Burma vs Myanmar

While what the country should be referred to as is up for discussion, violence has begun there.

Apparently the government has shut down the internet and most phone communication coming out of the country within the last 24 hours. It is scary to think what they have in store that they do not want the rest of the world to see. Just tonight, one of the local news channels here in Hong Kong showed footage from yesterday of the miltary attacking protesters and bystanders. The video shows a man getting shot at point blank range as he fled the rushing troops. Apparently this man was a Japanese reporter, Kenji Nagai, a veteran reporter of many war zones and conflict areas. He's not alone. The latest reports speculate many casualties, including monks.

While the government attempts to block any news of what is happening inside the country, it is more diffilcult to do than in 1988, when 3,000 were killed with very little news of the violence reaching the outside world. The world has changed. The same technology that allows me to ramble on here also plays host to this blog belonging to Ko Htike, a gentleman from (Burma) currently in London (as reported on...drumroll...CNN.com). He is using his sources in the country to get photos, accounts and news to the outside world. If you take one minute to just look at this site to see what the Burmese government so badly wants to hide, then this guy is making a difference.

Unfortunatley, it looks like things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

***UPDATE: Found another web site that is posting some recent photos. I must warn that this link and the above contain some very graphic photos. Use your discretion.

City Viewing in Asia

Comparing Hong Kong and Singapore, I find that Singapore has remained truer to its roots architecturally than has Hong Kong. I think a lot more older building have been preserved here while Hong Kong has scrapped the old for new skyscrapers. The historic buildings are there in Hong Kong for sure, but they are fewer and further between.



Here are a few more from a couple nights walking the city.

Singapore Commerce

Currently in Singapore. My hotel overlooks the burgeoning port and endless container docks. I feel like I am watching Modern Marvels on the Discovery Channel.
From satellite image on Google:

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Monks on the March

The drama continues in Myanmar. I am fascinated by it all. The protests in pictures.

Myanmar: A New Day Coming?

The past few days, I've been following an intriguing set of events taking place in Myanmar. While CNN dot com is filled with Britney, OJ and other nonsense, the BBC has done a great job with coverage. Even better local coverage here.

In a nutshell: Recently, there have been some incidents where the ruling military dictatorship has incarcerated and held some local Buddhist monks. In addition, the monks are protesting a government policy that doubled gas prices overnight without warning (And we thought we had it rough in the US). While the government has been incarcerating and abusing its civilian citizens for years, it has always respected the monks in this extremely devout Buddhist nation. So in response, the Buddhist monks have gathered and marched peacefully the past six days. Each day, the numbers of protesting monks grows and fortunatley so far, there has been no violence.

Past tactics the government has used to combat civilian protests is to hire goon squads to intimidate and even violently break up any kind of protests inlcuding holding protesters indefinitely. The amazing thing that is happening now is that these are not civilian protests. The throngs of monks that have been forming these demonstrations have even, until recently, discouraged ordinary citizens from joining them to avoid the certain violence that would come with it.

Another development is the monks were allowed to march to the house of detained democracy activist and leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She even came out and showed her support for the monks.

Normally something like this is so far from my consciousness that the story remains a headline on a web site. However, this is different. When I was in Myanmar, I visited the Shwedagon Pagoda, which is the focal point for many of the protests. At the Pagoda, I met a monk and talked at length with him. He invited me to speak at the school where he was based. After that, we spent the afternoon together, him asking me about Western culture, discussing religion and life. When I caught my flight later that day, he gave me a blessing. I imagine he is joining in these protests and I wish for his safety along with a positive outcome for the people of Myanmar.

Asashoryu on the Skids

Sumo is in trouble. That is, according to the BBC.

During my three years in Japan, I got into Sumo a bit. There is not really a Sumo season, as the two week tournaments are held during the odd months of the year. Soon after I first arrived in Japan in 2002, a young Mongolian was just establishing himself as a Yokozuna, the highest ranking in the sport. For the next three years, I followed each Sumo Basho on tv when I could and even attended a match in Fukuoka.

It was the final day of the 2003 November Tournament and Joey and I road tripped for the afternoon and got two scalped tickets outside the taikan. We watched all the matches leading up to the final match which pitted the heavily favored Asashoryu against Tochiazuma. Both were 12-2 leading up the final match of the 15 day tournament, the winner taking the title. It was a fairly short match as Tochiazuma overpowered Asashoryu and pushed him out for the upset championship. Joey and I stood up in our cramped booth as we joined the crowd in showering the champion with the seat cushions we had been sitting on. It was an amazing thrill, perhaps the Japanese equivalent of being almost courtside at the NBA championship.

The thing about Sumo is that it is not very popular at all with the Japanese population under 50. There is so much tradition with the sport that it seems like the youth don't have time for it. Plus the mainstream international sports are becoming ever more popular. (One exception is some rural high schools in Kyushu. I had several friends who worked at schools where the Sumo program was healthy and churned out some fine young talent.)

And now the trouble with one of the all time greatest Sumo wrestlers, Asahsoryu, the aforementioned young Mongolian. As he has racked up Sumo titles the past five years, there have been several instances where he has broken certain rules or traditions and has upset the omnipotent Japan Sumo Assiciation. The final straw was when he recently participated in a charity soccer game back in Mongolia while he had withdrawn from a previous tournament due to injury. His punishment from the JSA was a two tournament ban. Unfortunately, unable to do what he loves, Asashoryu battled depression and was recommended by his doctors to return to Mongolia for recuperation.

