December 2011

A friend introduced me to this nice coffee shop last Saturday. It is one of the few quiet coffee shops in the city. Their specialty are tea blends including green tea…

I made a brief visit back in Karatau, Kazakhstan, in October, 1999, passing from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, heading to Talas, Kyrgyzstan. I was allowed to spend a night in…

The first image most people will get when mentioning Saigon today are lots and lots of motorbikes.

Another memorable day. My IT assistant, Lang, and I brought these donations of backpacks, school uniforms, and notebooks to Tuoi Tre News. They were donated by the…

One of the most colorful schools I visited while I stayed in Cambodia. The Zaman International Primary School is regarded as one of the best bilingual schools in Phnom…

Yesterday I met with @MienHPham at the Pham Ngu Lao Coffee Beans for some coffee, well hot chocolate for me. During most of the meeting, we noticed the traffic police…

Picture speaks for itself: "Got to Love Me, I'm cute!!!"

I found this image of the completed Karatau Mosque today at Picasa: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5bp5zl2bu5rpC3QBTKQ99A

When I lived in Karatau, Kazakhstan, as a Peace Corps Volunteer, there were two mosques in the town. With Saudi funding, the townspeople started to build a new mosque to…

My favorite airlines. I wanted to be a Japan Airlines 747 pilot as a kid. I always enjoy flying on this airline. JAL no longer has any 747 in it's fleet so this is more…

Towards the last days of my trip to Sasebo, Japan, in 2002. I was able to get this shot of the moon over the ice paddies near my grandmother's house.

Manas International Airport is different today then back in 1999. Now the US military stations some of its troops the Manas Air Base. Back in 1999, Manas was a newly…

Located just outside of Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, is the famous Burana Tower. It is a must visit for those headed to Lake Issyk Kul. There is tale that explains why the Burana…

Karakol, Kyrgyzstan, was located at the far end of the famous Lake Issyk Kul. A large community of Dungans, Chinese Muslims, resided in Karakol. I remember the Dungans…

Outside of Naryn with the Ala Too mountains in the distance was this man riding his horse. I was standing with an American teacher, my assistant and my Russian driver…

Driving away from Naryn, we passed two boys riding a donkey. The boy in front looked like he was carrying a heavy bag full of potatoes, possibly rice. I cannot remember…

I was working as a Program Recruiter for ACCELS in Kyrgyzstan late 1999. On one of our trips, my driver took us from Kochkor to Naryn. We had to pass Dolan's Pass to get…

What Nguyen Trai Street in District 5 of Saigon used to look like. Notice people not wearing helmets, the streets were not as congested. This was a peaceful time to live…

Winter, 1997, in Karatau, Kazakhstan, was the coldest I ever experienced in my life. I was at my Peace Corps site for just a little over two months when winter struck…

The Parachute Rigger School. The good old days at NAS Memphis. It was funny since the Naval Air Station was not located in Memphis, Tennessee, but outside in Millington…