Travel Blog Posts
July 12th 2009
On Florians b-day we happened to be back in Singapore and went to the beautiful zoo. Wow! It was very impressive and we had a great time. Thanks to our friends Kim and Brian, who so kindly let us stay in their apartment! We LOVE Singapore! Florian spent a few days in the Philippines being a beach bum while I visited friends in Hong Kong. We met up again in Macau, where we enjoyed basking in the Portuguese influence which you find in the architecture, food and language (though the vast majority speak Cantonese). It is an hour on the ferry from Hong Kong, so it is a great get-away! We went back to Hong Kong, and stayed with Heathers friends Karen, Chiharu and Sarah. Though enormous, Hong Kong is charming with its colonial architecture and ... read more
June 16th 2009
Welcome to Vietnam -- at least Northern Vietnam -- where we spent a short, but happy week! We arrived in Hanoi at 2 am after leaving Laos on a bus at 6 am the morning before. We were happy to finally make it! Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam and is a fascinating blend of East and West, with Chinese influence from centuries of dominance, and French design from its colonial past. Hanoi retains much of its older colonial charm, and, if we can find one positive side effect of war, it has kept Hanoi largely free from ugly modern architecture. As a result, few buildings in the city center area are higher than five stories and the colonial architecture remains well-preserved on narrow, atmospheric streets. Hanoi is built around a couple of lovely lakes, which ... read more
May 31st 2009
Welcome to lovely, lazy Laos, where it is easy to forget your troubles and be forgotten by the locals. It is probably the only tourist destination in Southeast Asia where you'll actually have to try to CONVINCE someone to do business with you! Some may find it frustrating, but we found it refreshing and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves there. We started in the far south in the "4000 island" area, where the Mekong River stretches out to its widest point and a rare freshwater dolphin is sometimes seen. We stayed on the island of Don Det, where we laid around in hammocks and watched dramatic thunderstorms. There is no electricity on the island, so once the sun sets, there's not a lot to do. But that didn't bother us a bit. In fact, I can't imagine ... read more
May 26th 2009
Welcome to Cambodia! It is a country with a split personality: it revels in the pride and majesty of a bygone era and still writhes from horrors of the regime under Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge. We started our travels reveling in the beauty of Angkor Wat, from the glory days of the Khmer empire. "Angkor" means "Capital City" or "Holy City" and "Wat" means "temple", so basically -- "Capital/Holy City of Temples". It is appropriately named. The temples are spread out over 400 square kilometers of jungle, and each felt grander than the previous temple. Dating back from the 9th to 15th centuries AD, Angkor reflects the best years of Khmer people. "Khmer" refers to the dominant ethnic group in ancient and current Cambodia, and their years at Angkor Wat showed the height of their ... read more
May 21st 2009
Funny: There was a lovely Burmese chap who managed to get a passport and travel to India. He visited a dentist for treatment. "Why not wait until you're back home in Burma and visit a dentist there?", he was asked. "Don't you have dentists in Burma?" "Sure", said the Burmese visitor. "Problem is -- we can't open our mouths". Not Funny: The author of the joke is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence for sharing his perspective on the state of Burmese affairs. Welcome to Burma, also known as Myanmar, a country of contradictions. Since 1962, it has been ruled by a heartless military junta which suppresses almost all dissent and wields absolute power in the face of international condemnation and sanctions. But the people we met were as far from heartless that they could be. ... read more
April 25th 2009
Welcome to Thailand! For all who follow our trip and did not get a notification for the Indonesia blog, due to server distribution probs, check it out! It is one of our favorite blogs with lots of good pics, videos -- even some of man-eating dragons!!!!! Ok - now back to Thailand! We started our stay on the islands of Ko Samui and Ko Tao. In Ko Samui, we just had a nice few days swimming in the warm water, enjoying massages, eating dinner on the beach and riding around the island on a moped (which I finally got the hang of - now Florian is on the back seat!). Pure and easy relaxation. Not that we're terribly stressed-out these days, but we still sincerely enjoy "beach days"! In Ko Tao, I got my open-water diving ... read more
April 20th 2009
Welcome to Malaysia! Our visit to Malaysia was short and sweet. After our two luxurious weeks in Singapore, we had to get back on track! Actually, I visited Malaysia twice - once in early March to visit some friends traveling there and once with Florian more recently. Both are on this blog. Florian and I limited our travels to Penang Island. On our first day we walked around Penang's capital, Georgetown, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Georgetown is a fun mixture of the Chinese, Malay, Indian, and European influences, which make up it's heritage. It has a lively mix of stately Colonial buildings, funky Indian temples, grand Islamic mosques and colorful Chinese Buddhist temples. We had fun doing the rounds and eating too - the cuisine is as diverse as the architecture! On our ... read more
April 6th 2009
Singapore - What a wonderful city! You've probably heard some of the stereotypes associated with Singapore: extremely clean (yup), chewing gum prohibited (not anymore!), constantly raining (that's an exaggeration), shop till you drop (that isn't!). But what you may not have heard is how beautifully green the city is, there is a really cool Chinatown and Little India minutes from the Financial District and it is extremely livable. We really liked Singapore! We stayed with my lovely friend Kim and her family. We were both nursing back (Florian) and foot (Heather) injuries and it was so great to be in a home for awhile. Singapore has a great mix of work and play. It has a modern skyline to the business district and many beautiful green areas and bike paths along the ocean. The infrastructure is ... read more
March 23rd 2009
Welcome to Indonesia! Before starting, here a few technical details that might help out: -you can click on each picture to magnify it -if the picture doesn't appear (i.e. is black), try clicking on it -this blog has several short videos, including traditional Indonesian dances, Komodo dragons, and a panorama of some famous lakes. - And yes the videos. It took us really long to upload them and it takes really really long to download them to your computers, so read the block, look at all the pics, go for a cup of coffee and THEN watch the videos :). If the video starts on its own, just press pause. -and if you were unable to open the Australia blog, please try again - it does work! It looks like travelblog.org had some technical difficulties at ... read more
February 5th 2009
Welcome to Australia! We were both VERY excited to get here -- it was my first trip back to OZ since I moved away over 10 years ago and Florian's first trip ever. I was so thrilled to see some of my old friends - and we did as soon as we got off the plane in Perth -- at 3 am! Jill and James, we can't thank you enough for coming out in the dead of night to fetch us. It was the perfect start to our time in Perth. Western Australia Some know WA as the biggest state in Australia and Perth as the "most isolated city in the world". I know WA to be one of the most beautiful places on earth and Perth to be the home of some of my dearest ... read more
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