Author Archives

A Canadian, who lives in Chile, and works in weird and wonderful places. I love to travel, especially to the obscure & rarely seen.

• Game of Stones – Part the First

  By omillett on June 30, 2015 • ( 1 )

  

  Foreword:  I am purposely a little vague in this article with names of people and names of villages.  If you have a scholarly interest in these details, feel free to email me; however I wish to maintain a level of… Read More ›

• Our Semi-Annual TSA Rant

  By omillett on October 19, 2014 • ( 0 )

  

  (Note:  the author is a Canadian living in PNG and Chile, and travels the world for business and pleasure.) Trigger warning – The rant contains commentary about the events of 9/11 that some may consider contrarian. So – I travel… Read More ›

• Off the Beaten Path – Mining Gems for Fun and Profit

  By omillett on October 8, 2014 • ( 1 )

  

  More on how to mine for your own gems! See Part One, posted yesterday.   Some specific tips I discovered while looking for stones: When working on the belt run: – The most fun is working at the top of… Read More ›

• Off the Beaten Track – Mining for Gems

  By omillett on October 7, 2014 • ( 1 )

  This is part one of a two-part piece, where Oke discusses his trip to Oregon to mine gems. Part two will follow. I like rocks. Specifically, I like gemstones that I can make into jewellery. It’s a business of mine…. Read More ›

• To the End of the Earth for Wine

  By omillett on May 7, 2014 • ( 1 )

  

    First section: This serves very simply as a no-spoiler tip sheet for how to get to Vina Artesenal Gonzales Bastias, located in the Maule River Valley. *Plan on a 90 minute to two hour drive from Santa Cruz, Chile…. Read More ›

• 24 Hours in Manila: My Time with the Hobbits of Ermita

  By omillett on March 17, 2014 • ( 0 )

  While I’ve been to lots of weird places in my life, I had yet to visit the Philippines, until my most recent trip.  I had a brief layover, and decided to try to get a sense of this mega-city, or… Read More ›

• Poker History and Casino Chips: My Story

  By omillett on October 4, 2013 • ( 13 )

  

  I’m a bit of a collector / dealer in esoteric items. One of the things I collect is poker chips. I’m an avid poker player, having had some success at tournament and cash game play – so it is a… Read More ›

• Goroka Sing-Sing, Papua New Guinea Independence Day

  By omillett on September 30, 2013 • ( 2 )

  

  Papua New Guinea is an incredibly diverse country, with an estimated 800+ identifiable groups / communities / traditional societies of people.  For a country of only about 6 million, the results are a riotous melange of languages, traditions, costumes and… Read More ›

• Exploring Easter Island

  By omillett on September 9, 2013 • ( 1 )

  (Part one was posted yesterday) Why did the Islanders topple all the Moai? It is important to note, that EVERY standing Moai you see on the island, was re-erected in the past 60-70 years. Every Moai was toppled by the… Read More ›

• Crossing off the Bucket Lists: Easter Island!

  By omillett on September 8, 2013 • ( 3 )

  

  Recently, I had the pleasure to cross another travel destination off my bucket list. There was an off-season sale on flight and hotel packages from Santiago to Easter Island, so we pounced and made the trip. It’s been on the… Read More ›