Congrats to my sister Katie for completing her first half marathon—in under 3 hours! #
On our last night in San Dionisio, Jeoffrey wanted to treat us to a special local dish. He confided that he’d cooked it the week before just to ensure it would turn out ok. The dish was binakol na manok…
After three nights at Jeoffrey’s place in San Dionisio, we returned to Iloilo City for the big Dinagyang Festival’s dance and drumming competition on January 23rd. As I understand it, the festival is held to honor a statue of Santo…
We spent two nights in Iloilo City during the Dinagyang Festival to be as close to the action as possible, but for our last two days in the Philippines—not to mention our last two days with Jeoffrey and Fatima—they booked…
When we were planning the trip (without really planning it), we had no clue when (or if) we’d get to Vietnam, but as it was high on our list and required procuring a visa before leaving the US, we opted…
Handy map from the BBC on where not to go next: Source: The losing battle against Somali piracy Guess we’re not taking a boat from Mumbai to Nairobi…
When I think of Vietnam, my first thoughts tend toward the Vietnam War (which I’ve taken a liking to calling the “American War” as they do locally), and not that they are one of the few remaining communist states. This…
On our travels, I’ve gotten used to people trying to sell me all manner of things I usually don’t want: transport, massage, tickets, tours, dinner, cold drinks, cigarettes, lighters, marijuana, jewelry, Chinese fans, t-shirts, crafts, sunglasses, belts… But I have…
Holy Freakonomics, Batman! Oranges in Vietnam are green. Wikipedia says: In tropical regions with no winter at all, citrus fruits remain green until maturity, hence the tropical “green oranges”. But wait. If oranges are green, what does that make orange?
I believe I implied, but didn’t say, that our cooking class in Bali was a revelation. Every meal from that point on made more sense and choosing from menus became less scattershot. Knowing classes like that existed gave me a…
I mentioned that we spent nearly two weeks in Ho Chi Minh City trying to figure out where next, but I didn’t really get into how we came up with the itinerary that resulted. I wanted to take a train…
At 6am the next morning we met the congenial owner of our Cần Thơ homestay, Hung, for a tour of his local market. It was a completely voluntary excursion, and not surprisingly, some people opted for an extra hour of…
The big reason that tours of the Mekong Delta exist are the Cần Thơ floating markets. As I understand it, in the days before bridges across the delta’s tributaries (and distributaries), people with produce from upstream and people from villages…
Of all the places we’ve been and will go on this trip, Cambodia is the only country that I’ve traveled to previously. In fact I visited twice, both times for work, first in January 2003, and then again in May.…
Arriving in Phnom Penh felt like a homecoming. Sure it had been 8 years. Sure I’ve been to many places since then. Sure a lot has changed. Yet it felt familiar: warm, dry, dusty heat, and happy, charming people. Usually…
We sat on the roof of the boat to Siem Reap, Cambodia The Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia We were towed through the channel to the port of Siem Reap
So I’m flipping through The Siem Reap Angkor Visitors Guide, (36th edition: Dec 2010 to Mar 2011), and exactly halfway through the magazine, there’s an ad for MekongBank. Half the ad is an image of one of the many smiling…
Congrats to my sister Katie for completing her first half marathon—in under 3 hours! #
Nice video: An Accelerated Cockpit View of a Beautiful Twilight Landing at LAX #
It’s got linguistics, poetry, and Neal Stephenson! Trochee Fixation #
Dreamhost+Matt Mullenweg: Look who stopped by… (my blog continues to be in good, albeit quirky, company) #
Ouch: Breaking the Web with hash-bangs and Tim Bray chimes in: Hash Blecch #
Incredible videos from Flughafen at Miniatur Wunderland in Germany #
Funny: Pyramids, Plates, and Pagodas: Dietary Guidelines From Around the World #
Extreme sitting? Check out Hockern (crazy new “sport” in Germany) #
Check out Terrie’s great bald eagle shot #
A sweet lovenote to the French Language: Live The Language – Paris #
Oh dear: British tourists feared dead as Vietnam tour boat sinks (we’ll be on a boat in Ha Long Bay Feb 27-Mar 1) #
To read later: From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp (via NY Times) #
Heartbreaking photos from the second Christchurch earthquake—all the more scary knowing we were there
More photos on the Big Picture: Christchurch earthquake #
Yet another “in the style of the iconic Tube map”: River Maps #
Do ‘Most Tourists Take Pictures from the Same Spot’? If Corinne Vionnet selects the photos… #