Champon Adventures

An MR340 Help Solicitation

2010-07-14T17:31:00.001-05:00

As some of you know, the most venerable Norman Bates and I will soon be foolhardily participating in the MR340. This is a 340 mile paddle race from Kansas City, MO to Old Town, St. Charles. The event starts on Tuesday, July 27th and we are projecting to finish sometime on Friday, July 30th.

All along the 340 mile route, there are checkpoints that we must stop at and check in. The checkpoints also serve as a place where we can replenish our food, water and perhaps even grab a few moments of shut eye before shoving off again.

What I am wondering is if anyone may be available to meet us at a checkpoint or two during the week. We wouldn’t require much, perhaps a sub sandwich or two, snacks, some water/energy drinks and maybe the pleasure of your company for a few minutes to provide some sanity in the madness. There are a total of 9 checkpoints mostly equally spaced along the route. Closer to St. Louis, we will be stopping at Jefferson City, Hermann and Washington. We are roughly projecting we’ll hit those areas early Thursday morning, Thursday night and Friday morning respectively (who really knows until we get out there!?).

Let me know if you might be interested and we can give you many more details. The St. Louis Adventure Group (SLAG) also has a few people participating in the race, including Bend Over Granny, and is also sending support teams to meet its members at the checkpoints. We may utilize their services, but I would love to see if we could count on a hash contingent as well. (I am going to send this to Dos Hixxies and the KC hasher crew as well as there are other checkpoints a lot closer to them.)

Regardless of the support we can solicit from you during the race, the 27th running of the Tumbling Dice Full Moon Hash will take place on Friday night, July 30th, in Old Town St. Charles, which is conveniently where the MR340 will be finishing. It promises to be a festive atmosphere as all the teams finish the nearly 88 hour race in various states of delerium. More details will be provided on the hash.

So if you have a few spare hours (or days) to spend driving around the gorgeous country roads of middle Missouri and helping out a couple of crazed thrill seekers, just let me know. It promises to be a fun time checking out the race and meeting other race and support teams. Our appreciation would know no bounds if you took some time to come cheer us on.

I will also try to post updates somewhere during the race to track our progress.
Norman and I sincerely thank you for considering this insanity!

Denpasar to Amed, Trafficking in Tourists

2010-06-24T22:14:00.002-05:00

I arrived in Bali with 5 free days ahead of me. After arriving in Denpasar the night before very late and catching the first half of the Champion’s League final and a few hours sleep, the plan was to get out of the noisy chaos of Bali’s largest city. Equiped with a 10 year old edition of the Lonely Planet Indonesia straight out of the St. Louis Public Library, I spotted my destination.

According to the book, the tiny beachside town of Amed lay on the northeast coast, quite secluded but surrounded by some of the best dive and snorkeling sites on the island, and also a stone’s throw from the largest mountain/volcano in Bali, Gunung Agung. The only question was how to travel the 150 or so miles to get there. Without a reliable bus service, one option was to rent and drive my own transport. With the previously stated Indonesian rules of the road in effect, I wasn’t about to consider that. I could have hired a taxi to take me all the way, but ruled it out on account of that breaking the bank, likely a hundred dollars or more. So I opted for the public transport method, an auspicious start to a seriously long day.

What is a Bemo?
One of the fascinating things about almost any Southeast Asian country is the unique public transport vehicles. The Tuk Tuk in Thailand, the Cyclo in Cambodia, the always extravagant Jeepneys in the Philippines, Double Deckers in Hong Kong and of course the Bemos of Indonesia. Here we have an older model extended van, dusty vinyl bench seats on the inside with little padding and certainly no AC. Used mainly by locals, the traces and scents of agricultural products, livestock and gasoline is readily apparent on most Bemos. And the thing about Bemos is when you locate the one that you thinks is going to your destination, they will sit and wait at the origin until the Bemo is almost full before departing. There are no schudules, planned stops or strict routes for that matter. And after today, I learned that usually, there is not even a defined destination.

I got an early enough start and prepared for a long hot day. Acting on a tip from a neaby travel agent, I walked up to the corner to locate a waiting Bemo which I was told would take me to Ubung bus station where I could board a bus directly to the transit town of Amlapura then on to Amed. I skeptically got on the Bemo and told the driver the name of the bus station. A smaller Bemo, I was among several local women hauling their treasures of the day and we were quickly away. A short 20 minute ride to a bus station, not my bus station. As always in these situations, the tourist was quickly approached by another driver who promised to take me straight to Amed for an exhorbitant price. I quickly walked away, found a motor scooter driver and had him drive me 5 minutes down the road to the correct bus station, Ubung. Two rides down, who knows how many to go…

After circulating through the bus station, I was finally pointed to a waitng Bemo that would take me to Amlapura, another small town from where I could get a direct ride to Amed. This being a larger Bemo, I was only about the third person waiting, so we were in for a wait for remaining passengers. With the hour wait, I managed to locate a power outlet and with a newly purchased converter, I was able to charge my blackberry, find a connection and check the news of the day. Finally, with almost a full Bemo, we were off. We headed north into the countryside, city fading into suburbs, then to fields, mountainsides then coastline. I tried to make friends with a couple of small boys who got on at one stop, one of whom was holding a box of dull knives. Soon the passengers started getting off and soon I was alone on the Bemo. We rounded a corner, the driver yelled to the driver of another Bemo parked on the side. It seemed I was being bartered for. I was soon ejected from my original Bemo and passed to the waiting Bemo. Ride #3 to #4. I managed to only give the driver about 80% of the agreed upon rate, which was about 5 bucks. Our destination in this Bemo was apparenlty Amed. My skepticism remained. This was a long bus ride, I even managed to catch some uneasy shut eye, sleeping through the endless bumps in the road, the rude honking of horns and steamy afternoon heat. When we got nearer to Amlapura, the driver stopped just behind another parked Bemo. Hmmm, I know this drill…

Sure enough I was passed off to another driver, paid the previous driver less than the agreed upon amount then negotiated hard core with the new driver. We were close enough now to Amed that I was sure this, #5, would be my last ride of the day. We took off into the foothills, traversing winding roads. All of a sudden we were coming down a hill, a gorgeous volcano in the distance, rice paddies all around and a crystal clear view of a sparkling ocean straight ahead. This was Amed, my home for the next 5 days. The stress of 6 or 7 hours of hectic travel and haggling faded into utter relaxation as I arrived on Amed beach, secured a cheap room to stay in, filled my stomach with a hot meal and a cold Bintang beer. The sunset over Gunung Agung was, well…

Indonesia

2010-06-02T00:45:00.003-05:00

The conference for work ended on a Wednesday and Thursday I was to travel from Hong Kong to Surabaya, Indonesia. The very cheap China Airlines flight I had booked showed a connection in Taipei. Little did I know there was also a connection in Singapore. All told, the flights took about nine hours when a direct from HK would have been maybe three. But hardly worth the expense. I arrived close to midnight in Surabaya and was scheduled to depart Indonesia exactly seven days later. Instead of a running play by play of the trip, I chose to summarize the week’s adventures more topically.

Road Rules, Volume 1

Some of the great adventures to be had in countries such as Indonesia occur on the back of a scooter, riding a lumbering ferry or stuck on a stuffy slow bus. Traveling overland in a country where reliable public transport is few and far between and where traffic laws don’t really exist can be daunting, time consuming and most certainly a frustrating experience. Yet it is highly entertaining and definitely the best way to see the people, places and things that define a country.
Planning a trip with this in mind, my flight into Indonesia brought me into the country’s second largest city, Surabaya, Java. My flight back to the states was from Denpasar, Bali: 300 miles, one island and 7 days away. What is typically a 4 or 5 hour easy drive on a luxurious interstate in the US is quite a bit different in any developing country.

My plan was to spend a day or two at Mt. Bromo, a scenic volcano and national park area in between Surabaya and Bali. After spending a sticky night in a cheap hostel, a helpful gentleman named Danu loaded me up on the back of his scooter, took me around town to few stops and then to the bus station.

Danu and I tackle the streets of Surabaya:

At an extremely chaotic bus station, here is my view of what happens: People who have their destination in mind walk down an aisle of buses and screaming gentlemen, all trying to get you to ride their bus, or the bus company that is slipping them a few rupiah to recruit passengers. All the while for some reason, someone on stage is singing loud horrible Indonesian music. In my case, Danu told them I wanted an air conditioned bus to Probolinggo, from where I’d get another ride to the top of the volcano. It was a rather pleasant and uneventful ride, until I got to within a few blocks of the bus station in Probolinggo and was prompted off the bus for the transfer to Bromo. Sure enough, they dropped me at a special ‘tourist’ office obviously friendly with that bus company. My new good friend Koko told me I could wait an hour or two for a public bus take to two and a half hour ride up the mountain or I could pay a little bit more and hop on the back of a scooter for a 45 minute upward burst. So I took the bike.

Flying up the mountain on the back of a bike:

About halfway up, the clouds closed in and it was soon raining. Luckily I had a jacket to protect my bag, but no cover up for me. It was soon a heavy downpour. A picnic it is not when the rain is hitting your face and eyeballs on a scooter going 50 mph. My friendly driver seemed not to mind either. Soaked to the bone, we passed the rain line, everything was dry, I had not a dry spot on me. I was dropped at another hotel that was obviously friendly with the tourist company. I had opted to pay for a standard room but suspected I was given an economy room, most likely with my good friend Koko pocketing the difference. One must learn to take the good with the bad, make lemonade and give in to the fact that gentlemen will do what’s needed to work the tourists to make a few extra bucks. I’m not a sap, but I’m also not one to make a huge stink over a couple bucks here and there.

After about 24 hours spent exploring the volcano and surrounds, it was on to Bali. I was told the bus would leave from Probolinggo at 12pm, take the 8 hour bus ride/ferry connection to make it to Denpasar, Bali by 8pm. What followed was just incredible. With a few other European tourists, we waited in the hot afternoon shade for the bus…11am…12pm…1pm…finally 1:45, the bus came. We hopped on, only to be taken to a bus repair station, the gas station and finally on the road out of Probolinggo by 2:15. The busiest thoroughfares are narrow two lane roads traversed by everything from massively overloaded big rigs down to the piddliest motorbikes…and more motorbikes. Here’s how we navigated the Northeast Java coastal road: We’d approach a slow moving truck. The bus would straddle the center line so the driver could see oncoming traffic, which was usually significant. If at some point there was a break in traffic and the drive could see far enough ahead, he’d swerve the bus into the passing lane, oncoming motorbikes be damned, accelerate like hell and swerve back into the lane usually just in time to avoid another oncoming truck. All the while, motorbikes would pass up on the right or left, every single vehicle honking almost constantly to notify others of their presence.

When a motorbike would be coming from a perpendicular street and entering the crowded coastal road, driving etiquette was not to stop, wait for a break and pull out, but to make a tight turn onto the dirt shoulder of the road and eventually inch over onto the pavement and into the flow of traffic. At one point I was looking out the window, and man driving a scooter with a woman on back (both dressed in traditional Indonesian Islamic garb), approached from a cross street. The man pulled the bike out almost right in front of the bus. We swerved a bit and the bus driver threw him a honk. The man over corrected and dropped the scooter on its side, the man and woman went sprawling! Horrified, I looked back and tried to see if they were okay. But we sped ahead and I was left to guess at the result of the minor crash. I also noticed that not one other person on our packed bus had been looking and noticed the accident.

A monkey does a nice pole dance at a rest stop on the road from Surabaya to Denpasar:

The ferry we had to take on this journey would take us from the island of Java to the island of Bali. By 9:30pm, we had finally reached the ferry. We had to wait about a half hour then they drove the bus straight onto the ferry, then the five Europeans and I went topside to exchange travel stories during the leisurely hour long ride. Back on the bus, for the home stretch to Denpasar. We reached the city by 12am only to have to pile in the back of another van to get to the tourist area where there were some welcoming, cheap beds for some tired souls.
Transport in Indonesia had already exhausted and awed me, and some of the more interesting rides were yet to be undertaken.

More fun to come on the roads of Indonesia.

Bizarre Foods, Hong Kong

2010-05-31T23:33:00.002-05:00

Living in Hong Kong in 2007-08, I had the chance to try some pretty interesting food. But with our Asia conference going on and the opportunity to share various meals and excursions into the city with both local and US based co-workers, the table was set.

The first night of the conference, we had a wonderful dinner at the Hong Kong Jockey Club overlooking the horse race course that comes alive every Wednesday night with races and gambling. Things were a bit quieter on a Monday. The meal consisted of ten courses, mostly a large dish shared among the ten diners at our table. In addition to the local staples – roast chicken, duck, pork stomach, shrimp, fried rice, soup, we also had the chance to get our lips around the goose web – basically the foot of a duck. I’ve had chicken feet before and this is fairly similar – like eating a chicken wing with no meat on the bones.

The next night a few of us headed out in the city for some local surprises. We first ducked into a small tea shop and shared a few cups of extremely potent 24 grain tea and turtle shell jelly. Both of these have medicinal properties that I understand to A. help your love life or B. help your body overcome the ‘heat’ caused by too much spicy food and alcohol.

Next on the menu came street meat. These little stands are a very popular snacking destination throughout the city and we sampled the grilled fish paste balls.

I mentioned to my co-worker Alan the one with light meat with an orangish outside looked pretty good. His reply, “Sure, that’s pig intestine.” So we dutifully got a skewer and each tried a bite, none of use really enjoying it. The texture was pretty bad and the taste wasn’t much to speak of. Alan also chose to tell us at this point, “You’re lucky, that’s pretty good quality intestine. Sometimes the cheaper stuff hasn’t yet been ‘cleaned out’. Awesome.

Eventually we ate an amazingly filling and tasty dinner at a Shanghai dumpling restaurant then were eager for more culinary adventure.

Throughout the trip, we had been talking about Durian, the most pungent of fruits found mainly in Southeast Asia. I have often had the chance to eat it, but have never mounted the required courage. The thing about Durian is that it smells…terrible. I’d say it’s a cross between old sweaty laundry and a not so recently dead animal. We located a stand in one of the many surrounding shopping malls that offered ‘Durian Pancake’. With three forks and the pancake in hand (of course the only local, Alan, was having no part of this), we sat down. I was the first to take a bite and replied that it wasn’t so bad, although I admittedly got mostly the cream topping in my spoonful. Justin and Mike tried it, grimacing and nearly gagging but finally washing it down with some Coke. I went in for a second bite, this time sure to get more of the fruit. It was indeed horrible, with the gag reflex kicking in. It is rather unfortunate that I did manage to keep it down, as we headed to some local drinking establishments after that and the inevitable hours of Durian flavored belches and aftertaste was not an enjoyable experience.

The last night in Hong Kong, we went to a Sichuan Hot Pot restaurant with a good group of co-workers. You have a large circular table where they then place two boiling pots in the middle: one a lighter chicken flavored bullion and the other terrifyingly red with chilis and peppers floating in the heavily spiced liquid. We then proceeded to order dozens of small plates of different kinds of meats, vegetables and noodles to place into your desired soup mixture, boil briefly then consume the goodness. Our meat selection included beef, lamb, chicken, eel, emu (exquisite!), beef tongue, beef tendon.

One highlight was watching Alan bravely eat a gelatinous tendon then had been sitting at the bottom of the hottest soup for the last hour then watching him turn various shades of red and sweat out 90% of his body’s fluids.

Say what you will about the spiciness, it is indeed a great way to get customers to drink a lot of your beer in a futile attempt to extinguish the fire on their tongues.

