2006 - Asian Odyssey

October 19, 2006–March 12, 2009

I Jumped Through a Burning Ring of Fire

March 12, 2009
Ko Pha-ngan, Surat Thani, Thailand
and it burned, burned, burned…. If this is your first time here in a while, you might have noticed a few changes (don’t worry, it’s my first time back in a while, too). New layout, new photo pages feeding from flickr (why I didn’t set this up before, I don’t know)… Read more

I Jumped Through a Burning Ring of Fire

March 12, 2009
Ko Pha-ngan, Surat Thani, Thailand
and it burned, burned, burned…. If this is your first time here in a while, you might have noticed a few changes (don’t worry, it’s my first time back in a while, too). New layout, new photo pages feeding from flickr (why I didn’t set this up before, I don’t know)… Read more

You had me at Western Style

November 21, 2006
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
So I started this post in Japan, but never got around to finishing it. And now it’s two weeks since I’ve been home, and there are certain things I miss. I’m not sure if this is one of them… I apologize in advance for the graphic nature of this post, but it’s something about Japan that merits mentioning. First off… Read more

Hung Over in Hong Kong

November 18, 2006 — Sa Wat Dema
Hong Kong to me is eating duck tongues in a local bar while drinking with a millionaire Chinese accountant and his brother, the coach of the world championship Kendo team. Really… Read more

Shanghai-ed in Shanghai

November 13, 2006 — Sa Wat Dema
Much has happened in the last few days –I toured the hectic streets of Shanghai, we stayed in a remote hill tribe village covered in fabulous rice terraces, we explored a quaint river town where fisherman still use comerants (albatross-looking birds) to help them fish, we toured a tea plantation… Read more

The Red Menace

November 9, 2006 — Sa Wat Dema
China is big.Understatement of the century. China is simply an amazing place and nothing like our preconceptions about it. The general feeling you get here is not one of some oppressive communist government, it is just that these people really have their act together (though due to China’s sensorship of the internet and blocking of any “subversive” website… Read more

An Adventure Ends

November 7, 2006
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
I landed safely at O'Hare International Airport yesterday morning. Through a miraculous disturbance in the space-time continuum and/or the international date line, I arrived in Chicago 3 hours before I left Tokyo. Of course, the effect on my body was compounded from staying out all night in Roppongi the night before. A day later… Read more

The Adventure Continues

November 5, 2006 — Sa Wat Dema
I have successfully made it to China! I write to you from an internet cafe across from tianeman square and a block from the Forbidden City in Beijing. My last days in Thailand were a blast, though tiring because I really tried to live it up. After scuba in Ko Phi Phi… Read more

Sounds Kind of Fishy

November 3, 2006
Chuo, Tokyo, Japan
Yesterday morning I awoke bright and early (well, as I said before, not as early as hoped, but still early) and I headed to Tsukiji fish market. This is the largest fish market in the world where hundreds of tons of fish come in every morning. They have giant auctions for the best fish. Those happen around 5am, so of course I missed out on that. All the guidebooks say it’s best before 8am… Read more

Fuji is One Fickle Yama

November 2, 2006
Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
For the first time since Monday I have internet access and a new camera and some cool new pictures. And of course… Read more