Craig and Tania's Little Austin Newbie Blog

Puppy and Kitty

2011-01-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not know, Tania and I have nicknames for each other: Puppy (me) and Kitty (Tania). There are many cute (and probably annoying) reasons why we call each other these names, but the most basic reason is that each of us have similar characteristics to the animal that describes us. And what are those characteristics? Instead of spouting adjectives and verbs, take a look at this, which perfectly describes who we are, and how different we are about certain mindsets.

The Dog's Diary

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Dinner! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

The Cat's Diary

Day 983 of My Captivity

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates my capabilities. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am. Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow, but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released, and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded. The bird must be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now ...

Learn how to talk Austin-like

2011-01-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

If you're going to hold conversations with folks and try not to always sound like the newbie, you're going to have to give into some quirky wording and pronounciations in order to fit in. Doing so will require you to lose some pride and your own personal background, but trust us, it's worth it, because unless you use the following advice, you'll be shunned from becoming a true Austinite.

Guadalupe - pronounced Guad-a-loop - A street running N/S above the lake

The Drag - A strip of Guadalupe that connects ends of campus, comprised of a large amount of shops, restaurants, and trailers.

Burnet - pronounced Burn-it - A road running N/S that branches off from Lamar up around 45th st.

Manor - pronounced May-ner - A road running E/W that juts from campus across the 35 into the eastside

The Hill Country - The lush country side west of Austin. Head out on the 290/71W and enjoy great biking trails, wine vineyards, and cute German-influenced towns.

MoPac - Short for Missouri Pacific, the train line that runs along the 1 highway. Now the nickname for the 1 highway.

Town Lake - The river-looking body of water in the heart of downtown Austin, properly known as Lady Bird Lake. The trail that runs along both edges of the lake offer a beautiful way to walk, run, or bike amongst the exercising Austinites.

SoCo - South Congress area, between Town Lake and Oltorf. Great shopping, eating, and drinking.

Kolache - pronounced Ka-la-chee - An Eastern European influenced pastry with stuffings ranging from sausage, cheese, fruit, and various combinations of it all.

I'm sure there's much more than that, but those should get you going to sounding like a local real quick.

Are you going to be driving a car?

2010-11-30T19:10:00.000-08:00

If so, here's what you need to know...

There are several specific things you need to do in order to register your car and to obtain a TX driver's license.

Car Insurance - This is standard fare, so either contact your current insurance provider and switch the coverage to TX, or get a new policy from one of the friendly insurance companies that occupy commercial TV time just as much as the beer, car, or movie makers.

Oh, and speaking of beer and driving, the BAC limit in TX is .08%, so be careful out there. Here's the number of a taxi company that can pick you up real quick like. Yellow Cab (512) 452-9999

Vehicle Inspection - Before you can register your car, you need to get it inspected at an official location. They're everywhere, including the neighborhood gas station, so it shouldn't be an issue in finding something close to your house. There will be an official sign out front signifying that it's an official inspection spot. Oh, and make sure you keep the paperwork they give you in a safe place because if it's folded, creased, or imperfect in any way, the DMV won't accept it.

Registering your car - Must be done within 30 days of moving into the state. You'll need to go to one of the government offices and wait in line for your number to be called like most DMV's across the country. Here's what you'll need to bring with you:

inspection certification
proof of liability insurance
the vehicle's odometer reading if it is less than 10 years old
an original out-of-state title, proof of registration, proof of sales tax payment or current foreign/military ownership document
completed Form 130-U
the following fees:
- registration fee
- title application fee of $28 or $33, depending on the county
- new resident tax of $90

Getting your TX drivers license - Must be done within 90 days of moving into the state. There are specific offices that only focus on drivers' licenses, so the crowds get pretty big, so make sure you go with plenty of time on your hands. Here are a couple Driver's License offices:

Austin South

4719 South Congress Avenue

AUSTIN, TX 78745-2302

(512) 444-5241

North Lamar

6121 North Lamar

AUSTIN, TX 78752

(512) 424-2076

If you have a VALID out-of-state license in your possession, please bring it to the driver license office to surrender. The written and driving examinations will be waived, but you must still pass a vision exam.

Goodbye Friend...A Story About Stu

2010-11-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

When I was studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain, in the fall of 1999, my parents came to visit and observe all of the studying I was doing. One night during their visit, we stumbled upon a Tex Mex bar that I had totally never been to before, and we got my dad drunk for the first time in years. During that completely coherent conversation, we raised the topic of getting a new dog because our current yellow lab, Herkimer (aka Herkie), was getting old and probably wouldn't be around for too much longer. Once the argument between the dog lover and the dog caretaker settled, we started talking about a name. Since it had always been a running joke in our family that a baby named "Askim" would be funny (say it out loud to yourself), the dog lover who never drinks (or curses) blurted out, "I'm going be so sick and tired of people asking me what his name is, I'm going to say his name is Shut The Fuck Up And Stop Asking Me." Me, the lover of random acronyms, figured that the shortened name for this unfortunately titled pup would be STFUASAM, which obviously wouldn't work, so we quickly shortened it to STUFAM. After the drunken haze settled, we then realized that name wouldn't even work, so we shortened it to Stu. Fast forward a year to me pulling up to my parent's driveway in Phoenix with a 3 month old yellow lab puppy, the dog lover is crying out of excitement and the dog caretaker has a scowl on her face that would burn a hole in the sun. Fast forward again 9 years to today, and we are saying goodbye to the best friend a family could ever have. Stu was pure love and affection, and added a joy to that household that could never be described. Stu was a friend to the umpteenth degree, even to those who never wanted him around (who also raised him better than anyone could have, Thanks Ma). Sadly, Stu is being put down this morning because a battle with cancer is making his body too difficult for his soul to maintain. He'll be in a happier place later today, and we will be left here to reminisce on all the good times we had with him. The pulling and yelping while on walks to Squaw Peak mountain. The morning run to grab the paper. The endless moments of unwarranted licks. And the never ending love that we shared with him. Thank you Stu for being the best member of our family that we could have ever wished to have. Safe travels, and we love you.

Where should you live?

2010-10-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Even though Austin is on the smaller side of things (especially compared to our last city, LA), it has a ton of neighborhood options to choose from. You can choose between yuppie downtown lofts/condos, college-town houses, quiet residential homes, and so on. You can choose to live within walking distance to a ton of bars, restaurants, and shops, or you can nestle into a wooded area far from any popular commercial districts. You can find almost any type of area, except for maybe beachfront or mountain terrain.

We initially focused our search on the 78704 South Congress (SoCo) area because we heard it was the up and coming social area. And since we were going to rent for the first year while we became familiar with the city and decided where to buy, we wanted to be within walking distance to plenty of fun places to eat, drink, and be merry. We jumped in a car and drove around SoCo and its surrounding areas, including Travis Heights and Bouldin Creek, and found plenty of houses that would do the trick. We refreshed Craigslist pages every 5 minutes waiting for new places to pop up. But it wasn't until we had a real estate agent drive us around Clarksville did we find the area that was right for us. It provided quiet neighborhoods with spacious housing and a decent back yard, along with great restaurants, a grocery store (that has an amazing beer selection, btw), cafes and even a soda shop/drug store that was ripped right out of 1955 and serves the damn best burger and shake I've had in a long time.

So we chose Clarksville, but it may not be the right choice for you, so below is a quick recap of some neighborhoods that might tickle your fancy:

SoCo (South Congress) - Sount of the river on Congress, you'll have the trendiest of neighborhoods on the block. You'll be able to stumble to/from popular restaurants like Guerro's and trendy spots like the Hotel San Jose's pool.
Downtown - Grab one of the trendy lofts while you can so you can stumble to and from the trendy bars downtown and on West 6th
Hyde Park - Join the UT kids and get a decently sized house in a decently located neighborhood and enjoy a decently convenient commute to anything in the city
Clarksville - Just a short drive/long walk to downtown, it's a quiet option that still has an old-school town feel with quaint options for shopping and eating
Barton Creek - Apparently the new, fancy spot, it's a reach from any night life, but filled with beautiful homes and terrain.
Travis Heights - Just east of SoCo, this is a quiet woodsy neighborhood with only parks to walk to. You do have easy access to the 35 and SoCo, and the houses are beautiful, so get in here if you can.
South Lamar - The area most symbolizes what old Austin is like. The north is known as yuppieville while the south is keeping it real. There is plenty to do, eat and drink down here.
The East Side - If you're looking for cheap land/housing and strong Hispanic influence, then hop over the 35 and get the prices low while you can. There are pockets of social life, but more or less, it's the cheap housing that brings people over here.

That's just a quick look at the different areas to live in, so be sure to talk to your friends and Realtors about other possible options. No matter what though, look at them all because you're bound to fall in love with one of them.

We may not be from here, but...

2010-09-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

We'll be using this space to teach people little lessons we've learned since moving to Austin. There's a lot to talk about because even though things are much bigger here in Texas, there are a lot of those little things you'll need to know. So, let's start with something that's not necessarily a lesson, but instead a bumper sticker that caught our eye, and made us feel right at home.

A Memorial Day Surprise

2010-05-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

So Tania and I have been back in the States for two months now, and we've filled our time with family, friends, memories, and planning for the next phase in our life together. We've spent countless hours with our 14 month old nephew Ian and seen him start walking and almost start talking, all the while seen his personality blossom into the most unbelievable little boy around. We've visited our friends in LA for a bachelor party (Matt DeVille's), to visit friends, to dance our asses off at Coachella, and to celebrate our friends Luke and Thu at their wedding in San Diego. We joined thousands of people down at the state capital to protest the SB 1070 law. We've climbed 6 of the 7 summits in Phoenix (your ours next time South Mountain!). We rooted on the Suns as they beat the Spurs and fought hard but eventually losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. We've eaten at amazing restaurants and visited beautiful parks like the Botanical Gardens. And we've spent as much time with the Palumbos as possible knowing that we'd be moving on to the east with the Shershins soon enough.

Our last weekend in Arizona was spent with Tony, Anna Marie, Scott, Emily, Ian, and plenty of family friends playing golf, poker, Scattergories, and barbecuing together in the incredibly gorgeous setting of Forest Highlands. It was the perfect way to spend quality time with Craig's family before heading onto a fun cross-country trip starting the Tuesday after Memorial Day.

All in all, the two months after we got back from Asia were filled with family and friends, allowing us to ease back into the pace that only this country can provide. And we were reminded of all the reasons we love this country so. But one story from this weekend reminded us of our time in Vietnam, and of why we all get a day off during this national holiday of Memorial Day.

Today, I played the first 9 holes at the Canyon course of Forest Highlands just with my father, Tony, and his brother Mike. After 9, Mike walked back to his house and a member of the group behind us asked to join Tony and me in our 2some. Of course we accepted and he tee'd off with us at 10 while introducing ourselves. When he heard our last name, he asked whether we were related to the kicker from Notre Dame 10 or so years ago. When we told him Scott was indeed our brother/son and that Ton had attended ND law school, conversation progressed to uncover that both this new member of our group, John, and Tony had been in Vinh Long, Vietnam, in 1969. Then after much more astonishing discussion about this coincidence, they realized that John's company was moving into the same floor of Tony's building on Central Blvd in Phoenix. This definition of "it's a small world" blew us away along with the cloudless and windless skies above the Canyon course, a site to be seen by itself. Yet with this random occurrence happening in the middle of our round together, it was a story to be told as soon as we got off the course.

Any way, this memory of taking Tony back to Vinh Long for the first time since he was there 40 years ago reminded us not only of the incredible time we had with him and my mother there, but of how small of a world it is that we live. We're grateful of the service they provided, ironically on this Memorial Day weekend, and grateful of the ability we have to relate to the land in which they served so long ago.

Thought you'd want to hear that story. We're off to the Grand Canyon tomorrow, then onto the cross-country trip on Tuesday. Check-in with you soon.

Phase 5 - Malaysia and the Philippines

2010-05-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the video from the final leg of our trip. Tania did an amazing job putting this together, so we hope you enjoy it!

Music by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Metric

Day 133 Tuesday March 23 Going home ☹

2010-05-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

We flew out of Manila through Tokyo and Los Angeles, finally landing in Phoenix 22 hours later. We ate some good noodles and drank some good beer in Tokyo in the hopes of knocking us out for the long stretch of the trip, but no luck, neither of us slept very much, meaning the jetlag is going to be bad; a decent price to pay for what we did over the last 5 months.

And that's all folks. We hope you enjoyed following the trip through these blog entries and the videos we made. Along with this being a trip of a lifetime for us, we realize that a lot of people lived the trip vicariously through us, which was our hope all along. We hope you learned a few things about that far away region, and we hope you gained an itch to explore more of the world yourselves. All we can say is that wherever you go and whatever you do will be worth it. It always is.

Stay curious. Stay energetic. Stay passionate. Stay open-minded. And most importantly, stay happy.

Thanks to everyone for all of your support. Now that we're back, we hope to see all of you very soon.

Cheers.

The Palumbos

Day 132 Monday March 22 Manila, Philippines

2010-05-17T11:05:00.000-07:00

Not much to report here. On Sunday, Tony drove us from Punto Fuego, past the Tagaytay volcano (actually a volcano within a volcano - so cool), and back to Manila. We tried to get massages once back in the city, but there were no available therapists, so we just headed back to their condo for a quiet evening.

Monday was all about prepping to head back to the US on Tuesday morning. We washed our clothes, packed our bags, bought some last minute gifts, and of course went to get one last massage. Man we're going to miss being able to get such inexpensive and quality massages on a regular basis, because we know how expensive they are in the US, along with just about every other thing one needs or wants to buy. Yet this is the exact type of thinking we spend all day stopping ourselves from concentrating on because we knew that if we dwelled on it too much, we really would be depressed when we got home. Instead, we focused on all of the positive aspects of what going home would offer, including family, friends, comfortable surroundings, and especially for me, Mexican food.

We spent our last night of the trip taking Tony and Annie to a nice Italian dinner inside the Fort Bonifacio Global City. We were so lucky that Diana organized for us to stay with her parents while we were in the Philippines, because not only did they provide top-notch accomodations, they were such amazing people to spend time with. They are such amazing people that we will cherish having gotten to know and gotten to share their lives in this amazing country with. The last few days really were the perfect way to end our trip. Thank you, thank you, thank you Tony and Annie for everything!

Dinner with Tony and Annie

The last picture of our trip

Days 129-131 Friday-Sunday Punta Fuego, Philippines March 18-21

2010-05-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Let's just get it out of the way...Tania and I are the luckiest people in the world. We are lucky to have the family and friends that we do, lucky to have had the greatest wedding in the world, lucky to be on this trip, and lucky to have found the perfect love with each other. We admit this, and could never describe how truly fortunate we feel every day of our lives.

Now that that's out there, we'll tell you about our time in Punto Fuego.

After saying goodbye to the Child Fund team in Taal, Hubert and another team member drove us to Annie's sister's, Jenny's, house at Punta Fuego, which is a private coastal town west of Manila. Jenny is one of the sweetest women in the world, and her house was equally beautiful. We spent the weekend lounging by the pool, chatting over meals with her other sister and husband, the Colombos, taking the boat out to remote corners of the area for some swimming in the crystal clear water and snorkeling through the exotic marine life, including some giant clams that were opened to expose a transluscent blue inner shell, and just enjoying this incredible corner of the world with some incredible people.

Sunset on the golf course above Jenny's house in Punto Fuego.

The view from Jenny's house in Punto Fuego.

We could not have imagined a better way to relax after the week we had in Taal. And on top of that, we couldn't imagine a better way to wrap-up our 5 month journey through this region. It gave us a chance to reflect on everything we had seen and done, and to prepare for what was about to come when we return back to the US. Would we be changed people when we got back? How much would we miss being on the road, experiencing something new and different every day? What did we miss the most about the US, and what would we do/see/eat during the first few days back? These were just some of the things that we pondered in the waning days of our trip. There were no clear or easy answers to any of them, so we decided to relax and simply enjoy the home, setting, and meals that our immensely gracious and generous hosts were providing for us in Punto Fuego. We could answer the questions when we got back to the US, or maybe during our 22 hours of travel we had ahead of us on Tuesday morning.

Captain Tony driving our boat around different snorkeling areas.

Tania with the ladies at dinner.

Thank you Jenny, Annie, Tony, and Colombos. Your homes and lives in Punto Fuego are amazing, and we appreciate you taking us in like you did more than you know.

Days 124-129 Sunday-Friday March 14-17 Batangas, Philippines

2010-05-10T10:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I went with Tony to the Manila Country Club to watch the Pacquiao/Clottey fight which was such a treat to be a part of. Watching a Pacquiao fight in the Philippines is like watching the Super Bowl in the US. EVERY person was watching, and the entire country's energy and attention was given to the fight during the week leading up to the event. Not only that, it was surreal to watch an event at the new Dallas Cowboys stadium while I was on the other side of the world. Tony's friends were great, and it was a blast watching the fight with them, even though it was quite uneventful due to Clottey's pure defensive approach. I was very appreciative that Tony brought me with him (as Tania and I have been for everything they're doing for us while in their country), and also happy that Pacquiao won because I think the country would have burned if he lost.

After the fight, Tania and I packed our bags and got picked up by two reps from (Christian) Child Fund (CF), the foundation that brought us to the Philippines in the first place. Carmen, Tania's mother, has sponsored a child within this organization for a long time now, but has never actually met any of these kids in person, so we thought we'd utilize this opportunity to become personally familiar with her charity while we were in the region.

It turns out that one of the men who picked us up, Hubert, was going to be our guide/rep for the week. After the 3 hour drive to Taal, which is in the Batangas region, we were shown to our hotel, the Little Bridge Resort. It did have a pool and was on beach-front property, but that's as far as the resort aspect of the hotel went. The pool did serve us well throughout the week, though, because we swam man laps with our snorkel masks. It's amazing how much more we like swimming as a source of exercise when breathing is easier by the snorkel mask.

Several CF staffers took us into the main area of Taal on our first night to grab food. We got a pizza to go and some groceries from 7-11 and headed back to the hotel so we could get a good night rest before our big first day in Batangas.

Monday morning we headed over to the elementary school with Hubert and encountered a sea of children who were in a parade line walking out of the school gate. The parade, and subsequent singing/dancing performance, were all commemorating the kids' awareness of El Nino and its effect on our planet. We walked with the kids for about 20 minutes before returning to the school and over to the outside stage where the rest of the morning would occur.

Taal kids and a sign they made on recycled plastic during their El Nino parade.

One of the incredibly well choreographed and performed dance pieces during the El Nino show.

Several groups of kids sang songs like "My Heart Will Go On" and "Nobody" (apparently the biggest song to ever come out of Korea - actual song begin after the 2:00 mark in the linked video). Other groups of kids performed choreographed dances that rival some of the best we saw on last season's So You Think You Can Dance. The kids put so much effort into the performances, and it was so cool to witness in person. They also treated us like celebrities, giving us seats up front and coming up to us to say hello. Such a great way to get to know the kids of this area.

