Hello Stu and I are now officially jungle people...well as long as there's a well defined path and someone has swept for snakes before we arrive! On our last day in Kuching, we headed off to the Bako national park. It was a beautiful day and the hostel lady had assured us it wasn't going to rain. After the usual entertainment on the public bus, we had to take a short boat ride to the park. I was not amused to see the 'Beware of the Crocodiles' sign as I boarded the very small wobbly boat. When we arrived it [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello We're back in Asia now, basking in the warmth after chilly (!) Oz! First stop Singapore, the cleanest city in the world. We took in the usual sights (endless shopping malls and Raffles hotel) and some great food from the food courts. The sweet potato dumplings were fantastic. Then quickly on to Melaka, 4 hours up the coast. For such a small town the place has loads of history. Because it's slap bang in between India and China, it became a massive trading post between the two countries in the old days with the Portugese, the Dutch and the Brits [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello!! Australia was bad for our blogging mojo, we had to pay for internet access, so it was a choice between blogging and coffee. Those who have worked with us understand that coffee won!! After Sydney, we headed to Canberra for 2 days. Everyone always says that there isn't much in Canberra, but thinking people were being harsh, we headed off, excited at the prospect of Australia's capital. We pretty quickly realised that there isn't much in Canberra! We did enjoy a trip to the Parliament though, and went in to watch the current government pounding the opposition in open [View Full Entry]

---

---

We spent our last night in Japan watching the Scotland vs Japan football match at the Yokohama stadium. Won,t say anything about the result except dodgy linesman... Had good fun with the Tartan Army and easily outsung the 60,000 Japanese fans. Top three football chants were: 1. You only sing Karaoke. 2. We,re here to save the whales. 3. We,re going to eat F#@!ing Sushi. A few beers later we spent the night in a capsule hotel, see pics. We both enjoyed it but it was a bit like sleeping in a coffin. After a couple of long days travelling [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello A lot's happened since　we arrived in Kyoto,　including　a typhoon... we were expecting a fair old storm but it was pretty disappointing,　we slept right through it (more like your average rainy day in Manchester)!! Near Kyoto is Nara which is the historic capital of Japan. We had a good wander round and tried to avoid the deer who were desperately seeking more foody treats.　There were tonnes of temples all around that were pretty beautiful, but we seem completely immune to them　now, I think we've seen enough temples for a lifetime. We went [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello We're in Japan now, the home to the luxury toilet...praise be!!! We can drink the water, eat the food without fear of disease... luxury!! Tokyo is a bit crazy to say the least. We went to the fish market in Tokyo this morning, not sure why it was so fascinating, but there were fish flying everywhere. Some were the size of whales. We headed to Mount Fuji in the afternoon, well, we are told it was there, but we saw no evidence to confirm, see our photo of a photo vs the picture we actually had! We got the Fuji [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello Today is our last day in China, we're in Shanghai at the moment which is very much a financial city and doesn't have a great deal of Chinese charm like most of the other places we have been. Yesterday was Chinese national day, celebrating 60 years since Chairman Mao declared the Peoples' republic of China, and the beginning of Communist leadership in China. There was a fairly heavy army presence and people in Beijing were advised to stay at home and watch the celebration on television! There were travel restrictions and people were advised to carry their ID with them [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello We're in Shanghai now after a little trip to the seaside! We went to the town of Qingdao, or as we would know it Tsingtao (as in the beer). The brewery here was originally set up by German and British businessmen, no suprise there! It was strange how Blackpool like it is here, but it's had a huge European influence, there's even a Catholic church, not something you often see in China. Obviously, we had to sample a little of the local fare, so after a lunch of fish (lots of pointing, shoulder shrugging, etc) and a rather large jug [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello Fully recovered for the stomach bug episode, we've been busy! Beijing is absoultely jam packed with things to see and do - forbidden city, great wall, summer palace, tiananmen square, olympics site etc...... one of the few cities where you could spend at least a week and not run out of things to do. The only reason you might not want to is the air pollution. Apparently just breathing in the air for the day is the equivalent of smoking quite a few cigarettes! The Great Wall is absolutely stunning. We've attached some pics but they really don't do it [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hello We've just arrived in Beijing and are very happy to have left Xi'An, unfortunately Stu has brought a little souvenir with him in the form of a stomach bug. He's on the mend though and we're looking forward to exploring Beijing. Xi'an wasn't our favourite city so far, there were loads of street vendors and just the sight of some of the food was enough to make you feel slightly ill. On the up side though, it is the gateway to the Terracotta army which is definately a sight to behold. We headed off to the terracotta army on Friday [View Full Entry]

---

---