Karen Johnson

Kuan Yin

Karen Johnson

I'm an independent single woman who loves to travel. Favorite place to visit in a new country? The grocery store.

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"The road opens up for us and sets us free."
- Johnny Clegg

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it doesn't matter.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
- Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad

Ten Square for Good

Asia » Singapore April 24th 2024

Ten Square screen

Kuan Yin

Ten Square For Good I usually stay at the same hotel on Bencoolen Street when I go to Singapore. This is an interesting area, with plenty of reasonably priced restaurants around, and right behind the hotel is a Hindu temple and the Kwan Im Buddhist temple. Like many people who find themselves in familiar surroundings, I tend to follow the same familiar pathways to get around. This year I was looking out my hotel room window and saw this tall, skinny building with an immense video screen that I hadn’t seen before. Now I’ve seen big video screens before, notably the video screen at the Tokyo Race Course which is 218 feet by 37 feet, but this one was almost 4 stories high and wrapped around the building. Curious, I turned to ever trusty Google Maps ... read more

“You Look Like a World-Famous Author”

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok December 31st 2023

Jake_Needham.

Kuan Yin

One of the good things about getting older is that the older I get the less concerned I am with looking foolish. That does not make up for the creaky knees and arthritic fingers, but it’s a start. One of my favorite authors is Jake Needham. He writes crime and espionage novels placed in Asia, and has written a series of novels centered around Sam Tay, a Singaporean detective. Since Singapore is one of my favorite cities, and Jake is a pretty good storyteller, his novels about Inspector Sam Tay quickly became a favorite of mine. Mr. Needham puts out a newsletter to let people know when he has a new book out, or to ask his readers their thoughts on cover art for his novels. Through his newsletter I learned that he and his wife ... read more

Romeo and Juliette and the Shinto Shrine

Asia » Japan » Osaka » Osaka August 6th 2023

Koban

Kuan Yin

I like visiting shrines and temples. They are often cool and quiet, and have beautiful art. Many are little visited except on feast days or holy days, and can be a great place to sit in quiet contemplation. One of the shrines that stuck with me was the Tsuyu-no-Tenjinja Shrine, also known as Ohatsu Tenjin, located in a very busy area by the Osaka train station, dominated by office buildings. I had a hard time finding this place; I could see it on my paper map and on my ever-so-smart phone app, but I walked past it a couple of times. It wasn’t until I looked closely at the “Konban” (police station) that I notice the stylized concrete tori gate next to it, and thought this must be it. This shrine has a couple of sad ... read more

The Floating World

Asia » Japan » Osaka » Osaka June 12th 2023

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Kuan Yin

There were a couple of things I definitely wanted to see in Osaka – one was the oval Ferris wheel by the Dotonburi River, and the other was the ukiyoe(pronounced you-kee-oh-way) museum. You have undoubtedly seen ukiyo-e (literally “the floating world”) prints. Perhaps one of the more famous is “Under the Wave off Kanagawa” from the series “36 Views of Mt Fuji” by the artist Hokusai. These woodblock prints are a style of print and painting from the Edo period depicting famous theater actors, beautiful courtesans, city life, travel in romantic landscapes, and erotic scenes. Think of think of them as the 17th century equivalent of movie magazines, postcards, men’s’ magazines, and advertising posters. Since these were woodblock prints, a lot of them could be made quickly and fairly inexpensively. The Kamigata Ukiyoe is ... read more

No Manga for You

Asia » Japan » Kyoto » Kyoto May 30th 2023

Hinotori

Kuan Yin

Today I went to the International Manga Museum, something I was looking forward to. The museum didn’t open until 11 am, so I decided to spend an hour or so at the Imperial Palace gardens. These grounds had been the home of the Emperor, noblemen, and various other hangers-on, starting in 1331, and ending in 1868 when the capital and Imperial Palace moved to Tokyo. The palace grounds are beautiful and well maintained. The only building that can be visited is Kaninnomiya Mansion, a former residence of court nobles, where a history of the palace and its grounds has been set up. I could have happily spent all day wandering around, but manga called. The Manga Museum was only a subway stop away. The museum was founded as a joint project of the city of Kyoto ... read more

