After “refueling” our brains and bodies in Hong Kong, we’re now in Thailand - I’m so happy to be out here! I feel like my ole self again, it’s tiring being a grumpy, pissed off traveler. Thanks Hong Kong for the rehab.
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We’re now in Bangkok. It feels like Asia’s version of L.A. out here. A large, sprawling metropolitan city with: congested traffic; smog; and a metro rail system that only runs in the center of town. Except L.A. doesn’t have Bangkok’s constant heat and humidity - it’s really hot and sticky out here. And Bangkok doesn’t have L.A.’s high cost of living.
Thailand is soooo cheap and affordable.
Example: Bus ride from airport $2.50; large, delicious meal $5.00 (for the both of us); hotel room (sub-par and tolerable amenities) $9.00; taxi ride across town $1.50. (Taxi is cheaper than the metro - go figure!); riverboat ride $.20
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To beat the heat for a couple of hours, Yvonne and I caught an afternoon movie ($2.50 so cheap!). After the previews a message appeared on the screen “Please pay your respects for the King…..” The Thai national anthem started playing and everyone in the theatre stood up. Out of respect and courtesy we followed suit, but what a weird moment. Can you imagine if we had to stand up for the President back home? No way Jose!
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Thailand is notorious for it’s sex trade and there’s plenty of it in Bangkok’s Patpong District. Patpong is a chaotic fake goods shopping area . The vendor stalls are in the middle of the street, the Go-Go bars with bikini clad Thai women are along the side of the street (you can see clearly if your walking around). Plenty of horny, balding old men walking around looking for action. Quite a strange area, you can buy a fake Louis Vutton bag in the middle of the street or have your pick of women on the side.
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We’re off to Ko Samui Island on Sunday. From Ko Samui we’ll be island hopping for a couple of weeks. Life is rough.
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I like the Thais. They are a: friendly; soft spoken; non-confrontational; helpful group of people. The Thais really make an effort to respect your personal space.

The food in Taipei is FANTASTIC!! Restaurants and snack stalls all over the city busting out creative and tasty treats such as: shaved iced milk topped with fresh papaya; bbq’d corn glazed with teriyaki sauce and Taiwanese seasoning; traditional Taiwanese beef stew noodle soup; tapioca milk tea; juicy pork dumplings; various egg dishes (it’s amazing what the Taiwanese can do with eggs!!)…..etc…too many dishes to mention. Basically, Taipei was a giant 3 day food festival for us.
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Geographically, Taipei is quite a large city. Surprisingly, not too many high rise buildings, with exception the Taipei 101 Building - which is currently the tallest building in the world. Since the city doesn’t feel so dense, compared to Hong Kong, walking around Taipei is quite managable. In the afternoon it seems like everyone stays inside, but when the late evening hours kicks in Taipei becomes quite a lively place. Everyone seem to be out hanging out at the night markets snacking on the delicious food! Great city, the people are very laid back and friendly, an enjoyable place to hang out.
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Big thanks to the newlyweds Carl and Jessy, for letting us crash out at their apartment and being our official Taipei food guide.
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At the China/Hong Kong border, China border control refused our entry and told us to go back to Hong Kong, according to Mainland our Multi-entry visa is no longer valid. No point in arguing with Chinese officials, we turned around and walked back into Hong Kong. Quite an amusing situation.
Well my wish came through we’re not traveling through Mainland China again. I was pretty adament after the Yangtze cruise, but Yvonne wanted to see more of Southern China. Yvonne will have to go back in the near future with her mom. So we’re back in HK for a couple more days (I really don’t mind I love it out here). Since China fell through we’ll fly to Bangkok on Thursday.

