A PRAYER FROM THE VIENTIANE CONFERENCE

"May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. 

May those frightened cease to be afraid, and may those bound be free. 

May the powerless find power and may people think of befriending one another. 

May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wildernesses - the children, the aged, the unprotected - be guarded by beneficent celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood."

It was Sunday in Vientiane.

A prayer was was offered to a thousand Buddhas with the hope that one of them will convey it to the heavens above Wat Si Saket, or to the 7-headed naga of That Dam, or to the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok that once resided at Ho Phra Keo. 

Burning meat is conspicously absent at the Khua Din Market. 

It was Friday in Vientiane.

Feminists broke their fast to predicate a recruitment into the drafting group of the "ASEAN Civil Society and Partners Exchange on Gender and Climate Change" (aka the Vientiane Conference).

An 800,00-kip taxi fare paid for a free dinner of Beer Lao, duck stew, fried pork intestines, and grilled catfish.

It was Wednesday in Bakal 2.

The Phatom Biker, riding on a flat tire, chased a budget revision, the Vientiane Conference, and the Manila Meeting (with an embedded Field Visit) and Regional Convening.

The Itron Man emptied the trash bin and decluttered an inbox while engaged in a couple of virtual meetings. 

A public hearing was documented as a closure report for a convenience store project.

Kuro Ramen was garnished with adobong kambing, litsong manok, and balot.

It was Thursday in Hanoi

A rude passenger, presumably Korean, should have been offloaded from VN 0921 before as a counter to a first quarter report feedback.

Lunch was paid through a foreign exchange and Friday's recruitment into the drafting group.

It was Saturday in Vientiane.

For women with disability, zero waste is equivalent to zero Marlboro.

Lunch was grilled fish that is as huge as the Mekong River, roasted chicken that has the flavor of a papaya salad, and a do-it-yourself local rice noodle soup. 

Variations of the Xout Lao competed in the shadows of the Vientiane Museum of Contemporary Art's massive gold-gilded pillars --- custodians of the Buddha whose likeness were etched in salvaged wood --- a premonition for the Sunday vespers.  

Sleek, like an inverted durian-flavored ice cream bar...

The centuries old That Luang stupa stands tall as a nationa symbol and the keeper of the Buddha's sacred breastbone.

...regal, like the colors of a Johnny Walker Gold Reserve and the cab driver who got paid in US dollars after a culinary encounter with braised duck, stewed eel, and spicy pork salad.