After the show, we walked over to the CF office and met the child who Carmen sponsors, Janric. His father brought him and his sister to the office, and we got to spend an hour with him, just long enough for him to warm up to us, and not too long to remove him from his daily routine. Tania had thoughtfully bought Janric some children's books which they read and played with during our visit. Janric especially took to a book that came with stickers that he could place throughout the book. He was quite timid during the first half of our visit, but as more stickers were stuck and the more time he spent next to Tania, he definitely took a liking to my beautiful wife. When the visit was done, we all exchanged hugs and took some pictures so we could share the moment with Carmen and Tony.

Tania with Janric (blue), a CF staffer, and Janric's little sister (orange).

Tania with Janric and his sister at the end of our visit with them.

Even though our primary purpose of coming to Taal was to meet Janric, CF knew that we wanted to spend a week with them to experience what the organization does for the local community, and to get to know the community in which Janric lives. One day we toured all of the villages within Batangas and around Taal. We sat with a group of mother's and their children while a local elder taught the mothers about pre-adolescent development and care. We toured a few plots of land on which CF funds go towards locals growing their own food and raise their own cattle. And we ate lunch with a few families at their homes while asking questions about their lives and community.

Mothers and their children at the pre-adolescent community class.

One of the children at the class, after I made her cry (ask Tania).

Yet the highlight came at the end of the week when we spent two days with a youth group that uses the CF office as their activity headquarter. These teenagers, some of whom were CF sponsored children earlier in their lives, worked to raise funds for a computer, choreographed and practiced dances and songs, and simply enjoyed each others' company in a very positive and productive atmosphere. Tania spent Thursday afternoon really getting to know the kids, asking about their dreams and aspirations. One girl was so obviously ready to be a leader in the real world, and we will not think twice about hiring her if she ever wanted to work in the US. And on Friday, as a farewell gathering for Tania and me, the kids performed several dances and songs to commemorate our visit to Taal. We couldn't help but get choked up as we watched how happy and appreciative these kids were to have support from the outside world. I even got into the mix and joined them on stage for a dance, but quickly fell behind because I didn't know their choreography. It didn't matter, though, because it was the fact that we were all together, two completely different worlds joined with the hope that we can all live and work together to make this world a better place.

The CF youth group singing for us at our farewell ceremony.

The two of us with the CF youth group.

Along with Tania's sunrise boat ride to a beautiful choral reef, a climb up to the roof of the Taal Church (and subsequent magnificent views of the ocean and inland areas), walks to other villages and their markets, tours of local museums, and a few dinners at the Taal Bistro (we did eat sisig, a local favorite that we saw on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations), that was our time in Batangas. It was a complete departure from the luxury shown to us by Tony and Annie in Manila, which gave us an eye-opening perspective on the country because both sides are incredible in their own ways. This dichotomy is seen on a much smaller scale in many areas of Manila where the opposite ends of the spectrum sit less than a block from one another. But like we said, both lifestyles are rich and beautiful in their own ways, and we're forever grateful to have been able to see and feel firsthand why the Philippines is a land of people who are very proud in their history and culture.

Days 122-123 Friday-Saturday March 12-13 Manila, Philippines

2010-05-03T08:16:00.000-07:00

The primary purpose of us traveling to the Philippines was to visit Batangas and the child, John Ric, who Tania's mother Carmen sponsors through the group (Christian) Child Fund. She has been active with this organization for a long time now, so we were excited to see first-hand how her contributions were affecting someone so little and so far away.

Yet, as we have done the entire trip, we wanted to milk every last ounce out of our time here, so we organized to spend a few days with (follow me here) Tania's friend Diana's parents, Tony and Annie, in Manila and the surrounding cities. This was the last leg of our trip, so we also wanted to make sure we enjoyed a little more beach time before heading home, which we thought we'd do on our own, but turns out Tony and Annie would provide us with that opportunity, amongst others. More on that later, though.

When we got to Manila, we took the two hour bus ride (because Air Asia was located that far out of town, not in the conveniently located Manila airport, of course) into the city, where we experienced that chaos that is Manila traffic. I mean this place puts LA to shame. Once our bus got to the station and we grabbed a cab, it took us 1.5 hours to go 1.5 miles. We'd hit this traffic again during our time in Manila, but boy oh boy was it mind blowing to see for the first time.

When we finally got to Tony and Annie's place in Fort Bonifacio, we were pleasantly surprised that they lived in an incredibly beautiful condo in an upper floor of a tower overlooking Manila Country Club and the rest of the city. Tony and Annie greeted us and made us feel so at home, which was so incredibly kind of them, and made us feel very comfortable during our time there.

We took it easy that first day because we had been traveling very odd hours, but we did have a delicious dinner with our hosts. The following day Tony and their driver Leo took us on a guided tour of the city, hitting all the important spots including Intramuros, the Mall of Asia, St. Augustine Church, and many more malls since the company SM seems to be popping monstrous buildings all over the city (with their logo emblazoned prominently wherever possible). It was a quick day tour, but as always, we had a good idea of the city's layout because of it.

Tania and Tony outside of the house in which Diana grew up.

Saturday night Diana's cousin Niko and his girlfriend picked us up so we could party the night away at their friend's birthday party at Establishment. Luckily for us, "party the night away" for Niko meant the same as it now does for us, meaning we had a few drinks with the party, had many laughs, stopped by another club and shook our tails for a few songs, then retired home by midnight so we could get a good night's sleep. It was very nice of them to include us in their plans, and it was good to see what the night life in Manila is like for the large amount of expats living in the city.

Sunday morning we packed our bags because Child Fund was sending a van to pick us up and drive us to Batangas for our week of volunteering with their group. We didn't need to say good bye to Tony and Annie since they invited us to their sister's beach house at Punto Fuego on Friday, meaning we'd get our beach time in before going home AND would get to spend more time with them before leaving. So perfect.

Days 119-121 Tuesday-Thursday March 9-11 Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

2010-05-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

The flight from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu was easy, but as always with Air Asia, the walk from the plane to the terminal was abnormally long because, well, this isn't really a commercial airport. Imagine Southwest Airlines only flying out of the most remote terminals and/or airports. Makes one wonder whether the discounted airfare is actually worth it.

Enough of that. Back to the trip.

When we got into KK, we grabbed a taxi and took the short ride to our hotel, the Hotel Eden54, which we obviously picked because of Lauren and Matthew's daughter Eden who was born the same day as my nephew Ian. KK isn't the biggest town in the world, but it was definitely bigger than Sandakan, and had much more of a vibrant day and night life, which we were excited about after 4 days of quiet time on the waterfront.

We had several great meals while in KK, but that didn't start during our first night, which was spent at an Italian restaurant which was highly recommended in our books, and had a 50% off deal. Well, there's a reason they offered such a discount because they didn't offer such great food or drink. Tania's pina colada was not really a pina colada (that's what she gets for ordering a pina colada in Malaysia). The wine was garbage. And the food was not even close to the standard set by Anna Marie's famous Italian. Luckily, though, we kept exploring KK eateries and found an incredible sushi joint that we visited several times, and some other decent restaurants that revamped our impression of food in KK.

Our first day we grabbed a speed boat out to two of the several islands just off the coast of KK for some R&R time on the beach. It was a nice day of grabbing some sun, only interrupted by a swarm of Japanese tourists snapping pictures of girls in bikinis, and a hellish wind storm that forced us to the other side of one of the islands where the wind was being blocked. We got in some good snorkeling in that quiet area, and I even braved the windy side of the island where the waves were 3 foot choppy, but paid off with incredible views under the water. Gorgeous fish and choral of all shapes and colors.

Where did these tourists come from, and where are their bathing suits?

Shallow water snorkeling on one of the islands off of KK.

Our other big activity in KK was a bus tour up to Mount Kinabalu. We were grouped with a fun set of people from all over the world, and got to take in the breathtaking views of the country's tallest mountain. Snow capped the peaks and clouds skirted the edges, so we snapped some beautiful pics of the views. We also got to enjoy a nice lunch, walk through a tree-top canopy park, and soak up the natural hot spring water before jumping back on the bus to return to KK.

Mount Kinabalu

KK seems to be where Malaysia as a whole is going in the future. Catering to tourists, they're building a ton of malls (because it's so incredibly hot most of the year), opening nice restaurants, and expanding the city limits to allow for new developments perfect for prospecting home buyers. Let's hope they grow gradually so that the worst scene we saw (more garbage floating in the water at the docks) doesn't start showing up over more parts of the city.

Think twice about buying that case of water bottles next time you're at Costco.

We were delayed at the airport, so I walked around and snapped the below picture of a group of Muslim women dressed in a wide array of beautifully colored burkas. They humored me and allowed me to take their picture as long as I sent them the picture to their email addresses.

Women in beautiful burkas at the KK airport.

This Muslim country has its supreme differences from the US, but many similarities, which we hope bodes well for the middle east and west one day learning to live harmoniously together.

Days 115-118 Friday-Monday March 5-8 Sandakan, Malaysia

2010-04-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Let's start by saying that there's no much to do in the town of Sandakan. It's incredibly hot. It's a traditional Muslim town meaning that the bars are limited and the nightlife non-existant. That being said, that's not why we came here. We came for two reasons: one, we wanted to see orangutans in the wild; and two, we wanted to prove the US State Department wrong, that the region was safe for Americans to travel to, no matter how close the city is located to terrorist hot spots in the southern Philippines. We accomplished both.

Our hotel, the Swiss Inn Waterfront, was located right on the water and in the heart of town, which made for some relaxed and romantic dinners at the waterfront restaurants. Our hotel's restaurant had hot pot night our first night, which is always good news for us after falling in love with this eating feast in China. There are also several eateries down from our hotel that served incredible seafood and cold beer, all for especially cheap prices, amongst an open, airy environment perfect for people watching the locals.

Basically the only other thing to do in Sandakan proper is visit the Agnes Keith House, which sits atop the hill overlooking the city. We did so, and were thrilled to enjoy the incredible views while sampling the restaurant's fine interpretations of local specialties. We also spoke at length with a couple that was on our river boat excursion the day before. They had traveled just as we were several years earlier, but were now just vacationing after settling into a home in Vancouver, a far cry from their homeland of London.

Tania outside of the Agnes Keith House, looking pretty in the hat she bought in Siem Reap.

Speaking of the river trip, we booked the trip through a local hostel who sent a driver to pick us up (30 minutes late) at 9am. Expecting a quick drive to the river, we were instead told that we had a 3.5 hour drive with two other tourists crammed into a small compact car ahead of us. We questioned whether to go for a minute, but decided to see it through so we could see the orangutans and because there wasn't much else to do in the city.

Once we arrived at the water, we met up with 20 other tourists who jumped onto two long boats with us. We sat in the back and took in the fresh breeze and views of proboscis monkies and all types of birds while our tour guide explained everything around us. It really was an incredible ride which was only made better by two, very rare, sighting of orangutans in the wild. Many people go on this same trip and don't get to see one. Even though they were off in the distance, it was still enthralling to see the hair stand on top of their cute little heads, and their extremities that flop all over the place as they swing from tree to tree. We felt so lucky to have seen them.

Proboscis monkeys are so playful and curious!

On our last day, we visited the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, even though we had heard many negative comments about how touristy it was, and how unnatural the area was. Well, yes, there were a ton of people at the viewing platform during the feeding, and yes, it's a confined space in which the monkeys have to live, but it's a HUGE confined space, and the monkeys get to roam quite freely in a very natural type of environment. Plus, the huge crowd didn't detract from how exhilarating it was to see the fuzzy orange orangutans swing closer and closer to the feeding platform, and eventually swinging onto it so they could grab a few bananas from the park rangers. The way their legs swing up next to their hands in a way that only Gumby could do is hilarious, and the expressions on their introverted little faces is like nothing else on the planet. They truly are a precious wildlife that we as humans should strive to preserve if for no other reason than so we can laugh and giggle at their comic demeanor. And so they don't go extinct, but not all humans care about stuff like that, so let's fight for the giggles.

An orangutan just hanging out people watching (literally, he's staring at a large group of people there to watch him).

We were skeptical at first of our time in Sandakan, but were happy that we made the effort to spend a few days here by the time we left. It's not the sexiest destination in the world, but definitely a fulfilling stop to see a whole corner of the world that we never expected to see.

Days 112-114 Tuesday-Thursday March 2-4 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2010-04-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

The busy day at work version

- Being on the "fringe" of town in Malaysia is like being on the outskirts of town in the US
- Lightning and rain storms in Malaysia might as well be mini-hurricanes, with lightning that blew us out of our seats one day
- Petronas is an oil company, not some historic native Malaysian name
- The cool kids call Kuala Lumpur "KL"
- The KL airport is in another city, so plan accordingly
- If you only want to see malls on your next vacation, KL is for you

The slow day at work version

On this trip, we've come to heavily rely on travel sites like TripAdvisor and Agoda to book our rooms. An important of these sites is their inclusion of the Google Maps API to show where hotels are located in relation to the important sites in each city. This is crucial information since getting stuck in the wrong neighborhoods could lead to an unsafe environment and large taxi/train bills. Knowing this, I'm still dumbfounded about why and how I chose Hotel Maluri. Maybe because the description said it was on the "fringe" of the Golden Triangle, which was the neighborhood in which we wanted to stay, and I relied on that instead of looking on the map? Maybe because it was the tail end of the trip and I got lazy? Who knows, but let's just say that this hotel wasn't close to the Golden Triangle, let alone our understanding of the word "fringe." It was too far to walk to any of the attractions, no matter who's comfort level of walking you refer to, so we had to either take a $10 cab each way or walk all the way to the train station and ride that into town. Either way, we were in BFE compared to the mass of hotels located in the heart of town.

Oh well. As with most things we've experienced on this trip, things happen for a reason, usually better in the long run. It's just tough to see the positive result while nestled inside the metaphorical forest. What we did learn is that being stuck in a neighborhood on the outskirts of town allows one to experience a completely different side of a city. Meaning that if we had booked a hotel in the heart of KL, we never would have seen what life is like for the locals outside of the city center. We got to ride the trains, walk amongst the outdoor eateries that permeate Malaysia, and see first-hand how Malaysians live amongst this metropolis.

Speaking of the metropolis that is KL, we got into the airport and took a 1.5 hour taxi ride from the remote airport into town. After our driver finally found the hotel, it was too late to do much exploring, so we took the train into the Golden Triangle and explored one thing that KL is famous for...it's mega malls. We walked around the Berjaya's Times Square's 10 floors of shops, watched the indoor roller coaster zoom by, ate at Subway (which was exactly like the American shops, not in a good way because American tastes to exactly translate internationally, leading to the stall being empty besides us), and watched The Lightning Thief (because the IMAX was showing some John Travolta movie instead of Alice in Wonderland). What else could one want from a trip to the mall???

The next morning, we took a guided tour of the city, which we've learned is the best way to get a mental grasp of the city's layout, even though it's so touristy. Sometimes being touristy allows one to get to know a city the best, so we booked the trip through our trusty hotel. When our local driver finally arrived to the hotel, we drove us to pick up our fellow tourist, a well-worn woman who told our driver of Indian decent that the country of India was dirty. That should tell you enough of this woman and why we didn't get her email address when the tour was over.

In front of the Petronas Towers with our surly tour group member.

At the batik factory, watching an artist create a new patern.

On the tour, we visited the presidential palace (actually, the exterior since no one was allowed past the two horses and guards at the gate), a pewter factory (where we learned how amazing pewter cubs can be to keep drinks cold), the national history museum (where we learned about how used and abused this country has been throughout time by every conquesting country, especially for tin and aluminum), a batik factory (a fabric design method famous in this region), and a chocolate factory (where we sampled everything possible until our stomachs were raw). And of course the driver pointed to the other main attractions which we would visit on our own time the following days.

A woman in a burka outside of the Presidential Palace

The most important thing we wanted to explore while in KL was the Petronas Towers, made famous in the Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones movie "Entrapment", and which is now the tallest set of twin towers due to the loss of our towers in NYC. Before going to the towers, though, we stopped at the KL Tower (think the Seattle Needle) and had tea in the revolving restaurant. We talked to a nice Indian fellow who was in town on his honeymoon, but was eating alone because his wife was shopping, which is KL's most popular activity due to all of the malls. We also watched as a tremendous storm approach the tower and eventually engulf the tower with rain and lightning. We got a little nervous being so much higher than all other high rises in the city, but all worries were for naught because we left unscathed and walked over to the Petronas Towers just as they were allowing the last group of the day to enter the gates.

Tania got the nerve up to lean back on the KL Tower glass over 1000 ft. in the air.

Actually, when we got to the Petronas Towers desk, the staff informed us that no more tickets were available for that day, and that the last group was already in. (Tip: get to the towers by 8am and get a ticket or else you're likely to not get in that day, no matter what travel sites say about getting abandoned tickets). Yet for some reason, as we regrouped at the base of the escalator devising what to do next, one of the desk staff walked up to us and slyly handed us two lanyards and told us to quietly join the last group in line. Without hesitation, we hurried over to the group, received a pair of 3D glasses from another staffer, and walked into a mini movie theater with the rest of the group, having no idea what was going on. Well, for the next 7 minutes, we sat through the world's longest advertisement for Petronas, one of Asia's largest oil companies. The video happily explained to us how environmentally thoughtful the company was, and how it did all of its drilling and mining in the best interest of the planet. How thoughtful of them.

Inside the Petronas Tower observation deck. Last group of the day!

Sitting through that was well worth it because after the video completed, we were shown to the elevators so we could ride up to the observation deck, approximately half way up the towers. The views were less impressive than from the KL Tower, but it was still fascinating to be standing in the same spot where the climax of Entrapment occured. And, you know, to be in such a fine architectual achievement, if that's what floats your boat.

During our last day, we visited Chinatown to see for ourselves the famous (or infamous) shopping area of town. The shopping here isn't full of luxury brands found in the Golden Triangle and Bukit Bintang. Instead, it was full of the same chochkies and trinkets that we had seen all across this continent. Therefore, it lost the luster that most tourists experience, and instead annoyed the hell out of us because of the overly persistent salepeople constantly in our faces. So, we decided to walk back to BP for a nice dinner. The timing couldn't have been any better because when we finally got to Jalan Ceylon, the strongest storm we've ever seen (which is saying a lot coming from this girl from Miami and guy from Monsoon town - aka Phoenix) rolled in. We ran into the first pub we saw and proceeded to eat and drink in the upper balcony while watching the rain come down outside. At one point, a lighting bolt struck just outside of the balcony unleashing the loudest thunder shock we have ever imagined. We both jumed into the air and barely kept the food in our mouths and stomachs. Crazy. But the rain subsided and we headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our flight the next morning to Sandakan.

