 Laura - Lauralee | All Comments |
Comments | |
| 24th July 2009 Kelly | - From: In need of remedial bike lessons I haven't been on a bike in about 19yrs! So, I would never even attempt it now. |
| 5th July 2009 anonymous | - From: Resort life Vietnamese style Cat ba! how many times did you get ripped off there? |
| 5th July 2009 Jo-Ann | Welcome back! - From: Hanging out on the High Line Glad to hear of all your travels. Hopefully we can catch up soon. |
| 5th July 2009 Albert Ngai | Souvenirs - From: Same same but different So, I guess that means when we see you next, we can expect a souvenir for each of us and our next baby, too? |
| 15th June 2009 Kristina Marvin | Good Food! - From: Eating my way through Saigon I concur, I ate and drank my way through Vietnam. So many different kinds of food and its all sooo good! Enjoy your trip! |
| 3rd June 2009 Gil Ngai | Much Wiser - From: So sorry it's closed I am glad you are so much wiser now. What an awful scam they have running over there, still after all these years. Do help out and warn any wide-eyed newbie travelers if you can. No one deserves the Bangkok Scam! Enjoy the street food. Its soo good. |
| 24th May 2009 Ursula | Go to the North!!! - From: Potatoes, potatoes & more potatoes If you can, it has some amazing places too. Especially Giant's Causeway, pretty neat to see. Bushmill's distillery has free tours and if you get your hand up early free tastings. Enjoy your time there, it is definitely an experience, Hugs, Ursula |
| 21st May 2009 cristina | Great place to be! - From: Potatoes, potatoes & more potatoes Wow! I really like this place. Thanks for sharing this post with such interesting topic. I will be certainly be coming to your site. Great post. You can also visit more Travel ideas here |
| 16th May 2009 Sheena | I want to eat your pictures - From: Cruising: Going to the dark side of travel Laura, you take the most interesting pictures. What a lucky girl you are to be traveling the world once again. I wish I were there with you! |
| 14th May 2009 Kelly | cruising - From: Cruising: Going to the dark side of travel I must say, not living out of a bag and endless food, that does sound pretty good. |
| 14th May 2009 Kelly | mosiac - From: Sao Miguel-Lisbon-Obidos I particularly enjoy the black and white mosiacs! Also, glad to see Borg Bear is having fun. |
| 13th May 2009 Jo-Ann | Jealous! - From: Bilbao-Castro Urdiales Looks like a great trip so far. Glad you made it across the Atlantic, even if you are a few pounds heavier. Walking, really? Just kidding. Have a great time on the rest of your stops. Hugs. |
| 27th February 2009 Jonathan | Palm Spring is definitely a surprise - From: Golf and ? Yea, i think you're right, the windmills are a sight to behold. Never in a million years would I think of going to Palm Springs, but my friend won a free contest on one of the city's promotion website and I was like, "sure, why not" It was A LOT of fun, although I don't golf, but I visited the village fest, and had some great food, and we went rock climbing, that was the surprise for sure. And it was all free!! Actually, that contest site is pretty awesome, I'd do it with my friend again. They're having this thing where every so often they'll have a new contest posted and the winner gets a free trip. And they have a lot of exciting events listed. I think the one right now is called picture perfect where you just post a picture of what a perfect moment in Palm Springs means to you. Just to share the wealth, the website is www.weknowwhatyouneed.com, I entered already, so I hope they pick me again = ) |
| 16th January 2009 Mohammad Zohaib Khan | nice blog - From: Hasta la Victoria Siempre! Very nice & informative blog, i really enjoyed to read this blog. Also the pictures are very nice. Mohammad Zohaib Khan from Atlanta |
| 15th January 2009 Adrian | Meaning of the expressions - From: Hasta la Victoria Siempre! Hello! This phrases mean: Revolution es Humanidad Con Fidel et Raul Siempre! Vive en el Pueblo! Viva la Revoluccion Cubana Hasta la Victoria Siempre! Revolution is humanity with Fidel and Raul (Castro) for ever! Long life the Revolution in the Cuban people! Long life Cuban Revolution! Always looking for the victory! It's not a literal translation but that's what I think it means, it's a little bit hard to translate 'cause it has such big meaning for cuban people very difficult to show just by translating it (specially the final phrase: "Hasta la victoria siempre" which is like: We'll always fight 'till getting the victory!) |
| 10th January 2009 Kelly | - From: Paris of the Prairies The deep cold broke after you left. It's only -25C (-35C with wind) now! And car plug in is at -30C here in toon town. But if it helps any, in summer it can get to 40C. |
