Wow – Back Home – Already?

Carol April 13th, 2017

I am not ready to write this last blog post.  The thing about spontaneity is that I didn’t have a goal when I left, except to take advantage of a once in a life time opportunity. Sure there is the reflection on career and life, but if I am honest with myself, it is because several people I know have passed away unexpectedly.  My cousin had a heart attack and died in a couple of months before I decided to go on the trip, Lee passed away a week after I visited her at home, Michele died while I was on my trip, and Willie died at the beginning of the year. Everybody seemed to have died unexpectedly, not that we have external clocks warning us of our pending deaths.  My father died several years ago while we were planning a house boat trip with my extended family and he died several months before we left.  I guess the point is that some times if you put off things to long, you may not ever get to them.  So this maybe my only chance to leave most of my responsibilities with reckless abandonment and travel. Ok maybe not exactly reckless, I had to do a lot of delegation.

Coming back home is not difficult, everything pretty much seems the same, same house, same neighbors, same family, same taxes, etc.. Too bad I didn’t forget how to drive.  My internal clock seems to be in another time zone.  I am normally a morning person, but I am wide awake in the middle of the night and fall asleep at 6am. I am not ready to face my responsibilities, although all of my Dr., dentist, and hair appointments have been schedule.  I am trying to finish taxes before getting in touch with my friends.  I have to touch base with my family so I can do my Mom’s taxes, not that I don’t miss my family.  I do, but it is nice not to have any familial responsibilities, yet. It is funny how it is easy to jump back into your previous life. It is also interesting how it is easy to jump into a different life.

I don’t know if I have gain any wisdom but I have gained a large appreciation for what I have and where I live. My friend Meg asked me what I was going to do when I am able to drink out of the tap again, well the obvious answer is to drink out of the tap, but the reality is that I have clean water, clean air, and I don’t live in a place that has mosquitoes that carry every known disease. I have to detox from deet, a type of mosquito repellent, and air pollution. I have freedom of speech and separation of church and state and those are interesting to see and feel when you leave countries that do not have these freedoms. The extent of the British, Spanish, and French empires are more real when I travel, the Queen is on the money, people eat fish and chips, drink high tea, people speak French, or every street and town has a Spanish name.  I forget that America was a British, French and Spanish colony at one point in time. The influence of the Americans and the Japanese is real and probable not great to be either or both when it comes to the history of WWII in Asia. I guess that seems to be the common theme of human history, war. Every country has their version of it and the impact it had on that country and society. It is still going on today.

I do have to get back to my reality, finish taxes and meet my financial obligations by finding a job. In the meantime, I am going to savor the time off, vow to travel more in the United States, and enjoy and appreciate what I have. I will miss all the interesting people that I have met and countries that I have visited. A lot of people have been so generous and kind. I also appreciate all of my friends that traveled across the world to met me and the friends that live on the other side of the world. I will really miss Meg, it is funny how it is easy to pick up the friendship where you left off, even if it has been a couple of decades.  At some point I will put up a reference page of books read and travel companies used. I hope this blog will not stop after April. There are a ton of national parks and states to visit, great road trips to take, and great cities to see. In the meantime, I guess it is back to taxes.

P.S. I am not sure where my pictures will come from without Meg. I hope you have enjoyed this blog as much as I have enjoyed updating it. It was a great way for me to reflect and document my travels!

 

 

Posted in 14th Stop - Home No Comments »

More Fun in the Philippines!

Carol March 21st, 2017

Back in the Philippines at different times! Jack and Meg, thanks for letting me use your house as my home base during my travels. Random pictures and places!

Shoe Museum and park: Guess whose shoe collection is in the museum? Imelda Marcos

Taal Volcano: Jack took Raymond and I to Breakfast at Antonio’s near Mt. Taal.  These are the best Ruben sandwich.  I don’t know what happened to our pictures.  The utube video has the restaurant with the great view of Mt. Taal. I may have to go back before I come back to the states.

Art in Island:  Meg call it – the Selfie Museum.

  •  

Coron Island:  Fun in the sun! (I had to steal these pictures from Jack’s facebook posts)

Hanging out!  Celebrated Raymond’s birthday in Puerto Galera. Mirielle was just as excited as Raymond about his Death by Chocolate birthday cake! Cheese and Wine club – guess who we met? Mikey Bustos – Meg was so excited!