Travel Travesties and Another Hong Kong Typhoon

2009-09-18T05:32:00.004-05:00

In September 2007, I arrived in Hong Kong on a rainy windy night, which I was told was the recent aftermath of a passing typhoon. Fast forward almost two years exactly to find me waiting in the same Kowloon station taxi line, being told that taxis were scarce because of the typhoon. This time, the typhoon was to arrive that night and early into the next morning.

Setting out from St. Louis, my original itinerary had me getting a flight to HK in Chicago, then catching a ferry directly from the HK airport over to Macau, where I am working for two weeks.

(Stories that I care not go into more detail on regarding this flight: Getting lambasted at by an uppity United agent for checking in to my flight only a half hour early. Guy, I may have done this travel thingy a time or two...in the end that not mattering because...getting into HK 24 hours later than expected due to fog in Chicago, but getting to spend the extra day with relatives and my new nephew, not bad. The movie system malfunctioning on the 15 hour flight, leading to hours of silent contemplation, I suppose that's not bad either. Shortly after take off, the lady next to me put on a large skull cap and a big breathing mask. Then she decided to sleep and put on the blindfold, now only a small patch of her upper neck was dangerously exposed to the open air. Not bad at all actually, I laughed at her to pass the time.)

After arriving Monday night HK time, I may have made a rookie mistake which in the end didn't matter, as I passed through the terminal exit which I was told by an untrustworthy tour operator that once out, I couldn't go back in to get the ferry.

Said untrustworthy operator tried to sell me an ~$85 taxi ride to the HK city ferry terminal, no thanks, I opted for the $10 train connection. When I got the ferry terminal, I find out that all ferries are canceled during a T8 typhoon indicator, which was the current state. My only option was to get a hotel room for the night and hope service resumed Tuesday morning, so I could get to Macau where I was expected for some meetings.

Being pretty jet lagged, I slept mostly off and on through the night, also waking to the wind and horizontal rain from the passing storm. I watched several billboards get shredded during the course of the night as well as some nicely flooded streets. I had been up for a couple hours already when I went down to the ferry at 6am to try and get on 7am ferry. No luck, still T8 outside. Back down there at 8:30, nope, 10, nope. Finally around 10:30, the TV channel devoted to posting the current typhoon level told me we had gone down to a T3. I ran down and got a ticket on the very next ferry, 11:30am.

The ride was rough when we got out into the open sea past Lantau Island and the airport. I saw several older Chinese women make their way to the back of the boat with tissues over the mouths. Sick. I was busy laughing my ass off to a Louis C.K. album I had just downloaded.

I finally arrived in Macau, got a quick cab to the Venetian and made it in time for the start of our afternoon session. Exactly 1.5 days late, 1 for Chicago fog + .5 for Typhoon Koppu. Estimated door to door travel hours including a 24 hour delay: 72 hours, what? That can't be right. I need a beer.

And what's the news out of St. Louis today? Massive flight route cuts, fewer direct flights, more transfers through Chicago's O'Delay airport. Why in the hell is getting to other places seem to be getting so much harder?

Mannequin Shop

2009-06-12T02:06:00.001-05:00

Mannequin Shop
Originally uploaded by KumamotoMark

Just reviewing some photos from Hong Kong. Thought this was one of my finest.

Heinz Field & PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

2009-06-11T15:02:00.002-05:00

View from the Club Seats
Originally uploaded by KumamotoMark

Tuesday afternoon, I had the chance to tour Heinz Field and PNC Park in downtown Pittsburgh as part of the PAFMS conference in Wheeling. Great stuff, but there were no events going on this day. The Penguins were gearing up for Game 6 across town, however.

To see all the photos on my flickr site, click on this.

Schönbrunn Schloss, Vienna

2009-05-24T17:42:00.001-05:00

Schönbrunn Schloss, Vienna
Originally uploaded by KumamotoMark

Spent a gorgeous day in various areas of Vienna. One of the finest spots was the Schönbrunn Schloss. Amazing castle and gardens.

Europe 2009 Photostream

2009-05-22T04:39:00.002-05:00

I'll be posting photos on my flickr site here.

In the mean time, enjoy a photo of a German rat enjoying a take out dinner.

Karlsruhe, Germany

2009-05-18T16:27:00.004-05:00

Some random notes on a journey from St. Lous, MO to Karlsruhe, Germany:

A co-worker Elliot and I arrived on the 8 hour flight from Chicago to Frankfurt at about 11:15am local. The baggage took quite a while to come through after waiting to get the passports stamped. So we walked down to the train station from where we would get a direct train for the two hour ride south to Karlsruhe. At precisely 11:55am, we purchased the tickets at a machine. The train we bought the tickets for was set for an 11:57am departure, little did we know the ticket machine was still a ten minute stroll from the platform.

Needless to say we missed it, so enjoyed a fine Bitburger Beer in the station before catching another train two hours later. We finally arrived in Karlsruhe at around 3:45pm. We managed to spot the street where our hotel is located on the tourist map outside the station, which was luckily a short walk away.

We checked into the Novotel then headed out for a much needed dinner at a local eatery. Some odd occurrences in Germany on a Sunday: As we were to later hear from those in the know, i.e. Germans; Germans like nothing better than to eat tons of ice cream and desserts on Sundays. We tried to eat at 4 or 5 different places, only to realize every table in the place was filled with Germans stuffing themselves with ice cream, strudels and other sweets.

German towns being exquisitely designed to be bike and pedestrian friendly, many were on the bikes enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon. Elliot and I glanced over and saw a young couple rollerblading down the street...not an altogether rare site. But in their hands, heaping scoops of ice cream in large waffle cones. This, my friends, is Germany.

More to come from the Fingerhut motherland.

48 Hours in Chiang Rai

2009-05-03T04:39:00.009-05:00

After a pretty long week of work in the hecticity that is Bangkok, I was more than ready to get on a flight that took me 1 hour North (11 hours by bus, with or w/o AC) to the small town of Chiang Rai. I'd previously visited nearby Chiang Mai, but had heard Chiang Rai was smaller, a bit more laid back and offered more access to the moutain areas.

Arriving in Chiang Rai from Bangkok aroung 8pm on Friday night,I had more than enough time to check in to a local $10 a night hotel, walk around town and find a quiet place to enjoy some Tom Yam soup, some fried rice and a cold beer (on ice, of course) along with the well needed and much deserved foot massage.

Chiang Rai offers a lot of the basic tourist stuff: trekking in the mountains, visiting indigenous hill tribes, elephant rides, visits to tea plantations and Buddhist monastaries, etc. But I was only here a short time, I wanted to see as much of Thailand's northernmost province as possible. It didn't hurt that I had basically experienced the list above in the mountains surrounding Chiang Mai a few years ago.

So Saturday morning I was up early. I arranged to rent a 125cc Honda scooter for the day. Total cost? About 6 bucks plus gas. I set out not really with a plan, just to get to the mountains off in the distance to take some windy roads at a high rate of speed. I reacquainted myself with a manual bike transmission quickly and was soon doing upwards or 100km/hr on the country roads. I followed signs to a waterfall about 20km away. Dodging slower trucks, sleepings dogs, and grazing cattle in the road, I evetually made it to the waterfall and a pretty nice lookout point on top of a mountain. I had beaten the Saturday crowds, for as I was leaving, a group of Thais, with Chang Beer in tow, made their way to the falls to enjoy a liesurely Saturday. There was also a hill tribe village/museum nearby, but I had to get on the road, no time to linger.

Having to retrace my steps back to Chiang Rai then follow a busier route north out of the city, I navigated a six lane thoroughfare whose occupants certainly didn't mind the lane restrictions. At one point, I slowed to a police checkpoint. I assumed that this being the Golden Triangle, an area that has been notorious for opium/heroin smuggling for the better part of the past fifty years, a checkpoint or two is to be expected. I was somewhat nervous as the police thoroughly checked the id and registrations of some local motorbikers ahead of me. (I didn't have my passport with me as this was the only collateral required by the gentleman who rented me the bike.) The Thai policeman took one look at me, muttered 'ah, farang' (oh, foreigner) then ushered me through the check point. The Foreigner Card, it's everywhere you want to be.

I eventually made my way to Mae Chan, a small town from which quite a few roads split off towards the mountains to the West and the Mekong River to the East. At this point I broke down and had to purchase some sunglasses from a local gas station to combat Thailand's late morning sun. I contemplated heading north for another 40km or so to the border town of Mae Sai. From Mae Sai, farangs (only) are permitted to cross into Myanmar to stamp their passports and purchase trinkets from the locals. I comtemplated doing this to get that Myanmar passport stamp (would be my second, actually, but realized I didn't even have my passport to get stamped). Plus the road to Mae Sai promised to be more of the same: busy and flat. Instead I hooked a left and headed towards the mountains.

Soon I was heading up into the foothills switching between second and third gear on the trusty Japanese made machine. I stopped off at a few roadside overlooks for some photos of the scenery. I was following a route on a map from the 1999 edition of the Lonely Planet Thailand guide book which I borrowed from my hotel for the weekend, but the map took up only a quarter of a page and was limited in its attention to detail. Secure however in the fact the all roads lead somewhere, I continued towards Mae Salong, a town with a pretty interesting history.

From LP's web site, read the full article here:

Mae Salong was originally settled by the 93rd Regiment of the Kuomintang (KMT), which fled to Myanmar from China after the 1949 Chinese revolution. After futile intermittent rearguard action against the Chinese communists, the renegades were forced to flee Myanmar in 1961 when the Yangon government decided it wouldn’t allow the KMT to remain legally in northern Myanmar. Crossing into northern Thailand with their pony caravans, the ex-soldiers and their families settled into mountain villages and re-created a society like the one they left behind in Yunnan.

The stomach started growling before I reached the town, so I turned into an interesting place called the Flower Hills Resort Mae Salong. Perched on a mountainside overlooking the hills, this place offers luxury cottages amid manicured gardens and colorful topiary. Even during lunch hour on a Saturday, I was the lone diner in an expansive dining room which I doubt gets much use these days considering Thailand's recent designation as a travel risk. Please. I enjoyed a Chinese style lunch of grilled pork, rice and a steamed bun along with some tea grown on site, while also thoroughly enjoying watching a small army of Yunnanese workers erect what looked like a new lodge at the resort.

Off once again, I took my time navigating the town of Mae Salong, noting most of the signs in Chinese even though still in Thailand. A few stores had large sheets spread out from with tea leaves drying in the sun. The smell was fantastic for a tea lover. Just before leaving town, I decided to stop at a small museum, dedicated to the Chinese martyrs of the aforementioned 93rd KMT regiment in their struggles with the Chinese communists and subsequest relocation and expulsion from Burma. This place also documented and expressed gratitude for Thailand's continued aid and dedication to make the displaced Chinese a part of Thai society.

A little low on gas, I began descending hoping to find some fuel and afternoon relief from the heat. Luckily, I managed to find both. A roadside home with a 55 gallon drum of gas out front quenched my Honda while another waterfall site allowed be a brief walk amid the locals splashing and cooling in the mountain waters. I also stumbled upon a nearly abandoned cultural village which a sign explained was built to share local cultures of inhabitants of the Mekong Valley with the rest of the world. Not a lot of sharing going on these days.

I finally made my way back to Mae Chan. The police manning the checkpoint heading back to Chiang Rai didn't do much to stop me from going through, after all it was late in a hot and humid day, plus I'm a farang. Getting back to my hotel around 5pm, I had put a total of about 200km on the scooter.

After getting refreshed for a bit and nursing some severe forearm sunburn, I headed out to the night market, where I perused the wares of both urban and rural vendors. I happily stumbled upon the dining section of the market, where I got ahold of some skewered squid, fish paste balls and a bag of fresh spring rolls. I sat down in the public square at a table with some gentlemen who were quick to offer me some of their peanut/sprout salad dishes. I think Mr. Noi explained that they were Hmong, one of the local hill tribe minorities. Fully satisfied, I soon headed back for a night's sleep.

I woke up this morning to a steady downpour. I had no plans, which was just as well with the heavy rain. I lounged and read a bit, checked the internet in the lobby, disappointed that the Bulls/Celtics game 7 didn't go into overtime. By the time the rain moved off and the sun came back, it was about 11am and I headed out to explore Chiang Rai on foot. Finding relief from the heat in a covered market, I bought a few Thailand essentials: avaiator glasses, beer t-shirts, cds of some local music, fresh pineapple and a cheap bag to carry it all. I walked the peaceful grounds of a few local monastaries and had some noodle soup at a sidewalk eatery. Ducked into a few stores and malls to cool off in the AC, but mostly just walked, looked, taking some photos as well.

Which leads me to 5:48pm. Back in the lobby using the internet, accompanied by the sound of a late afternoon downpour. An 8:20 flight to Bangkok awaits, but not before a (hopefully) delicious Thai dinner and a tuktuk ride to the airport. It's back to work in Bangkok tomorrow morning. All in all, I must say it was a most expleasurable weekend.

The Yoshino

2009-03-21T18:42:00.002-05:00

Last post was June '08. Wow, serious backsliding.

As of 1 hour ago, there is a 12ft Yoshino cherry blossom tree in my front yard. I had the inclination to have one of Japan's finest trees ever since sitting beneath the snowing petals on the grounds of Kumamoto Castle. I couldn't help but think as I bought, transported and planted the tree about all the great memories I have experienced under cherry blossom trees, whether it was with fellow gaijin laughing, drinking and enjoying spring weather, or watching one Adam Yoshida wrestle sumo style on his birthday, or enjoying a hanami with the Ishizukas or some of my teacher friends. But I also thought about the future. Sitting under my tree in the front yard a year, two three, four down the road. Joe, Michiyo, Hiroki, Lynn, Katie, mystery niece/nephew #2, 3, 4...

I read that people like to plant trees when they have a kid or on the occasion of their kid's first birthday. I guess I didn't have the excuse, just the motivation to be able to stand at my front door and watch this thing grow, bud, flower, snow, develop leaves, then lose them in the winter.

Over the next few months, it looks like I'll be going to places near and far. The short list is shaping up like this: Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Germany, Vienna, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Wheeling, West Virginia.

Perhaps there will be more posts here in the near future. Photos of the Yoshino or of Wheeling. No telling what the future holds.

The House in Dogtown

2008-06-09T21:23:00.002-05:00

Recently, I've put a contract on a house in Dogtown. My closing date is June 27th. I had the inspection last Saturday and other than a few dead Brown Recluse spiders, everything looks to be in pretty good shape.

I'm going to work on filling out all the loan information and barring any unforseen obstacles, I will soon be joining the proud ranks of American homownership.

Also, I've begun to accumulate some furniture/household items as I am basically coming into a completely empty house. I've recruited a roommate who may or may not be able to make rent every month. Any little bit helps, I suppose.

Hopefully I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can get some good ones. Stay tuned for the move in party info.

Where's the motivation?

2008-05-27T19:31:00.002-05:00

These days, I'm not extremely motivated to post very much in this space. I've beeen spending quite a bit of time house hunting, looking for that really good deal in this weak market. But I'm pacing myself, waiting for the good one, then I'll pounce on it.

Other than that, I've been hashing quite a bit and have actually been involved in founding a new hash group here in St. Louis.

I don't think i've snapped a photo with my camera since my last night in Hong Kong. I guess it's the old Asia hangover again. We'll see if I can't find some motivation this summer...

1000 Words on HK Hashing

2008-04-23T00:12:00.002-05:00

Browsing some various friends on HashSpace tonight, I came across this one from Hickey Slut. I am not sure who took this photo, but thank you whoever you are. If there is one photo that embodies the hashing experience in Hong Kong, this has to be it. Classic!

Hash #700

2008-04-21T19:56:00.004-05:00

Ajith and I set a milestone hash run last week. The Big Hump Hash House Harriers celebrated run #700. A total of 62 turned out for a nice run through South City and Tower Grove Park.

