The title image is of Win Kyaw Zan when he and I were rolling along the Ayeyawady River, Myanmar at sunset. I was lucky to have him as my guide when I visited his beautiful country. Win Kyaw Zan has been a professional photographer and tour guide for twenty years. He... read more
A quick flight from Yangon took us to Bagan. It is the city of 4444 temples and pagodas, mostly from the 13th century. The title image is of Narathihapatae Phaya. It is also called Tayok-pyi < ta ‘Mongolian’ + yok ‘strong energy’ + pyi ‘run away’ + phaya ‘temple.’ It is... read more
After Singapore I flew to Yangon (once called Rangoon). Driving away from the airport, I saw a billboard for Myanmar (once called Burma). It welcomed me to the ‘Country of Gold.’ I saw the same billboard a week later when I was leaving the country . It was only then... read more
Lush Urban Luxury Lush urban luxury. These three words sum up Singapore. Singapore is tropical with abundant rainfall, high humidity and two monsoon seasons. I hate the sun, but I love the tropics. So I opened my umbrella and started walking around. This shot, below, typifies my experience. As if... read more
Why Singapore? One. In 2016 I visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Within the first half-hour of my tour, my guide starts talking about how dirty KL is and how clean Singapore is. I think, “Hey, I should have gone there!” Two. Two years ago I saw Amazing Hotels. Life Beyond the... read more
After a month in Japan, I moved on to Shanghai. For the title image I chose the Huangpu River view of the city’s financial center with the distinctive Oriental Pearl TV Tower spiking the skyline. The sky was overcast for the three days I spent here. Shanghai: Getting Started I did... read more
Passive voice: when someone (or thing) is acted upon (P = passive) by someone (or thing). The man is pushed (P) off the cliff by the Finger in the Sky. The man is the recipient of the action. Active voice: when someone (or thing) acts on (A = active) something else. The Finger... read more
Where to start? There are so many famous Japanese. Title image: Ieyasu Tokugawa (1543-1616), founder of the Tokugawa shogunate that effectively ruled Japan from 1600 – 1868. I did not, however, include him on my list below. I focused on more recent figures. But, as historical figures go, Tokugawa was... read more
Iwasakisan and his wife, Yoshiko, took Gerard, Rimi and me to Kyoto for a day-trip. Here is Iwasakisan at the lunch we had that day. He is a totally cool guy. But now I am ahead of myself. Kyoto: Genkō-an Temple First we went to the Zen temple of Genkō-an.... read more
(Un)translatables – my term – are words in one language that may take a paragraph to explain in another language … and still not quite get it right. (Title Image: Hokkaido University, kanji: ‘Japanese language’) All languages have them. Japanese has some really good ones. (Un)translatables in Japanese: The Bad... read more
