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| This is from Jul 93 in Diyarbakir Turkey showing the members of my group in a store downtown...It was the only air-conditioned place we knew...The outside temperature was 130 F...Ramona is the girl in the picture and had tiny little feet...She was 4'10" tall... |
This is a real live Turkish bellydancer at the Kirvan Sarai Hotel in Diyarbakir in Jul 93...I got drunk on Raki and woke with a huge hangover the next morning...Raki is also known as "Lion's Milk" with good reason...It's mixed with water to produce a white color... |
This is inside a mosque dating from the Medieval Period in Jul 93...At 125 F ambient outside temperature, I was wishing not to have drunk so much Raki the night before...Ouch! |
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| This Jul 93 photo overlooks part of the old Roman wall, mosque minarets and what was added by the Ottoman Turks during the Crusades...Once again, the photo doesn't belie my huge hangover...Also there is the smell of drying dung (cooking and heating) and then open dumping of trash in the city streets... |
This overlooks the Euphrates River which runs right behind the city...The bridge is recently constructed...We used to call this area the Garden of Eden due to the� greenery caused by the release of raw sewage and garbage into the river...What a great smell!.. |
The Byzantine-Roman wall around Istanbul in Sep 94...This wall kept out the Ottoman Turks for several weeks during their great battle with the last of the Byzantines in the 15th Century...This wall faces out on the Sea of Marmara... |
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| This is an Ottoman castle constructed right after defeating the Byzantines to protect the Bosporus and prevent Christians from retaking the city (Sep 94)... |
This is also from within the Ottoman castle and shows the Ataturk Bridge in the background...Just past the bridge is entry to what is called the Golden Horn right in the center of Istanbul...The sun reflects off the water causing this unique color (Sep 94)... |
A picture (Sep 94) of the original Byzantine chain used to isolate the Golden Horn from attackers...Next to it is an Ottoman bombard (primitive cannon)... |
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| A picture from Winter 95 of the inner river running through the heart of Singapore...It was 90 F with 90% humidity...I sweated a lot... |
Standing in front of a billboard advertising a bad martial arts movie in downtown Singapore (Winter 95)...And yes, Singapore was very clean and there were a lot of strict rules...I paid attention and had no problems... |
This is a rather fascinating collection of bars along the river in Singapore where we went to get a beer...I didn't get soused so there was no hangover (Winter 95)... |
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| A temple of worship (Muslim, I think) from Johor, Malaysia in Winter 95...It was raining - hard... |
An interesting museum in Johor with collections of local art and historical artifacts (Winter 95)... |
Our rather snippy tour guide showing us weaving of silk tapestry in Johor...We heard comments about how the US "polluted" her country with tourists...She should have concentrated on the actual pollution her people made in downtown Johor...There was plenty to go around... |
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| A beautiful Korean lady, who owned the restaurant mentioned in this business card, from Taegu Korea put her phone number on here for me to call if I ever visited again... (Sep 99) |
A beautiful Korean restaurant in Songtan Korea featuring vegetable cuisine (Sep 99)... |
This is Myongdong-gu, Seoul Korea, during rush hour on a weekend showing thousands of kids shopping in Spring 97... |
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| This is a crowded subway (Summer 1996) where I am on the way to Kangnam in Seoul to eat at one of my favorite restaurants which are either OB Carne Station or the Korean Seat at the Novotel Hotel...Both were delicious Korean buffets where I would stink of Kimchi and garlic for 3 days afterward and stink up half the office where I worked... |
This is the art district in Northeast Seoul near Kyungbu University (Summer 1996)...I went to see a rather interesting play in this area called "Sex, Sex, Sex"...It was all in Korean and was a satire on the haute French couteur...I was the only westerner there so they applauded my presence and gave me a Korean play script for the show...It was very well acted...Funny too...
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This is a street vendor selling watches in Masan in the summer of 1996 with his small menagerie of animals including an monkey, parrot, boa constrictor and cockatoo...The other animals are in a box under the ape...The salesman asked me to sit with him next to the ape and I'd get a free Korean watch...However, he asked me to do some tricks with the ape...I wasn't sure what he was saying in Korean but the spectators started laughing so I assume they assumed I was going to leave in a box as well as the ape at the end of the day...I quickly took my watch...It stopped working on the bus back to Osan... |