Day 13. Istanbul attack

Day 13. When I came home tonight I heard about the suicide bomber in Istanbul, near the Blue Mosque, of which I took this photo exactly one month ago. Horrified. So much pain, so many places already... This madness has to stop! To my friends in Turkey and everywhere, please stay safe. ‪#‎ficklethinglife

Day 12. Laughing welcome dolls

Day 12. Many Thai homes have one or two carved stone or wood statues, usually female, at the front door, welcoming guests with a traditional ‘sawadee’ wai. But probably even more common are brightly coloured plaster dolls, jollily laughing, presenting English or Thai words that mean welcome. There are different styles and they often come in pairs. Once you have seen them, you see them everywhere you look!! The Thai equivalent of garden gnomes… ‪#‎ficklethinglife

Day 11. Magnificent sunset

Day 11. What is more fickle than the weather? After the night’s rain this Sunday was lovely and sunny, but with a strong wind blowing all day, playing with the branches, flowers and leaves of the bougainvillea on my terrace. The day ended with one of those magnificent sunsets that we regularly have. It is such a treat every time! ‪#‎ficklethinglife

Day 10. Ronald's wai

Day 10. The Thai greeting is referred to as the ‘wai’. It consists of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. In Bangkok outside each McDonald’s restaurant there is a very creepy plastic Ronald McDonald copying the Thai wai to greet potential customers. I really do not understand what McDonald’s and their junk food is doing in this country. Thai food is among the most delicious and healthy foods imaginable. #ficklethinglife

Day 9. Psychromotor

Day 9. A friend of ours (@Leonardo Barreto Chamorro) recently posted on his Facebook a picture of their thermometer at midnight, joking that a few days earlier when the temperature was two marks left of 30, they felt like tele transported --with the entire city of Bangkok-- to another country. I commented that we had a similar model but our readings, at a few blocks distance, were a bit different. It was only after I took a picture did I realize that our thermometer (bought in Georgia in the Caucasus) has psychromotoric properties!! Whatever that may be, it sounds like something otherworldly; perhaps indeed a tele transporter?!  #ficklethinglife 

Day 8. Yearning for Ko Samed

Day 8. Oops, almost a day too late. Not a good sign. Was so exhausted last night that I fell asleep as soon as I reached home after a new year’s celebration (with oliebollen and beer) with the Dutch club in Bangkok (I forgot taking a picture of the oliebollen..). I realize that three days on the beach over the Christmas weekend did not suffice to completely come to rest. I so much enjoyed reading a book in my lounge chair and joke with these food vendors on the beach who carried their whole kitchen around on their shoulders.  #ficklethinglife

Day 7. Balancing rocks

Day 7. Midnight. After a great evening with friends and wine it is not easy to stick to my intention to whip up a daily photo message (my admiration for others who do so consistently has increased immensely!). I chose this photo that I took on Christmas day of a tower of balancing rocks on the beach in Ko Samed. The builder is an eccentric guy named Mr Judd who makes a whole group of rock towers every time when the tide is low. The photo would be a worthy candidate for a cool inspirational message on balance and stillness. But actually I am simply in awe of the skills, patience and madness of someone who keeps making these zen towers from scratch, day after day, knowing that when the tide comes in they won’t keep standing. One must have a bit of such madness, etc. to produce a photo message every day…   #ficklethinglife

Day 6. Breakfast with love

Day 6.  I am used to kick off the morning with a quick cup of coffee and sprint out the door. But when Rob is with me I am greeted in the morning with delicious good-for-me fruit breakfasts, such as this morning’s colourful fruit platter made with love. #ficklethinglife

Day 5. Hummingbird love

Day 5.  A few months ago a lovesick beautiful male hummingbird built this totally messy nest in front of my bedroom window along the thread of a wind chime (consisting of fake birds made of seeds. The nest successfully served its purpose to attract mates and nowadays a couple of times a day the male bird (with red feathers on head and parts of body) accompanied by no less than two females (with yellow feathers) happily dance and sing among the plants on my terrace, but… the happy threesome totally ignore the nest!!  (The birds move so fast I have not yet been able to take their photo, but if I capture one on camera I will post it).  #ficklethinglife

Day 4. Paradise in the sky

Day 4.  At the start of every new day it is such a joy to greet my “paradise in the sky”, listen to the dawn chorus when many species of birds sing, water the plants and flowers and do a bit of gardening... Bliss! #ficklethinglife

Day 3. Statistics and stories

Day 3. Some of you have been waiting for this: my yearly travel statistics. In 2015 I made 34 flights, and I was in 11 different countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey), 3 of which new and several were visited multiple times. For the first time I plotted numbers of flights and countries since 2009 as a graph. Luckily I never repeated those crazy travel figures of 2009 and my years are becoming gradually less hectic. However, I was a bit surprised to see that despite my hip fracture on 1 Feb last year, the stats for 2015 were slightly up compared to the previous year. #ficklethinglife

Day 2. Inspiration

Day 2. Every year, several weeks before the year ends I start pondering about a theme and watch out for interesting photo opportunities. Sometimes I am working on a card in my head, but it is only when I sit down with my photos and computer that the card mysteriously and invariably creates itself. And so it happened that today’s morning swim in the pool on the 15th floor of my building, with that amazing view on Bangkok cityscape ended up in this year’s card! #ficklethinglife

Happy 2016 !!