I also had some t-shirts emblazoned for the occasion. Here's what's on the back:

The Last of Hong Kong

2008-03-13T19:03:00.004-05:00

I'm now back in St. Louis and the weather is slowly warming up. I have a few photos that I had been wanting to take the whole time I was in HK, but was really motivated to get out and get the shots the last week I was there.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Hundreds of local pharmacies in Hong Kong offer a wide variety of both traditional and non traditional remedies. Walk down a particular street in Central and your nostrils will be overcome by all kinds of dried things. Antlers, squid, fish skin, bird's nest, mushrooms, fruits, roots and leaves, all dried and available in bulk to cure what ails you. These are the packaged herbal medicines displayed in a pharmacy window.

Little Shop of Buddhas

This fantastic little shop in Mongkok offers a wide variety of statues, charms and shrines. Very colorful, but not a place you want to go crazy Borat style, or even wear a large backpack and attempt to navigate the narrows aisles.

New Years Markets

In Mongkok, this shop sells all kinds of decorations in the days leading up to the Chinese new year holidays. Lots of reds and golds to bring luck and riches to Hong Kongers in the year of the Rat.

Mannequin Army

This storefront near Sham Shui Po sells plastic men and women. Every time I walked by a darkened mannequin shop, I couldn't help but look in and expect to see some movement.

Kowloon Walled City

I finally explored the park that is the former site of the Kowloon Walled City. The area has a very interesting history and some nice artifacts and ruins left over. Read more about it here.

Zingaro on Hung Hom Pier Lawn

Days after I left HK, a show was to open called Zingaro. It is some kind of performance that involves running horses, wagon trains, birds and gypsies. Here, the horses run from one tent to another. Read more about it here.

Reflecting on the Promenade, Lying

My reflection points out that there is indeed no lying allowed on the Hung Hom promenade.

TST Signal Tower

Before the days of powered clocks, ships in Victoria Harbor would look at this tower to set their navigation and timings tools with. It's also the tower that has been used to hoist the signal levels of approaching typhoons. It now sits nestled quitely quite far from the harbor obscured by massive buildings. But, unlike a lot of other historic structures of Hong Kong, it's still here.

HK Hashing: Lost in Space

My last night in Hong Kong was spent running on the Wanchai Hash. I was lucky enough to run with the Wanchai and a few others in HK. Here, I enjoy a beverage with the Hare Raiser of the Wanchai H3, Lost in Space, after my last run.

Hiroki's Arrival

2008-02-19T22:27:00.003-06:00

A young man named Hiroki has made me an Uncle today. Michiyo gave birth to a bushy headed 8 and a half pound boy this morning. True to his father's form, he arrived nearly 6 days late. The new family is doing well. Hiroki Skyler Fingerhut, welcome to the world. Congratulations Joe and Michiyo.

The Wire

2008-02-09T05:02:00.000-06:00

'Some works of art can be so precious and intimate in their appeal that you just have to own them. That impulse is what fuels the art market and, on a less exalted level, it is what keeps music collectors searching for ever purer forms of recording. Art here becomes a private affair, something special between you and it, and the rest of the world can go hang.

But the opposite effect applies too. Some experiences are so great that you want to tell the whole world about them, so that they can share your joy. In fact you can't stop talking about them. I feel that way about The Wire , HBO's devastating police series that has just started its fifth and final season in the US.'

--Financial Times, January 12, 2008

(My view of The Wire lies somewhere between those perspectives, but the fact that I'm writing this shows I lean towards the latter...There are 4 or 5 paragraphs in the article that I think are written specifically for people like me, I recommend reading the whole thing...)

I tend to be pretty picky about what I watch on television. Prior to six months ago, I would say 90 percent of what I watched on TV was either sports or something on Discover/History channels. Joey and I got into The Sopranos while living in Japan. I think like most people, tv dramas shouldn't be edited for language and content and HBO has produced some pretty good stuff.

So when I arrived in Hong Kong six months ago, I decided (with the help of references from Bill Simmons' columns on ESPN.com) that I would get into the HBO series 'The Wire'. After much searching, one of the only places to get the series is at HMV, of which there are several around the city. If what I had heard about the series was true, then shelling out a bit for the legit collection would be a decent investment.

After devouring season 1, I moved on to season 2 then of course had no choice but to go all the way. I have purchased season 4 but will wait until I get back to the US to get into it. Everything I have read about the show contains almost nothing but superlatives. I find myself searching the web on any articles about the show, interviews with directors/producers or youtubing other material on its actors. I know that if I am ever in Baltimore, I know which streets I will google and drive down (probably in daylight).

So the first paragraph above pretty much explains why I went ahead and bought seasons 1 thru 4 (and 5 when it eventually comes out). I've contemplated selling the collection when complete, but now I've realized the episodes are just as good, if not better, the second or third time around. That, I think, is the mark of a dvd worth paying for.

Travels in January: The Philippines

2008-02-06T21:47:00.000-06:00

A lot of my travels for work seem like they are to quite a few vacation destinations. Admittedly, I do my fair share of tourism and exploration in these places where I am working, but a lot of it is some pretty intense work.

So when I say I am going on vacation for two weeks, it seems like it more of the same frome me, some pictures from some places and some experiences, but it is a bit different. I get to do some full time tourism and do some things for more that just a couple hours in the evening after work.

When I flew back from two weeks of work in Bangkok, girlfriend Kristina had just arrived from St. Louis and we managed to meet the the sprawling Hong Kong airport. We spent the next few days around HK, doing a few tourist things including the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastary, hit up an obscene amount of shopping malls and fun spots.

After this, we went to Macao and secured a suite at the Venetian for two nights. We briefly partook in what the casinos had to offer, but mostly checked out the sites around Macao and enjoyed some fine Portuguese/Asian cuisine.

From there is was back to Hong Kong and a flight to Manila, Philippines the next day. We arrived in Manila then commandeered a taxi to take us through the traffic to central Manila and a cheap hotel. We explored the surronding areas, including Manila Park and the Dr. Jose Rizal memorial and historic Intramuros. Before getting an amazing dinner at local favorite Aristocrat, we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset over Manila Bay.

The next day, it was off to the nearby island of Mindoro and where we stayed on Small Lalaguna beach off Sabang in Puerto Galera. The next four days, I did four scuba dives with Asia Divers which included my first wreck dives in the amazingly clear waters nearby. Kristina occupied her time with a couple dives herself along with some shopping and beach time. I also joined the Puerto Galera Hash House Harriers for a nice jaunt through the surrounding hills and a drink or two with the local pack. (Click on this to view all the photos. I've added more desciptions in the photos themselves.)

We also explored the surrounding beaches with a chartered boat, a chartered tricycle (motorcycle + sidecar) that took us to Tamaraw Falls, along with a couple Jeepney rides.

On the last day, we took the two hour longboat ride back to Batangas and then the two hour bus ride back into Manila for our evening flight back to HK.

We wrapped up vacation with more shopping, tourist stuff along with some visits to some of my favorite places around HK. Finally, Kristina was off and I was back to work (briefly) before the Chinese New Year holidays and an impending return to the US.

Expect a Hong Kong/Asia wrap up in the near future.

Travels in January: Thailand

2008-02-06T21:31:00.000-06:00

During the month of January, I had the pleasure of spending over three weeks in the tropical environment of Southeast Asia.

My first trip took me to Bangkok for two weeks on business. While I didn't get to see much in Bangkok itself, I did have the opportunity to explore the ruins and sacred temples around Ayutthaya, about a 1.5 hour ride north of the city. I was grateful to have some local guides as well, a few of my trainees loaded me into a truck in braved the lawless roads and highways of Thailand for the trip.

We explored three main temples.
Wat Mahathat:

Wat Yai Chaimongkol:

Wat Phnan Choeng:

After two weeks of (mostly) work it was back to Hong Kong.

Philippines

2008-02-01T19:57:00.000-06:00

After one day in Manila and five in Puerto Galera, back in a frigid Hong Kong. More pictures to come, but in the mean time, here is sunset over Manila Bay, with the Bataan Peninsula to the right.

Shing Mun Redoubt: The Gin Drinker’s Line

2008-01-18T19:58:00.000-06:00

Shortly after arriving in Hong Kong, I read a very good book, Hong Kong by Jan Morris. The book itself was a very good look at the current state of things in the city, and deftly related modern events and customs to Hong Kong’s short but tumultuous history. It is in this book that I first learned of the prodigious ruins located in the hills around Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. I had previously explored several of these redoubts including Devil’s Peak, Pinewood Battery and a couple others.

As the Japanese moved in to the New Territories to the North of Hong Kong in 1942-43, the British (along with Scottish and Indian Rajput troops) manned a ridgeline that stretched from the Peal River Delta in the West all the way over to Lei Yue Mun in Southern Kowloon. It is on this ridgeline that most of the ruins and redoubts are found.

In the end, the British troops did not put up much of a fight, giving up the line in a matter of days. There were reports of some fighting and casualties though, as the troops hastily retreated to the temporary safety of Hong Kong Island.

One of the most complex series of caves, foxholes and pillboxes is located on a hill called Smuggler’s Ridge overlooking Hong Kong’s highest mountain, Tai Mo Shan. Just below the highest point of this hill, a few steps off the Wilson Trail, one can find the well maintained ruins of the Shing Mun Redoubt, or The Gin Drinker’s Line.

I had done some cursory research via the web on what this system of tunnels looks like, what kind of access your average weekend explorer could get and it looked remarkably easy to get into. The only challenge is getting there, as it is not located very near a train or bus line. So on what would be one of my last free Saturdays that I would spend in Hong Kong, I set out early in the a.m. after a jet lag induced early awakening.

Since I had about seven hours of daylight at my disposal and ample energy, I decided to take the train to the nearest station and hoof it from there. I walked from Mei Foo Station and headed up into the hills. After an hour of walking, I was delighted to find myself at the base of an amazing set of high rise apartments built on the peak of a hill and that were featured in one scene of the iconic movie Koyanisqaatsi, which I had also been meaning to get up here and check out:

Continuing on, I wandered through a few squatter’s villages. It’s pretty crazy to see how people can erect illegal housing in the hills a couple hundred meters from super expensive luxury housing. Posted all over the place are signs that say something like “Warning: Land in this area is subject to landslip during heavy rain and typhoons. Some structures have been designated for clearance…” And yet year after year, these squatters continue to build up their rent free abodes.

Coming over another hill, I found myself at a peak with a reservoir several kilometers to my right and another several kilometers to my left. I knew that the Shing Mun Redoubt was located in the hills above a reservoir, so I had to pick the right one. Thanks to some friendly locals feasting on bowls of noodles in a hilltop ranger station, they pointed me to the correct reservoir. After some more hiking, I was on the McClehose Trail, the 100km hiking trail in the New Territories of HK. Every year, teams of four people set out on the trail and don’t stop walking/running until they finish 18 to 30 hours later. A relay? Nope, the team of four must stay together and finish together. Hardcore!

Soon I reached the Wilson Trail and before long, I reached the entrance of what I had been looking for, unceremoniously marked by this sign:

I explored the tunnels for the next half hour and was delighted to be completely alone, the lone person in a city of 8 million interested in checking out living history on a perfect Saturday in January:

These tunnels were built in the years leading up to the start of World War 2 and were meant to be the last line of defense for any invasions launched by the Japanese from mainland China. The Shing Mun Redoubt consists of intertwining and connecting tunnels. Each one has a unique name, most of which correspond to famous streets in London. You will find on the walls colorful names such as Piccadilly, Oxford, Shaftesbury, Haymarket, Charring Cross, all of which are the original engravings:

The tunnels are surprisingly clean and well kept, as I was expecting garbage and a strong urine smell at least. Some tunnels are dead ends as decades of mud deposits have blocked access. Using the torch I had brought along for this purpose, I ducked through every branch of the complex I could get to, then went above ground. One of the reasons this fortress fell so easily to the Japanese were the shafts that led straight down to the tunnels that were seemingly made for tossing in a grenade:

Finally, I headed back down the Wilson Trail and was soon upon the dangerously low Shing Mun Reservior:

Instead of turning back from whence I came, I got back on the McClehose trail, then scaled the 500m+ Needle Hill, then back down the hill to Sha Tin and a train ride home. In all, this was about a five hour hike and I estimated that I covered about 20km. Due to severe chafing on account of the hike, I was doubtful for the third installment of the King of the Hills Mountain Marathon series the next day. But I managed to get ahold of some much needed Vaseline and finished the tough 14km course on Lantau Island in a blazing 2:06. Well, at least the temperature was blazing if my time wasn’t.

Stitching it Up

2008-01-08T08:50:00.000-06:00

A panorama of Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong Territory's tallest mountain.

Sayonara to Asia in 2008

2008-01-04T06:37:00.000-06:00

After arriving back in Hong Kong last night after a crazy holidays in St. Louis, I am again off to Bangkok Monday morning. I will be there for two weeks working, then a two week vacation here in Hong Kong and the Philippines, then returning to the US in mid February. We will see how much time I have to post during this time, but in the mean time, please enjoy a low-quality time lapse video taken from my window of the comings and goings in Victoria Harbor at Hung Hom.

Stitch for Christmas

2007-12-26T15:34:00.000-06:00

I have a new toy. I got a web cam from my brother and included was some basic photo software that includes Stitch! Basically, what it does is allow you to create panoramas out of multiple photos. I was just messing around with it on some photos I'd already taken and managed to create a decent one. This is a view from Tai Mo Shan, near the summit of Hong Kong's highest mountain.

(Not Quite) King of the Hills

2007-12-12T23:26:00.000-06:00

On November 25th, I joined the first of five winter marathons around the Hong Kong area. The series is called King of the Hills and is organized by an area hasher. Each day consists of a full and half marathon on primarily off road mountain trails.

I ran the first one (half) in Sai Kung in a blistering 2:25. I am skipping this Sunday's run on account of the yearly Santa Hash that's quite a big deal. I should be able to make it to the other ones.

Hip Hop Sketches

2007-12-11T08:12:00.001-06:00

flat_hhh_round3_sketches_03_big
Originally uploaded by rigo_crz
Browsing Flickr, I just found this set of amazing sketches of classic Hip Hop artists and groups.

A Phrase Worth Using

2007-12-10T21:39:00.000-06:00

When used to describe early Rome, the world’s first city to crack one million residents, “Megalopolitan Elephantiasis” means a total loss of human scale (Kotkin, 2005). The phrase was originally coined by Lewis Mumford (The City in History [New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1961], p. 237). This source also describes it as “purposeless materialism” and a “penchant for tall buildings, dense housing and mass entertainments that make life frantic and choked”.

By modern standards, Rome could hardly be accused of still having these ills. Obviously ancient Rome and modern Hong Kong have stark differences; I can’t help but think of Hong Kong when I read the above definition of “Megalopolitan Elephantiasis”. (By the way, does anyone else think this is one of the coolest phrases you’ve ever heard?)

Hong Kong most definitely has a penchant for tall buildings, unbelievably dense housing and mass entertainments in the form of horse racing, sporting venues, crazy shopping areas, a sprawling bar/club/brothel scene, not to mention the burgeoning casinos across the water in Macau. I suppose you could describe almost any of the world’s most populous cities in the same way.

Whereas ancient Romans had to deal with less developed sewage and water delivery systems and poor transportation, Hong Kong does not have these issues and in fact has a fantastic transport system. I don’t often get the feeling that my life here is “frantic and choked” when getting out to the beautiful hills and mountains around the city is only a 20 minute train ride away.

