We traveled from Kenting to Tainan yesterday, and the oddest thing happened. Right as we got off the train, we noticed there was an air raid siren going off. I thought maybe it was a firedrill or something. We only realized something was wrong when we noticed all the exits were sealed off. A friendly [...]
We’ve departed from Hong Kong to Taiwan, thus ending our adventures in China (People’s Republic of) so I thought it’d be a nice time to do a little summary of my observations… The Good: – Most big cities were sparkling clean, you rarely saw a leaf on the street let alone litter. – Bathrooms too [...]
Continue reading about China: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
This may be the first year that I have ever celebrated my birthday without a self-absorbed birthday blow-out. Just Hugh and me, and the pretty night lights of Hong Kong. Tomorrow: Taiwan. Three countries/special administrative regions down–4 more and 4 more months to go. (P.S. I turned 27, for the curious.)
The weather was kind to us and it was a clear, wonderful night. We took advantage of our wonderful hotel (thanks mom & dad) and stumbled out into the daylight around 3pm. We wandered around the very excellent Hong Kong Science museum (full of touchy-feely exhibits and such!) for a few hours and the next [...]
It’s been a pretty typhoonrific (new word) season in Asia and while we managed to dodge one typhoon, the tail end of another one has come to put a bit of a damper on our trip in Hong Kong. Hopefully the rain stops so we can see more stuff, but so far we’ve wandered nightmarkets, [...]
I have to admit my greatest vice is gambling. I’ve been to Vegas more times than I can count since I was a child, and on my 21st birthday my parents sent me off to Vegas with their blessing. So naturally, I couldn’t go to the “Vegas of the East” without playing. We played today [...]
We left Guangzhou today and arrived in Macau. Macau’s this kind of underrated former colony of Portugal, but I’ve always loved it. The last time I was here was three years ago. I was stunned at how you could turn a corner and feel like you were in Europe, then another one and you were [...]
Taking the train to Guangzhou from Hangzhou turned out to be a nice way to spend 20 hours. The cabins we comfortable, toilets were passable and our cabin buddies were two polite and quiet Chinese ladies. The train carriages did however make frequent loud crunches as they banged together every 10-15 minutes. Oh and the [...]
They say when Marco Polo visited Hangzhou in the 13th century, he declared it one of the greatest cities in the world. I’m not sure if that still rings true, but it is a spectacularly beautiful city. The weather finally cooperated (well, except for the 30 minutes it downpoured) and Hugh and I took to [...]
I hope the weather clears up a little today. We’re in Hangzhou, supposedly China’s most beautiful city, but it’s impossible to look over the famous West Lake because it’s been so hazy (or smoggy, you choose!) Tomorrow we leave for a 30+ hour train trip to Guangzhou. China proved more difficult than we expected and [...]
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