A trip to Asia wouldn't be complete without at least one cock fight. I almost saw one in Indonesia, but the legality of it there seemed to be a bit of a grey area. The predominitly Muslim country isn't opposed to the cock fighting per se, but rather the gambling that accompanies it. Bali, which is mostly Hindu, seems to be more accomodating, but I'm still not sure if it is legal there. At any rate, cock fighting is more underground in Indonesia, but it is legal and very popular in the Philippines. After we had arrived in Thelma's village, I [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Manila nice and early at 5:30 am from Jakarta. I headed straight to the hotel and took a nice long nap. I woke up in time for lunch and thought I would explore a bit outside. That is when the heat hit me like a slap in the face. The combination of heat and humidity makes being outside at mid-day unbearable, and I quickly had to retreat to the confines of an air-conditioned building. While I was on walk-about, I got to see my first jeepney. Jeepneys are all over the Philippines and are probably the cheapest form [View Full Entry]

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Although Java is Indonesia's largest island, I only really wanted to see two things there; Mt. Bromo and Borobudur. It is such a huge island, and I just didn't have enough days to explore it. Java is home to Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, as well. I have yet to hear one person say something positive about the capitol. It is just way too crowded and it lacks a proper city center. So my strategy was to steer clear of the city, other than the airport, and just to focus on Mt. Bromo (which is in the east part of the island) and [View Full Entry]

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After leaving China, I had turned south to head to Indonesia and Bali was my first stop. Of all the places I have been on my trip, this has probably got to be one of the least planned segments. I bought a Lonely Planet book on Bali and Lombok a few days before my flight left and I didn't even crack it open until my plane was in the air. I had a list of a few things that I wanted to see, but had not really planned it out yet. I wasn't even sure which town I was going to [View Full Entry]

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A short ferry ride from Hong Kong is the town of Macau. Along with Hong Kong, Macau is the other Special Administrative Region within China and with that status comes all the other goodies. You must go through customs to enter Macau, it has its own currency, its own international country dialing code, and its own government. Macau was a Portuguese colony for 400 years before being handed back to China in 1999. It was used as a base for Jesuit missionaries and it was here that the first bible was translated into a Chinese language. Macau consists of a large [View Full Entry]

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After a brief few days in Kuta on Bali (more about that in a future Bali entry), I ventured across the sea to the Gilli Islands off the Northwestern coast of Lombok. My tour leader in China, Arron, had recommended the islands, and I had heard them referenced for diving as well. The Gillis are 3 islands, but Trawangan is the biggest and is more built up than the other two. Don't expect a luxury resort though. There are just enough bars, restaurants, and places to stay to make the place inviting but not too crazy like in Kuta. I tried [View Full Entry]

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I started my China adventure by staying in Beijing for a week and later ended up returning for a few days to meet up with Sean for our tour. It was my first impression of China after arriving from Tokyo, and the contrast was stark from the moment I arrived. The pollution in Beijing, and much of China, is as bad as they say. I couldn't really see anything through the smog as our plane approached the runway. There is always this opaque haze around outside and you can never really see very far. I've heard that spending one day in [View Full Entry]

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Is Hong Kong part of China, or is it its own country? Technically, it is part of China, but the real answer lies somewhere in between. Some websites, including this one, still list it as being its own sovereign state. Entering Hong Kong, you would be forgiven for thinking it is completely separate. I arrived via train from the mainland and had to go through immigration. For westerners, it is very easy to visit Hong Kong. No visa is necessary. For mainland Chinese, it is much more difficult; they still must apply for a visa. The Chinese Yuan currency will do [View Full Entry]

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After Shanghai, I took an express overnight sleeper service back to Beijing. My brother, Sean, was on his way over to embark with me on a 2 week packaged trip around China with the tour company [url=http://www.imaginative-traveller.com/tours/itineraries/itin.php?code=AACE08&lid=AACE08&lpos=moreinfo-link&PHPSESSID=bdd5ba104909189a80c79ffb812e43b9] "The Imaginative Traveler." Sean had wanted to visit China a few years ago but decided on Egypt instead. We don't get to spend as much time together as we used to, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take in some Chinese culture an [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Shanghai from Nanjing on the day of the earthquake; about 30 minutes before it hit. Shanghai is far away on the east coast. The epicenter is in the Schezuan province, which is pretty far away. I didn't feel anything and was as suprised as anyone to read about it on the internet within minutes of it happening. Although the mood on the television was as somber as it could be, Shanghai did not seem to skip a beat. This is a town on the move. Although I couldn't be sure, it seemed like the main buildings along the [View Full Entry]

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