Baguio and stopped by home of the sisig – Up to the mountains!! Shopping for materials for Meg’s start up and playing around!
  •                  

Posted in 2nd Stop - Philippines No Comments »

Solo! Got to Mt. Doom on 1/2 tank of gasoline!

Carol March 7th, 2017

Solo! It is great traveling with friends, partners, and groups, but sometimes solo is best! So many places to go and see!  Where do I start? The nice thing about New Zealand is that it is small! It takes about ~3 hours to drive width wise from one side of the North island to the other. It only took me less than a 1/2 tank of gasoline to get to Mt. Doom – it took Frodo ~6 months. I am glad I didn’t have to walk, get captured by the orcs, get hurt, recover, and get my finger bitten off. Time to plan the hiking trips!!

Lake Rotorua, Rotorua museum, and gardens: It is nice to see a lot of people enjoying the gardens!

The Redwoods (Whakarewarewa Forest): I know where all the locals take their dogs and kids! I know it is ironic, I live near coastal redwoods (tallest trees in the world)! Since the trees grow faster here, the information plaque state that the wood is softer. I like the light and bathroom designs. The lights were inspired by the shapes of 3 different birds in New Zealand.

Buried Village: I didn’t believe one of my uncles when he said a tree grew where the fence posts were. The stump of the tree below grew from a fence post.

  •   

Te Puia: Geothermal park with a local weaving and woodworking school. One of the longest words in New Zealand – Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao.  There is a funny utube on some of the longest names on the news. I like the kiwi sign telling people not to take pictures of the kiwi birds.

Whakatane: One of the beaches in New Zealand. Kilometers of beach! It is amazing on much beach is exposed during low tide. Beautiful!

Tongariro National Park: Iconic Chateau, the Tongariro alpine crossing, Northern alpine circuit (one of the 9 Great walks in New Zealand). There are 3 volcanic peaks: Mt Tongariro, Mt. Ngauruhoe (Mt. Doom), and Mt. Ruapehu.

  • Alpine crossing:  It was a very cloudy day and there are a lot of people hiking this route.  The recommendation I got was to go to the park before 7am (if you want a parking space) and hike to the top and back, since I didn’t make a shuttle reservation to pick me up on the other side. My best pictures were on the hike down. There are rows and rows of hikers! Basically you could not see emerald lake, Mt. Doom, Mt Ruapehu, red crater, etc. It started to clear up in the afternoon and I was back at my hotel, showered, and taking a nap by then!
  • Northern Alpine circuit:  The only hiking hut available was Waihohonu Hut.  Several days of hiking is great, the trails were well marked and the weather was perfect. The trails winds between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Doom. There are random benches on the hike. I had the best lunch spot overlooking a crater. I had to meet Viv and Katie (New Zealanders I met in Vietnam and Cambodia) for high tea at the chateau on the last day! I hope they didn’t mind me not showering for several days when I met them. Great way to end the hike! I probable saw less then a dozen hikers on this part of the trail. New Zealanders call hiking, tramping.

Waitomo Caves and walk:  Waitomo is also known as glowworm caves. The glowworms in the cave are actual gnats, Arachnocampa lumiosa, that are luminescent in the larva stage (which lasts 6-12 months). It is amazing how long they live. Common house fly lives for ~28 days.

  •  

Otorohanga Kiwi House: Kiwi‘s are nocturnal and you can’t take a picture of them, because the flash hurts their eyes. The thing that I though was very interesting about them is that the size of their egg is as large as a emu egg, but the kiwi is very small in comparison. A picture of a tautara is below.

Bye New Zealand.  I had a great time and I didn’t realize there were so many hiking and biking trails here! The fresh produce is really good.  The baked goods and the green lip mussel are yummy! I could spend several more months here. The people are great and very nice! I met a older kiwi couple at one of the hiking huts, they are still hiking, he runs marathons, amazing! People are very inspiring! Viv and Katie were great, they met me in Wellington and at the Chateau for high tea for a couple of hours! Katie good luck with your studies! Viv see you in the US sometime!

Posted in 13th Stop - New Zealand No Comments »

New Zealand!

