New Years in the Philippines

After Thailand it was off to the Philippines. Stayed a night in Manila before heading down to the famous and touristy island of Boracay and then to the secluded small island of Malapascua. While Manila is a little rough around the edges with some very poor areas and people who even live there warn you about it, every single person I met there (including taxi drivers!) were super friendly. Although it is a little intimidating since everyone there blatantly stares at you (not a lot of other tourists, anywhere but really Boracay).

Basically after Manila my time was split between the islands of Boracay and Malapascua. Boracay is a tourist mecca - with great white beaches and big resorts.... a poor man's, scaled down version of Cancun. New Years was spent drinking out of a bottle of champagne on the beach, watching fireworks.

From there it was off to Malapascua... famous for its hammocks and scuba diving. And I took advantage of both. The diving was some of the best I have ever done, the highlight being 5ft thresher sharks and octopus and tons of micro sea life and great coral. It was extremely peaceful, with real Pilipino villages situated behind a small layer of backpacker bungalow huts. Walking around the village, the kids would be all over you and you could also see the daily cock fight that went on. A great experience... the beach, plus some great culture. The only thing you had to put up with was the cold salt water showers and the fact that you only had electricity from 5pm - 8am.

From a complete list of photo's, click on the below link:
Philippine's Photo's

Xmas in Thailand... again

Before heading down to the islands, took a quick trip out of Bangkok and hit some of the less touristy spots of Thailand in a place called Kanchanaburi. Well sort of, it is famous for its hiking, elephant riding and river kwai bridge. But it was a great little, cheap, quiet backpacker hangout and only an hour away from Bangkok.

From there it was off to the islands of Thailand, for the second year in a row I decided to spend Xmas on the beaches in Thailand. This year it was Ko Phi Phi... famous from the movie the beach and also because it was hit hard by the tsunami a year ago. There are still signs of damage and there is alot of vacant space that used to be 10 resorts... but the island is back on their feet and it is an awesome place - with great beaches, shear rock cliffs, scuba diving and great nightlife.

For a complete list of pics, see the below link:
Thailand Pics

Guilin, China

Guilin is located inland in the southern part of China. It is a small (by China standards) tourist city which is known for its unique mountain formations and it was also a great chance to see some more of rural China (a lot poorer). Other highlights were my laughable attempts to use mandarin, taking a sky-lift up to a peak of a mountain in the freezing cold, boat trip down the river, buying knock-off North Face winter coats for $30CDN and the hilarious use of fluorescent lights in their caves.

For a complete list of pictures, see the below link:
Guilin Photo's

Macau - Asia's Las Vegas??

Day trip to Macau - Macau is a Portuguese settlement - it is weird to walk around a place in Asia with Portuguese architecture everywhere. Macau is also where all the casinos are... well a few anyways. Like Las Vegas it used to be controlled by the mafia and be a pretty sketchy place, but now is cleaned up and there are casinos going up everywhere. However, while the casinos may look the same... the games are much different. About the only games you can recognize are blackjack (expensive min. bets)... and some roulette..... oh, yeah and i din't win.

To see pictures from Macau, click on the following link:
Macau Photo's

Hong Kong Disneyland

Yes, Hong Kong Disneyland just opened up, so we thought we had to check it out. Basically exactly like what your typical Disneyland experience would be except:

- the park is probably 1/10th the size of Canada's Wonderland
- you can buy chicken leg dim sum there
- the Chinese haven't completely figured out the concept of lines quite yet

Here are a few photo's from the day:
HK Disneyland

Korea

Click on the below link for the complete list of pictures:
Korea Photo's

One of my all time favorite trips and a great city.

Korea reminded me a lot like Japan (modern downtowns, fashionable, weird signs, they love the animation (and porn) & friendly). However, the city and people have a little more edge to them and things are not as organized - probably has something to do with the fact that they have been consistently involved in some kind of conflict or war. You can still feel the military and US presence and see the bases and the DMZ zone of barb wire fences is only a few hours away. I spent 4 days in Seoul - visiting the war memorial, eating extremely spicy Korean food - Korean BBQ was one of the best meals I have had out here, singing drunken karaoke, touring the city - its temples, mahjong gathering spots, markets and mountains.

