We spend the better part of three days staying in Siem Reap, from where we visited the temples at Angkor Wat, the spiritual and physical seat of power of the Khmer Empire for hundreds of years (from approximately 800 –
Southeast Asia Travels III: Angkor Wat and Surrounding Temples, Part 2 (Ta Phrom, Angkor Wat and Ta Som)
The entrance gate to Ta Phrom, a grand ruin being taken back by the jungle, and made famous by “Tomb Raider,” an action movie filmed here and featuring Angelina Jolie.
Southeast Asia Travels II: Hong Kong and Bangkok
Although we scheduled them more like punctuation marks to our other destinations, Hong Kong and Bangkok are fabulous international cities that we really enjoyed — especially Hong Kong. These were just a few of the lanterns hanging at a streetside
Ethan and Lacey’s New Olympic Event: Alternative Triathlon
In honor of a memorable 2008 Olympics, Lacey and I have invented a new Olympic event. It’s called the Alternative Triathlon. Here’s how it works: At the end of each Olympics (perhaps during the closing ceremonies?) three randomly selected events
Return!
Yesterday, exactly one year after leaving the United States, I returned to it. My excitement was tempered, though, because a typhoon and solidly booked flights (presumably full of other folks returning from the Olympics) is keeping Lacey in Hong Kong,
Olympic Update: Diving
Friday, August 21 The Event: Men’s 10 Meter Platform Diving (Qualifying Round) The Competitors: Thirty divers from about 20 countries. The Venue: The Water Cube! The Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest were the two venues we’d heard the most
Olympic Update: Athletics (Track and Field)
Thursday, August 21 The Event: Athletics (various events) The Competitors: Too many to list The Venue: The Bird’s Nest!! In some ways the venue was the star of our night. Although I have no architectural expertise whatsoever, for me the
Olympic Break: Flavor Saliva Chicken and other Menu Items
As a little diversion from my Olympic “reporting,” I thought I’d share some incredible menu translations that Lacey and I copied down from the menu of “Mao Jia” (Mao’s House) restaurant in Shenzhen, a city outside Hong Kong where we
Southeast Asia Travels I: Around Yangshuo, Karst Dreamin’
As I wrote in a previous post, our travels in Southeast Asia took us to the Yangshuo countryside in Southern China’s Guangxi Province, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and finally to Krabi, on the Andaman Coast in Southern Thailand (plus a
Olympic Update: Volleyball
Tuesday, August 19 The Event: Women’s Volleyball Quarterfinal The Competitors: China vs. Russia, USA vs. Italy The Venue: Capital Gymnasium, an older stadium very close to where we’re staying, which has been nicely remodeled for the Olympics. What we knew: