by Calvin Sun | Aug 20, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
They must really have something against us foreigners. Possible evidence of phone tapping in our hotel room: Do you really need these many wires to work 1 analog phone? But really, the level of self-love North Korea displays is greater than the more subtle aspects of...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 18, 2011 | Crisis, Mythbusters, North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Travel Warnings
The DMZ. Former president Bill Clinton had named it the “scariest place on Earth.” It is the most heavily militarized border in the world, with over a million soldiers ready to go to war at a moment’s notice if either side dared to cross the 38th...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 14, 2011 | North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
The cult of personality. That’s the term giving to folks like Mao, Stalin, Ho Chi Minh, Mussolini, Castro, and Kim Il-Sung. It’s the idea of using mass media and propaganda to fuel the notion that a single human being is a god-like hero, a savior of...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 14, 2011 | Mythbusters, North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
What trip to Pyongyang would be complete without seeing the structures that represent the very soul of North Korea? We take a look at central Pyongyang and Kim Il-Sung square, the heart of its communist movement and the 16th largest city square in the world. In a way,...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 13, 2011 | Getting that VISA, How Did You Do That?, Let me tell you a Story..., Mythbusters, North Korea, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path, What Dreams May Come
Press play. And then start reading. Well, I just got into the most isolated country in the world without a hitch and I’ll be coming out with a lot of stories. There’s a lot of material to go over in terms of what I’ve seen...
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 12, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea
THIS BLOG IS MINE!!! –steph
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 7, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Myanmar, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
On my last day in Myanmar, I decided to look up an art gallery I had read about in Smithsonian. The article outlined a series of artists who made art that skirted government censorship; artists who made paintings of women trapped in spiderwebs and lied about the...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 6, 2011 | Let me tell you a Story..., Myanmar, Mythbusters, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Travel Warnings, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
I had to wait until I got out of Myanmar to post this without getting prematurely deported or thrown in jail. I got a small rush writing this while still in the country, but I didn’t want to take my chances before leaving Myanmar for good (as if posting this in...
by Stephanie Quan | Aug 6, 2011 | Cambodia, Let me tell you a Story..., Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Way Way Off the Beaten Path
defenses up again. haggling again. sleeping in a building that’s about to be torn down. there’s a rave going on outside. got a massage by a blind person… It may just be the place where I’m staying (by the lake, near a cluster of cheap...
by Calvin Sun | Aug 3, 2011 | Crisis, How's the weather?, Myanmar, Summer 2011: From the Middle East to North Korea, Walking Tours, What Dreams May Come
Remember the game we used to play when we were young? We’d see a flash of lightning, count the number of seconds before hearing the sound of thunder, and then multiply that number by the speed of sound to find out how far away that lightning strike was? I tried...
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