Be home on the 11th. I will miss Japan a lot, but it will be nice to be home.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! If you want to see what’s so funny, click here.
THIS is just WEIRD!!!! click here to look at a map of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. Then, click here to see the bubbles in a recent beer I had. I PROMISE that neither photo has been doctored at all. CRAZY!!!! See Humorous Japan for a side-by-side comparison.
A big thanks to Kathy — my web lady — for this getting up and running again. And thanks to John Chase for making the web address work again. There might still be some glitches, so if there are please let me know.
A lot to write, and not much time to do it. So here’s the briefing.
In the last three or so months, I’ve been to South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Thailand. Whew……so here we go……
A lot of new pictures in the photo gallery. Have fun. Humorous Japan, too!
First, my favorite quote in Taipei, Taiwan….after the usual “Where are you from?” etc. Setting: buying a beer at the night market in Taipei. He spoke English.
Kelley: Can I drink this beer on the street?
Store guy: Of course you can. It’s a free country just like the U.S.
Hmmm…..funny, I thought.
Things I learned:
In China, it’s not called WWII. It’s called the Anti-Japan War.
SE Asia, Korea and China are very cheap compared to Japan. But the trade-offs in cleanliness, pollution, loudness, etc. etc. etc. are definitely big. I (mostly) learned to appreciate both sides.
I’ve spent most of the last 1.5 years touring Japan, going to historical sites, etc. Very often you read a variation of, “it was rebuilt after Allied bombing”…or…”this site was lucky enough to survive Allied bombing”…and of course I went to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But when you tour the rest of Asia, at all the sites you will read similar messages…”this was rebuilt after it burned down in the Japanese invasion”…or…”this king/warrior was killed by the Japanese.” They say travelling gives you new perspectives. I agree.
Anyway, here are brief summaries of my adventures.