Da Jeepney Diaries

Funny Sausage

2009-06-03T14:34:00.001-07:00

I don't know if anyone's following this blog anymore but I have to post up this picture I just found.

I believe this was when we were walking through a market in Bangkok.

Jules's Favorite

2009-05-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

Beer: Red Horse
Party Spot: Boracay, Philippines
Breakfast: Tita Aurie's, sunny side eggs, bangus, and longanisa
Lunch: Street food in Hanoi. Fried spring rolls, sweet and spicy sauce, and a plate of various salad leaves. Done
Dinner: Ultimate seafood feast from wet market in Boracay
Food: Chicken Si Sig
Ultimate Destination: El Nido
Best Looking Girls: Boracay, Phillipines
Hotel: Renaissance Hotel, Makati
Hostel: Ogie Pension, El Nido
Memory: Kuya Eman taking us to the MTV party in Boracay and dancing all night while watching a fillipino regae band.
Airplane Ride: Eva Airlines. The fares are cheap, the planes all have in-seat entertainment, and the food isn't half bad.
Buddha: The Lying Buddha, Bangkok
Relaxation Spot: Sleeping on a hammock right on the beach, El Nido
Travelers: 1st place goes to Europeans (they travel for like 4 months every year), 2nd place goes to Aussies (because they're so outgoing and friendly)
Friendliest Bartender: Some bartender in Cat Ba island that arm wrestle's you, if you won you would get the shot you asked for, if you lost it would be his choice (you definetly did not want him win!!)
Best Cab Drivers: "Mr. Happy", our cab driver in Bangkok, because he new where all "the great spots" were. *wink wink
Easiest City to Navigate: El Nido, only because it's a small fishing village that you can slowly walk across in seriously 10 minutes.
Karaoke: Vietamese Karaoke on our boat in Ha Long Bay
Souvenir Spot: Suam Lum Night Bazzar, Bangkok

By the Numbers

2009-05-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

This has been an amazing trip and a sprint from the get go. There's so much to say and to many stories to tell. We've ridden, been in, stayed, eaten, and drank a pelethora of things through 4 different countries and now after 26 days and... 12 planes, 10 airports, 10 cities, 9 mango shakes (maybe more), 8 taxi's, 8 beach's, 6 boats, 6 tricycles, 6 hostels/hotels, 5 different airlines, 5 shuttle vans, 5 temples, 4 buss's, 4 currency's, 2 tuk tuk's, 2 roasted pigs, 2 roasted cows, 2 scooters, 2 atv's, 2 wedding receptions, 1 wedding ceremony, 1 muay tai fight, 1 kayak, 1 rickshaw, 1 frog, and 1 cow testicle shot ....... were back in Seattle, and back to work with 236 emails to follow up on.

Favorites

2009-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Beer: Red Horse
Party Spot: Tie between Boracay, Philippines and Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong
Breakfast: Anything cooked at Tita Aurie's, especially salted egg & tomatoes with longanisa
Lunch: Five course meal from Thai cooking course
Dinner: Ultimate seafood feast from wet market in Boracay
Street Food: Fried spring rolls in Hanoi
Ultimate Destination: Ha Long Bay
Best Looking Girls: Boracay
Hotel: Renaissance Hotel, Makati
Hostel: Hanoi Backpackers Hostel
Memory: Riding scooters along this winding coastal road on Cat Ba Island, seeing the big blue Pacific ocean on our left, and lush green rice paddies and fish ponds on our right
Airplane Ride: Eva Airlines. The fares are cheap, the planes all have in-seat entertainment, and the food isn't half bad.
Buddha: Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Relaxation Spot: Tita Aurie's front porch
Travelers: 1st place goes to Europeans (they travel for like 4 months every year), 2nd place goes to Aussies (because they're so outgoing and friendly)
Friendliest Bartenders: Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong
Best Cab Drivers: They drive really fast in Bangkok (but they rip the heck outta tourists)
Easiest City to Navigate: Hong Kong MRT
Best Karaoke: Any random street corner in the Philippines
Souvenir Spot: Khao San Road, Bangkok (Goods are cheap for a reason)

Pimp My Ride

2009-05-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

Random post on all the different rides we've seen during our travels.

Right Hand Drive: Thailand and Hong Kong
Left Hand Drive: Philippines and Vietnam

Pink taxis in Bangkok, Thailand. Weird but eye-catching.