Carol March 4th, 2017

New Zealand here we come!! I just finished reading wait but why blog on population density and~50% of the population of the world lives in Southeast Asia, India, China, Korea, Japan, etc. according to the blog. I like the density comparison, basically if everyone lived as densely as Manhattan, New York, then 7.1 B people would fit in New Zealand. It is nice to be in New Zealand where the total population is ~4.7 M with ~ 3.5 M tourist/year (according to the tour guides). Space! Clean Air! Nature!

Fiordland National Park (Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound, Dusky Sound):

Dunedin:  St Paul’s Cathedral, Dunedin Town Hall, and Larnach Castle (there is an Alice and Wonderland theme in the garden, this reminds me of Sarah, she loves Alice and Wonderland!)

Christchurch: Botanical Gardens and desert! Carol L. and I share a love for dessert! The botanical garden cafes has great carrot cake – the carrot cake looks like the picture on this web site! Carol L., Mike, and I playing around! Monterrey Pine trees are the trees that New Zealand exports.

Picton:  We went kayaking in one of the near by bays (there were a ton of jelly fish in the water)! Downtown Picton (War Memorial)

Wellington: Wellington Cable Car, Wellington Botanical Gardens, and new friends (I met Rose, Viv, and Katie in Vietnam and Cambodia! You will see pictures of Viv and Katie later!)

Napier:  Art Deco (1920-1930) and river rafting!

 

Tauranga: Downtown, Kiwi Farm and Hobbiton!

  •  

Auckland:  Domain Winter Gardens, Auckland Art Gallery, Albert Park, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Eden Garden, New Zealand Maritime Museum

  • Domain Winter Garden:
  • Auckland Art Gallery:
  • Albert Park
  • Auckland War Memorial Museum
  • New Zealand Maritime Museum:

Posted in 13th Stop - New Zealand No Comments »

New Caledonia and Fiji!

Carol March 4th, 2017

Wow, I wasn’t expecting to go to New Caledonia and Fiji! The beaches are beautiful! The sand on the beach in Isles des Pines is like powdered sugar. As Carol L. says it will never come out of her swimsuit.  I think I still have sand falling out of my water shoes! I guess I am leaving a little happiness everywhere I go!

Noumea, New Caledonia: This is a former french colony, so everyone speaks french! I don’t know why I keep missing the french bakeries!

Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia: We went bike riding on random roads and walked to the church on the cliff.  The cliff looks like a whale!

  •  

Vanuatu: In 2015 Cyclone Pam caused a damage to the island.  You can still seem some of the wreckage.

Dravuni, Fiji: Beach day and a hike to the top of the hill!  It is amazing how clear the water is and how close the reef is to the shore.

Lautoka, Fiji: Garden of the Sleeping Giant and Sri Siva Subramaniya, largest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere.

Ile des Pins, New Caledonia: The sand is like powder. I found small sand snowman on the beach (or he may not be a snowman)! One of the cafes there has the best dark chocolate samosas! Yum!

Posted in 12th Stop - New Caledonia and Fiji No Comments »

Australia and Friends!

Carol March 2nd, 2017

It is great to have friends that can travel around the world to meet you. I am glad they pulled in their travel plans by ~1 year to travel to Australia to meet me!  It is funny how my trump card for 10 year girls and spouses are the same “I have known your (mom, wife, etc.) longer that you have!” I will never win the love trump card, but you know sometime it is the only card you have to win a non-important, silly argument! Actually Mirielle, Meg’s 10 year old daughter, is a bad influence, the other saying that I use against Carol’s husband, Mike, is “I don’t know why I am so mean to you, but I just can’t help it!” It was funny when Mirielle said it when I asked her why she was so mean to her mom sometimes and on many levels it is an interesting response. In many ways it is true, sometimes we don’t know why we do what we do, until after we reflect on it. I do have to commend Mike for sticking it out with the girls and he gets a gold star.  Or maybe I get the gold star for being around them? We have known each other for a long time and have worked on many side projects, so hanging out is not new, however, it is funny how dynamics change with 3 people and how sides are won and lost, especially when people are gaining up on people in Catan (and someone – Mike – is tired of loosing)!