Another aspect of Hong Kong that I find particularly interesting is the amount of reclaimed land here. While Japan has revolutionized land reclamation by nearly doubling the size of metropolitan Tokyo, Hong Kong has not done so badly for itself over the years. Early on, it was the old Kai Tak Airport that was built jutting out into Victoria Harbor (actually lengthened during Japanese occupation). When airport traffic outgrew Kai Tak, a massive new island rose out of the sea near Lantau Island to become Hong Kong International Airport, one of the largest on the planet. The famous Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon was formerly directly on the waterfront, but it now separated by a six lane road, an art museum and an office building.

Most notably, reclamation in the Central and Wan Chai districts have provided several square miles of new real estate which is up there with the most valuable properties in the world. The graphic below illustrates just how much of the harbor has been encroached upon. (via Wikipedia, 1842 – Present. The final peninsula pointing into the bay is the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, woohoo!).

Click on the image for the animation

As we speak, massive construction boats are pumping millions of tons of rock, sand and soil into the waterfront between Central and Wan Chai to create a brand new waterfront promenade.

Does Hong Kong have a wicked case of “Megalopolitan Elephantiasis”? It can be debated, but I think stronger candidates would be the exploding Shanghai or Beijing to the North.

So Much Drama on Google Maps

2007-12-07T23:02:00.000-06:00

Wild video from Slate:

Wanchai H3, Setting the Trail

2007-12-02T08:02:00.000-06:00

Fei Ngo Shan.

If you are ever in Hong Kong, make your way over to the East side of Kowloon and have a look at a few places. One of those is Devil's Peak, see the previous post. The other is Fei Ngo Shan.

Tonight, I had the opportunity to set the trail for the Wanchai Hash House Harriers. Lost in Space, the hareraiser for this run, had recruited me for this particular mission, imploring me to pick out a good trail, find a nice restaurant for the On On and make all of the above somewhat interesting. So I had a fantastic spot in mind. On the East side of HK Island, there is a great area call Chai Wan. It's quite suburban, many mountains and trails, graveyards which are quite interesting in HK, pretty much the perfect place to set a trail. Perfect in every way...

Except that we ran there the week before. Two weeks ago, when Haggis said that he was setting next week's run in Chai Wan, I had a moment of panic, followed by the necessary feeling of wanting to explore somewhere new. So I got on google maps. Pretty much every run needs to be adjacent to an MTR (subway) Station. I found a station with an abnormal amount of green around it: Choi Hung. Choi Hung?

I woke up at 7:15 on Sunday A.M. and left the house to set this running trail. I momentarily thought about watching the Nets/Sixers game on at 8:30, but luckily gave it up (although VC with 24 off the bench would've been fun to see). I got out there, threw down the trail all along the way, through fences, up hills, around corners, over rises, up rivers, everywhere that I had previously planned out. The trail here consists of flour, plus red and green chalk. The day before, I had nearly stepped on some kind of 6ft black snake and reluctantly continued on.

So on this night, my job was to give the runners a brief explanation of the trail and set them off the the right direction. Also, I had to organize satisfactory alcohol drinking for 30 of my closest friends in Hong Kong. Hence the reason for early arrival; I was dutifully assisted by Twin Peaks, and we managed to carry 6 slabs of beer up the (236) stairs to the start. (1 slab = 24 beers).

As the pack returned to the start, I was relieved to hear retorts of 'Good trail' and 'Nice Rambos' and 'Well Done'. I'd managed to get it done, set an interesting trail through some unexplored (by the WH3) parts of Hong Kong. After a fantastic circle with quite a few awards handed out to yours truly, Caligula knew of a nice place to get some food and drink.

We walked to the grub and had a great feast for relatively cheap too. It is pretty nice when your hash works out and people are generally satisfied with the evening. It's even better when I hear the random hasher say, "Good trail, I'd never really seen any of those trails before." Truly a phrase rarely uttered in this corner of China.

On on to the next well done trail.

Hacked Hardware

2007-11-29T20:05:00.000-06:00

Up until now in Hong Kong, I've used a very cheap cel phone, quite thick, not a lot of features and generally outdated. But yesterday, Sunny, my coworker, worked some hacker magic and somehow unlocked my TMobile phone that I use in the states. I am now recieving calls to my HK number with my US phone. As a bonus, it's not a contractual thing like in the US, I pay as I go.

Thanksgiving Bullets

2007-11-22T09:45:00.000-06:00

The American holiday of Thanksgiving is a work day in Hong Kong. A turkey dinner would have really hit the spot, but I settled for a steaming bowl of spicy beef ramen at my local Ajisen. Not a whole lot going on, just a few thoughts rollin' around in ol' duder's head lately:

-In Thailand, I purchased a less than reputable copy of the movie Babel. Apparently it was burned from a Thai DVD, as some of the graphic scenes were edited or blurred out. Plus, every time someone drank alcohol or smoked something, a Thai warning appeared at the top of the screen. Until I can find out a proper translation, I will assume it is something like, "Please refrain from emanating the behavior you see displayed here. These are professional actors whose questionable morals allow them to act in such a way. Shame on you for watching them. Long live the King."

-Following the NBA via the internet is not the best, but it's better than nothing. We are at the point of the season where the talking heads offer their biggest surprises/disappointments of the season so far. My dad, brother and I each offered analysis of the upcoming season a few weeks back and my pick was none other than the Orlando Magic. I flipped on ESPN World this morning and NBA Fast Break was on. A segment where the commentators picked the biggest surprises so far came on and Jamal Mashburn picked, yes, the Orlando Magic. As of today, they are 10-3. They stayed with the Spurs in San Antonio today, but couldn't keep up in the 4th quarter.

-A week from Sunday, the Wanchai Hash Hourse Harriers will set off on a run on a trail that I've set. I am the nominated Hare. I was slightly stressed last week when both of the locations I was planning on running in were used very recently in trails we ran, so me recycling them on my run is not an option. So I flipped on Google maps and picked a subway station with a lot of green around it: Choi Hung.

- Choi Hung: A few hours of work wrapped up and I left my house and got a bus out to the area. I had been out here a few days earlier and inspected some good trails. It gets dark around 6pm these days, so when I hopped up on a rise and followed a trail up into the trees, it was only about 4:45 and I had plenty of time. Although I was on the slopes on Fei Ngo Shan, a 600 meter peak overlooking Kowloon and the Harbor, I had no intention of going up. I expected to follow the trail, cut across a contour path/catchwater and head down another trail. Funny things happen when climbing. The higher you go, the closer you get to the top. Turning around means you have to follow the same path you just came up. So I go up, and up, getting near the top, over a rise, still more to go, going. Then I am on the ridge, and it's 5:20 with a stiff breeze. I can see the sun setting over Lantau Island to the West and Sai Kung's to the East, the skyscrapers of Central right over there. But the sun's going down and the path down is steep. I head along the ridge path for a while looking for another trail down. There is a satellite/electrical tower at the very top. I expect there to be a road leading up to it, and I will take the boring but safe road route down. Once I get up to the tower, I find a helicopter pad, no road. Uh oh. They built all this with no roads. So my only option is a steep path down in the accelerating dark. This way, no, another dead end. 5:25. Here it is, going down. Don't bust ankle, you'll never get down. The tops of the high rises getting closer. I hear traffic, closer. Dead tired. I am regretting not bringing water. Legs like jelly. I hit the tree line. Concrete steps, then there it is, a cistern with clean mountain water. 5:45.

-Tomorrow evening, I will go to the Hong Kong Indian Club to enjoy some Lawn Bowling. I had no idea what this was until two days ago. Teams are divided by nationality and another Sepo Yank was needed to complete the American team, so I stepped up. I will dutifully sip a brew, puff a cigar, and enjoy a fine white collar sport with some fellow khakied gentlemen. Cheers.

-Monday morning I will be heading to the company office in Guangzhou for some meetings and training. After so much time in Hong Kong, I can't wait to go to mainland China.

Back to Turtle Island

2007-11-14T06:32:00.001-06:00

After a week of work in suburban Bang Na, I left the offices of my client at 5:30 Friday and after a two hour, 200 Baht (~6 dollar) taxi ride to the Bangkok city center highlighted by a 14 minute red light (no malfunction, no joke; welcome to Bangkok!).

I hopped on a double-decker luxury bus for the seven hour overnight ride due south to the ferry terminal at Chumporn. Chumporn sits on the Gulf of Thailand, where ferries move tourists and locals alike to the scenic islands of Ko Tao, Ko Phangan and Ko Samui. Due to my budgetary constraints, familiarity with the place and the super accessible dive sites, Ko Tao was my destination.

Now I am by no means a salted seaman; I am by now a veteran of quite a few ferry rides here in Hong Kong, the Mediterranean, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and various other areas. Some of these ferry rides were quite rough, but never have I been more seasick than I got on the two hour ferry from Chumporn to Ko Tao. Whether it was the movie with Dane Cook/Jessica Simpson working in Costco playing on the boat or the massive bouncing waves, we may never know. I joined a few like minded tourists doubled over the rail in the back of the boat miserably hacking up a lung waiting to spot the island.

A bit of rain fell as I jumped in the back of a pickup and hitched a ride to the accommodation I had arranged. I was told that it had rained pretty much the last 14 days in Ko Tao and that was pretty evident by the flooded roads, the rutted out paths and general massive erosion. Because of this, I was worried about the prospects for decent diving and enjoyment of this tropical paradise.

The next few days could not have turned out better weather-wise. Saturday, the day I arrived, I spent the afternoon doing two dives with my instructor James from the UK. He reviewed my basic scuba skills then we had a nice fun dive at White Rock. After a baking hike over the mountain ridge to a secluded beach for a swim the next morning, I was out on the boat again, this time with another Brit Simon, highlighted by a cool swim through (basically swimming through an underwater tunnel).

My third and final day of diving on Monday consisted of a couple more dives with James in some choppy water. We submerged to thirty meters and saw some pretty nice sea life. Overall, the water was cloudier than it had been when I visited here about the same time of year two years ago. It could have been due to the rain, or the sea currents, or any number of factors. I also had wanted to fit in a night dive, but that was cancelled due to lack of visibility in the water. In any case, it was great to get back underwater and regain some skills I first learned two years ago.

In the evenings, I generally found a good restaurant to relax in, happy to pull up a pillow mat/bean bag, eat some Pad Thai and entertain myself watching pirated DVDs publicly shown at the restaurant before turning in early for a ten hour nap.

On rainy Tuesday morning, I hopped back in the back of the truck, got to the ferry terminal and the thankfully calmer seas. A short ride to Ko Samui and one of the coolest airports in the world (think outdoors, breezy, supremely laid back with free snacks and drinks). I flew back to Bangkok in time for my return flight to Hong Kong. A nice autumn getaway.

Click on this to see my Flickr set of photos from the weekend.

I could not be happier that I have found in Hong Kong medicine to help me treat all of the 87 mosquito bites that I recieved courtesy of my flying friends of Southern Thailand: MOPIDICK!!!

The Signs of Hong Kong

2007-10-31T06:48:00.000-05:00

I rather enjoy looking at signs in whatever non-English speaking country I am in. Whether it's the loosely translated English or the artful display of Kanji or a combination of both, it's always fun to look at. Click here for a few more. A few from here in Hong Kong, a few other countries and even the states.

One of my favorites from Cambodia:

Full of Redoubt

2007-10-26T01:11:00.000-05:00

Hong Kong's history as a British colony has ensured it has an interesting personality with some excellent areas to explore especially for someone interested in World War 2 history such as yours truly. Throughout various high mountain areas of Hong Kong, one can find these ruins, know as Redoubts in various states of disrepair and neglect. Some of the more well known ones include the Shing Mun Redoubt on the Gin Drinker's Line, the Pinewood Battery and Devil's Peak Redoubt.

I recently explored the last of these three, way up on Devil's Peak. The area is quite accessible, only about a 25 minute walk from the Yau Tong train stop. Hardly any of the sprawling compound is closed or sealed off. Provided you have a decent flashlight and don't mind getting dirty and meeting some friendly subterranean reptiles, you too can crawl through foxholes once occupied by the British, Indian Rajputs and Japanese troops. What I really like about these areas is that they are not meant to be tourist attractions, just areas that seem to have been forgotten.

Click here to browse all the photos I took in, around and under the fortress.

Looking Out My Windows

2007-10-25T01:55:00.000-05:00

The apartment building I live in is relatively new in Hong Kong, so it tends to be pretty nice. One of its nicest features are the large windows. It also helps I live on the 21st floor. Every morning I wake up, open my bedroom door and see this:

Then I turn to my left and check out the progress being made on a new set of buildings. As the workers work towards completion, I often sit and watch them straddling the Bamboo scaffolds as the peel away all the layers.

Evening on the Praya

2007-10-14T11:06:00.000-05:00

After a nice run in Central, HK tonight, I headed back home while the Symphony of Lights was taking place. A tourist infection no doubt. I'm allowed say that since I am a resident of this place. Here is the Avenue of Stars:

Here are a few more that I took this fine evening.

An Argument for Guns?

2007-10-04T09:32:00.000-05:00

For as long as I have been alive, I have been anti-gun across the board. The level of violence in the states is almost unparalleled in the world thanks to the lax laws regarding who is allowed to own or buy a gun. The law cannot touch many gun owners, who go about acquiring arms illegally.

A daily routine of mine is to log on to the St. Louis Post Dispatch's web site, STL Today.com, and peruse the headlines. Almost without exception, there is a story of someone gunned down, a bullet riddled body found or some other terrible gun crime. It's never made much sense to allow this to go on.

Then comes this recent quote from a man in Burma:

"I really want change - but they have guns and we don't, so they'll always win."

--from this article on BBC

I've followed the violence in Burma quite closely over the past few weeks. The once promising peaceful protests of monks and civilians has spiraled into sickening violence on the part of the military and thugs. Among the sad, sad stories that are struggling to make their way past the iron media curtain imposed by the government: protesters mercilessly gunned down in the street; cars pulled over and occupants beaten and incarcerated; praying monks beaten and incarcerated; monasteries being raided and trashed with monks being sent to rural prison camps; civilians' homes invaded at 3am and occupants dragged out and incarcerated; international media being intimidated and physically denied from filing reports; people coming home from work struggling to breathe amidst the tear gas used by the military; sons and daughters abducted by the military unable to be located by parents; the internet being completely shut down in the country to prevent news of the terror being imposed reaching the outside world.

I cannot help but think: what if this country allowed its citizens to own guns? Would these travesties still be happening? Would the violence that would occur as people fought back result in thousands of deaths? Is this the reason our founding fathers in the US ensured citizens should always be allowed to own guns? Is violence the only answer in this situation? Does gun ownership in a country cause more violence or does it protect its citizens from brutal regimes abusing and enslaving the population? Is the NRA on to something???

We may never know.

Burma vs Myanmar

2007-09-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

While what the country should be referred to as is up for discussion, violence has begun there.

Apparently the government has shut down the internet and most phone communication coming out of the country within the last 24 hours. It is scary to think what they have in store that they do not want the rest of the world to see. Just tonight, one of the local news channels here in Hong Kong showed footage from yesterday of the miltary attacking protesters and bystanders. The video shows a man getting shot at point blank range as he fled the rushing troops. Apparently this man was a Japanese reporter, Kenji Nagai, a veteran reporter of many war zones and conflict areas. He's not alone. The latest reports speculate many casualties, including monks.

While the government attempts to block any news of what is happening inside the country, it is more diffilcult to do than in 1988, when 3,000 were killed with very little news of the violence reaching the outside world. The world has changed. The same technology that allows me to ramble on here also plays host to this blog belonging to Ko Htike, a gentleman from (Burma) currently in London (as reported on...drumroll...CNN.com). He is using his sources in the country to get photos, accounts and news to the outside world. If you take one minute to just look at this site to see what the Burmese government so badly wants to hide, then this guy is making a difference.

