Our second day in Angkor took us far from the madding crowd, to the Rolous group of temples, half an hour to the east of Angkor proper. Lolei is a very small site, only one small temple remains, to the right. A buddhist monastery has been added; monks were chanting prayers during all our visit.…
A Time Patrol Movie My mother’s movies of Cambodia show a country covered with rice-paddieswhich makes sense: rice is the staple of Asia. Cambodia also has very peculiar palm trees I’ve never seen anywhere else. Ox carts were a common sight in 1957. I remember a similar image in one of the Ceylon movies. Cambodia…
Picture ma’am? Bogotá, Colombia. Best chicken Tikka Masala in town. Mexico city. My brother’s car. Paris. France. Not Texas. One for the road. Beers of the world series. High Noon. “If you forsake me oh my darling”… (Don’t ask me why I thought of that. Haven’t got a clue) Azraela was the fallen Angela. Mexico…
La maison du Roi. The King’s house, Grand-place, Brussels. Brussels is a favourite city of mine. I first went in the 80’s, when I was doing many international research projects for multinationals with head office in Brussels. (I know, multinationals. No names, I worked for most of the bad guys…) I got to like the…
The name Singapore comes from ‘Singapura’, the city of lions, Sing or Singa meaning lion. The Straits Chinese were very strong on trade all across Asia. Anything worth selling could be sold. Look at the stars! A nice café in Chinatown. Social Creatives. Sounds good. Renovated warehouses on Clarke Quay. The Singapore river is past…
“Blue, blue, my door is blue.” Paris. “I see a red door I want it painted black.” Jagger/Richards. Québec, La belle province. Garra de león, lion’s claw, (Philodendron), Mexico city. Buenos Aires, Argentina. They say Borges would come for a coffee here a long time ago. Hippies, go to the side door. Mexico city. Musing.…
A Time Patrol movie Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 1957. My father had been appointed general manager of Royal Air Cambodge, the new Cambodian national airline. As it happened, my Lord Buddha was celebrating his 2500th anniversary… A great parade was organised by Prince Norodom Siahnouk. Starting with the entire Royal Cambodian Air Force and its three…
Banteay Samre Temple, Angkor, Cambodia Banteay Samre is a bit out of the way. Which is fine. It was the second temple we saw on the first day. Built around the 12th century, it was dedicated to Vishnu. The lintel above represents a war scene (or so I’m told). See the character drawing a bow…
At the Montmartre museum. Suzanne Valadon holding a painting she’d just finished. Valadon (1865-1938) started as a model, then became a well-known painter. Maurice Utrillo, seated, was her son. The setting was Valadon’s workshop and flat in what is now the Musée Montmartre. Valadon’s workshop today. The exact same stove. Same chair Utrillo used in…
Equinoxio 