How are you doing? It's been a while since I heard from/about you and miss you. Why don't you shoot me a note or something with some gossip or funny story?
Here is what has been up with our mob recently.
Betty and I had the good fortune of attending the Bat Mitzvah of a friend's daughter a couple weeks ago. As a fake Jew from way back, hard to believe that this was my first one. In speaking to my Jewish acquaintances here over the years have heard that there is not a Temple to be found on the island, which isn't shocking but with 16 million souls in the immediate neighborhood, you'd think there would be something. I gather that they will get together in hotels and such to commune with each other on holidays. This event was held in an old American embassy residence in the mountains overlooking the city.
The ceremony was nice and the words they spoke meaningful. Understand that it was a condensed version and there wasn't a rabbi or anything, which is probably a good thing.
And we did the thing that is the Jews greatest contribution to the world...the Hava Nagila. That is an interesting story about its origin, but it is the most visceral communal dance that there is in my opinion. Having participated in many, and we did it at our wedding too, Betty and I helped organizing the circles to go in the right directions. Pure joy...and puts the chicken dance/macarena/etc. to shame.
One follow up to a few postings back about Babydolls dance performance. I wanted to wish her luck beforehand and knowing performers superstitious nature, was gonna say break a leg but immediately thought that doesn't make sense when talking to a dancer. Looked it up and the thing to say to a dancer prior to a performance is merde (French for shit). The origin of that unusual saying is that...
This term refers to the times when carriages would take the audience to the theatre. A quick look to the street in front of the venue would tell if the play was successful: a lot of horse dung would mean many carriages had stopped to leave spectators.
No gag, just thought it was interesting and you know I like to contemplate all things scatological.
Speaking of which, if you are interested in learning more about Islamic toilet etiquette, you can read it here. Nothing too weird but no funny takeaways either. Not eating while you use the bathroom would seem to be one that would help all religions find some common ground. I wonder if they have updated guidelines for the use of cellphones?
And am sure you saw the article in the science journals you frequent about how you can now track fart development in real time on your phone. One ingests an electronic capsule and it records the nature of the gases and microbes from entry to exit...all of which you can see in real time on your device of choice. While it would be a fun parlour trick to break out at parties, the medical implications are immense.
It was Thanksgiving last week and we missed seeing the Boy again this year. I know he didn't miss us as he traveled to SF and met up with all of his all Taiwan HS buddies for the weekend.
The girls and I went to the Philippines for the holiday. Betty has had this place called El Nido in the Palawan island chain on her radar for some time and she booked us. It was truly gorgeous in a way that was unlike most of the other beach destinations we have experienced in our time. In our 7 years in Asia, we've been to a beach place at least once and usually twice a year so feel we have a decent cross section of beachy places. Palau is/was hands down our favorite as it had it all. I wouldn't recommend any other and it is not that they don't have a certain beauty, but in every circumstance, the beaches and surrounding areas are littered with garbage. Varying amounts but ever present...it is kind of a bummer and why go all that way and feel dirty. This El Nido joint however was billed as being eco friendly and it lived up to the claims. As we were being welcomed at check in they gave us a bag for us to take our plastic that we used, like used sunscreen bottles, off the island and made a corny but lovely statement that while we were here to "take pictures and leave footprints". I saw one plastic bag in the ocean during a snorkeling trip, which I grabbed and took on shore, and that was it for garbage the entire weekend. Without dodging trash, was able to lift my eyes and see all the beauty that this chain of islands had to offer.
We got in mid-afternoon on Thanksgiving and we had that hard tropical thunderstorm that is awesome. Was a little worried we'd get rained out the rest of the time.
All were very nice but the real pleasure was being on the boat...waters were calm and scenery idyllic. Best was that there were so few other boats or people to be seen, which is very rare. Dangling my legs off the front of the boat with not a sole in sight...
The afternoon activity was kayaking into some lagoons and included another one of the awesome boat rides to the little hollows. My back was telling me to take it easy and the kayak seemed like it wouldn't be a good activity so stayed on the boat while the girls went in. They said everything was gorgeous but this was the one time where there were a couple of other boats and one of those was filled with the dreaded Chinese.
The girls got back and I asked how it was and the first thing out of Betty's mouth as she climbed on board was "fucking Chinese". Seems they rowed into this serene little cove with no way out and the mainlanders all pulled in behind them and started ramming their boats while they yelled and sang songs.
The funniest twist on that is that every time we go to the Philippines, all of the locals (and I do mean all) start talking to her in Tagalog thinking she is one of them. I heard her say at least 10 times this exact sentence..."I'm not Filipino. I know you think I am but I'm not." It used to bug her but she seems to have come to some internal peace with it now. I think it is due to the fact that her 23 & Me profile came back showing she is 100% certified Chinese fresh.
I went on this kayak excursion mainly for the boat ride home that coincided with the sun going down. Add in glorious colors to a serene boat ride and you got yourself nirvana.
We did an OK snorkeling thing the next morning where we saw a mess of sharks but sadly, no turtles. Had some quality sit by the pool and read a book/nap time, long walk on the beach...if I had stress in my life, it would have evaporated. Betty went for a hat making activity where she made this out of palm leaves.
Look at the detail in the grasshopper and bird that went with it.