Unfortunatley, it looks like things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

***UPDATE: Found another web site that is posting some recent photos. I must warn that this link and the above contain some very graphic photos. Use your discretion.

City Viewing in Asia

2007-09-25T08:56:00.000-05:00

Comparing Hong Kong and Singapore, I find that Singapore has remained truer to its roots architecturally than has Hong Kong. I think a lot more older building have been preserved here while Hong Kong has scrapped the old for new skyscrapers. The historic buildings are there in Hong Kong for sure, but they are fewer and further between.

Here are a few more from a couple nights walking the city.

Singapore Commerce

2007-09-24T08:44:00.000-05:00

Currently in Singapore. My hotel overlooks the burgeoning port and endless container docks. I feel like I am watching Modern Marvels on the Discovery Channel.
From satellite image on Google:

View Larger Map

Monks on the March

2007-09-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

The drama continues in Myanmar. I am fascinated by it all. The protests in pictures.

Myanmar: A New Day Coming?

2007-09-22T08:20:00.000-05:00

The past few days, I've been following an intriguing set of events taking place in Myanmar. While CNN dot com is filled with Britney, OJ and other nonsense, the BBC has done a great job with coverage. Even better local coverage here.

In a nutshell: Recently, there have been some incidents where the ruling military dictatorship has incarcerated and held some local Buddhist monks. In addition, the monks are protesting a government policy that doubled gas prices overnight without warning (And we thought we had it rough in the US). While the government has been incarcerating and abusing its civilian citizens for years, it has always respected the monks in this extremely devout Buddhist nation. So in response, the Buddhist monks have gathered and marched peacefully the past six days. Each day, the numbers of protesting monks grows and fortunatley so far, there has been no violence.

Past tactics the government has used to combat civilian protests is to hire goon squads to intimidate and even violently break up any kind of protests inlcuding holding protesters indefinitely. The amazing thing that is happening now is that these are not civilian protests. The throngs of monks that have been forming these demonstrations have even, until recently, discouraged ordinary citizens from joining them to avoid the certain violence that would come with it.

Another development is the monks were allowed to march to the house of detained democracy activist and leader Aung San Suu Kyi. She even came out and showed her support for the monks.

Normally something like this is so far from my consciousness that the story remains a headline on a web site. However, this is different. When I was in Myanmar, I visited the Shwedagon Pagoda, which is the focal point for many of the protests. At the Pagoda, I met a monk and talked at length with him. He invited me to speak at the school where he was based. After that, we spent the afternoon together, him asking me about Western culture, discussing religion and life. When I caught my flight later that day, he gave me a blessing. I imagine he is joining in these protests and I wish for his safety along with a positive outcome for the people of Myanmar.

Asashoryu on the Skids

2007-09-19T08:51:00.001-05:00

Sumo is in trouble. That is, according to the BBC.

During my three years in Japan, I got into Sumo a bit. There is not really a Sumo season, as the two week tournaments are held during the odd months of the year. Soon after I first arrived in Japan in 2002, a young Mongolian was just establishing himself as a Yokozuna, the highest ranking in the sport. For the next three years, I followed each Sumo Basho on tv when I could and even attended a match in Fukuoka.

It was the final day of the 2003 November Tournament and Joey and I road tripped for the afternoon and got two scalped tickets outside the taikan. We watched all the matches leading up to the final match which pitted the heavily favored Asashoryu against Tochiazuma. Both were 12-2 leading up the final match of the 15 day tournament, the winner taking the title. It was a fairly short match as Tochiazuma overpowered Asashoryu and pushed him out for the upset championship. Joey and I stood up in our cramped booth as we joined the crowd in showering the champion with the seat cushions we had been sitting on. It was an amazing thrill, perhaps the Japanese equivalent of being almost courtside at the NBA championship.

The thing about Sumo is that it is not very popular at all with the Japanese population under 50. There is so much tradition with the sport that it seems like the youth don't have time for it. Plus the mainstream international sports are becoming ever more popular. (One exception is some rural high schools in Kyushu. I had several friends who worked at schools where the Sumo program was healthy and churned out some fine young talent.)

And now the trouble with one of the all time greatest Sumo wrestlers, Asahsoryu, the aforementioned young Mongolian. As he has racked up Sumo titles the past five years, there have been several instances where he has broken certain rules or traditions and has upset the omnipotent Japan Sumo Assiciation. The final straw was when he recently participated in a charity soccer game back in Mongolia while he had withdrawn from a previous tournament due to injury. His punishment from the JSA was a two tournament ban. Unfortunately, unable to do what he loves, Asashoryu battled depression and was recommended by his doctors to return to Mongolia for recuperation.

So Sumo's best Yokozuna is now in Mongolia and scandal is rife in the Sumo world. What will happen next? Will another young Mongolian, Hakuho, step up and become the dominant figure in the sport? Will Asashoryu triumphantly return to regain his position on top? Will Japan ever warmly accept a foreigner as its dominant poster boy? Will Sumo survive or will it have to abandon its traditions and deep rooted history in order to remain competetive with other sports? It should be interesting to watch.

Hong Kong - Getting Around the City

2007-09-16T07:40:00.000-05:00

With five weeks under my belt in Hong Kong, I have had a chance to get out on the weekends and check out some pretty nice areas. Weekdays are spent in Macao in the daily grind of work, and I have not had a day off since arrival. So Saturdays and Sundays are more valuable than ever and I try to make the most of them. Another change of lifestyle coming from STL is that my weekend nights are not spend out on the town, so I usually manage to rise at a reasonable hour. Here is how my weekends usually break down:

Saturday AM, get up and do any errands that need to get done: recharge my phone credit, laundry, get any necessities, toiletries, food, etc., pick out an interesting place on the map whether it is on HK Island or in the New Territories, go to that place, walk a lot, explore, wear myself out then get back early evening to cook some food and have a relaxing evening at home. Sunday AM, work on my timesheet, expense reports, various work odds and ends. Maybe have a nap, or call back to the US. The Wanchai Hash on Sunday starts at 4pm sharp, so I leave myself plenty of time to find buses, trains, ferries, or any method of transport that I need to get there.

The list of places I have explored already is a short one, but quite varied in what each place has to offer. The photos I have posted so far include some of these places, but I'd like to point out an amazingly valuable and underrated tool I use to get a feel for where I'm going: Google Maps.

As an exercise, if you are a person with ample free time, or one that has access to the internet at work and lots of time to (ab)use it, plug in any of these places in the above web site, click on Hybrid, then zoom to the smallest level of detail possible. Crazy, that technology is. These are places I have checked out so far, whether on my own or with a well-planned Hash run or with the hiking group TWATS (Trail Walkers Are Tired Soles) Hong Kong.

Aberdeen
Chai Wan/Big Wave Bay
Kennedy Town
Mui Wo/Chueng Sha/Lantau Island
Plover Cove Country Park
Pok Fu Lam
Sai King
Yuen Long

One week more in Macao, then off to Singapore.

Pro on Flickr

2007-09-06T10:04:00.000-05:00

I just dropped a bit of cash to go Pro on flickr.com. Why? The main reason is that every photo you have ever uploaded there is saved, however if you are not pro, only 200 of your most recent photos are available. The minute you drop some cash, all of them come back. I now have 480 photos online. Just had the chance to revisit a few. A fellow hasher recently told me there is a cheap flight from Macao to Yangon, Myanmar. Considering I took this set in Myanmar, I am quite tempted to get back. What an amazing country. I was last there in Autumn, 2005.

I've also always enjoyed flickr's layout and way of browsing. Here is a page that lists all of my photo tags in quite an interesting way.

Macao: Portugal in Asia

2007-09-05T09:11:00.001-05:00

Aerial Venetian

2007-09-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

After work, I climbed a nearby hill and got a bird's eye view of the Venetian complex and nearby constuction sites. The road at left is the Cotai Strip, along which most of the casinos will be/are being built. Just to the left of the road is The City of Dreams construction site along with another Sands resort.

From Kowloon to Wanchai to Chaiwan to Big Wave Bay and Back

2007-09-01T23:57:00.000-05:00

When I woke up Saturday, I saw that it was the nicest day I've seen in HK in the three weeks I've been here. Few clouds in the sky and more importantly, it was not smoggy or foggy at all. I had no trouble seeing across the bay to HK Island and all the way to the top of the peaks.

I decided to take advantage and do a bit of hiking along with a visit to a beach to cool down. I made the short walk from my apartment to the Hung Hom ferry terminal where I hopped on the Star Ferry to cross over to Wanchai.

Upon arriving in Wanchai, I get on the MTR train to Chaiwan. Wanchai station is rather interesting color-wise with lime green tiles on the walls and floors.

Once in Chaiwan, I have to make the 4km hike up and over Cape Collinson to get to the beach at Big Wave Bay. For about an hour, I am climbing stairs that look like this.

Quite taxing on a hot day. Nearing the top, there is actually a spring that emits drinkable water. How do I know it's drinkable? When I was here last week, an old guy was filling up huge tanks here and communicated that I was crazy to think I couldn't drink it. So I filled up my bottle and continued.

Near the top of the Cape, there is a pretty nice view looking back on Chaiwan. Just an amazingly clear day.

Going over the crest of the hill, all the high rises disappear and what's left is an almost unspoiled view of mountains, islands and the coast.

Right on the tip of the Cape, they have constructed Cape Collinson Correctional Institute. I can't think this is anything but a white collar retreat for some embezzling businessmen of Hong Kong. Very nice indeed.

Finally, I descend enough to get a view of where I am going, Big Wave Bay. Although I am slightly disappointed it is so crowded today, can't blame others for taking advantage of an awesome day. It's a great feeling to take off my sweat soaked shirt and hat and jump in the cool waters of the Pacific. After a short swim, it's another two hour hike over the mountains on a different trail back to Chaiwan, the train, the ferry then home.

In Bangkok Limbo

2007-08-28T08:48:00.000-05:00

The other times I've been to Bangkok, it's a taxi from the airport to Kao San Rd. Not so this time. This week I have the pleasure of working in the Bang Na district of the city, which is a good 20 - 30km outside the center of the city. It's a lot like being in the suburbs of most large American cities. Not a lot to see and not a lot of places a pedestrian can easily get to. Unfortunately I probably won't be able to make it to a hash this week because work pretty much goes until 6:30 or 7. All I want to do after is get something to eat and take it easy. Unfortunatly, none of the restaurants in the hotel I am staying in offers Thai cuisine and there isn't much to walk to.

Oh yeah, and youtube is blocked anywhere in Thailand. Apparently, folks were posting videos denigrating the King, and well, that's a no no.

And as I sit in Bangkok, the Venetian Macao is officially opening today. Here are some snippets:

AP story
CNN Video

Hong Kong from a Doubledecker Bus

2007-08-25T09:26:00.000-05:00

With not much else to do today, I walked down to the Hung Hom Ferry pier and got on a random doubledecker bus. I had no idea where it was going, but was gonna ride it til the end, then check out that place. It first snaked through Kowloon, then headed north over the bridge into the New Territories. Finally, it arrived in Yuen Long, a smaller suburb located near the mainland border. I walked around a bit, checked out a Pagoda/birdhouse in Yuen Long Park, then got on the train for the return trip.

During the ride, I took a few shots from the top deck of the bus. Here are a couple I like, then here are the rest.

The Price of Travel

2007-08-23T08:39:00.000-05:00

Packing up and moving to a new country or taking off on the road for an extended vacation is naturally tough on the body. Could be the drastic change in the time zones, changes in the diet, new experiences, the stress of living out of a suitcase, the environment, or even not being around the people you enjoy spending time with. I'm currently in the midst of a wicked cold, perhaps brought on by any of the above. I am not complaining though. Work requires longer hours and is quite challenging so far. I've been mostly eating Chinese food, but have recently switched it up with some Japanese and Portuguese here in Macao. The average American burger is a long way from here, and I am delighted. Once I kick this cold, I'll be once again enjoying life in Asia no doubt.

One amazing fact that I learned recently: For all gambling revenue in Las Vegas, the US government taxes 7%. In Macao, the Chinese government will be taxing 40%!!! Recently, Macao overtook Vegas in Casino revenue (gambling only). Macao-8 billion, Vegas-7 billion. Scary to think that the largest Casinos here have yet to open or still exist only on the architect's drawing board. Quite a long way from the Indiana State Fair.

The Bountiful Concrete Gardens

2007-08-20T09:18:00.000-05:00

The gardens around Hong Kong continue to bear marvelous fruit. A massive complex rises in the Hung Hom Bay area on Kowloon. (Check out the full size image to see the massive scale.)

Bookmobile Macao

2007-08-16T07:52:00.000-05:00

Here is your typical bookmobile in Macao. Forget walking into the back of a trailer to browse for books. Just walk up to the side of the truck and grab one.

1,800,000,000 > 535,000,000

2007-08-16T07:37:00.000-05:00

The price of the brand new Venetian Macao is over three times the amount the state of Missouri is spending on totally revamping highway 40 in metro St. Louis. This actually provides a bit more perspective to the scale of what they are doing here, especially if you are familiar with what a big project highway 40 is. While the materials they are building with at the Venetian (marble, glasswork, paintings, tile, etc.) are the finest money can buy, the labor is quite cheap relatively speaking. So basically this project in the states or Europe would likely be even more.

Not only do they expect to draw massive amounts of people from mainland China, this is also where they are pulling most of the labor from. I've heard anywhere from 12,000 to 20,000 employees when operating at full capacity. And I venture to think how many years it will take for the Venetian to move into the black on the entire project. My guess? Not long. Scary.

The Venetian Macau

2007-08-15T06:36:00.000-05:00

A couple more from the Venetian. Click for the full size. Grand Opening is August 28th.

The Venetian Macau, A Sneak Peek

2007-08-14T09:16:00.001-05:00

Some random dude from the internet put up some photos of the yet to be opened Venetian Casino Macau. Just incredible. Here is one. It looks like it's the corridor from the lobby onto the Casino floor. I will check back to see if he posts any more the next few days...

Typhoon Arrival

2007-08-13T09:25:00.000-05:00

I arrived in Hong Kong on Friday night in the midst of a mild typhoon. Just a bit of rain is all, not too bad. No delays on the flights, but I had to wait an hour for a taxi in Tsim Sha Tsui. Saturday I did a bit of exploring and shopping. It wasn't a very good day for taking pictures, but here's looking across the harbor into Central.

There was no jet lag that I could feel, so I took a long walk in the drizzle from Wachai to Central up in the hills, then the Star Ferry back to Hung Hom.

Sunday I woke up with one purpose, and that was to get to the Wanchai Hash starting at 4pm in the Pok Fu Lam area. I left around 2:30 with plenty of time to get to Central, locate the correct bus to take and find the start. After walking around Central for a good half hour and looking in vain for an information booth or map or bus schedule or anything, I was almost gonna give it up and go back. All of a sudden, I look up and see an older caucasian gentleman dressed in shorts and running shoes getting on a mini-bus. I looked at the bus and it was heading to one of the roads listed on the directions. When I got on, I asked him is he was a hasher by chance and why yes, he was. So I followed him to the start. It turned out to be a super long hash (compared to the average Wednesday night in St. Louis). We went up into the foggy hills, running through rain and looking for small piles of rice that are a lot more water resistant that flour. Up hundreds of stairs, then straight back down a path, back up into the hills, across slippery steep rocks then finally almost back down to sea level and the finish. We had circle under a bridge and I was awarded a down down along with my buddy from the bus for our teamwork in finding the place. I tried to speak some english to the random Korean tour group on the way back. A great workout and today i'm a little sore.

