It’s hard for me to believe that during my years in NYC I never made it East of Flushing, Queens, but there it is. So this weekend, when we had a chance to visit our friends on the North coast of Long Island, we decided to drive down to New London and catch the car ferry to Orient Point, the extreme Eastward tip of the island.
A sudden wind from nowhere swept through Arlington and tossed trees around like matchsticks! They call it a “microburst.” A huge round-up of photos can be seen on Arlington Patch. I uploaded my own
No I didn’t vanish into the nether-dimensions…just flew around the globe to visit Taidong for a few weeks of R&R. The beach at Sanyuan is still gorgeous, as long as you don’t turn around and look at the monstrous empty Meiliwan hotel that corrupt politicians built on top of it (and which is still in legal limbo for now). But yes, you can swim in balmy tropical water in October at Sanyuan, and we did! There is still a little driftwood in the currents, left over from the previous year’s horrible mega-typhoon, Marakot, which caused massive landslides up and down the coast?called by the locals ????). The government has for the most part dredged it up and sold of the valuable logs, leaving mountains of driftwood here and there, piled up like the bones of mountain spirits.
This wild-haired figure is one of the “Twelve Heavenly Generals” guarding the Buddha at Shin-Yakushiji Temple. You can really grok the origins of those wild manga hairstyles when you get a close loo
It was really, really tough… but somehow Sophia and I dragged ourselves away from the perfect crystal blue waters of Maui and came back to Massachusetts. We were only there for six days, but those fresh breezes from the sea and gorgeous sunny days seem to be still with us. And it’s not just the splotches of peeling skin from sunburn, and the occasional shake of sand out of my clothes, but a genuine balm of paradise that came back with us, refreshing, calming, and healing…
The wonderful Muzafar Bhaid is riding his bicycle for peace across Pakistan! From the highest mountains of the world in Hunza region, the intrepid Muzafar is taking annual stages on his way to Islam
There is nothing like a platter of hot takoyaki octopus balls, one of the most beloved snack foods in Japan. Something about the half-cooked, gooey, pancake-like sphere, slightly browned on the outs
Another great temple visited on my first trip to Kunming, was the famous Bamboo Temple, located in the hills due West of Kunming. The original gate ticket is shown on the right. This temple featues s
On my first trip to China, in October of 1990, I entered from Hong Kong by rail to Guangzhou Station, then bought a ticket on a flight to Kunming for the following morning. I was staying at the Camelia Hotel , then a backpacker’s paradise, with a huge co-ed dormitory and easy access to various transportation routes. At that time, the entire Hong Kong women’s volleyball team was staying there, after having competed in the 1990 Asian Games. What a deliriously stimulating dorm room that was!
Long ago I dreamed of taking a slow boat to China… To get away from this caterwauling madhouse that we call the United States. I even went so far as to buy a boat, which at the time was a half-sun