http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/aimsey-and--roelie/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from aimsey and roelie en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:12:58 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:12:58 +0000 Hi allWell we're back home...Amy soon to work Roel to study...in other words back to reality But as you can see from the photos on the following pages life in 'Toronto the good' is not treating us too badly. However over the course of this entire blogging enterprise we've talked an awful lot about ourselves and our time in 'Shanghai the bad' and good...so now as the title says this l http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Toronto/blog-429032.html If the title confuses you we've already published a Zai Jian Shanghai part 1 that didn't seem to get through...so feel free to check it out and comment please on our homage to our visitors.As for this final Shanghai blog we have to say that even putting the words Zai Jian to paper brings a lump to our throatshellipbut we appreciate that the Chinese words for lsquoGoodbyersquo Zai mean http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/Xujiahui/blog-412454.html Hi allThis blog is about one big Yin look for part 2 shortly on the yins AND the yangs of two years in Asia as wersquove devoted this entire penultimate blog to an homage and revisiting if you like of our visitors. For the visitors we hope you enjoyhellipfor the rest please read on toohellipand plan to visit Shanghai at some time on your own. You wonrsquot be sorryChristmasFor o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/Xujiahui/blog-409993.html Hi allWell for our last journey in Asia we revisited Vietnam...more specifically Ho Chi Minh Cityhellipor as the title says and we preferhellipSaigon Is it the presence of such historic landmarks as the Continental Hotelmdashwhere we stayedmdashand all the remnants and sites of the Vietnam warmdashwhich we visitedmdashand the feel of the past around every corner that almost th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-404869.html Hi allWell it was May Dayhellipand the Chinese Governmentrsquos cutting of the traditional oneweek holiday into long weekends posed a dilemma what to do for only May 13 Then colleagues returning from a weekend getaway showed us their pictures of Pingyaoa walled city from the Ming and Qing Dynasty erasand their enthusiasm for this socalled ldquoChinarsquos hidden gemrdquo was i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/Jing-An/blog-396912.html Hi allEditor's note Yes we're learning Chinese but no...the title is in English. You may recall or not last year's blog around this time when we spent Qing Ming holiday in Nanjing...well this year we decided to spend Tomb Sweeping Festival or Qing Ming the weekend that people honour the memories of their deceased ancestors on the island of Chong Ming. Last year's blog was devoted to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-387806.html Hi allBy the time we cross the border into Cambodia it feelsmdashapart from our one day layover in Ho Chi Minh Citymdashlike wersquove been in transit since we left which we have and that wersquove arrived via planes boats buses and even bikes which we also have. So naturally wersquore looking forward to some R R but we approach that prospect in Cambodiathe locale of the inf http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-371140.html Hi allAs our plane taxis down the runway for takeoff we notice that the horoscope for Jan. 22 Roel's birthday in the Shanghai Daily recommends that we not travel that day because wersquoll encounter too many obstacleshellip.but it's too late. We're off for Vietnam and four hours later we arrive in Ho Chi Minh City at 100 a.m. A pickup from our hotel lsquoBi Saigonrsquo whisks http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-366978.html Or in other words happy new yearAs you read this Carly and Craig are safely enscounced back in their Georgetown home in Washington D. C. and Roel and I are hunkering down for a spell of reality i.e. back to work before we take off again for two weeks for Chinese New Years holiday.Carly and Craig's flight home was much smoother than their extra long trip to Shanghai...and before they flew ou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-359586.html Hi allThis year's Christmas a wealth of good will and fun times was one for the books...but like many Shanghai experiences unique as much for what did as didn't happen. But thanks to perseverence and a few Christmas miracles we enjoyed a very memorable holiday.... despite some ups and downs on the dragon's tail For example five days prior to the big day Carly and Craig's expected 300 p. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-357460.html Hey allYes it's official. Along with Xmas coffee blend lights and garland the stores are rife with an array of gifts and we say bring it on Why be a grinch or a Scrooge we ask when you can be Chevy Chase Besides even in an economic downturn making the annual shopping effort helps hold up one's end in a flagging economy and it helps build Xmas spirit And getting Xmasey in Shangha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-349901.html Hey allWell as the title suggests...it's been very yangy around here of late. But then after living here for over a year now you'd think we'd be used to that. However after a succession of yang bad happenings losing our internet getting locked out of our apartment and then discovering Roel's bike was stolen we were hoping for the yin good stuff to reappear because after all bad http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/Jing-An/blog-340449.html Hey allWell autumm is well and truly underway and we have acclimatized ourselves to life back in Shanghai. Rounds of fireworks at midnight last night barely shook us as we realized they heralded the ongoing Autumn festival which culminates this week with the end of a tenday holiday break. We've even almost finished our annual complimentary boxes of mooncakes from management. Even though R http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-323654.html Hey allWell as to rumours that our blog has never been funnier nor our apartment so sparkling clean....we have to confirm that's all true thanks to a certain pair of ghostwriters who inhabited our Shanghai apartment for the summer namely one Carly and Craig. And thanks to their penchant for Shanghai and specifically a certain Dongping Lu area we're now happily enscounced there as residents http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-320765.html Hi EverybodyHere I am at Starbucks in Toronto and after ruminating on my experience in China I must confess that the number one highlight of the entire year was the time spent with Craig and Carly. In fact Roel came to realize that Craig defined the very essence of manhood. In short we feel as if we have awoken for the first time. Thank you Carly and Craig just for being you. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-305787.html Hey allWell this is a quick note from the homefront...where we are whiling away a great summer in T.O. enjoying time with friends and fam and gearing up for another year in Shanghai and the flight back hope we're over the first one by the time we have to get onboard It feels a bit strange just laying over in T.O....so since we feel like tourists we decided to BE touristsOne of our fa http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Toronto/blog-304744.html Hey allWell after a momentously quick decision to come to China for six weeks....and one very long flight...Carly and Craig arrived and were immediately sucked into Shanghai's orbit. Which on their particular arrival date was a coincidence of our first serious heat wave accompanied by increased gasoline prices which in turn resulted in people rushing to the pumps and horrendous traffic jams http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-291395.html Ahhh....one last trip to Qindao the sight of the upcoming Olympics Sailing Competition....a little sand a little sailing if vacariously FINALLY time to kick back and relax. No running around to tourist sites having to see things...after allwersquove seen the Great Wall already and itrsquos counterpart in Qingdao is just the beginnings of the Great Wall itself. Who needs to see a piddly http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-285795.html Au Revoir ShanghaiIt may seem strange to begin a wrapup of our year in Shanghai with a pic of the Great Wall but as a site wersquod heard about all our lives it certainly lives up to its name Even if the trek to see it and climb its formidable height is so daunting that the Chinese themselves say bu dao chang cheng fei hao han Yoursquore not a man until you arrive at the Great Wall we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-276427.html After months of Chinese lessons practicing phrases such as ldquoTo the Airport pleaserdquo Qing chu ji jianghellipChing chew gee geeang finally having the opportunity to say this was first on my list to begin our May day holiday in Beijing But as it turned out I'd been practicing the wrong languagehellipIn any case this concern over language paled over our worries of even getting http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/Great-Wall-of-China/blog-273094.html