and have only recently found some good coffee houses with wifi. I've taken a few photos but plan to take more before posting them.

We are working with a recruiter to find jobs teaching English. Currently, we are preparing a teaching DEMO that we will use during interviews with schools. Tomorrow (Friday), we will be presenting our teaching DEMO to the recruiters we are working with. This presentation is in preparation for an interview that we have next week.

I'm having a really great time trying all the new foods available - there is such a wealth of options! The only issue, and cause of much emotional frustration for me, is the fact that I can only order a very limited array of foods because of my limited knowledge. I look forward to learning Mandarin and learning how to eat using Chinese characters!

The food is so different from Thailand. We've been eating lots of noodles. The noodles are much thicker than noodles eaten in Thailand. I've had some amazing steamed buns. Still a mystery to me, these buns are filled with any number of things from meat to bean paste, and steamed. The shell of the bun is a really soft, moist, rice something or other - it seems to me like the bread of China, and it's made from rice.

The food is wonderful and I look forward to posting pictures and descriptions as time and opportunity allow.

Blessings,

Jonathan

Chiang Rai

2009-11-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

The mountainous country.

Goodbye Thailand. Hello Taiwan.

Cooking Dinner in Chiang Rai

2009-11-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

Preparing the Thai omelette, known as Kai Geow.

Cooking Dinner in Chiang Rai

2009-11-19T00:01:00.000-08:00

Daow with the vegetable that will go into the Tom Yum.

Thai omelette with vegetables, a vegetable stir fry, and Tom Yum Fish - a Thai soup.

Tom Yum Fish.

Queens Garden

2009-11-18T23:52:00.000-08:00

We had decided to visit the Queens garden long before we actually flew to the north of Thailand, it is a wonderfully beautiful place. One interesting thing that we discovered on this trip, while we were with the Akha people, was that this land for the garden was taken from an elder Akha man's family and tribe! A real example of the difficulties the hill tribe people's face when interaction with Thai society.

The garden is gorgeous, I doubt these photos can capture even a small amount of the beauty. By the end of this walk....I was thoroughly tired of taking pictures, ha, so enjoy the good ones that are posted here.

Queens Garden

2009-11-18T23:51:00.000-08:00

Queens Garden

2009-11-18T23:50:00.000-08:00

Queens Garden

2009-11-18T23:48:00.000-08:00

Queens Garden

2009-11-18T23:47:00.000-08:00

Queens Garden

2009-11-18T23:45:00.000-08:00

Queens Garden

2009-11-18T23:44:00.000-08:00

The Golden Triangle

2009-11-18T23:43:00.000-08:00

Where Thailand, Burma, and Laos meet - famous for drug it's once very heavy drug trade.

Akha kids

2009-11-18T23:40:00.001-08:00

Jump!

Akha kids

2009-11-18T23:40:00.000-08:00

Doi Chang Coffee

2009-11-18T23:35:00.000-08:00

Doi Chang Coffee

2009-11-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

Doi Chang Coffee

2009-11-18T23:33:00.000-08:00

While up in the hills where the Akha live, we got to visit one of the guy's coffee processing location. We had a good time visiting and talking with him about his coffee.

Much of the coffee we find looks a little beat up.

2009-11-14T01:50:00.001-08:00

2009-11-14T01:48:00.000-08:00

The North of Thailand

2009-11-13T02:28:00.000-08:00

We recently returned to Bangkok from a great trip to the north of Thailand. We visited Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai.

We had a really great time doing so many different things. Because I took nearly 1000 photos, I am going to split my posting sessions into not one but 2 sections, the first of which is all prior to this post.

Those to come: Chiang Rai, visiting a coffee farm and processing station, the Queens Garden, and cooking Thai food in Chiang Rai.

I hope to finish posting soon! Hope you enjoy.

Also, we leave to Taiwan a week from today, Friday the 20th. Our time in Thailand is coming to an end and the next adventure is still very shrouded in uncertainty. We don't have jobs yet but could be offered one at any moment. We're not sure where we will stay when we arrive. I am hoping and praying that we will be accepted to a school that will possible hire all three of us, the school is in a city west of Taipei called Taoyuan.

