Getting lost in Hong Kong

At Victoria Harbor with Hong Kong Island in the background

When we last saw our hero he was charging boldly towards .... a lounge chair.  Ok so vacationing isn't exactly heroic but it sure can be fun.  Suffice it to say that most of the rest of my time on Bali was just like what I already described.  Relaxed, hot, and slow paced.

Before returning to Dallas though, i had one more stopover to readjust to Western life.  A stop in Hong Kong, a mix of the East and West.  Since i'm still in HK, my thoughts will be brief (since i'd rather be outside exploring).

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is probably the most densely packed city i've ever been in.  It has as many residents as New York but in 1/4 the space.  The streets at rush hour are a sea of humanity.  The buildings are tall, shiny and mostly new on Hong Kong Island.  Across Victoria Harbor in Kowloon, it's even more packed and the buildings are a bit older.  This is where Hong Kong starts to feel less like Singapore and more like Seoul or Bangkok.  If nothing else, the city definitely feels alive and doesn't just feel like a soulless concrete jungle.

 Overlooking Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

At Lions Point looking down

For my time, I've done a good bit of walking around.  Visited Victoria Peak (picture above).  Went and saw the Symphony of Lights show at the harbor at night.  Took the Star Ferry a couple times.  Wandered down the Walk of Stars (had to stop at the Bruce Lee statue of course).  And today I'm off to go browse Hong Kong's famous shopping.  Enjoy the pictures!

 The Hong Kong skyline at night

Cool huh?

Bruce Lee statue

 Preparing to fight in front of the Bruce Lee statue

Chilling in Bali

Sometimes life is pretty good

Just some quick thoughts on Bali and Nusa Lembongan (a smaller, less touristy island off the coast of Bali).

Bali itself is definitely a beautiful island.  There are beaches everywhere and gorgeous greenery galore.  There is also however a lot of trash just thrown away anywhere, a glut of tourist traps and locals who can be friendly but can drive you nuts trying to get you to buy something.

Sanur Beach on Bali

Everything here is either dirt cheap or crazy expensive.  Massages are $5 for an hour.  Dinners almost never cost more than 10.  Indonesian food rarely costs more than 3.  Housing can be found for around 10-20 within 2 minutes of the beach.  And some skill at negotiation can sometimes drop these prices even further.

But the resorts here charge crazy amounts.  And any place that lists the cost in American dollars usually doubles the price.  Booking ahead of time virtually guarantees you're overpaying and overpaying a lot.

After about 4-5 days on Bali, i moved over to my current location on Nusa Lembongan.  It's much less touristy, has better swimming beaches, gorgeous sunsets and is beautifully quiet!

Can you guess how sunset beach got it's name?

lol it also has the power turned off for the entire island from 7-5 everyday while they change the generator system for the whole island (or something like that).  Whatever the case, they will NOT finish while i'm here.

I will definitely say i'm thankful i speak English natively.  I had dinner last night with 2 German women, a young Estonian couple and an Indonesian dive master.  And everyone talked to each other in English.  Thank you lord for being born in the US!

Mushroom Beach on Lembongan

For the next two days my plans are some snorkeling, laying on the beach, reading, reading while laying on the beach, eating while overlooking the beach, hiking around looking for more beaches, ..... noticing a trend?  Partially this is because my room has no power during the day and therefore is too boring and too hot to stay in, so i MUST be outside.  But mostly it's because i like being a beach bum on vacation :)

My lot in life is tough one huh?

Temples, castles and steak to rival Texas

I last left you halfway through Japan.  We'll pick up there.  Friday I woke up feeling good and headed for another temple, the Temple of Pure Water.  This one has been one of Japan's most revered for centuries.  The two most distinguishing features are the 3 streams of water that you can drink from, each of which is supposed to confer a unique blessing on those who drink it.  The other is the temple itself, including a large balcony, that was built without the use of a single nail.

Kiyomizudera Temple

As you can see, you collect the water in a cup on the end of a long pole before drinking from your hand.

After finishing up here, i caught a train and headed for Osaka to meet my friends Jason and Jeb for the rest of the weekend.  After finding them at our hotel we set off for the main night area of Osaka, Namba.  This was the craziness you expect when you come to Japan.

 Namba Restaurants

Namba during a soft rain

The next morning, it was pouring rain so we decided on a different type of adventure.  We took a train out to Kobe, home of the world-famous Kobe Beef.  We stopped at one of their best restaurants and ordered Kobe beef for lunch.  It was crazy expensive (this is Japan after all) but well worth it for the experience alone.  A personal chef prepared our food just for us at our own private table.  And the steak was outstanding!  One of the 2 or 3 best i've ever eaten.  Afterwards, we wandered around Kobe for the afternoon just taking in the sights before heading back to our hotel in Osaka.  

