Tag: life

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: WAT KOH MURALS, Part 2

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Another series of murals at Wat Koh, this time illustrating episodes from the Buddha’s life and the miracles and acts of compassion associated with him.

At the center, the Buddha meditates on the coils of the nāga king Mucalinda, who sheltered him during a violent storm after his enlightenment. Another panel recalls his retreat in the forest at Pārileyyaka, where an elephant and a monkey cared for him. Elsewhere, monks, rulers, devotees and celestial beings approach him to receive teachings, make offerings or pay respect.

Together, the paintings present the Buddha as teacher, healer and peaceful presence—honored by humans, animals and beings of the heavenly realms alike.

September 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: WAT KOH MURALS, Part 1

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These murals at Wat Koh depict the Vessantara Jataka, the story of Prince Vessantara, a previous incarnation of the Buddha celebrated for his extraordinary generosity.

The scenes follow the prince as he gives away his royal elephant, leaves the palace with his wife Maddi and their children, and lives in exile in the forest. He ultimately surrenders everything most precious to him as a test of selflessness. After his virtue is proven, his family is reunited and he returns home.

Beautifully painted in the Khmer tradition, the murals unfold like a visual storybook. Their central lesson is dāna—the Buddhist virtue of giving without attachment—although, to modern eyes, the story also raises difficult questions about sacrifice, family and the limits of generosity.

September 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: TWISTY

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11sep26

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 STREET ART: BANDANNA

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11sep26

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: ARRIVAL

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Leaving Saigon

“Decho Meas Decho Yat” statue on Sisowath Quay, along Phnom Penh’s riverfront.

Decho Meas and Decho Yat were Khmer military commanders (the title “Decho” is a traditional Cambodian military rank, roughly equivalent to “General” or “Field Marshal”). 

“Symbolically, birds at windows are often associated with messages, transition, freedom, protection, or someone/something asking you to pay attention.”

My life is under construction at the moment. I don’t know what it will become yet. And in the middle of all that change, something small and alive has stopped by to remind me to look.

Graffiti and a clean high-rise under a powdery blue sky in BKK.
The sky went full orange over Phnom Penh tonight. Just Khmer daily life on a regular street, motorbikes, food stands. I felt like I was the only one who noticed. The only one who was looking up. A singular conversation, just me and that orange sky.
Imagine maneuvering this thing on the road. Impressive skills and talent.
I love to see the “coconut man” riding around. $1 for one of the purest, healthiest drinks in the world. 🥥 I try to have one every day.

September 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭 GRAFFITI: AZEM & BRTC

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8sep26

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: WORKERS IN STRUGGLE

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 “Công nhân đấu tranh” (Workers in Struggle), a major Ho Chi Minh City monument by Vietnamese sculptor Nguyễn Hải (1933–2012). It stands at the historic Ngã Bảy (Seven-Way Intersection) area, where Điện Biên Phủ meets the Lê Hồng Phong/Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai area.

The figure at the top raises what reads as an industrial object/tool, while the other figures push outward and upward. The idea is essentially:

individual workers → collective strength → resistance.

Café culture
Food Stall owners in a hem with a graffiti backdrop, District 3
Friendly neighbors
A mural outside of Happi Happi café that perfectly sums up Saigon.

September 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: SAIGONESE

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Huyện Sỹ Church on an August night
Vietnamese pet owners sometimes dye their dogs’ fur primarily for theft deterrence, identification, and fashion. 
Coffee culture in Vietnam is real. Barista at LaCaph in Saigon.
Street seller
Shoe seller
Green parks all over the city

August 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: THE MONTH OF WANDERING SOULS

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The very start of Ghost Month. The 7th lunar month began on August 13, 2026, when the “Gates of Hell” are believed to open, so shopkeepers all over the city are making their opening offerings. In Vietnam it’s called Tháng Cô Hồn, the month of wandering souls, rooted in Buddhist and folk traditions about honoring ancestors and maintaining harmony between the living and the spirit world. 

The sidewalk fires are joss paper, or votive paper: symbolic money, clothes, and goods burned so spirits can use them in the afterlife. Businesses are especially diligent about this because the month is associated with bad luck, and appeasing hungry ghosts who have no descendants to care for them is seen as both a humanitarian act to assist suffering spirits and a way to avoid harassment from restless ones, or even win their support. Trays of food, incense, rice, and salt often go out on the pavement in front of the shop in the afternoon.

The big day comes at the full moon: the Hungry Ghost Festival falls on 27 August 2026, the 15th day of the month, which in Vietnam is also Vu Lan, a beautiful filial piety holiday honoring mothers and ancestors. 

August 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳 STREET ART: MUSEUM MAN

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August 2026