Surya and Melissa

Holy Toledo! We are incredibly behind on the travelblog. And after we started off so strong! Maybe it's actually a good thing - vacation mode isn't supposed to involve any deadlines or guilt about the stuff you're not doing, right?! Anyway, enough remorse - time to put the nose down and blog away until we get caught up. I apologize in advance to you all if you get a barrage of emails notifying you that we've posted several new blogs. Consume them at your own risk (mainly to your productivity :) ... So, anyway, here's a little taste of our Hong Kong experience... We actually only spent two short stopovers there over the last few weeks, but it seemed like it deserved it's own "Honorable Mention". We first arrived back on March 20th, fresh off the ... read more

Wow!!!! I think we are a tad behind on the blogs, but the trip continues to be great with wonderful surprises around the corners. We arrived in Kaoshiung, Taiwan where Rob (my brother) and Rita (my sister-in-law) live. The trip was awesome! We were able to see the school (see below), eat great food, climb monkey mountain (one of rob's favorites), and really explore the mountains and cities/ villages of taiwan. It was also a special trip for everyone, as rob, rita, surya and I were able to spend great quality time together- a commodity with us living in boston and them in taiwan. Over a year ago Rob and Rita opened a buxiban school- an after-school school that many taiwainese children goto daily to learn different subjects. "Robert's American School" is an english buxiban (pronouned ... read more

With our last few days in New Zealand, we took our car down the south east coast to the otago peninsula. The journey had one purpose (in my mind)- to see as many penguins, albatross, sea lions, and fur seals as possible. Well, the dream came true, and we were psyched to be up close, seeing these amazing sea mammals and birds in nature. We stayed at a place called Larnach Castle, which the locals say is more of a big house, but the only castle new zealand has. It was built in 1871 by william larnach, a wealthy merchant who immigrated to new zealand, but continued to fancy himself as an australian. He built the castle at one of the highest points on this penninsula (located 1/2 hour by car from the city Dunedin) with ... read more

OK, this is almost too much for me to handle. Like a heroin addict dipping into a back alley and finding a fix, here I am being told that we have more time (!) in this little internet cafe in the middle of Queenstown (Melissa is putting some pictures on her blog entry and the slow computer is giving her fits). So, I thought I'd take the opportunity to start writing about our trip to Milford Sound. This will be written by both melissa and me, as I am also working on uploading some photos... Milford Sound is the most well-known of the fiords in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park. Its a World Heritage Site (others include the Grand Canyon, the Pyramids, etc). Check out this link for more info: http://www.fiordland.org.nz/Explore-Fiordland/Milford-Sound/Default.asp Fiords are created by the ... read more

OK, I started writing this a week ago, but have had very limited internet access/time - I'm being weaned from my electronic addiction and am still having some sweats and autonomic dysfunction (yes, I love technology!) - so its just being published now. We're still a few days behind, but will try and catch up over the weekend - I'm only covering up to March 1st here then Melissa will bring us into Queenstown and to the South Island of New Zealand. -------------------------------------- Well, well, well... One week of the big honeymoon trip has now passed. We're now in Auckland at a comfy B&B named "Amitees of Ponsonby" getting ready to go downtown and catch the ferry across to a little island (Waiheke Island) with over 40 vineyards where we'll spend the rest of the week! ... read more