New Blood‏

Today, June 28, 400ml of my blood went to Beijing Blood Bank, witnessed by Grace, Kristine and Kimberley. As such, 400ml of new blood needs to be replenished henceforth.

This is my third attempt at blood donation. 1st was during the Bush Fire in Melbourne, January, 2009. The Australian Red Cross website asked donors not to visit the blood donation centres as they were inundated with donors. That crisis separated the priviledged donors from the willing donors. My second attempt was late April in beijing, but I was discouraged by the nurse for abnormally high blood pressure.

This is 3rd time lucky. Blood pressure was normal at 120/80. I didnt feel nervous. On to a bloodmobile in Wangfujing, comfortably airconditioned. A nurse gave us a tetrapack of fruit drink each. Kristine and Kimberley began to warm up to the treatment, climbing in and out of the converted coachbus each holding a pack of drink.

After passing a quick blood sample test, a bigger serious-looking needle was inserted into a vein on my right elbow. I chose to donate 400ml instead of 200ml. It went ok, until the last bit, when I started to feel dizzy and sleepy. Then a profusion of cold sweat. Needless to say, Grace, holding the camera, was laughing away. 5 minutes later, it was done and another 5 minutes later, we were off to Mackie nearby for lunch. The nurses advised plenty of fluids, preferably soups. I had 1 large Coke, , a Big Mac, a large Fries, shared half a coffee with Grace and then shared half of Kristine's small Coke as well. Soups can wait!

With that, I am now junior member in a different league in China. Interestingly, with that, my immediate family members are qualified to 400ml of emergency blood transfusion anywhere in China for free. Use of blood is not free in hospitals here. Next appointment is 6 months away.

Michael Jackson‏

Friday was a sad day for me and Kristine.

Michael Jackson died that day. My pop idol is gone, but his songs will live on.

Memory of Kylie sitting on my shoulders watchig MJ perform in Singapore National Stadium is still vivid in my mind. It was 1993 when Kylie was just 7. Our seats were close to the stage, with maybe 20 rows separating us from the stage. We thought the seats were for, errrrr, sitting. When the show started, everyone in fornt of us got wild and stood up, ON THEIR SEATS!!!!!! No way Kylie could see MJ perform, so the only choice was for her to sit on my shoulders, through the whole show. She ended up with the best seat in the stadium!

Kristine's young heart was broken that day too, by a boy who shares the same school, in the same grade and lives within the same apartment complex. School holidays have started. Kristine called him in the morning to arrange a playtime. It was to be 1pm at his home. Throughout the whole shopping time at Tesco that morning, Kristine was excitedly rushing me to finish shopping so she could be punctual for her 1pm playtime. To save time, our lunch was pastries from Tesco, eaten on the bus ride home. Upon reaching home, I suggested to Kristine to call this boy to make sure he was indeed home. To Kristine's total disappointment, the boy gave her all sorts of excuses not to meet her, including "I am on my way to Hawaii'!!!!

The first time Kristine cried (quietly) into her pillow. A few fatherly words later, Kristine was happy again, taking a video of her toys, her room, her craftwork, with her own narrative.

As Uncle Frank said when Kristine fractured her elbow, "A girl does not grow up without a few broken bones and broken heart".

Jokhang Temple (大昭寺)

The holiest of all temples in Lhasa, with an ancient Buddha statue of Sakyamuni, housed in a small chapel inside the temple. A queue into that chapel takes 2 hours. Our tour guide tried to persuade the curator monk to let us through into the chapel without queueing, without any success. Justice previals and all creatures under the eyes of Buddha Sakyamuni are equal. Built during the Tang Dynasty some 1350 years ago to honour Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng marrying to a Tibetan King. While both Potala and Jokhang are now under World Heritage protection, Jokhang is more revered by the adage "A visit to Lhasa is not complete without a visit to Jokhang Temple".Pilgrims walked round and round, and round, and round the exterior perimeter of Jokhang Temple, some on all fours on ground every three steps. I recognise a young man who did just that on Thursday when we visited the temple. He was there again on Sunday when we returned to buy some souvenirs.

Sera Monastery (色拉寺)

A smaller monastery in Lhasa but we saw 400 monks praying in unison in monastery main hall celebrating a religious event. We saw three Tibetans offering cash of Y20, Y5 and Y5 to each monks in the hall, that is Y8000, Y2000 and Y2000 of cash. A young monk nearest me, and several other young monks, left to fetch Yak milk tea to offer to all chanting monks. Upon returning to his seat, he gave his cash to a monk next to him. I dont know the significance of his hesture, but it was interesting to watch. At the 'right' time, Tibetans will offer all their valuables to temples and start again. We stayed in the prayer hall with the monks for almost 2 hours. Many multinational tourists were mesmerised too.

