At last, a place with decent hair salons and shoes, lots of shoes, and a wide, wide range of food choices. This was also the part of the journey where we were finally able to tuck away the sun cream and bug spray. It was still sunny but since you spend so much time in the car in LA, sun lotion is not needed. And, this was the part of the journey that actually required us to hire a car. Luckily, Angel was willing to take this on - although technically yes I do still have a valid driving license for [View Full Entry]

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Alooooo - HA Can you believe another segment has gone by? Arrived in Hawaii on Thanksgiving morning, greeted by Doug and little Ryder at the airport to show us their new home in Kaneohe via a trip to ihop for some pancakes and coffee, lots of coffee (note, jetstar is not the best airline to take for a red eye). Met up with Dasha at the house and needed to stetch our legs so off we went to Kailua for a dip in the ocean (well, some of us). But it was shortlived as there was a bird to start cooking. [View Full Entry]

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When there is mention of a cyclone off the coast and you're about to hop on a sailboat, sometimes it actually is best not to ask questions. We hopped on the boat the santa maria with a total of 10 passengers and 3 crew. the weather was looking okay, the forecast wasn't great, but if worse got to worse, we could take shelter in Fitzroy Island - which is very close to Cairns but not the barrier reef. We started off going towards the barrier reef to see what it looked like. After about 5 on board lost their stomachs, the [View Full Entry]

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Although Chris Elliott was brilliant in showing us the international code for asking for the bill - which worked like a charm and got us through those sticky situations where there was a communication breakdown - we were very happy to arrive in a country where we kinda speak the same language. And even though we didn't plan a thing for Sydney, everything was super easy to figure out and we were never short of a thing to do or a spectacular view to take in. The opera house is fabulous. We got snaps of it morning, afternoon, sunset and nightime [View Full Entry]

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is enough to throw us 3 american tourists off course. We started off Thailand with a warm welcome from Rosslyn (colleague of Angel's brother in law's father). We were wisked away from the airport and brought to a fabulous lunch and then dropped off at the hotel. Such a warm welcome and kind hospitality put us at ease as we then stepped out of the hotel on our own and somehow managed to land ourselves in the back of a tuk tuk being taken to various tailors and jewellers. oops. So back to the hotel to regroup and consult ye olde [View Full Entry]

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Where to begin. It's been a blur these past two (now 3) days. Loads to see and slowly sinking all in thanks to those afternoon siestas. Best tip received for this leg - thanks to bronagh again - take 11 to 3 off during the day ... it's far too hot. Also, whilst Siem Reap is a very authentic town, tourism is taking over in heaps and bounds and very little we doubt will be recognisable in 5 years time. First big tip off is coming along airport road and seeing one mass hotel chain after the other. don't get me [View Full Entry]

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Our first full day in Hanoi was a city tour with Ms Hieu, who is a member of the Polit (communist party). It turns out that Vietnamese people start the day with morning exercise - 5am for most and then 6am for older people. We had to check this out. After a day of visiting the mausoleum, the presidential palace and seeing the house where Uncle Ho lived, we were mesmorised. After visiting the cultural sites, it was a rickshaw ride around the old town ... much easier than walking through traffic but just as scary. Yesterday was a day tour [View Full Entry]

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Just came off the trail in Sapa. Brian of course was skipping along. Ange and I are feeling a little sore. Day 1 was a piece of cake. Only had to do 10k in dry weather and ended up in Ta Van by noon with the whole day ahead of us. Day 2 was nothing but rain. Had to hike more due to the trails being ankle deep in mud ... so had to go by road which was also covered in mudslides. Our guide, Hiep, had us take 'shortcuts'. Even with the rain, we were followed by the local girls [View Full Entry]

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Hello guys Where to start ... Hong Kong was great. Loved it once I managed to get in touch with A&B after I slept in and missed their call. Sorry angel's family for the panic ring - hit the wrong number on my phone. Brian loved HK for it's efficiency. So did we - everything is very slick and just so practical (you know me). The ferry to Macau was a hydrofoil that got us there in 55 min. After all of the walking around, I still couldn't manage to find the wonton place around the corner from Chris'. THANK YOU [View Full Entry]

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Hurrah, we are now officially a group of three. Angel and Brian arrived this morning. I came in yesterday and saw a lot of sights and old friends. I got my fix of buildings last night - the Foster HSBC building was first on my list. Then we took the ferry across the harbour to get a good view of the skyline. Will be going back tonight to see the light show. Hong Kong is cool - like a big Chinatown ... with it's own 'westerntown'. Which is where we went last night via the central escalator. Much more to see [View Full Entry]

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