The sharper edge to traveling in Asia

Archive for the 'Culture & History' Category

WoWasis book review: Asian Godfathers, powerful, influential, dangerous business barons in Asia

For those of us who frequently travel to and do business in Asia, it becomes increasingly important to understand who the major players in the business world are, and how they have traditionally operated. Two books we here at WoWasis have reported on before are Martin Booth’s The Dragon Syndicates: The Global Phenomenon of the […]

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WoWasis book review: Eternal Harvest, unexploded ordnance dangers in today’s Laos

The numbers are staggering. As Karen Coates, author of Eternal Harvest: The Legacy of American Bombs in Laos (2013, ISBN-13 978-1-934159-49-1) states, “To this day, Laos remains, per capita, the most heavily bombed country on earth. All told, the U.S. military and its allies dumped more than 6 billion pounds of bombs across the land—more […]

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Fall colors and sharp sun angles thrill photographers in the old city of Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay

The small city of Colonia Sacramento, 170 km northwest of Montevideo on the Rio de La Plata, is deservedly known for its Colonial architecture, and is on UNESCO’s World Heritage list. We here at WoWasis found it to be laid back, easily walkable, and a hidden gem. Come autumn, especially during the week when it’s […]

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The buxom ghost ‘La Fantasma Pechona,’ Argentina’s vengeful femme-fatale

Argentina’s most famous ghost (fantasma) isn’t talked about much in public, but she’s feared everywhere in that South American nation. She is the ghost most likely to cause a marriage to fail. The act of merely mentioning her name is said to be fraught with the prospect of connubial disaster. She’s also the reason Argentine […]

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Thai tattoos, WoWasis book review: ‘Thai Magic Tattoos: the Art and Influence of Sak Yant’

Three books on Thai sak yant tattoos have recently been published, but Thai Magic Tattoos: the Art and Influence of Sak Yant (2013, ISBN-13: 978-616-7339-21-4) by Isabel Azevedo Drouyer is the finest among them, due in no small part through the photographs of René Drouyer. Two other books, written by veteran authors Joe Cummings and […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Iban Dream’ Borneo Headhunting Fiction by Golda Mowe

Malaysian author Golda Mowe has written one of the more outstanding books we’ve encountered, the beautiful, at times shocking, and endlessly fascinating Iban Dream (2013, ISBN 978-981-4423-12-0). Through 288 pages, Mowe weaves an Iban fantasy that encompasses Dayak rituals, myths, and realities. First, a little background. Visitors to the Sarawak state in Malaysian Borneo will […]

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Remembering Carol Hollinger: ‘Mai Pen Rai,’ her book on Thailand, revisited

So here’s perhaps the biggest tragedy that can befall a writer. You write your first book, and later critics will opine that it’s better than any book ever written on your subject. Readers love it and it’s still talked about and read 50 years after it’s published. But you die before you ever see it […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Once Upon a Time in Malaya’ by Chong Seck Chim

Set in Japanese-occupied Malaya during World War II, Chong Seck Chim’s Once Upon a Time in Malaya (2005, ISBN 981-4155-46-2) is the fascinating tale of the up-and-coming youth Ah Kiew and how he deftly juggles familial obligation, political realities, and romance. Chong is a master of character development, and introduces the reader to a number […]

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WoWasis book review: Dean Barrett’s ‘A Love Story: China Memoirs of Thomas Rowley’ historical erotica

Leave it to veteran expat western author Dean Barrett to put a new twist on Asia-based fiction. His latest novel. A Love Story: The China Memoirs of Thomas Rowley (2013, ISBN-13: 978-0-9788888-3-1) will make readers want to hold on to their hats (and scrotums) as protagonist Thomas Rowley, a western soldier in China, is captured […]

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WoWasis book review: ‘Don’t Mean Nothing,’ Vietnam nursing experience by Susan O’Neill

Like many other veteran of the Vietnam war experience, Susan O’Neill, who served as an army operating nurse in 1969-1970, was angry enough when she returned that she simply wanted to forget it. Years later, she wrote about her experiences in fictionalized short stories in her Don’t Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Vietnam. (2001, ISBN […]

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