Author Archives: sheg4184

Just Sushi

As I may have mentioned, I recently made my first trip to Japan, landing in Tokyo with a clean slate, eager for new impressions. I must admit, I knew embarrassingly little about the country at that point, and I was … Continue reading →

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Umami: The Fifth Taste

Salt, sweet, sour, bitter. I am assuming we have known about these four taste categories since Sesame Street was a dirt track through the woods. Each one tells our taste buds about what we are putting in our mouths, and … Continue reading →

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Culture Shock or “How’s the Serenity?”

Culture shock can be a complicated, confusing, disorienting experience.  It is defined as the individual’s sense of dislocation when attempting to settle into a new environment. Moving cities can be hard enough. Moving countries requires you to adapt to foreign values, mannerisms, mind-sets … Continue reading →

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Trendy Mediocrity with a Side Order of Inconsistency

I love Rockwell. There is always some new restaurant to try amongst the plethora to be found both inside and outside Power Plant Mall. My latest, belated discovery is Rambla. Apparently it has actually been there for almost twelve months, but … Continue reading →

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Snapshots of Japan

A clean and helpful clockwork world where a pair of missing glasses is located and returned before panic sets in. A lavatory with a heated seat, an in-built bidet, a video screen and a sound system that provides the noisy gush … Continue reading →

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“Selamat Datang!”

“I loved the heat. Hot, hot and then all the rain. It rains, you know, nearly every day in Malaya… It comes down in sheets, in buckets, nearly every day around the same time for an hour or two. And … Continue reading →

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Blackbird: a transformation

One of the first snippets of local history I was handed when I arrived in the Philippines: Ayala Triangle, now the focal point of the Makati business district,  was once an airport among rice fields, its original runway the stretch of … Continue reading →

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An Inn of Distinction

The Victoria is a glorious little boutique hotel tucked away down the narrow suburban streets of West Temple Sheen, just the other side of Richmond Park in London. Obediently, we followed our GPS off the motorway and onto the not-so-beaten-track. … Continue reading →

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Ducks are A-Dabbling III

A Thames Valley Journal: Part 3 “In it’s unbroken loveliness this is, perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river…” ~ Jerome K. Jerome Day 6: Marlow to Maidenhead Before we left the Vicarage, we popped into the Church-next-door, All Saints … Continue reading →

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