Akha thanksgiving celebration!

2009-11-13T02:25:00.000-08:00

We woke up early, but it was so worth it. To make it to the Akha thanksgiving we were up by 5:30am and riding the back of a truck into the mountains by 6:30am. I think this day was the highlight of this trip to the north for me. The bumpy ride in the back of the truck led us through beautiful sunrise mountains and treated us to refreshingly clean air. I can't describe the beauty of dawn falling on a rice field, or the simplicity of people up early to work the land which gives them life.

The ride in the truck was long and deep into the hills. I really felt that I was only appropriate in this place by invitation, this was their home and their land - not a tourist destination and not Thai society.

When we arrived to the village we were sharing this day with they welcomed us and sat us down to eat. This is my first experience of Akha food, it was so delicious. The vegetables were abundant and so tasty. I enjoyed unwrapping my rice that had been steamed in a banana leaf - I can't think of a better plate to enjoy a meal on.

After the small meal we were treated to coffee. This is Doi Chang. Elephant mountain. Lots of coffee is grown in this area and one company has made the name famous for coffee around Thailand. There were many people in this community that grew coffee. This was one of their agricultural products, they grew it, and they were sharing a brew with us - again, so great. I love this connection to life that is so entirely real. These people eat what they grow, they sustain themselves in the soil of the mountains. They work and they live. There is no grocery store, they don't work in an office and buy food that they don't understand. They know how it grows, whether the harvest was good or poor. They kill their own animals for meat, it doesn't come in Styrofoam and saran wrap.

There is something refreshing about all of this to me. Necessity is reality, you must labor for your livelihood in community.

Akha thanksgiving celebration!

2009-11-13T02:10:00.000-08:00

Rice, wrapped and steamed in banana leaves! So great!

They sat us down to eat when we arrived, before the long service giving God thanks for the harvest.

Not quite like anything you've ever had and so delicious.

This is Gai posing with the older Akha women. The headdresses are a traditional style, made of silver.

Akha thanksgiving celebration!

2009-11-13T02:07:00.000-08:00

Literally their first fruits! This is the offering and celebration at the end of the harvest for the Akha people. This was such a unique opportunity for us to be blessed by partaking in this thanksgiving, it's hard to put words to it.

Akha thanksgiving celebration!

2009-11-13T02:05:00.000-08:00

Singing Hymns in traditional Akhan dress.

A wonderful and inspiring time of thanking God for the first fruits of the land, the produce that they labored over with their own hands.

This Akhan man was the first to graduate from university. He just completed a P.H.D in leadership development I think. His story is really amazing. Against so many odds, he did really well in school, got a Thai ID card at the last moment so he could attend college and has since labored for the well being of his people. He started a home for poor hill tribe students to live while they attend school away from their family as well as a seminary for the Akha people who wish to study the bible.

Akha thanksgiving celebration!

2009-11-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

Such an amazing feast! There really is no where that you can get Akha food outside of these areas where the Akha people live

They steam rice in banana leaves and when you unfold the leaf, it becomes your plate. I can't tell you how much I love this, haha.

There's a lot of coffee produced in these hills and someone gave coffee to everyone - we were thankful for it!

Phil holding the first fruits of the chickens!

Hill tribe students

2009-11-13T01:56:00.000-08:00

Danny has been in Thailand for many years. During our time in the North we were blessed to spend time with people and groups that were solely out to care for people in need. In this area of Thailand there are many poor hill tribe people that are not and have not been integrated into Thai society in the past. It is still difficult for people from these hill tribes to get national ID cards that allow them to travel to other provinces and go to university.

This is a school and living area that houses and educates hill tribe students, many of which have very little money. The principal is a guy from the US that decided to move here and help these children. When he arrive the children we in really bad shape with little food, and very little leadership. The kids took care of themselves and it was a really bad envirorment for them, being at the mercy of the strongest. Now the school is doing much better and our friend has had a hug impact in the lives of these students.

