A couple days after my family joined me in Taiwan, we went swimming in the rural mountains of Miaoli County, where my mom grew up. In the 15 minutes between emerging from the water and putting on insect repellent, my 10-year-old kid racked up over 100 intensely itchy insect bites. “We didn’t see any mosquitoes!” …
This super pod of pantropical spotted dolphins (熱帶點斑原海豚) showed off their acrobatic swimming and played with our boat when we went out with the Jin Ling whale and dolphin watching company in Chenggong Harbor (晉領 賞鯨 台東成功 ) on a rainy morning on June 28, 2023. The captain expertly navigated the turbulent waters to find …
A few days ago I decided to go to Yangmingshan National Park, northeast of Taipei and Beitou, where I was staying. It is a beautiful and lush subtropical volcanic mountain ecosystem with geothermal activity. I visited many years ago as a young adult and wanted to return with my new interest in birds and ecology, …
Unambitious travel: learning how to stop when things are “good enough” Read More »
I arrived in Beitou early on a drizzly Wednesday morning, exhausted and achy from a cramped and sleepless 14-hour flight. Fortunately, the apartment I booked had a hot springs tub and piped the jade green “magical waters” right from the source, flowing from the volcanic Thermal Valley. Hoo boy, was I looking forward to that! …
Indigo dyeing (藍染, lán rǎn), is a plant-based fabric dyeing process used for the past 5,000 years in Asia and Africa. The leaves of the indigofera tinctoria legume shrub are soaked, fermented and alkalinized to create a dye that oxidizes on fabric to its namesake deep blue. Indigo has special meaning for my maternal Hakka …
Indigo dyeing: bringing a beautiful ancient craft home Read More »
The Batu Caves are ~400 million year old limestone karst caves formed by tectonic action pushing up an ancient seabed floor of squished-together shells and coral. They are also a funky mix of geologic and guano science, Hindu holiness, monkey shenanigans, stair workout, and retro-cheese. . To get there, take the KTM train north to …
Batu Caves: 400 million year old caves and Hindu holy site near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Read More »
Wandering around old, preserved streets is even more fun when there is street art to be found. George Town is full of street art, especially around the Armenian Street area.
This is the front of a preserved pre-war Straits Peranakan/Malay-Chinese family home on Jalan Muntri in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. Many of these old abandoned homes are now being turned into boutique hotels and hipster cafes. It’s a little sad to see them become so commercialized but at least they are being rehabilitated and used …
George Town, Penang’s eclectic pre-war architecture Read More »
The special exhibit of Kusama’s work at Singapore’s lovely, newish, well-organized National Gallery was as wide-ranging as Kusama herself.
