I enjoyed the slow train to Hua Hin, the seaside town 200 km south of Bangkok. Scheduled to get there in five hours, the train made it in six. I bought 2nd class sleeper fan tickets and got two wide seats facing each other. Travelling by day, we didn’t fold them out to create a … Hua Hin
i) Years ago, coming out of a Shanghai subway station, David passed a man dressed in what looked like dirty blue medical scrubs. Squatting on the pavement, under a street light, the man had a basket of live crabs in front of him. For whatever reason, David looked back and saw him pick up his … China Sketches: Company
Links go to my reviews on Goodreads Sexual Fascism — In these essays the USA compares poorly with China in terms of sexual freedom White Faced Lies — This graphic novel details the rent-a-white-guy in China phenomenon Unwelcome — An anti-coming-of-age novel set in China and the US, gripping in the tear-legs-off-a-spider kind of way Default … Eight indie/small press books I reviewed in 2022
Lying in bed my eye felt like it was going to explode, finally, after hours, aqueous fluid and pus squirted out relieving the pressure. The pain subsided, but only for fifteen minutes. So began a rewarding experience of the public health sector in Argentina, one winter morning in 2010. After consulting my friend (who I … Argentina Sketches: Story of the Eye
She checked in wearing dark glasses. It didn’t seem weird as she had platinum blond hair and pale skin. I put her in a six-bed dorm. There was only one other guest in there, a Russian woman of twenty-five. Dorms were officially mixed but in practice, we generally kept men and women separate. We hadn’t … Argentina Sketches: The Albino Thief
One of those old guys, hands clasped behind back, pausing every second step to see if there was something to stick his nose into. The way he dressed, grey slacks, polyester polo shirt with sleeveless pullover on top, didn’t indicate money, time abroad, or working in a big company. He had an educated air though. … China Sketches: BBQ
A foreigner with glassy eyes and a gut, par for the course, it was his ears which caught my attention, like classroom models complete with painted on veins. He was with a diminutive woman, hers was an alcopop, his a large bir Anker. A German, who had lived in Australia for twenty years; when he … Indonesia Sketches: Flag of the Southern Cross
Through the taxi window tens of identical apartment buildings reflected the pink rising sun. After curving down the bridge interchange and taking a number of lefts and rights, our cab pulled over. The train station would already be crowded despite the early hour, but the long distance bus station was quiet. There were empty seats … China Sketches: Yixing Chemical Plant
It had passable beaches, a large shipbuilding industry and a lot of impressive skyscrapers; from the top of any of these you could see the port and in the other direction the green hills marking the end of the urban sprawl. At that stage of my life I hadn’t seen Shanghai, Hong Kong or New York. I was overwhelmed by the shiny skyscrapers in Dalian. When I later visited New York, the first museum I went to was the Sky Scraper Museum, my enthusiasm has since waned due to overexposure to tall buildings…
Corina, a forty-seven year old teacher, was walking home when a beaten-up burgundy car pulled up beside her. Two men got out, grabbed Corina, forced her inside and put a bag over her head. Corina, fearing the worst, struggled wildly as her shirt was pulled up, then she felt her stomach burning. Her kidnappers used … Argentina Sketches: Steal Spike
