Friday, September 21st, 2007 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Fauna of the Down Under are unique to the region, concluded a nineteenth century British biologist named Alfred Russell Wallace, after noticing the distinctive mammal species that can not be found anywhere else in the world upon his visits to Australia. Back in our Indonesian high school, we always learned about the Wallace Line which defines the zoogeographical region between Asian and Australian faunas, thus put the archipelago of Indonesian islands into one of the highest concentration of biodiversity in the world, by having both Asian (west side) and Australian (east side) animals. The line is approximately located east of Bali and cuts northern to the Philippines. Realizing the significance of Australian diversity, many Aussie has sprung up to become nature enthusiasts, notably of Mister Crocodile ... read more

Saturday, September 15th, 2007 - Milford Sound, World Heritage Fiordland NP, New Zealand Queenstown is named after the fact that 'it was a city that was fit for Queen Victoria'. It also happens to be the adventure capital of the world; the world famous bungee company A.J. Hackett's first bungee jumping was born here, just outside Queenstown in historic Kawarau Bridge. The aforementioned facts combined, I could only imagine Queen Victoria is dangling upside down doing bungee jumping. Queenstown is a premiere world class visitors destination on the South Island of New Zealand, and around this time of the year, there are many visitors trying to catch the last of the season of skiing and snowboarding. For the very reason, it feels like a snobby town - where all the ritzy people from all over the ... read more

Monday, September 10th, 2007 - Auckland, New Zealand Qantas has lived up to my expectations, it provided excellent services and helps that we all needed during our 13 hrs flight. It was an interesting thought to think that we simply never existed on Sunday, September 9, 2007, as we crossed the International Date Line. Our flight left Los Angeles on Saturday, September 8th and arrived on Monday, September 10th. Haere mai. Welcome to New Zealand - New Zealand passenger arrival card We safely arrived in Auckland around 4:55 in the morning, and had to drag our groggily bodies through New Zealand immigration. I passed through the immigration with no problem, but Ryan got delayed due to his inability of showing the on-going flight ticket. For the first time ever, we broke our travel routine: I had ... read more

Friday, June 15, 2007 - Biloxi, Mississippi/New Orleans, Louisiana I touched down in Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi regional airport to start my New Orleans weekend getaway at 7:34pm. This was not my first time arriving in the State of Mississippi, but the stereotype of how the ‘poorest’ state in the Union would offer you was inevitably lingering on my mind. Of course the stereotype is not always what you find; Biloxi, Mississippi, for example, is glowing with wealth, as it is the gambling ‘Vegas’ capital in the Southeast United States. Biloxi is located within forty minutes of driving from City of New Orleans, and shared the same destruction fate during Hurricane Katrina in September 2005. After having a quick glance of the city, we continued on along I-10 West, and it is worth of mentioning that we ... read more

Friday, May 25th, 2007 - Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas Gas prices are expected to reach its peak during this Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial starting date for 2007 summer traveling season for millions of Americans. According to today’s edition of USA Today, 1 out of 8 Americans are traveling more than 50 miles from their home this weekend; a staggering number of 38 millions travelers, of which 32 millions are driving with their gas-devouring motorized vehicles. I found myself being caught among the rest 6 millions American travelers who opted for air transportation this weekend. Either way, gasoline demand is at its highest, and I witnessed the average gasoline price in Atlanta to be $3.11/gallon, compared to $3.24/gallon nationally. Waiting for my 5:10pm flight departure from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth, I was executing my ... read more