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Extraordinary In-room Accessories

I've been going through some accumulated papers, maps, receipts, name cards, foreign currency, the types of things that one typically accumulates during travel, and that at some time must be organized, filed, and purged, as the case may be. In so doing, I came across this exceptional memento from a recent hotel stay.

The proprietors provided a handy plastic bag with instructions for suffocation, I thought at first. Then I imagined that the bag might be for use on an intruding forest animal, should one somehow find its way into the room. Some have tried to tell me this is for temporary use, in case of a fire. I suppose that is it, but I can't tell, for I struggle to read the instructions, beyond the self-evident fact that one is apparently to place the bag over one's head, and then to secure tightly.

Of Air Travel, Avalanche Warnings, and Octopus Salad

Recently, I've been enjoying the delights of air travel. In addition to the scores of flights I've taken in economy class, I've had the chance to check out the C class service of Thai Airways on their A380, the onboard lounge on the Emirates A380, and the 787 (before the grounding) on a trans-India flight.

Whether it is in the front of the plane or in the back, on the lower or the upper deck, air travel takes one to amazing places, and from the 32°C afternoon highs of Bangkok in January, it is pretty amazing to take a short flight and be faced with this daunting sign:

But despite the warning, I pointed my skis downhill and set off.

Air travel would take me again, six weeks later, to the snow country, where I ducked under a rope and found acres of untouched powder. Not a bad way to spend a March afternoon.

Air travel can also take one to visit family, and I had a lovely visit to Niagara Falls earlier this month.

Some laughed at the sight of me behind a baby stroller. I didn't realize it would be so funny. I am actually quite fond of children, although I realize I am usually photographed behind a mower or a lectern rather than in such a domestic pose.

The panda hat made its way by air travel from Beijing to Canada, with a few stops along the way, and it served its purpose on this cold spring day.

Air travel also brings one to the finest restaurants in the world. If you are looking for octopus salad, I have found a place in a small seaside village, not far from Seoul, that prepares an exemplary version of this dish. No pretensions, just a bed of fresh vegetables, and an octopus, cut to size.

December Golf Report

For not playing much golf, I sure made a lot of birdies this month. 

From the cold weather of Hanoi to the hot weather of Bangkok, I kept making birdies.

But finally my birdie streak was ended in a year-end match in the Philippines. Perhaps I was too distracted by fashion to fully concentrate on golf. Whatever the reason, I have little doubt that I'll be making more birdies again soon. And I should really write an air travel report, detailing all the places that a plane can take one these days. 

November Golf Report

After an impressive September in which I went undefeated, I took up my clubs – or in this case, rental clubs – two months later and picked up right where I left off. With lots of birdies. 

The first round of the month was at Kannami Springs, a challenging Dye Design course that produced few challenges for me as I overpowered the course with my long drives and pinpoint approaches. After a few near misses on the front 9, I made two impressive birdies on the back 9, watched the sunset behind Mt. Fuji from a hot bath, and moved on to celebrate with Kanno Miho at a nearby izakaya.

There were a lot of laughs this evening as we composed elaborate multilingual puns, tried various types of highball, and I reminisced about my time in the Yaeyama Islands by drinking a large tumbler of Awamori.

I can assure you, after two birdies and a few highballs, life is far from a double bogey. But for artistic purposes, we found such a caption to be incontrovertibly hilarious. The very thought of a double bogey doesn't even cross my mind. So the caption, if you don't read Japanese, which translates as "My life is double bogey," is a particularly jarring type of humor.

The next morning I woke at sunrise to take photos of Mt. Fuji, reminiscing on my birdie at this same green the previous afternoon. And, I must add, looking forward to my round the next day with some confidence. 

And my confidence was not misplaced, for I narrowly missed birdies at the 1^st and 2^nd of challenging Sobu CC before making birdie at the 4^th. That completed three birdies in my last ten holes, and from there I relented from such an assault on the course and on my opponents. 

This Month in Air Travel: 7

Air travel has, at present, taken me to New Delhi where I have been botanizing at the Lodi Gardens.

This is Cynodon dactylon.

Since my last report I've traveled to many places and on many airlines – ANA, JAL, Thai, Jet, and Go. I've flown through typhoons, been to tropical islands ringed by coral, watched the sun set from window seats, and declined countless inflight meals.

When there is such good food on the ground, I'd rather not fill my stomach in the air. At Thailand, there is a new flavor of potato chip in red, white, and blue packaging, complete with stars and stripes. This is, of course, that classic American flavor, cheesy paprika.

