Yesterday started off well, with a delegation of condo staff visiting us in the morning to present us with puang malai - garlands made of scented flowers, including the ginger flower, which forms the arc of the garland, above.
These made pretty adornments to the cachepots in the dining room, and diffused a heavenly scent throughout the apartment, which still lingers today.
In the lobby of the condo there was the usual altar with a Buddha statue surrounded by white roses and burgundy orchids.
On a table to the right of this are vessels holding scented water and cups from which to take the water and pour it over the Buddha, to wish for a good new year, (which begins on Tuesday).
Ahead of our brief exeat next week to Malaysia, we decided to make hay whilst the sun shines, (or in this case to cut hair whilst the hairdresser's working). We managed to book an appointment with our hairdresser, who's work schedule seems to be divined by the gods, and hopped into a cab for the Skytrain, which is right next door to where he has his salon. It also happens to be right in the centre of the one of the major demonstration points of the current unrest. This seemed to be an acceptable risk to take, given that we are in our fourth week of strife, and the situation had been very non violent.
However, there was a sense of uneasiness, with very light traffic. We were on the platform for the train, when an announcement informed us that trains would not be stopping at three stations on their route, including the one from which we wanted to disembark. The feelings of unease increased markedly, so we rushed down to the street and hopped in a cab back to the condo.
It later transpired of course that this was just before the crackdown by the army, which has resulted in several deaths of soldiers and civilians.
As I wrote last year, and it now seems like a broken record, more than ever, and now more than then, we are hoping for sense and sensibility. Sadly, it does not seem likely in the short term.
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