I arrived in Bali on the feast of Galungan. Galungan is a holiday that celebrates the triumph of Dharma (good) over Adharma (evil.) Wikipedia has this to say about the holiday: “Galungan is a Balinese holiday that occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days. Kuningan is the last day of the holiday. Galungan means "When the Dharma is winning." During this holiday the Balinese gods visit the Earth and leave on Kuningan.” I arrived in Bali on a plane full of Taiwanese pharmaceutical reps. They were headed to Bali for a sales conference; they all knew each other, and were in high spirits. I, on the other hand, had been in transit for over 36 hours at this point. I was hot, dirty, tired, and very thirsty. When you enter the Arrival Hall at ... read more

Herman Melville, in the opening of Moby Dick, may have said it best: “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” Melville was talking about going to sea and hunting whales. Me, I just want a sunny beach next to salt water, with young, shirtless men playing soccer. (I’m a middle aged woman; it’s OK to look.) I ... read more

Every year on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, the Barbados Turf Club hold some of the richest horses races of the year at the Garrison Savannah. Sponsored by Diamonds International and Audemars Piguet, this meet often boasts some pretty nice horses. But the best part of the day isn’t always the horses. As its name implies, the Garrison Savannah is the former parade ground of the British troops that were once stationed in Barbados. The British are gone, but the garrison still remains, though now it houses the Barbados Defense Force. The Garrison Savannah is also home to one of the largest collections of antique cannon anywhere in the world. The cannon ring the race track around the last turn, and I always wonder if that gives the horses any extra incentive to get the ... read more

Chicago is well known for the blues musicians that have made Chicago their home, if only for a little while. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James, Koko Taylor, and Buddy Guy are among the well known names associated with Chicago blues. Blues musicians still flock to Chicago, and it’s a great place to hear good music. Buddy Guy still has a bar/blues club called Legends located at 720 S. Wabash. When I went there, the exterior of the building was covered with scaffolding, making the place hard to find. I was there at lunch time, and it was pretty dead, but it comes alive at night, and is worth a trip. A really great place for jazz and blues fans to visit is the Jazz Record Mart at 27 E. Illinois. This place is a little ... read more

Little India Sir Stamford Raffles is considered father of the modern-day Singapore. Under the Raffles Plan for Singapore, the city was divided into different sections for people of different religions and ethnicities. Some say this was done as part of an English plan to divide and conquer, others maintain it was done to prevent fighting among people of different languages and culture. What ever the original reason, those ethnic neighborhoods still exist today. Little India was once home to a race track for the European settlers, along Race Course Road, and livestock pens along Buffalo and Kerbau Roads. (Kerbau is Malay for buffalo.) The city’s main maternity hospital is also in Little India, named with an odd sense of humor, Kandang Kerbau, or Buffalo Pen. Today Little India is home to sari-clad women, Bollywood cafés, spice ... read more