Another oddity is the crazy light show that takes place on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront every night. Dozens of buildings in the HK skyline are rigged with all kinds of lights and lasers that are perfectly coordinated to corny Chinese music that's piped in. It is incredibly tacky, but interesting how they managed to coordinate so many things going on at once. I will hope to record the spectacle on video one day.

Here is the result of my Saturday morning shopping binge. Mostly food and home items, of course I managed to find a Japanese Home store for the essentials. And once again, i'm ecstatic to be in a country that has Dragonfruit readily available.

Today was my first day at the Venetian in Macau. Just an overwhelming experience to say the least. I'll be here for 10 straight weeks, so much more to come on this monstrosity.

Grand Junction Once More

2007-07-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

A few more days in Grand Junction, Colorado highlighted by a drive through the Colorado National Monument in a less than monumental Chevy Aveo. Great views of Fruita, Grand Junction and the surrounding valley.

On On to Southeast Asia!

2007-07-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

Here is a complete list of all of my business trips in the past year and a half.

Birmingham 2/1/06
Burbank 02/05/07
Burbank 10/09/06
Burbank 11/13/06
Calgary 4/24/07
Calgary 7/8/2007
Charlotte 2/18/07
Chicago 03/15/06
Chicago 6/5/06
Chicago 7/10/06
Detroit 2/13/07
Grand Junction 5/14/06
Grand Junction 7/16/06
Grand Junction 7/22/2007
Harrisburg 4/10/06
Harrisburg 6/19/06
Harrisburg 7/11/06
Hilton Head 4/3/06
Hilton Head 6/11/06
Houston 5/14/07
Indianapolis 3/19/07
Los Angeles 3/20/06
Minneapolis 5/22/06
New York 1/23/07
New York 7/30/06
Omaha 8/27/06
Pittsburgh 10/30/06
Pittsburgh 12/4/06
Portland 8/13/06
San Jose 3/20/07
Savannah 2/15/06
Toronto 5/7/07
Tulsa 4/17/06
Tulsa 4/9/07
Tulsa 5/8/06
West Palm Beach 2/26/07

On August 9th, I am heading off to SE Asia for work. I will be there for a period of 6 to 9 months. I will be based in Hong Kong but am expecting to be working in Macau, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Some much needed Asian flavor to add to my list up above.

Stampeding in Calgary

2007-07-10T23:08:00.000-05:00

I am in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for 3 days of on site training. By sheer luck, one of the largest rodeos in the world is taking place here, the Calgary Stampede. The entire town of 1.1 million people is totally engrossed in all things country. Pretty much every single storefront/office building downtown here where I am staying has some type of decorations: Faux wood fencing to imitate a barnyard; random hay bales sitting out everywhere; plus scary cartoon cowboys painted on the glass corporate office storefronts.

Last night I had the chance to go to the Stampede itself. While I was only there for a few hours, it had the air of a state/county fair times 100. The Fairgounds there are sprawling, it must take a heck of a computer system to organize it all; oh wait, that’s ours. I joined two gentlemen I worked with, one a cockney Londoner and one a native New Yorker. So the three of us in the midst of all this countryness was pretty humorous. We bought tickets to the Chuck Wagon Races which consist of a team of six horses pulling a cart followed by two other guys pulling up the rear. With a few beers and some friendly wagering, we got into it pretty nicely.

It is rather unfortunate that I busted out my camera the first night to shoot some aforementioned cartoon cowboys only to find the battery completely drained. I would love to provide evidence that 75% of people on the street here are wearing cowboy hats. Or that in various public spots in the city every morning, you can get a nice pancake and sausage breakfast for absolutely free. Or that even at 10:30 at night, you can see the sun ducking over the mountains in the west from my 20th floor hotel room. To be able to get out of the regular 95 degree high humidity heat of the Midwest is very nice as well.

Back to reality tomorrow, for a little while at least.

Myanmar Ceremony Video

2007-07-02T21:27:00.000-05:00

I shot this footage on an excursion to Mt. Popa while visiting Bagan, Myanmar. It was an amazing display of musical extravagance, colorful outfits and a plethora of food and drink offerings. I do not know the reason for this ceremony but imagine it was some kind of funeral/memorial or an offering to some diety in this devoutly Buddhist country.

A Bay Area Visit

2007-06-12T21:50:00.000-05:00

I recently spent 2 days in Larkspur, CA, just outside San Francisco. I didn't get a chance to do a lot, although I did take a nice drive out to Pt. Reyes National Seashore and also saw the Giants play the Astros at beautiful AT&T Ballpark.

Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX

2007-05-19T21:56:00.000-05:00

I went to the Astros game last Tuesday night and saw former Cardinals Woody Williams and Matt Morris face off against eachother. The Astros won it in the 10th on a walk off home run by Carlos Lee. Unfortunately, I left in the 8th innning so I could get back and watch the Jazz/Golden State game. Click here to check out some photos from the game.

A View from the Stands

2007-05-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

Since childhood, I’ve had the great opportunity to visit many baseball stadiums throughout the world. I owe most of it to my father who trucked his four kids to destinations near and far, being sure to stop for a game at the local stadium in whatever city we were in. I’m sure I am missing some, most likely a few Minor League parks. This list is sure to grow with my current travel opportunities. The newest entry on this list: Minute Maid Park that I experienced tonight. Pictures to come.

Major Leagues
AT&T Ballpark, San Francisco, CA
The Ballpark at Arlington, Dallas, TX
(Old) Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
(Old) Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL
Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
(Old) Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN
Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
(Old) Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, WI
Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
(Old) Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
(Old) Tiger Stadium, Detroit, MI
Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Yankees Stadium, New York, NY

Minor Leagues/Spring Training/Other
AutoZone Park, Memphis, TN
Cracker Jack Stadium, Lake Buena Vista, FL
Drillers Stadium, Tulsa, OK
GCS Ballpark, Sauget, IL
Harrisburg Senators, Harrisburg, PA
Field of Dreams, Dyersville, IA
Fifth Third Ballpark, Grand Rapids, MI
(Old) Louisville Redbirds, Louisville, KY
Mudhens Stadium, Toledo, OH
Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, FL

Japan
Fukuoka Dome, Fukuoka
Kumamoto Yakyujo, Kumamoto

The Kentucky Derby

2007-05-10T21:16:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending the Kentucky Derby this year on Cinco De Mayo. Kristina and I drove 4 hours throught downpours to Louisville, KY. We stayed at the parents house of one of her friends.

We paid 40 bucks apiece to get access to the infield of Churchill Downs. With well over 150,000 expected to be in attendance, it was sure to be a wild day. As we entered, our bags were checked thoroughly for any liquid at all. We were also patted down to uncover any stashed flasks. (Luckily, some of the resourceful ladies I was with had poured various libations into ziploc bags and stuffed them in their bras). Anyone attending the derby is encouraged to purchase alcohol there for 8-10 bucks a drink.

I brought along my horse mask acquired in Japan and also sported my So Taguchi shirt, which proved to be a hit with Cardnials fans all day.

The spot we chose was not very close to the track, but during a few of the early races, we walked up to the edge to check out the race.

We walked around the infield a bit to check things out. A huge mass of people, some dressed nice, some dressed like wrestlers, a sight to behold indeed.

Kristina and I pose for a photo as we take in the action.

As the crowd started to clear out late in the day, the mass of garbage remained.

The cops were present all day, keeping an eye on things and taking the guys out who had too much to drink.

The military also made an appearance and managed to avoid tripping over the garbage when they marched.

This girl made the mistake of challenging me to a handstand contest just before we left the Downs. She was humiliated.

It was a pretty fun day. I learned a bit about betting on horses and only managed to lose about 15 bucks on the day. The Derby is quite a spectacle and it is interesting ot see such a huge event taking place only a few hours drive from where I grew up without the faintest idea that something like this existed. Maybe I'll go back next year.

Notes on Calgary

2007-04-26T23:09:00.000-05:00

Calgary is a booming oil town. I am taking part in the boom by training the staff who sell booths to these oil companies at huge exhibitions held here. Here is what I have discoverd in this small foothill hamlet:

Canadians love hockey.

Every night I watch SportscenTRE.

Sportscentre features mainly hockey highlights and gentlemen with mullets talking about hockey.

On Sportcentre, there is not a top 10. There is an HonOUR Roll.

I have not seen this much new building construction since Shanghai.

Graffiti artists in Calgary have excellent skills.

If you go to Canada and you have been to Thailand in the past two years, the customs officer will assume you are a sex tourist.

I am fine with that.

Brits can distinguish an American and Canadian accent like I can distinguish a Brit and Scottish accent.

If you wear heels and are concerned about getting stuck in sidewalk grills in Calgary, fear not; there are metal foot plates you can step on.

You can find almost any ethnicity of food in Calgary.

It is still light out at 9:45pm.

People actually live downtown in Calgary.

Drivers stop at red lights in Canada.

Canadians do not like Vince Carter.

Canadians dress like it is the middle of summer when the temperature is approaching 55 degrees.

Canadian beer is drinkable.

99% of Canadians prefer to wear headphones when walking to work.

Steaks available in Calgary: Bison, Elk, Caribou, Big Freakin Cows.

I have not seen a gas station since I have been in Canada.

A TV News reporter is a popular profession for Candians of Indian descent.

One can fly from Calgary to London direct; travel time: 9 hours. I must fly from Calgary to Phoenix to St. Louis; travel time: 7.5 hours.

I will be back here again soon, so no pictures this time.

New World Series Video

2007-04-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

LMF was lucky enough to attend the final game of the '06 series. I just recently got around to helping her transfer some of the video and decided to post a short clip from what she shot.

The Secret Life of Salarymen

2007-03-12T21:53:00.000-05:00

While working in Japan as an English teacher, my fellow teachers and I were treated to receptions and parties several time of year. The occasions were the arrival of new teachers or the departure of others. The dynamic of a Japanese style enkai is very unique and with a little preparation, can be an amazing experience.

The party goers arrive in the early evening and are coming straight from work, a long day of paper pushing and office calisthenics behind them. No alcohol is immediately served and the office workers wait patiently for the gaijin to arrive, usually tardy.
The party begins formally on time with a word from the Superintendent and a rough translation from Yuji. A formal toast is offered, not before the beer is brought out and everyone takes turns filling someones glass, never your own. After the kanpai, the atmosphere is noticeably different.

We all grab a pair of chopsticks and dig in to the beautifully presented plates of food. There is no sitting, simply nibbling on the appetizers between sips of beer and a chance for the gradually reddening salarymen to practice their limited knowledge of English. (Others choose to converse with some of us other teachers who've been in Japan a few years and are comfortable with limited Japanese).

As everyone moves closer to sauciness, the games begin. On this occasion, I am acting as the MC and purveyor of the games. The game chosen to be played on an occasion like this has to involve everyone, it has to be lively, not necessarily intellectually stimulating, but perhaps a bit more risque than your average junior high English class game. The previous winter break, I had headed to Western Australia and was introduced to a game by our crazy Aussie guide. Have a look:

It is very simple, just what it looks like. A participant ties and tennis ball-laden pantyhose around his waist and proceeds to use repetitive pelvic thrusts and nothing else to push a tennis ball across a given distance. As you can see, this gentleman is enjoying himself, (although the placement of his hands in his nether region technically constitutes a rules infraction). Of course the gaijin participate as well, and this guy has chosen to sport some classic Air Jordan shoes to this semi-formal party:

This game turns out to be pretty successful. I know this by seeing office workers doubled over as they see their drunk superiors gyrating and thrusting their way across the room with an over sized floppy phallus.

Finally it is time for a Kumamoto City Board of Education Original Performance, as the staff performs their patented Feats of Strength. These are various figures, monuments and shapes built only by human ingenuity and Japanese eccentricity. They warm up with a few easy ones. It is time for the London Bridge:

The final shape is the traditional pyramid:

We all appreciate this gesture, it's sort of a gift from our co-workers. The two hours worth of laughter we experienced this night will no doubt bookmark this party into the volumes of our memories.

2007 Cardinals

2007-03-08T21:59:00.000-06:00

Roger Dean Staduim, spring training home of the Cardinals and the Florida Marlins is conveniently located just 10 minutes north of where I was working in Palm Beach Gardens. So Friday morning, Kristina and I made the journey from our hotel to the game. We arrived about an hour early and checked out the Bud Light truck where they were excellently showing Game 7 of the NLCS last year. Quite appropriate as we were playing the Mets this day.

We got into the staduim and secured a good place to stand, standing room only on Friday. We were in the aisle about 20 rows up from the Cards dugout. I managed to get Albert Pujols warming up and didn't even realize what was on the scoreboard until I looked at the picture:

In about the third inning, a guy walking up from lower seats stopped and asked us if we wanted his seats up front. Hmmm, uhh yeah. We grabbed his stubs and settled into 3rd row seats within spitting distance of Tony LaRussa. Mr. Taguchi stood still and allowed me to shoot his good side:

We were also close enough to the action to get some pretty good shots of the players at bat:

The game was pretty good until the 9th inning, when Cards' reliever Josh Kinney gave up 3 runs and we ended up losing. One amazing aspect of the game: batting back to back to back in the Mets lineup that day were Julio Franco, Ruben Sierra and Sandy Alomar, Jr., aged 48, 41 and 40, respectively.

The next day we made it back to the park for the 1:05 game vs. the Marlins. Kip Wells was the starter that day, Dave Duncan watches him warm up:

That day, we sat in the bleachers in foul territory for most of the game. I met a guy there with his three kids who were from D.C. He decided he was going to raise his kids as Cardinals fans even though they had no direct ties to the St. Louis area. That's pretty cool.

I had hoped to get So Taguchi's autograph and perhaps chat with him, as accessability to players is much easier that you can ever consider during the regular season. But here, access was unfortunately limited. There was a section near the field that all the players inevitably stop at to sign autographs when they exit the game and make their way back to the clubhouse. To get into this section, however, you need a wristband. Taguchi left the game in about the 5th inning both days, so I was unable to get near him. Saturday, I did manage to get near enough to yell a few Japanese phrases to him, but he didn't respond. I did manage to get one of the Cards' top prospects to sign a baseball--Colby Rasmus. This 20 year old kid will likely spend the year in double A, possibly make it to triple A and is slated to replace Jim Edmonds in center field in 2 years. I think I'll hold on to that ball. I could have probably also gotten Tony's autograph, but settled for a picture instead:

We did end up spanking the Marlins on Saturday. It was a nice relaxing weekend with a little baseball thrown in for good measure. To see a couple more photos, click on any of the above to get to my Flickr photo stream.

Yuengling and Spring Training

2007-03-01T20:48:00.000-06:00

Today was the final day of working out of town for four straight weeks. Well, sort of. I was back in the STL for every weekend, but on the road during the week doing various training at sites in Pasadena, Detroit, Charlotte and today, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. I am rewarding myself by taking tomorrow off and taking in a Cards spring training game over at Roger Dean Stadium with Kristina.

Rest assured I will arrive early and try to practice my Nihonkaiwa with Taguchi-san. Hopefully he'll appreciate my well-worn jersey sporting his name and number. I owe an autograph to a co-worker who has gone out of his way to help me out a ton the past few weeks. No problem, all I crave is an encounter with the man complete with Japanese and a chance to drop some Kumamoto-ben on this Kansai hometown hero.

Being on the East Coast, I also get the chance to drink one of my favorite beers, Yuengling. All about the fringe benefits. Sort of a theme for this weekend...

More to come, hopefully some Spring Training pics, beaches, South Beach clubs, me getting arrested by Deputy Shaq...???

Mao History

2007-02-19T20:18:00.000-06:00

When I was at the airport yesterday on my way to Charlotte, I picked up a book that I had seen before and was eager to get my hands on. Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday.

