Everyone has a weakness. One that will make them abandon the common sense ingrained from years of primary school doctrine and follow random strangers into situations from which they could not possibly escape.
Read MoreI sleep in a coffin
I knew it was going to be a great trip when a guy in a spiderman mask grilled the cheese on my takoyaki with a blow torch.
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The Tama train
The cat who would be king
When Kishi Station in the Wakayama Prefecture of Japan was faced with closure, it took the only logical step: it employed a stray cat as station master.
Read MoreI flirt with the head of department
"This sentence is very nice" --my head of group told me-- "But, if you use this sentence for some young boy, he might feel that you have very good impression about him and you want to feel him very close to you."
Read More'Protein World' are a bag of shit, but not for their ads
This weekend, everyone got mad at 'Protein World' for the wrong reasons. And they weren't nearly mad enough.
Read MoreOverheard in Academia...
Aah, I do not know how you study galaxies. They are so far away and small!
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I decide my job is OK
"And then this fungus just took root in my leg and I could not get rid of it!"
This was my first time at an interdisciplinary meeting and I was really starting to see the benefits. And possible my dinner for a second time.
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Sleeper train and bunk compartment
Bunks on a train
What would you say if your friend asked for your help to move to Kobe with her toddler daughter and two cats?
You'd say no.
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The throne hall of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
I leave my stomach in Cambodia
"I feel so awful!" I was sprawled on the bathroom floor, wrapped around the base of the toilet as if it were a giant ceramic egg I had recently laid.
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Do we look nervous? Oh, yes we do.
The Hunger Games
"Just trust your driver."
And so saying, I was deposited on the back of a Vespa and sent off onto the streets of Saigon.
Read MoreThe unwinnable war
The Vietnamese / American war occurred when all the might and firepower of the west went up against a cluster of farmers with hoes. And lost.
Read MoreTailor, tailor
Poverty-reduction campaigner, Clint Borgen once said, "When overseas, you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you're visiting."
I realised he was right the first time I was gathered into a bear hug in America by a near-stranger who did not seem to be after my wallet.
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Bobbing up and down
Nestled amongst the limestone protrusions in northern Vietnam's Halong Bay are people living in floating houses.
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Visiting hours for the deceased
On reflection, not stuffing the Queen Mother was a missed opportunity.
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Water Puppetry
A traditional Vietnamese art is to combine the movies 'Psycho' and 'Child's Play' and produce a show known as ... water puppetry.
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Molesting healings
It wasn't until I was face down on the table having my bare buttocks spanked, that I wondered if my request for a head and shoulder massage had been misunderstood.
Read MoreImmaculate flying
Conversing in Japanese is like being a dog.
Read MoreProfessors do not eat guava
I have concluded that I am either part of a sociological experiment or I am doing my job really really wrong.
Read MoreI pretend to be an American
Standing in the immigration line for US citizens while clutching one of her Majesty's finest red passports did not seem the wisest of moves.
Read MoreI sit beside 36 Kinder Surprise eggs
"We recommend all passengers use the restroom before boarding."
The last time someone had suggested this to me, I was out of nappies sufficiently recently not to be trusted on car journeys lasting more than 15 minutes.
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