Wednesday, February 16, 2005
I literally took about four pictures in Thailand. But here they all are, just for you. Plus, as an added bonus, I'm including some fun signage from a recent trip to Carrefour. (Carrefour, if you don't know, is a French megamart, kind of like WalMart. Despite the fact that they are French-owned and should probably see the merits of hiring a native English speaker to proofread their signs, they haven't. That place is chock full of amusing phrases. Next time, I'll snap more.) I know how we all love to mock the Chinese and their apparent anti-proofreader policy, so here you go. Mock away.
Thailand is busy and beautiful. I still maintain that it's no Bali, but it's pretty great.
and now... signage!
Sorry about the fuzziness. It's hard to covertly snap while riding up on the escalator.
Still not sure what a Bang product is, by the way.
Saturday, February 5, 2005
roos!
I was going to break all these Australia pics up into many posts over several days. I mean, there are so many! I didn't want to overwhelm anyone. But the problem is, we've just decided to go down to Thailand on Tuesday for the rest of the week (it's the Chinese New Year -- the whole country is on vacation). Which means that newer pictures are on the immediate horizon. And then the handsome Anson arrives next week, which means even more photo ops. And. Well. I don't want to get backed up. So, here they are -- all of them! (Well, maybe like a quarter of them, edited for your enjoyment.) Feel free to savor over several days. And be sure to check out Tokyo pics at the bottom, in case you missed them.
The trip actually began with a stop-off in Singapore, where we also met up with the Asian branch of the Guschl family. We all shared delicious snacks and fun stories, mainly about Tad.
And then we were off! Helloooo Sydney.
There was surf camp, on the lovely Seven Mile Beach, about two hours south of Sydney. Surfing is awesome.
Plus, surfers are just so cool.
Then, we were off! First the Great Barrier Reef for scuba/snorkeling. Then Melbourne, briefly, to see our friend Patrick. And then...
Tasmania!
Tasmania is gorgeous. Take, for instance, the famous Wineglass Bay.
About half of Tasmania looks like this...
...and the other half looks like this. That we saw, anyway.
I had delicious, beer-battered fish and chips with alarming regularity.
We drove all around. Driving on the left side of the road is mildly scary. (This is me, mildly scared.) Also: Check out Mike's vacation beard
And, really, we stopped at nothing to get a good picture. Nothing.
Tasmania capital Hobart at night.
One for the parents. Hi mom! Hi dad! (And no, we do not normally dress like twins.)
Also: You never know when you're going to see something cute and furry. Which brings me to...
Animals! (Yes they get their own section. Special guest appearances by Mike's hand.)
Not your traditional Australian wildlife, but I'll take what I can get.
Mike and the mini ponies, hanging out.
So, we hit "Zoo Doo" in Tasmania. It was pretty great.
I mean, alpacas! Top that, Safari Kingdom.
They drive you around and let you feed the animals. I think these are the emus.
The animals are pretty cutely aggressive.
Sometimes just aggressive and not very cute.
The famous Tasmania devil does not actually spin around very fast.
In fact, it looks kind of like a big rat.
This was another park, in the rainforest. I dragged Mike to all kinds of fun wildlife attractions. He, very nicely, went. And really got a kick out of feeding the wallabies.
They let you play with koalas.
There was much discussion about sneaking one home with us.
Back to Sydney! We rounded out the fun with some Australia Day merriment, surfing in Manly, a rock show, and lots and lots of tennis.
From the roof of our hotel in Sydney.
There was a giant screen in front of the Opera House showing the Australia Open. The crowds came out for Lleyton Hewitt-Andy Roddick.
This was the view from the steps, while watching Andy Roddick completely melt down early in the match.
Yep, it's everyone's favorite robed pop ensemble, The Polyphonic Spree, playing Down Under. We went and danced ourselves into a sweaty, happy mess.
I miss my flipflops.
Just one last look.
Sunday, January 30, 2005
I am back. I am beat. I have 229 new e-mails in my mailbox to get through. But! While I wade through my roughly 300 pics from Australia (which was Just. Ridiculously. Awesome. by the way), enjoy last month's pics from Tokyo. They couldn't be posted any earlier because of technical difficulties, but we've totally bribed the tech dept. and they're on the ball now. And now, off to nap.
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
the shrine to unborn children
I am in love with Tokyo. So in love, in fact, that it was hard to come home to Beijing by the end of my trip. Luckily, it's temporary: We're off to Australia on Saturday for the rest of January. (Surf camp -- booked!) But, for now, back to Tokyo (the site of our NYE debauchery): There were noodles (so many noodles), and board games, and delicious food, and amazing shopping, and a giant buddha, and lights, and karaoke. Tons of karaoke. It capped off a very travel-y December, as I was also in Shanghai and Hangzhou (but mainly for work). Frankly, I'm tired just thinking of it all. Luckily, there is photographic proof.
PS) Have I mentioned how much I highly, highly recommend Tokyo? Go to Tokyo. You will not be disappointed, especially if you enlist Nida and Josh as your guides.
Daibatsu! In quaint, perfect Kamakura.
i sort of loved the shrine
the pacific! er, i think.
the arcades are so fun. and so crowded!
a classic karaoke moment
followed by another
er... did i mention that it snowed? a lot?
it was actually pretty fun, if a bit wet.
our nye festivities included magic.
and a very fun waitress!
Thanks to everyone who double-checked to make sure we weren't affected by the tsunami. We're fine, but lots of people just south of here are not. I highly recommend this list of organizations accepting donations for the victims. I can't vouch for all of them, but I do know the American Red Cross sends 100% of the donation to the relief effort.
