Just remember to always think twice.

Jacko est mort. What a shock. I just about choked on my tea this morning in my hotel room. And Farrah, too. She was a bit of a loonie to my mind (he was more than a loonie). Since I don't have access to North American TV, it all seems rather muted from here, but I imagine it's crazy Bedlam back home. I was having a chat just the day before yesterday about how Michael Jackson was so universally well-known -- one of those artists who transcends nationality. Even the Chinese know him and knew him way back in the day. I vaguely remember being told that he was one of the earliest 80s performers to come to Mainland China, though not sure if it's true or not.

I remember many years ago spending all day hiking in the mountains of southern South Korea (along the coast near Pusan)...all day we hiked, through forests and over craggy, gravelly mountainsides, into idyllic meadows of flowers. Finally, we reached this junction in the path and this old woman told us that we shouldn't try to continue to the Buddhist temple just beyond the horizon, that it would get dark soon and the trail was treacherous. She advised us to take the path out of the mountains and back into town. We ignored her, finally reaching the last horizon as the sun set. The Buddhist temple was nestled quietly in a small valley below us, surrounded by mountains on all sides and when we finally managed to climb down the pitch-dark mountain side, the monks had lit all these hundreds of candles (it was some kind of festival) so that the temple look majestic, beautiful, haunting. As we came out of the woods, we were met with this beautiful vision
of a rural Buddhist temple in the mountains. I was expecting chanting or the erhu being played or even just the whispering of leaves through the trees. But, no: the first sound which hit my ears as we approached this temple was a tinny boom box playing "Billie Jean is not my lover...she's just a girl who claims that I am the one..." We all laughed at the romantic notions we had vs the reality of life. It's such a strong memory in my mind, though it was nearly 15 years ago!