As soon as we arrived at Odong, an ornate temple dedicated to the past kings and queens of Cambodia built high atop a mountain about forty kilometers from Phnom Penh, a handful of local schoolboys approached us. We didn’t realize it at that time but we were about to have one of the most unexpected and significant […]
SIX HOUR BUS RIDE
We could have flown from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh. The flight is less than an hour, but by the time you get to the airport, check in, wait, fly, land, collect your luggage, go through immigrations, customs, it’s much more than an hour. And we’d already flown 27 times. Besides the flight […]
REFLECTIONS FROM THE ROAD: OVERCOMING FEAR
One of the goals of our journey has been to overcome our fears. We’re not referring to any specific fears necessarily, but heading blindly across the planet is an experiment in confronting our fear of the unknown (and the unknown is the source of almost all fear it turns out.) Our family has grown much […]
OUR SOUVENIR FROM THE FRENCH CONCESSION
When one thinks of Shanghai, the image that is presented to the world is the glistening Pudong skyline — a monument to the 21st “Chinese Century.” But we stayed across the river in the more historic part of town, an area more akin to Greenwich Village or the Latin Quarter of Paris. This is the […]
MARRIAGE CORNER
In People’s Square, thousands of aging Shanghainese parents gather every Sunday to try and fix up their unwed sons and daughters. When we heard about this, we knew it was something we had to witness — and we also knew it might be wise to bring along a bonafide Chinese bachelor to introduce us to […]
WHAT WE SEE TODAY: BIRTHDAY WOMAN
Since 1991, when I first met her, I’ve gotten a front row seat to watch Jen grow older and more beautiful. There is no more fabulous view a guy could have. She is an extraordinary wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, adventurer, writer, director, travel companion, taskmaster, collaborator, and muse. Jen is fierce and opinionated, and she […]
FRANNY AND FINN PRESENT THE FORBIDDEN CITY
Your two young guides take you on a private tour of one of the world’s most legendary landmarks.
AN ARTIST IN KYOTO
Never have we witnessed more love and attention put into a single cup of coffee. Twenty-five years ago, Ishihara transformed his home into a small coffee shop on an unassuming block far off the beaten path in Kyoto. His clientele is almost one-hundred percent regulars. Six days a week, he makes between fifty and sixty […]
SHIBUYA CROSSING!
Everybody’s favorite game show at Tokyo’s busiest intersection! Now you can play along! (TIP: Put on your glasses, play video full-screen, and focus, focus, focus!)
TOKYO MORNING COFFEE RUN
When traveling for a whole year, we like to find apartments that give us the experience of actually living someplace — as opposed to being tourists in hotels. In Tokyo, a series of random google searches and obscure links led us to a small (normal by Japanese standards) two-bedroom apartment in a part of town […]