myretroperspective

To celebrate Memorial Day, yesterday, Jack and I each got to do something we wanted to do.  First we headed for a casino.  What?  I have no interest in casinos, but Jack was on a mission. He was on the hunt for a couple of $1 poker chips.  He uses them for the center of some of his pine needle baskets.  Some of you may remember our escapades around Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR when we went out hunting longleaf needles when he visited me in 2012.  No longleafs around here, but there are casinos.  I think it takes about eight hours of work to weave a basket this size.  Of course, that doesn’t include the finding of the needles or their preparation for weaving.  This is an old Native American craft, and I think it’s rather poignant that these baskets are a melding of the old and new Native American culture.  Kind of sad to me. After lunch at the casino, it was my turn to enjoy a different kind of hunt.  We went back to the refu...

Remember those friends that I met in the grocery store? Well let me tell you, she is an amazing cook! Just when I thought that I was doing good and cooking grilled chicken pasta for dinner, I call her up and she tells me that on nights they don't have much time, she just 'whips' together some sushi. Pretty sure I couldn't just 'whip together' anything if I tried, especially sushi. It would turn out like a bad Pinterest fail. But she can and she does quite well. And thankfully she was kind enough to have me over and teach me her skills. So here ya go, for those other women who want easy meals besides peanut butter and jelly (which is what we have on way too many occasions). What you need: Avocados Crab Cucumber Seaweed paper Rice What you do: .Gather your ingredients. You can put whatever your heart desires on the inside. We stuck with crab, avocado and cucumber but also tried some tempura shrimp which was to.die.for. Slice veggies in long strips. You can also c...

Criss-crossing the city of Taipei turned out to be an excellent way to spend a long Memorial Day weekend. A welcome getaway from the everyday and a much needed escape from the mainland. With 4 nights and 4 days in Taipei we barely scratched the surface. We left planning return trips to check out a few sights we missed this time around and even get out of the city to the coast. our first night loving taipei food! We were slowed down a little by R's recent knee injury (wherein we don't actually know what he did or when just that his knee hurts). You would barely notice his limp, but it does change the pace of life. He has been trying to keep off it as much as he can, which isn't much in Asia. So we were forced to skip out on all the great hiking suggestions we received. "Next time, next time," we said. My biggest disappointment was that the gondola that takes you from the Taipei Zoo up into the tea plantations on the mountside of MaoKong was out of service for the l...

Just a little something to cure your wanderlust for the week. via “Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost

Well, we were off again yesterday morning on another road trip.  Eventually we made our way to Bemidji, MN, to find Paul Bunyan and Babe.  And find them we did at a nice park downtown along the lake shore.  We also encountered Chief Bemidji and a marvelous metal sculpture dedicated to all pow-wow dancers.  Jack got up close and personal with Babe, and found a bird’s nest in her nostril!  Did you know that these statues are thought to be the second most photographed icons in the nation, behind only Mount Rushmore? Then it was on to Itasca State Park.  Itasca was the first of all the Minnesota State Parks, and is famously known as being the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River.  Because of all the recent rains and the spring thaw, we were not able to straddle the headwaters that emerge from Lake Itasca, but what a difference from crossing the Mississippi down in, say, Baton Rouge.  I tried to get Jack to hop the rocks into the middle o...

On 26-5 Howard Limbert , expert of British Caving Association said , after years of study , the expedition confirmed Khe Ry is the world's longest river cave. Khe Ry Cave ( Quang Binh ) Hang Khe Ry surveyed in 1997 , then cave expedition Royal led by Mr. Limbert caving 13.8 km long river . In subsequent years , the expedition continued exploration and additional photos , maps mapping. In 2013, expedition length discovered in caves and rivers to nearly 20km and confirmed as the world's longest river cave , the cave ceiling height of 120m , boats traveling at some stage of the grotto quite comfortable. The first water source of Khe Ry River is a stream at an altitude of 1,300 meters into the cave , forming long river , which runs to the cave swallow , then dive down on Son Doong cave and then pour water into the cave system Phong Nha . He said Limbert , the cave is the world's longest river , proving once again cave in Ke Bang limestone blocks many undiscovered hidden it.

Sometimes living in a differe nt country you forget that some of the very odd and different things around you are in fact...odd and different. Here are  some more things from around Korea that I first thought were odd and different but now just blend into the background.  .Neon lights. Down every road at night it looks like a mini version of Vegas. .Mixing up the language. When I first moved here and started teaching kindi, they would always say 'shi shi' when they had to use the bathroom. As a naive newcomer, I assumed this was the proper way to say 'bathroom' (because kindi kids always speak in perfect grammar right?). I went to a restaurant and tried to practice my newly learned Korean phrase on the waitress to ask where the bathroom is. She started giggling and pointed towards the bathroom. I learned later that 'shi shi' is the equivalent of saying 'pee pee'. .This may just be the best thing ever invented. It's a call button, and it's placed ...