On the first day of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic (the day I almost fell asleep with a cocktail in my hand–and not because of intoxication), I attended a party in a hotel suite to benefit the organization No Kid Hungry. … Continue reading
In case you didn’t know, today is Buddha’s birthday. Of course, it’s not always May 17 because his birthday follows the lunar calendar. Many countries in Southeast Asia celebrate this day as a national holiday. I’m really not sure what … Continue reading
The May Day holiday has come and gone in China. Of course, here in America we like to celebrate our Labor Day in September…with barbecues and beer. Following my painfully long bus ride from Chengdu during my first May Day … Continue reading
Companies and schools in China seem to enjoy having outings for employees. They see it as a morale booster, even though plenty of employees see it as forced fun. I went out on a few with the schools for which … Continue reading
One of the things I noticed while walking the cold streets of Reykjavik–besides the abundance of restaurants and bars for such a small city–was that there is some impressive graffiti in this Scandinavian country. I’ve seen some interesting graffiti in numerous cities … Continue reading
The weather is finally starting to warm up around here. And by warm up, I mean that it’s no longer snowing and freezing. It makes me reminisce about spring trips in the past–not that I had too many. My first … Continue reading
While waiting in a long line to walk down the cliffside steps to Buddha’s feet, I was able to take a photo over the shoulder of the world’s largest Buddha. This photo best captures the size of the Giant Buddha … Continue reading
One of the most interesting places I visited in Beijing was the Ancient Observatory (北京古观象台). I wasn’t sure what to expect, but my mom really wanted to see it. It was much more interesting than I thought it would be. … Continue reading
Whenever I travel, I come across sights or destinations that aren’t planned but become highlights of the trip. I’ve stumbled across numerous temples and shrines around Asia that weren’t on tourist maps. While driving around Bali, headed toward Tegalalang, I … Continue reading
A clown can surprise you sometimes. In my first year and a half in China, my colleagues and I compared ourselves to clowns (or dancing monkeys in some cases) because that’s how we felt about our jobs. As foreign English … Continue reading
With the airpocalypse gripping Beijing and spreading eastward (even Japan is worried about its effects), I’m reminded about how bad the air pollution was when I lived in Shenzhen. After seeing photos posted on Twitter, I knew that even those … Continue reading
I have an unhealthy fascination with unusual snack foods from around the world. A while back I found this interesting snack at the Asian market. It’s a Taiwanese snack that tasted pretty bad–stale crackers with a hint of soy sauce. Fortunately, … Continue reading
The apocalypse did not come. I still had to work (I wonder how many people called out sick for this). Since the world hasn’t ended, we should travel more. And we should definitely experience more of the wonders it has to … Continue reading
After walking across the train tracks in Ayutthaya, I waited for the boat to take the group across the river into the ancient capital of Thailand. It wasn’t a wide river, but it was the easiest way across as no … Continue reading
It’s autumn in New Jersey. It’s usually a great time of year as it doesn’t rain as much and I don’t have to deal with the awful humidity. But it’s also time to see the fall colors. Unfortunately, living in … Continue reading