Lost in Translation... Japan Travels

To see all photo's from Japan (sorry there is a lot of them) click on the below link:
Japan Photo's









Spent a week in Japan, mostly in Tokyo and a few days in Kyoto. It's a country that definitely puts an unique twist and history on top of what has developed into a modern Western city. For the most part the people are extremely disciplined and polite.... you don't know quite how to react when people working at 7-11 and Macdonalds bow at you. And the city is extremely clean even though there isn't a garabage can in sight (you never see people walking and drinking/eating). I also got to experience my first earthquake.... well, I'm sure to the people in Tokyo it was nothing, but I felt the hotel room shake (and that was before the Sake). And I never thought the day would come that I would be eating raw fish on a daily basis... but when in Japan....

Tokyo: a land of lights, gaspanic bars, animation, electronics, really short hotel doors (see pic), fashion, arcades upon arcades, suits (bus drivers even wear suits), bullet trains, tremendous use of space and hilarious tv shows, as well as, temples and palaces. Oh yeah.... and they have a tower just like the Effiel tower (except 13m higher and orange) and a mini statue of liberty.... go figure.

Kyoto: Very much the opposite of Tokyo. Much smaller, much more traditional (at least for the tourists). Full of temples, shrines, palaces and sushi restaurants.

Japan is a must see.... it is more pricy for hotels, trains , taxi's etc... but the food is cheap and very good.

Bali, Indonesia

Spent 4 days in Bali = great beaches, huge surf, .75 cent DVD's, fresh lobster, great nightlife and included renting susuki's and driving on the wrong side of the street on the insane roads of scooter filled bali, bribing corrupt police officers and paying/negotiating at random, self-made blockades. Would definitely recommend a visit..... well to update this one... maybe wait a few days after the bombings.



For all of my Bali photo's, click on the below link.
BALI PHOTO'S

More photo's have also been added around Hong Kong at the following link:
Hong Kong Photo's

Hong Kong

I haven't had much time to explore in Hong Kong but here are my first impressions and some pics, overall the city is pretty sweet... modern, never sleeps, clean while maintaining some distinct culture:

- The amount of high rises blows you away... every apartment building is at least 100 floors high. It's like Manhattan on a mountainous island.
- It's frigin hot and humid.... you basically go from 33 degrees and an instant sweat to -30 degrees from the air conditioners in every restaurant and store.
- You can definitely tell the British influence... drive on the wrong side, for a city with no space they still make room for soccer pitches, the bars are ridiculously priced because of the brits no doubt and the whole ex-pat community.
- The transportation system is incredible.... between mini-buses, double deckers, the impeccably clean metro and ferries, you can get anywhere.
- The campus here is sweet - right on the ocean with a pool, track, gym, tennis courts, basketball courts.

Click on the following link to the few Hong Kong Pics I have taken so far (more will be added):
Link to Hong Kong Album

Beijing/Shanghai Travels

Click on the following link for a list of all photos from Beijing and Shanghai:
Link to China Photo Album

The Good.


1 - The Sites - The Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tian'anmen Square
2 - $$ - Everything is dirt cheap... as long as you can haggle - $5 shoes, $6 hostel, $2-3 for 20min taxi rides
3 - The Food - should really be in the strange section, they eat every part of every animal...... but with huge portions, cheap as hell and $1 Mcflurries you can't go wrong.
4 - The Maglev Train in Shanghai - 430km/hr turning a 45min drive to the airport into 7mins... you feel the speed as well... we need more trains like these.
5 - The lights in Shanghai (and Hong Kong) down the main streets and across the skylin.

The Bad

1 - The smog was ridiculous in Beijing, the photo below is not fog...
2 - The spitting - just couldn't get use to the constant big all out, loud greeners.... by the women too.
3 - The toilets - let's just say that when you found a good/clean western toilet ... you took your time.
4 - Amputees, burn victims etc... - surprised by the number of people on the streets with insane things wrong with body parts.

The Strange


1 - Men walking around with their tops pulled up showing their bellies.
2 - The smells at the markets - some were definately bad, but most can best be described as down right strange.
3 - Taking a ski lift up to the Great Wall and coming down in a toboggan ride.
4 - Outside gyms (if you can call them that) painted in bright colours. Check out the photo of the cover of men's health.... that's all it takes in China.
5 - The mix between traditional and new... the bikes and the freeways.