Since our flight was at 8am and the airport was 1.5 hours away, we had the same taxi driver from our arrival pick us up at 3:30am and take us to the airport. Easy, right? Wrong. When he dropped us off at the main terminal, we started looking for where to check-in for our Air Asia flight, which after searching for 10 minutes, an information attendant informed us that Air Asia operated our of another terminal, 30 minutes away. As you can guess, we were far from happy about possibly being late for our flight, for having to pay another $30 on top of our original taxi fare, and that our original driver didn't have the sense to take us to the correct terminal even though he knew we were flying Air Asia. The Italian in me was raging, but the Cuban in Tania tamed my anger and we luckily made our flight, so no harm no foul, but man did that morning suck. So for those of you who fly Air Asia in the future, know that the reason they can charge so little for their fares is because they operate out of remote locations that are a huge pain in the ass to access, so that value fare isn't always worth it in the end.

Along with a delicious lunch at Eest in the Westin, a few beers at the Belgian Beer Bar, and some quality shopping time for Tania in which she got me some rad flip flops and a cool button down shirt, that was our time in KL. It is striving to be the city of the future that Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore are setting the trend for, and is a must if you're trekking through the region.

Now off to Sandakan which has a travel advisory from the US State Department due to the Islamic radicals living and fighting in the region. After a ton of consideration and research in the Internet, we decided to proceed with our travels to eastern Malaysia/Borneo so that we could see this remote corner of the region, and the attractions it features including being able to see orangutans in the wild.

Days 110-111 Sunday-Monday February 28-March 1 Saigon, Vietnam

2010-04-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Knowing that they had to be up at 3am to make an early flight, Tony and Anna Marie crashed early at the Park Hyatt once we got into Saigon. And since Tania and I decided to move our flight from Saigon to Kuala Lumpur to Tuesday so that we could enjoy one last day at the hotel, and to hang out with Steve, Lisa, and Luke a little more before we left.

Sunday night, Steve and Lisa's crew met at the 2 Lam Son bar down on the lobby level of the hotel which gave us the chance to say goodbye to all of these people who welcomed us so kindly into their scene over the last few weeks. It also gave us the chance to spend as much time as possible with Steve and Lisa, who we were really going to miss when we left. That's why after relaxing around the hotel and downtown area on Monday, we met them for a sushi dinner on Monday night to bid farewell to our time in Vietnam. This being Steve and Lisa, though, we of course had to head back to their house and have a few more drinks before calling it a night.

Steve and Lisa's crew growling at 2 Lam Son

And just like that, we were gone. On the flight to Kuala Lumpur, we realized how long we had been in Vietnam, and how much we had done during our time there. 6 weeks passed in the blink of an eye, which was surreal because Vietnam was the reason we looked at SE Asia as a honeymoon destination in the first place. It is where our great friends Dave, Steve, and Brian were from, which built our intrigue in the country over the last few years because of the traditions and food we were exposed to by them. Vietnam was the heart of our trip, and it was over now, which could be a sad thought, but wasn't because we did more than we ever expected during our time here. It was an incredible 6 weeks that we'll never, ever forget.

Post sushi euphoria

Cảm ơn bạn Vietnam!

Days 109-110 Saturday-Sunday February 27-28 Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

2010-04-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

Oops, forgot to post the entry from our time in Ha Long Bay before showing the video, so here's a little catch up...

Sadly, we had to check out of our heavenly room on the club floor of the Sofitel Metropol in Hanoi. Yet as the entire time has been with my parents, we were okay with that because we knew there were more luxurious accommodations waiting for us in Ha Long Bay. After a 4 hour drive, we came upon the coast filled with limestone karst formations jutting out of the ground, similar to what we saw in Yangshuo and the northern Vietnamese coast, but this time, the hills thwarted out of the water, not the ground. This area is known as one of the most beautiful landscapes in all of Asia, and it didn't disappoint us.

We boarded our boat, the Ha Long Jasmine, and were escorted to our private suites which Anna Marie said were the only two on the boat. Whether that's true or not, it was amazing to stay in such an incredible room on such a small boat. Too bad we were only going to be on the boat for one night.

After the captain welcomed us and explained all of the obligatory safety procedures, Tony, Tania, and I jumped on a mini boat which took us to the Hang Sung Sot caves. After a 10 minute hike which paled in comparison to our climb to the Phong Nha caves, we entered a huge system of wide open caves which were lit with neon lights, just like we had seen in other caves across Vietnam. I slid my body through a "short cut" (aka a tight opening off the beaten path that no one is stupid enough to try and get through), Tony took-in life-like formations amongst the stalactites/mites (one rock looked just like a giant tortoise, on which people threw money for good luck), and Tania took several attempts at her "Happiness is what we all want" portion of our Vietnam video. It was an exhilarating site trip to set foot on one of the thousands of formations that fill this famous bay.

Inside the Hang Sung Sot Caves

Some people also took a mini boat trip into another part of the bay, but the Palumbos opted to relax on the big boat and catch up on some sleep. When dinner rolled around, we enjoyed a delicious buffet meal before the captain stood next to our table, asked the room to quiet down for a minute, and proceeded to sing a famous Vietnamese wedding song for Tania and me. We couldn't help but shed a tear as he delicately voiced the chorus "It's okay to spend the rest of your life with me." It was an incredible gesture that reminded us why we were on this trip in the first place. The captain then gave us a delicious piece of cake which we shared with our table and those sitting around us, which included a very funny and gregarious couple from Ireland (Sandy and his wife).

Sunset on the majestic Ha Long Bay

After dinner, Tony and Anna Marie taught Tania and me how to play bridge, which if you know how to play, you know that teaching it is harder than most anything on this planet. Think teaching someone how to drive a stick, speak a new language, and hitting a baseball, all combined, and you have the complexity of trying to teach someone how to play bridge. After a few practice rounds we played for real, and with some help, were able to grasp the general rules and strategies of the game. Now that we have that down, we can play all the time when we're in Phoenix. YAY!

Our home for a day, the Ha Long Jasmine

The morning was uneventful before we docked and jumped back in our van to drive to the Hanoi airport. On the way we stopped at some shopping centers which supposedly are filled with hand-made crafts from locals, but we were skeptical when we saw many of the same goods sold elsewhere in Vietnam and China. They did have some decent stuff, though, so we took advantage of this final opportunity to buy gifts for people back home.

Then we were off back to Saigon so the old people could spend one last night at the Saigon Park Hyatt before flying back to the US at 4am, and so the youngins could spend two last days in Saigon with Steve and Lisa before taking off for Malaysia.

All in all, we couldn't deny the beauty of Ha Long Bay, but the hippie side of us couldn't help but notice the incredible amount of gas and trash blanketing the top layer of the water. Since the bay is such a popular tourist attraction, the locals have populated the water with more boats than we could count, which obviously is going to soil the water beyond any natural condition. All we could think of is that our friend Lauren Horner (Hey LB!) needed to open a Waterkeeper office here and clean this place up before it's completely ruined.

Any way, no more tangents. We loved it up here, and if you can, try to spend a few days taking-in the awe inspiring views of Ha Long Bay. Just try and do it with as little impact on the environment as possible.

Vietnam & Cambodia Video

2010-04-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here's the video we made for our time in Vietnam and Cambodia. This stretch of the trip was extra special since we got to spend so much time with family (Tony and Anna Marie) and friends (Steve, Lisa, Luke, Hugh).

Music is by The Temper Trap and Hot Chip.

Enjoy.

Honeymoon Phase 4 - Vietnam & Cambodia from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Water puppet show in Hanoi

2010-04-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a glimpse of the water puppet show we caught in Hanoi. It's amazing what these artists are able to do from so far behind a curtain. The artful tradition dates back to the 11th century, and is still one of the top attractions for those visiting Hanoi. More info here.

Water puppet show in Hanoi from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Craig finished books #4 & #5 by Mark Haddon

2010-04-07T09:10:00.000-07:00

Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
- As unique a book I've ever read, this "murder mystery" gives the reader a sneak peak at the world through the eyes of a 16 year old boy with Asperger syndrome, a type of autism. His condition leaves him void of understanding emotion, therefore causing him to always revert back to his logic, which he excels at, but leaves him stranded in a world of people consumed by too much emotion. It's a fascinating look at the world through eyes we'll never use, and reminds us how powerful yet fragile developmentally disabled minds and bodies can be.

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
- Yes, I enjoyed Mr. Haddon's writing so much that I picked up another of his books to read. This one is a hilarious look at the classic "normal on the surface but internally chaotic" family dramas, focusing on a British family leading up to the wedding of their eldest daughter. Haddon's capability to get inside the characters' heads and describe the situations from their unique perspectives is incredible, which makdes for a very enjoyable read, even for those who don't normally enjoy stories that ring too close to their daily lives.

Days 106-108 Wednesday-Friday February 24-26 Hanoi, Vietnam

2010-04-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, we did a ton while in Hanoi with my parents and loved so much about the city, but when all is said and done, what we’re going to talk about the most down the road is the Sofitel Metropol hotel in which we stayed. We slept in a luxurious room filled with pillow menus and Hermes toiletries. We ate and had complimentary happy hour drink in the club level restaurant. We were catered to by our personal chefs. And we never wanted to leave the hotel. We know it sounds incredibly materialistic and that we should be excited about such different things in this incredible city, but we can’t help ourselves. This hotel was as good as it gets. We’ve been spoiled ever since Tony and Anna Marie showed up, and it hit a peak when we set our bags down, no, when our butler set our bags down in our heavenly room.

Our room's bath tub where Tania spent many a moment during our time at the Sofitel Metropol.

But we did do more while in Hanoi. We toured Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum (which was impeccably and tastefully done), the presidential grounds (which is probably the only yellow mansion to pull off that color so well), small but impressive pagodas, and the Hanoi Hilton, which is the prison where so many Americans were taken hostage, including John McCain during the war. Touring this jail now converted to a museum, we read the obligatory propaganda while looking at pictures of the horrific conditions these soldiers needed to endure, and also artifacts such as McCain’s flying suit in which he was captured over Lake Ho Tai. Our tour guide gave us a fascinating tour through the city.

Outside of Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.

Speaking of our tour guide, his name was Mr. Ein and he looked like he was about 16. In fact, though, he was 35, married, and lived with his family in his parents’ house because that is the duty of the youngest Vietnamese sibling to live with and care for the parents. He was the quietest of our tour guides, but as soon as we hit the Hanoi streets, he knew everybody that crossed our paths. Apparently he knew the entire city because he was raised and went to school here. He studied tourism, and did a hell of a job showing us his hometown.

In addition to enjoying one of Vietnam’s most treasured traditions of water puppetry, we also took a cooking class with famous French chef Didier Corlou, who is most well known for opening the restaurants at the Sofitel Metropol. He was since gone solo and opened his own place, Verticale. We met him and his wife at the restaurant, and he gave us a private tour of his favorite local market. After the ingredients were purchased, he passed us off to his wife who drove us to their private house about 30 minutes out of town. We weren’t happy about spending so much time in the car, but we forgot all about it when we walked through the gate into their incredible home. The mix of zen-like decorations and countryside furniture, chef Corlou’s wife taught us how to make dishes such as curry chicken skewers, bun cha, and fresh and fried spring rolls. We enjoyed our work over a nice glass of wine in their living room. It turned out to be an amazing experience, one that we hope to replicate soon by testing our newfound skills.

The rest of the group also went on a tour of the city via cyclo, which is a bike drawn carriage famous in these parts. I didn’t join them, instead opting for a nap, massage, and hair cut, but the report back was that they had a blast on the cyclos and exploring the inner parts of the city. Don’t worry, though, Tania and Anna Marie made up for lost time by booking a spa day of their own the day before. When you can get so much service done for such little money, it’s hard to pass up.

Momma cruisin' the town on a cyclo.

My mom’s tour group Cox and Kings made reservations for us at several trendy (for all the right reasons) restaurants where we enjoyed some of the best meals we had on the trip. Top notch every step of the way, which shed a whole new light on Hanoi versus the first time we were in the city and eating pho in corner holes in the wall. If you ever want to experience this city, or any city in the world for that matter, give Anna Marie a call because her taste and connections will never disappoint.

We only had a few days in Hanoi before taking off for Ha Long Bay, but we made the most of the time by learning how it’s always been done in this city, and how well it is done nowadays.

Days 104-106 Monday-Wednesday February 22-24 Siem Reap, Cambodia

2010-04-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

The You've Got Too Much To Do To Be Sitting Here Reading The Whole Entry Version

- Siem Reap is poor, but rich with history like very few places on this planet
- Angkor Wat and the surrounding wats were, and still are, marvels of engineering that have stood the test of time, aging well like the finest bottle of wine

On the way back from Can Tho to Saigon, we encountered the masses of people returning back to the big city after Tet. It was quite apparent to us how seriously the big city empties when we saw the incredible amount of people returning the day before they were all due back at work. Imagine driving back into LA or NYC the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Chaos. And delays.

We had to say goodbye to our friend Mr. Un when he dropped us off at the Saigon airport. Not sure how much I’m going to miss the way he finished sentences with AHA! like Canadians do with Eh, but he was one hell of a tour guide who always kept the mood light and our minds informed.

We flew into Siem Reap and were greeted by our new local tour guide Kong. The tour company handled all of the paperwork at immigration for us, one of the many luxuries Tania and I are being spoiled with while traveling with Tony and Anna Marie. Luxuries far from the realities we have been faced with by traveling alone whie on a marginally tight budget over the last few months. We’re trying not to let it get to our heads, especially considering we still have two more countries to explore after they leave, but damn this type of travel is nice.

Cambodia as a whole is an extremely poor third world country, but Siem Reap is flooded with luxury hotels and restaurants to pamper the wealthy tourists that flock here for Angkor (pronounced On-core, not Ang-cor) Wat and all of the neighboring ruins. Our hotel, Hotel de la Paix, was right up Tania’s and my alley due to its modern and luxurious feel, but not so much for my parents who are more attracted to the classic luxury of the Park Hyatt. Either way, this place is the bee’s knees, especially our garden suite that had an outdoor sitting area with a marble bathtub sitting in the heart of the room. Too bad it was too damn hot to think about spending more time outside than necessary.

We quickly got settled into the room and then met Kong at the front of the hotel so we could visit Angkor Wat before the sun went down. It is the most well known landmark in Cambodia, so much so that the profile of its three main towers adorn the national flag. It’s the largest religious building in the world after being build 1000 years ago. Much of it still stands today, and even the intricate designs etched into the sandstone are still very visible today. From these carvings to the massive moat outlining the exterior to the mindboggling engineering required to build such a structure, the entire complex is awe inspiring and humbling, even by today’s standards. No wonder its one of the 7 man-made wonders of the world. And not the fake world wonders that China keeps trying to claim, the real 7 wonders recognized by everyone.

The central towers at Angkor Wat

Perfectly maintained and incredibly intricate etchings in the halls of Angkor Wat

Tuesday morning we visited a fishing village 30 km outside of Siem Reap. After driving down a red dirt road far from the paved highway, we came upon a long string of houses built on tall stilts, and families congregating outside to either socialize or to work together to string tiny fish on bamboo sticks so they could be dried for use over the next year. The children waved as we drove by, and when we stopped the car and got out to watch their activities up close, the kids continued to wave, say goodbye (even though we had just arrived), and blow us kisses. It melted our hearts as soon as we set foot outside of the van.

Children stringing fish onto bamboo rods so they can be dried and used throughout the rest of the year.

Happy no matter what life has to offer.

Kong then took us to the end of the road where the town met the river at the Kampong Phluck floating village. We jumped into a longboat and rode past more houses on stilts, and even houses built on flotation devices so they could adapt to the rising/sinking water levels. As we learned, the waters hit their peak in October after the country is hit with heavy rains, yet they quickly recede as the hottest month of April quickly approaches, and the dry season settles in. If it was this hot in February, God only knows how bad it’ll get in April.

Maybe not the best place to stroll around the village.

It is a completely different way of life out here. We didn’t know whether to feel bad that these people lived in such poverty, or to simply understand that they don’t need much, especially modern conveniences to be happy, and that our way of life isn’t right for everyone, including them.

We spent the rest of our time in Siem Reap visiting as many of the remaining wats as possible. My dad and I hiked to the top of Phnom Bakheng before we all entered Angkor Thom and walked around Bayon, which is famous for the faces carved into the sides of the 52 peaked structures. Tania was excited for the pink wat, Banteay Srei (Sanctuary of the Women), which ended up being more orange than anything. Still, the carvings in the sandstone were as impressive as any other wat we visited. And we all loved Ta Prohm, which has been gripped by the root system of the ancient trees that casts shade on the area. Unfortunately though, our two attempts at viewing Angkor Wat from a hot air balloon were canceled due to unruly weather. Apparently the view from up there puts the vastness of the site in perspective, yet I think we understood its magnitude from afoot and up close.

And the foot of tree root systems strangling Ta Prohm.

The famous faces of Bayon can also be found here at the north gate of Angkor Wat.

One could spend weeks here visiting the vast number of wats to simply soak in the magnitude of these massive structures that were built 900 years ago, and still stand strong in spite of weather and war. It had the authentic feel that we hoped to experience in all historic relics in Asia, but that was missing in many places (China). Here you feel like the structures are relaxing on the site with you, while in China it felt like you were being ushered in and given a show built for tourists. Tough to explain, but you’ll know what we mean when you come here for yourself.

After soaking up all of the sites and the luxury of our hotel, we made a pit stop at the Art School for Children to pick up some locally made items, and headed for the airport to catch a flight back to Vietnam. This time, we were heading back north to Hanoi to do all of the site seeing we skipped the first time so we could see it all new with Tony and Anna Marie.

Days 102-104 Saturday-Monday February 20-22 Vinh Long & Can Tho, Vietnam

2010-03-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

40 years ago, one week after my parents got married, my father Tony left to fight in the Vietnam War. He spent 16 months defending our country in a conflict that many people vehemently opposed. He left his new wife and fought nonetheless, because that was what was asked of him, and because he couldn’t neglect his duty.

He was primarily stationed in Vinh Long, a small town off of the Mekong River, in the heart of the Mekong Delta. It was a tiny town of a few thousand people centered around a large church located a few hundred yards away from the main city circle. 40 years later, that church and city circle were all that my dad recognized. Other than those two landmarks, the entire city had exploded, for a lack of a better word. There are now many thousands (just over a million people in the Vinh Long province) of people living in the city, and the city edges extend much further into the Vietnamese countryside than it did the last time he was here.

In a way this was good, because Tony could see that these people had moved on, grown, persevered in the eyes of a horrific war. In a way it was a reality check because it showed that life can thrive inside the evil communist society we had fought so hard against for so long. This wasn’t the cold, hard streets of Moscow that we’ve come to imagine, but instead these people were happy maintaining old traditions like rice farming and grasping modern living with its cell phones and techno music. No matter what we thought, though, this was not the city my dad remembered, and that provided a good dose of closure on that chapter of his life.