Pictures to follow shortly

So after Chengdu we hopped on an early morning bus to Chongqing. We had several hours to kill, in Chongqing, before boarding our Yangtze River cruise boat. So we checked out the Chongqing cuisine (delicious of course!) and lounged around the local internet cafe. At 8pm we finally boarded our cruise boat - the “S.S. Piece of Shit.” - Note to self: Never go budget on a Chinese cruise boat.
The boat was basically a floating piece of shit!. Disgusting room, the carpet was filthy - never cleaned, full of dirt and dried spit. The beddings had mold, therefore never washed (thank God for our sleeping bags and sleep sheets!). Our tiny bathroom was a combo squat toilet room slash shower facility, so showering required spreading our legs over the squatter. Since we had a bunk mate, for needed privacy we changed inside the tiny bathroom, praying that nothing fell inside the squat pot (Unfortunately Yvonne’s underwear fell in while she was changing - yuck, major heebie jeebies). My immediate thought - Why are we spending 2 1/2 days on this boat? Oh yeah right to see the spectacular Three Gorges!
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Not so impressive these Three Gorges. The scenery is not that spectacular. It didn’t help that we were on board with 100’s of loud, obnoxious Mainland Chinese tourists, who would use the Yangtze as their personal trash can. Done with that cup of noodle? No problem just toss it into the river. Finished blowing your nose? No problem just chuck your snot rag away. The Yangtze can be best described as a large trash dumpster.
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There’s more but I’d rather not get into a long, exhausting rant about the frustrating sequence of events. Basically the Yangtze was not a pleasant trip, and even not so pleasant getting dicked around from a travel agent who arranged our train tickets “No Problem” to Guangzhou. Needless to say we’re so happy to be in civilization- Hong Kong. Oh man such a contrast to Mainland China! Clean public restrooms, no one spits, everyone queues up in line, polite and well-mannered people. “Calgon - Take me Away!!”
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Like Yvonne said we’re basically chilling out in Hong Kong (the city where we first met) and having a great time hanging out with friends and Yvonne’s cousins. And of course, we’re eating the fantastic food out here! My wish list of eating congee and wonton noodle soup, in Central, was immediately fulfilled (it’s not the same outside of Hong Kong!) - so delicious! We also met our Dutch friends, Joep and Carola, again in Hong Kong. Yvonne being the willing tour guide, showing them the sites and introducing them to Cantonese cuisine. (A brave Joep tried the chicken feet during dim sum). I dragged everyone to my favorite congee house two days in a row (gotta get my fix before we leave HK!). Anyway, it’s all about the food so we’ll be in glutony heaven for several more days. (Today, I have a craving for pig’s blood jello and pig’s intestine, from this restaurant Yvonne’s cousin took us to. It may sound disgusting to most of you, but it’s sssooooo delicious!!).
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We’ll take off to Taipei on Friday and see another old friend of ours, then return to HK on Monday morning. Monday evening we’ll take a train into China - again. I know - we’re sadistic, but our China multi-entry visa had expired, therefore our stay in Hong Kong, but we can re-enter China with no problems. We’ll finish seeing Southern China (we’re making it a point to avoid the major tourist sites), then cross overland into Vietnam.

Pictures to follow shortly

We’re on break in Hong Kong and Taipei, just having good food and meeting up with old friends. Be back in a week or so.

We’re in the capital of Sichuan - Chengdu. Despite Chengdu’s population of 11 million people, it’s a surprisingly managable place to wander around. It’s not so hustle and bustle compared to Beijing or Shanghai. Chengdu citizens walk at a slower, care free pace than their eastern counterparts. Taxi drivers (still crazy) actually obey the traffic signals, stopping at a red light before making a right turn! And there’s little harrasment from the local vendors. It feels somewhat civilized out here: We’ve actually had people wait for us pass on a narrow walkway (no barreling through necessary!); been greeted with similing faces from complete strangers; and I’ve also noticed less spitting and snot rocketeering out here. By no means is Chengdu a perfect place, but it’s been more pleasant than the other cities we’ve visited.
- While in Chengdu, we’ve had to change hotel rooms twice in three nights. We changed rooms the first night due to a falty air-conditioner (it’s fairly humid out here). The second night went without any complications, although we can hear rats scurrying outside. Well on night three we actually had the nocturnal creatures in our room - adios time to go. Too bad, the hotel was actually clean and nice, and it’s enclosed within a pleasant courtyard and garden. However, due to our room’s lush location it makes a nice hiding place for rats. Our hotel was able to give us a room at their annex down the street. So now we’re on the 5th floor of a modern building (the place has a kitchen Yvonne’s been cooking away!), so I don’t think we’ll have Mickey visiting us any more.
- We took a side trip to visit the Panda bears. Very adorable creatures, they’re so dopey and lazy (reminds me of a couple of friends of mine) - all they do is munch on bamboo and sleep all day. We were able to see a baby Panda behind an observation window - so tiny! The little cub could easily fit in the palm of my hand. There were also Red Pandas? Very weird - they look like racoons but have that same dopey face as the black and white Panda’s.
- We took another side trip to visit the largest Buddha statue in the world. It’s huge, the Buddha stands 71 meters tall (approx. 232 feet!!). The Buddha’s large toe alone is 8 meters long. Anyway, another place amongst the hordes of obnoxious Chinese tourists.
- Sichuan is famous for it’s spicy cuisine. The Sichuanese really know how to spice things up. Wow!! the food is a tongue killer! My Korean taste buds can only take so much!! The red chili peppers aren’t so bad, but it’s the Sichuan peppercorn that’s a killer. The pepper actually numbs the tongue and mouth. Keep eating and things eventually build up to an untolerable level. During a Sichuan meal, you can probably bitch slap me and I won’t feel a thing. There’s not a sufficient amount of beer that can cool down my tongue.
- Sichuan is also famous for it’s teahouses. They’re especially all over Chengdu. Great open courtyard spaces all over the city. Nothing like sipping a hot cup of tea amongst a pleasant garden setting…Aaahhhh!
- We’ll be in Chengdu until the 6th, afterwards take a bus to Chongqing, where we’ll hop on a boat and cruise down the Yangtze River for 3 days. Afterwards we’re Hong Kong bound, our intended arrival date of the 11th -yeah civilization!!

Pictures to follow shortly