Holed Up Chez Kaj

North America » United States » California » Carlsbad April 29th 2020

11-24-19

Kuan Yin

It is Day 42 of California’s “shelter in place” order, and while these accommodations are pretty good, I’m getting tired of staying here. Chez Kaj – 3 1/2 stars Location – 5 stars Chez Kaj is in a residential gated community, and in normal times, the location can’t be beat. The state beach (now closed) is about a mile away, there is a little shopping center across the street with a grocery store, and several little restaurants, many of which are closed due to Covid-19 . There is a train station within walking distance, though I wouldn’t want to walk it with luggage, and Amtrak is operating with a reduced schedule. Cleanliness – 3 ½ stars While the bathroom is clean and there are always clean sheets and clean towels, sometimes the dinner dishes ... read more

Small and Quirky

Asia » Singapore » Raffles Marina February 9th 2020

Funan lyf

Kuan Yin

I like the small, out of the way, quirky museums. Sure, when in Chicago I drop by the Chicago Institute of Art which is wonderful, but Tokyo’s Museum of Tobacco and Salt, now that’s an experience. I had read about the Funan Digital Life mall being torn down and replaced with a “lifestyle” mall, and I wanted to see it. On my way there, I realized that the Civil Defense Heritage Gallery was right across the street. I figured that merited a look, but first the mall. The Funan Digital Life mall was a landmark in Singapore for several decades. It was six floors of electronic stores, selling all manner of computers, cameras, cellphones, appliances and consumer electronics. It was geek paradise. I had my doubts about it being torn down and rebuilt as ... read more

Take Me to the River

Asia » Singapore » Boat Quay January 22nd 2020

the belly of the carp

Kuan Yin

The Belly of the Carp Singapore River was known as the Belly of the Carp to early traders because of its sweeping curve and the prosperous symbolism that comes with the golden carp. In Chinese legend the carp is a lucky fish. In Chinese, fish (yú) has the same pronunciation as the word 余 (yú) for ‘more’ or ‘plenty’, representing prosperity. In Buddhism, the fish symbolizes happiness as they have complete freedom of movement in the water. They represent fertility and abundance. Whenever I visit Singapore I always spend at least a little time along the river. This year I picked up this nifty pamphlet from the Asian Civilizations Museum called The Singapore River Walk, put out by the National Heritage Board. As I started to read through it, I found there ... read more

The Prosperity Stakes on New Year’s Day

Asia » Singapore » Jurong West January 8th 2020

Tizamagician

Kuan Yin

I like horse racing and I like Singapore, so going out to the Singapore Turf Club on New Year’s for the Prosperity Stakes sounds like a good time. Kranji Racetrack is out on the northern edge of the island of Singapore, but you can get there on the MRT for just a couple of dollars. There are forests and lush green lawns out there; a very different vibe from the downtown core. And once you get there, you can pay for entrance to the track with your MRT transit card. I’d been to Kranji for the Prosperity Stakes about five years ago, and I remembered it as a fun time. I paid my admission to the track with my E-Z Link MRT card, and just inside the gate a nice lady was giving out packets of ... read more

Stories in Stone

Asia » Singapore » Orchard Road January 1st 2020

The dog at The Cathay

Kuan Yin

One of the (many) things I love about Singapore is the interesting architecture of the modern buildings and the careful conservation of historic buildings. And some of the historic buildings have remarkable stories attached to them. Most people, if they are at all familiar with Orchard Road, think of it as one long concourse of conspicuous consummation. It is all that, and then some. Huge malls connect underground to other huge malls that connect to other huge malls via skybridges. But along the way, there are a few spots where you can still see what things looked like in Singapore’s past. I went out this morning looking for one of these conserved buildings that I had read about, 14 Orchard Road, which had been the home of Malayan Motors. But before I got there though, I ... read more

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