Word play is fascinating in any language, even more interesting when it extends across two languages. A friend brought the bags pictured here to me last night, at a gathering of people I’ve met via whale, dolphin and sea lion trips.
The army-green bag on the left caught my eye when I was in Tonga [...]
I had an opportunity today to see the skeleton of a north pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica). The skeleton is on display at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.
At 17.1 metres in length, the skeleton is enormous. It’s from a 67.2-tonne male that was caught in 1961 near Kodiak Island, Alaska as part [...]
I wrote an editorial some time ago that’s been published in several places.
Through the discussion of two seemingly unrelated topics (stomach ulcers and global warming), my intention was to point out the potential risks of being “absolutely certain” about any point of view.
A friend recently sent me a link to a story from The [...]
This is something new in Tonga: Coca Cola tailored for Tonga, launched perhaps a month or so ago.
The can says “The Coke side of Tonga” as well as “Ifo Atu”. As far as I can gather, the term “Ifo Atu” is not actually used in Tongan, but it’s a mishmash of terms that’s intended to [...]
This is how my friend Takaji and I spent most of our 14-hour layover in Auckland. Fortunately, we both have access to the Air New Zealand lounge, which has a good Wifi connection, snacks throughout the day, and a surplus of coffee.
My best friend is gone. At around 05:30 on 31 July (Thursday), Pasta passed away.
I got Pasta when she was about 3 months old. I wasn’t planning on getting her. In fact, I didn’t so much get her, as she “chose” me. When I saw her, she was just a tiny fluffball. When she [...]
Pasta is really sick, and I need to leave for Tonga tomorrow…reluctantly.
While I was away, she had a sudden total system collapse, basically a complete loss of body function. Blood tests showed elevated white cell count and high creatinine (among other things), suggesting kidney failure (among other things). The doctor didn’t give her too [...]
This is a photograph of me taking a photograph of me with silly goggles on. Actually, the goggles aren’t so silly. They’re rather practical for the fishermen who use them. It’s more me who looks silly with them on, so perhaps the adjective “silly” is more applicable to me than the goggles.
The point of posting [...]
It was Pasta’s birthday a couple of days ago. She’s 13 years old now, which is getting up there for a golden retriever. Fortunately, she’s alert and active, which meant she was fully able to enjoy the custom “birthday cake” we prepared for her (dog food, bonito flakes and tuna).
In fact, Pasta was so aware [...]
I’m still struggling to catch up with emails, work and life after my getting back from my latest trip. On my list of things “to do” (unfortunately very far down) is to write about some of the things that happened.
Hopefully I’ll have time to do so, but in the meantime, here’s a short video clip [...]
I’m back in Thailand now, after a terrific but exhausting trip to Sabah. There was a lot that I wanted to post while I was there, but I just didn’t have the time or energy. The project I was working on required me to get up around 05:00 every day, even though I usually only [...]
Finally, I managed to have Thai food for dinner. We went to a place known as pad thai pratuphi for pad thai, certainly among the most popular of well-known Thai dishes and one of my favourites.
It’s a small local restaurant near the Grand Palace. The restaurant is really famous and always packed. It’s also impossible [...]