I had read Jung Chang's other famous book, Wild Swans, while I was in Japan. That was about the time, or shortly after I made a journey to China with my sibblings. While naturally I would have loved to have spent more time in China, I became intrigued by several aspects of the Chinese culture. I had known little about Mao at the time, the standard facts from high school history books. This figure supposedly responsible for the deaths of millions, and yet the line to view his cryonically frozen body in Tiananmen Square by admirers was too long to consider making the visit even though I wanted to. Perhaps my motivation was different from theirs.

Wild Swans was banned in China as is this new critical book. Does the average Chinese person know their country's history from the Western perspective? I would guess not. Is this book a fair representation of what took place and exactly how accurate does it depict Mao's role in the millions of deaths caused by famine? The debate continues, but with a decade of research of Jung and her husband/co-author, it will make for an interesting read.

New Yorkin

2007-01-25T20:14:00.000-06:00

I'm in New York for three days working at Hunter College on 68th in Manhattan. Stayin at a place on 45th, 2 blocks from Times Square. Last night I walked down to the Garden and managed to scrounge up a ticket for the Knicks vs. Suns, one of the most exciting teams to watch in the last 15 years in the NBA. A bit of a slow start by the Suns, but they didn't dispappoint as they scored 62 in the second half. Nash was spectacular as usual and Stoudemire was unstoppable. The won their 15th straight for the 2nd time this season! Best comment of the the night, Eddie Curry left the game after he tweaked his ankle and the comment from a couple of New Yorkers behind me: "At least it's not his heart..."

Taking it a bit easier tonight, I walked down the street in the bitter cold to an izakaya called Riki. I was pretty much the only non-Japanese person there. So needless to say, the food was amazing. Squid, Yaki Tori and some Kimuchi Chahan, all while Japanese tv played in the background. I heard not a word of English spoken for a good hour and a half.

I've felt like a real New Yorker the last few days, commuting on the subway, passing through Grand Central every morning and evening, eating at a cart on the street outside Hunter. Granted, this is a better than average part of the city, not a place where many can afford to live, but I am quickly getting used the the pace here. Would be interesting to be here for more than a few days.

I'm meeting up with Miyazaki/Jersey Derrick tomorrow evening for a drink and perhaps a night on the town. I will be ready for that after dealing with *interesting* clients the last few days.

Holiday Hijinks

2007-01-04T19:50:00.000-06:00

The holidays in St. Louis bring a great amount of parties and all kinds of crazy fun.

First, we opened presents. Joey got some ridiculous wedding DJ vest and Michiyo had to pick her nose.

Then Robby Hodai opened his Christmas present and was excited.

Then Lynny and Mom received some traditional Japanese tube tops direct from Kumamoto.

Next, me and Ryan had a Pimps and Ho Ho Ho's party and some girls came too.

Biscan came too and we looked pretty hard.

Then we had to clean up a huge mess.

Finally, it was New Year's and Katie and Mike partied like it was 2005.

Hey Wurld, Happy New Year

2007-01-01T02:22:00.000-06:00

Two and a half hours into 2007, happy to be relaxing in St. Louis. What a fantastic year it was. I found decent employment, saw two Fingerhuts become homowners, saw Joe and Michiyo travel the globe and return for the holidays. I contemplated joining the ranks of the aforementioned homowners, but settled on cheap rent and a fat whip instead.

I am not one to spend a lot of time thinking about the past in general, but now that I have a few minutes, I may as well. A brief history of my New Year's:

2003 - Spent the New Year's with my brother as we attempted to enjoy ourselves at a rave on a mountain top somewhere outside Nelson, New Zealand. If I haven't told that forgettable story before, remind me to do it sometime before I do.

2004 - New Year's visiting my girlfriend in Perth, Western Australia. The night itself was not so memorable, but 85 degrees outside at midnight on New Year's is pretty cool.

2005 - Solo snowboarding in Nagano, Japan allowed me to meet many random Gajinas. I arrived the day after the very first snow of the season, so scraping across the rocks on my board the first few hours was not so pleasant. A healthy dumping of fresh powder certainly did help over the next few days. Spent New Year's in an Alpine bar, celebrating the New Year earlier than I ever had before.

2006 - The homecoming celebration. After two triumphant months spent travelling SE Asia, I came home to an amazing group of friends and sibblings and a hell of a night at Cusamano's on Manchester. Mike inquired about dating my sister and with a few in me, I utilized one of the greatest words in Japanese, 'Dozo.'

2007 - A massive scandalous party last night set the foundation for a generally laid back night tonight. The superfriends gathered for a massive pot luck dinner with an amazing amount of delicious food. Stopped by Lynn's house for her party, then adjourned to another South City establishment. No cover, cheap drinks, accomodating environment. We were able to basically take over the bar, avoid excessive tabacco inhalation and enjoy eachother's company as we brought in the new year. The name of the bar? Friendly's.

I've been very lucky to enjoy the occasion of turning over the calendar in some amazing places. What's even better is the company I've kept on those nights. Family, Friends and Strangers. Had some great times and looking forward to o7.

Lyrics Approved by a Registered Dietician

2006-12-06T21:05:00.000-06:00

My group of friends in St. Louis are fun no doubt, but none of them share a similar taste in music that I do. Let's just say me and Dave Chapelle have a similar choice of favorite groups and his Block Party movie was fantastic. Spending some time in California gave me the chance to listen to some excellent music rollin around OC in Adam's Prius. I'd just recently gotten a couple of Dead Prez cds. If I would have opted to get a third, it would be Let's Get Free. On this album is a fantastic song recommended to me by Adam.

Having a sister who happens to be a registered dietician makes me appreciate this song even more:

(Genius lyric: Lentil soup is mental fruit/And ginger root is good for the yout)

Its all love . . .
I dont eat no meat, no dairy, no sweets
Only ripe vegetables, fresh fruit and whole wheat
Im from the old school, my household smell like soul food, bro
Curried falafel, barbecued tofu
No fish though, no candy bars, no cigarettes
Only ganja and fresh-squeezed juice from oranges
Exercising daily to stay healthy
And I rarely drink water out the tap, cause its filthy
Lentil soup is mental fruit
And ginger root is good for the yout
Fresh veg-e-table with the mayatl stew
Sweet yam fries with the green calalloo
Careful how you season and prepare your foods
Cause you dont wanna lose vitamins and miner-ules
And thats the jewel
Life brings life, its valuable, so I eat what comes
From the ground, its natural
Let your food be your medicine (uh huh)
No excederin (uh uh)
Strictly herb, generate in the sun, cause I got melanin
And drink water, eight glasses a day
Cause thats what they say
They say you are what you eat, so I strive to be healthy
My goal in life is not to be rich or wealthy
Cause true wealth comes from good health, and wise ways
We got to start taking better care of ourselves
They say you are what you eat, so I strive to be healthy
My goal in life is not to be rich or wealthy
Cause true wealth comes from good health, and wise ways
We got to start taking better care of ourselves,
be Healthy yall . . .

Hashers in the News

2006-11-28T18:18:00.000-06:00

A couple of reporters from the St. Louis Post Dispatch recently joined the St. Louis Hash House Harriers for one of our Sunday runs. I was mentioned in the article that appeared in the paper today. There were also a few pictures in the printed copy of the paper, you can see me to the right of the plunger in the picture included with the article here.

Finally, you can get results when googling my name in the news. I am well on my way...

Southern California

2006-11-20T19:03:00.000-06:00

I've spent the past week in Southern California on business/pleasure. My friend Adam from Japan was kind enough to host me over the weekend and we got to do some pretty cool stuff, including checking out the Cut Chemist of Jurassic 5, hitting up some nice beaches and big waves, a bit of sailing, hashing with the Orange County Hash House Harriers, eating at a pretty darn good izakaya and posing for some sick jump shots.

I heard a song on the radio out there that I knew instantly was dope. Here is that song: Crazy - Snoop ft. Nate Dogg

I'll be back home for Thanksgiving, I don't know how much more of this 90 degree zero humidity November weather I can take...

Screen Shots of the Champs

2006-10-31T18:32:00.000-06:00

My roommate Ryan spent many nights collecting screen shots of various web sites featuring the Cardinals in their terrific run the last few weeks.

Pretty interesting stuff...

World Series, 2006: My Story

2006-10-29T19:41:00.000-06:00

My story is one of hundreds of thousands from the night the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. I was not in the stadium to watch the game but managed to be standing outside the gates when the final out was recorded. Here's what happened:

My roommate Ryan and I got downtown to Mike's loft on Washington just before first pitch of Game 5. We joined a fairly large group of friends in hopes of Jeff Weaver continuing his October mastery of opponent batters. We became nervous when we fell behind early. Sporting an assortment of Cardinals players' masks and a photoshopped Kenny Rogers face, we cheered them on and were rewarded when the horrid Tigers defense allowed us to pull ahead for good.

I motioned that we would all leave the loft and make the twelve block walk down to the stadium after the 7th inning. It was tough to pull away from being able to clearly watch a close game on TV, especially since the game was by no means out of the Tigers' reach. We arrived on Clark St, just outside the stadium and were joined by thousand of other jubilant fans waiting in anticipation for the moment. We were barely able to see a scoreboard inside the stadium to see the game situation. We mostly just reacted to the crowd's reactions.

With Busch Beer in hand at the gates of Busch Stadium, we cheered and waited, waited some more, drank some more, gave grateful fellow fans a drink or seven. Waiting, waiting and then...there it was. Unmistakable pandemonium as the game ended. We had no view of the field and no way to see the score or situation, but close to a hundred thousand screaming fans in the vicinity proved beyond a doubt that we had just won the World Freaking Series. Hugs and high fives, pushing and bumping and jumping, beer showers, confetti clouds in the air and a barrage of fireworks that lasted what seemed like five minutes set off just a few hundred feet behind us...

For some odd reason (perhaps Halloween quickly approaching), I had chosen to wear my Horse face mask the entire evening. I recieved many odd looks from fellow fans outside the stadium, but as one passerby cleverly noted, "Hey, why not?" My vision was obscured quite a bit by the mask, so I was quickly separated from my group of friends as the gates of the staduim opened and the crowd rushed in to view the postgame awards ceremony. So instead of going down as close as I could to the field to check things out, I decided to stand directly in the middle of the concourse behind the bleachers, rock my horse face mask and my So Taguchi jersey and hand out high fives to my fellow Cardinals fans. I believe I ended up standing there for about 45 minutes, giving non-stop high fives to Cards fans who were delighted to slap hands with a Cardinals-loving equine as the filed out of the stadium. I am not sure, but I may have personnally congratulated 500-1000 people.

Finally, my arms aching from the slapping, my friends reappeared. We headed out of the stadium, pouring into the exploding streets, complete with riot cops, horseback cops and plenty of rowdy fans. I was briefly separated from friends once again and happened to meet up with my sister Lynn and her boyfriend Rob, who were lucky enough to attend the game legitimately. We paused for a few photos with a banner I had made for her for the game. It was a personal message for Mr. Taguchi, in Japanese, and I thought for sure it would be shown on the Fox broadcast that night, but unfortunatley was not, to my knowledge.

As another odd twist to the situation, I had previously agreed to go rock climbing this weekend with friends at some cliffs five hours away in Northern Arkansas. We had planned to party after the game, then a sober Jon would point my Honda CR-V south and drive a car full of happily sleeping drunk Cards fans to hopefully arrive sometime around sunrise Saturday morning. After bidding good night to Lynn, Rob and some of their friends, I had to get moving to get back to Washington Ave to reconvene the car-pool. I ran a couple blocks north to Market St, high fiving and screaming at random. When I reached Market St, of course the street was bumper to bumper, no one moving an inch and no one minding that it was after 1am and they were sitting in traffic. Horns were blaring, windows wide open in the cold night and screaming fans provided a sensory overload.

Sensing an amazing opportunity, I got between two lanes of traffic and started my own victory parade. I ran into the stationary oncoming traffic with my hands out. The occupants of the noisy cars were happy to oblige as my high five score for the evening began to approach a couple thousand. I ended up running about seven blocks in total, all in the three foot gap between lines of stopped cars. My lungs and eyes burned from the CO2 intake, my ears were ringing from the yelling and the horns and I was nealry picked off by cross traffic as I crossed a surprisingly moving Tucker Blvd, but it was unreal.

Finally, I heard someone shout "FINGERHUT!" Perfect, it was Jon and Katie, who I would soon be travelling to Arkansas with. We walked the last few blocks back to the car and got set for the trip. I made a few sloppy calls to friends not fortunate enough to be born Cardinals fans for a bit of bragging, then hit the road. After a short gas stop in the suburbs and startling the late night gasoline patrons, we were on the road. Jon took the wheel, downed some Red Bulls for the long night of driving, and I watched the inside of my eyelids replay the night's unbelievable set of events.

St. Louis Cardinals, 2006 World Series Champions

+Some photos from the evening (Jenni B+
+Photo slideshow from Caitlin+
(more coming soon, if I recover my camera after that night...)

Cards, On the Brink. World Series 2006

2006-10-27T00:52:00.000-05:00

Look at this, St. Louis. Three games won, one game lost.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of spectation. I was lucky enough to attend two turning point games recently. I was in the Bleachers on the last day of the regular season as we woefully lost to Milwaukee, but clicnched the NL Central title when Atlanta finished off the surging Astros.

I was there again in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series. We pulled off the victory then to go up 3-2 and came up big when Yadier Molina hit the go ahead home run in the top of the ninth of Game 7.

I must say my favorite moment of the run came when So Taguchi hit the most unlikeliest of home runs off Billy Wagner in the NLCS game 2 to go up 7-6 in the game and totally deflate the Mets. I celebrated with dozens of friends at Nick's Pub and basked in my Japanese connection. My bro, Taguchi.

This evening, I constructed a shrine to So. I included a personal photo with So, a life-size So head, burning candles and poker chips. I made sure the attendees bowed as they passed by. "So lays down the sac bunt, Rodney picks it up, tosses to firs...it's high! Eckstein scores easily, Cardinals go up 4-3!!!"

Tomorrow, I will not be inside the stadium. I will be watching and waiting for that final pitch when we prove the 'experts' wrong. I will join my sister Lynn when she emerges victoriously from the stadium. I will join my friends for a drink and a dance down on Clark Street. When the Tigers go down and St. Louis is once again the World Champion, I will applaud these guys and embrace St. Louis.

Go Cardinals.

Chuck Berry, Blueberry Hill, St. Louis

2006-10-21T10:35:00.000-05:00

On October 19th, 2006, American Legend Chuck Berry turned 80 years old and celebrated by performing for a limited audience at the local bar Blueberry Hill. Thanks to my roommate, I was lucky enough to get a ticket. It was my first time seeing Chuck, even though he performs monthly at this bar just minutes from his home in the St. Louis suburbs.

His son, Chuck Berry, Jr. and his daughter also took the stage to help him perform. Before the show, the owner of Bluberry Hill, Joe Edwards, took the stage to wish Chuck a Happy Birthday and read a heartfelt letter to Chuck from Bill Clinton. The mayor of University City named the day Chuck Berry Day and two congresspeople took the stage to give their support as well.

Finally, the man himself took the stage and performed some of his classics. Here are a few clips I captured:

Clip #2
Clip #3

Lewis & Clark Marathon

2006-09-22T07:02:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday took me out to the suburbs of St. Charles to attemt my first full marathon. My sister Katie and I had been on a very loose training program for the last 4 months. I was fairly confident I would finish, but not so sure what the clock would read when I crossed the line. We started nicely packed, almost 4,000 runners split between the half and full course. A large group of St. Louis Hashers made it fun, running with people you know. (A couple hashers also set up a couple beer stops on the course, which was appreciated by this guy.) For most of the first 13 miles, I ran with a fellow hasher Postage Tramp. It was good running and talking, I was able to keep my mind off what was ahead.

