http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Tbone and Maam/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Tbone and Maam en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:37:35 BST Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:37:35 BST We had one of the best experiences of our lives the last time we were in Japan. So needless to say after the earthquake adventure and several sleepless nights we'd had in China we were very happy to arrive back in Japan. It felt like going home.The four of us arrived in Tokyo just in time for a great bowl of ramen for lunch. We stayed near Shinjuku which made seeing the sights a lot easier than http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Tokyo/blog-281905.html BeijingNext stop on our trip was Beijing. We planned to visit Bob and Gabrielle two teachers that Travis taught with in Japan for a few days. Gabrielle and Bob are now teaching at Hwa Bae Dien Li Da Xue the power University. We arrived at the beautiful new terminal of Beijing airport and hopped in a taxi. We were given instructions to ask a student to borrow a phone and call to notify our arri http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Beijing/blog-275674.html We are posting this blog from Chengdu the day after the big earthquake and wanted to let everyone know we are all safe. We had written most of this blog prior to the quake and our travels sure seem insignificant compared to the events of yesterday. We'll give more details about the quake in our Chengdu blog when we get a chance. At this point we're still trying to process everything that happene http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Yangshuo/blog-273344.html Hong Kong is a very cool place. We had planned on staying in Hong Kong for about 3 days which used to be enough time to get a Chinese Visa ... before the torch relay protests made China decide to send a message to travellers not applying for visas from their home countries. We were very disheartened to find out that the regulations for getting a visa had changed about a week before we arrived http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Hong-Kong/blog-271151.html MacauGetting from Kuala Lumpur to Macau was pretty easy involving a monorail train airplane and two bus rides over 8 hours. Macau is our first experience with one of China's special administrative regions the other being Hong Kong. Macau is listed as the world's most densely populated region at 18428 people per square kilometre In contrast Canada's population density is about 3.5 people http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-269902.html Our reason for the blog title goes back to our audioguide of KL Tower in Kuala Lumpur. The lady speaking had a nice British accent but every time she said the country she said it like MaLAYtheea. At this time we were still travelling with John and we all had a laugh over the pronunciation. It became a running joke between the three of us Peninsular Malaysia feels like a different country http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Terengganu/Perhentian-Kecil/blog-268008.html SingaporeWhen we arrived in Singapore we were still travelling with our friend John from back home. All three of us loved our visit to Singapore. After so much travelling through Indonesia Malaysian Borneo and Brunei over the last few weeks the clean streets and inviting atmosphere of this wellplanned city felt like a breath of fresh air. We arrived and checked into a hostel in Little India an http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Singapore/blog-265672.html We must immediately apologize for the blog title.After our quick jaunt through Indonesia to check a few destinations never enough off of our list we're back north of the equator in Malaysian Borneo. John our good friend from home is still travelling with us.Malaysian BorneoWe flew from Jakarta to Kota Kinabalu also called KK on Malaysia's side of the island of Borneo. While waiting at the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/blog-262471.html Indonesia is a fascinating country. More than 17000 Islands and a population around 250 Million. Amazingly more than half of the population lives on the country's biggest island Java. We were also surprised to hear that it is the fourth most populous country behind China India and the United States.BaliOur time in Kuta Bali was very different from the rest of our trip. We were staying at a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/blog-260301.html Udon Thani to Gili Trawangan was not easy. From Udon Thani an overnight sleeper train to Bangkok. The next day a flight delayed to Jakarta Indonesia. We had an overnight layover followed by an afternoon flight delayed to Bali. We arrived late had another overnight layover and another flight delayed to Mataram on Lombok. On Lombok we arranged a taxi to the port and then a boat to Gili Tr http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Indonesia/Lombok/Gili-Islands/Gilli-Trawangan/blog-257991.html Habitat For HumanityWe arrived in Thailand from Cambodia and had one night to spend in Bangkok. We booked our usual hotel and went for a stroll to arrange some future travel plans. Oop We bumped into Lianne and Laurie on their way to an overnight train to Ko Tao. We were able to chat for a bit before they went to the train station. Funny coincidenceWe left Bangkok on a northbound night train http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Northeast/Udon-Thani/blog-252548.html We love Cambodia A beautiful country with a tragic recent history. The food has been great and everyone we've met has been so friendly. It is amazing to see how well this country has recovered and how quickly as it wasn't until 1999 that the Khmer Rouge were defeated for good and peace was fully restored. Phnom PenhStill travelling with Lianne and Laurie we arrived in Cambodia's capital city http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Cambodia/blog-251023.html Vietnam is a country with a fascinating history. The food is amazing and different than what we've eaten in other parts of Asia. Pho White Rose Vietnamese Pancakes and many dishes that you wrap yourself in rice paper or leaf lettuce at the table are just a few examples of the foods we tried and loved. Click here for more on Vietnamese cuisine. The main thing we noticed about Vietnam is it defin http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Vietnam/blog-246376.html Laos is a mountainous country very similar in terrain to northern Thailand. It has a population of about 6.5 million. The food is somewhat similar to Thai food although less spicy. As in Thailand a fork and spoon are sometimes used to eat meals pushing the food onto the spoon with the fork but often you are just meant to use your hands. Many Laos foods accompany sticky rice which you break a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Laos/blog-243481.html Chiang MaiWe arrived in Chiang Mai at 630am after spending the night on the overnight train. We got a much better sleep than the night before on the overnight bus The air was cooler here but felt nice. We decided on a trek itinerary which would leave in 2 days for 3 nights and we also booked a Thai cooking course. Both ended up being really good choices In the afternoon we walked around the wa http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/North/Chiang-Mai/blog-240674.html Ko PhaNganAfter writing our latest blog entry we walked back to our beach bungalow from the internet cafe and began getting ready for bed. Our bathroom is outside and enclosed on all sides but open on top. Michelle was out there for a few seconds when Travis heard her screaming her head off. She came running in saying There's a frog out there. Sure enough there was a fairly large tree frog http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/South/blog-235544.html We left Fukuoka on a plane bound for Bangkok with stopovers in Dalian and Beijing and our flight arrived in Bangkok at midnight. We had no idea where we were going to stay. We organized a taxi to backpacker area Khao San road and we were on our way. We actually wanted to stay on Soi Rambuttri a more laidback street close to the never ending party and street vendors of Khao San road. The ta http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Thailand/Central/Bangkok/blog-234626.html For four months in Japan we encountered many many signs that had lost something in translation. Every one of these signs gave us a chuckle so we thought we'd share them. We hope you enjoy them as much as we didLove Michelle and Travis http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/blog-232705.html Our time in Kyoto had run out so we hopped a train to Osaka. Osaka didn't impress us much after living in Tokyo it has many of the same attractions on a smaller scale. So we decided to spend more of our time exploring the incredible surrounding areas of Kobe and Nara. We arrived in the rain and after checking our packs at the hotel decided immediately to head to Kobe. Kobe is a fun town. W http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Hiroshima/Hiroshima/blog-231414.html Any guidebook will tell you the two cities that must be visited in a Japan visit are Tokyo and Kyoto. While Tokyo is the bustling metropolis where anything can happen Kyoto is known as the cultural center of Japan. Kyoto has more than 2000 temples and shrines 17 of which have been designated Unesco world heritage sites 13 Buddhist temples 3 Shinto shrines and 1 castle. The population of th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/blog-230682.html