| 19th October 2008 Jacqueline | Honest - From: Feeling hot, hot hot! Thanks for the honest and detailed blog! Also, the photos are very well-done! |
| 11th October 2008 Nazila Lajevardi | It's seems yesterday to me - From: Stinky cheese and Catalun sausage When I saw your blog I got very excited since you brought all of my good memories from my trip to Barcellona. Enjoy your trip and take advantage of every moment. Nazila Lajevardi |
| 11th October 2008 Tony | - From: Stinky cheese and Catalun sausage Using my TouristCard.com discount voucher I travelled through Greece and made my way to Cyprus. The boat trip was great, on the boat I purchased a few things from the shops onboard. Once I docked my hire car was there to pick up me up. I needed a hire car on my holiday so I could visit places like the Akamas, although there were excursions going here I wanted to travel alone. It really is a beautiful place |
| 8th October 2008 Gerry Aitken | Pure Dead Brilliant! - From: Scottish Historical Resource Management Hi Laura Always interesting to read visitors' comments about your own country. I was born and brought up near Glasgow and when I was 20 I moved to London where I've now lived for the past 24 years. I fly back to Prestwick Airport with Ryanair about twice a year to visit my parents. The slogan 'Pure Dead Brilliant' makes me cringe! It is a turn of phrase I and my friends used when we were teenagers. I'm not sure why the word 'dead' was used or where it came from. We used it a lot in positive expressions eg 'That's dead good' but it was not used negatively. 'Pure dead brilliant' therefore obviously means something exceptionally great. The PR guys probably thought they were being 'street cool' in their marketing but it probably only confuses visitors and embarrases the natives! |
| 8th October 2008 Michelle | Hanging Heads - From: Scottish Historical Resource Management Is it weird that I think the Hanging Heads are really neat?? |
| 16th September 2008 Romeo | hello - From: Living the life in Rio Dulce Hi, im from Guatemala but i live in Fort Lauderdale Fl. im glad i found your page n that u enjoyed ur trip to Rio Dulce. Im plannig my next trip to Guatemala n i wanna go kayaking there too since i've never been to Rio Dulce. my family there also told me about the climb to the active volcano near Guatemala city they say its a really nice trip n you can do it in 1 day. again its one of those nites n i cant sleep :p Have a nice n safe trip n keep up the great pictures! |
| 11th December 2007 lisa | london isnt so bad. - From: London...no, not England... London Ontario. you only stuck to a small section of our city which unfortunetly included the most run down section. you should come back again and this time enjoy the whole city not just the down town. also its the LCBO |
| 22nd September 2007 Lauralee | clean water - From: Vacationing Canadian-style To respond to the comment of clean water...As a fellow Canadian I am proud of the fact that we are known for our clean water and trees. I too, attempt to explore the outdoors off the beaten path. My observations are merely of those who do get outside by flocking to the nearest lake (Have you seen the water quality in some of the lakes in Alberta?... some not so good); approach the outdoors from the safety of their city-based SUV vehicle; consider rugged hiking to be walking on paved paths. |
| 22nd September 2007 John | Canada: The land of clean water and trees - From: Vacationing Canadian-style Funny that because we have clean water and trees, we use and enjoy our outdoors. |
| 22nd September 2007 Gil Ngai | home sweet home - From: Vacationing Canadian-style Now you are in lands I am intimately familiar with. True to your writings, I go to BC a lot. Close, cheap and beautiful. Having gone there for over 20 vacations, I am still not tired of it. That's because there are dozens of spots I haven't seen: ie. the Queen Charlotte Islands,and many more I want to return to: kayaking the Similkameen River, Downhill mountain biking in Whistler, or climbing at Squamish Chief...we are well blessed with these gorgeous lands in our country. |
| 13th September 2007 The Sleepy Seacow | re Japanese Man Hair - From: Part Two of Mini guide in pretending to understand Japan Yeah, Japanese Man Hair is worth the price of admission alone. Also be afraid, very afraid, it's not your imagination those hello kittys are out to get you. Hello Kitty world domination is imminent, there could be one sneaking up behind you right now! |
