As the floor plan shows, the lower levels of big Japanese resort hotels have something for everyone. Last week, in Kirishima, Kyushu, Japan, I walked through the hotel’s amusement area dressed in a yukata, clutching a towel, heading for the stairs to the outdoors hot springs. People were laughing and joking and drinking. Their…… Continue reading Channeling Eva Gabor in Kirishima
Category: Learn
An Unplanned Night in Houston
Well, I didn’t get too far today.The plan was to get from Fort Lauderdale to Kirishima, southern Japan. Instead I got as far as Houston.My United flight from Houston to Tokyo was repeatedly delayed: something about a problem under the floor, eventually traced to a cargo door.I retreated to the KLM club where I’m grandfathered…… Continue reading An Unplanned Night in Houston
The Other
Woolworth’s lunch counter (Smithsonian) I tried to build a coherent picture of my seatmate as I rode Amtrak from Cleveland to New York. The obvious stuff: 40-ish, black, heavyset, financially on the edge. I got the financial bit as he talked on the phone about his imminent move to a smaller apartment. He clicked away at…… Continue reading The Other
Yellow Camaro in Paradise
I don’t give a toss about cars. I drive a 1997 Honda Civic as little as possible. It still hasn’t clocked 80,000 miles.In the 1980’s when Dwight and I were looking for our first car together, a salesman proudly led us outside. “I have just the car for you guys.”We couldn’t believe our eyes: the…… Continue reading Yellow Camaro in Paradise
Yellow Camaro in Paradise
Posted about a yellow Camaro in Paradise, and how I don’t give a toss about cars.
My Worst Travel Fail
I have rarely felt more alive, more calm, more in the moment, more close to death. But that all came later that night. It was October 2011, northern India, Haridwar, one of Hinduism’s holiest places. The city is set in the foothills of the Himalayas at mile 157 (253 km) of the Ganges’ 1,569 mile…… Continue reading My Worst Travel Fail
Changes of Gauge
Delta flight 160, Denver to Amsterdam, landed today (December 1, 2014) in Amsterdam with no Denver passengers on board. This is not uncommon: it also happened with DL160 on November 13.The explanation starts with a “change of gauge,” a term rooted in railroads.Track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the two rails.…… Continue reading Changes of Gauge
Gas
It was breakfast at the Granvia Okayama Hotel. The tour group at the next table murmured in agreement as the colonel railed against typographical errors in the itinerary. I pegged him as “the colonel,” now a paper-pusher, close to retirement. It was impossible to tune him out as he recalled his first encounter with the…… Continue reading Gas
Gas
Posted about gas.
A Day to Forget
OK I admit it: I got tired of figuring out this place all on my own, so I signed up for a “Landmarks and Viewpoints” tour for foreign visitors. This was a day to forget.At exactly the appointed time the bus rolled up to my Okoyama (Honshu) $26 a night capsule hotel (Hotel River Side).…… Continue reading A Day to Forget