Locally known as the “Cat City”, the name of the city of Kuching is arguably thought to derive from the Malay word kucing, meaning cat. It is the capital and largest city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak and the largest city on the island of Borneo, with a population of about 600,000. With…
Continue reading →We docked at the deep port of Maura, a city in the tiny sovereign state of Brunei Darussalam on the north coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Sarawak state of Malaysia and, with a total population of about 421,000, Brunei…
Continue reading →As I’ve mentioned before, this journey has been a great lesson in geography and culture, not the least of which includes the island of Borneo, which seemed like an almost imaginary place until now. It does indeed exist and on the island is the city of Kota Kinabalu, the Malaysian state capital of Sabah province,…
Continue reading →The impact of war has widely influenced Asia and I am struck by the remains of it, both physically and emotionally, at the places we have visited. As much as the South Koreans dislike the Chinese, our Filipino tour guide expressed an equally unmasked disdain for the Japanese. An hour’s ferry ride across from Manila,…
Continue reading →I have always loved the Japanese sense of design for its well-planned simplicity, serenity, purposefulness, and calm order. This is most evident in their gardens, one of the things I most wanted to see during my visit to the country. I spent an overcast morning touring the small village of Chiran just outside the port…
Continue reading →It is both unfortunate and important that Nagasaki is probably most remembered as a target for the atomic bomb that ended WWII. It is as much a part of the city’s fabric as the charming hilly landscape, winding sidewalks, and welcoming, friendly people. Detonated at 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, Fat Man, the name…
Continue reading →Flashing neon lights on the ceiling and colorful upholstery banners over each seat of our tour bus, embroidered with “Have a Nice Day”, were sure signs that South Korea was a happy place with friendly people. Our charming tour guide pointed out that, unlike China, sculptures and dieties in Korea were always depicted smiling and…
Continue reading →When we originally booked our “around the world” cruise, some of the great perks it included were several complimentary events. Some of those got left behind when almost the entire first half of the trip was cancelled, but we have been hosted to a wonderful evening of cocktails, dinner, and a traditional Thai puppet show…
Continue reading →Magnetic Levitation was first proposed in the mid-20th century by German engineers and is based on the principle that speed increases when there is less friction (think hydroplaning). So a maglev train is designed to maintain a magnetic connection with the rail while levitating just barely above it, thus never making the direct contact that…
Continue reading →If China is a country of contrasts, Shanghai is all that in one fabulous city. And, if the architecture in Singapore is on steroids, Shanghai has overdosed. Home to the world’s second tallest building at 121 floors (first is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai), The Shanghai Tower forms a trio with it’s neighbors, the Shanghai World…
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