• Dare to Dream

    Dare to Dream

    Somewhere around six months ago, I was sitting in my apartment talking on the phone with my mom. From just outside my window I could hear Buddhist monks chanting at Ninnaji, an enormous wooden temple […]

  • Golden Week 2: Archery

    Golden Week 2: Archery

    Picture yourself looking up at a blue sky peeking through a huge canopy of leaves on a perfectly clear day in Kyoto. As the faint sound of Japanese flutes recedes softly into the background, it’s […]

  • An Average Night Out

    An Average Night Out

    The following is not actually a single narrative of one continuous evening, but a composite of many. It’s written as a representative summary of my average night out in Kyoto. Nothing is exaggerated. It’s Saturday […]

  • Bushido and Jump-Rope (VIDEO)

    Bushido and Jump-Rope (VIDEO)

    “They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline.” -The Last Samurai. Seeing that fantastic archery demonstration the […]

  • Into the Lion's Den

    Into the Lion’s Den

    How many of you have heard the name “Transdniestr?” Not too many, I’m guessing. Transdniester – also known as Pridnestrovie in Russian – is a small rogue nation occupying a narrow strip of land along […]

  • Huashan: The Danger Trail

    Huashan: The Danger Trail

    On December 20th of 2006, I received an e-mail from my dad. It contained this Powerpoint file. The forwarding messages all included such phrases as: “I CANT EVEN LOOK AT THE PICTURES WITHOUT GETTING DIZZY!!” […]

I was last seen 5 months ago in Los Angeles, .

Biking to XingPing

 China, Public  9 Responses »
Feb 122009
 
Time to step out of my little home office in Yangshuo, China. Time to step out of my little home office in Yangshuo, China.

I mentioned last time how disappointed I was that after spending more than a week indoors, now that it was nearly time to leave Yangshuo, the sunny skies had grown completely overcast – obscuring the magnificent peaks for which the region is so renowned. But if I was going to make it to Shijiazhuang in time for Chinese new year, I had little choice. I couldn’t wait it out – I had to depart on schedule.

Damn.

…And hop on a bike… …And hop on a bike…

Still, since this might very well be my last chance to see the few remaining “Must-Sees” in the area, I headed out anyway – for one final cross-country (er, I guess I should say “cross-region”) bikeride.
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A Muddy Mess

 China, Public  15 Responses »
Feb 112009
 
I mentioned in the previous post how many of Yangshuo’s summer activities are unavailable in the winter. Here we find an army of bamboo rafts…eagerly awaiting next year’s peak tourist crowd. I mentioned in the previous post how many of Yangshuo’s summer activities are unavailable in the winter. Here we find an army of bamboo rafts…eagerly awaiting next year’s peak tourist crowd.

When I arrived in Yangshuo, I had only one intention: find a cheap, pleasant, convenient place to settle down and get some work done (after the fun and chaos of partying away the New Year in Hong Kong). So although the weather was beautiful and the skies unusually blue, I generally forced myself to stay inside. Few laptops have transflective screens, rendering them near useless under the 10,000 luxes of full daylight – so about the best I could do (during particularly bright days) was to sit working on covered patios of outdoors coffee shops.
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A Pleasant Little Town

 China, Public  34 Responses »
Feb 102009
 
Out for a snack at Dumpling Dynasty with Dave (the Aussie who convinced me to catch a flight from Guangzhou to Yangshuo), Carey, and Lively (Two girls from the next province whose parents sent them to Yangshuo for a month…in hopes of meeting foreigners and learning English). Out for a snack at Dumpling Dynasty with Dave (the Aussie who convinced me to catch a flight from Guangzhou to Yangshuo), Carey, and Lively (Two girls from the next province whose parents sent them to Yangshuo for a month…in hopes of meeting foreigners and learning English).

I know I said this once before, but…Yangshuo was SUCH a pleasant little town! Even though I spent the vast majority of my two weeks there indoors or at cafes programming away, I still felt quite sad to leave.

Remember my favorite photography theme in Kyoto? The old and the new? How about a bearded old fisherman on a bamboo raft…talking on a cellphone. Remember my favorite photography theme in Kyoto? The old and the new? How about a bearded old fisherman on a bamboo raft…talking on a cellphone.

Yangshuo is completely landlocked, located deep in the midst of the Middle Kingdom – yet somehow it doesn’t have that typical Chinese “edge” at all. The streets are clean, there’s very little pollution, and not a single car horn to be heard.
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Cairo Crossing (VIDEO)

 Public, USA  28 Responses »
Feb 092009
 

After six fantastic months on the road I’m now officially back in my childhood bedroom in Los Angeles, California. And as usual, I’ve got weeks of blogging to catch up on.

So while I work on writing, unpacking, programming, reformatting my laptop, researching cellphone contracts, refining my Fuze’s UC scripts, signing up at a gym*, resyncing my backups, starting my taxes, enrolling in a Chinese language course at Santa Monica College (I told you I’d study Chinese!!), and setting up a number of techie conveniences I couldn’t do remotely**, please entertain yourselves with the following video… 🙂 Continue reading »

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