The island of Hokkaido in Japan continues to experience strong aftershocks from Friday's earthquake there. One such aftershock has resulted in an oil refinery fire overnight...
07:22 AM#
Temperature Check: Chengdu, China
It was a seasonally cool 72F degrees in Chengdu, China, on Sunday September 28. Rain kept the temperature down. The low this morning in Chengdu was 66F. A light rain began at about 4am and continued through mid-morning. That was followed by a mist that persisted throughout the day. By comparison, Chengdu had a high of 80F and a low of 62F a year ago today under a hazy sky.
07:11 AM#
Table for Two: Vladivostok
Nostalgia Restuarant is "a house for connoisseurs of Russian cuisine" according to the establishment's web site. Tsar Nicolas II and his wife will watch you eat (their portraits are hung in the diningroom). And live music - ranging from Gypsy dance music and Russian folk songs to jazz - helps your food digest. You can find borsch, red caviar pancakes, salmon stew with mushrooms, and much more on the menu. And the restaurant also sells souvenirs and rememberances of Russia's Far East...
01:20 PM#
Cambodia today is an impoverished step-child in the Southeast Asian region. But the Khmers once ruled perhaps the greatest empire mainland Southeast Asia ever saw -- the Kingdom of Angkor. That old Khmer capital, Angkor, is by far Cambodia's single biggest tourist draw. History aside, Angkor Wat is a work of art that took four centuries of ongoing construction to complete. Angkor's architecture would have been art enough to gain the temple recognition; but much of Angkor serves as a gallery for carvings and sculptures that serve no structural purpose. Before you decide to visit Angkor Wat, you should be aware of the problems which travel in Cambodia can pose before you decided to visit the country.
07:15 AM#
Rioting in the Maldives
The Associated Press is reporting that two days of rioting in the Madive Islands has left three people dead. The Maldives is a small but popular tourist destination comprised of several tiny islands with pristine beaches off the southwest coast of India.
12:00 PM#
It is a land where Korean culture exists as it used to be. A Korea where capitalism is only now making inroads. A Korea where Communism never completely destroyed the fabric of society. In many ways, culturally and linguistically it is the Korea of the 1920's. It is relaxed and enchanting. And it welcomes tourists.
12:53 PM#
Located in the heart of Kathmandu's Thamel district is Alice's Restaurant (named for the Arlo Guthrie song). You can't quite get anything you want, but you can get access to the Internet. You can sit on the restaurant's terrace, or if the weather allows you can drink coffee on the restaurant's roof - perhaps the area's best view...
01:50 PM#
China's Great Wall stretches from the banks of the Yalu River to Gansu Province - the place in China's far west where the "barbarian" territories of Central Asia were reconded by the Chinese to begin. Estimates of the Wall's length vary. But the distance from the Wall's eastern end in Liaoning Province to its western end in Gansu is usually put at about 6,000 kilometers -- as the crow flies. People, however, can't fly; and to actually walk from the length of the Wall's twisted path through northern China over the many mountain peaks and down the valley's between them would be further. One estimate places the actual length of the Wall (if it could be stretched out into a straight line) at about 15,000 kilometers, or 9,000 miles. Over the centuries, armies have been stationed along the length of the Wall to provide early warning of efforts to invade China.
06:52 AM#
Hole-in-One: Thailand
Laguna Phuket Golf Club is located between the Town of Phuket and the airport on the Laguna Resort complex, on Bang Tao Bay. The Thai island of Phuket has been called the "Pearl of the Andaman," and the name is well deserved. The course there was designed by Max Wexler and opened in 1992. At 6850 yards long, it features picturesque lagoons, tropical coconut groves, and a striking backdrop of mountains. The front nine have been described as "lazy" and the back nine as being far more challenging. Water is an obstacle on 13 of the 18 holes. The 16th hole is surrounded by a dozen bunkers. And the ocean breeze will at time be a major factor in where your ball lands. Laguna Phuket Golf Club is part of a huge resort complex that includes five hotels. The resort complex takes in six ocean lagoons and boasts 43 swimming pools, 25 restaurants, and a spa.