Reminiscing on the banks of the Mekong River.

This being the Mekong Delta, we had to cross several water ways via ferry before we arrived at our hotel in Can Tho. Here we were able to relax while recovering from what was an emotional yet rewarding day.

The following day we chartered a private long boat to take us through the floating market. Literally, vendors and buyers congregate on one stretch of the river to buy and sell locally grown produce. It’s a wonder that we had never seen this type of market before, but it works perfectly for these people, and should work for any water-based community.

Kids selling soda to passing tourists while their parents sell produce to other locals.

The boat then took us through some local canals and stopped at the bank of a rice factory. Here we were greeted by a man who sported the world’s greatest lucky hair, and were shown the grounds by his associate. Before this stop, we never knew that rice is grown with a husk, and is processed to remove this husk and sort it by its proper classification. And for those of you who don’t know there are more types of rice than white and brown, you’re in for a surprise. Wow. That’s the type of info you pick up while touring through the world’s largest rice exporter.

The world's greatest lucky hair.

A bridge over one of the Can Tho canals.

Having our full of river-based exploration, it was time to get back to Saigon before flying out to Cambodia. We were sad to be leaving Mr. Un so soon, especially his octave-shattering laugh, but we had seen everything in this region that we had hoped, especially Tony, so we were ready to move onto the ancient lands of Angkor Wat.

Days 101-102 Thursday-Saturday February 18-20 Saigon, Vietnam

2010-03-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

What better way to cure a hellish sickness than to move into the Park Hyatt Saigon? The answer is that there is no better way. Even though Lisa, Steve, and Luke were the most gracious hosts imaginable and took such good care of us while we were sick yesterday, it was nice to move into the Park Hyatt where we’ll be meeting my (our) parents when they arrive tonight. After all of the 2 and 1 star hotels we’ve been staying in over the last few months, this place is heaven.

Tony and Anna Marie got into Saigon late on Thursday night, so we had a simple hello and hug before getting them to sleep. We had an early start the next morning to start the true site seeing of Saigon.

Friday was our first day together, and we drove with our guide Mr. Un to the Cu Chi tunnel system about 45 minutes outside of Saigon. Here we saw how the Liberation Army of Southern Vietnam was able to hide and withstand attacks from the US and ally forces, even though they were just miles from the American base in Saigon. Their ingenious ways of concealing their underground cities and ways of using the lush terrain to hide explosives that could take out tanks are impossible to ignore, but the communist government’s propogandish ways of telling the story was tough to stomach, especially sitting next to my father who had to live through the entire situation and watch friends being lost in the whole melee for 16 months. Yet, as my dad said today, to the victor go the spoils, part of which includes getting to tell the story as seen through the their eyes.

Mr. Un describing the tun

Mr. Un describing a trap door...

...and the subsequent trap hole.

Crawling through the Cu Chi Tunnels

After a lunch filled with 12 entrees (I kid you not, but thank God the tab was covered by our tour group), we hopped over to the war museum and continued to hear the story of the war through the communist government’s eyes. After looking at gruesome images and reading one-sided accounts of the conflict, there was only one thing we could all agree on…war is tragic, and those who make the decisions to go to war, whether just or not, are ruining lives on both sides of the tape. At that time it was either a battle over communism vs. democracy or over the rights to a massive supply of tin and tungsten, and now it’s us vs. Al Qaida or it’s over oil. No matter what it’s all over, it’s men making decisions who don’t have to act on them, and it’s crap. Period.

Tony exploring the war museum, and recounting history through the opposition's eyes.

Any way, it was fascinating to visit these places and hear stories from my dad about how it was 40 years ago when he bravely served here. I’ve always respected the selfless ways of his daily life, and his service during the war is one of the finest examples of who he is. Being here has brought that even more into light, and made me even more proud. Thanks Pop for your service, no matter who’s fight you were executing.

Mr. Un and the driver then brought us over to the Ben Thanh Market where my parents took one look over the compressed rows of trinket stalls and opted to head back to the hotel. Having already been here, we can’t say we had an issue with doing so.

Saturday morning we stopped by the Presidential Palace where the South Vietnamese government had been stationed before the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. It was here where the Communist tanks bowled over the gate, stormed the building, and hoisted the VC flag on the 4^th floor. The architecture was totally 60’s, and our friend Troy would undoubtedly love the furniture sprawling throughout the conference rooms, gambling/drinking room, and bedrooms. It even had a movie theatre, but the room-size projector was no longer functioning. The grounds were gorgeous, but standing on the site of such a pivotal moment in our country’s history was the most fascinating part of visiting the palace.

Outside the Presidential Palace

Then it was off to Vinh Long and Can Tho to see where my dad was stationed 40 years ago.

Day 100 Saigon

2010-03-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

We got food sickness. It wasn't pretty.

Tet eve on Nha Trang Beach

2010-03-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Nha Trang residents and those who were in town that week for the holiday crammed the beach to watch a very beautiful but looooong fireworks show. Oh, and the ocean served as the world's largest urinal during the festivities. Fun!

Tet eve on Nha Trang beach from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Days 96-99 Saturday-Tuesday February 13-16 Nah Trang, Vietnam

2010-03-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

In case you don’t know about Tet, it’s the the lunar new year, and is the biggest celebration in Vietnam. As the year of the Tiger approached and we made our way down the coast from Hanoi, we were constantly told that getting to Saigon was going to be tough as Tet (Feb. 14) drew nearer. Therefore, we purchased all of our train tickets ahead of time to guarantee that we’d have good seats on all of our trains. Plus having solid plans helps Tania feel comfortable about the future, but we won’t go there right now.

Tet is the time when families get together to drink and be merry with each other, like Christmas, but also to remember relatives who have passed. But mostly, it’s a week long celebration that out ranks any other holiday during the year.

The week before Tet, we felt the anticipation grow and saw the extremely elaborate decorations being built around Saigon (think Mardi Gras meets the Rose Parade). Amazingly beautiful decorations. Yet Steve and Lisa kept saying that the city was going to be empty for Tet, similar to how LA empties out for Christmas, because not many people are from Saigon, and therefore return to their remote towns to see their families during the week following Tet. So because of this, we decided to head up to Nah Trang where Steve’s (and Dave and Brian’s) dad lives. It’s a mellow beach town where their father, Hugh, has two apartments, one of which we could stay at for a few days. So we hopped onto an overnight bus, slept in the oddest configuration of reclining seats one can imagine, and headed up the coast.

Beaching it at Louisiae in Nha Trang. It's a tough life we live.

Nha Trang Beach as the sun sets behind us

Hugh greeted us at the apartment and made us feel right at home. We spent most of our days relaxing at the beach at the Louisiane’s resort and deciding whether the lobster being sold by vendors were as fresh as they looked. The city didn’t come alive until the night because shops were closed for Tet, so we weren’t given too many options during the days, which was fine with us. Yet at night, we had great seafood and Indian meals, and enjoyed the celebratory atmosphere the buzzed throughout the city.

After dinner with Steve's dad, Hugh.

On Tet eve, we joined the crowd that packed the beach and watched an extensive yet impressive fireworks show over the water. To call the beach packed, though, is not doing it justice. All we can say is that the entire city, plus everyone in town for the week, were on the beach. Crazy. Yet things didn’t get out of hand because luckily, the men had the world’s largest urinal at their disposal right there on the beach.

Tet eve on Nha Trang Beach

On Monday we met up with Steve and Lisa’s friends from Saigon Anne, Jacob and their son Lucas at their resort just out of town. Not much changed from what we had been doing at the beach. Just the environment changed from the ocean to the pool. It’s a rough life we live.

Having not done too much site seeing in the past few days, Tania and I searched Trip Advisor for the most important things to do while in Nah Trang. The winning site was the natural mud baths. Figuring our travel-weary bodies could go for some organic health care, we grabbed a cab out to the fringes of town. As we soon found out, we weren’t the only ones. When we pulled up, we saw the sea of tour buses that we’ve come to identify with tourist traps. Then we saw the masses pouring in and out of the gates before us. Hesitantly, we made our way to the ticket office and purchased the all inclusive VIP package, which gave us a private mud bath (no strange foreigners in our mud, please) and changing room, and a 45 minute massage afterward.

Drenched in our provate mud bath.

Well, we did our obligatory 20 minutes in the mud, received the hurried 20 minute massage, and quickly rinsed off so we could catch the next cab back to Hugh’s apartment to meet the gang and take the overnight bus back to Saigon. Feel free to skip the mud baths if you’re ever in Nah Trang unless you’re feeling extra Clark Griswoldy that day.

It was great to spend time with Hugh and get to know this mellow beach town of Nah Trang. It’s a far cry from the intense scene in Saigon, which is obviously why Hugh moved his life up here. Thanks for playing a great host, Hugh! Looking forward to seeing you at Luke and Thu’s wedding in April!

Oh, there are scooters in Saigon?

2010-03-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

We had heard rumors about how crazy the traffic, especially the scooter, are in Siagon. Here is what we saw when we first learned about it ourselves.

A first look at Saigon from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Days 89-95 Saturday-Friday February 6-12 Saigon, Vietnam

2010-03-19T23:40:00.000-07:00

We (thankfully) took our last overnight train of our trip from Danang (Hoi An) to Saigon. Even though taking these overnight trains in China and Vietnam saved us a ton of time and weren’t too terrible, we swore to never take another one again in our lives. Hopefully we will be able to afford flights when the time comes so we can keep to this promise. The overnight trains are not life threatening or anything, but we’ve come to realize on this trip that our tastes have become refined enough to travel with certain conveniences and luxuries from now on.

And speaking of conveniences, when we got to Saigon at 4:30am, we grabbed a taxi to Steve, Lisa, and Luke’s house and were greeted at the gate by their maid. Yes, their maid. She cleans. She runs to get Vietnamese coffees or food when requested. She does laundry. She does it all, and we got awfully spoiled by her while we stayed with our friends. If only hired help was so cheap in the US.

Tania making the most of having a couch for a few days.

Having been on the road for so long, we loved back being in a home environment with a kitchen, couches, proper bedrooms, and just that homey feeling that hotels can’t provide.

Of course on our first night in Saigon, we did as the Saigonians do and went out big with Steve, Lisa, Luke, and their friends, dancing to the techno beats that are the heartbeat of the city. It was a great time, and thank God we had that homey environment so we could recover the next afternoon on their trusty couches. We also needed to rest up because we had to be at Phatty’s, the local sports bar, at 6:30am the next morning to watch the Saints and Colts play in the Super Bowl.

We were sorely mistaken in thinking that we would have prime seats before the crowd arrived just because we got to the bar before the sun rose, because when we got to Phatty’s, the place was jam packed and we were delegated to the back corner watching the game on a marginally big screen off in the distance through several support pillars. It didn’t matter, though, because we had a access to delicious bloody marys and a good enough view to see Drew Breese and the Saints pull of the big upset over the Colts. So cool for the city of New Orleans after all they’ve been through this decade.

We even sat next to several of Steve’s friends who were from New Orleans, meaning the victory tasted that much sweeter when their friend bought drinks for the group after the game. We guess football fans are football fans (the real football, American, not that crap they call football here and everywhere else in the world), whether you’re in America or an expat overseas.

After the game we walked around town, past all of the Tet decorations that were furiously being installed along the city’s largest avenues. Once past the backpacker’s district, we stopped off at Lisa’s recommended spa called Lady Saigon. And boy are we glad we did. The massages were incredible, and the environment was much more luxurious than the cheap price tag implies. Let’s just say we just happened to return to the spa two days later.

Scooter madness in Cholon, Saigon's Chinatown.

Thursday night was my 32nd birthday, so Tania and Lisa organized an incredible sushi dinner with 14 of their local friends. Lisa wasted no time in resuming her tradition of “shots bitches” from our LA Korean BBQ days, and we were all on our jolly way to a fun evening and worthy celebration around Saigon.

The ladies represented at Craig's birthday sushi party.

Craig and Luke taking a breather from the birthday madness.

Other than a few other delicious dinners and a boys/girls night, we did a whole lot of hanging around the house with Toby and Guiness (Lisa’s dogs) and simply walking around town. We didn’t want to do too much site seeing since my parents were coming in a few days, and we wanted to hit all of the major sites for the first time with them.

Lisa and Steve's dogs, Toby and Guiness. We want to clone them when we get home.

On a side note…

On this trip, Tania and I have come to the realization that we are old, really old, because our ideal night now is to have a great dinner with lively plans for afterwards, but once dessert is done and the bill is paid, we are dragging ourselves back to the house so we can crash before 10. It was a tough pill to swallow for Steve and the crew who had grand aspirations of showing us a good time of all-nighters in Saigon, but we are comfortable with the fact, after such a long and draining tour through Asia, that it’s who we are now. Maybe it’s good we’re not going back to LA and instead onto a city where we won’t know anyone. I know our livers and bank accounts will appreciate it.

Snorkel trip to Cham Island

2010-03-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

While in Hoi An, we decided to hire a speed boat to take us snorkeling off of Cham Island. Well, the water was freezing cold, so we jumped back on board of the boat and headed for the island, where we soaked in the sun and island breeze for most of the day. It brought us right back to our Thai island life, where isn't too shabby.

Speed boat to snorkel at Cham Island from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Days 84-88 Monday-Friday February 1-5 Hoi An, Vietnam

2010-03-17T04:24:00.000-07:00

We took a quick 2 hour train ride from Hue to Danang, passing lush hillsides and glimmering coastal beaches. The guy sitting behind me didn’t appreciate the fact that my seat wouldn’t sit completely upright, meaning I rode like a gangster in a low rider while my seat blocked his flip-down table from holding his train-prepared meal. Even though he was pissed, I think he appreciated not eating it later in the day. It looked pretty nasty.

A driver picked us up at the train station in Danang and headed towards Hoi An. On the way, we stopped at marble mountain, aptly named due to the fact that they sell a ton of marble sourced from a nearby mountain. Big and small and in any design you could imagine, you can buy it here. But instead of purchasing a 12 foot tall Buddha and finding a way to ship it home, we opted for a marble egg for Anna Marie and a pocket-size Buddha that I can use as a card protector during poker tourneys.

Comparing Buddha bellies at Marble Mountain

Also on the way to Hoi An, we drove past China Beach where a ton of luxury hotels and casinos are opening, meaning this beach is about to become a tourist hot spot, similar to what Biloxi was before Katrina. It’s a far cry from being the initial stomping grounds for US troops almost 50 years ago.

Once in Hoi An, we spent our time walking through the huge central market buying ban mis (Vietnamese sandwiches which are the cheapest and tastiest sandwiches this side of Bay Cities) and fresh fruit. The market is a crash course in Vietnamese culture, so luckily we were accustomed to the local idiosyncrasies and weren’t too alarmed at anything.

We also spent some time adoring the riverside shops and restaurants, which come alive at night when the lights turn on and reflect off the river’s calm waters. People flood the river banks, enjoying public plastic tables and chairs, sipping beer or tea, and either chatting with friends or their loved one as if nobody could see them. It’s a magical place to be on a cool clear night.

Tania making sure not a drop of her flambeed banana dessert went to waste.

We rode our bikes down to the beach hoping to renew our relaxing days in southern Thailand. On the way, we stopped and walked through the rice paddies meeting locals and their water buffaloes (see the video previously posted). We had driven by so many of these infinite green fields but never explored the inner workings of one, so this was our perfect opportunity. Apparently not too many tourists venture into the fields because we were quickly approached by the field workers who wanted to chat and take pictures with us.

Our new water buffalo friend amongst the lush green rice paddies.

The beach wasn’t quite as relaxing as we had hoped due to the windy conditions and oily waters, but it was nice to be back under the sun in our bathing suits and laying on our towels.

Another day we hired a speed boat to take us snorkeling, again hoping to renew one of our Thailand loves, and to put our newly purchased snorkel gear to use. Well, we were scheduled to swim for 2.5 hours, but we were back in the boat after 20 minutes due to the incredibly cold water and ferocious sea lice who bit us incessantly. Luckily, the boat trip included an afternoon on Cham Island beach and a delicious lunch. There we were able to soak up the sun and walk around the deserted island, so the trip wasn’t a complete waste.

Craig's beard kept him warm in the freezing water while snorkeling, but the chilly conditions proved to be too much for the honeymooners.

All of that was fine and dandy, but the biggest hit in Hoi An for us (and for most visitors to the city) was the custom tailoring at incredibly affordable prices. We had suits, shirts, pants, dresses, and even a winter coat all made of fabrics we selected, all custom tailored to our bodies, and all at a fraction of the cost it would be in the US. Once we left Hoi An, we were geared up with improved wardrobes for the impending job hunt when we get back.

And about that job hunt, we keep finding excuses to push it back as far as possible. Now we’re planning on not only spending time with my family (especially little Ian who’s almost a year old!!), but we’ll be in Atlanta with Tania’s family while Patrick hikes the Appalachian Trail for 5 months. What other excuse do we need to stay unemployed than to spend quality time with our families? Exactly! That’s what we’re thinking.

Rice paddies in Hoi An

2010-03-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

We went for a bike ride to the beach outside of Hoi An, and stopped to explore the inner-workings one of the rice paddies that we had been passing in trains, cars, and buses over the last two weeks. Once inside, we quickly became friends with some locals and a water buffalo.

Rice paddies in Hoi An from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Phong Nha Caves

2010-03-11T07:09:00.000-08:00

We drove 4 hours north of Hue to explore the Phong Nha caves. One was only accessible by water, and the other after a treacherous hike. He's a glimpse of our boat ride just before entering the water cave. Pretty cool.

Boating into the Phong Nha Cave from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Days 80-83 Thursday-Sunday January 28-31 Hue, Vietnam

2010-03-09T05:18:00.000-08:00

We hopped off the overnight train in Hue and immediately realized two things:

1) 1. We were finally back in warm weather. We shall never take it for granted again.

2) 2. The haggling and pushy salesmanship by locals on the sidewalks is as prevalent and obnoxious as we had read.

Yet, after being lost in the cold, damp forest for the past several days, we were happy to welcome both of these points in exchange for a vivacious setting and being able to pack our jackets away.

Our first meal was at a restaurant frequented by our friends Dave and Brian back in the day when they lived in Hue. The staff definitely remembered them, albeit by their Vietnamese names. Dave told us to look for the BLT on the menu because he and Bri introduced it to the owners, and funny enough, it’s still on the menu. I ordered it, and even though it tasted delicious, it looked nothing like a BLT that you’d receive in the states. It didn’t matter, though, we still loved being in this place that our friends loved so long ago. The art that they bought the restaurant still hung on the walls, too. So cool.

