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Category Archives: personal
visualizing Shanghai
In a recent post I embedded a great visual about Shanghai. That was just the latest of the videos about this amazing city. Most of those are (sort of) contemporary. The exception being a 1973 documentary. Just learned about this … Continue reading
riverfronts, the good, the bad and the ugly
Rivers are redeeming features for any city. I’ve lived in quite a few that are mostly or partly defined by their rivers and haven’t come across any for which their riverfront was a total negative. However, what cities do with … Continue reading
Posted in personal, running Shanghai
Tagged Cairo, Kathmandu, riverfront, Shanghai, Varanasi
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trekking in Tibetan Sichuan
One of the things we did this summer was join our friends Connie, Ignas and their daughter Josien, whom we know from our shared days in Cambodia, on guided treks around mount Zhakra and across the Laghang grasslands. Our base … Continue reading
Posted in (trail) running, personal, Uncategorized
Tagged Angela's eco-lodge, Gyergo, Tagong, Tibetan nomads, trekking Sichuan
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street art with a great story
As long back as I can remember, reading about art has been a slightly upsetting experience, one that I therefore not seek out much. Especially explanations of visual art. Their usually arcane character leave me with a sense of inadequacy and … Continue reading
everest and ego
Nepal 1978, was my first ever time in real mountainscape, other then crossing an occasional pass in the Alps with my parents on our yearly summer pilgrimage to Italian beaches. Saw Everest from Gokyo peak, and very nearly got myself … Continue reading
Posted in (trail) running, personal, psychology
Tagged Bombino, Everest, Leo Dickinson, Lloyd Belcher, Mira Rai, Nepal, Peter Habeler, Reinhold Messner
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reblogging kinky coffee
Renato Bialetti, the Italian businessman who turned an aluminum coffee pot into a classic global design, died last week at the age of 93. In accordance with his and his family’s wishes, his ashes were interred in an urn shaped … Continue reading
cityscape esthetics
I’ve rambled quite a lot about urban environments as natural habitats, ecosystems, cityscapes, and on it goes, but high-fly verbiage is a poor tool for helping anyone see. Australian photographer Ben Thomas, of Tiny Tokyo fame, has much better tools:
city of art
Looking for a destination for my recovery run on the only day this week that is predicted to be dry I decided upon the Power Station of Art. Had seen the building several times already and ran past it during last … Continue reading
Posted in personal, running Shanghai
Tagged China Art Museum, Long Museum, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, World expo 2010
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coloured cities, city colours, and the wonders of rain
One of the biggest joys of having time on my hand is the opportunity to wander through cyberspace as if it were a book store or a library, on the look out for finds. When work is calling I (have … Continue reading
Posted in personal
Tagged Agne Gintalaite, Beauty remains, German Crew, Palmitas, Peregrine Church, Rainworks
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ever heard of Saad Lamjarred?
I hadn’t. And I probably never would have were it not for staying somewhat in touch with MENA news since leaving Cairo. It’s a weird ambition, trying to ‘stay in touch’. But I find that scanning newspaper headlines, staying subscribed … Continue reading
Shanghai through the lens of Tim Franco and others
Forgot where I came across a Tim Franco reference/link but it must have been about his Metamorpolis project in which he documents the rise of Chongqing, the world’s fastest growing and least known metropolis. Mr. Franco is based in Shanghai, and has … Continue reading
Posted in personal
Tagged David Foster Wallace, Luo Xixiang, Pearl Jam, Queen Sea Big Shark, Shanghai, Thatiana Terra, Tim Franco, White Eyes
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a swimmingpool in Kathmandu
Usually I am quite happy to opinionate and pontificate on matters that resonate with me for good or bad. The terrible quake in Nepal resonates strongly but unwarranted armchair chatter feels utterly inappropriate. I’ve got nothing to contribute. Silence is … Continue reading
Posted in personal
Tagged earthquake, Kathmandu valley, liquefaction susceptibility, Patan, Summit Hotel
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Beijing
Second part of our spring break holiday was a couple of days in Beijing after a very comfortable night in a four berth softsleeper train from Hangzhou. Marjan had been to Beijing before with school and returned very enthusiastic, something … Continue reading
Posted in personal
Tagged badaling, Beijing, forbidden city, great wall, hutong, ming tombs, tianenmen, wangfujing
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Hangzhou
Marjan & I spent spring break in Hangzhou and Beijing, doing a circuit by train from Shanghai. The first day in Hangzhou was on trails: the Hangzhou Mountain marathon, organized by Nicolas Musy, of the Mongolia sunrise to sunset ultra. … Continue reading
Posted in (trail) running, personal
Tagged Grand Canal, Hangzhou, Hangzhou Mountain marathon, Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset
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exceptional artist in an exceptional space
We read about the Rockbund Art Museum, and its current exhibition of Shanghai inspired work of LA based artist Mark Bradford. The pics I saw and the accompanying story about this contemporary art space, open since 2010, and located behind the Bund, … Continue reading
Posted in personal, society
Tagged Mark Bradford, palimpsest, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, Teju Cole
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walking more of Shanghai
I’ve written more than enough about making an environment your own by exploring it on foot, and will not add to that. But underlying all the blabbering is my experience that it’s fun to be out in fascinating cityscapes. The juxtapositions, … Continue reading
more jetting around my expat universe
In a way, the jetting never stopped. From Cambodia, I went to The Netherlands with a short stop-over in Cairo. Apart from a short visit to the UK, that was it for July, then in August relocation to Pudong, Shanghai. … Continue reading
women and coffee
I don’t come across many occasions when two totally disconnected fancies of mine present themselves hand-in-hand. I really like coffee. Can do without it but love the morning kick of two double espressos. Without doubt enhances my joy in life. … Continue reading
artful storytelling
A random article in a Dutch daily that I read online brought Lithuanian sculptor Gintaras Karosas on my radar, founder of what may be Europe’s most spectacular open-air sculpture museum, the 55 hectare of nature and art called Europos Parkas. The article focused … Continue reading
Egypt from space
Former astronaut Chris Hadfield shot many pics from above and just published a selection of them in book form. I was alerted to it through two articles on fastcompany’s exist site (here and here) and one of the photographs featured in those … Continue reading
walking Shanghai
Shanghai, like any metropolis has many different faces. Marjan and I spent the day walking, exploring some of the green on the Pudong side, a bit of old (Chinese, not the concession area) Shanghai, ending on People’s square, in the … Continue reading
mellow Shanghai, so different from Cairo?
My first impressions of Shanghai focused on the build environment. I didn’t mention another distinct impression, equally based on where I come from, but more immediate. Even walking the incredibly busy Pearl Tower area of Lujiazui, and the central shopping … Continue reading
Posted in personal, society
Tagged Abo, Cairo, China, Egypt, Human Rights Watch, Menna Hussein, political analysis, sexual harassment, Shanghai, Zap Tharwat
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arriving in Shanghai on the Huangpu
First impressions need to be documented, they’re gone before you’ve noticed. Been in Shanghai now a week and still amazed with every new outing. It’s very familiar in a way, a bit of Singapore, a bit of Hong kong, a … Continue reading
Posted in personal, society
Tagged autocracy, Bijlmer, Democracy, Etta James, first impressions, modernist town planning, nanny state, Shanghai, the dictators handbook
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roger henke's fancies 