A C. T U. A L. L Y

MARCH 10:   It took what seemed like forever to get to Koh Chang, a gorgeous island off the southeast coast of Thailand:   first, a 10:55 morning flight from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, where we picked up a connecting flight at 16:15 to Trat on the mainland, and from Trat by van to the ferry landing and then on to Koh Chang, where we were met by yet another van that brought us directly to Sylvan , our hotel.   It was a long day, but the journey was soon eclipsed by the beauty of our luxurious surroundings. We had booked a pool villa at the suggestion of our Berlin neighbors, who had spent almost a week at Sylvan.   It was without a doubt the nicest accommodation of our trip.     The ultra-modern pool villa had a deck up a few stairs from the ground level, with an expansive view of the ocean.     From the ground level, we descended a stair down one floor to the entry, and alongside the stair ran a water feature that continued right into and through th...

There is a funny side and there is a serious side to the fake news about Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, OH, promulgated by J. D. Vance (is that short for juvenile delinquent?), a current Republican Senator from OH and the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States.   First the funny side.   To keep current with the political memes, we’re thinking of re-naming our three cats.   Introducing… Breakfast 😻 😻 Lunch 😻 and Dinner 😻 . We might need to get a fourth cat though, because as my cousin V. pointed out, there’s always room for dessert! On the serious side, we should understand that it is no accident that this cat-astrophic BS is being shoveled around in Ohio .   The choice of venue is deliberate.   Why?   Because there is a fierce U.S. Senate race going on in Ohio between the Democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown (left) and the Republican challenger Bernie Moreno (right).     The “Haitians are eating the d...

MARCH 8:   Still ruing the inadequate guided tour of the main Angkor Wat temple, and remembering that our tuk-tuk driver had encouraged us to buy the 3-day Angkor Archaeological Park ticket, we decided to use the ticket for a return to the temple on our last day in Siem Reap.  We would find our own guide. His name was Hen Phyrak, and here is his license.    Hen said he had taught mathematics in Siem Reap, but he left that job to become a guide so he could earn more money.   He explained that the Khmer Rouge had destroyed the professional class and that, as a result, the public schools were so bad, he had to put his daughters in private school.   Hence, his need to increase his earnings. Hen proved to be an eager, informed guide.   We had gleaned from our first tour that the bas relief carvings on the interior walls of the exterior temple galleries depicted important Hindu epics, but those stories had not been explained.   Hen filled in the ga...