Double decker tram in Hong Kong, a vestige from its history as a British colony.

More scooters than anywhere else in the world in Hanoi, Vietnam

Tuk-tuk in Thailand, Bangkok. Those drivers are aggressive!

This minibus is Hong Kong's version of the Philippine Jeepney. Not as colorful or charismatic but it is clean and air conditioned. Probably an accurate representation of the differences between the two countries.

Pirate ship in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

Airplanes, sooo many flights.

Makati

2009-05-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Before returning home to the states, Jules and I spent two days in Manila to see our Dad who was also visiting the Philippines, and our cousins one last time. Ate Ana organized a delicious dinner at this restaurant called Sentro. Mmm their corned beef sinigang was awesome.

Here's a group pic of all the cousins. Hate to rub it in, but you missed out on the fun Alvin, Teody and Tet-Tet. Wish you were there.

After dinner, we headed over to a bar called Cafe Havana. We were drawn to the place because of the great live band, but more importantly my Dad's promise to pick up the bill that night.

We started the night slow, sipping on mojitos and grooving to the island music...and then the tequila came out (uggh). Even though our cousins had work and other commitments the next morning, the shots didn't stop coming. I blame Jules for ordering the first round, Peanuts for ordering the second round =)

The waiters at Cafe Havana were wearing these hip Cuban style sombreros. My dad got things started by borrowing a hat and posing with it. Then we all took turns...

Sandra

Me

Pinkie

Bella (I think she was dreading the thought of having to go to work in just a few short hours)

Thanks cousins! Hope to see you all again soon.

Easy Rider

2009-05-20T04:47:00.001-07:00

On the 2nd day of our tour, our pirate ship landed on Cat Ba Island, the largest island in the Ha Long Bay archipelago. After spending the morning hiking to the lookout tower, we checked into our hotel, cleaned up, then set out to explore the rest island.

View Cát Bà in a larger map

Outside of our hotel, there are many hawkers who do scooter rentals. After some friendly negotiation, we were able to rent two scooters for 13,000 dong (that's like $7 dollars!)

We scooted along a winding coastal road that was simply amazing. To our left side was the wide open expanse of the Pacific Ocean, the blue sea stretching all the way to the horizon. The road in front of us was clear except for a mother goat and her babies that rested in the shade. To our right, we passed by farmers stooped over tending to their rice paddies. The forested green hills were the background to fish ponds separated by earthen dikes with tiny wooden huts built atop to provide shelter for workers. The Cat Ba countryside was really incredible.

I wish we had more pictures to share with you, but our camera died and all we have are these videos. Enjoy!

Rock the Cat Ba (Vietnam)

2009-05-17T04:10:00.000-07:00

May 11, 2009

On the 2nd day of our trip in Ha Long Bay, Paolo and I, along with 4 other friends, went on a trekking trip through the mountains of Cat Ba Island. Luckily we had a Vietnamese guide, Nick, that knew where we were going. The destination was a lookout tower on top of the mountain. The tower is barely visible in this picture.

At the start of the trail, Nick said there's an easy way and a hard way and we would first take the easy way up then the hard way down. If I had the slightest inclination of what his notion of hard and easy were, I would actually describe it far differently, "the extremely hard way and an impossible way". Though it might be relative, the first 200 meters up these very very steep, slippery steps were actually the easiest part of the hike, only because it's the only part that resembled a trail. The rest of the "trail" was going through bushes, trees, rocks, and mud in humid 90 plus degree weather. If it wasn't for Nick we would of most likely died out there, or still been roaming the jungles of Vietnam. While we were gasping for air completely muddy in our hiking boots and sweat soaked clothes, Nick our guide, was breezily climbing through in his flip flops with out even breaking a sweat or a getting a smudge of dirt.

Only after going on this trekking trip do you really realize how the Vietnamese won the war ...seriously

The majority of the hike consisted of climbing through rocks and walking down steep muddy trails.

Watch that last step it's a doozy (Some of the stairs on the watch tower were missing platforms so you had to be extremely careful or it's a very quick way down).

Finally after reaching the peak of the trail we got to climb an old watch tower and rest for a moment while enjoying the scenery.