So Sumo's best Yokozuna is now in Mongolia and scandal is rife in the Sumo world. What will happen next? Will another young Mongolian, Hakuho, step up and become the dominant figure in the sport? Will Asashoryu triumphantly return to regain his position on top? Will Japan ever warmly accept a foreigner as its dominant poster boy? Will Sumo survive or will it have to abandon its traditions and deep rooted history in order to remain competetive with other sports? It should be interesting to watch.

Hong Kong - Getting Around the City

With five weeks under my belt in Hong Kong, I have had a chance to get out on the weekends and check out some pretty nice areas. Weekdays are spent in Macao in the daily grind of work, and I have not had a day off since arrival. So Saturdays and Sundays are more valuable than ever and I try to make the most of them. Another change of lifestyle coming from STL is that my weekend nights are not spend out on the town, so I usually manage to rise at a reasonable hour. Here is how my weekends usually break down:

Saturday AM, get up and do any errands that need to get done: recharge my phone credit, laundry, get any necessities, toiletries, food, etc., pick out an interesting place on the map whether it is on HK Island or in the New Territories, go to that place, walk a lot, explore, wear myself out then get back early evening to cook some food and have a relaxing evening at home. Sunday AM, work on my timesheet, expense reports, various work odds and ends. Maybe have a nap, or call back to the US. The Wanchai Hash on Sunday starts at 4pm sharp, so I leave myself plenty of time to find buses, trains, ferries, or any method of transport that I need to get there.

The list of places I have explored already is a short one, but quite varied in what each place has to offer. The photos I have posted so far include some of these places, but I'd like to point out an amazingly valuable and underrated tool I use to get a feel for where I'm going: Google Maps.

As an exercise, if you are a person with ample free time, or one that has access to the internet at work and lots of time to (ab)use it, plug in any of these places in the above web site, click on Hybrid, then zoom to the smallest level of detail possible. Crazy, that technology is. These are places I have checked out so far, whether on my own or with a well-planned Hash run or with the hiking group TWATS (Trail Walkers Are Tired Soles) Hong Kong.

Aberdeen
Chai Wan/Big Wave Bay
Kennedy Town
Mui Wo/Chueng Sha/Lantau Island
Plover Cove Country Park
Pok Fu Lam
Sai King
Yuen Long

One week more in Macao, then off to Singapore.

Pro on Flickr

I just dropped a bit of cash to go Pro on flickr.com. Why? The main reason is that every photo you have ever uploaded there is saved, however if you are not pro, only 200 of your most recent photos are available. The minute you drop some cash, all of them come back. I now have 480 photos online. Just had the chance to revisit a few. A fellow hasher recently told me there is a cheap flight from Macao to Yangon, Myanmar. Considering I took this set in Myanmar, I am quite tempted to get back. What an amazing country. I was last there in Autumn, 2005.


I've also always enjoyed flickr's layout and way of browsing. Here is a page that lists all of my photo tags in quite an interesting way.

Macao: Portugal in Asia

Aerial Venetian

After work, I climbed a nearby hill and got a bird's eye view of the Venetian complex and nearby constuction sites. The road at left is the Cotai Strip, along which most of the casinos will be/are being built. Just to the left of the road is The City of Dreams construction site along with another Sands resort.

From Kowloon to Wanchai to Chaiwan to Big Wave Bay and Back

When I woke up Saturday, I saw that it was the nicest day I've seen in HK in the three weeks I've been here. Few clouds in the sky and more importantly, it was not smoggy or foggy at all. I had no trouble seeing across the bay to HK Island and all the way to the top of the peaks.

I decided to take advantage and do a bit of hiking along with a visit to a beach to cool down. I made the short walk from my apartment to the Hung Hom ferry terminal where I hopped on the Star Ferry to cross over to Wanchai.

Upon arriving in Wanchai, I get on the MTR train to Chaiwan. Wanchai station is rather interesting color-wise with lime green tiles on the walls and floors.

Once in Chaiwan, I have to make the 4km hike up and over Cape Collinson to get to the beach at Big Wave Bay. For about an hour, I am climbing stairs that look like this.

Quite taxing on a hot day. Nearing the top, there is actually a spring that emits drinkable water. How do I know it's drinkable? When I was here last week, an old guy was filling up huge tanks here and communicated that I was crazy to think I couldn't drink it. So I filled up my bottle and continued.

Near the top of the Cape, there is a pretty nice view looking back on Chaiwan. Just an amazingly clear day.

Going over the crest of the hill, all the high rises disappear and what's left is an almost unspoiled view of mountains, islands and the coast.

Right on the tip of the Cape, they have constructed Cape Collinson Correctional Institute. I can't think this is anything but a white collar retreat for some embezzling businessmen of Hong Kong. Very nice indeed.

Finally, I descend enough to get a view of where I am going, Big Wave Bay. Although I am slightly disappointed it is so crowded today, can't blame others for taking advantage of an awesome day. It's a great feeling to take off my sweat soaked shirt and hat and jump in the cool waters of the Pacific. After a short swim, it's another two hour hike over the mountains on a different trail back to Chaiwan, the train, the ferry then home.