Kyoto tower.

I read the sign several times, but still didn't know what to do!

Another Japanese garden.

Danny and a new friend.

Piercing is popular in Tokyo, just as it is in Saint Louis. ( I'm very enthusiastic about kissing, but I'm not at all sure I'd want to kiss this woman.)

The Japanese gardens in Kyoto and Nara are especially beautiful.

Touching the image and then touching an affected body part is reported to have brought relief to the suffering of many.

The Buddha wouldn't approve of the commercialism associated with Buddhism in Japan, or the fact that you have to pay a fee to visit a temple.

One of the reasons for going to Nara was to see the Big Buddha at Todai Temple in Nara.

Feeding the deer in Nara.

Danny is very happy to weigh less than 100 kilos for the first time in years.

You can't escape those damn golden arches!

Or the Marlboro man.

I figured I couldn't afford the experience, no matter how fascinating.

After experiencing a heated Japanese toilet, everything else seems very uncivilized.

Danny actually preferred the very humble Ryokan he has for three nights in Kyoto.

This was Danny's very fancy and very western hotel in Tokyo.

Danny just finished up a ten-day lecture tour in Japan sponsored by the US State Department. He presented in Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa, and then arranged to spend three days as a tourist in Kyoto and Nara.

Jeremy bought a calligraphy drawing from this very talented artist (who did everything with his right foot)

Riding motorcycles in Saigon is a family affair. I was gratified to see that everyone in the city who rides a motorcycle is required to wear a helmet.

Joshua making fun of his pretentious father!

Danny was thrilled when he and the boys ducked into a Saigon bookstore to get out of the heat and he discovered that Current Psychotherapies was available for purchase.

Ho Chi Minh staring down at the patrons of the Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Post Office.

A typical street scene in Hong Kong.

There was no consensus about which women were more beautiful: Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese. But it was clear that there were hundreds of beautiful women in every city we visited

We loved Saigon, but it is pretty hard to avoid the ubiquitous propaganda about the atrocities that occurred during the Vietnam way (much of it true--but only US atrocities are mentioned).

My last shot of Jeremy before he left for Laos and Cambodia.

Outside a Saigon museum--we didn't need the coats we brought.

Drinking beer in our hotel in Saigon.

Going to a Muay Thai (Thai kick-boxing) match was expensive but worth it.

Jeremy in front of the world's largest reclining Buddha (Bangkok's Wat Po where we all had a massage).

I was touched by this father teaching his children how to pay homage to the Buddha.

This image from a Buddhist temple is a reminder of the importance of facing death with equanimity. I doubt I could do so well.

And saw several hundred more Buddhas in Bangkok.

We had fairly humble accommodations in Bangkok.

The boys and the Buddha.

Danny in front of the Tian Tan Buddha, one of the world's largest Buddhas (Hong Kong).

"Mind the Gap" seems like a profound message with all kinds of implications for the way we live our lives--God only knows the world is full of gaps!

Jeremy and I enjoyed getting to visit Joshua's school. I suspect he is a great teacher.

My son Jeremy (aka Jeremiah) has come over from New York City to visit. Jeremy, his brother Joshua, and I have just returned from a ten day trip to Hong Kong, Bangkok and Saigon (HCMC). After Saigon, Danny went on to lecture in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa) and travel in Nara and Kyoto. Jeremy went on to Laos and Cambodia (Angkor Wat). Josh went back to work, but he is preparing for an upcoming trip to Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore. Busy times.