Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — 26 November 1997 My one day to spend sightseeing in Hong Kong was hindered by a heavy overcast and steady drizzle. Although I rode the tram up Victoria Peak, the zero visibility at the top permitted no photographs. I was supposed to be able to see a […]
Horyu-ji (Temple of the Flourishing Law) Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — 10 February 1999 I recently walked through the oldest wooden building in the world. It is the main hall of a Buddhist temple in Nara, Japan, and was built sometime prior to 730 A.D. Named Horyu-ji (Temple of the Flourishing Law), […]
Originally published in the Clear Lake Courier — June 17, 1998 Cherry blossom time in Japan (early April) means the coming of spring and the opportunity to socialize outdoors after a long winter. One common celebration is a Buddhist fertility festival, established in ancient times to welcome spring and pray for a good harvest. Today […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 1 April 1998 Since moving to Japan, I’ve been told one thing I need to do (in addition to climbing Mt. Fuji) is attend the Sapporo Snow Festival. So I took four days leave and paid my money for the February tour. Sapporo is the capital city […]
Originally printed in Clear Lake Courier — 28 October 1998 When I moved to Japan, one of my sailors told me I’d soon be a sumo fan. I couldn’t imagine getting excited about those excessively obese men pushing at each other, and I still can’t. However, when my boss acquired tickets to a performance of […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 11 March 1998 I spent my Christmas vacation touring Malaysia with sixteen other tourists–Americans from Japan, Australians, Italians, South Africans and British. We traveled 1400 miles on a bus in ten days, through ten of Malaysia’s thirteen states, and stayed in seven cities.
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — August 13, 1997 Naval Air Facility Atsugi competed with a typhoon while presenting its 42nd annual air show the last weekend in June. Wings ‘97 was NAF Atsugi’s “Friendship Day,” one of the events held by American military bases in Japan during the summer to socialize with […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — July 16, 1997 From USS Boxer (LHD 4), a new ship on its first deployment, I went to USS Independence (CV 62), the oldest ship in the Navy. Too large to tie up at the pier the Boxer had used a week earlier, it anchored several miles […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — June 4, 1997 I never in my life thought I’d get to Singapore and Thailand, but the opportunity presented itself when we scheduled a trip to meet USS Boxer. Three of us flew seven hours from Yokota Air Force Base to Singapore on a DC-8 contracted by […]
Originally printed in the Clear Lake Courier — 10 December 1997 With the arrival of October, it was time for an annual conference in Spain. Unlike last year when I flew over the United States twice, this time I went entirely around the world. On the way, I stopped in Washington D.C. for four days. […]