We spent our first afternoon in Hue exploring the famous Citadel. Basically a square shaped city with 2m-thick, 10km-long walls encompassing it, with a beautiful moat lining the outer walls, this site lies on the north side of the Perfume River. It served as the residence of emperors dating back to the early 19^th century, but was basically leveled during the Tet Offensive in 1968. Only the outer walls still stand, but the grounds inside make for an amazing stroll through the city’s glorious yet unfortunate past.

Remains of the Purple Palace within the Citadel

The following day we toured several tombs of past emperors, exploring the beautiful grounds of these sacred sites. Our tour guide, who was also friends with Dave and Brian back in the day, described the history of each emperor and the significance of each structure within the grounds. If you go, don’t expect a cemetery-type attraction. These tombs are basically gorgeous residences on which the rulers lived and were buried after their death. Amazing landscapes which make for incredible photos.

We also stopped by the Thien Mu Pagoda, which is the unofficial symbol of the city. Also lying on the Perfume River, these grounds are filled with colorful flowers and young monks wandering the gardens in their maroon robes. This pagoda also houses the car in which Thích Quảng Đức and his fellow monks drove to Saigon on June 11, 1963, so that Thích could burn himself to death in protest against the persecution of Buddhists by South Vietnam's Ngo Dinh Diem administration. The image of him burning is one of the most famous photos of the 20^th century, which was made even more famous for our generation when Rage Against The Machine used it on the cover of their first album.

We used our tour guide and car while we had them at our disposal to drive over to the beach and show us an authentic, local seafood restaurant. Their insights into the city and knowledge of the area definitely helped us understand the city more than if we were to have explored on our own.

Having seen all of the sites Hue has to offer, and giving up on it being a good city to get a quality massage (the horror), we hired a driver to take us up to the Phong Nha Cave, about 4 hours north of Hue. A wise person would have visited this cave on their way to Hue since we had just passed it a few days prior, but that wise person can kiss our asses because we doubt he’s ever tried to navigate through a strange continent without ever making a mistake.

Before we got to the caves, we took-in the picturesque rice fields and limestone mountains outside the car windows while listening to our trusty iPods. Once inside the national park, we hopped on a private long boat and headed up river to the 400 million year old cave. As we passed through the water threshold, the driver killed the engine and began to row us into darkness. Beyond the first pitch black corner appeared brilliant karst formations backlit with vibrant neon lights of blue, green, purple, and yellow. It felt like we were inside the It’s a small world ride at Disneyworld. Silence was only broken by the strokes of our driver’s paddle and water pellets falling off of the ceiling.

Once out of the cave, we climbed what felt like 10,000 steps to the Tien Son cave. We weren’t sure what was more welcoming once we made it to the top and into the cavern; the exquisitely backlit stalactites and stalagmites, or the cool, damp air to save us from the heat and humidity outside. Either way, we got to walk amongst the rock formations this time, and were blown away by the immense beauty around us. Crazy to think that this cave was used as Hindu sanctuaries by the Chams in the 9^thth centuries, and as a hospital and ammunition depot during the American War. and 10

Then it was back into our private car to drive past the DMZ and back to Hue so we could get a good night's rest before heading down to Hoi An the next morning.

Overnight train to Hue

2010-03-06T08:17:00.001-08:00

Slap us and show us this video if we ever complain about our overnight train situations in Vietnam.

Days 76-79 Sunday-Wednesday January 24-27 Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam

2010-03-03T20:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, we’ve previously reported how non-ideal the overnight trains in China and ferries in Thailand are, but the public bus and motor taxi from Hanoi to Cuc Phuong National Park make those look like first class flights on BA. I mean we were exhausted when we got to the park, and all we had done that day was sit on our asses, albeit crammed inside a 12 person bus with 24 other people, and on scooters lugging our luggage on our laps. At least we weren’t alone on these rides. We shared the bus ride with all of the locals who sat next to us on bags of rope and on top of refrigerators. We also picked up a few folks on the highway, and not when we stopped to get them…when we slowed down so they could run and jump onto the bus as it rolled by Indiana Jones-style. These Vietnamese people are clever and creative if nothing else.

Before we got to the park, we drove through vast fields of limestone hills that harked back to our days in Yangshuo, China. At that time, I stated that Yangshuo was like nothing else on the planet. I was wrong. And at the time, my friend Dave (What up Dood!?) told us not to count out Vietnam. Well, he was right. The limestone hills are just as beautiful here, and also stretched into the horizon by infinite paddie fields spotted with locals bending over at work, which was stunning to see. We were just now getting to know how gorgeous this country was going to be. And it got even more so when we entered the park.

We spent the first night in the lodge at the entrance of the gate. There’s really not much to do at Cuc Phuong except hike, visit the botanical garden, and check out the monkey conservation center. It was raining, so hiking was out of the question, and the botanical garden was too much of a walk to justify seeing something so similar to what we already have on the trip; plants and flowers. Therefore, what better else to do than hang out with a few endangered langers? They were such fun little creatures swinging with their body-length arms, but it’s sad to know how many people are hunting them just outside of the cages where we observed them. It’s good to know that a group like these scientists are working to preserve species like the ones we had so much fun visiting.

The next day we drove 20km into the center of the park where, literally, we were alone in the middle of the forest, completely out of ear shot from anyone else. Well, except for the three girls who work the restaurant and do each other’s hair all day. And calling it a restaurant is being generous. The electricity is only on between 6-9pm, and there’s only one item on the menu; whatever they feel like serving you, which is always some sort of fried rice. At least they had cold beer in the fridge. No idea how it stayed cold while the electricity was out most of the day, but who cares if the result is a positive one.

Trail to our little cabin, in the middle of absolute nowhere!

Our cabin from afar. Look at the misty hills!

We spent out days hiking to the 1000 year old tree and exploring a cave that seemed to go on forever. The deeper we got, the more we felt like hard core explorers. Tania loves caves more than anything, so it was fun to climb and crawl through the pitch black, guided by a small flashlight, next to my new wife.

Tania made it up 100 steps without fainting. Victory! Oh wait, there's another hour to hike. :(

Gangster, Vietnamese forest-style!

At the base of the 1000 year old tree.

Hiding behind a mound of stalagmites inside the cave

We spent our nights watching episodes of How I Met Your Mother until the computer battery died (since there’s no electricity after 9), and then listened to the movements outside our cabin, which we were convinced were huge bears and other exotic beasts. We surely knew they weren’t other people because there were none within miles, so the noises drove our imaginations crazy. I can only imagine the expressions on our faces lying there in the dark. Wide eyes jumping back and forth every time a bush rustled just outside the thin wood wall behind the headboard. Hahaha. Reminds me of trying to sleep as a kid after watching Nightmare On Elm Street.

Night monsters aside, the lush forest at Cuc Phuong made for an amazing escape, which allowed us to experience some of the natural beauty that Vietnam has to offer. But we could only take so much seclusion after three days, so it was time to catch an overnight train all the Hue to Hue. (wocka wocka wocka)

Public bus ride from Hanoi to the Cuc Phuong National Park

2010-02-28T01:13:00.000-08:00

At the departure time, all but one seat was full and we were ready to go. An hour and a half later, the aisles were filled with people sitting on bags of rice, and about 15 more people than seats filled the public bus. Oh the joy.

Public bus ride from Hanoi to the Cuc Phuong National Park from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

A view from the middle of Lake Ho Tai in Hanoi

2010-02-25T17:56:00.000-08:00

We spent our only full day in Hanoi this time around wandering around the city, hitting all of the sites that we won't see with my (our) parents in a few weeks. The rain didn't ruin the day, just added to the fun.

Walking around Hanoi from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Days 74-75 Friday-Saturday January 22-23 Hanoi, Vietnam

2010-02-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

We didn’t spend much time in Hanoi since we’ll be back up here with my (our) parents in a few weeks. Yet while we were in the city, we quickly got to know its layout, and were able to confirm many of the stereotypes that preceded it, the first of which was that this place is busy!

We finally made it to Vietnam! Tania on the cusp of Lake Ho Tai.

And damn these people love to honk their horns! Whether its to inform unfortunate people that happen to be approaching the same intersection, or to tell one of the infinite number of scooters to get out of the way, horns are honked and honked and honked. And with such narrow streets as those in the old quarter, that makes for a loud and clustered environment. Crossing the street is a talent, too, one that every person better learn if they’re going to survive in the big city.

I called the whole thing annoying. Tania then coined the epic term “Hanoi-ing”. Similar to when the entire city of Shanghai was under construction for the 2010 world expo and we coined that getting “Shanghai’d”, being Hanoi-ing is a term we’ll carry with us well back into the US. Either way, at first glance, the street scene in Hanoi seems chaotic, but after giving it a few minutes, you’ll notice that (as Vanessa so wisely put it) the whole thing is organized chaos. To the untrained eye, it’s chaos. But to those that are familiar with it, it flows as simply and efficiently as possible. Therefore, organized chaos.

Friday night we got to our hotel late and walked down the street for some authentic Pho. We had read that in Vietnam, a restaurant’s appearance oppositely reflects the quality of the food, so we picked the dungiest looking joint that was still open at 9pm. And boy was the pho delicious. Such a simple dish that warms the soul like a good chicken soup. So comforting that we headed back to call it an early night.

On Saturday, we walked through the sporadic rain over to Lake Ho Tay (HOO WAT? HO TAY!) and browsed through several wats, stopping for a delicious lunch at a spot named Vine. We had delicious comfort food while taking the elegant setting, and while getting to know the manager who also recommended some good restaurants in Hue and Hoi An. That gave us enough fuel to stomp across the rest of the city through the rain, finally getting us to the train station so we could buy all of our tickets for the upcoming trek through Vietnam before they were sold out due to the madness known as Tet. Luckily we were well trained in dealing with pushy sales people like those who assaulted us at the train station because without that training, we would have 1) never been able to properly purchase the tickets we needed, and 2) fend off people trying to get a piece of the pie we were buying. But we did it, and treated ourselves to a nice dinner at the Lonely Planet staple 69 Bar-Restaurant. Hehe.

Being the old fogies that we now are, we followed dinner with a quick bia hoi (preservative-free beer sold for $.10 on every street corner) amongst all of the other locals and expats sitting on children’s plastic chairs. Then off to bed. We had a bus to catch the next day to the Cuc Phuong National Park,

So it was a very quick trip to Hanoi, but it gave us enough of a glimpse of the city to get us very excited to really explore it with the parents in a few weeks.

Honeymoon Phase 3 Video - Thailand and Laos

2010-02-15T04:24:00.000-08:00

Here's the video for Thailand and Laos. Tania did the bulk of the work, but we finessed the timing and captions together. Enjoy!

PS Click on the 4-arrow icon next to the VIMEO logo to expand the video to full screen. Then push the ESC to exit full screen.

Honeymoon Phase 3 - Thailand & Laos from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Some Valentine's Day Thoughts

2010-02-13T22:49:00.000-08:00

Since this is our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, I wanted to take this chance to brag about all of the things I've learned about my wife on this trip.

1. She's strong. The way she's lugged so much gear across the hectic Asian landscape. How she's handled many tough situations with people that don't speak her language. To being able to sleep on any less-than-ideal overnight train/ferry/bus. To keeping me in check ever step of the way. There's a ton of strength in that diminutive frame of hers.

2. She's adventurous. Before the trip, the most extreme physical activity she enjoyed was a tough yoga class or a strenuous hike. Now she has kayaking, snorkeling, motorbiking, Great Wall climbing, and bare back elephant riding to her credit. Who knew?

3. She's passionate. I've always known this, but it's come to a whole new level on the trip by the way she has planned so many details of the trip, engulfed herself into information about all of our destinations, and simply by the way that she utilizes all possible free time to the fullest, whether its regarding the trip or our future endeavors.

4. She's a teeny bopper at heart. I just need three words to describe this one: Twilight, Edward, Collins. 'Nuff said.

5. The girl likes massages. Yes, of course we all like massages, but she's made sure that there hasn't been a $7 oil massage that past her way without putting it to good use.

6. She really likes me. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the easiest person to deal with, especially when it's just you and me in a strange land for 4 months straight. But the way she's handled my temperament, she deserves a medal for that. And the fact that she's handles me so well, I have to believe that means that she really does like me. Whew.

7. She can stretch a small bag of clothes into a wardrobe that never gets old. I literally wear the same thing every day, and it shows. But she has just as many clothes, and is able to look fresh and beautiful every day.

8. She's my wife. This seems obvious, but as those of you who are married will know, it's a strange thing to get accustomed to. Whether it's getting used to saying the word "wife" to feeling the ring on my left hand, it's still something that surprises me every day, and puts a smile on my face every time I get surprised. I'm a lucky man.

Tania has always amazed and surprised me in new and bigger ways, but after spending so much time with her completely out of our element, she's finding newer and smaller ways to surprise me. I didn't think I could love or respect her more than I did at our wedding, but I do every single day, and I'm sure that will continue to happen until we're old and grey.

Happy Valentine's Day kitty!

Watching the giving/taking of alms in Luang Prabang

2010-02-11T01:24:00.000-08:00

Every morning, Buddhist monks of all ages walk the streets outside of their wats and accept alms, gifts of food, from local residents. The fact that this age old tradition still runs every morning at 5:30am like clockwork is one reason it's a fascinating ritual to observe.

Monks taking alms in Luang Prabang from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Sunset from Wat Phu Si in Luang Prabang

2010-02-10T01:49:00.000-08:00

The sunset from Wat Phi Si was stunning. The 100 tourists packed-in around us felt the same way.

Atop Wat Phu Si in Luang Prabang from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Days 67-73 Friday-Thursday January 15-21 Luang Prabang, Laos

2010-02-07T23:14:00.000-08:00

We had grand aspirations for our visit to Luang Prabang, but our time there was less fulfilled than we imagined due to some stomach issues that left us spending more time in the hotel than anything else. Thank God we splurged and got the nicest room so far on the trip. And that’s quite easy to do in Laos since it’s an extremely poor country, and the dollar goes a long way. Much longer than it does in the Japan, China, and Thailand.

After an easy flight from Chiang Mai, we shared a taxi to the Mason Dalabua with a woman from NYC named Colleen, who saved our asses at the immigration desk by spotting us the few dollars we were short for our Laos visas. Not quite sure what would have happened if she wasn’t there to save the day.

Luang Prabang is a very small city that can be explored by foot in a day. It’s centered around one primary street, Xiang Thong, that splits a peninsula in half. The Mekong River on one side. The Nam Khan on the other, which Tania liked much better due to the fact that the water wasn’t mud brown.

The French influence was stronger in Laos than any other foreign occupancy remnants than we had seen. Thailand was the only Asian country to not be occupied in its past, which was tangibly clear in its unique persona, lack of foreign influence, and love for its king shown in paintings of the man in every front yard, park, and street corner. But Laos had France screaming from the branches. The architecture along Xiang Thong. The fresh baguettes being sold from every street vendor. The stream of French tourists filling the city. The French influence was very apparent, but the city still claimed its own kind of charm.

The first few days were mostly about exploring the city on bicycle and making plans to trek across the Laos countryside. We watched the sunset, along with 100 other tourists, on top of Phu Si Hill. We explored the night market, which crams 4 rows of street vendors onto the quite narrow Xiang Thong once the sun goes down. And we ate at some delicious restaurants, one of which was an Italian joint that turned out to be Tania’s stomach’s doom. After eating pizza on Sunday night, her stomach turned for the worse and ended up assigning her to the bed for a few days. Because of this bug, we turned our 2 day, mid-week trek into a one day kayaking expedition on Thursday.

Waiting for the sun to set atop Wat Phu Si

Yeah, it was a decent sunset from atop Wat Phu Si

I wasn’t feeling too hot after the pizza either, so I was limited to taking long bike rides across the countryside, waving to kids on the sidewalks who were either yelling “pharang!” (tourist!) or “hello!” as I rode by.

A long boat resting next to a local wat

Kids playing carnival games at the Phu Si market

Once we felt better on Thursday, we joined the tour group that we had cancelled on the previous two days and rode up into the mountainside. Before jumping into the kayaks, we stopped at a Hmong village (go see the Clint Eastwood movie “Gran Turismo” for more info on the Hmong people) and did our best to blend in with the kids running around without shorts on or the parents preparing food to sell in the Luang Prabang market. We were only in the village for an hour or two, but it was eye opening to see how these mountain people have acclimated to the ever changing landscape and economy.

A few of the Hmong villagers that we visited on our kayak trip

Then came the kayaking fun. Tania and I started the journey on our own two-person kayak. There were three other tourists and two guides along for the ride. Well, let’s just say that after the first rapid, which was the biggest of the day, Tania and I were completely soaked, and she was trading me as a partner for one of the guides. Once that move was made, we both enjoyed the rest of the ride. Tania because she was now riding with a professional. Me because I now had a partner who was able to paddle and make the kayak move forward at a considerable pace. It’s a great way to get outside and see a different part of the Laos scenery, even if part of the day is spent submerged in white water rapids.

Tania the professional kayaker

Friday morning we woke up at 5:30am to watch the monks take alms. Locals line the streets near each of the wats and wait for the monks to pass so they can offer them food for the day. It was still dark out and there were a ton of locals with food and tourists with cameras (a lot of the Chinese tourists got in the way of the passing monks, which was unfortunate to see the tradition being interrupted by foreigners), and the monks came by in a long single-file line to accept the gifts. Fascinating to see how the community comes together to support their local spiritual leaders. Even though Chhunni (our monk friend from Chiang Mai) told us that the food is oftentimes spoiled or not edible, primarily because the local people have no idea that food can indeed go bad, they still accept the food because the people went out of their way to give the gift in the first place.

Monks accepting alms at 5:30am

That was basically our time in Laos. Nothing too exciting, but a great chance to see a newly developing country that will undoubtedly be a much different place in a few years. The people, food, and land are amazing, and it’s only a matter of time before more people visit the country, and before the country adapts to the influx of tourists and their money.

Who Dat? Who Dat?? Who Dat???!!!!

2010-02-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints!!! Such a great day for such a deserving city.

Tania and I watched the game at Phatty's (stop laughing DeVille) in Saigon, which was packed when we got there at 6:30am (Monday morning). We sat in the back corner with some friends of Steve and Lisa, and enjoyed some breakfast and beers while Drew Brees and the boys dismantled Peyton and the Colts. A very different way to enjoy the Super Bowl than we're used to, but one we'll always remember.

Ebert and Shershin

2010-02-02T23:55:00.000-08:00

For those of you who were at the wedding reception and were lucky enough to hear Tony Shershin's terse speech first-hand, then you'd know that today is a big day for him. During the speech, amongst many other things, he predicted that Meryl Streep would be nominated for an Oscar for her role in Julie and Julia. Well, this morning the nominations were announced, and you got it...she was nominated for Best Actress. Way to go, Tony! But now you're not invited into our Oscar pool. You know too much.