| 10th September 2007 JC | Voice - From: Part Two of Mini guide in pretending to understand Japan Actually, American and Chinses voices especially have higher pitch than Japanese. Japanese language has lower tone than others. |
| 6th September 2007 The Sushi Cowboy | Japanese Man Hair - From: Part Two of Mini guide in pretending to understand Japan Whenever I see them I always think of 'Duran Duran circa 1983'...complete with long, curled, pointy-toed boots and tight jeans. Thanks for the shout-out! |
| 6th September 2007 Chi | Japan - From: A mini guide to reading between the lines in Japan Ohh I love Japan!!! and all the stylish funky Japanese girsl... Have fun there! :-) |
| 28th August 2007 The Sushi Cowboy | Those crazy Nihon-jins - From: A mini guide to reading between the lines in Japan You have to remember that the Shinkansen is used in lieu of domestic air travel, hence the price. Also, you forgot to mention that the omiyage fruits usually cost around $40...for a cantaloupe. |
| 28th August 2007 Albert | Re: Reading between the lines in Japan - From: A mini guide to reading between the lines in Japan Hey, didn't you know that Michael Jackson got his white glove idea from Japan? Have you seen the forearm covers women wear while driving or the hand covers attached to the bicycle handlebars? That was a most hilarious travelog. It's really amusing to hear the perspective of someone new to Japan. I'm glad to know that you made it to Nara and Miyajima. It's like I was there with you in my former hometown. Albert |
| 28th August 2007 Jesse | reminiscent of Taiwan - From: A mini guide to reading between the lines in Japan "Smiling and nodding does not mean yes. " I found this at train platforms in Taiwan, even among English-speaking types. "Is this the train to Kaoshiung?"; smile and nod, but Not Actually. Hee hee hee... |
| 16th August 2007 The Sushi Cowboy | Shout-out! - From: How to Survive 40 degree plus heat Beijing Style Yay! I almost forgot about the peeing. I took a pee in the middle of Tiananmen too...but I was classy and wrote my name! |
| 16th August 2007 Gil | food picture fun - From: Return to the Motherland... That is a funny story about the dumplings! It has happened to me many times. Now I bring a little book with drawings in it. There is a few pages in the back for me to actually draw what I want. You do have to know how to draw a little, but it works wonders! |
| 7th August 2007 Gil | Yum Eel Soup - From: Was Stranded on a ferry but thank goodness ramen is a national past time Eel is one of Stacey and I's favorites. Be sure to have a fresh one for us! Gil |
| 6th August 2007 Albert | Ramen and Freak shows - From: Was Stranded on a ferry but thank goodness ramen is a national past time It's a good thing that ramen comes in different flavours depending on the region. Though it seems in Korea, it comes mostly in a kimchi variation with volcanic red soup, back in Japan, ramen will be milder and more flavourful. You'll be able to taste the difference in miso ramen or pork bone soup flavour. As for amusement shown by the locals, be thankful that you're not taller and blond with freckles. They're more jealous than thinking you were a freak. From my eperience, I think the thoughts running through their heads were more along the lines of: a. Even though she's Korean, her English is so good. I wonder where she learned it. I want to be like her. b. Asian but living in Canada, like some of my friends who emigrated. I wish I could go. c. How did she manage to score a handsome white guy like him? d. All of the above. Albert |
| 24th July 2007 Lauralee | - From: honeymoon in Skagway... I stand corrected. Carcross is actually in Yukon. Hmm.. was it my faulty eyesight or map... |
| 26th May 2007 Albert | Sexy Cowboy - From: in search of an authentic Montana experience You look pretty hot in a cowboy hat, I must say. Great stories. Thanks for taking the time to write these up. |
| 24th May 2007 Maestro the Vagabond | Like a Knife - From: American capital of Canada Ouch. It's like a knife in the heart to hear that said about Calgary. What makes you draw this conclusion? Just curious. |
| 22nd May 2007 grantcorp | Mooooh!!! - From: the land of H&M and Ikea Hi Laura, I just wanted to dwell a bit on the moosefactor. The reason you see Skogens konung (our King of the forest) plastered on anything purchasable is because the Germans love it. They come in droves to visit the Swedish wilderness on their holidays, and a proper elk safari is of course a must. In addition we had problems some years back with people confiscating the famous animal crossing roadsigns bringing them home as souvenirs, and the tourist industry quickly picked up on this profitable icon. Ask next time you come to Sweden and I'll tell you everything about how to ride the train, we're quite proud of our tilting express trains (they're especially good at tilting out of synch with the time table and cost twice as much as taking the plane). |
