Inside Delhi’s Brick Kiln Belt
Fixed Chimney Bull’s Trench Kiln, or FCBTK, a technology that’s been in continuous use across the subcontinent for well over a century.
My First Temple Visit in India
My visit to Shri Radha Krishna Mandir, Greater Kailash. I didn’t plan this. It’s not the kind of thing I like to plan. I just waited for it to happen naturally. I was walking and it was there. No maps required.I wasn’t planning to go in. That’s usually how it works. The temple sits in …
Snow Country: What Hokkaido Weather Does to a House
Otaru gets five to six meters of cumulative snowfall per winter. I want to make sure that number registers. That’s not a dusting. That’s not a white Christmas. Five to six meters is sixteen to twenty feet of snow falling on your house, your yard, your street, and every surface that faces the sky, accumulating …
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The “Miniature Adult” Phenomenon in INdia
In many Indian children adult ratios stabilize much earlier in the developmental timeline.
Renovation Costs in Japan: What Things Actually Cost to Fix
Everyone wants to know the purchase price. That’s the wrong number. The right number is the total cost — purchase plus renovation — and in Japan, especially in Hokkaido, renovation is where the real spending happens. A house that costs ¥3 million ($20,000) might need another ¥3-8 million to bring it up to the standard …
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I Let an AI Order My Lunch in Delhi.
Before I go further, let me explain how this usually goes without AI. I leave the hotel, I walk around, I look for a place with lots of local people in it and if I don’t find one soon enough, I pick whatever turns up which every once in a while is a great meal, but mostly is a miss. I didn’t feel like missing in India. I know I’ll get Delhi Belly at some point, but I’m not trying to rush it. So, I asked Claude.