Click to see a list of the nominees

Days 60 – 66 Friday – Thursday January 8-14, 2010 Chiang Mai, Thailand

2010-02-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

Highlights

- The Sunday night market is a must see for the plethora of shopping, but get there early or you'll be drowned by a sea of tourists.
- Our new monk friends Chhunni and Remmy spoke with us about their faith, then showed us around Wat Suan Dok and the Forest Temple.
- Come over to our place when we get back into town. We'll cook you up some delicious Thai dishes that we learned in cooking school.
- We adopted and cared for two elephants, Lucky (Tania) and Mai Phu Thong (Craig) for an entire day. We even checked their poop to make sure they were healthy. Fun, huh???

The "sorry, this one is realllllllly long" version

After 3 weeks lounging around the southern Thai islands, it was time to head north to Chiang Mai, which is famous for the plethora of temples (Wats)(what up Sasa!!??), laid back vibe, and incredible food, both to be eaten and learned. No more lazy days on the beach, or snorkeling trips, or scooter riding. It’s now time for mountain living, Thai style.

On Thursday, we took a ferry from Koh Lanta up to Koh Phi Phi and onto Phuket where we stayed for the night before our early flight to Chiang Mai the next morning. After the overnight ferry from Koh Tao to Surat Thani, we realized that we never again want to mess with overnight traveling through Asia. And we wanted to get a quick glimpse of Phuket before leaving the south.

We stayed at the Lotus Lodge, which is a little guest house about 1km off of the beach, owned and operated 6 months of the year by a German fellow named Stefan. He spends the on-season in Thailand, and the off-season back in Germany making rope courses for tourists who are visiting the Alps. It was a very laid back place filled with laid back Germans visiting one another at each other’s doorstep. Stefan drove us into town so we could grab a bite to eat and see the beach. Since we were on the northern end of the island, intentionally so so we could have a quick drive to the airport the next morning, we didn’t experience the madness which is Phuket, but we could tell at the ferry terminal how inundated it is with tourists.

Now onto Chiang Mai…

We landed into Chiang Mai and found our way to our hotel, Ban Kong Rao, which was just northeast of the city square. And the central part of the city is actually a square, edged by a worn down yet gorgeous brick wall, wherever it is still standing. Needing a dose of home, we headed to the mall to see Avatar in 3D, which blew our minds. The special effects, the story, the 3D animations, everything about the movie left us wanting to see it 3 more times, hopefully once in an IMAX theater (for those of you back home that got to see it in IMAX, foo on you!).

Before the movie, we of course passed the time by eating pizza and getting massages. Tania opted for the burly ladyboy (not a derogatory term at all, just the common name for Thai men who opt to dress/act like women) while I chose the tiny 70 year old woman. Well, Tania got an amazing massage from her person while I got annoyed by my lady tickling me, the 7 year old kid in the chair next to me who was playing WWF on his PSP with the sound on, and the beeping new age music seeping from the speakers. As you can tell, not the best massage I’ve ever had, but my faith in Thai massages was renewed when Tania’s ladyboy noticed how disappointed I was with my lady, and took over for the last 3 minutes, which was enough time to do more for my neck and shoulders than the last 4 masseuses have been able to do combined. It was then that I realized I need to get male masseuses if I’m ever going to make a dent in my knotted-up back.

On Saturday we met Vanessa’s monk friend Chhunni and his teacher Samantha for lunch at Chuni’s wat, Wat Suan Dok. Chhunni is 28 and from Cambodia, and already has wisdom enough for a lifetime. While Samantha gave us recommendations for what to do in Chiang Mai, Chhunni gave us a peak at what Buddhism and being a monk is all about. He even rode with us, and his monk friend Remmy, over to another Wat, known as the Forest Temple. It was fascinating to spend time with these two and hear first hand why they decided to become monks, as well as everything they’re taught about the faith. Tania jotted down lessons like the 4 noble Buddhist truths, the 5 golden rules, and many other ideas that we can implement in our lives to constantly improve the way we live.

Tania with Chhunni and Remmy at the Forrest Temple

The following day we headed into the center of town and did a little, okay a ton of shopping at the Sunday night market. It was plenty busy when it opened at 4pm, but as the sun went down, the streets filled up with what seemed to be every tourist in Thailand. We couldn’t even move down the street without bumping shoulders with someone, or barely stepping on a vendor. As hectic as it was, it was still an amazing experience, one we topped-off with an incredible Italian dinner.

Tania after a successful trip to the Sunday night market

Monday it was time to get to some cooking. We joint 20 or so other pharang at a local cooking school to make a wide array of Thai dishes. Anywhere from Phat Thai to curry paste to curry soups to dessert, we split into separate groups so we could learn as many recipes as possible so when we come home, we’ll be ready to cook ourselves the dishes we’ve come to love so much while in Thailand.

Craig at the Baan Thai cooking school making some Phat Thai

Then of course we got massages to unwind from the stressful cooking school. :)

On Tuesday we enjoyed the room and got a late start on the day because the highlight of the day was to enjoy sunset up on the mountainside at Doi Suthep. After taking a taxi to the zoo, we jumped into another taxi with a friendly couple from Singapore and climbed up the steep hill, hoping not to fall out the back of the truck.

Once we arrived at the wat, we were greeting first by 100 or so steps up another hill, then by a golden temple swarming with Buddhists there to worship at this beautiful shrine. After a stroll past the emerald Buddha and prayer bells, we ended up at the viewpoint overlooking the whole of Chiang Mai. We stayed a while and took in the view until the sun set, enjoying it all while listening to Tania’s “sunset meditation” mix on her iPod. You can’t beat a little M83 while the setting sun casts beautiful colors across an ancient city.

Heading down the 100 steps was much easier than heading up, but getting down the hill proved to be a pain because of the taxi drivers trying to take advantage of the fact that we were stuck on this mountain. That was until we were saved by a tour bus full of generous French people who talked their tour leader into letting us catch a ride with them down the hill. A big mercy buckets goes out to our new friends.

We wandered around the night bazaar area near the river on Wednesday, which was a pretty uneventful day besides the comfort food lunch and stroll through one of the nicest hotels we’ve ever seen. The meal was full of buffalo wings, Philly cheese steaks, and French fries. The hotel was named the Chedi, and if you have some money to blow while in Chiang Mai, we recommend you stay at this elegant retreat.

Our stay in Chiang Mai was capped off by maybe the best day of the entire trip, caring for our own elephant for an entire day at Patara elephant farm. Tania adopted Lucky, a 7 year old baby that was just the right size for her. I adopted a 37 grumpy lady named Mai Phu Thong, who ended up being sweet as pie by the end of the day. We brushed then washed them in the river, we fed them, we inspected their vitals (sweaty toe nail beds, wagging tail and ears, and yes, smelling and squeezing their poop to check for proper digestion), we rode them all day, and then Tania got an extra special kiss from Lucky for being the group’s MVP of the day.

Craig riding bareback on Mai Phu Thong

Such a fascinating experience with such amazing creatures. And in an important refuge for previously abused animals. It was definitely a day we’ll never forget. And not just because of the poop.

And that was our time in Thailand. Our visa expired the next day, meaning we either had to cross the border into Mayanmar to extend the visa, or head to Laos for a week. We opted for the latter because of the horror stories we’ve heard about Burma. We will miss Thailand for so many reasons, and not just the delicious food, friendly people, and gorgeous landscape. This country has a soul that can’t be described, and it’s one that will call us back very soon.

Morakot Cave inside of Koh Muk

2010-01-31T05:04:00.000-08:00

During our 4 island snorkeling trip off of Koh Lanta in Thailand, we swam 80 yards into the heart of the island where a mesmerizing beach lives. Tania gives a great description of it below.

Morakot cave inside of Koh Muk from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Old Town Koh Lanta

2010-01-29T03:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a glimpse of Old Town Koh Lanta. The roads may not have been paved, but the town was so fun to explore.

Old Town on Koh Lanta from Craig Palumbo on Vimeo.

Days 56-59 Sunday – Thursday January 3-7, 2010 Koh Lanta, Thailand

2010-01-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

Highlights

- - Massaman Curry!!!!!! Man the king has good taste!

- - Snorkeling was fun, but discovering Morakot cave inside the heart of an island was icing on the cake!

- - If you’re looking for crazy backpacker fun, head somewhere else (i.e. Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Pha Ngan). This place has luckily evaded that doom.

The Nothing Else To Do While Tania Gets Another Massage Version

Let’s start by saying that Koh Lanta was our favorite of the Thai islands, but as you can tell from the video of our overnight ferry from Koh Tao, getting there was the antithesis of our love for Lanta. Along with the ferry, we had to battle our way through a taxi ride from the ferry terminal in Surat Thani, a bus from Surat Thani to Krabi, then a packed mini-bus drive to Lanta. Yet all of that chaos was forgotten when we arrived onto Lanta.

Eight years ago when I was traveling through Europe, I randomly met a Brit named Emma in a sandwich shop, and we spent a day touring Valencia, Spain, before she left town. Somehow through the magic of email, blogging, and Facebook, we’ve stayed in touch through the years. When we learned that she was now living on Lanta teaching scuba diving, Tania and I decided to skip over the touristy Phuket and Koh Phi Phi and spend our time on the west coast on Lanta. And boy are we glad we did.

Emma was kind enough to find a hotel for us to stay at, the NT Lanta Resort, which had just opened a few months prior, meaning our bungalow was brand new with all of the amenities a weary traveler could desire; AC, hot water, satellite TV, fridge, and most importantly, new and clean furnishings.

Emma also introduced us to the best restaurants in Long Beach, the nicest stretch of beaches that hadn’t already been trampled by tourists. We fell in love with the king’s favorite dish, Massaman curry. It’s a peanuty curry served with potatoes and onions, and basically the greatest thing your pallet can swim in. We also ate delicious seafood and rice dishes over meals with her friends Claire (don’t call her a life coach), Magnus (www.tapper.com), and the rest of her scuba friends. We even got to partake in trivia night with all of the expats at Bar Racuda (get the play on words?). We got third place, out of about 10 teams, basically because Tania doesn’t know as much about Lord of the Rings as she thought she did. She let all of her D&D friends down on that one.

Aside from eating the delicious food, Tania obviously got a beach-side oil massage (I think she is in the midst of setting the world record for most massages in a month’s time), we scootered around the island, down to Old town, walked along the picturesque beach, and boated around to 4 islands for an incredible day of snorkeling. Our new gear came in handy to see stunning coral swarming with schools of brightly colored fish. Getting to wade in the water as the fish swim around you as if you’re part of their clan has quickly become one of our favorite things to do, which we’ll greatly miss once we head up north to Chiang Mai.

The highlight of the snorkeling trip was when we visited Morakot cave inside of Koh Muk, which requires a 10 minute swim through a pitch black tunnel that eventually leads to a hidden beach in the heart of the island. Once inside the cave on and standing on the beach, you can spend an hour notching your head back and gazing the perimeter of the walls that stand around you, reaching hundreds of feet above with a lining of lush shrubbery and plant life. Stunning, absolutely stunning.

We were sad to leave Koh Lanta because after the resort feel of Kohs Samui, Pha Ngan, and Tao, we really started to get into the groove of quieter island life that Lanta provided over the others. Yet, we had a flight to catch out of Phuket, so we hopped a high class ferry through Koh Phi Phi so we could stay the night in Phuket before our early morning flight on Friday.

Overnight ferry from Koh Tao to Surat Thani

2010-01-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

The video should speak for itself. Keep in mind that we were on the 2nd floor, and the same deal was happening downstairs. Don't worry, at no point did we not feel safe. It just made for a very interesting ride over to the mainland.

Craig finished books #4 & 5 + an update on Tania's readings

2010-01-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
- Even though the technology references are dated and you can tell Brown was much more chauvinistic at the time, it still had his trademark action that made it an entertaining read.
- Oh, and the fact that much of the action takes place in Sevilla where I studied for a semester allowed for plenty of reminiscing about all of the city's sites and neighborhoods.

The Invisible Man by HG Wells
- Silly little early 20th century sci-fi story that ended up being less an exploration into what it would be like to become invisible, and more about a mad scientist.
- Favorite quote: "Great and strange ideas transcending experience often have less effect upon men and women than smaller, more tangible considerations.

I'll let Tania report on her books, but I can confirm that she stormed through all 4 Twilight books and an entire collection of David Sedaris short stories. From the brief glimpses she's given me at each, I can happily report that I'll be reading his stories much sooner than I will of the vampires and werewolves.

Days 50-55 Monday – Saturday December 28, 2009 – January 2, 2010 Kho Tao, Thailand

2010-01-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

Highlights

- - Quiet getaways are nice, but not being remotely close to any civil/socialization may not be optimal during the new year period.

- - Things in Thailand don’t happen on time, they happen on Thaim (meaning you better get comfortable when sitting down to dinner).

- - WE SWAM WITH SHARKS!!!!!

The Thai Restaurant Version

After being at the Mango Bay bungalows on Kho Tao for 24 hours, I (Craig) have realized two things…

1. 1) When perched on the cliffs of a desolate Thai lsland resort, it’s tough to tell the difference between the blue ocean and the equally blue sky above the horizon.

2. 2) Things don’t happen here on time, but they do happen on Thaim. Meaning, our dinners may not come out as hoped at the same time as each other, but they’ll each eventually get to your table. One possibly 20 minutes after the other. Also meaning that you pay $5 more for the quicker 1pm ferry, but after watching the cheaper 2pm and 2:30pm ferries load and leave in front of you, you finally board yours at 3pm and arrive at your destination over 2 hours late. That’s Thaim, and that’s just how it happens around here. Thank God it’s the most relaxing place on the planet, because the difference between time and Thaim isn’t that big of a deal when all is said and done.

The Mango Bay bungalows are at the north tip of Koh Tao, and it’s as remote as a resort can get. The rest of the island is easily connected by roads and quite active, but the only activities happening at our resort are snorkeling between the bungalows and distant beach, and watching the power turn off between 10:30am and 5pm, which basically forces you out of your hillside bungalow during the day because the fan is non-functional and the room becomes a sauna. Therefore, no lazy days in bed, which are nice to have once in a while.

Don’t let that make you think this place isn’t enjoyable, because it very much is, just in its own way. Just like Koh Pha Ngan was a progressive step more relaxing than Koh Samui, Koh Tao is the ultimate pit for leaving the world and its stresses behind.

During our first day at Mango Bay, there was no Internet. No TV. No stroll through town or hike to a waterfall. It’s you, the cliffs, some snorkel gear, and a restaurant who's speed matches that of things happening in the lazy and disconnected world outside. We still have 4 more days here, and we're already unwound like a broken watch, and we can’t wait to find out the depths of how far this unwinding can go…

(fast forward 2 days) Okay, it’s day 3, and this place is starting to get to us. Yes, we love our little bungalow hideaway, but we can’t stand the fact that electricity is off from 5:30-6:30am (shutting off the fan that keeps us cool at night) and 10:30am-5pm (shutting off the fan that keeps us cool during the day). Yes, we love the beautiful sunset and incomparable snorkeling out front, but we can’t stand the fact that the only restaurant choice we have within reachable distance without a 40 minute long and $20 boat ride is our resort’s restaurant, and the food is getting worse every day and the owner is the world’s grumpiest and least accommodating person we’ve ever met. He makes us feel bad that his (advertised free) wifi is down and that his staff screwed up your order after it took an hour to get to your table. He’s like the soup nazi who bought a pair of flip flops, sold all of his upper body clothing, and decided to open a joint in the middle of BFE Thailand.

Enough of the bitching, but this guy is bad, and we needed to get it out in the open after the way he just treated Tania. If I hadn’t stepped into their conversation, the guy would have ripped her off and treated her like and a-hole without realizing how he was acting.

Okay, 10…9…1.

We had a great day taking a tour boat with about 30 other people today around the island, stopping at all of the key snorkeling spots. We got to test our new snorkeling gear that Tania convinced us to buy yesterday. Thank God she did because having good gear makes the whole experience so much better. Breathing is easy, even when water gets in the tube. Seeing is clearer because the mask fits your face and doesn’t leak water. Spending 30 minutes face down without coming up for a breathe is the right way to view shallow waters, without going all out and take courses to go scuba diving.

(Parents, time for eye muffs. Cover ‘em up for the next paragraph)

The first stop during the tour was at Sharks Bay. Yes, you can guess why it’s named that. As we jumped out of the boat and paddled a few feet away, we saw two sharks swim 4-5 feet directly below us. They skimmed the floor of the ocean, while we skirted the surface. After picking our jaws up off the ocean floor and changing our shorts, we both looked at each other the way two people face down in the water do and pointed at the sharks in the same direction in pure astonishment. We were actually swimming with sharks!!!! Bucket list, check!

Two more stops of some more amazing snorkeling led our tour boat up to Mango Bay, where our hotel is located. After some shifty maneuvering to get our gear from the boat across the bay and up to our hotel, we left the group at this stop so we didn’t have to find our way from the docks to our hotel, which is a 40 minute, $23 long boat ride.

We relaxed on the deck and read our books to finish the day. Time to rest up tonight before tomorrow, new year’s eve. Our plan is to meet Jackie (from Tucson) and Leon (Aussie) for a quiet dinner on Sairee Beach before the festivities begin.

Fast forward to January 1, 2010. We had a great time with Jackie and Leon on Sairee Beach last night. We partied on the beach amongst the fire dancers and floating torches until we caught a long boat back to Mango Bay at 2am underneath the full moon. Somewhere on a nearby island (Koh Pha Ngan), there were 50,000 party animals adding to the legend known as the Full Moon party. We were not part of that crowd, and we were instead happy to have had a fun island night capped off with a good night’s rest. All we can say for our last day on Koh Tao is that it wasn’t too active. We’re sure it had nothing to do with the night before or anything.

We’re taking off for the western Thai coast tomorrow. Catching an overnight boat to Surat Thani, then a bus to Krabi. Then we’ll be on Koh Lanta to meet up with a friend of mine from traveling through Europe 9 years ago, Emma Jones. Should be fun to see an old friend, and the difference between the western and eastern islands.

Half way there...

2010-01-14T07:44:00.000-08:00

As crazy as it is to believe, today is the halfway point of our trip. Tomorrow we leave Thailand and head to Laos. That means in the first half of our trip, we've spent 2 weeks in Japan, 4 weeks in China, and 4 weeks in Thailand.

We're not sure what's crazier, though.

Is it crazier that we've done and seen so much and we're still only half done with our trip? Or is it crazier that we still have the same amount of time ahead of us, in completely new countries for us? Either way, this whole thing is crazy, and we're loving it.

We still have to visit Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. All places that we're completely clueless about right now, and will hopefully have a much better understanding of in the next 2.5 months. Crazy.

We still get to spend time Ho Chi Minh City with Lisa, Steve, and Luke. We still get to tour Vietnam and Cambodia with my (now our) parents. We still get to meet the child that Carmen sponsors in the Philippines and volunteer with his community. Crazy.

Any way, hopefully you've enjoyed reading about our adventure so far, and we hope we have just as much to report on during the 2nd half of our trip. And we hope you all are having a great 2010 so far.