Unfortunatley, many of the runners were only doing the half marathon, so after that the course emptied out and I was running by myself. At about the 16th mile, my legs bagan to throb. My muscles tightened up and threatened to cramp. I was forced to walk for a lot of the rest of the course. It was serious pain, relieved little by the torrents of rain that came down over the last 4 miles. Luckily, Biscan was there towards the end and finished the last 2 miles with me.

I finally crossed the line, wading through 3 inches of rainwater and dodging lightning. My final time was about 5:31. I believe that is over a 12 miniute/mile pace. My first half was at 2:05, so I am a little more proud of that than my final time. Overall, I'd say the results were a little disappointing, but I am glad I tried it. It's good that I have at least one under my belt now. I certainly have motivation to do another one to improve on a time I know I can beat.

Another runner in the race was Dean Karnazes, who is attempting to be the second man ever to run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. The Lewis & Clark Marathon was the very first one in his quest.

The race fee also included photos apparently, I received a this link in my e-mail yesterday. Apparently they snapped thousands of photos of the runners, then mathced their numbers to their e-mail addresses. Pretty cool system, but I don't think I'll be buying any of these photos. Feel free to take a look.

Impressions of a City Well Done

2006-08-15T00:29:00.000-05:00

I arrived in Portland, Oregon yesterday evening, pleasantly surprised by the lack of nagging security that supposedly has been instituted recently. Got a taxi to the Rose Quarter, the area of the city across the river from the center of the city, but home to the Blazers, NBA's troubled franchise--the Rose Garden and the beautiful Oregon Convention Center. Although I am staying in a hotel that will go unnamed that shakes whenever a truck drives by or someone slams a car door or blows their nose, the overall experience is pleasant. (I'm hoping Mt. St. Helens behaves itself.)

After work today, I quickly jotted down the addresses of several local snowboard shops and set off. (I'm currently in the market for snowboard gear due to the cheap summer prices and lack of buying options in the midwest.) I got the lowdown on what I need from a helpful local, Gavin. The lack of sales tax on anything bought in Oregon is a nice incentive as well. I continued to walk and enjoyed viewing the urban environment of central Portland. More people I've seen out riding bikes since I was in Beijing; Many one-way streets that may make driving a challenge, but makes crossing a cinch, look one way and cross; A general superb urban mix--residential areas mixed with retail spaces and offices; A Kumamoto-like streetcar system that is a cinch to catch and even has hooks to hang your bike (not to mention it is free in the downtown area); A multitude of bridges over the Williamette River that divides the city, connecting the two vital areas of the city, all with wide sidewalks and gorgeous views of the river and skyline; The newness of most of the structures and general cleanliness.

After about 24 hours here, I haven't seen too much of the city. I have enjoyed the 75-80 degree temperatures after a blistering summer in the Lou. It's a pleasure to walk around Portland and take in the sights. First impressions of a place may not be accurate over the long haul, but this place ain't so bad at all...

Hash Publicity

2006-08-04T13:44:00.000-05:00

Recently, a local paper, the Riverfront Times sent a reporter to join the Big Hump Hash, held in the St. Louis area every Wednesday night. Although I've only joined that hash a few times due to my schedule, I know how wild they can be. Check out the article here to get a taste.

Arribas grandes to Duzzy Cum and Pee Pole, Sunday Hashers who got mentioned in the article.

Kitago-jin and NYC

2006-08-03T20:01:00.000-05:00

Met up with Mr. Derrick Simpson in NYC this week. I was in town for work, staying in Norwalk, CT. After an epic birthday night out Saturday night, I had the sense to get a taxi to the airport for my 6:30 am Sunday morning flight. Met up with my co-worker Ajith and we were off to NYC. Got in and made our way to the city and met Derrick in the Village.

We spent the day checkin out the hoods, made our way over the the WTC site before hitting up Battery Park then parting and heading to Norwalk. Ajith and I took the commuter train back down to the city last night and met Derrick and another Miyazaki JET, Todd, for an awesome tabe/nomihodai at Izakaya Kenka. Fight! Few more drinks and back to the burbs for us.

Ajith and I leave town tomorrow night, having been treated very hospitably by both co-workers and friends from far away.

Midwest Storms

2006-07-24T21:55:00.000-05:00

This past Wednesday brought one of the largest storms in recent memory to the St. Louis area. I had the (mis)fortune of being out of town and not viewing the spectacle firsthand. Trees littered the unlit streets when I came back the next night. It was this video that made me realize how powerful it was. Video taken at Busch Stadium the night of the storm by someone other than myself. Just an amazing clip...

Kumamoto, One Year Gone

2006-07-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

As I sat near the pool at Hampton Inn in Grand Junction, Colorado today, I thought back one year. If I remember correctly, I had just arrived in Bangkok, Thailand after three years in Kumamoto, Japan.

These days I am very absorbed in working, travelling around the country teaching people how to use some software that will probably make their jobs easier. But to think back on the year that's gone by since Japan is seriously a mental excercise. Not so much the whole year, but parts. Here's how it broke down:

15% - Travelling in amazing Southeast Asian countries.
35% - Poking around the internet under the guise of looking for a job.
50% - Working in an office space environment with a little bit of travel intermixed.

Wouldn't that be nice to have a few of those percentages reversed? Seems to make sense to me. At this point, I still haven't figured out what I am working towards. I enjoy my job and I like travelling and the teaching aspect of my job. I think I am using my talents to an extent. It is very possible I could be doing more either here or in a different part of the world, but how would I know? I am trying to find the motivation to get my shit together to buy a house, because that's what people do, right?

I cannot pass up to opportunity to live in St. Louis at this point. I have all of my sibblings living within a mile of me, parents not too far away, and extended family. I have a close group of friends that I can chill with any time. Some of the videos and photos I have been posting have been ordinary and silly no doubt, but it is home.

I hit up a local Japanese restaurant for dinner tonight and enjoyed some delicious sushi and a nice 22oz Asahi. Got a few messages that St. Louis has been shredded by a storm. Trees down everywhere. I get back tomorrow night and surely there will still be some destruction to witness. Fast years going by.

Dueling Arches in the Night

2006-07-17T21:43:00.001-05:00

Mr. Ebel tries to signal friends from afar by waving an illuminated frisbee wildly at Fair St. Louis. They were eventually attracted to the mad waving. Photo taken by Mr. Biscan

St. Aloysius, The Hill

2006-06-05T21:08:00.000-05:00

St. Aloysius Catholic Church is currently being demolished 1 block away from my place in South St. Louis. Developers have bought up the valuable property and are turning the now abandoned church and school into 25 up scale houses.

I had a chance to go and snap a few shots of the demolition before it was no more. I think you can really appreciate the quality of the brick work especially when it's in these stages, the various layers exposed showing the internal structure.

I recenly went back to check it out. All that was left was the front vestibule and the steeple. Above the door that was the entrance to the church that now opens into a rubble filled pit, a sign reads "Peace to all who enter here." Then someone has humorously inscribed, "...and exit."

TV Anywhere

2006-05-21T09:57:00.000-05:00

Frontier Airlines offers DirecTV on their flights. You are able to view it for free while taxiing and the first 15 minutes of the flight. The you must pay $5 for service during the entire flight. I boarded the plane and the Cards/Mets were on ESPN. 8th inning, 1-0 Cards. We took off and just before the free service cut off, Isringhausen got Cliff Floyd to ground out with the bases loaded to end the game. I had a reserved celebration and this being a St. Louis-bound flight, was disappointed to see no one else pumping their fists or clapping. Go Cards!

Live from Grand Junction, Colorado

2006-05-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

Busniness has taken me to a gorgeous place, Grand Junction, CO.

Finished up at 5 pm and headed to a local bike shop and rented a hybrid bike (mountain frame with street thin tires). I heard there was a path along the Colorado River near town so I headed over to check it out. I went a few miles, swerving to avoid rabbits darting across the path and missing a startled snake by inches.

Crossed the river and headed toward the rocky ridge of the Grand Junction Valley walls.

Came upon a roadside parking lot with a few paths going to the top of Griggs Hill. I chained up my frame and headed to the top.

The North side of the valley looks as if it's a wrinkled sandstone wall that hasn't eroded much in a few million years in the arid evironment.

A 360 degree panorama from my perch atop Griggs Hill.

I set my camera on a rock and test its timer abilities.

My throat dry as the red Colorado dirt, I head back to town. An interesting request awaits me.

I finish off a good ride with a Cold Shiver Pale Ale at the local Rockslide Brewery.

It's good.

Walking Tulsa

2006-05-10T20:55:00.000-05:00

Going for an early evening stroll in Tulsa, OK seems like the most ordinary thing in the world...

I cut over to the old Route 66 and see this wierdly titled restaurant...

Then see an interesting car on the campus of Tulsa University...

I saw a copyright infringing barber shop...

Then checked out the Tulsa Driller Man outside the Expo Center where I have been working...

It's business as usual deep in the heart of Oklahoma.

How we get down...

2006-05-10T17:36:00.000-05:00

This is a very special post. Believe it or not, this is post #100 on my humble Champon Adventures blogg. Some people knock out 100 posts in a couple days. But I have a certain standard of quality I've always upheld for all of the materials I post. Today is no different. Here is a special video clip captured by my friend Bisck that actually raises the standard of quality on my blogg:

Priceless indeed, isn't it? These are the types of videos I look forward to shooting with my brand new camera, a Sony Cybershot DSC-W50. I got a slick 2GB memory card with it, so even if I shoot a video that's not as artistic as this, I don't have to worry about wasting precious memory space.

I am currently in Tulsa, OK. I plan on going out and walking the streets to check out this Dubai of the Midwest. Perhaps I can share something from my stroll later on.

River to River

2006-04-24T20:25:00.000-05:00

I have been a regular hasher since coming back to St. Louis in October. My (adopted) home hash is the STLH3 Sunday afternoon hash. A couple weeks ago I was in Chicago for two Cards/Cubs games and had the chance to hash with the rowdies from the Windy City. This past weekend I was presented with a unique opportunity. I was invited to join a relay team to complete an 80 mile course across Southern Illinois.

Pee Pole A (hash names used to protect fragile psyches and reputations) picked me up Friday evening for the two hour drive to Marion, IL. We stopped in O'Fallon and picked up another team member, Follow the Urine Trail. We got in Friday night and after a good dinner and a few libations, we turned in and got ready for a wild Saturday.

Known as the River to River Relay, this annual event brings in groups from all over the Midwest, about 350 I am told. The 80 mile stretch begins on the bluffs in a state park overlooking the Mississippi River. The course is divided into 24 three mile sections and ends on the banks of the Ohio River, in rustic Galconda, IL. Teams of eight to ten people take turns running to accomplish the feat. Our team consisted of only six...

The alarms went off around five as we had to drive 1.5 hours to the start from our hotel. Floppy D**k's wife Maury had forgotten her running shoes and had to drive 4 hours round trip to retrieve them. So with five runners, along with Floppy's two wild kids, we took off only to get hopelessly lost trying for shortcuts that never materialized. Finally, Pee Pole pointed the 15 P.V. in the right direction and we were primed for an 8:15am start time.

Porno was the first one off, followed by Follow the U. Trail with me in the third spot. My first leg was rather hilly and I had a chance to warm up for what would be a very long day. We developed a routine where we would drop the runner at exchange A, drive to exchange B where the next runner would get the baton, runner A getting back in the van and so on, 24 times on the day. I handed off to Floppy, then to Pee Pole. Maury made it back from the shoe run for leg six, a hilly beast of a trek.

Just before Maury's run, some young man had just finished running and somehow managed to fall down and severely magle his wrist. I couldn't help think back to my day in Wombacher Park when I landed on my wrist after a taking a plunge off a ridiculous snow ramp. Kid's forearm was flat on the splint pad and his hand was up in the air. Nast.

My second leg was a bit easier and I rewarded myself with a halfway done beer. Wise choice, my third leg was even better. Convinced of the healing powers of the brew, I had another before my final leg. The sky had clouded over and we were graced with a drizzle as U. Trail gave me the baton. No sooner had I gone over a hill, the clouds moved off, the dipping sun reappeared and a brilliant rainbow lingered. It was a pretty amazing experience, and I came over a hill and saw my final hand-off zone at the bottom. I nearly maimed my frame by letting gravity take over running down that hill. Alas, I handed over to Floppy and my day of running was over. We drove into Galconda, loaded the van up with 80 bucks worth of gasohol then met Maury as she closed in on the finish line. We all joined her for the last block, crossing the line as a proud team while the countrified announcer mangled our names like that young chap's wrist.

We posed for a few photos by the Ohio River with Kentucky in the background. Missouri to Kentucky in a day by way of the foot. Our team had finished the 80 mile stretch in under 12 hours. Another hash team from St. Louis had 10 members and took nearly an hour longer than us. It was a nice accomplishment and a great day. I am definitely planning on doing it again in 12 months time.

In the mean time, I'll keep hashing. I'll keep my eyes on the JET e-mails and hope there's a community in Kumamoto continuing the fine tradition. I will enjoy a beer after a good run and hopefully, I won't fall on my wrist.

Yes, Yes I think so...

2006-04-13T23:17:00.000-05:00

As you can see, I am not so occupied with spending a lot of time doing the blog thing. I wanted to draw attention to a few things...

Jesus lived in Japan. Then again, so did I.

Thoughts and prayers go out to my Prefectural Adviser last year, Caroline and two others. Injured in this freak accident... Those Toppy ferries aren't the most stable things to begin with. I could not fathom what would happen if it hit something the size of a small building.

I have no camera at my disposal, and I will be attending my first baseball game at the new Busch Stadium tomorrow evening. Photos can be found on my sister's Flickr page.

Adam, you continue to amaze me...

The finest ablum to come along in a while...

I spent this past weekend in Chicago doing many fun things. Big ups to the Chicago HHH, the Wrigley Field security for watchin my back, Jenny Bisck for the floor space, So Taguchi for showin them how we do it, Jason Isringhausen for 11 straight balls & a Grand Slam, random 6'8" dude for tryin to kick my nuts, Virginny for Enterprisin it, and last but certainly not least, Jameson for makin that car ride so so nice.

Working in the Lou

2006-03-07T22:35:00.000-06:00

So I have been working at my new job almost 2 months now. My company has a massive software program that they sell to convention centers, visitors bureaus and other event planners worldwide. My job is to help the staff of these places implement, learn and become proficient at using the stuff.

My job so far has mostly consisted of training myself and just getting familiar with the software. Eventually I will be travelling quite a bit, but usually not on weekends and only for a few days at a time. I have already gone to Birmingham, AL and Savannah, GA. I must say, Savannah is an excellent town with a long history and a picturesque downtown area. I was tempted to pick up a t-shirt that simply said SCAD across the front(Savannah College of Art and Design). I have a couple trips coming up, to Evanston, IL and LA in a couple weeks. That should be quite an experience.

Just to give you a little taste of what I have been dealing with, check out this paragraph:

Removed: Copyright infringement.

I don't know what is worse, the fact that I took the time to read it, or the fact that I read it twice, or the fact that I began to understand it the third time I read it. Luckily, it's not all as boring as this.

New Productions

2006-02-23T22:14:00.000-06:00

I created a video recently with some of the footage I shot near my house in Japan. There was a field with a bunch of those concrete jacks that they like to tumble in the ocean to prevent beach erosion. They were all lined up and created square foot pedestals evenly placed from eachother. I decided I wanted to run across the field stepping only on the pedestals. Here are the results:

Block Hoppin'

Also, I had the opportunity to jump off some amazing cliffs in Ko Phi Phi, Thailand last September. What a rush. (Sorry about the quality of both movies, then again, you get what you don't pay for.)

Andaman Plunge