It’s been raining and I feel lazy so I’ve decided to watch TV. I’ve picked a travel documentary by Alice Roberts called Ottoman Empire by Train. I’ve recently enjoyed Ancient Greece by Train by Alice Roberts and had really enjoyed it. I liked the style: travel by train and seeing lots beautiful sights along the way. talking to local historians and hear lots stories. easy to follow and understand, nicely paced, you won’t feel like you’re at a history or archaeological lecture. Let me know w...

The Chinese idiom 行云流水 (xíng yún liú shuǐ) literally means “floating clouds and flowing water.” It describes something that moves smoothly, naturally, and effortlessly. It is often used to praise: • Writing or calligraphy that is fluid and graceful. • Music that flows harmoniously. • Actions or movements that are smooth and unforced, such as in martial arts or dance. A good English equivalent would be “effortless flow” or “graceful and natural like flowing water.” ...

Today’s rambling… I exchanged some cash for use while traveling in another country, hoping to save on foreign exchange conversion fees from my credit card provider. It quickly became clear that this was an inconvenience for others. We're so accustomed to a cashless world that people struggled to give me the correct change. On several occasions, I've received the wrong change, even with the help of a till and a mobile phone. How did that even happen? 😂 Not too long ago, children learned mental ...

The morning was wet and cold, making it the perfect time to stay in bed and read. The news was filled with reports of war and rising death counts. A video repeatedly showed a father entrusting a stranger to take his young daughter to her mother near the border. He was joining the war effort to defend the capital city. With tears in his eyes, he hugged his daughter and pushed her into the stranger's car. This might be their last goodbye. Similar heart-wrenching stories were emerging from variou...

蓉蓉表妹你好： 当你看见这信的时候也许正在西行路上，或是已到达了那个世界…… 我小时在抗战时期的重庆，曾看见爸爸在昏暗的灯下写字，妈妈说他是在在给我们的姑妈写信，妈还说爸爸和他的小妹很要好…… 等到有机会见面时，已是上世纪六十年代初了，妈妈我去苏州拜望姑妈家，那是物资匮乏的年代，可姑父姑妈待我们极好。记得大表哥在外地，几位表妹，特别是大表妹、二表妹（高中女生）的光采令我不敢直视。 六三年初，我路过南京也曾去看过姑妈的新家，她和我长谈了一次，她握住我的双手撫摸着手掌上新长出的茧，语重心长的告诫我今后的人生之路。第二天又让大表哥、大表妹陪我去了中山陵，于是就有了下面这张照片。 寄给远行的表妹 Dear cousin Rongrong, By the time you read this letter, you might be on your journey westward, or perhaps you have already reached that world... I remembered seeing my father writing under a d...

The first post on Listed! I've been using Standard Notes everyday for years, and somehow, I didn't know it comes with a free blogging platform called Listed! Normally, I don't read the developer change logs when I update the mobile app. Today, I did, and now I'm writing this post. I'm starting another blog! I can't help it. I love the idea of writing and sharing stories, but I often lack determination. I've been a WordPress user in the past and I also host a website. I hope that because I ope...