• KaZantip 2011: Black Sea Paradise

    KaZantip 2011: Black Sea Paradise

    Warning: This post contains a few NSFW photos. View only in good company 🙂 The Republic of KaZantip, the legendary Eastern European Shangri La of parties, lasts for just one month a year in a […]

  • 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 […]

  • The Mega Trip Part 9 (The Great Wall)

    The Mega Trip Part 9 (The Great Wall)

    With the land-based portion of my adventure through China nearly over, I realized that I was still missing a significant piece of what I wanted to see before returning to Japan. Kung Fu. So, after […]

  • Kyoto Drift

    Kyoto Drift

    You know how I’m always seeking out new and interesting experiences? Well last weekend I went drift racing. One of my coworkers, Miki, is extremely into cars. He has a Limited Edition Impreza (one of […]

  • A Different Experience

    A Different Experience

    I’m here. In Tokyo. Finally. During my idle time on the flight over I kept on thinking, “what am I going to write to everyone once I finally get to Japan?” Most of you already […]

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

Relaxing in Dahab

 Egypt, Public  3 Responses »
May 122008
 
Check out the color of that water &#8211; you can see <i>exactly</i> where the coral reef drops off. Check out the color of that water – you can see exactly where the coral reef drops off.

Dahab, Egypt is totally freaking awesome.

Even when I fall ludicrously behind on my blog posts, I tend to try to write chronologically. But today I’m going to skip ahead for a moment.

Lounging on the coast of the Red Sea Lounging on the coast of the Red Sea

It’s really a great feeling when you’re traveling and each place you arrive gives you the feeling of “This place is amazing – I could really live here for a few months if I had the time.” In all honesty I didn’t expect to get that feeling in Egypt – most of my research implied that it would often be pretty third-world and uncomfortable. Well, this may be true of Cairo – but it sure isn’t true in Dahab.
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Independence Day

 Israel, Public  1 Response »
May 112008
 
Rabin Square, Tel Aviv. Rabin Square, Tel Aviv.

Once Peder had headed back to Turkey, Mike and I met up with Danielle, Alex, Mike, Sammy, Robbie, and Natalya and headed to Rabin Square for Israel’s 60th Independence Day celebration. It was Thursday evening, and the place was absolutely packed. Young kids running around spraying each other with canned foam (I got a bit soaked myself…d’oh), live music, and alcohol being consumed left and right. It reminded me in some ways of Mardi Gras in the Gaslamp District of San Diego – an urban outdoors street party in a blocked-off area of the city (for security reasons, the whole area was locked down tighter than LAX).

Independence Day Extravaganza. Independence Day Extravaganza.

After an hour or so all the crowds gathered in front of the government building to watch an hour-long fireworks presentation. People sang, danced, cheered, and cried. Israel reached 60 years. And despite the nature of the event (known as “The Disaster” by some…), the evening went through without a hitch. Which is lucky, because according to some vague inside information from our soldier friends, political pressure behind keeping the evening bomb-free was at its highest level of intensity.
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Nationalism

 Israel, Public  3 Responses »
May 112008
 

Normally I view nationalism as a very bad thing. If people spend all their energy thinking “My country is the best, I love her, I will protect her whatever the cost!” we end up in a world of a bunch of wackos willing to do anything – destroy innocent lives, eradicate peoples, and end cultures – just to keep their culture alive. What is a “country” anyway, really? Isn’t it little more than some lines that were arbitrarily drawn on a map? Not too long ago Korea was one country, but then the two halves started killing each other. Two generations from now, those who you’re killing might be your best friends. Just look at Japan and America. So what’s the point of National Pride? People are people. What are you a citizen of, a piece of land with lines drawn around it on a map, or of humanity? Of Earth? Continue reading »

Serious Holidays

 Israel, Public  1 Response »
May 082008
 
On the bus from Petra to Amman, Jordan. On the bus from Petra to Amman, Jordan.

Okay, I confess: when I ended the last post by saying that Peder and I entered Israel through the West Bank it was more for effect than anything else 😛 The reality is that the King Hussein Bridge – known as Allenby Crossing on the Israeli side – is extremely well-guarded and safe. You take a transport bus across (and through dozens of checkpoints), then catch a shuttle which brings you straight into Jerusalem.

On the way to the border. On the way to the border.

The Israeli immigration itself was fairly amusing though. First of all, it was staffed completely by very attractive 18-22 year-old females. This was apparently true the day before as well, when two travelers I met in Jerusalem had crossed. And unlike what you might expect of immigration officers in a military country, they were all completely smiley and friendly – even when they were grilling us with questions.
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