Administrivia: Hoi An, Jet Lag, Seattle, DIY
Miscellaneous links to things I’ve been working on.
Messing About in Boats on Halong Bay
“There is nothing — absolute NOTHING — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Ratty in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. I hate to fly, I can’t bear long bus trips, and boats, good god, don’t get me started on boats. I love to be in exotic places, but …
So, What’s Hanoi Like?
Slideshow here. Suggested tune? Crosstown Traffic, Jimi Hendrix. Every morning around 6am, the Voice of Vietnam blasts over Hanoi. Our tour leader told us that they broadcast local news, the lottery numbers, and a generous helping of propaganda. (I find it incongruous that a socialist nation has a lottery. Do they redistribute your winnings if …
Southeast Asia Photo Preview
I’ve started a Flickr album, here.
Amulets and Altars
The Bangkok Amulet Market isn’t on the street corners outside the Tha Chang boat pier, it’s further down the street – though there is a thriving business along the sidewalks – and this is the amulet making supply district. If you want your completed amulets – or statues or any variety of iconographic items for …
Fish Wednesday: Saturday Caucus & Soup Swap Edition
By Your Intrepid Substitute Blogger If you’ve read Fish Wednesday the last couple weeks, you know I don’t like fish. But I have to admit that this Wednesday, there was little chance of me sweating over the idea of eating fish or cooking fish: I was deep in preparations for our much-delayed Soup Swap. We …