When They Fell (R.P.T.)

Grown from a boy to a scared man watching their broadcasts. The veil of bliss was lifted that day. Such a dark time that left a long dirty stain across everything. Life had gone from fun and games to constant bombardment with hatred and renewed destruction. Had it always occurred? Was the hatred always there? …

Journey of Friendship: District 1, Ho Chi Minh City (Food and Fun)

The first day in Vietnam John and I decided to do a long, extensive, walking tour of District 1. Our first destination of the day was to get some of the famed Vietnamese coffee, which is famed in a right and just manner. Vietnamese coffee tastes like the sweetest, most delicious coffee anyone has ever …

Journey of Friendship: Vietnam Arrival

So for the Chinese New Year-holiday break-John received 3 weeks of vacation. A while back we planned to travel to southeast Asia during this time frame. We planned to travel from Vietnam to Cambodia to Thailand. On January 31st we flew to Ho Chi Minh City. Accompanying us was our friend Miles L. Our flight …

A Kindergarten Mistake (The Journey of Friendship)

I do not remember much from very early days of life. My earliest memories were at Emanuel Lutheran, the preschool I attended. The preschool was a church building, it had a large hall in the middle where the church was conducted. I remember being in that large hall with tons of other little kids; and …

The Beginning (Lab Memoirs)

There are quite a few beginnings to this story. Its very hard to say when the beginning of this chapter actually was. I could argue the true beginning to be at LCCC where in Jim Beil's chemistry class I found my ability to learn and memorize chemical structures. Going further back I could say the …

The Reality of Us (Rambling Philosophical Thoughts, RPT)

Humanity is a diverse and expansive race of intelligent beings. Our populations have grown and adapted environments with greater ease than any other organism known. It seems funny to say known by us; that can be literally expanded to any level to prove that perhaps we are relatively poor at doing so.  However, from the …

The Mountain Adventure Yiwu, Zhejiang (Pt. 3 Descent, and The Return of Life)

When I reached the top of Xianhuashan mountain I was immediately chilled by the cool breeze freely flowing over the peak. The peak was standing alone higher than any other point on the horizon. A Chinese flag blew a brilliant red from a flagpole atop the peak. There was a small temple with a statue …

The Mountain Adventure Yiwu, Zhejiang (Pt. 2 Ascent)

So finally after a long morning we reached Xianhuashan. The park was situated on the side of a mountain. Before we could enter we were required to buy a ticket, being that we are both relatively poor, we were a bit disappointed at the 70 CNY ticket price. However, seeing the temple, and new projects …

The Mountain Adventure Yiwu, Zhejiang (Pt. 1 departure, arrival, and saviors)

Hidden a few hours away from Shanghai is a "small town" named Yiwu, in Zhejiang province. When I say small town the population is about 1.2 million people, so small is merely relative to the vastness and enormity of Shanghai. This town was the destination of Anya and myself for a small weekend getaway. Our …

Train to Hong Kong

My journey took me from Shanghai railway station to Hung Hom (Kowloon) station in Hong Kong on September 29th at 5:45pm. The price was around $113 US dollars for a hard sleeper train ticket. Which is quite good but for my next trip I am taking a flight. Train to HK... I thought it would be …