Blogs from Asia - page 13024

Hi Guys, We have been dreaming for a couple days now of taking a day of rest, sitting at some fashionable internet cafe. Of course it would new trendy and clean, and we would sip tiny cups of sweet tea while lounging in front of the finest equipment. Instead I find myself sitting in a little dirty geek hole in a tiny cubicle with an insanely cludged old computer running XP and the fastest net connection yet, better than our office at home. American pop music is blaring and the spring action keyboard feels dynamic under my finger tips. These guys may not have much to work with, but they have optimized everything for internet access. Okay, part of me is loving it. I wish Mark and Jonathan were here to see this. I am trying ... read more

Well, I made it to Umri. My time in Mumbai was fantastic. I spent some quality time with the church members there and began to forget that my real reason for coming was to come to Umri. The city reminded me a lot of Cairo with the pollution, smells, enormous amounts of people, poverty, etc... However, the culture was completely unique. The church times were great. I really developed a good feel for the many ministries going on. God is really doing some great things. They have a ministries to the blind, a leper colony, the slums nextdoor, services in four languages...the list goes on and on. It was great to see such passionate people and such a vibrant church. They are organizing a huge outreach called Harvest Mumbai which begins just after I leave, so ... read more

So we left ko toa and headed for krabi, we didn't’t stay in krabi we went straight to a place called railey by long boat. Jane was meeting some guys she had met in Australia for a night out. I could tell straight away tell that the west coast of Thailand is much more expensive than the east coast. where i was paying 100 baht per night in ko phangnan and ko toa i was now paying 450 baht per night. now this is still only 6.50 per night. once you know you can pay 1 - 2 pounds you don't want to pay anymore. the west coast is much more accessible to people on package holidays and only spending as few weeks over here as you can fly straight into phuket and there are loads ... read more

So l caught my 1st indian train last night and i think the best way to describe it is just as an "experience"! We had 2AC class and thankfully we were on the upper bunks which feel a little safer when there are loads of people crammed in. The AC was actually 3 fans in each bunker and each bunker has 6 beds. So having not been on a train before this guy in a uniform started instructing me to tie my bag to the bottom bunk and my shoes to the fans and then started talking to me, it transpired in a couple of minutes that he wasn't a train attendant but in fact a squaddie and having spoken to him for all of 5 minutes this obviously meant that i was intertested in him ... read more

It's hard to find a single word to describe Tokyo. If you ask me how Tokyo is, I can easily find dozens of adjectives to describe the city, among which are "dazzling", "fast-paced", "efficient", "amazing", "crowded", "breath-taking", "religious", "disciplined", etc etc. If you ask me to use only one word, I guess the best choice is "exciting". Tokyo is indeed exciting. The city is like a hyperactive kid who is trying to attract attention, and it succeeded in attracting my attention. As a result, I'm also feeling hyperactive. Life is fast-paced in Tokyo, but I like the speed and efficiency of the Japaneses. People in Tokyo are also courteous and considerate. People switch their mobile phones off or to silent mode on trains, and people never talk on their phones on trains. On escalators, people ... read more