Sydney Again! Beautiful sunsets and skies! The Sydney Harbour bridge and Anzac Bridge in the background.

Melbourne: The interesting thing about traveling to the same place is that I am an expert of that city by ~10 hours.  It is funny how coming to the same city, you know more about the city than you think and you get to go back to the places that you missed!  We went back to the best gelato shop in the world – maybe not the world but pretty close!

  • Interesting buildings:  Train station, St. Paul’s cathedral, china town, and 19th century architecture.
    •      

The Melbourne Star and Costco near Port Phillip’s Bay!  I didn’t realize how many ferris wheels there are around the world. Costco in Melbourne is like Costco in the US.  Different seafood and meat selections, but most of the other stuff is the same.  I did forget to look in the cookie aisle to see if they sell Tim Tams.  The food court has Assie meat pies.

Hobart Tasmania: I really like Hobart, it reminds me of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.  Salamanca market (huge farmers market – fresh raspberries, produce, arts and crafts), MONA (Museum of Old and New – the ferry trip to the museum was nice and waterfall printer is cool), and Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.  I finally got to see a Tasmania devil. The Wildlife sanctuary is tucked in between hills and is very beautiful.

Posted in 11th Stop - Australia No Comments »

Road Trip – Australia – Here I come!!

Carol February 19th, 2017

Road trip:  Uluru -> Coober Pedy ->Adelaide -> Great Ocean Road (All of the towns between) -> Melbourne -> Sydney (to meet friends)

Ah, there is nothing like a road trip and there is nothing like dry vs humid heat!  Australia has been on my bucket list for a long time and most of the Aussies (Australians) I met on my travel did not list Uluru as one of there 3 top places to visit.  I did manage to drive the Great Ocean Road and see the 12 Apostles, but I missed the other top places to visit:  Fraser Island, Barossa Valley, and Great Barrier Reef.  I read Bill Bryson’s book In a Sunburned Country (renamed “Down Under Travels in a Sunburned County”) while traveling across country and he is funny! (I missed the 12 ft earthworm and a bunch of other items that he stated in the book, but maybe next time!). Basically, Australia is as large as USA and China in land mass and at the end of the day I had to pick where I wanted to spend my time and I had to meet friends in Sydney on a specific day.  Don’t ask me why I decided to spend most of it driving ~3500 km in the middle of the desert. I did have an epiphany when I met a lady in Hobart, who went to the USA on a cruise to Alaska.  The funny thing about her trip is that Hobart, Tasmania is like Alaska (there is a clean fresh, ruggedness about Tasmania and New Zealand). I grew up in the southwest and I really like the desert and mountains!  So I guess it is not hard to see why driving in the desert would be appealing to me. It takes a while to learn to drive on the ‘other’ side of the road! (There are a lot of countries that drive on the left side of the road). I am still trying to get the hang of it!

I found a great blog by Gary and Amanda, it tells you all of the tourist and gasoline stops.  It also says that you can drive in the outback in your grandmothers car! This couple did a great job with their blog and I knew what to expect driving in the outback!

Uluru – Did you notice that Uluru rhymes with Kangaroo? I don’t know why this is so amusing to me. Uluru is upper desert, there is a lot of desert vegetation and it was very green. There are signs that close off parts of trails when the temperature is too hot (or too windy or flooded) which is basically after 11 AM in the summer and it is strongly discouraged to hike to the top.  Hiking around the base of Uluru is fun ! Sleeping in the shade in the middle of the afternoon is great, but going back to take a nap at the resort is better!

  •  

Kata Tjuta – Guess who decided to come on a road trip!! Raymond! There are a lot of flys and gnats, we decided to buy fly nets. The views were great!

Cobby Pedy – Opal mining town.  Because of the extreme heat, people built their homes and hotels in the ground.

Adelaide – We missed the Tour Down Under Bike Race by a couple of days!  We did see bike riders come early to practice!

Portland/Cape Nelson – We gave up hiking and decided to eat!  Hummingbird Cake and something chocolaty  – Yum!  I use to have a pet rabbit that looked that the picture below, a black and white dutch rabbit!  He was in a food magazine, so I don’t think his fate in very good hands.