 Our table

Our personal chef preparing the Kobe steak

Sunday we got a break and the weather cleared up enough to allow us to visit Osaka Castle.  Osaka Castle was originally build in the 15th century but it was burned down numerous times throughout it's history until it's final reconstruction in 1931.  The Castle looks exactly as it did in glory period and was surrounded by an impressive array of moats and walls.  We walked all around it, through it and up to the top for an especially nice view of Osaka.  

Osaka Castle

 One of several motes surrounding Osaka Castle

Looking down to one of the moats from the top of the castle 

With this finished, we used up the rest of our Yen (not much) and headed for the airport for a flight back to Jeju.  We all agreed, it was a weekend well spent!

Jason and Jeb in front of Osaka Castle

View of Osaka from the top of the castle

The Empire of the Rising Sun

After my last update, you know that I left Korea.  Right now I am currently in Indonesia on Bali.  But since I just got here, i'll reserve judgement and writeups on it for another few days.  For now, here is an update about my trip last week to Kyoto and Osaka, Japan.

With my contract ending Monday the 17th, i decided to use my newfound free time to visit Japan for 5 days.  Given the prices there and the size of the country, it seemed about right.  I arrived near Osaka wednesday afternoon and caught a train up to Kyoto from there.  Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and has tons of interesting history.  It is full of temples, historic districts and interesting shrines.  My first night I set out to explore Gion, the Geisha District.

Entrance to a traditional Japanese Tea House 

More of the Geisha district along the canal 

A group of Geishas out walking

I found Gion charming, lovely and a wonderful spot for a night stroll.  After walking around and trying some random food that my waiter suggested, i headed back for some shut-eye.  The next morning I woke up to find a bright blue sky and I knew immediately what that meant.  The best place to go on a clear day in Kyoto is unquestionably Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion.  As you can see below, it is called the Golden Pavilion because the top 2 floors are completely gilded in thick, real gold.  

Kinkakuji overlooking a serene lake 

 Kinkakuji was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu

Good choice huh?

This was my favorite place in Japan.  Simply breathtaking.  After a quick trip back to my hostel to refresh, I headed for the outskirts of town to check out Fushimi Inari, the fox shrine.  Inari is the Japanese god of rice and business.  This is his main shrine and it is filled with over 10,000 vermilion gates donated by individuals and companies hoping to receive blessing from him.  The pictures can be seen below.  Fortunately I arrived just at dusk.  This is what's known as perfect timing!

Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates")

After this wonderful day I headed back, including a good long walk, and went to bed, ready for another great day tomorrow.  But since this has gone on long enough, I'll finish my Japan trip in the next update.  For now, enjoy the pictures.

It seems to go on forver

Sunset over Kyoto

Fire Dancers of Ko Phangan

I really don't have anything new to say here except look at these pictures of the fire jugglers we saw while staying on Ko Phangan (and yes these are real, unaltered photos)! Which one is your favorite?

This one and the top one are my favorites

Bangkok 2.0

After all night upright in 2nd class before, we had learned our lesson and reserved our first class sleeper cabin well in advance. This made the journey back far more pleasant, though the train unfortunately still arrrived far too early (6am). Since our flight didn't leave til 2am that night, we had one more day in Bangkok.

We started the day by leaving our backpacks at the train station and caught a tuk-tuk to Wat Po, home of the Reclining Buddha. What is the Reclining Buddha you ask? This ...


It's a 120 ft long statue of Buddha laying on his side. It was of course surrounded by an impressive temple complex and crazy statues.


From there we tried to catch a tuk-tuk back to the train station but ended up on a nearly free tour of that part of Bangkok. Of course since nothing in life is free, our ride was part tour, part sales trip. We were taken to two suit-makers and one jewelry/everything store in the course of our "tour". They actually had some good deals which we nevertheless politely but firmly refused. We did choose to each get a tshirt at the last store as a momento of Bangkok (mine is bright pink and yes I can pull it off). We probably would have objected to this roundabout drive except that we had few plans for the day and it was an entertaining experience.

Our tuk-tuk tour

From there we headed to a Texas BBQ restaurant which had food so authentic I would have sworn we were in Texas if I hadn't known better. I was in heaven! We spent the rest of the day exploring, catching a movie and eating whenever possible until it was time to head back. Overall it was a great trip and a very different experience than anything i've had in the US or Europe. I can't wait to see where my travels will take me next!