Memories to Share (< ;)

Anna's Story

2008-03-26T17:11:00.001+08:00

Hello everyone!

I've put up some gory picture today. If you don't like looking at them, close your eyes when you read the entry. ;p

Anna injured herself in the Maratika cave when she fell into the first hole that all of us climbed through. The wound looked really bad & we had to get strong guys to piggyback her up the flight of stairs leading to the cave. At first, she didn't want to leave the cave as she was resting on the lap of the Yogi staying in the cave. He looked very concerned had a pained expression as he prayed for Anna and blew at her wounded calf.

However, under Hong 姐's urging, she was brought up. There was a little disagreement between Hong 姐 and Ee ping & Luis (aka Om Ah Hum) to apply Yun Nan Bai Yao to stop her bleeding. However, what happened was, Yun Nan Bai Yao powder was applied and Anna was carried to the canteen where we had all our meals during our stay there.

As we were told, a western doctor was in the village the evening before the incident. Lucky Anna! Therefore, the doctor operated on her immediately, performing a surgery to stitch her ghastly wound. A huge chunk of her calf was scrapped up, tearing her skin & flesh. It took the doctor twenty over stitches to put the flab of flesh back into original position. Everyone was slightly relieved when the surgery was performed. Anna was jabbed with anti-biotics and I've no idea what on her buttock after the surgery.

Throughout the entire process, Anna did not drop a single tear or show obvious sign of panic. She was calm and could even joke with me that she missed her Mee Siam in S'pore when asked what she would like to eat. Her sense of humor was not lost despite the incident. Ee Ping and my mother was so horrified and affected by the sight that they had watery eyes in no time. I was surprisingly calm like Anna although worried.

On the day we were leaving Maratika for Kathmandu (10th March), all the Annis (Nuns) living there woke up early in the morning about 4-5am to pray for Anna. It was truly touching. Even before the departure, they expressed genuine concern for Anna by asking about her.

The first 3 days Anna reached Kathmandu, she resided in the Khumbu Hotel beside Bouddhanath where the Buddha eyes watches over. Every night, Galyzen (I've no idea how to spell his name) aka Lama Karma's eldest brother fetches a doctor to check her wound and to redo her bandages. On the 2nd day however, the doctor was away for a Wedding party, his wife was invited to do his job. I guessed she didn't do a good job because the next day, Anna's wound was oozing Pinkish, flesh-coloured puss the entire afternoon. That night, during the doctor visit, her wound was found to be in bad condition, showing signs of rotting and was advised to be warded for nursing care.

The next day, Anna no longer stayed at Khumbu Hotel. But was moved to a private hospital where the Doctors immediately operated on her. The first 2 photos below are taken by the doctor.

Anna stayed in the private hospital all the way till the end of her trip. During her stay, Hong 姐 displayed admirable compassion and loving kindness by taking good care of Anna & staying with her in the hospital.

After Anna's back in Singapore, she underwent another surgery where a think layer of skin was grafted from her upper thigh to aid the recovery of her injured calf. I took a photo of her when I visited yesterday. She doesn't need to bandage her wound anymore and could walk without crutches/wheelchair.

According to sources, what happened just before the incident, Anna gave a photo of her husband to the Yogi for prayers. She injured herself right after that. Luis and Hong 姐 was the only two in our group at the cave with her during the incident. Anna's husband himself said he dreamt that he was about to break his leg in an accident.

Anna's recovery is indeed joyous news for all. However, let's not forget the people who helped Anna on her route to recovery. On behalf of the Maratika Committee, I thank the Yogi who prayed for Anna endlessly, Lama Karma who also did the same, the Annis (abt 30 over of them), Hong 姐 who took care of Anna all the way, the Lamas who held the torch during the operation on the dining table- Jungbu Lama & Sonam Lama, Lama Karma's brother - who carried Anna from places to places, up the plane, down the plane, up the car and so on and so forth and also spent much effort in purchasing Crutches for Anna, and lastly, all that prayed for her recovery and the nurses and doctors.

I hope I did not leave out anybody. If I did, please forgive me as it was unintentional.

Anna after the surgery to remove the infected flesh

Anna before the surgery in Kathmandu

Anna cheerfully showing you her speedy recovery

During this visit, Anna's skin looked healthy
and better than before! She looked more
youthful with her healthier-looking skin! (",)

So here comes the end to Anna's short story. I hope everyone liked the ending. Adios Folks! Till we meet again!

Postcards from Nepal

2008-03-23T16:31:00.000+08:00

Guru Rinpoche

Manjushri

Tilae & Lama Karma

2008-03-19T21:55:00.006+08:00

Hello Everyone!

