Like Taking Candy from a Japanese Kid

After I returned from Thailand, “Halloween” was the buzzword at school. The spider gel gems are up on the windows, the pumpkins are out, and after each class, the staff members remind the kids and students that Halloween is coming soon and they should wear a costume to class! “Ehhhhhhhh????” grouse the students. Halloween exists […]

Oh My Boy!

In Thailand, the sea life is infinitely ungrateful. It is well-fed by tour guides, fiercely harbored by environmental groups, lauded as the subjects of countless worshipful travelogues, documentaries, photographs and paintings … and yet it only seeks to harm. Witness: several bleeding fellow tourists, their flesh shredded by the soft coral lurking beneath the aquamarine […]

Two Nights in Bangkok

Here now in Bangkok, where it is warm and balmy without being wet. There are angry Buddhist statues dotted between handicraft or hair extension booths and restaurants; lavish makeshift shrines graced by earthly leavings such as a three quarters-full Fanta bottle and skittish, darting geckos haunt street corners. There are so many foreigners I am stunned and […]