The routs rolled across the world’s biggest continent. Iraq 5, Chinese Taipei 1. South Korea 8, Laos 0. Iran 6, Guam 0. UAE 10, Malaysia 0. Qatar 15, Bhutan 0. And that last one eclipsed a couple more blowouts that came slightly later: Kuwait 9, Myanmar 0, and Saudi Arabia 7, East Timor 0. At […]

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Soccer in Asia tends to be predictable, when it comes to teams showing up at a World Cup. It will be Japan, South Korea and Australia, and the fourth will probably be Iran, though China someday may seize the last berth. Or maybe Uzbekistan. Or the UAE. But getting there, during qualifying, that’s where Asia […]

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It was on October 16, 2009, that we arrived in Abu Dhabi. Five years ago today. It seems longer. Not in a bad way. More in a “hard to remember life before” kind of way. A rule of thumb, among expats, is that if you do five years out of your home country, you never […]

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I have been impressed, since arriving in the UAE — which is only a few air hours from the subcontinent — at what we Americans do not know about India. And vice versa. Take, for instance, Sachin Tendulkar.

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This was a bit of a scandal, here in the UAE: The South African cricketer found tampering with the ball. Yes, they mess with the ball in cricket, too. Meaning it is a story that baseball fans can relate to. First, have a look at television footage showing South Africa’s Faf du Plessis attempting to […]

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Do you ever dream of disappearing? One day you’re there, and lots and lots of people could find you, if they wanted … and the next day no one knows where on earth you might be? I thought about that while in Sri Lanka. Going “off the grid” … I’ve given this some semi-serious consideration, […]

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OK, the downside to a vacation in the south of Sri Lanka: The trip out.

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Maybe I just haven’t visited the correct countries. But I have never been anywhere, outside eastern Europe, where the assumption is so overwhelming that any Western tourist must be a German.

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The South Beach Resort is a tiny hotel. It claims 10 rooms. And given the number of staff we saw, upon arrival, and the realization that we were the only guests in the hotel, we wondered how the economics of it worked. We have figured it out, in the seven days since. Meetings, reunions, and […]

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Abu Dhabi us one of the driest places on Earth. The southwest coast of Sri Lanka isn’t one of the wettest, but for anyone who has been living in the UAE for the past two years … it seems like it. In the near week we have been here, it has rained every day. Sometimes […]

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