• Dare to Dream

    Dare to Dream

    Somewhere around six months ago, I was sitting in my apartment talking on the phone with my mom. From just outside my window I could hear Buddhist monks chanting at Ninnaji, an enormous wooden temple […]

  • Long Walk Down a Longer Road

    Long Walk Down a Longer Road

    Peder and I left our pousada in Trancoso and started out for our day’s 30 km walk at around 11am. The plan was to follow the coast all the way to Arraial d’Ajuda, a neighboring […]

  • Mostar

    Mostar

    Although I’d suspect that most people have never even heard the name “Mostar,” a relatively small town in the Herzegovina region of Bosnia-Herzegovina, it turned to be one of the most intriguing places I’ve ever […]

  • Golden Week 2: Archery

    Golden Week 2: Archery

    Picture yourself looking up at a blue sky peeking through a huge canopy of leaves on a perfectly clear day in Kyoto. As the faint sound of Japanese flutes recedes softly into the background, it’s […]

  • Into the Lion's Den

    Into the Lion’s Den

    How many of you have heard the name “Transdniestr?” Not too many, I’m guessing. Transdniester – also known as Pridnestrovie in Russian – is a small rogue nation occupying a narrow strip of land along […]

  • KaZantip 2011: Black Sea Paradise

    KaZantip 2011: Black Sea Paradise

    Warning: This post contains a few NSFW photos. View only in good company 🙂 The Republic of KaZantip, the legendary Eastern European Shangri La of parties, lasts for just one month a year in a […]

I was last seen 5 months ago in Los Angeles, .

The New Territories

 Hong Kong, Public  9 Responses »
Dec 282008
 

I recently mentioned how, upon arriving in Hong Kong, I realized that my expectations of what it would be like were surprisingly off. Hong Kong is far from the Chinese version of Tokyo I’d envisioned – but a completely Westernized, internationalized, English-speaking, posh, New York-like city.

Yet, it seems that I’ve I’ve been proven wrong once again. The above description actually only applies to Hong Kong Island itself – and really, only to the Northern half. In reality, over 80% of Hong Kong’s territory is composed of rolling green hills and unspoiled beaches – only sparsely populated. Hong Kong is not at all the isolated megacity tacked onto the side of China that I once envisioned. Instead, it occupies a nice corner of the mainland, countless rural islands, and just one big commercial center.

For my second day of sightseeing I decided to escape the urban jungle and take a little excursion into the New Territories – the region north of the aptly-named Boundary Street. Continue reading »

Hong Kong Tourism

 Hong Kong, Public  6 Responses »
Dec 272008
 

Although it may not seem like it from the near constant stream of blog posts since my arrival, for the first nearly two weeks in Hong Kong I barely even left the building. Instead, I was working hard to catch up on life after Halloween in Japan, three weeks in Korea with Eli, and three weeks in China with Andy.

But now, finally, I’m almost there. At least, I’m close enough that I think I can grant myself a few days of going out and seeing the city 🙂

So here goes: My first day of real Hong Kong tourism… Continue reading »

Christmas Spirit

 Hong Kong, Public  7 Responses »
Dec 262008
 
Looking out across Victoria Harbor. That’s one big Merry Christmas! Looking out across Victoria Harbor. That’s one big Merry Christmas!

I feel so fortunate to’ve ended up in Hong Kong during the holidays.

Usually, I don’t put too much emphasis on Christmas or New Year’s – so unless happen to be close enough to home to spend them with family and friends (respectively), they don’t really enter into my itinerary-making process. In Kyoto, for instance, Christmas typically passes just like any other day.

But after spending the last week in Hong Kong, I have to tell you: I’ve never seen Christmas spirit like this!

A snowy village display in Times Square (yep, Hong Kong’s got one too). A snowy village display in Times Square (yep, Hong Kong’s got one too).

Everywhere you go, you see store employees wearing Santa hats; 50-story Seasons Greetings messages scrolling across the fronts of skyscrapers; convertible buses filled to the brim with carolers singing to the masses; coffee shops playing Jinglebells; even dogs on leashes are wearing Santa hats and strap-on white beards. Groups of schoolchildren run up with huge smiles to wish you “happy holidays,” and babies in strollers are sucking candy-cane pacifiers.
Continue reading »

Jackie’s Town

 Hong Kong, Public  7 Responses »
Dec 242008
 
Mr. Hong Kong. Mr. Hong Kong.

Jackie Chan is EVERYWHERE out here. He’s like Mr. Hong Kong. His face is plastered on what seems like two billboards per block, and I’ve even seen numerous statues and mannequins that look just like him.

It must be nice. Or weird. Who knows 😕

Eating in some parts of the world can be a gamble – you never know exactly what you’re gonna get! (Xi’an, China) Eating in some parts of the world can be a gamble – you never know exactly what you’re gonna get! (Xi’an, China)

To me, just about the biggest difficulty involved with traveling is food.

In first world countries, if you don’t have a kitchen available it’s often a total budget-breaker or extremely slow and inconvenient. In third world countries, you often can’t read the menus or communicate and therefore have little or no idea what you’re gonna get. As a result, I frequently find myself going hungry….or relying on crappy little snacks here and there.

It’s probably not the best form of nutrition when I’m expending so much energy day in and day out.
Continue reading »

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