They asked Danny to lead worship because Danny and Dtaan are very talented. Danny and Dtaan are really focused on producing music written by Thais, much of it worship that is really needed and helpful to churches around Thailand, rather than just translating English songs.

Hill tribe students

2009-11-13T01:47:00.000-08:00

Hill tribe students

2009-11-13T01:46:00.000-08:00

Dinner and desert at the Bradsford's.

2009-11-13T01:42:00.000-08:00

It's a mini Cornetto! .....and phil loves it.

Wonderful brownies. My rule of thumb with non-Thai desert in Thailand is, "Beware, it always looks much better than it tastes." Because of this unfortunate truth, good brownies are welcomed with open arms, like the ones pictured above.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

2009-11-13T01:37:00.000-08:00

We visited a lot of Danny's friends up here in Chiang Mai. In these photos we are at the YWAM base here. We kinda hung out and found a really entertaining child named Christopher.

Just a swingin'

I think this has been done many times before...you can tell by the dog's eyes...haha!

Kids & Dogs?

2009-11-13T01:34:00.000-08:00

Kids & Dogs?

2009-11-13T01:32:00.000-08:00

I tried to protect the poor dog from this small childs abuse, but it was slightly inevitable; the dog is the only thing smaller than this little boy.

Some more photos from the night.

2009-11-13T01:24:00.000-08:00

Loy Krathong

2009-11-13T01:23:00.000-08:00

Loy Krathong is a full moon festival held in Thailand based on the lunar calendar. There is quite a bit of history to this event that actualizes into small decorated banana trunk boats with a candle being floated in the waterways. We did this in Laos as well but it was obviously on a different date. It is also appropriate to let off sky lanterns as pictured below. You light the paper that has been soaked in oil, let the lantern fill with hot air, and the let it go into the night sky.

We tried to send off 12 or so lanterns at the same time, but they fill at different rates and have to be released so they don't catch on fire!

You hear a lot about good luck at the festival, if your lantern flys far and your small banana boat floats a long ways then the next year will be full of good luck. ......If you lantern get's stuck in a treat then you must be on guard.

Loy Krathong

2009-11-13T01:15:00.000-08:00

Loy Krathong

2009-11-13T01:14:00.000-08:00

Dinner in Chiang Mai

2009-11-13T01:04:00.000-08:00

These are the Bradford's, a really awesome family that has put together a type of retreat home for missionaries. We stayed in this house, had a great time together, and had a really great time getting to know this family. These are pictures from dinner at a place that makes salsa and chips! It was the first salsa and chips we've had since being in Asia - they were tasty.

Danny and I.

The three of us, a little blurry but us none the less.

This is Dtaan and Gai. They live here at the same house that we are in and we all went to Chiang Mai together. It was really great spending the time on this trip getting to know them better.

First things first in the North of Thailand

2009-11-13T00:53:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Chiang Mai and the next day we headed to a suggested cafe - impresso. Chiang Mai is in the hilly area of norther Thailand. Lot's of coffee is grown in this region and the area has also become a sort of coffee capital of Thailand. There are lots of cafes in this area and this is one of the better ones, one that was reccomended to us by a coffee roaster in Bangkok. The picture below is the best latte art I have seen in Thailand so far. I really like the use of well finished cement in a cafe - like the sign below.

Wow. What is really happening in our country with banks and bailouts?

2009-10-28T09:10:00.001-07:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Penang, Malaysia

2009-10-26T07:22:00.001-07:00

Alright, I've posted all the photos from our recent trip to Malaysia.

Why did we go to Malaysia? Thailand gives us a free 30 day visa when we enter the country, after 30 days we must exit the country and enter again for another 30 days. The Thais allow you to do this 3 times in 90 days. Our first visa run was to Laos and now we are going to Penang, Malaysia for our second visa run.

On November 20th we fly to Taiwan, where we will stay to teach.

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Penang, and island off the west coast of Malaysia, has a very interesting history and cultural dynamic. The British once commanded the island, leaving their history in the remains of old buildings and Fort Cornwallis. This little island was very active in the production of many spices to trade throughout the world - back in pepper might be worth its weight in gold!