Port Fairy/Moyneyana Festival – I had cherries!  I miss cherries and I will never complain about the price again! (Ok, maybe not never).  I love the cherry cart – it was very detailed, the pull out draw for money looked like a cash register drawer. The used book store was interesting and fun!

Tower Hill Reserve – These are only wild koala bear I saw, they were ~50-100 ft in the trees. The reptile below looks like a skink.

Port Campbell: Beach town! The sunsets are beautiful and it gets dark around 8-9 pm.  I love summers!

Great Ocean Road/12 Apostles – We got to the park before sunset and did not stay long enough to see the penguins. According to wikipedia there were never 12 rock formations.  The views are beautiful and very windy!

Melbourne – The iconic train station, St. Paul’s church, downtown has a mixed of modern with 19th century architecture styles, and graffiti alley.  I thought the bike hub at the university was neat, because the vending machine is for bike parts (inner tubes, chains, etc.).

  •  

Miscellaneous Items:  Here is the map we purchased at Uluru and the drive to Sydney.  We had to skip Canberra (capital of Australia) so that we can meet friends in Sydney! We stayed in a town with a very large Merino Sheep statue, so we can get to Sydney on time! Post box theme – it doesn’t look like the British post box.  We saw a huge cassette player (in front of one of the museums we did not visit) – I don’t think anyone born after 1990’s has ever seen a cassette tape or player. I thought the driver beware sign was unusual. The Aussie road signs are very blunt, they get to the point “Drowsy Divers Die”.

Featherdale Wildlife Park: After driving several thousand kilometers, I am terrible at spotting wildlife (Next time I have to pick up a picture book of Australian wildlife, so I know what to look for – I thought it would be more obvious). We saw wild emus, 2 Koala bears very high in a tree, a skink, and a lot of roadkill (wallabies, well I did see a couple of live ones as well), but we missed a lot of the iconic Australian wildlife. I decided to pay to see them. How can you not see a kookaburra and sing the kooberra song?  We should have seen the little penguins at the 12 apostles (smallest penguins in the world).  Echidna (lays eggs and gives milk to their young). Kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, and cassowary. I have to see a Tasmanian devil (made famous by the cartoon – Taz) – we didn’t see any at the park.

Sydney:  We made it!! Guess who is here – Carol and Mike!  I have known Carol since I was 10 years old! On to more adventures!  We say bye to Raymond and hello to Carol and Mike!

  •        

Posted in 11th Stop - Australia No Comments »

Bangkok – Thailand

Carol December 17th, 2016

Back to Bangkok.  This will be my last stop for a little while!! When I was here last, the king just passed away, so the Grand Palace was closed.  I missed seeing the Grand Palace by a few minutes, it was closed to tourist by 3:30pm.  So it seems like my Bangkok theme is to visit all of the major attractions but not actually go in…I guess I will have to come back!

  • Chatuchak Market – most of the market was closed since it was during the week.  However, I did get a photo of the famous clock tower
  • The Grand Palace and the area around the Grand Palace – I will have to come back!
  • The Giant Swing – I went here because I was looking for a specific restaurant and this was the closest known location that the tuk-tuk driver recognized.  Needless to say, I could not find the restaurant.  I did get a picture of the swing.
  • Democracy Monument and 1993 Monument – I passed these monuments trying to find the restaurant.
  • Jim Thompson House –  It has been one of those “not finding thing” days, so I decided to skip the house tour and hang out in the cafe.
  • MBK Center – These pictures are near the MBK Center (shopping mall) and the Bangkok Art and Culture Center.
  • Patpong Night Market:  I know the pictures are sideways.  I took these with my phone camera and didn’t have a chance to fix them yet.
  • China town:  I know the pictures are sideways.  I took these with my phone camera and didn’t have a chance to fix them yet.

Bye Bangkok.  I guess I will have to come back again!

Posted in 10th Stop - Bangkok Thailand No Comments »

Cambodia

Carol December 17th, 2016

Hello Angkor Wat!  I know there are a ton things to see in Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Chambok, Sihanoukville, Kampong Cham, Siem Reap).  Let’s get started!!