And in case you missed them, click the following for the videos we've created so far...

Click for the Japan video.

Click for the China video.

All our love!
The Palumbos

Days 45-49 Wednesday – Sunday December 23-27, 2009 Koh Pha Ngan

2010-01-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

Highlights

- - When on vacation, remember that it’s not all site seeing, and remember to unwind.

- - If you’re going to partake in a fast, you need to follow a strict diet before starting the fast. Therefore, don’t do a fast.

- - There’s nothing wrong with getting a Thai massage every day when they’re that cheap.

The "Nothing good on late night Thai TV" version

It’s easy to know you’ve let go of all previous obligations when your primary objective to achieve before sun down is to truly understand the difference in color between the deep blue ocean water beyond the break and the light aqua-blue water closer to the subtly absorbing sand. It’s not until these moments that you realize that months and months of stressful preparation have come to fruition not only for your cultural growth, but for your physical and spiritual health. No longer do we ignore the beauty in front of us instead of losing our minds to what might be away from where we are. No longer do our chests tighten uncontrollably simply because a miniscule worry passes across the back of our brains. This is why we came to this land; to enjoy the stunning world around us, and to absorb the relaxed state of our new husband/wife.

That last paragraph might be overly abstract and/or nonsensical, but I can’t ignore the fact that that’s where my (Craig’s) head was at during one lazy afternoon on Malibu Beach. That’s on Koh Pah Ngan in southern Thailand islands, not in Los Angeles.

After going so hard through Japan and China, we had no idea how incredibly tired we were from so much traveling and sight seeing, and how in need we were for downtime, that when we got to the first truly lazy beach destination, we sank into that sand and had little interest in doing anything else.

Christmas eve and Christmas day were full of the following…wake up, Skype with our family during their Christmas festivities, eat our inclusive breakfast at the beach restaurant, stay at said beach restaurant through dinner, taking a quick swim and drink a banana shake while at said restaurant, learning first-hand that crabs dart both vertically and laterally (whatever this link means), then heading back to our bungalow to watch a (very legal) DVD and passing out before the evening news starts; assuming there is an evening news, and that it starts around 10pm, which we can not confirm either way since there's no TV in our bamboo bungalow.

We did walk around Choloklum, ride a scooter (extremely carefully) to Koh Ma (an island that you can walk to because a connective sandbar is walkable during low tide), and visit friends at Haad Rin and Haad Yao for dinner and drinks, but mainly, we completely decompressed around Malibu Beach.

There’s something to be said about hurriedly site seeing when you’ve got a short amount of time to take-in a country/region, but when you’ve got 5 months, and you’ve just gotten done quitting your jobs, selling everything you own, moving out of a city, throwing a week-long wedding, and venturing off on a 5 month honeymoon through a completely unknown land, you also need to enjoy a considerable amount of down-time to enjoy your surroundings, enjoy the culture, and to enjoy the person you’ve just committed yourself to for the rest of your life. Which we did, and did it well.

If you can’t tell, we slightly liked Koh Pha Ngan.

The perfect song to wake up from a nap to...

2010-01-09T04:06:00.000-08:00

Sigur Ros
"Svefn-g-englar"

Days 44-45 Saturday – Wednesday December 19-23, 2009 Koh Samui, Thailand

2010-01-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Exit busy city life...

…Enter island living.

Even though we had arrived into Thailand a few days earlier, we didn’t really enter the Thailand we had been waiting for until we got off the mainland, and headed down to the islands. Bangkok was busy and crowded and, well, big cityish. We came to this country looking for much more of a retreat so we can recover from the past 6 weeks on the road through China and Japan, and we didn’t get that reprieve until we headed to Koh Samui.

While planning Thailand, Tania broke out the islands into three sectors:

1. Koh Samui – for cleansing and body pampering after pushing ourselves so much through Japan and China

2. Koh Pha Ngan, for relaxing on the beach and socializing amongst the Full Moon Party crowd

3. Koh Tao – for complete seclusion and a quiet new years celebration

Knowing how the next few weeks would unfold, we made the most of our time on Koh Samui at Spa Samui, the original healthy island retreat. We had planned on partaking in a 3 day fast (yes, that means no eating or drinking alcohol) and getting massages all over our bodies until there wasn’t a drop of tension left in our muscles.

We succeeded in doing half of that.

Apparently, the fast required the participants to ingest a specific diet of foods during the week leading up to arrival at the spa. Well, we didn’t find that our until the day before arriving, so the fast was off the table. I was really bummed about that. Instead, we enjoyed fruit shakes and longevity drinks for breakfast, yoga, meditation, 2-hour long Thai massages and 1 hour oil massages, naps at the beach and pool, and quiet meals at the spa’s restaurant. I was afraid that a restaurant at such a healthy resort would consist of vegan and vegetarian dishes, which it did, but it also had a healthy selection of options for carnivores like me. So in addition to healing our bodies and minds, we catered to our stomachs in an equal capacity.

We also enjoyed the island by scootering around to neighboring towns. We exchanged books at a cute little book shop (traded Dan Brown and Lonely Planet for some David Sedaris and HG Wells), bought some matching tee shirts (now we have two matching sets to show off to the vomiting world) and warm weather shorts/skirts), and passed through Cha Weng, the extremely touristy area of Koh Samui, which we quickly exited so we could return to our peaceful haven at Spa Samui.

Our few days on Koh Samui were a perfect outro to city hopping and an even more perfect intro to Thai island hopping, even though we didn’t get to treat ourselves to a good ol’ fashion fast. (insert sarcastic crying sound)

Days 42-43 Thursday – Friday December 17-18, 2009 Bangkok

2010-01-06T09:41:00.000-08:00

Goodbye China! Hello Thailand!!!!!!!

Highlights

- Taxis from the airport into town should never be over 400 baht. Even if you're in one of the supposedly trustworthy metered taxis. Especially the one we were in. Jerk.
- For the guys, forget about what you think about capri-looking pants, buy a pair of Diesel rip-offs for $2 and put them on before temple hunting in Bangkok. You have to cover your knees and elbows, and it's waaaay too hot to wear pants/jeans in that heat.
- Khao San may be a popular backpacker area, but it's a little too backpackery for our tastes. We'll leave the Chang shirt and fake ID buying up to the shadows of who we were 12 years ago that fill the area.
- Mexican restaurants in Thailand can be just as fun as those in Mexico, live band and tequila permitting.

The "Norah Jones Long Day Is Over and time to relax" version

Bangkok was more of a pit stop for us. Other than needing to see the requisite temples and palaces, and to experience backpacker life to the Nth degree, we were more or less spending time there after China so we could catch an easy flight to the southern Thai islands.

Our stay at Villa Chi Chi was nice because it had a pool and decent accommodations, that is once the air conditioner kicked in after 90 minutes and you didn’t feel like you’d pass out of heat exhaustion in the room.

The food was amazing (definitely visit Hemlock - an incredible restaurant near Khao San) and it was nice to spend a little time amongst the globe trekking crowd, yet we were ready to get out of the big city after 2 quick days in the city.

Highlights of what we saw were the Grand Palace and a Mexican food joint that Tania found downtown.

The Grand Palace is as immaculate and approachable as any monument that we've come across. The gold exterior shimmers off of the beating sun (it was winter yet still hotter than a Miami summer day) and the outlining buildings (the Bureau of the Royal Household, the Royal Institute of Thailand, and the Office of the Private Secretary to the King) are a blanket of impeccably designed pieces of art that beg for a whole memory stick (or roll of film for those that are still into that - Dad) of pictures to be taken of them. And inside the Wat Phra Kaew sits the Emerald Buddha, which is exactly as the name implies, and may be unassuming upon first glimpse, but after hearing its story and sitting on the stone floor gazing up at it for a few minutes, you'll understand why Buddhists travel across the globe to sit at its altar.

Every season, this Buddha is dressed in a wardrobe to match that season, and placed back up on its altar, which sits about 20 feet above ground. No photos are allowed while inside the Wat, and an insistent little Thai dude walks around making sure this rule isn't broken. (I found out firsthand) The statue is so little sitting way up there, but little glimmers off of it so perfectly that its green skin reflects through the seasonal garb making it seem so unassuming, yet so powerful. Even though we aren't followers of Buddhism, we were still captivated sitting on the stone floor below the statue. Pretty cool.

That night, Tania found a Mexican restaurant downtown that sounded like it would quench our taste for food that resembled what we love from home (LA) and from where we had our wedding (Puerto Vallarta). After a cab ride through rush hour traffic that would make LA bow, we made it to the hotel in which the hotel resided and took a seat at a booth next to the stage. A stage for what we didn't know, but we started munching on chips and salsa like it was no one's business as soon as it was placed on our table.

Then followed the margaritas.

We were SHOCKED by the image on our margarita mug (after a few giggles)

Then the fajitas and enchiladas.

Then the clapping to the live band on stage.

Then the long cab ride home. It was a successful harking back to our favorite week, and to some of the best food on the planet.

And then it was off to Koh Samui to start our Thai island adventure. Bye bye mainland city living!

Days 40-41 Tuesday - Wednesday December 15-16, 2009 Macau

2010-01-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

We ate amazing meals.

We experienced the beautiful Portuguese influence all over the city’s cobble stoned streets.

She spa’d at the Wynn.

He bungy jumped off the world’s highest commercial bungy jump (Macau Tower – 233 meters).

He lost some money gambling (not too much, definitely within his allotted daily budget).

She won more gambling than he lost.

It was a fun few days in Macau.

Days 36-40 December 11-15, 2009 Hong Kong

2010-01-03T20:06:00.000-08:00

Highlights

- - Hong Kong is expensive, so if you have to choose between shopping for Xmas gifts in main land China or in HK, choose the mainland, no matter how much negotiating you need to do.

- - HK is also a gorgeous city with modern luxuries and traditional life, so if you must choose one city to visit in China (if you consider HK to be part of China), choose this place. It has it all.

- - 30-something professionals shouldn’t feel bad about reaping the benefits of their hard work and enjoying the finer things in life during a 5 month holiday. We deserve it (even though it may mean the vacation needs to be cut short by a week or two).

The “I need something to do while Tania disappears into Twilight land” version

Wow! What a city this is! Even though it’s some sort of relative to China (answer depends on who you ask), and even though it has many of the same traits as larger Chinese cities (crowded, plethora of temples, crazy drivers, a outwardly public communal people), it feels like a complete detachment as soon as you’re walking the streets. This is primarily due to the European influence that drove the city for many years, but it also has to do, HAS to, with this region of people realizing they need to evolve a bit if they’re going to live harmoniously with the outside world.

We spent the first night in the city, and the last night with our tour group, on the mainland area of town called Kowloon. Tania and I walked from our hotel all the way down Nelson Ave. to the pier so we could catch the stunning sunset concluding across the water and over the shoulder of Hong Kong proper. As we made our way through town, we passed through the park where several Far East Asia Games (local Olympics if you may) events had just taken place. There was also an aviary and plenty of people doing exercises and chatting. Even though it’s in the center of a bustling city, the park made for a quiet refuge and stroll.

That night the boys and girls split up for a last hurrah. For some reason, all of the girls wanted a night away from Michael, Tim, Frank, and me. I have no idea why they’d ever want that. Unfortunately for them, the selection of bars in Kowloon is small and we all ended up at the same crappy watering hole. Knowing none of us were going to find much better, we smiled and had a drink together before the women headed out the door, leaving us guys to play trivia (even Australians know a lot about Saved By The Bell, but not as much as this American!) for another round of drinks. Then it was back to the hotel for a bit so the guys could teach Frank about modern music beyond anything Eric Clapton has been a part of in the last 30 years. Tania and the girls went out for a little dancing before heading back to the hotel. We all knew Hong Kong proper had much more to offer, so none of us were too driven to push it in Kowloon.

Click for a street level view of Kowloon

The next morning Tania and I packed our stuff and rode the subway over to Hong Kong. To say that Tania was ecstatic with our hotel in HK would be doing it no justice. Our hotel was modern, in the heart of the city, was spacious, and had the vibe like we hadn’t seen in months. She was in heaven, and I too was loving the fact that our budget tour was over and we could finally enjoy housing that matched the lifestyle we’d become used to, which is light years away from the hostel bouncing we loved 10 years earlier.

After a quick bite of Thai food for dinner in order to prepare ourselves for the next phase of our journey, we met up with Michael, Tim, and Linda at Joe Bananas, a famous theme bar next to our hotel. Apparently, the sisters Susie and Ali wanted to meet their trip’s primary objective (they had only planned on going to HK to shop for a few days, then decided to go all out with the 3 week tour) alone, and Indra was off doing whatever Indra does. After a few drinks and gabbing with other Ausies, the group caught a cab and headed over to Lan Kwai Fong, a raucously slanted area of town full of street bars and drunk ex pats. Think Bourbon St. meets Oktoberfest. We did our best to enjoy the setting and partake in the fun, but we were so exhausted from the previous 3 weeks and couldn’t give it the due energy, we only had a drink and a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cone, then headed back to our luxurious hotel for a good night sleep.

It was the last time we’d see Michael, Tim, and Linda, which was very sad for us. The two guys, although from a completely different generation and with a totally different view of the world, we loved spending our time in China with them because of their passion for politics, their endless stock of energy, and the fact that they were two good people that had shared an important part of this trip with us. We were just as sad to see Linda go for many of the same reasons, but also because she’s our same age, and she makes our travel itinerary look like a long weekend instead of a very extended honeymoon. She’s seen so much of the world and looks at those adventures with such zeal and insight that we loved sharing our time in China with such a curious soul. Tania really connected with her, and I’m sure we’ll stay in touch with her, the guys, and the sisters for a time to come. They all were definitely a highlight of our Chinese journey.

Back to Hong Kong…

The city is dissected by a double-decker trolley that runs from one end to the next. Our hotel lay dead in the middle of the route, so on Sunday we rode jumped on the trolley, climbed up to the front of the upper deck, and rode west until the car was empty and the conductor kicked us off. From there we pleasantly got lost on the docks and wandered around watching people fish from the pier and others stroll around this barren corner of town. It made for beautifully candid shots and a chance to see the city from a different vantage point not described in Lonely Planet.

Making our way back into the metropolitan area of HK, we passed through the local SoHo and its adorrrrrable (can you hear Tania say it?) boutique shops, through the crowd of women (I mean at least 2000 women) picnicking in the middle of the streets and park (did the husbands just get off of work and they all congregate here to wind down?), and past the inevitable selection of luxury brand stores. We then headed over to HK’s time square for dinner.

HK is a vertical city, meaning that shops and restaurants are just as likely to be on the 13^th floor of a building then they are to be on street level. Luckily we knew this and were able to find our dinner spot on the 13^th floor of the department store in times square. The selection was infinite and we were able to quench all of our tastes. I had okonomiyake (which I fell in love with in Japan), she had Korean BBQ type beef on a personal grill, I had sushi, and overall we had one of the best meals of the trip so far. Incredible!

The next day we explored the central and upper part of town. HK houses the world’s longest stretch of escalators that climb from sea level up to the highest cusp of the commercial district. It doesn’t reach the top of the mountain, though, because that duty is left up to the famous peak tram. One can also hike up to the top of the mountain from the top of the escalators (app. 1-2 hour walk up – vertically – to the peak), but since we wanted to experience the tram (ahem), we opted to not hike to the top.

The view from up there was spectacular even though it was obstructed by the cloud cover. It’s very much a site to be seen due to the magnificent array of high rises and architecture lining the edge of this island, but it would have been nice to have a clear day so we could see off into the distance. Not to complain, though, since we knew what we’d be getting weather-wise by coming on this trip during winter.

We had an incredible late lunch up on the peak, not only incredible due to the gorgeous views and setting, but also because I got to have buffalo wings for the first time in ages. Just because the sauce was more of a marinara and they weren’t fried enough doesn’t mean I didn’t appreciate the effort, but there’s something about buffalo wings in the good ol’ US of A that will never be matched in this corner of the world. Even though I’d love to prove myself wrong some time, or many times, on this trip.

Instead of pushing it that night, we instead stayed in, ordered room service, and watched one of the very legal DVD’s that Tania purchased in Yangshuo. Angels and Demons is out on DVD already, right? It was a good night to relax and get ready for the Vegas of Asia, Macau.

Days 33-35 Tuesday – Thursday December 8-10, 2009 Yangshuo, China

2010-01-02T01:59:00.000-08:00

Okay, resuming the back-dated entries...

Highlights

- Yangshuo is a backpacker paradise that caters to westerners, all amongst the exotic backdrop of limestone mountains. An amazing respite from China city life.
- Don't ever tell a little old Chinese lady to "Go Away!" unless you want her to do the opposite and hiss at you for the next few hours.
- You may now call Tania "Tai Chi Tania". After a class with the master, she is now a master of the meditation martial art.

The "should I go snorkeling again or catch up on blogging all day instead" version

Having just completed a 19 hour bus and train trip through southern China, and over two weeks roaming through deeply local terrain that only showed signs of western life in its plethora of western stores and fast food chains, we couldn’t have been happier to arrive in one of those backpacker-friendly towns easily found all throughout the world. This time, it was Yangshuo, just outside of the more famous Guilin.

We got into town at night when the sun had already gone to bed, so we couldn’t really grasp what this tiny city’s surroundings had to offer, but we did take in what the inner city was giving. And mostly that’s restaurants and bars tailored to us white folk. We had burritos, pizzas, and lasagna, or what the locals considered to be those dishes, and we played pool while listening to an odd array of musical hits from throughout the last 30 or so years. This night had nothing to do with China, and we loved it.

Wanting to take-in and absorb as much of a culture within a limited amount of time is one thing, but jumping from 100% your culture to 100% another culture for 3 straight weeks creates too much of a detachment for folks who are on (a very extended) honeymoon. Although we want to see and understand everything about China, we also need to take time, relax, and enjoy the other element of what we’re doing here…vacationing. And even though Clark Griswold will disagree, vacationing needs to include down time, comfort time, and R&R time. And very necessarily, that comfort time needs to happen in the context of what you’re used to back home. That’s what Yangshuo gave to us.

Click for a sneak peak at Yangshuo

Yet we did absorb the unique setting in Yangshuo, though. On Wednesday, Tania, Susie, Michael and I jumped on some mountain bikes and took a tour of the surrounding limestone mountain areas. When I say this corner of the world looks like nothing else on this planet, I’m pretty sure that’s accurate, mostly because we’ve watched all of the Planet Earth episodes (the best reason to own Blu-ray), and there was nothing like this in any episodes other than southern China.

These aren’t even mountains. And they’re not hills. They’re some strange combination of the two that jut quickly into the sky and dive back into the earth just as quickly, completely covered in the greenest moss this side of the local Chia Pet factory. From a scenic attraction standpoint, this was the highlight of China for me, and it didn’t disappoint, for it’s truly like nothing I’ve ever seen nor imagined.