08:22 AM#
On Soi 24 in Bangkok's Klongtoey district, The Seafood Market & Restaurant at 89 Sukhumvit Road is among the best places in the city to find fresh seafood. If it swims, they have it. Try the stir fried clams with chili sauce. Or the squid with garlic and black pepper (my favorite). Looking for something more Western? How 'bout grilled rock lobster tail? The restaurant is open from 11:30am to 11:30 pm daily and the facilities include a VIP conference-diningroom and a sushi bar. The most unique aspect of the place is that you buy your seafood fresh - sometimes live, sometimes on ice - and take it back to your table where a waiter picks it up and takes it to the chef. The seafood is market price and cooking charges are then paid separately - usually just a few dollars. Looking for something you may never find outside of Asia? Try the grilled stingray. The smaller they are, the sweeter their meat...
12:26 PM#
Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple - a status it has probably held since it's construction was completed about 1150 years ago. But for most of the temple's life it was buried under ash and hidden by jungle growth in this portion of Indonesia's East Java province. Today the world's largest Buddhist temple is a national treasure in the world's most populous Islamic nation.
03:32 PM#
Wayan Limbak died Sunday. He is remembered in Bali as the creator of the Monkey Dance. Limbak worked with German painter Walter Spies in the 1930's to help make Bali one of the Asia's leading tourist destinations.
11:02 PM#
Hole-in-One: India
Tight fairways wrapped in pine and rhododendron forests with tee offs sometimes as much as 200 feet above the fairways. West Virginia? No. The Shillong Golf Club near the Polo Ground in Shillong, in India's Meghalaya State, has been described as a replica of the Old Links at St. Andrews, and Shillong itself is sometimes characterized as "the Scotland of the East" because of its similarities to the Scottish Highlands. The 18 holes are scenic, enjoyable, and challenging. The British introduced golf to Shillong in 1898. The current 18 hole course was opened in 1924. It provides some excellent golf, including the 594 yard sixth hole and the par five ninth hole with its dog leg.
07:39 AM#
Sip of the Hot Stuff: Lhasa
When you sit in the Magyia Ngami restaurant in Lhasa,Tibet you should sit with respect, for there is no telling who was in that seat before you: Dalai Lamas and Kings have frequented the building over the years. Magyia Ngami is inside "The Yellow House" (as the building is known locally) at the southeast end of Barkor Street. Tsangyang Gyatso, the sixth Dalai Lama (1683-1706), was a regular guest at the house. Today you can drink traditional Tibetan buttered tea there. Or if you'd prefer, fresh coffee is available...
10:55 AM#
1278: it was the Golden Age, the "Dawn of Happiness". At least in Thailand. That was the year that Sukothai, the first truly free Thai state, threw off the shackles of Khmer rule and founded a kingdom which Thais today look back on as their political and national beginnings. Today's Thai citizens associate with Sukothai all of the emotions and nationalistic fervor that Americans associate with the Boston Tea Party, or the French with the storming of the Bastille. The ruins of ancient Sukothai are perhaps most beautiful at sunset and sunrise; the site takes on a mystique in the twilight that can help transport visitors back in history...
03:23 PM#
Cambodia today is an impoverished step-child in the Southeast Asian region. But the Khmers once ruled perhaps the greatest empire mainland Southeast Asia ever saw -- the Kingdom of Angkor. That old Khmer capital, Angkor, is by far Cambodia's single biggest tourist draw. History aside, Angkor Wat is a work of art that took four centuries of ongoing construction to complete. Angkor's architecture would have been art enough to gain the temple recognition; but much of Angkor serves as 
On Soi 24 in Bangkok's Klongtoey district, The 
Borobudur is the world's largest Buddhist temple - a status it has probably held since it's construction was completed about 1150 years ago. But for most of the temple's life it was buried under ash and hidden by jungle growth in this portion of Indonesia's East Java province. Today the world's largest Buddhist temple is a national treasure in the world's most populous Islamic nation.
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