Australian Open 2023

After having some fun at a tennis tourney in Japan, it was time to make my wife’s dream come true: To see the Australian Open! We flew into Melbourne for a few days to catch a few week two games, and here’s our experience.

My First Japanese Baseball Game

I’m not a big sports guy, but I do enjoy watching live events with friends, so the possibility of me enjoying sports is not so far off. I’ve had some good experiences with live sports in the past (Exhibit A, Exhibit B), so when a friend asked if I wanted to see a Yomiuri Giants […]

Fey Canyon Trail

Arizona is known for some incredible hiking. Not being much of a hiker, I tend to shy away from larger challenges, such as mountains, in favor of the more beaten path. During a beautiful spring day, I was lucky enough to drive through Sedona to a path known as the Fey Canyon Trail to take […]

My First Skiing Experience: Arizona Snowbowl

Having grown up in sunny South Florida, there weren’t too many opportunities to go skiing in the winter (barring water skiing, that is). I wasn’t able to see snow until I ventured to China in my mid-twenties and I have yet to make a snowman. With that context in mind, I ventured up to Arizona […]

ASU Sun Devil Stadium and Tortillas

Recently, renovation of ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium neared completion (Phase II, anyway), with the stadium opening for its first game yesterday (September 3rd 2016). When putting out the new clear bag policy, an item on the prohibited items list jumped out at me: Tortillas. Zero explanation was given but during a staff meeting I had, […]

Junior Wrestling

One sport that I’ve really taken a liking to while out here in Mongolia has been wrestling. During Naadam, the wrestling matches would go on all day, and you could see all manner of wrestler come into the ring: Seasoned veterans, short and scrappy newcomers, the joke entries, tall, thin, fat, and short alike. While […]

Naadam: Archery

This post is part of a four-part series on Mogolian Naadam (Three Manly Sports). Naadam is a festival traditionally held within the first half of July every year in Mongolia. You can read the other sections here: Horse Racing, Wrestling, Ankle Bones. “Archery has as ancient a history as wrestling; both are mentioned in the Secret […]

Grapple

Your class means little When you enter The circle marked With stone benches And two roofed enclosures For voyeurs to peek. Make sure you are wearing Your hat with the black Side panels and blue Or red dome from which A pointed spire Draws upward like A stupa except that it Contains your holy relic. […]

Naadam: Wrestling

This post is part of a four-part series on Mogolian Naadam (Three Manly Sports). Naadam is a festival traditionally held within the first half of July every year in Mongolia. You can read the other sections here: Horse Racing, Archery, Ankle Bones. “Wrestling is I think the most national of all Mongol sports. It excites and […]

Naadam: Horse Racing

This post is part of a four-part series on Mogolian Naadam (Three Manly Sports). Naadam is a festival traditionally held within the first half of July every year in Mongolia. You can read the other sections here: Wrestling, Archery, Ankle Bones. “Summer, when there is least work to do and the pasture is at its […]