bShimmering Shanghai/b Shanghai was incredible! Home to the Expo 2010, it seemed like a different world from the rest of China - tall, unique skyscrapers, beautiful buildings, shopping galore. It was the great Chinese cities we had expected to see upon arriving to this country. Beijing was not a city that we admired for its looks or incredible economy (though the tourist sights were unmatchable), Xi’an was nothing special aside from a quaint smaller city that didn’t have the same rush of Beijing, but Shanghai was a bustling city that was much more cultured than the rest of our travels. Perhaps due to the Expo, but people were much more respectful and accepting of foreign travelers. The skyline was constantly filled with skyscrapers with some of the most amazing shapes and designs, easily comparable to the ... read more

Nara is the ancient capital of Japan. It is filled with temples, traditional handicrafts, and roe deer (who are believed to be a messenger of god). We awoke around 730am and indulged in a nice cheap and spectacular ‘bread and cheese’ breakfast (note the sarcasm). It is a simple day trip from Osaka, just a 40min subway/train ride to Nara. When we arrived, we sat down for a much needed coffee and overlooked the very slim amount of information we had received from the tourism office. Our first destination was Tofukuji. It is temple with a huge 5 story pagoda. Unfortunately there was a lot of construction going on, so the overall mood of the place wasn’t what we were expecting. We did however manage our first run in, with what would come to be hundreds, ... read more

Ready to leave the city, we hopped on a night bus which would take us to Nagoya, where we would then catch a train to Takayama, arriving right around lunch time. We had a 3hr layover in Nagoya and after a sleepless night on a bus that had seats that were too small for even my legs (don't even ask Mike about how he enjoyed that ride!), we were exhausted and so we found a quiet spot in the train station to sit and rest. Before long, the "sitting" turned into "laying" on the floor, and the next thing we knew 2 security guards were poking us saying "No beachee. No beachee. Up." Oh, wait, you mean the beach and the train station ARE NOT the same place? Oh wow, good to know! I guess that ... read more

Aloha, from Korea's premier vacation destination, Jeju Island!! They call this island Korea's Hawaii but really it just means that it's a beautiful little island with beaches, palm trees and waterfalls aplenty! It may not compare with Hawaii, but we had an amazing 4 days exploring every nook and cranny of this island! Our journey began just 4 short days after my mom and sister left! After a brief delay of our flight, we arrived at Jeju International Airport, made our way to the car rental office and picked up our bright blue, shiny, Matiz. We then realized that we were in such a hurry to get the car picked up that we forgot to stop and pick up a map so we drove around aimlessly for quite a while trying to get our bearings and ... read more

Happy Canada Day to all you Canucks back in the mother land! The fact that no one knows this holiday here makes us miss home even more! The fireworks, the parades, the day off work! Today also marks the official 2 month mark until we leave Korea! But, that does not mean we are coming home! More on that later, but we will be traveling in Asia for 100 days before returning home in December! So what have we been up to the last couple weeks? Mostly, World Cup! Seeing as Korea actually has (had) a team in contention, there was a great atmosphere here! We bought Korea shirts and took to the streets and stadium as any proud Korean would do, cheering with the crowds "Dae Han Min Gook" (the great Korean people!). Alas, the ... read more