| 22nd May 2007 short-round | neat - From: Paintings, porn and pot. I like the airport, it looks like the future. |
| 22nd May 2007 SemiSami | good times - From: in search of an authentic Montana experience That was such a random trip, there was just so many little things that makes it fun to remember. I am so glad Sean looked up the Oxford, I totally won't have thought to go into a place like that. I am also glad I was not declared an enemy combatant at the border. |
| 19th May 2007 anonymous | - From: Chasing fjords i like your moaning off Oslo. keep it up Laura, your humour is great. Piet |
| 14th May 2007 RaceWithTheDevil | Hi! - From: more cobblestoned streets The dolls are Russian. And amber isn't estonian either. More Latvian. |
| 8th May 2007 Albert | H&M and IKEA - From: the land of H&M and Ikea You could've come here to go to H&M. Just kidding. You being there really brings back memories for me. Stockholm was truly nice. My memories of Scandinavia were really of the host familes I stayed with, including the cute host sisters. I was there in the spring of 1986 for a total of three and a half months. By the time I got to Denmark, it was March, spring, and the tulips were out. Did you get to go to Tivoli Gardens. I don't have any tips for Finland I'm afraid. I don't remember much of Helsinki. But you must try their sauna au naturel. |
| 1st May 2007 Lynn | from a middle-aged woman who has been to Harrods - From: Alight here for the Picadilly line to Cockfosters... My husband and I enjoyed the blog. I love your description of the markets, we have been to many of the same places. Next time to London I will have to check out Lego-Land. I too have been fascinated by the laundry in the kitchen as well as the little fridge. It makes sense from a plumbers point of view, but looks very foreign to the North American visitor. Did you see any of the teeny little half baths in the homes? They are too cute! |
| 30th April 2007 anonymous | - From: Alight here for the Picadilly line to Cockfosters... your wild laura |
| 22nd January 2007 The Sushi Cowboy | Americanization - From: American capital of Canada I don't know if Calgary is quite there yet...not enough schoolyard shootings. However, the Oasis Trailer Park off 52nd St and 17th Ave SE sure screams 'American urban decay'. |
| 22nd January 2007 The Sushi Cowboy | Other events - From: London...no, not England... London Ontario. What about the Gavel Throw and Juror Toss? You'd think your hefty Calgarian counterparts would perform well. But I think the 'Escape from custody: Bailiff weave and dodge' could have a weak showing. |
| 17th October 2006 daithibrazil | Alaska - From: honeymoon in Skagway... Great writing on these remote, (literally) deserted places! Hope to get to Alaska one of these days myself. |
| 11th June 2006 Lauralee | - From: merci - thanks for the buckets of rain Ottawa! Thanks for the correction over the $20 bill! |
| 11th June 2006 Lauralee | - From: Back in Athens! my apologies for the error over Turkey being a third-world country. I suppose the correct term would be Developing nation with "an economy consistency and fairly strongly developing over a longer period" courtesy of Wikipedia.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_countries). |
| 9th June 2006 anonymous | - From: Back in Athens! Great blog, but I'd just like to say that Turkey isn't a third world country |
| 18th May 2006 Freeskier5 | hmm - From: merci - thanks for the buckets of rain Ottawa! No offense intended, but isnt that on our $20 bill? Poutine looks delicious. Send some over to australia for me. THey'll post it im sure. |
| 16th May 2006 Jeff | Yummmmmm - From: merci - thanks for the buckets of rain Ottawa! That poutine looks deeeeelicious. :) Have a good trip. :) |
| 15th May 2006 Albert Ngai | Seeing Photos on a Rainy Day - From: merci - thanks for the buckets of rain Ottawa! Hi, Laura. It's too bad the Museum of Photography ended up being a disappointment for you. About 3 yeras ago, Sachi and I went to Ottawa for July 1st and it ended up raining. So, we ducked in to that museum. But I remembered it having quite a bit more. We quite enjoyed it. But the Museum of Civilization was certainly special. I ran the Mississauga Half Marathon today and Sachi and I will be in Ottawa in 2 weeks to run the National Capital Marathon. Sachi will perhaps do the 10K and I'll be running the full. The route will take me through Sussex Drive and all those museums you've been to. Have fun. Albert & Sachi |