We rode the bikes through tiny villages past chicken farms and men watching the world pass from their cement doorstep. The roads weren’t always smooth, meaning Tania had to put on her off-roading hat and rough it through uneven terrain, completely against her liking. She did great though, and we eventually made our way to the river, where we would gradually (aka slowwwwwwwwwly) make our way down the river via bamboo raft driven by a bamboo wielding pushman.

If you couldn’t tell, the bamboo raft ride was quite mild, but a great way for Tania and me in one boat, and Susie and Michael in the other, to rest from our bike ride and take in the scenery. We were occasionally interrupted by dams that we needed to ride over with our feet held high so they didn’t get completely drenched. All in all, the river ride was a nice respite in what would become an arduous trek.

The arduous part of the day came after another short bike ride, up to Half Moon Cliff. After parking our bikes at the local restaurant, we walked up a million or so steps to a stunning view of the valley below and the never ending site of limestone hills. If that was the whole story, we would look back on that hike quite longingly, but that’s not the whole story.

The missing piece of the story is the group of women who walked up the hill with us. Step for step. Every step of the way trying to sell us water or soda that was tucked away in their Styrofoam coolers wrapped in yellow tape draped over their shoulders. We guessed that normally these women made a killing from those out of shape laowais who didn’t know how high the hike went, but Frank warned us of these little ladies, so we were prepared to make the ascent sans their water, no matter how thirsty we may become. And we did get quite thirsty.

Luckily Susie bought a bottle at the top of the hill and shared it with us, but this made one particular little lady very upset because in her mind, it’s one bottle per person.

After Tania and I took in the site and snapped a few pictures, we headed down the hill ahead of Susie and Michael, who went the extra distance to see another corner of the peak.

The little old lady was the only of her group to follow us down the hill. Not wanting her to bother us all the way down, we stopped and asked her to keep walking ahead of us. When she insisted on staying by our side, Tania laid into her with what we’re assuming is not a local favorite phrase in Cantonese…”Go away.” Whether the locals like it or not, this lady was piiiiiiiiissed. She yelled and hissed and made sure we knew how rude she thought that was. She did eventually fade off into the distance, but as she did, she made a point to stop every 2-3 minutes to look back at us and scream “GO AWAY. WAWAWAWAWA. GO AWAY!!!” Even though we don’t want to offend the locals in any way on this trip, this little rag could have screamed all day and we wouldn’t have cared. She lost all her allotted points on the way up.

Another hiker, who we found out was from India and Canada, on his way up the hill stopped us to ask what the lady’s issue was. We told him and he had a good laugh about it.

That was the highlight of the hike. The lunch and ride back into town were uneventful except for the storm of cars we had to navigate through. We did a little shopping, meaning we summoned our newly refined negotiating skills, and then headed back for a nap before the group’s farewell dinner. Since the 2^nd to last night would be on a train and the last night was in expensive Hong Kong, Frank chose for us to feast in Yangshuo. We laughed, we cried, then we hit the hay to get a good night sleep before our last overnight train.

Before we left Yangshuo, though, Tania took a Tai Chi class and learned all of the 10 basic movements. I took a cooking class with Tim and Michael, where we learned to make beer fish (the local specialty) with catfish, tempura deep-fried stuffed eggplant, and pork dumplings. My dumplings tasted much better than they looked. It’s crazy how tough it is to properly wrap those little suckers when stuffed with so much filling (and when you have such stubby fingers like me).

All in all, Yanghsuo was a welcomed stop for the group where we didn’t feel like such outsiders for once. If you’re ever in China and are feeling too out of your element, take the train to Guilin and the bus to Yangshuo, and you’ll feel much more at home.

Day 32 Monday December 7, 2009 The entire day and night . A bus and train - Somewhere in China

2009-12-29T00:41:00.000-08:00

It was our last overnight train in China.

We will never take overnight trains in China again.

Click for a look at our last overnight train, in case you missed the link in a previous post.

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T08:04:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Koh Pha Ngan in Thailand!!!

We hope everybody had a happy and safe Christmas (and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa where applicable).

We love and miss you all!

Here are some pics of the secluded Malibu Beach, next to the bungalow where we're staying on Koh Pha Ngan

**As you can tell, the blog has been back logged due to our inability to update in China, but we'll be in Thailand through the middle of January, and should have the blog live by then so you can be reading up to date posts**

Day 31 Sunday, December 6, 2009 Yi Chang, China

2009-12-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

It’s a long way from Yi Chang, where we got off the Yangtze cruise, to Yangshuo, our next true destination, so we stayed the night in Yi Chang before taking a 5 hour bus tour and 15 hour over-night train to Yangshuo.

After wandering the streets of Yi Chang, we learned that there’s not much to do in Yi Chang except eat and get massages, so that’s exactly what we did. The group grabbed a bite to eat at a pizza place that Frank had been promoting since the beginning of our tour, and let’s just say Frank has never been out of China, therefore he’s not the best source for pizza joint recommendations. It was good enough to eat, though, since the group was tired of the same bland Chinese food that had been served during our 3 day river tour. Some people in the group said the river food was good, but I think they all must have taken one too many Dramamines while forming that opinion. It was nothing like the memorable meals we had in Xi’an and Chengdu.

Any way, after the pizza fiasco, Tania and I decided to get massages since we had seen so many signs for cheap massage parlors in previous cities, and the idea to do so had been brewing in our heads ever since. It wasn’t so simple to find a parlor in this city, though. The girl at our hotel’s front desk looked at me with an astonishing fear when I asked where to get a massage, like I was asking her to give me a shoulder rub. It took us walking into a random hotel and waiting for 30 minutes while the concierge called his buddy to see where one existed. After confirming the location, this concierge whistled over the bell boy to walk us to the parlor. Already amazed that the staff at this hotel, where we were not paying to stay, was providing so much help, we were astonished when the bell boy had to walk us 30 minutes from the hotel to reach the parlor. We felt so bad for the kid that we threw him a 10 yuan tip.

Once in our private room, our feet were placed in bamboo steaming barrels while the masseuse ladies proceeded to beat the crap out of our limbs. Tania didn’t find the abuse to be so brutal, but I’m thinking my girl had just gotten dumped a few minutes before she entered the room, and had a volcano of primal rage exploding through her fists and knuckles. Normally I tell my masseuse to give it everything they’ve got and it’s still not enough, but this chick was inflicting pain worse than I’d ever experienced. I’m still finding bruises on odd parts of my body.

Yet it was still nice to enjoy a relaxing (tortured) afternoon with my wife, and we got a good night’s rest before an entire day of traveling across the southern part of China.

Click for a video glimpse of our overnight train ride from Yi Chang to Guilin!

Days 28-30 Friday – Saturday December 4-5 Yangtze River, China

2009-12-23T20:07:00.000-08:00

On Thursday night, we arrived into Chongqing and boarded the Victoria 1, a 5 star boat (according to Chinese standards, which is approximately 3 stars on American standards, so maybe the Chinese are on an 8 star scale). Our room is cute enough with plenty of space, especially compared to our rooms in Japan. The only knock on the room is the shower, which is actually standing next to the toilet, yet with no divider between the two areas. If done well, this set up would be no issue since the water would immediately drain and the floor and the bathroom would be dry, but in this case, the water didn’t quickly drain, and the bathroom floor’s dryness varied based on which way the boat was tilting. If you got lucky, your bathroom wouldn't be flooded within about 30 minutes after you showered.

The Yangtze is filled with a long string of beautiful cliffs and gorges. We got plenty of pictures of those sites. That’s all we can say positively about this river ride. The rest of the time, our realities were shattered by the amplified voice of Leo, the English speaking boat leader who announced breakfast being ready (3x between 7:30am and 8am), every up-coming site (2x prior to arrival, saying the same thing 3 times during each announcement), and all with the most grating accent one can imagine. As you can tell, Leo is the lone splot on this river journey.

View from the Victoria 1

Who's the stupid American who wore his beach gear up on the freezing boat deck???

The Ghost Village, Goddess Peak, and Three Gorges dam broke up the monotonous nautical activities, but it was the meals and late night card games that got the group through with their sanity. Half of the group is still sick and the China tour is starting to wear on people due to so much continuous traveling, but we’re all excited for Yi Chang, Yangshuo, and Hong Kong, which will be a great way to round out our three week journey through this completely otherworldly country.

Three Gorges Dam, or what you can see of it through the mist.

Tania having fun with the (lack of a) view of the dam

Tania enjoying the sunset atop the Ghost Village

Nine steps across the bridge together means a long, happy life together. And we nailed it!

Days 25-27 Tuesday – Thursday December 1-3, 2009 Chengdu, China

2009-12-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

Highlights

- Chengdu is a mellow big city, full of mah jong players, badminton birdie swatters, and a community of people who love to dance in large groups together in public parks. China's non-beach version of Venice, CA, if you may.
- Sichuan peppercorns will burn the hell out of your mouth, but will become an addictive part of your meals before you can ask for another glass of water.
- Yes, pandas are fat and lazy, but they are the damn cutest and most entrancing animals on the planet.

The "Looong December, When It's Easy to Believe" Version

Chengdu is the anti-Shanghai. Even though it’s a large metropolitan city (app. 7 million people), it hasn’t been as influenced by the west as Shanghai. The streets are bustling, high rises stand for as far as the eye can see, and one can shop ‘till they drop all day long (if that’s your kind of thing). The big differences between the two cities is that the people on the bustling streets aren’t sharply dressed like models in Cosmo and GQ, high rises aren’t attempting to define what the future of architecture is, and shopping is done at Chinese brand stores, not the same Burberry, Gucci, and Prada stores that engulf Shanghai. Therefore, it more obviously felt like a Chinese city, which we were waiting to feel.

The primary reason people come to Chengdu is to see the pandas, which we did, but we found other aspects of the city to be just as enthralling.

Our first meal introduced us to the city’s famous food. Spicy is the name of the game here, which is a game we’re happy to play any time. Pork, beef, rabbit, chicken, veggies…all of it with a special Sichuan pepper that explodes with tremendous flavor, and sometimes a mouth numbing tang that takes a while to start enjoying.

Another enjoyable aspect of the city is its mellow vibe and attitude. Horns are honked less. People walk with a little less desperation in each step. We enjoyed this relaxed atmosphere as we walked through quaint streets, stopping to peek into houses and shops, only to see the same thing inside every door…mah jong. People playing lots and lots and lots of mah jong. This wasn’t a surprise since what better way for such a stoner-like group of people living in a country that thrives on being a community to enjoy their time together by playing none other than the country’s most famous game? Yes, some folks were playing cards, but the majority of these doorways revealed little old ladies and smoking old men shoving domino-like pieces around green felt laden fold-up tables. This may not seem like a big deal, which it really isn’t, but we want to emphasize just how much of the population we saw were doing the same thing. Even when we went into the city park, anyone who wasn’t dancing to a live band or smacking a badminton birdie around was sitting around playing mah jong. So cool to see firsthand.

Any way, we did indeed spend an afternoon in the park watching huge groups of people playing badminton, singing karaoke, and dancing in synchrony to all types of music, ranging from electronic music blaring out of speakers to a five piece jazz band playing ragtown oldies that would make my great grandparents proud. We sat along the lake and drank tea while Tania taught me how to play Frank’s card game called Dig the Hole. We were really starting to get onto the same wavelength as the city. After a nice dinner with Frank and Tim, we headed back to the hotel to crash, but only after Tania watched Brother Bear 2 for the second time that day. In her defense, she was pretty sick and needed to get some R&R, so since that was the only English speaking program on TV, she had no other option, even though I don’t think she would have watched anything else had there been the normal 200 DirecTV (only spelled the way DirecTV wants it spelled because it’s still engrained in my head after 4 years at Deutsch. Why can’t I spell it like a normal person?) channels to browse.

Now onto the primary activity to partake in in Chengdu…the pandas. After spending a few hours watching them eating bamboo and, well, eat more bamboo, we can happily confirm that they are just as adorable in person as they are on video and in pictures. Their fur coats look impossibly soft and their mannerisms scream of 1000 babies and bunnies. Yes, they’re lazy as can be and don’t really do much, but they’re captivating to watch, especially considering that there are only 5000 left on the planet. Because they used to be carnivores and still have the digestive tract of one, they pass the bamboo quickly after eating. Therefore, they need to ingest a massive amount of bamboo just to give themselves enough energy to eat more bamboo, and so on and so forth. No matter, it’s so interesting to watch them take their menial tasks at such minimal speeds. After watching a video about their mating habits and birthing rituals (we could have done without the graphic birthing scenes in which the tiny rat, I mean panda is shot out and flops around the cold, gray cement Chinese lab floor as the first-time panda mother swats at the newborn because she has no idea what the hell just popped out of her), and after browsing yet another heap of every type of panda souvenir one could fathom, we headed for yet another train station, luckily for a day trip, not another over-nighter.

When we got to the train station on Thursday afternoon, Frank recommended that we spend 10 yuan (app. $1.50) to sit in the VIP area of the station so that we could actually have seats to wait on, and so we could get on the train first and get our bags situated before the masses stormed into the car, which we luckily did. If you’re ever traveling by train in this country, we recommend you do the same.

We snacked on ramen and played Dig the Hole during the 5.5 hour ride to Chongqing (pronounced Chong Ching). The only exposure we got of Chongqing was the view from during kamikaze cab ride, but that’s all we needed to know that this megatropolis is filled with more high rises than we can describe. For miles and miles in both directions, the skyline resembled a mountainous range, even though there are no mountains in the area. It makes NYC look like Topeka. Crazy.

We then boarded the Victoria 1 boat and got situated for our three day cruise through the Yangtze River and to get a first hand view of how the Three Gorges Dam has dramatically altered life along the shorelines.

Days 23-24 Sunday – Monday November 29-30, 2009 Xi’an, China

2009-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Highlights

- Secrets hide within the Muslim quarter. When in Xi'an, make sure to spend the time to get all Indiana Jones and find those treasures. And FYI, a Mandarin translator will help.

- If you ride a rented bike around the city's wall, make sure you have the world's strongest quads and are as in-shape as an Olympic athlete.

- The Terracota Warriors tell a mystical story of Chinese history, but visiting them feels more like a field trip to the local museum than it does a trip to a mystical land. Souvenirs anyone?

The long way home version

Xi’an was more of a pit stop along our Chinese journey than anything. Mostly, people come here to see the Terracotta warriors and then move on. Yet, since our tour guide Frank is from and lives here, we got to know it a little more intimately than most.

After a lunch in the Muslim quarter, which by the way was so damn good we want to go back just for the meal, we walked over to the main entrance of the city wall. In the olden days, the Xi’an residents occupied the land within these walls, and not outside of the wall and moat. Nowadays, the city has expanded far beyond the water perimeter.

Frank dropped us off at the wall on the way to see his son Eric, aptly named after his favorite musician Eric Clapton, and his wife. The 8 of us rented bikes and rode around the top of the 13.7km/6 mile square shaped wall. Let’s just say that even though my beach cruiser in Venice was a one-speed and got tough to ride around mile 2 due to it’s less than optimal engineering, my beach cruiser made this bike seem like the smoothest ride in the world. So combining the world’s toughest bike to ride with the world’s stoniest and roughest road to ride on, you had the world’s hardest 6 mile bike ride. Yet, like most inconviences we’ve encountered on this trip, we fought through it and enjoyed the funny times with the group and the fine views of the city provided from this higher vantage point.

What better to do after such a grueling bike ride than to get a foot massage? As the group dispersed to different shopping and eating directions, Tania and I headed straight for a foot massage place that we noticed on the way to the wall. It was only $10 for a 88 minute massage, and dear Lordy, it was worth it. Not only did they rub out all tensions in our feet, they also spent some quality time on our arms and back. And all in a private room with lounge chairs that would make Mr. Lazy Boy realize his chairs were rubbish (a new favorite word of ours after traveling with Linda, an Ausie who’s lived in London for a few years). Such a great cure for the sore lower limbs.

We went back to the Muslim Quarter and grabbed some delicious street food (pancakes, hamburgers, and bao, all extremely different than the American versions you’re picturing now) before meeting the group for another round of karaoke. This time, everyone joined in the fun and we belted out tunes until our throats could no longer last, especially since half our group was quite sick by this point in the trip, led by the ill efforts of Ali, Susie’s older sister.

The next morning, we hopped into our private bus and made the hour drive over to the Terracotta Warriors. We had already been exposed to them last year in Atlanta where we visited the traveling exhibit with Roxy, Patrick, and the kids. Even with that knowledge, it was still a site to be seen. Broken into three different buildings, the first is the primary digging site. Most of the pictures you’ve seen of the warriors were taken in this building, which is primarily filled with infantrymen and horses. It was filled with natural light, a mistake by the government because they started to dig before building the structure, meaning the statues were exposed to enough sunlight to deteriorate the original vibrant colors. Therefore, the two subsequent buildings were build next door prior to digging, with the necessary sun-blocking exterior. It felt much more like a museum in the latter two, which delved into the cavalry aspect of the army.

Overall, visiting the warriors is a must for visitors of China. I will say though, that I’m a tad skeptical of the authenticity of the whole thing. Considering that this is the country infamous for creating dead-on knock offs, which will tell any story necessary to sell a piece of memorabilia, I can’t quite grasp the romantic history of this attraction to the extent that they’re selling it. Call me a skeptic, but the whole site felt overly formulated to truly feel historic. Maybe since I was expecting a work-in-progress plot of land filled with desperately excavating archeologists, but instead visited a comfortable set of museums predictably organized with the most well preserved statues right up front for the herd to photograph, and with most of the construction being done on the visitor’s exit area so that more stores filled with the same souvenirs one can find under any street underpass or market can try to cipher as much money as possible from said tourists, it just didn’t click for me as much as I had hoped. But like I said, it was a must to do, so I’m glad I have the obligatory pictures of Tania and me and the warriors so we can say we had been there.

We then jumped back on the bus and headed over to the airport to catch a flight to Chengdu. After a 5 hour delay, we boarded the plane for a quick flight and a quicker bite provided by the airline, a hot dog wrapped in tin foil like a backyard BBQ, topped not with relish or ketchup, but instead with a pickle and mayo. Let’s just say it wasn’t horrible.

Craig Finished Book #3: Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

2009-12-20T01:17:00.000-08:00

Favorite Quote:

"The rough fingers of violent experience had harped upon his soul." Steinbeck observes about the book's hero Danny.

Not sure whether Tortilla Flat is a happy or sad story, but I was moved by the intense loyalty, although occasionally very immoral loyalty, of the paisanos and the community around them.

Steinbeck writes so beautifully as if the stories roll out of his mind in one long poem. I still need to finish East of Eden, which is my father's favorite book, and which I read half of a long time ago, and never got around to finishing. That'll be on my shortlist of things to do when we get back to the states and have our storage items accessible.