Author: pinkbuddha.org
-
A Dog Walks into a 7-11: Chiang Mai
And luxuriates in the air-conditioned store. No, the title wasn’t a set-up to a joke. This lil’ fella was overheating one morning and trotted into 7-11 and splayed himself on the tile floor in an amazing hip opening pose (my youngest sister would call this “pancake butt” and I can’t refute her.) The best part
-
The Coldest Favor
Photo courtesy HUUM via Unsplash One Saturday, I decided to treat myself to a spa visit. I sought mind-body purification by plunging into cold pools, then sweating out toxins in the steaming sauna. I arrived early in the morning. Upon paying for day-use, the receptionist handed me towels and a locker key. After a couple
-
Bananas for Banana Trees: Chiang Mai
Look, it’s a banana tree! I love the rustic fence, the tree with red flowers, the sky stretching to infinity. I love how this is an uncomposed composition. Banana trees, lush leaves hanging over fences bursting through fence slats like eager dogs trying to make a get away with green bunches of bananas dangling down
-
Cartwheels Under a Munich Moon
Photo courtesy Brooke Balentine via Unsplash I learned to cartwheel in gymnastics class. I was five years old. Raise the arms overhead, right foot step forward, right hand down, hurl body into the air, stick the landing. Cartwheel! The joy of spinning like a wheel across the gym juiced every cell of my body like
-
Photo Essay: Chiang Mai
All photos courtesy Ayoung Kim 7:00AM I took some photos on local streets. Morning rush with people buying breakfast and/or lunch packed to-go which they’ll eat at home or at work. The streets are lined with vendors offering different items: fried Chinese donuts, Thai curries, vegetables, rice + meat combinations. The young man above waits
-
The Product Launch
Photo courtesy: Ayoung Kim New Products That Promise to Do Harm, With Dr. Hippo Cratez Thank you for attending our product launch press conference. Our spokesperson will answer a couple of your questions. (A bald man with a white beard, bearing the nametag “Dr. Hippo Cratez” sits at the table in front of a microphone.)
-
Chiang Mai: Local Scenes
I love this composition. All photos by Ayoung Kim Local scenes, spontaneous snapshots Photo essay that shows a local neighborhood, their activities, Buddhist and spiritual traditions, Thai aesthetics, and of course, some “only in Thailand” shots. 6am: Monks on “pindabhat” or going on alms rounds. They will receive food donations into their bowls. In the
-
Chiang Mai: Natural Beauty
Chiang Mai photo essay I love the photo of the sky right after it opened up and unleashed a furious storm. Moody and gorgeous. It’s been awhile since I shared some favorite photos, so here we go. Yellow Below: photo of the outside of a motorbike repair shop’s yellow wall with green shrubs facing a
-
Cookie Manager: Flash
Photo courtesy Shakti Rajpurohit via Unsplash The day after New Year’s, I entered a neighborhood pharmacy. I lived in a Thai neighborhood far from the tourist sector, so the chances that the staff spoke English were low-to-zero. Therefore, I had preprogrammed my translator app. Although I studied Thai, I wasn’t polished enough to explain my
-
Eat Like the Locals
Photo courtesy Crystal Jo via Unsplash Mari, my mother’s younger rich sister, wanted to get rid of us. My mother had been calling her nonstop, treating her as her personal assistant, her GPS, her tech support. Mari’s solution was to buy us an all expenses paid tour of the southern area of South Korea. The