Most things in DC are free.  It's the capital of free.  You can leave your bags at a free locker in the Museum of Natural History, have a peek at some dinosaur bones, walk unburdened to see the crazy-small Spirit of St. Louis at the Museum of Air and Space, and enjoy an ice cream at the National Gallery sculpture garden.  The sculptures are a bit " ( Read more... )

Today at the pharmacy in Hong Kong I noticed that not only are the birth control pills sold over the counter, but also that the cheapest brand only costs $5.25 per month.  This shit isn't expensive to manufacture, so why does it cost $30 a month in the US?  Furthermore, in the US, women have to pay for a doctor visit to get the prescription renewed ( Read more... )

Seen through 21st century eyes, this book is clearly a blog.  Abbey spins yarns about his colorful day-to-day, plus his friends who come to visit, his trips on his days off (such as whitewatering down the first leg of the Powell Expedition with a one-legged friend), and random rants about cars, the Park Service, people in wheelchairs, and women ( ( Read more... )

People...always talkin'.  Always talkin' about China and India.  Oddly enough, I went to both this month.  3 days in China, 1.5 in India.

China was awesome.  I took the one-hour commuter train to Shenzhen and suddenly I was in a different country.  I stayed at the Days Inn, went to Wal-Mart, and ate only one meal that wasn't KFC or McDonalds.  Yes, ( Read more... )

I'd forgotten how bitter cold winter can be. It's been 2 years since I've seen snow at all, much less too-cold-for-snow. Plus wind chill. Jesus.

On the plane I naively thought, "Crap, I forgot the glovies, will buy some at the first Walgreens I see," as if my glovies would have made a difference, ha ha. Because Nick has ESP, he showed up at the ( Read more... )

It's been almost two years since I've banged around southern California, and I'm amazed.  Pedestrians are so novel that cars stop halfway up the block.  Wow.

Going out for drinks in LA involves a complex choreography of parking, car-pooling, cabbing, time limits, and valet tickets.  No matter how drunk, people still remember that they need to move ( Read more... )

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I've been noticing that American clothing retail is getting its ass kicked.  Here's the breakdown on HK/Singapore:

7-Eleven: Whatever 7-11 is, it's on every other block, and it's the place to get your stamps and pay your bills as well as get your drinksies and newspaper.
British: Watsons and Mannings are the only drugstores in either town.  Marks & ( Read more... )

I've been to-ing and fro-ing between HK and Singapore this month.  They sound like they ought to be neighbors, these two tropical city-state urbanopolises, but it's a 3.5-hour flight, like NY-LA.

Death penalty notwithstanding, it's a nice change from noisy HK.  People speak English, and they are not as hard on the eyes.  I could get my hair cut here ( Read more... )

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