All Of The Above - Duncan's Blog

Imagine A World With No Americans and No Chinese

Have you ever wondered what the world would look like if there were no Americans and no Chinese? Come to SE Asia and learn first hand how wonderful it can be. We just arrived in Phuket Thailand and the only... Read more →

Wild West? Wild East is more like it

As in most places, there are laws governing pretty much everything. As in most places, enforcing them is sporadic and often irrational. On the 400 series highways in Ontario for example, the speed limit is 100 kph but we all... Read more →

Myanmar Visit is History

What is Myanmar? It's a third world country with a third world economy. There's no way to sugar coat this. They work hard labour in a hot climate and have little to show for it at the end of each... Read more →

I'll Never Get Used to Income Disparity

I know it's been a fact of life for all time but I'll never get used to the enormous gap between rich and poor, not just here, but everywhere. We cycled through some Myanmar villages outside Inle Lake a couple... Read more →

Free Range Eggs

Thousands of groggy tourists lined the roads leading to Angkor Wat beginning around 4:30 AM. It felt like a religious pilgrimage. I knew there wasn't a religious element to this because 99% of the visitors were holding up their cell... Read more →

Masks!

I should be spending my time musing fondly about the many pleasant things I've seen here today and the many warm and friendly people I've met, but I can't. Hell has descended on the world and the results are even... Read more →

Capitalism in Asia

Ralph Benmergui is one of Canada's most skilled and endearing broadcasters, at least in my view. He has a new podcast called Not That Kind of Rabbi. Besides being a great on air personality, Ralph's other passion is spiritualism. Ralph... Read more →

Travelling at 70 - Day 7

We said good bye to Loc. She's been a great Vietnam companion full of life and eager to share her country with us. Yesterday, garbage was on the agenda. She and her family are not rich but they are most... Read more →

%$#%^'n Chopsticks

Who invented these damn things? Don't they know there are forks? Read more →

Travelogue...Day...whatever

With great effort and inconvenience, we travelled to the other side of this planet only to find it ain't that different than our side. Our guide yesterday was an energetic and very smart 27 year old Vietnamese lady named Loc.... Read more →

Travelling at 70 - Day 6?

In 1975, the Americans left Vietnam in shame after having bombed the shit out of them and killed many thousands of their people. Twenty years later, Vietnam welcomed them back, along with the rest of the world, to visit as... Read more →

Residue from the Vietnam war - 2020

Hong My is a Vietnamese pilot who at 77 has become an international hero. His story of how and why this came to be is as unlikely as it is serendipitous. K and I were fortunate to have been invited... Read more →

Travelling at 70 - Day 2

I’ve been to many places with majestic landscapes, temples, monuments and the like. Taj Mahal springs to mind. Do I remember much about it? Not really. We spent a day there with a knowledgeable guide. At least I think he... Read more →

Travelling at 70 - at the very least, the font is bigger

As far as birthdays go, this one was significant. Seventy is a big number and for years I tried to convince myself, not with much enthusiasm, that I wouldn’t live this long. Surprise! It’s particularly big because of what’s been... Read more →

Uber Makes Me Feel Dirty

I travelled by air to BC recently with some friends. They made arrangements to get us a driver to take us to the airport and back. The driver and his new van appeared at our home early one morning and... Read more →

Give To The Cause Or Give To The Person Behind The Cause

When we were in India a few years ago, we were working side by side with an Indian fellow, Ravi Kumar Tantepudi. During our time there, we witnessed Ravi in his role as the leader of his local Christian charity,... Read more →

Canoes Vs Motor Boats

If you've ever paddled or swam or motored on an Ontario lake in the summer, you know there are two kinds of enthusiasts sharing our water ways. There are those who espouse the serenity of an early morning paddle on... Read more →

One Easy Way to Lengthen Your Day & Your Life

We changed houses in 2008. Cable TV did not move with us. The TV and the DVD player were on the truck but I just never got around to calling the evil monster called Rogers. They called me of course.... Read more →

Canada's 145th Birthday in Rural Ontario

In many ways, we live in a divided country. We all know about the 1% vs the 99%. That's troubling and will lead to a new world order someday. It's not like we've never been here before. There's also the... Read more →

There's snakes and then there's snakes

Karen and I saw some deadly snakes in Africa. They seem to grow on trees (or at least hang out there). But this one takes the cake. Read more →