Why buy a foreign language dictionary when one doesn’t speak a word of the language in question? When it’s as fun to read as Peter Constantine’s Japanese Street Slang (2006, ISBN 13 978-0-8348-0250-6), that’s when. First published in 1992, the book has never been out of print, and even has a 2011 edition (we found […]
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WoWasis field test review: the world’s greatest travel pen, Sharbo Zebra SBA1 pen/pencil
As travel writers, we here at WoWasis have some pretty heady requirements for a writing instrument. We need a reliable pen, but also need a pencil to write notes in the back pages of books we’re reviewing. It’s got to be small, in order to fit in any pocket (we carry it everywhere, all the […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis field test review: the Inova X5 lithium-powered LED flashlight
The Inova X5 flashlight is the one we carry everywhere. Here’s why. A flashlight is one of those travel items that you never seem to think of until you need one. And we here at WoWasis always need one when we’re exploring old jungle temples and ancient Buddhist caves at dusk. Our flashlight requirements are […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis travel clothing review: The incredible Tilley T3 hat
Here at WoWasis, we are famous for wrecking clothes that are deemed unwreckable. We’ve been traveling with Alex Tilley’s durable, fashionable, and versatile T3 Tilley Hat for years. At $80 USD, it’s expensive for a cotton duck hat, but amortized over the two decades we’ve worn it, packed it, scrunched and crunched it, the damn thing […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis field test: the tiny but durable Utra-Sil day pack miniaturizes to 2×3 inches
So here’s the dilemma as we see it here at WoWasis: you’re traveling overseas, have one piece of big luggage, another smaller padded one for your netbook/tablet computer, which also holds a book or two. You know you’ll want to take a daypack overseas too, because you’ll be running around, and don’t want to take […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis field test: the durable, inexpensive Nokia 1280 phone for Asia
The Nokia 1280 is a durable, inexpensive, and well-designed phone that we recommend, especially for use in Asia
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis travel clothing, accessories, and gadget reviews: why we field test
Here at the WoWasis Travel eStore, we like to rigorously test the items we promote. We wear them, use them, and beat the living hell out of them. We’ve had shirts shredded by African bush thorns, cameras sullied by Javanese volcanic dust, phones wrecked by falls. We even had a shirt destroyed by sulfuric acid fumes […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis travel clothing review: Eagle Creek Money Belt
Here at WoWasis, we wuz robbed. But the Eagle Creek All-Terrain money belt saved all our money, because the robber never knew it was a money belt. That’s why we recommend it, and here’s the story. Savvy travelers that we are, we still got a date-rape drug snuck into our beer at an outdoor ad […]
Read the rest of this entry »WoWasis on Thai nightlife: Texas Lone Star in Bangkok closes for good
Bangkok’s venerable Texas Lone Star Saloon closed its doors this week for good. A Washington Square institution since 1985, the bar actually had its beginnings in the late 1970s, when George Pipas opened the Texxan Bar on Patpong Road. The ‘Lone Star,’ as most people referred to it (it was actually spelled Lone Staar on […]
Read the rest of this entry »Bachelor in Bangkok: Khun Lee on short-times, long-times, and freebies
To pay or not to pay, that is the question. No, I am not misquoting Shakespeare but referring to the dilemma of being a womanizer in Bangkok. Do you look for a regular girlfriend, or just pay for short term relationships? Worse yet, do you pay a lady for short term love and then pay […]
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