Anyone that has known me for some time is well aware of my obsession with the James Bond films. The allure of the action and adventure, exotic scenery and beautiful women is unsurpassed, completely enthralling me. One of my favorites was the ninth of the 22 Bond films was a 1974 film called The Man with the Golden Gun (with Roger Moore as Bond). In it, Bond faced off with the villain Francisco Scaramanga, an assassin who, through thievery, developed the ability to harness solar energy and would attempt to sell it to the highest bidder. Much of the film took place in Southeast Asia, including the most memorable parts on Scaramanga’s island (now commonly referred to as James Bond Island) in Phang Nga Bay. Geologically, the area around Phang Nga Bay is referred to as ... read more

Today I finished my journey to Phuket (pronounced Poo-get and not homonymous with a phrase that eloquently states I don‘t care). It started off early with breakfast and my hotel checkout, which, as is customary of the hotel’s staff, took entirely too long. I thought I was going to miss my minibus to Phuket, but that was late, too. Like all my Asian travels, this ride took much longer than expected. A “six hour ride” took about nine hours. With all my upcoming Asian travels I now plan to bank on them taking 1.5x as long as scheduled. The minibus was a bit worn, crowded and warm (it had air conditioning but it wasn’t all that effective); however, it served its purpose in getting us there for a reasonable price. Besides me, “us” included a few ... read more

I was awakened even earlier than expected this morning; not by my alarm but by one of the staffers who found it necessary to turn on the light to show a newly arrived guest his bed. I will never understand why some people insist on inconveniencing the lot for a few when so simple a solution as a cheap flashlight is could be bought. With no hope of going back to sleep, I made my way out of bed around 5:45. Breakfast was already out downstairs so I was able to eat and get cleaned up before taking the metro out to the Petronas Twin Towers. The towers’ skybridge is opened to tourists free of charge on a first come first served basis. Most advise getting there around 7:00 to ensure making it in the first ... read more

When most Americans my age or older think of Singapore, they remember the 1994 incident involving American Michael Fay. While traveling in Singapore, 18 year old Michael got himself into trouble for theft and vandalism and was subject to getting caned (essentially whipped on the rear by a rattan cane) six times. Bill Clinton intervened and the sentence was reduced to four lashes. My lewd and unruly behavior at times gave me great pause when entering the city. If things like chewing gum and jaywalking are illegal and subject to immense fines, I can only imagine the penalty for some of my tendencies. Singapore lies within the Malay portion of the world, a land of islands at the midpoint of monsoon winds. The monsoon winds, blowing from the northeast the first part of the year and ... read more

On February 19, 1942, Australia experienced a first-hand reenactment of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Just before 10:00 am, the same Japanese force began dropping more than twice the payload onto Darwin about 10 weeks after Pearl Harbor. It was the first time that a military force attacked mainland Australia. The first raid lasted 20 minutes, followed by a second raid two hours later. Over the next 21 months Darwin would sustain at least 62 more air raids, in spite of a small group of Americans patrolling the skies in Kittyhawk fighters (though they did help to reduce the aerial attacks). I read about this while walking through Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory today. I had realized that the city was involved in some WWII bombings but I did not know of the significance or ... read more