Weaving by the Sea

A man weaves coconut fronds into a container on the fort wall of Galle, Sri Lanka. He uses the sheath of the coconut flower, cut into long strips, as a binding twine to hold the weaving together.

Weaving by the sea - with a view of the seafront at Galle.

Using strips of the coconut spathe (flower stalk sheath) as twine to bind the basket.

Everlasting Flower Lady of Ooty

The everlasting flower lady of Ooty, India... reminds you of Eliza Doolittle. She looks like she could do with a break in her life; the frown plus the lines on her face that are deeply etched makes you wonder how is life treating her (read more about Ooty here - Ooty Queen of Hill Stations).

I Feel Pretty...

Feeling pretty in Psar Chaa, Siem Reap

Shot at 38mm, ƒ/6.3, 1/40s,  ISO 1000 with a Nikon D5300 and Tamron AF 18-270mm
F3.5-6.3 Di II VC PZD lens.

Light Me Up... Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2017

Light me up... inflation of hot air balloon at Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2017.

Divine prediction... Fire Watching at Penang Ban Ka Lan Snake Temple

Annually, on the 6th day of the Lunar New Year, the Penang Snake Temple host a fire watching ceremony as it is the patron deity Chor Soo Kong's birthday. The festivities start on the night of the 5th day of the Lunar New Year with various cultural performances and devotees will throng the temple to offer prayer to Chor Soo Kong on the eve of his birthday.

Getting them lit... Devotees throng to the Snake Temple to offer joss-sticks and candles on the
eve of Chor Soo Kong's birthday.

Deep in prayer...the never ending flow of devotees that come to pray to Chor Soo Kong on the
eve of his birthday.

As midnight approaches, an entourage will arrive with Taoist priest and a censer burner on a wooden carrier that will be placed in front of the deity on the main altar. After a short ceremony, joss sticks will be lit and passed to the committee members of the temple. These joss-sticks are then collected back after the members have offered their prayers and the tops snapped off and placed into the censer. The celebrant will then start the fanning until the embers burst into flames. The intensity, height and durability of this flame that is used as a prediction of Penang's quarterly economic state. This process will then be repeated two more times to obtain the prediction for the entire year.

When all three flames have been observed, the celebrant adds a sandalwood block and powder, and all present will rush forward to be blessed by the sandalwood smoke from the burner. When all inside have had their 'blessings', the censer and the carrier are taken out of the temple. There will then be other Chor Soo Kong temples who will also come with their censer in a carrier basket and perform the fire watching ceremony, which is usually used to predict their member's or organisation's luck in the coming year (as opposed to the entire state of Penang in the first one).

Flames that predict the economic well-being of Penang... the fire watching ceremony of
Penang Snake Temple.

Coming up - Thaipusam 2017

Coming up is Thaipusam, which falls on 9th Feb 2017 this year.

Vel! Vel! Veeravel! Vel! Vel! Vetrivel!

Son: Mommy, mommy can I eat this?? Mommy, mommy when are we going to see the world? Mommy, mommy...

Mother: Here son... have this (passes a Vel to her son) 
Son: Ooo, magic Vel (spear)!
Mother: Yes dear, now go play outside, don't make a mess in here... 
Son: Can I go play (beat up) with the (bad) kid next door, Soorapadman? Please, please?
Mother: Ughhh... just play nice, OK?
Son: Okay Mommy (YES! I am so gonna split him in half)