Here's some fascinating photos of Lama Karma found with Tilaes. To have a better look at the pictures, feel free to click on them for an enlarged photo. Enjoy!

Tilae on the tip of Lama Kama's index finger

Tilae on the tip of Lama Karma's ear
(Oops Sorry, not a Tilae, but torchlight)

Tilae on Lama Karma's heart

Hearsay, Tilaes are sometimes spotted with Ah symbols within them. It is also believed that Tilaes are only found in places that are very holy. In these photos, it seems as if they were attracted to Lama Karma (:

Garden Restaurant

2008-03-19T09:03:00.004+08:00

Hello People!

There's a restaurant near Bouddhanath that serves pretty good food @ very reasonable prices. I like the Chicken burger w Cheese that comes served with French Fries & Coleslaw. The burger looks like something you would get in Cafe Cartel in Singapore for a whooping 10 Bucks. But in the Garden Restaurant, it cost about 85 Nepalese Rupees. With the conversion rate about 45 NRs = 1 SGD, this is just about 2 dollars in Singapore. It's almost impossible to get something like that for two dollars in Singapore.

They do up really nice Chicken fried rice & the last time I was there, my mum ordered Chicken Sizzler (about 130NRs I think). The Sizzler comes with Chicken chop with gravy, vegetables & some fries. There's Buff Sizzler for those who prefer beef.

The following are some pictures taken in the Garden Restaurant. Enjoy! (:

Posing in front of framed photos
of Bouddhanath in Garden Restaurant

My Mum (",)

Pretty hanging plants. They hang like a
bunches of grapes with their succulent leaves

Enthusiastic 1st timers @ Garden Restaurant

Loving Couple

Soaking up the Sun's energy

Colourful flowers (:

What's Irene looking at?

Serious Looking Dad

Rudraksha Seeds

2008-03-18T19:08:00.001+08:00

Hello again!

According to online resources, I found out that Rudraksha literally means 'tears of Lord Shiva'. If you do a short research online, you'll find that Rudraksha seeds are believed to have many health benefits & mystical properties. My father himself told me these seed contains very good energy.

We spent a few afternoons scrubbing the fruit pulp off these seeds that we got from the Rudraksha tree growing near Maratika Chimey Takten Choling Monastery. As the tree trunk was still stick thin, it was almost impossible for an adult to climb up the tree for any seeds. So we got a few kids to climb up the tree. 3 kids climbed the tree to pluck the fruits for us. According to Lama Karma, he has intentions to plant a few more Rudraksha trees in Maratika during the warmer seasons this year. Hurray!

Maratika's 6 Mukhis Rudraksha seeds

A hole is drilled/poked through the center of the seeds to allow them to be strung together to form a rosary. Usually 108 beads are strung to form a standard rosary. Rudraksha seeds rosary sold outside are usually dyed orange unlike the natural colour of the seeds above.

10 Mukhis Rudraksha Seed (Photo from Internet)

14 Mukhis Rudraksha Seed (Photo from Internet)

Fyi, Alfred's an expert on Rudraksha seeds. You might want to consult him to find out how to spot a good seed from a not-so-good seed. If you want good ones, I think he has the lobang too. (",)

Bouddhanath

2008-03-18T17:04:00.004+08:00

Hello hello!

We went to Bouddhanath on the first day we reach Kathmandu. It's a huge stupa that took about 10 minutes for you to kora around it. If you intend to turn the prayer wheels, it might take about 20mins I think. Every morning around 5am, you would see lots of Buddhist, mostly holding prayer beads in their right hands, doing the kora around the stupa. Throughout the entire day, there's endless flow of people doing kora. However, at around 8-9pm, the streets get quiet as all the shops close and the human stream ceases to a trickle.

During our stay in Nepal, we witness people marching & protesting on the streets along Bouddhanath in the day shouting slogans. One morning as we stepped out of our hotel beside Bouddhanath to do kora, we saw a man being beaten up by a group in broad daylight. On the night before we left Nepal, the streets were too chaotic to go out for dinner. Inside the safety of the hotel, you hear loud voices of men & women shouting in Tibetan. We tried going out initially, but changed out plans to have dinner in the hotel after everybody started running on the streets. I've no idea what's happening out there but to follow our crowd & rush back to the hotel.

Click the hyperlink to read what Wiki says about the term 'Kora'.