The island has thriving Chinese, Indian, Malay, and indigenous populations. Because this island is a cultural melting pot, it also has a great selection of food! We ate all kinds of great food including some really nice Indian food with piping fresh garlic naan bread.

The following pictures tell our story as we visit the old buildings of George Town, a living museum of plants known as the tropical spice garden, and a wonderfully grueling hike in a national forest.

I've also added some HDR photos that I put together.

Hope you enjoy the pictures - I would love to hear your thoughts and comments if you have a minute while browsing.

What Phil thought of Malaysia

2009-10-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Haha...just kidding, this is some totally random shot that I accidentally took while we were making a video - it's great though, right?

Also, make sure to check out Phil's blog, he has a lot of great photos and descriptions:

http://theseasiachapter.blogspot.com/

HDR Penang

2009-10-26T07:16:00.001-07:00

Here are some HDR photos I put together. I explained the process once before, but, basically I take three photos at different exposures and put them together, giving a High Dynamic Range of detail in the photo.

Cannon at Fort Cornwallis

National Park

HDR George Town

2009-10-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

Monkeys in the garden

2009-10-26T07:14:00.001-07:00

The end of our time in the Spice Garden led us to a little cafe overlooking the ocean. Here we got iced tea made from the spices grown here.

There were some monkeys that also enjoyed this cafe area. As we started to leave, this mean one below grabbed Phil's coffee cup and made off with it.

Monkeys in the garden 2

2009-10-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

This medium sized monkey was quite content and unaggressive. Maybe it's because he previously stole a massive ball of pizza dough, stuffed his belly, and felt only the need to nap.

Well, he didn't want to nap without dessert and what a fine treat sugar packets make after pizza dough. Mmmm.

"Oh, thank you Lord for your blessing, it's magical"

"Life is too short to not be thankful"

Monkeys in the garden 3

2009-10-26T07:13:00.000-07:00

This poor little guys was having some trouble....can you tell by his body language?

There it is, the pizza dough. He simply nibbled away slowly with much content.

Spice Garden

2009-10-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Tropical Spice Garden was really interesting to visit. Among the many spices growing from all around the world there was also countless other plants with description cards telling us about them.

Along with the fascinating history found in the spice trade, the smells encountered on this walk were full and soothing. Different areas had totally different smells, but every part of large garden was incredibly fresh and clean to take in. I personally loved coming near the ginger!

If you want to check it out online: http://www.tropicalspicegarden.com/

Another note, can you believe that the Dutch, so protective of their monopoly in the spice trade, would punish a person with death for growing spices anywhere but their designated island! It's crazy to see these principles at work today - 'If you threaten our wealth, we will take you down'.

I'm convinced economics is the true battle for freedom from oppression in our time. .....The plants told me.......shhhhh.

Spice Garden 2

2009-10-26T07:08:00.000-07:00

Cardamom

Spice Garden 3

2009-10-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

George Town

2009-10-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

George Town was our base of operations. A small area of the now larger town is designated a World Heritage Site - due to the remains of the British. It was fun to walk around, seeing the British architecture and Fort Cornwallis.

"Think this could take the Federal Reserve down?" thought Nolan.

George Town 2

2009-10-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

History fascinates me...so naturally Cannons do as well. This Fort never actually engaged an enemy, but what would it have been like to see opposition boats in the water, trying to hit them with cannons? It's hard to imagine.

Slivers of life.

2009-10-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

Internet Cafe

Mustache Malaysia

Not sure why it's 'Economy Rice'.

Video Blog 6 | Bangkok Slum

2009-10-21T20:30:00.000-07:00

About the author

2009-10-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

About the author: Sunset & a mustache

Everyone, run after the truck!!!

2009-10-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

I got some nice shots hanging off the back of the truck with my camera...

Post-work play

2009-10-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

Post-work play

2009-10-21T10:26:00.000-07:00

The kids love to be thrown and tossed about in a playful frenzy. Once you throw one child in the air the exhilaration infects them all and they battle for who gets to be tossed into the open sky.

Nolan's mustache working hard.

