Reminders
It’s Golden Week, four holidays in one week. It started Saturday with the birthday of the late Emperor Showa Hirohito, followed by...
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Apr 29, 2023
Welcome To The Hotel Caffel Hina
Pa and I were tired when we arrived Friday afternoon, but a very pleasant woman greeted us in English with a Japanese accent, and one...
Apr 28, 2023
Hita
We’re on the afternoon bus to Hita, a city of 65,000, 72km southeast of Fukuoka. Locals call it the "Kyoto of Kyushu,” a smaller version...
Apr 27, 2023
A Walking Meditation
Pa was always a walker. Up to the day he closed his practice, he walked almost every morning from the big house on Penn Avenue to his...
Apr 26, 2023
A Little Different
Stepping off the plane at Fukuoka International, it felt a little different. Pa noticed it too. Quieter for sure, and orderly. There...
Apr 26, 2023
A Brief History Lesson, And A Little Art
It’s an interesting story, oftentimes bloody, as to how China’s greatest art treasures ended up in Taipei. The first chapter is simple....
Apr 24, 2023
Heroes
We’re back in Taipei, long enough to visit the National Palace Museum. Before moving on, Pa and I want to see its vast collection of...
Apr 23, 2023
Most Of The Time
People come to Yingge for the pottery and the ceramics. Known in Taiwan as a center for both, kilns have fired here for more than a...
Apr 22, 2023
Pa Opens Up
We arrived in Yingge five hours and twenty minutes after departing Tainan. Unbeknownst to us, the young man who helped us at the 7-11 had...
Apr 22, 2023
In The Moment
We’ve stopped in Tainan. No particular reason except that it’s Taiwan’s oldest city and on the way to Yingge. Tainan was originally a...
Apr 20, 2023
Mazu - Goddess Of The Sea
Lao-tzu, “the Old Master” probably wasn’t the first Taoist. And like Homer, probably never existed. But the earliest Taoist thoughts to...
Apr 19, 2023
Basho
At 90 degrees the streets of Taitung were too hot to explore, even by bike, so we headed out of town to ride the Forest Park Trail. For a...
Apr 18, 2023
The Tiin Tinn Inn
The Tiin Tinn Inn (remember Rin Tin Tin?) is in the heart of Taitung, the little city people come to because of the slow pace. It has...
Apr 18, 2023
The Train To Taitung
Pa and I both had an itch to hop on a train, to ride the rails to an unknown destination. Having only experienced Taipei, we didn’t know...
Apr 17, 2023
A Lesson In Oolong
In preparing for Taipei (Pa was of little help) I read an article about Maokong, a quiet community not far from the city. For more than...
Apr 15, 2023
Saturday Night Out
After a day of rain, we were ready for a night out. Jaden, the young man at the front desk, suggested we visit Liberty Square. “There’s...
Apr 14, 2023
Street Stories
Some say man is a myth maker; that what separates us from other primates are the stories we tell to make sense of things. I don’t know...
Apr 13, 2023
Taiwan 101
When Walt was away, I made an executive decision. Rather than Vietnam next, and temperatures near 100, I’d travel to Hong Kong and...
Apr 12, 2023
Remaining Days
Pa and I spoke at breakfast. I sensed something was bothering him and so asked how he was feeling. “I’m fine, but thank you Fred for...
Apr 11, 2023
Wise Ones
Standing before it, I wondered what the Buddha would think, this oversized, exaggerated likeness that likely bears little resemblance....
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