Archive for February, 2009

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Grand day at the Palace

February 26, 2009 at 5:15 am in On The Street | Please subscribe!

Sawatdee Khrap! At last I’m up early, out onto the dusty pavement, a quick stop for half a chopped pineapple and on route to the much anticipated Royal Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo (Temple of the Emerald Buddha).

One could idle a day away staring in wonderment at the architecture, statues, and grounds but what captured my eye were the amazing murals depicting the story of the Ramakien. The Sanskrit version or Ramayana consists of seven books overflowing with some 24,000 couplets so I wont go into detail here!

Basically it’s a love and war epic of unparalleled popularity throughout the Indian subcontinent, South East Asia and to a lesser extent, the rest of the world. The murals are just mesmerizing and date back to 1831.

Here are few pics from the day, the rest are etched in my memory!

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short days, long sleepless nights

February 22, 2009 at 5:59 pm in Everyday | Please subscribe!

A bout of insomnia lingers. I’ve done my best to kick it but each night my soul takes my restless conscious for a ride. It’s hungry for experience as much as I and if I don’t feed it enough during the day I’ll pay for it after midnight.

I lie in the heat, drawing as much comfort from the spinning fan, eyes wide, alert. Sleep seems as far away as the 12th month so I roll over, scratch some pencil notes in the diary, try to clear the mind through meditation then lie back in Savasana… and wait.

Momentary flashes of sleep torment me, my guardian angels consort with demons and packs of street dogs run beneath the house. In the early hours I wrestle back what’s left before unfamiliar birds clear their throat and bark, not a note amongst the colour and the sunlight slowly climbs over the window sill and creeps up the end of my bed.

Is it the endless days of yoga, new landscapes feeding an acitve imagination or just too many chilies in the wok?!

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elephant

February 18, 2009 at 3:42 pm in On The Street, Video | Please subscribe!

What a magic sight it is seeing an elephant in the street, especially a baby one!

I’d just ordered a meal off my favourite Ari street vendor and was about to secure my table (not that easy at this outdoor venue I can assure you) and then I saw her right across the street! I couldn’t get my video camera out fast enough, waved “I’ll be back” in my best Oz-Thai sign language at the confused waitress and left my table up for grabs.

I try to record the experience and I’m not sure whether to look at the camera screen or the little elephant with the… chain around its neck?!


Elephant from Matt Jermyn on Vimeo.

To resist the temptation to run up, hand over your 20 Baht (AUD $1) for a bag of cucumber and feed the little fella is tremendous. We’d do anything to get close, to touch, to feed them, to peer into their eyes and catch a glimpse of ‘the life of an elephant’ savor the moment and gush about it to friends and family back home.

I know it’s not a simple a problem but there’s money to be made from these little guys and every dollar we hand over will keep the trade going.  I’ve been guilty for it in the past, but I wont be so ignorant the next time.

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Peaceful day on the Chao Phraya

February 15, 2009 at 7:24 am in On The Street | Please subscribe!

After 2 weeks of cityscape I felt the need for open space. A frolic in Suan Lumphini park brought a gentle smile but I what I longed for probably had something to do with my diet. Fish - more species and tastes I could possibly name and all swimming happily around in my belly… fresh, salted, curried and spoonful after spoonful of fish sauce swimming with chili on every dish imaginable!

I needed to see water, any water and the closest was the river Chao Phraya, winding its way through the centre of Bangkok. A ferry ride north from Saphan Taksin was a joy and I could have been relaxing to the gentle rock of a hammock in the backyard at home!

To start the day on the Bikram mat was great, to finish it with new friends, river side at Banglamphoo was even better.

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“One on One” with Pranayama

February 12, 2009 at 6:33 pm in Endlessbender Video Channel, One on One, Video, Yoga Practice | Please subscribe!

Sorry but Bikram has asked for the “One on One” series to be taken offline. This is because by the end of the 12 months I will have covered all postures in the series and some people may try and link these together to perform a class rather than just appreciate them for what they are. I will hopefully be meeting Bikram in Mumbai in March and ask him if I can show the videos on my site. Until then please check out my other videos and the many more to come…

 

“Pranayama” launches the new “One on One” video series on my Endless Bender video channel!

Each month I’ll be taking an in depth look at a couple of postures from Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class. The best way to accomplish this will be through a series of “One on One” videos with a Bikram teacher guiding me into the pose, with a little technique correction and some posture pointers thrown in.

Here is the first titled “Pranayama” with Renae Marsh, shot at Bikram Yoga Caloundra, Sunshine Coast Australia.

EMBEDDED VIDEO CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE.

Pranayama.. take a deep breath from Matt Jermyn on Vimeo.

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Posted in Endlessbender Video Channel, One on One, Video, Yoga Practice | 2 Comments »

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