Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
Chris and I had a totally fun day in Hakone. What’s funny about Hakone is that everyone around home and in Hakone says, “Oh! Hakone is so close! You can go again!” Well, sure, I guess compared to other places it’s close, but Hyperdia says it’s two hours on a good day, and on the…
A day with no autumn wind—a day with no sake in my pot!Matsuo Basho (1644-1194) First autumn morning:The mirror I stare intoShows my father’s face.Kijo Murakami (1865-1938) In the blue heavens, cold geese calling.On the empty hills, leaves flying.Monk Ryokan (1758-1831) In autumn paddiesI make myself a makeshift hut—for a short stay:and how cold are…
I need more Shinjuku in my life, I decided recently. Shinjuku is quintessential downtown Tokyo—and the metropolis’s largest hub with 3.5 million commuters every day—plus it’s conveniently located on our very own Odakyu train line. It’s bright, it’s crazy, it buzzes with pachinko parlors and a low murmur of constant Japanese—it’s Tokyo! Honestly, my main…
This, then, is my journey: Tokyo to Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok to Pattaya Beach, back to Bangkok, west to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market, back to Bangkok and Pattaya Beach, then back to Bangkok for a final time, south to Kuala Lumpur, and finally returning Tokyo. The name Bangkok means ‘place where Thai olives grow…
I wrote this post a long time ago, but it was missing something. Right after we dropped Luke and Amber off to go home—literally 15 minutes later—Chris got a phone call to begin the summer’s deployments early. This post got lost in the shuffle, and then I lost the piece of paper that had the…
I am intrigued by Abu Dhabi because Garfield always talks about sending Nermal there. I like the sound of Timbuktu because they sing about it in “Oliver!” So the first time I wanted to go to Kuala Lumpur was after listening to this exchange in “A Very Brady Sequel:” Carol: “You look so different.”Roy: “An…
“This map is amazing, seeing as we’re just now exploring this for the very first time…ever,” Nicole mused, map in hand, as we ventured through crowds of international tourists in the as-yet-undiscovered Temple of the Emerald Buddha. That cracked me up. The rest of the day we’d tack on, “Good thing we’re here to discover…
