Ships sailed in and out of the harbor while waves crashed on the jetty below me. The water rose and covered all the little melodramas being played out by orange-clawed crabs vying for the best footholds. They scuttered around trying to push each other off, some washing away in the surf. All these palm-sized sea…
Wait, What? Hemisphere Confusion, Or Australia—A Story of Deliverance!
Earthquake Early Warning System
My mobile texts me about 30 seconds before my house starts shaking. This is slightly ridiculous at 5 am, a time I’m unlikely to be awakened by a scant buzz-buzz-buzz. But fear not; I seem to have my very own personal Earthquake Early Warning System in the form of animals. Pounce was going absolutely NUTS…
A Little Bit of Little India
I was bargaining for a thank-you present in Little India for someone who loves on my cats (thank you!) when Chris and I can’t. The guy told me his price, I feigned disinterest. I picked out the ones I liked, then walked away. The price came down, I looked at some other wares, then wandered…
Gambling on the Raffles
One languid, tropical evening Chris and I strolled down the wide verandas of the Raffles Hotel in search of pre-dinner refreshment. Less than 24 hours in the city and we were already dazzled by its orchids and charmed by the whitewashed arches of one of the world’s most famous hotels. We ordered a Singapore Sling…
A Timeless Tropical Eden (Says the Brochure)
Tree branches met over the road, filtering the streetlights for the 2 am drive downtown from Singapore’s Changi International Airport along the South China Sea. An orange, waxing moon floated along a haze of humidity as the trees gave way to tall palms and bougainvillea. This stretch of highway can be cleared for airport use…
Yamato Bon Odori Festival No. 2 (of 4 or 5)
This is what we were doing during the earthquake. I asked someone’s very helpful kiddo to do my mom a favor by taking pictures of me dancing. Unfortunately, I had the bad luck to requisition this personal photographer right before we launched into the first rendition of a dance none of us knew. We look…
Major Earthquake Hits Tokyo! Dancers Dance On!
People felt the August 9 Tokyo Earthquake for miles–er, kilometers! Why didn’t any of us feel it? Because we were already unsteady on our feet trying to blend in with the rest of the dancers. We did not notice anything falling off shelves. We were right by a train station and surrounded by enormous, pounding…