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

Goodbye Jeju

This update will be short and simple.  This is my goodbye to Jeju and Korea.  I'm going to miss my wonderfully located apartment (but not the 100s of mosquitoes I trapped or killed in it).  I'm going to miss all the walking and healthy food that made staying in shape a breeze.  I'm going to miss the yogio button.  Yogio is the Korean way of saying "over here".  It is perfectly polite to call this out in restaurants when you want service.  Dang am I going to miss being able to do that.

I'm going to miss the summers that were never too hot.  And the beaches and snorkeling that made for wonderful weekends or after work excursions.  I'm going to miss having a lovely beach 5 minutes walk from one of my schools.  I'm going to miss being a giant and being considered handsome and strong by nearly every Korean I met.  I'm going to miss being a minor celebrity on the island, just by virtue of being white and tall.  

Most of all, I'm going to miss my kids and my friends there.  I made such great friends that I could have happily stayed another year, though I liked Prague as a city far better than Jeju.  And my kids who were so sweet, made leaving so hard.  Days after my final lesson I still got messages from them saying "I'm sad.  Don't go."

But I must say goodbye for a new door to open.  Right now that new door is the chance to come home and see family and friends.  After that ..... I don't really know.  But i know the future is bright!

Bridal Shoes for the Peacock Themed Wedding

I love love love hand painted bridal shoes - especially the customized to fit the wedding theme or have any special meaning for the bride and the person she married. Recently, I met Karen Nora shoes and bridal firm have a variety of reasons. But it is quite obvious that Ms. Karen loves to paint peacocks, so the majority of many, if not the custom hand painted shoes for perfect wedding planning wedding peacock wedding themes. Or maybe for the bride who is planning a peacock themed wedding, but I love peacock feathers and wants to incorporate a whole wedding day in some subtle way. Here are some examples of shoes on sale - most can be had in any shoe store normal size and designs are fully customizable!

Happy wedding season

Many couples love to tie the knot in high season. Although it is much more lively in high season, however, there are still many problems about weddings at the stations. For example, it will be difficult for wedding venues, difficult to invite the wedding photographers, difficult to order flowers, etc. Why not celebrate the ceremony in the offseason, and there are many advantages as well. happy wedding season
1. Economic You might buy clothes once a season, then why not choose to hold the ceremony of the off-season? From wedding venues, food and the band, which is much cheaper in high season. And I'm convinced that most of you remember the scene at the end of holidays and weekends, why let this trouble in the wedding ceremony?
2. Few people In a specific date, usually there will be several pairs in the same location of the wedding, so maybe this will ruin your mood happy, as there are other beautiful brides to steal the show. And if the sites are very popular wedding enough, even becomes very difficult to take photos of the wedding successful. And the wedding services in high season, you can even reduce the quality because they are too busy.