2009-10-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Working Hard 1

2009-10-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we were invited to help do some work in one of the local slums. We ended up replacing some tin roofing, cleaning up lots of trash, and rebuilding some support structures. It was a tiring, long day, but it felt so good to finish and to be spent.

The slums are built right on top of a wetland, right on top of water. Living in Stilted houses, everything goes into the water. In some places it's black like oil and in every place a pesky odor always finds its way into your nostrils. We scooped out bags full of trash and barely made a dent - it just keeps on coming.

Video footage to come....

Bangkok Floodwaters 3

2009-10-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

We had some incredible rain here in Bangkok resulting in epic flooding. Much of Bangkok has been built on wetlands or over waterways. The area that we are living is basically built on a wetland - you can imagine that the flooding was pretty bad. As I walked around to take photos I passed through water that went up to my knees. Some friends apparently found depths of water that nearly hit their waist!

Bangkok Floodwaters 2

2009-10-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Bangkok Floodwaters 1

2009-10-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

2009-10-17T23:27:00.000-07:00

Wat Phou, Laos 5

2009-10-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

If you've seen all the videos that we've posted so far, you have a little bit of an idea of what this Wat Phou is like. Wat or Vat means temple. This site is an ancient Khmer Hindu temple complex. The Khmer people are from what we know to be Cambodia today. Their empire stretched far, into present day central Thailand and obviously, into Laos where this site is located.

The center of the Angkor civilation was located in present day cambodia. I visited this site, called Angkor Wat Complex, when I was here previously. The Angkor temple complex is massive and very interesting. This site that we visited is a small taste of that civilization and time period.

Maybe it's a good lesson that all empires come to an end.

Also, I posted some HDR photos from this temple a with the earlier batch of images from Laos, make sure to check them out again.

Wat Phou, Laos 4

2009-10-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

These make me laugh a little. Notice the nice softening on the 4th photo, haha.

Wat Phou, Laos 3

2009-10-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Wat Phou, Laos 2

2009-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Wat Phou, Laos

2009-10-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

2009-10-15T07:50:00.001-07:00

2009-10-15T07:49:00.001-07:00

2009-10-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

Don't miss it.

2009-10-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

I posted a whole lot in one day - so the new posts go almost to the bottom of this page. Don't miss out in checking the posts towards the bottom, I wrote the most in terms of description with these photos.

Hope you are enjoying the photo's. Let me know what you think, or just say hi through a comment.

Jonathan William.

Cooking Tom Yum Soup

2009-10-11T22:21:00.001-07:00

HDR

2009-10-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. This effect is achieved by taking 3 differently exposed images of a scene, overexposed, underexposed, and right in the middle. By fusing these different exposures into one image you get a broader range of highlights, shadows, and mid tones in the entire image, instead of in one correctly exposed area. This is the reason that you can see such detail in the clouds, which are much brighter, at the same time that you have a well exposed landscape. I think HDR is really interesting and am just starting to learn the ins and outs of this tool.

More HDR

2009-10-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

HDR Photo's

2009-10-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

Temple Ruins

Headed across the Mekong River

2009-10-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

To get to a city called Champasak we had to cross the Mekong on one of these little boats. As you can see, the boat's edge is very close to the water, making you feel like you could fall in at any moment.

2009-10-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Rice Fields south of Pakse

2009-10-09T12:25:00.000-07:00

2009-10-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

Tat Fan Waterfall

2009-10-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

On the way to get my rash - notice the dangerous sign.

Tat Fan Waterfall

2009-10-09T12:04:00.000-07:00

On our way to a waterfall.

Nighttime 2

2009-10-09T12:02:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the intense storm to stop so we could go outside. light encased by some wicker ball. The street.

Night time

2009-10-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Phil trying a new drink - of course, dumped into a plastic bag with ice and a straw. Lighting candles and incense during the evening of a festival. Dark beer. Garlic nan - we ate Indian food a lot in Pakse, it was cheap and tasty.

Market 4

2009-10-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Limes. Sweet sticky rice in a bamboo casing topped with shredded coconut.