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View from my friends' porch:I'm stuffing the last little bits into my bags and soon I'll be heading to the airport. I've already received a lot of e-mails from work so I know that they'll be happy to see me.It's been a refreshing trip, though the last few days I've lost energy so haven't visited as much as I had planned. I've really been touched with the reunions I've had with old friends. Even though I haven't been in the US for over ten years, I really feel at home when I'm visiting. I really feel grateful to have such great friends. And I didn't get back East on this trip. I guess I have roots in too many places. And for everyone else I couldn't visit. Maybe when the main project is over next year, I'll come back for a longer visit. A month is not long...

What's the most exotic thing that I can do while visiting the US? I drove up to Anacortes with a friend and her children to visit her parents. Very fun evening, catching up. Here's the view from her parents' deck, over the bay and the refinery.There's a little blob of white floating in the center of the picture (not the reflection in the window); that's the top of Mt. Baker.We had dinner at the bowling alley - and bowled.Even though there have been attempts to open bowling alleys in Vientiane, the sport didn't catch on, mainly because the games were so expensive in comparison with Lao incomes. I never have gone bowling in Lao; however, the last time I bowled was about 25 years ago when I was working in Thailand. We used to work on Saturdays and then, as a group, often did something on...

pig4, originally uploaded by c_p_lew. Seattle supports local artists. There are many permanent and temporary installations of sculptures or tile panels in every public project (in fact, it's mandated by state - 1% of the budget goes for art). The latest project is so funny - a group of artists were chosen to modify a basic fiberglass pig shape. They're all over the city and delightful to stumble upon. "There's another one!"The rest of my day included getting a haircut by a Vietnamese woman who's been living in Seattle for four years, followed by sitting in a cafe run by a Thai family to use their wireless. At sunset, I took the ferry from Seattle to Winslow and back again. It's not often there's such beautiful weather for taking great pictures at...

I went to my bank to ask a question, and ended up staying most of the morning and getting nearly everything done that I had planned for the whole month. The visit was enjoyable because everyone in the bank is what would be considered, of minority groups, and former refugees. The former bank manager was a Vietnamese woman from central Vietnam; the man who helped me today came from Nha Trang so we talked about the beaches and the islands. One of the other staff I know is Tibetan. And while we talked I watched African-Americans, Somali women, other Indochinese people and Mexicans making their transactions.After I left, I decided to head for a favorite breakfast spot, the Silver Fork, near Rainier and Genesee. On the way, I passed this old apartment building. The last time I was in Seattle, I...

I decided to get over my jet lag before visiting friends. And before I register for this conference next week, where I'll be all too tempted to fall asleep in the middle of the day. So I've been staying at something of a dive in the Belltown area. This is the view out the window in the late afternoon:The old monorail built during the Worlds Fair in Seattle, was supposed to show the transportation of the future. I think it was the first monorail that really went anywhere, from the Seattle Center to downtown. And although it's still working, it has not become the backbone of a mass transit system. However, Seattle has a great bus system, with electric buses along major routes, which help keep the pollution down in the city.Bangkok managed to get its extensive skytrain system running in five...

peppers, originally uploaded by c_p_lew. Even though I didn't sleep the day away (OK, I did cheat and take a short nap), I'm now wide awake so I'm watching PBS (just watched a documentary on university level affirmative action in Brazil followed by BBC) and playing around with photos.I walked around the Pike Place Market, happy to see that the Hmong flower sellers are out in full force. About two years ago, there were awful storms and flooding around the Puget Sound area and many of the Hmong gardens around Carnation Wa. got washed out. The Hmong are stubborn, and resilient. I was taking pictures of these peppers when I heard two women speaking Lao as they took pictures of these peppers. I think I could have caused them to have heart attacks if I had spoken to them in Lao so I just...