Zhaibung Lamasery (哲蚌寺)

By far the largest monsatery in Lhasa with 800 resident monks (down from 8000 in its heyday).Photo shows a group of young monks participating in Buddhism quizzes by two elders. Jane and Grace are sitting on steps in background. The monasteries have electricity these days but they still rely on firewood for cooking. Water comes from bored holes. Toilets remain primitive, but the devotees remain totally devout.

Tashilhungpo Monastery 扎什伦布寺‏

This monastery, near the city of Shigatse, second largest city in Tibet, traditionally houses the residence of Banchen Lamas. The current Banchen Lama's residence is 1km away from the monastery. Bachen Lama is the equal of Dalai Lama for territories north and west of Lhasa, Qinghai province and Inner Mongolia province. Dalai Lama's influence covers territories east of Lhasa, Lhasa, and Sichuan, Yunnan provinces.

While the Potala Palace enshrines the tombs of late Dalai Lamas, Tashilhunpo Lamasery enshrines the tombs of late Banchen Lamas. The last Banchen Lama tomb took 3 years to built in 1993. Just the contribution from govt amounted to Y64million, 614kg of gold and 275kg of silver. One can easily expect contribution from the Tibetan public to be enormous too. While Potala is now a museum, with its traditional role of enshrining tombs of late Dalai Lamas in question, Tashilhunpo is functioning as a full fledge monastery, with resident monks and visiting pilgrims.

Photo#3 shows Tibetan workers flattening a new monastery floor surface. They worked in 2 groups. Each worker uses a hand-held round wooden discus and their feet to stamp the floor surfaces. Each group takes turn to work and rest, all the time stamping to the same rhythm as the songs they sing. A local Tibetan bystander told me,"That way, they dont feel tired". It was an entertainment for our eyes and ears.

Potala Palace II

Potala Palace - Lhasa‏

Potala Palace (布达拉宫)

Home to all Dalai Lamas since time immemorial. The most renown religious structure in Tibet, but disappointing to visit inside. It doesnt have the religious feel of the other 7 monasteries we entered in Tibet. No monks, no incense, no prayers inside, just plain-clothed curators with watchful eyes. It now sits as a museum. Just partially opened to tourists.

When I last visited Potala Palace with Kylie back in mid 1990's, we were driven to a gate midway up the hill slope. That route is now closed to public, reserved only for VIPs. Now the hundreds of steps from street level are real test of determination. A limit of 2500 visitors per day is imposed: 2000 from pre-arranged guided tour groups, and 500 quota for individuals who need to queue up at booking booth the day before to get 'permission'. Actual tickets (Y100 each) are to be paid for on day of visit, at the main entrance on street level. One could assign a travel agent to buy the tickets at Y200 each. All local tibetans could visit the palace at Y2 each. I forgot to ask if there was a daily quota for them. Probably not.

Potala Palace enshrines all but two late Dalai Lamas. A key question is where the current Dalai will rest after he passes away。The govt did contribute Y64million towards the enshrinement of the last Banchen Lama(Panchan Lama, equiv of Dalai for territories west of Lhasa, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia privices) inside the Tashilhunpo Lamasery (the equal of Potala) near Shigatse.

A photo shows the highest toilet in the world inside Potala Palace at about 3600m above sea level. Nothing fancy, just manholes suspended in midair. Whatever drops though those holes will take a few seconds to reach ground. Several tourists asked our tour guide where the 'highest' toilet was inside the palace. Out of curiosity, I decided to venture inside, took a photo and dashed out. The palace does look spectacular at night, lights on at 915pm.

Where It All Began II

Where It All Began

The farmland below and the Temple high above are believed to be where the Tibetan tribes began. Folklore tells of a Monkey God who subdued an evil woman and with blessing from God, they lived together and reproduced 500 decendants who later became Tibetan tribes dispersing through the vast expense of the highlands searching for new pastures and food.

This temple (雍布拉康) was originally built as a palace, the first in Tibet, which later was extended to become a temple, surrounded by the first cultivated fields in Tibet. The first Tibetan barley is believed to have started from these fields. Grace Jane and I took horses up the hill to the temple. Haitao, XiaoLu and our tourguide walked and reached the top earlier! We put up two strings of Tibetan Buddhist banners onto a tall post by the temple. We took the steps down, passing many local Tibetans on their ways up to pray at the temple, obviously a holy site to many. A photo shows a solar reflector heating a kettle. Widely used throughout Tibet.

