• Web

    Japanese Troops in Iraq

    “We, the Japanese people, acting through our duly elected representatives in the National Diet, determined that we shall secure for ourselves and our posterity the fruits of peaceful cooperation with…

  • Web

    Shoutout to Korea Blogs

    A friend has asked me to point out some good Korea-related blogs in English. Cosmic Buddha is a fairly avid reader of Korea blogs. My interest stems from KAL stopovers…

  • Web

    Shopping Advice

    I wrote about the art of bargaining (never say “haggle”, it sounds like a scavenging sea bird with Barbara Streisand’s face) in Japan in this post last year, and I’ll…

  • Old Moblog (archives)

    Turmeric Coward

    A weird sidebar on the menu of a pretty lousy Italian chain restaurant in Japan, Saizeria. Turmeric, huh? Just how popular is the “equivalent of cubic zirconium for saffron” in…

  • Old Moblog (archives)

    Fresh Off da Boat

    NOW OPEN AT EXCLUSIVE NAMBA PARKS LOCATION – FOB COOP! Come partake in noisy group consumption of cheap, smelly food “from the homeland” in a less-than-completely hygienic setting…

  • Work

    The Return of Errandbot

    There’s just nothing like taking a long vacation overseas and then facing up to that first day back at work, is there? The night before is spent wondering just how…

  • Old Moblog (archives)

    KOTOBUKI

    I took this photo of a chopstick sheath at our doctor-friend’s wedding reception at the Ritz Carlton Osaka. After taking it, I tweaked it with my phone’s onboard graphics editing…

  • Photos

    Why I Love Cali

    This is the beach at Crystal Cove. The sand feels damn good under your feet after getting off a 12-hour plane ride. We are home for the holidays, terrorist fools…

  • Exploits

    Homeward Bound

    The woman and I woke up at 5:00 to be greeted by the coldest morning of the year (so far). The sky was dark and opening the curtains let in…