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 [View Full Entry]

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Ahhhh, Vietnam!! Another excuse for why we're so behind on the blogging - we didn't want to distract y'all from doing your taxes! That's really the lamest one, yet, isn't it? Anyhoo ... We touched down on March the 22nd in Hanoi and quickly realized we didn't have enough time to soak it all in. From the city sights to the hopping art scene, to the relatively easy travel, Hanoi, and more broadly, Vietnam, is a great place to travel. It's just at that point right now when the tourism industry is exploding so they are really figuring out how to [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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So, Dundedin is the Scottish city of New Zealand - lots of Scottish influence, architecture, names, etc. We mosied over there for a couple of days after our little wildlife excursion on the Peninsula. It's kind of a college town - one of New Zealand's best universities is there (Univ of Dundedin). It was rainy - which apparently isn't uncommon for them. We went to the World's steepest Street (Baldwin Street) and climbed up it - you walk straight up it (and it's significantly steeper than Lombard Street) with no switchbacks. You literally feel like you're going to slide backwards down [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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We were a bit calculated about planning our trip, so to avoid any bad weather and only visit areas during the best seasons. All seemed well on paper, but it is just a reminder that nature does not like to cooperate, nor be dependable. at least not where i come from (new enland) and now i am learning, not in queenstown. while the little town is charming, packed with outdoor trips of fun, majestic lake and mountain views, it is also in the path of dasterdly southerly (read antarctica) winds! we have been told that it is an odd occurrence, but [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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While surya updates you on the trip so far in australia (i forbit us from going to internet cafes in the start- trying to break his habit of checking his blackberry incessantly, so we are wee bit behind on our updates), i am going to bring on new zealand's north island... we arrived to auckland, which is truely a spectacular city- built on the ocean with views of finger bays, boats, islands, and mountains as far as you can see. it was nightime, so we b lined it to the hostel that i had insisted on staying in. all looked well [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Here we are! After more than a year in the planning, we've finally reached day 0 of what we'll call from here onward "The Trip" (very mysterious, yes?). We spent the last 2 days before leaving on a 6 pm flight to LA furiously packing, organizing, and last minute wedding planning. It was like being on call for your life, with a steady stream of action coming in the door and not enough time or nurses to take care of it all. We stayed awake for these last 2 days, not because we were trying to get a crazy adrenaline-junkie start [View Full Entry]

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