Phnom Penh

  • Tuk-Tuk night tour and night market:
  • Tunnel Complex, Killing Fields and S21:  This was a very sobering day.
    • Cu Chi Tunnels:
    • Killing Fields:  They built walkways so that you don’t step on the bones, but you can see human bones on the surface of the dirt.
    • S21:  Genocide museum.  There were two survivors signing books at the museum.

Chambok:  We were at a homestay and went on a hike to a waterfall.  The 3 dogs that followed us on the hike killed a cobra.  The cobra was divided in half – half for the homestay and the other half was for us to make cobra soup.

Sihanoukville: This is the main tourist beach town in Cambodia.  We took a boat ride to the neighboring islands!

Kampong Cham: On the way to Kampong Cham we stopped at the spider market.  We did a bike tour, road on the bamboo bridge, and stopped by a English school to talk to the children!  You can tell that they are very proud of there boat.

  • Spider Market:
  • Bike Tour on the bamboo bridge to a neighboring island to stop by the English school to talk with the children.  You can see the Kizuna bridge at night.
    •     
  • Random pictures of the town.  The town use to be a french colony.

Siem Reap:  Angkor Wat, Ta Promh, and Angkor Thom

  • Tonle Sap:  Floating Village.
  • Artisans of Angkor:  It seems like an art school.  Young adults apply to go to school to learn a craft (ceramic, lacquer, woodwork, silversmith, etc.).  I though the sign language poster was great.  It is interesting that there are so many different forms of sign language.

Posted in 9th Stop - Cambodia No Comments »

Hello Vietnam!

Carol December 17th, 2016

Hello Vietnam!  I know everyone makes the same joke.  It am sad that Robbin Willliams is no longer alive.  I grew up watching his movies and really like him as an actor, one of my all time favorites is Dead Poets Society, which is also a very sobering movie.  I got side tracked. Let’s see Vietnam (Sapa, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City/Siagon)!

Hanoi:

  • Old Quarter:  Town center and lake area
    •  
  • Cooking Class!  Did you know that sandworms are a secret ingredient in Pho (well not in all Pho, but in my cooking class)? Aunt Grace he does the same thing that you do, he roasts his ingredients to bring out the flavors. I went to the market with the chef. I tried fertilized duck eggs and river worms w/ lime zest (Sorry Kris, I guess you have to be a award wining chef to get me to try the duck eggs). I did not think about it, I just ate it.
  • Other areas in Hanoi (St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Temple of Literature, Lenin Park, Military History Museum, etc.)

Sapa:  Beautiful mountain region in northern Vietnam

  • The town center is very small and it is easy to walk from one side of town to the other.
  • Hike to different villages:  The Hmong women would come to town, practice their English and sell items.  There is a picture of the hiking group and me with Sue and Sue Sue (I know I asked them for their real name, but they simplified their names so I would remember them).  The women waited for us outside our hotel, walked with us through the different villages, and helped us walk though the rice paddies and ravines.  The Hmong women are very organized, each person was responsible to a different person in our group.  The hiking guide told us that she sees them every time she visits, so she knows them well.  I bought some hand made textiles from them.  I am not sure what to do with them, but Meg said that she would teach me to make shoes!  I guess I will have my own custom made Sapa textile shoes!
  • Cat Cat Village:  Small ethnic village outside of Sapa.  Same hiking group.  Visited a traditional house and viewed traditional performances/costumes.  It seems like everyone has black pigs!

Ha long Bay and Hang Sung Sot Cave:  I have to get better pictures, but these will do for now!

Hue: Scooter ride through the country side and the Imperial City, Thien Mu Pagoda, Thanh Toan Bridge)

Hoi An:  This is a small town known for custom made clothes and shoes.

  •  

Nha Trang: Po Nagar Towers, Nhà thờ Chánh Tòa Kitô Vua (Cathedral), and beach area.

  •  Cathedral:
  • Po Nagar Towers:
  • Beach Area:

Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon:  I don’t have any new pictures of Ho Chi Minh – I seem to be missing a couple of cities, I am sure I went to a night market or two.  I caught up on American movies (Suicide Squad and Dr. Strange ) and ate popcorn for dinner! The movies are less expensive and they have every flavor of popcorn.  I like plain popcorn, but you can get peppermint, BBQ, or caramel popcorn.

Posted in 8th Stop - Vietnam No Comments »

« Previous Entries