The addition of some basil, as we can see on the packaging, adds a really nice finish to these potato chips. And something about these chips reminds me of America, although I keep trying and trying to recall just where I've had that cheesy paprika with basil taste before.

Such deep thoughts certainly help pass the time while I'm traveling. In late September I flew across the Indian Ocean and was driven high into the Palni Hills, where I enjoyed more good food on the ground at the hill station of Kodaikanal. 

Kodaikanal homes are equipped with fireplaces, parties are held around crackling wood fires, and botanists would find Poa annua growing there year-round thanks to the mild climate.

For a longer report on my visit to Kodaikanal, a closer look at the fire, and pictures of the world's largest species of wild cattle, Bos gaurus, you can watch this short movie.

September Golf Report

You may have noticed the short hiatus in my monthly golf reports. An absolute avoidance of competitive matches for two months left me little to write about.

But when I returned to the competitive arena in September, I birdied the first hole and never trailed in a match that was effectively over by the time I made another birdie at the ninth.

That impressive victory was balanced by a round the next week in which I walked off the course after 11 holes so that I could do some work. Let's call that a no contest, and a record for September of one victory and zero defeats.

In September, I visited golf courses in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and India, but I've been more interested in botanizing and collecting data than in playing golf. 

When one makes as many birdies as I do, there is little need for practice. Thus, while others may take every opportunity to play golf, I prepare for my upcoming matches with botanical expeditions to the Western Ghats. 

Of Sunsets, Beaches, and Botanical Walks

I've been writing this month, and doing a lot of data analysis, and I've also been botanizing. At Ishigaki, Okinawa, and Taketomi Islands, I've been walking along the beaches to see what grasses are growing. Being on islands, these are naturally quite scenic walks, and at the end of the day I often see a beautiful sunset.

Last week I walked out from my apartment, heading west for 5 km along the coast of Ishigaki's Nagura Bay.

I saw a number of different grasses, with two species thriving in tidal swamps, one species growing in dry areas near the ocean, and one species growing in dry areas a bit removed from the ocean. Here is a narrated video that shows what I found on this walk:

With that ocean right in front of me, and this view of the sunset from just in front of my apartment, it can be tempting to do more botanizing than writing. 

Hard at Work in the Yaeyama Islands

I've been on a bit of a sabbatical this month, working on writing projects and making tremendous progress with my research. Today I took a sabbatical from my sabbatical and studied marine biology for a few hours, before the high irradiance forced me to seek the shade of a palm tree, from whence I am writing this.

Magazines and Maps

After my visit to Korea in March, this article was published in the April issue of Golf Course Seminar magazine. Korea has a challenging climate for turfgrass, with temperatures similar to the American mid-Atlantic states yet with summers drenched with nearly three times as much rain, on average. This week I made a chart with the climatological normals data for 11 locations in Korea and some data from nearby cities included as well. Then I made this map with the cities from which data are included denoted with a blue mark.

Salubrious Thailand

I've found Thailand rather salubrious this week. To begin with, I went botanizing in the Gulf of Thailand.

I botanized by the seashore, and on the hillsides, and on the roadsides, exploring the cracks and crevices of the rocks for the particular species of grass that can survive in such an hostile environment. 

I also took a close look at the calcareous sands of multiple beaches this week, taxing my mind with thoughts of chemical equilibria in such soils, pondering cation exchange capacity of sand rootzones, and perhaps most importantly, evaluating the beaches for a possible return when friends and family come to visit.

Global irradiance has never been far from my mind over the past year, because of my interest in the effect of climate on turfgrass performance, and I was thrilled to look up one afternoon to see an optical phenomenon I hadn't noticed before – this spectacular solar halo. Apparently they are quite common. I should look up more often.

All the botanizing and sand and irradiance are hard work indeed. You may be wondering, what is so salubrious about such arduousness? Let's move on then.

This was a momentous week for my athletic career. The trophies I've won in the past had been awarded for my fine play at golf. But how about this new trophy adorning my desk, the massive trophy with the Singha lion engraved atop it? That I won this morning for a second place finish in a 10 km race in Bangkok. I'll add this trophy to all the medals I've won in previous races.

No place is truly salubrious without good food, and Thailand has that in spades. I've recently been frequenting an excellent noodle shop. How about บะหมี่หมูแดง with เกี๊ยวกุ้ง and a large dollop of ปู? It's delicious, and helps to keep me in the 95 kg category of runners, among which I am, as far as I can tell, the second fastest man in Bangkok.