Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
We’d hoped to go to the beach; again, it was raining. Then our incomprehensible tour guide called to haggle over our final afternoon’s itinerary. All in all, it was shaping up to be a crappy last day of vacation. I felt resigned as our car arrived. We proceeded to Da Nang’s China Beach as planned….
Everyone’s on holiday, the temperature’s dropping (I had to scrape ice off the Scoop this morning—brrrrr!) and it’s time to get packing! Chris and I are headed south to Vietnam and Cambodia. I’ve got our visa letters, plane tickets, passports, cameras…and a sense of fashion. That means finding comfortable, walkable, fashionable, modest clothing appropriate for…
The treetop was calling and that was thatI climbed it faster than the drop of a hatI can’t get down ’cause I’m way too fatBut I’m not worried—I’m Pounce the Cat!Crossing stepping stones on padded feetProwling in search of hot fresh meatThis wild cat needs not comfort nor heatBut when night time comes indoors can’t…
I really like our church here in Japan. We’ve attended Life Chapel International for about 18 months now. The first time I came, Chris was deployed and the Scoop and I sought it out on our own. This was a risky endeavor. I’d emailed the pastor’s wife to ask what time the service started and…
All of Tokyo was a-shimmer this Christmas Eve. We joined the thronging masses of Christmas couples on their Christmas Eve dates and flowed with the tide to Roppongi Hills for its German Christmas Market. On our way, we passed through a terrace of glowing white bamboo illuminations…I don’t get it either. I heard about the…
After November 1 we study winter-style tea ceremony on tatami. What’s different about this style is that we bring in all our tea instruments, then kneel and ceremonially close the door to the tatami room, blocking out all distractions. Then we come in, take five (auspicious number) steps on the final tatami mat, then arrange…
