While Pete was in Beijing, I had a nice relaxing weekend to wind down from the busy week of working after we returned from Bali. It was cloudy and rainy most of the weekend so it forced me to stay inside and start to sort through things in our apartment. I made 3 piles: going to the US, staying in the apartment and donate to friends in China. On Saturday afternoon, I went to the nearby Xixi Wetlands with 2 of my trainees from FESCO and their friends/family. We spent 4 hours at a little cafe just talking about life, cultural differences and anything that came to mind. I was able to give Leo's friend an English name as he didn't have one. I gave him three options: Kevin, Connor and Cooper since they sound similar ... read more

2nd Stop Gili Trawangan (Gili T) May 8th-12th Quick intro to Gili T thanks to Wikipedia " Measuring 3 km long and 2 km wide, it has a population of around 700. Of the Gilis, Trawangan has the most tourist facilities; the pub Tîr na Nôg claims that Trawangan is the smallest island in the world with an Irish pub. On Gili Trawangan (as well as the other two Gilis), there are no motorized vehicles not even real roads,only soft sandy paths. The main means of transportation are bicycles (rented by locals to tourists) and cidomo (a small horsedrawn carriage). For traveling to and from each of the Gilis, locals usually use motorized boats and speedboats. The economy of Gili Trawangan centres on tourism, as the island is too small to support any broad scale agriculture, ... read more

On Wednesday evening, we walked 30 minutes around the island to view the sunset. We were told the sunset was around 5:30-5:45pm and that the sun disappears quickly, so don't be late. Pete and I arrived around 5pm to an area that looked like it could have been an amazing bar/restaurant area that had been abandoned. There were only 4 other people there, so we picked out our spot and enjoyed a bottle of Pineapple Selak wine from Sari Organic in Ubud. More and more people showed up the closer the time to sunset arrived and by the time the sunset occured there were around 100 plus people enjoying the views. We have experienced many amazing sunsets but this was one that I will always remember. The sun sets to the right of Bali Island where ... read more

Our theme for this 10 day vacation was to chill, relax and enjoy each other on our last big Asian vacation before we return to the USA. It was accomplished and I hope you enjoy all the photos. Bali is one place we WILL return to someday, I don't say that for every place that we have visited so it truly made a lasting impression on me (and Pete). 1st Stop Ubud May 4th-7th A little info about Bali but why create my own when Wikipedia says it so well already: "With a population recorded as 3,891,428 in the 2010 census, the island is home to most of Indonesia's small Hindu minority. In the 2000 census about 92... read more

You all know that we are always busy planning our next trip..so here are our Summer 2012 travel plans. Tuesday, June 26th - Arrive in Seattle from Shanghai Tuesday, July 10th - Fly to LAX to see Family & Friends in So Cal Friday, July 20th - Chris & Yvette's wedding in Bay Area Tuesday, July 24th - Fly to Chicago (7/24-26 in the City, 27th head to the Farm) Tuesday, August 7th - Return to Portland, OR Everyone is welcome to Portland anytime to see the Beautiful Pacific Northwest and us of course! **Sorry to all our East Coast friends as our budget and time sc... read more