Snow Capped

We came very close to Mt Everest, traditionally and widely known this side of Himalayas as Mt Qomolangma. We were at 5300m asl some 300km away(very close by Tibetan measures) from Mt Qomolangma, at similar altitude as the base camp of climbers challenging Mt Qomolangma. The hotel we stayed in Xigaze had English speaking Nepalese staff and many western tourists heading that direction. I had a long chat with the hotel manager, born of Nepalese father and Chinese mother, who complained about his inability to get his chinese passport after 10 long years. I stirred him on the lack of internet access from the privacy of guest rooms (internet available from hotel Biz Ctr), he begged for forgiveness as he joined the hotel just 3 mths ago. He spoke Hindi, Nepalese, Chinese and English, wishing to be a tour guide to Indian tourists who frequent West Tibet.

The higher altitude knocked me out cold after taking a few photos with Grace by the snow mountain. 100m walk away from our Landcruiser, a few photos and then back to the vehicle left me breathless. I slept inside the car all through the afternoon. At each tourist stop, my brain wanted me to get off the car but my body said no. Would probably have fallen into a coma had I rushed for Mt Qomolangma......

Animals of Tibet II

Tibetan Chicken

Shown in previous blog entry (http://kristine-kimberley.blogspot.com/)

Dogs and cats

I saw a lot more non-Mastiff dogs than cats.

Animals of Tibet

Yaks

Wealth used to be measured by number of yaks one owns. I must qualify here 'wealth' is a different concept here as many Tibetans donate ALL their wealth to Buddhism at least once in their lives. Any yak wearing a buddhist banner around its neck is deemed to have been released from 'slavery', free to roam any pasture, not to be hurt or recaptured. They provide milk and meat to Tibetans for eons, even to Tibetan Buddhist monks, probably the only Buddhist sect that is not totally vegetarian, possibly due to difficulties in cultivating vegetables on the highlands from way back. Their big sizes camouflage their scant milk production, about 1/4 of cows on lowlands. Yak dung is mixed with straw to form a round biscuit. They are then pasted onto walls or stones under the sun. Once dried, the bisuits will drop and they are collected, stacked for use as fuel to cook and heat during winter. I was assured these dried biscuits are odourless.

Sheep

The meat is pricey but the wool is even more valuable. Govt is trying to limit headcounts according to landsize, but to no avail, as shephards herd the sheep from pastures to pastures in the wide expense. The sheep destroy pastures by grazing even grass roots, and they are a major environmental concern.

Rabbit

A fearless rabbit roaming inside Norbulinkha, Dalai's Summer Palace. Maybe a 'Reincarnation'.

Tibetan Mastiff

Renowned for its fighting abilities, or more correctly 'biting abilities'. Locals insist a Mastiff can take on a lion, or 4 wolves on its own. I was told of stories of Mastiff mauling servants at home. I kept my distance.

Tibetan Horses

Photo of yours truly here riding a Tibetan horse up a hill slope to 'Yongbulakhang' Temple is purposely not shown here, in case some of you confuse the horse with the rider. The horses are pony sizes.

Faces of Tibet II

- Young monks

- more monks

Faces of Tibet

- Tibetan family lunch break on monastery compound in between prayers

- Tibetan child on mother's back queueing into a chapel

- Our drivers

- Pilgrims in front of Jokhang Temple

- Our Tour guide

Agrarian Territories

Highland Barley (青稞) is the main crop and the traditional staple cereal that the locals highly revered. Their traditional breakfasts consist of highland barley (either as grains, dry-fried, or grounded after dry-frying), and Yak milk tea (酥油茶). Main meat comes from yaks. Tibetans generally dont eat fish (probably due to practices of water burial).

Recently, more cash crop varieties have been introduced and grown by migrant farmers from lowland provinces. We visited a watermelon farm on way out of the airport upon arrival. Enjoyed the thin-skin, juicy and sweet fruit. Cut straight from the vines in the greenhouses and into our mouths. Grown in greenhouses because the window to grow anything is short on the highlands. Even though sunlight is abundant, air is thin. Everything grows slow. A Tibetan chicken grows 600gms in 2 years --- almost impossible to find in local markets, probably pricing way above local affordability. We visited a chicken farm in Lhasa too and were treated to home-cooked local potatos, (another excellent variety that grows slowly), local lamb, Tibetan chicken soup (bowls after bowls of tasty Tibetan chicken soup, cooked with just water and salt), and zanba(糌粑)--- highland barley flour fried, grounded and then kneaded with just water.

Photos:

- aerial view of a remote farm by a highland river

- Tibetan farm at ground level (this one at 4000m above sea level)

- at one of many watermelon farms enroute from airport to Lhasa

- Tibetan chicken free ranged, not for sale for meat but for reproduction

- Tibetan chicken soup, stewed lamb (手抓羊肉), potato, "zanba"(highland barley)