silence has a voice

today my fren, florence, from canada whom i met in nepal told me she is going back this year again for another retreat and asked me to join her. simone, another fren i met there from amsterdam also talks about returning. neil, another fren from canada, is in his 3mth retreat now in varanasi, india, had asked me to go back to nepal in june to meet up. by then maybe he will be a fully ordained monk. this is our lecture hall. the moment you enter the hall, the peace and the silence just drown you. you sink naturally into silence. i cant describe it. i miss it but the magic can't be recreated easily.
my heart wants to go back to nepal, and it wants it soon. desires? attachment? whatever. we often talked about the magic of this country. how it seems to draw you back. for many of us, its not the first trip, and people just keep returning. many of them have even lived there doing volunteer work, or just travelling. here are some animal photos simone took in nepal which i really love.
i really like this frog one.
this one is photographed by wayne from australia.
thanks simone, for taking so many shots of the animals. they all have feelings. go vege.
so today i tried to re-live some moments of the life there. i observed a day of silence oh but i am not sure if chatting on msn is considered talking. and i want to start my vege regime again! it went haywire in singapore, eating fish and fishball and sushi! i decide to cook aloo gobi ko tarkari (potato and cauliflower, my favourite nepalese veg curry dish) yum yum. next time i will put 2 tomatoes, i like it more sour.
oh and i have to mention this spice box, you have to get it if you are going nepal. i saw one at my host family's house, and i knew i have to get one. its cheap (S$1.50) and its good, contains all your spices. i even label them. : P and for me, whenever i open it, i smell nepal. i am transported back instantly to my host family's house for one second. me and my magic spice box. haha! and then i ate in silence, not tv, no music. just me and the food. i can really taste. ok enjoy the silence.
''silence has a voice. the rest of the things you hear are only noise.'' - yogi manmoyanard.

p.s. to siling, leekeng showed me your email to us. i heard from leekeng that you are the lead vocal in your band. wow.. that's so nice. do you guys have your own album? if you ever plan to come to hk, just let me know. you know i just feel so inspired by hearing from you all. i duno why, but everytime we receive a personal email from any of you about your life, your dreams, we just feel more motivated. thank you. keep them coming.