So when did I feel like I was in Asia? Not when I climbed inside the metal cocoon of Cathay Pacific. Though some airlines are obviously better than others, it’s pretty much like eating at a chain restaurant, depends on each branch manager. No, my first sense of being in Asia occurred at the money [...]
Finally, I’m in Kuala Lumpur. I grabbed a taxi and made it to Brickfields where I’ll be staying. Mano and Angela were expecting me, and happened to be waiting at the elevator when I stepped off and bumped into them. They were on their way to buy a few bottles of wine which is my [...]
Two truisms everyone knows but seldom heeds: “If it looks too good to be true, then it probably is,” and “Always read the fine print.” This brings me to Air Asia, the region’s “premier” low-cost carrier. Even many of those with wads to spend somehow manage to endure the Greyhound Bus syndrome, shuffled about and [...]
In the western suburbs of Chengdu lies the cottage of Du Fu 杜甫 (712-770), one of the Tang 唐朝 (618-907) Dynasty’s most celebrated poet and writer. Although he was born in Gongyi city, near Luoyang, Henan, he led an itinerant life because of civil war in China. The war that affected him was the An [...]
The mountain known as Cangyan Shan 蒼岩山 is near Shijiazhuang石家莊, the capital of Hebei province. Cangyan Shan is associated with Princess Nanyang 南陽公主, the eldest daughter of the second and last emperor (Sui Yang Di 隋煬帝) of Sui dynasty (隋朝 581-618 CE). Princess Nanyang was married off at the age of 14. At age 19 [...]
Ten miles east of Tucson, Arizona, the Gordon Hirabayashi Recreation Site in the Coronado National Forest is easily reachable by traveling up the Catalina Highway, also known as the Mount Lemmon Highway and the Hitchcock Highway. Going north toward Mount Lemmon, it’s a bit beyond the seven mile marker. Turn left on Prison Road and [...]
Arriving in Dunhuang (炖煌) on an October evening in 2011 is reminiscent of any western city that celebrates Christmas. Not that the inhabitants of Dunhuang are Christians. Far from that, they embellish a certain gift for the spectacular and the gaudy and thus, a horde of Christmas lights and neon signs greet travelers into this [...]
I went looking for Fu Xi (伏羲) Outside of Tian Shui (天水) And found myself standing on a pair of dragon eyes Overlooking the Wei River. He must have been there too When he taught many to cook, hunt, and fish And men and women to marry. Good things for people to do, he said. [...]
At a recent meeting of the Dynasty Watercolour Association, the world-renowned Hong Kong-born Canadian artist Stephen Yau demonstrated his brilliant mastery of the watercolour medium by painting a summer scene of the birch forest, one in his series of four seasons: Dynasty Watercolour Association (DWA) is a self-funded voluntary organization, committed to promoting art in [...]
TORONTO/VANCOUVER, Nov. 15, 2010 – Canadians today strongly condemned editorial decisions at Maclean’s news magazine and the Toronto Star that use racial stereotyping to promote their publications, calling for public apologies and equal editorial space to counter harm done. “How can a headline, ‘Too Asian’?, not be racist? This is irresponsible journalism that relies on [...]