One more thing about this place that has never been the case anywhere else...the food was very good. We had char tay keow, paella, pork belly and the best damn burger I've had in a long time (outside of Red Mill of course) Eating meals nightly outside with the moon in full...great
As we had some quality family time together, we had some interesting conversations. Costco features in many of those and we got on the topic one night after seeing that Costco US was offering the full leg of Spanish Iberico ham on line this Thanksgiving. We saw them in their store in Madrid last January and while we would have little use personally, they are so beautiful.
Betty then shared some of the "43 hilarious tweets that sum up shopping at Costco" that she saw on HuffPo. I maybe snorted at one of them, but hilarious? She will start to tell people one and not be able to finish cause she is laughing so hard. Check it out and if you think that 3 of them are remotely funny, I will admit I was wrong. I have to be careful because humor is a personal taste and there is no wrong answer.
Far more interesting was her explanation as to why eggs are refrigerated in the States but in few places elsewhere. If you are interested in the technical terms, this article has them. As it was explained to us over breakfast, the egg comes from the chicken from the same hole that it poops so fecal matter is present. Should you wash off the fecal matter, it also takes off a protective membrane found on the egg and once that is gone, the only way to keep it fresh and safe from other diseases entering it is to refrigerate. The eggs will last just as long unrefrigerated/unwashed as they do cleaned and cold and that article states that the amount of reported cases of salmonella and other things is lower in Europe than in the states suggesting that keeping the membrane on is slightly more effective. This came up as I have been buying our eggs lately from the farmer's stall at the local market and Betty said that I have to wash them because of this stuff she learned going to the farms and am happy to do so. Now you know.
We got a new security guard in our building recently. A young lady (of 26) with braces and bright red lipstick. Some would call her attractive, which is a departure from all the other guards that are old and frumpy and dudes. A refreshing change to be sure. A couple of days into her tenure here, noticed that she was really bubbly in saying hello to me but not as much to the other tenants. The elevator doors have a reflective metal and while they aren't mirrors, you can see a decent reflection...like this.
I get back from a long walk on a hot day recently and am pretty sweaty. My shirt is all wet and clingy (you get the picture) and as I am waiting for the elevator to come down, can see the new guard checking me out in the reflection. In the basement is the main guard shack and in it is the bank of screens that monitor the security cameras throughout the building and there are a lot. She is down in that office a few days later and as I am going up to our apartment, I can literally feel her eyes watching me. Made me self conscious to not do my usual elevator move of rearranging my nut sack.
I am not saying that all women have this infatuation, or even most, but it happens. Women can't understand the significance of this cause guys are checking you out all the time and am sure it is creepy a lot of the time, but us dudes, especially ones that don't have 'classic' good looks, these wins make you feel good.
The truth is, none of these things probably don't happen in the way I interpret, but believing that they do is powerful. I can't find it but recall hearing an interview with (former MLB slugger) Jason Giambi, or maybe it was his brother Jeremy, and he said that he and some of his Oakland A's teammates would like their pants tight cause they felt the women in the stands were checking them out and that it made them feel sexy/confident when going up to bat. Point is, self confidence is all in the mind and having none (or too much for that matter) can be destructive. As a society, we talk a lot about why people are homeless, shoot up yoga studios or leave their shopping carts in the middle of the aisle at a 45 degree angle while they go grab samples at the Costco as being a mental health issue. I understand that there are chemical imbalances in many people, but that a lot/most of the problems these folks have could be muted if they could find a sense of self worth. I am going to make it one of my resolutions to build people up in 2019.
Had the very good fortune of catching a great show here last week....legendary Japanese band Acid Mothers Temple. In talking to a buddy that wrote for an English language paper on entertainment in Japan years ago about my trip there to see Yo La Tengo and the local guests they had on stage, he told me of his favorite bands he saw when living there and mentioned Acid Mothers as his favorite. favorites. In a moment of serendipity, simultaneously saw that group announce a show in town at a cool little club, so some like minded fellas and I got tix.
Listening to their stuff in advance of the show, it is a hard listen. Prog and metal are terms that came to mind and those aren't genres that I typically like, but in this town, you have to stretch your comfort zone and off we went.
Holy shit...we all had our minds blown. Solid playing all around, visually arresting, driving tempos from start to finish and the guitarist, Kawabata Makoto, shredded all night long and administered heavy doses of the kind of feedback that I love.
At the end of the show, Mr Makoto really lashed out. I've seen guitarists make noise with their instrument in so many ways, but saw a new one this night. Dude was swinging it around and it was glorious, he then put it up to the monitors hanging above the stage for more feedback, hung it on the monitor and walked offstage leaving it ringing for all of us to enjoy. Yum. They play a ton and noticed them playing at the tiny Sunset Tavern in Seattle on April 1st and if you want to see a great show, there you go.
Allrighty...getting close to the end of the year and our travel season kicks in hard. In less than two weeks we leave for Dublin/Edinburgh/London for the two week X-mas break with not only the whole family, but our extended family/travel partners in tow. The first of February will find me and the girls in NZ for 9ish days. Mentioned that we were considering an RV cause that seems to be the way to go there, but were reluctant to do so for a variety of reasons. We ultimately decided that you need to try everything once and booked our rig last week and are now super excited to hit the open road. Finally, for Spring Break in March, Betty booked us for a week run in Myanmar. Am sure that will be interesting but have mixed feelings about going...it's gonna be hot and there is that genocide thing.
Look forward to recapping it all with y'all
Nice shweaaaty balls Mr 16th floor
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