| 12th November 2005 Taylor | Hi - From: good ol Tuscany Hi, im 14 years old & this helped me alot for my repory!!! |
| 10th November 2005 mirko | Tuscany.PodTravels.TV - From: good ol Tuscany When I miss tuscany I travel to it virtually with http://tuscany.podtravels.tv (tptv). They have lots of nice home-made videos of tuscany. |
| 1st April 2005 anonymous | Emergency! Please Read - From: sticky in bangkok Laura: Stay away from any kind-looking Thai men who introduce themselves to you and tell you about a gem factory. Did you not hear about how Gil got majorly scammed when he was there and caused some serious misery for his life and my parents for several weeks. I'm afraid when you read this that it might already be too late but I hope not. Also, stay away from people who introduce themselves to you out of nowhere, befriend you, and offer to take you to another cool looking temple "just down the road". Just politely decline. They might con you for just $20 but it still doesn't feel very good. They might even look like clean cut college students. Simple travel agent operations in street level units of busy places are fine though. Many families contract themselves out to tour operators. They WILL come and pick you up in a mini-van and take you for a whole day tour. Other than that, it sounds like you're staying in or near Banglampu if you said the Golden Palace is down the road. Stick with the street vendors that sell BBQ drumsticks and fresh fruit. The bugs ain't worth the protein. Albert - Albert Ngai |
| 12th February 2005 Albert | Having Fun? - From: Elephants, Omelettes and Lassis Laura, thank you for all the interesting blogs. You've really been on an adventure. I'm glad you've finaly started writing about food, my favourite part of travelling. I certainly know what you mean by wanting to be adventurous and yet stay cheap at the same time. I had my share with the one day of constant toilet trips in Bangkok the first time. But it's never happened since then all on all the other trips. Sachi just had a trip to Delhi a week or more ago. She was just there for one day though. But she brought back a nice meditation bowl and some nice pashmirs. Hey, our birthday is coming up again. Can you believe it? Continue to take care of yourself and have fun with the rest of your trip. Albert |
| 5th February 2005 anonymous | mosques - From: Any mosque in the world would have separate prayer areas for males/females. It is not permissible for a female to pray in the same saf(row) as their male counterparts. Also to respect the decency of females especially those yet to be married they are blocked from view in most occasions. Strictly speaking males should not mingle with females without obvious reasons. Therefore in formal places such as mosques, it makes sense to have areas such as what you have observed. - melayu |
| 23rd January 2005 Albert | The Next Stop - From: Mysore Laura, It's fantastic that you're having the esxperience of your life traveling in exotic corners of the world. I'm jealous to be reading about it while I'm sitting here with -17 degree weather outside. You logs have been really interesting. At the same time though, I'd really like to know more about which part of India you're in now, if you have a chance, could you give us a bit more detail on which part of India the Karnataka is? Albert |
| 15th January 2005 anonymous | Don't eat yucky - From: on the dirt road... sort of. Hey Laura...don't eat yucky things...I don't want to see you sick or puke Dr.C2 |
| 5th January 2005 anonymous | tea - From: bliss I like my tea dust thank you very much!! Hope you enjoyed your real tea. Miss you around here. - stacey |
| 3rd January 2005 anonymous | KL - From: ugh... the heat Hey, at least the drinks in economy are free, right? Wow! What a bit of nostalgia. Sachi and I liked KL-the markets, the food, the Starbucks. Okay, at that time in '99, it was pretty novel to find a Starbucks in Asia, especially after being away from it for 4.5 years. So, are you near Chinatown? - Albert Ngai |
| 3rd January 2005 anonymous | New Year's Eve - From: The Adventures of Laura How was New Year's Eve in L.A.? Was it as wild as they show on TV for New York? We spent our New Year's Eve on the plane unfortunately. That was just the way Sachi's schedule worked out. However, we couldn't complain since we got to spend a week in Santiago. And when it was about to hit Toronto's midnight, Sachi and the crew really tried to do it up by donning party hats and noise makers and handing out bubbly wine. There was confetti, too. The passengers were happy. Then in the galley, I got to join the crew for our own private brief celebration with cake and real champagne. What a trip! Albert - Albert Ngai |