Picture of Bouddhanath from internet

Dad & Mum

Robin posing before Bouddhanath

On the streets

Kids out to play! (led by a tour guide) ;p

Mini- group shot!
The new kids on the street include, Alfred,
Siew Fong, Dr Yan, Irene, Hong 姐, Ee Ping

Dad & Mum

Irene & I waiting outside a shop with doors beautifully
decorated with carvings of Buddha's life story

My Beautiful & ever youthful Mum

Ee ping & Irene posing for a colourful shot

Me & Ee Ping

Hong 姐 with Bouddhanath behind
(this view is taken from the Rooftop Restaurant)

Talking about restaurants. In Nepal, most of the restaurants take about 1 hour or more to serve your food. So if you're a little hungry, you should head to a restaurant unless you want to be angry & hungry. However, there are high end Nepalese restaurants that do serve food in about 10-15minutes.

Dr Yan & Irene with Buddha eyes behind

Mr Vice-Chairman of Maratika Comm (:

Nepali set ( Order this if you're super hungry..
You'll be served earlier I believe)

Stalls by the stupa selling butter lamps

Notice the Tilae between Kwan Ho & Irene's
head? There's another near Dr Yan's forehead

Kwan Ho, Irene & Dr Yan lighting butter lamps

View of butter lamp stall at nightfall

Usually people make a wish after they light a butter lamp. Sometimes people light a butter lamp for each of their family members and make a wish for each of them.

Lama Karma's wife, Doma whom we met on the streets

Our Tara, Doma, Lama Karma & Om Ah HUM

Our group first met Lama Karma & Doma when they visited Singapore last year. It was that visit where I first learned about Maratika & the Maratika Lama & their plans to build a new monastery there.

Bad Internet Connection

2008-03-18T16:32:00.001+08:00

Hello!

Due to cranky internet connection that I have at home where I DC almost every minute. I just lost a completed Blog post of the souvenirs I got from Nepal. It took me about 2hours plus to upload around 8 photos. I guess this means I'll have to redo everything again. Haha!

Kathmandu Airport

2008-03-18T12:31:00.005+08:00

Hello!

The whole group of us arrived in Kathmandu on the 16th of Feb 2008. Here's some shots taken on the plane & upon landing at the airport where we received a warm & flowery welcome from Lama Karma. As you can see from the photos, everyone's really hyper!

Here's some of us on the plane... Some are either sleeping or not caught on camera.

From Left, Mom & Hong 姐

Irene & Husband aka Dr Yan

Robin & Kwan Ho

Ah Moi & Om Ah Hum

Ee Ping & Anna

View of Kathmandu from air

Lama Karma welcomes Cheryl

Lama Karma welcomes Joyce

Alfred joins our group at the airport

Group photos!
From Left, Cheryl, Janice, Agnes, Ah Moi, Siew Fong,
Lama Karma, Louise, Joyce, Robin, Jinghui,
Hong 姐, Dr Yan, Irene, Kwan Ho, Anna, Ee Ping

Members of the Maratika Project
From Left, Siew Fong, Jinghui, Robin, Om Ah Hum, Hong 姐,
Dr Jasen, Kwan Ho, Lama Karma, Dr Yan, Irene, Ee Ping, Anna

Mum & Aunty Hong
They look like sisters here (:

My Aunt & I

Robin & Lama Karma

Lama Karma & Irene

What's Hong 姐 doing?? :p

Waiting for our luggages to be secured on top of vans

An enthusiastic Kwan Ho
giving the camera a Peace gesture

Smiley people in the vehicle (^_^)

That's all for photos taken upon arrival at Kathmandu! More photos of the Nepal trip would be posted. So keep a lookout!

*P.S: My dad accidentally deleted thousands of photos & files on the Nepal trip yesterday. Therefore, my brothers are desperately trying to recoup the losses. Photos taken in the airport before departure from Nepal's missing at the moment, including photos taken in the last few days.

Hey HEY!

2008-03-17T17:25:00.001+08:00

Hello hello!

It feels Grrrrreat to be Home! Being overseas for months does make one appreciate the comforts of home better.

My trip to Nepal's Kathmandu & Maratika aka Halesi or Haleshe has been memorable. Bits and pieces of memories has been captured by lens & shall be posted up in this blog in no time! I think it'll take ages to upload all photos online but my eagerness to share what I saw there would ensure you a share of our experience. I said 'our' because 17 of us went for this trip. And 'us' includes the following characters : Dad, Mom, Aunty Hong, Irene, Irene's husband aka Dr Yan, Kwan Ho, Robin, Ee Ping, Ah Moi (the Nun), Alfred, Ah Gim aka Om Ah Hum aka Louise, Janice, Agnes, Cheryl, Anna, another of Aflred's friend whom I forgot the name & lastly, me!

We had another 2 more ladies from China who joined us while we were at Maratika namely, Li Yi & Ah En. (:

For those curious to learn more about Maratika & its significance, kindly visit www.maratika.org or simply Google the name to learn more.