Whew, OK, photos of Tibet. The first couple are of pilgrims walking their route around the Jokhang. The outfits were totally awesome and the hair decorations on the women were pretty amazing.
This was the day we went to the Potala palace. It was the former residence of the Dalai Lama and there are a number of tombs of former Dalai Lamas there.
More pilgrims and decorations.
Some parting shots.
Thats it. I have more photos of Tibet but they will end up in the picasaweb album at some point not here. Sorry, I got a little obsessive with posting these.
Sunday (today) was pretty good too. I had to get up early for a basketball game. We played another company here in Beijing and won a squeaker. After flipping the lead for the majority of the fourth quarter we were up by one point with a few seconds to go. The other team fouled on the inbound and sent Allan to the line. He hit one of two and they couldn't get the ball inbounds and a shot off quick enough to contest the win. It was pretty exciting.
Going to bed early. I am putting off some work I have to do but hey, what are they going to do, deport me?
7 comments:
Do you think there are many Tibetan b-ballers? I am thinking that if so, their stamina is probably pretty good. I am also guessing that they are not all that "in your face." In fact, I'm guessing that they might be a little more polite than your average street baller. No woofing at all.
I don't remember seeing many sporting venues in Tibet. I do remember a small basketball court at one of the wats in Bangkok though. Funny you mention in your face (in fact, had to go back to my post to see if I had blogged about this, but alas no). I had to bark at one of the players on the opposing team on Sunday because he was pushing me for the better part of the first half. He stopped after I pushed him back and publicly shamed him by shouting at him. Ah cultural sensitivity, truly the building block of global understanding....
I think my cultural sensitivity (and language skills) was limited to "bu yao." Which might have even worked in your situation.
Yes, bu yao has been my go to phrase for street vendors although lately I have used the more flexible "ta yao" (he/she wants) with a pointed finger at someone else. If the seller is persistent a shoulder fake or spin move tends to work and is highly entertaining.
I'm impressed that you have an offensive move for street vendors. I thought you were more a defensive type of guy. You might try a stab step to give yourself a little room, and then a quick pass of the wallet to the spouse. The option off that, of course, is the fake pass, spin to the curb, so that you can use the on-coming bike traffic as your screen. This takes a little practice, and a lot of faith in your bike lane teammates, but I have found that the cross-sidewalk pass of the wallet, in traffic, is highly risky, and most cyclists are more than capable of picking off the average vendor. I think you will find that this isn't just a "showboat" move, although it has a nice "highlight reel" quality to it, but one that reaps regular rewards in terms of vendor distancing. Once it gets around that you are willing to move into traffic, your vendors tend to back off just that extra step, which gives you greater options.
Oh yeah? A lot of street vendor dodging going on in Nome, Alaska these days? Likely you are drawing on experiences trying to keep your muktuk away from the sled dogs....
No street vendors here at all. I picked all that up in Yangshuo. It didn't take but a couple days. I'm a quick study when it comes to avoiding spending money.
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