Ha Long Bay Kayaking

2009-05-17T01:12:00.000-07:00

May 10, 2009

Approximately 4 hours east of Hanoi is Ha Long Bay. On our first day here we started with a kayaking trip, where we went through hidden tunnels to secret lagoons and between giant limestone cliffs. Though it was a bit of a workout to say the least, kayaking through a Ha Long Bay is an amazing experience that everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. Every excruciating paddle stroke is worth the amazing scenery you experience.

Having gone to Ha Long you realize there's no better sculptor than nature itself. Watching the panoramic view make's you also realize the vastness of this earth and nature's beauty.

Don't get thrown off by these two ugly mugs, I swear the scenery in Ha Long is better.

Our group of about 9 people, including a guide, went through pristine lagoons and narrow caves.

The limestone mountains make you want to just stop paddling and let the current take you, while your eyes are in constant awe of the view.

Short video of Ha Long.

The Dragon's Back

2009-05-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Jules and I just spent the past 3 days in a landscape so amazing that our faces our now permanently wide-eyed and the only word left in our vocabulary is "wow". Imaginatively termed the "Dragon's Back", Ha Long Bay is a collection of hundreds of forest covered limestone towers that dot the emerald green Pacific Ocean.

We signed up for a tour of Ha Long Bay through our hostel, and it was the sweetest deal ever. For $90 we got 3 days, 2 nights accommodation including meals. The first day was spent aboard a wooden pirate ship. We slowly weaved our way through the islands taking in the sights.

Most of the day was spent relaxing, drinking Vietnamese beers (the consensus choice was that Tiger was the best, although I don't know if that is truly a local beer) and making friends with the other passengers on board. We met people traveling from Norway, Austria and even San Francisco.

Note: Jules is going to do a separate post on the sea kayaking tour that we took this first day. This definitely was one of the highlights of my trip.

In the evening all the ships anchor in a cove protected from the rough waves of the sea. It was quite a sight seeing these great wooden vessels circle around each other throughout the night.

While anchored we would have time to go swimming. The best way down is jumping right from the top of the boat and into the water.
.

Hanoi, Vietnam

2009-05-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday May 9, 2009.

4am, only about an hour or two of sleep, we wake up from our hotel room in Bangkok. Still a bit hazy while checking out, we pay our bill and head to the airport for our 6am flight, it was yet another early day. But 6 hours from the time we woke up were already in a vastly different place from where we left.

Hanoi, Vietnam. From the airport, our taxi driver, provided by our hostel, took us to the old quarter of Hanoi, where we'll be staying until going off to Ha Long Bay for a three day Kayaking and hiking trip.

Out of all the places I've been or lived, I would have to say Hanoi is my favorite city so far, well tied with Ballard (And that's just because Ballard has Golden City). In Hanoi the streets are filled with scooters whizzing by and people walking and congregating on the sidewalks but you don't have sky scrapers and tall building towering over you, or the sound of trucks, construction, tv's and radio's. The architecture and landscape is reminiscent of a small French town (due to the french occupation) and just as easily accessible to get around the city by foot or scooter. But the culture itself (fortunately) is nothing else but it's own. Hanoi is a place where they've been able to advance in so many ways but has still been able to keep it's identity and proud of it.

The alley's vastly outnumber the main roads and are just as busy with foot traffic and food stalls.In here you'll find a mix of restaurants, private dwellings, mechanic and retail shops, all coinciding next to each other while old lady's in there bicycle's selling anywhere from a fruits, flowers, or knick knacks, pass by.

Fresh produce from the provinces are sold daily right on the sidewalk.

The first meal of the day was coffee in a sidewalk cafe before heading off to a restaurant for Vietnamese sandwich's. The sandwich were made of a fresh baguette, cilantro, sliced cucumber, dykon, pate', chicken, oil and vinegar, fancy, and hot sauce to you liking. A majority of the eatery's are in sidewalks and alley's where you can commonly be found on small plastic patio furniture. Fresh soup, Pho, is constantly stirred and monitored right next to you.

After a quick bite we headed off to another cafe for some drinks while our room get's ready. The beer of choice here is " Ha Noi", 333, Halida, and Tiger

We perched ourselves on a patio overlooking one of the main roads. Who needs a TV when you got hundreds of scooters intersecting all at once. Cars are the minority compared to the hundreds, if not thousands of, scooters. For every car there's probably a hundred scooters .

Thailand

2009-05-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

Don't have much time and would rather be scootering around Hanoi right now but thought I would do a quick post on the rest of our Thailand trip since were already behind and not there anymore.

The lying Buddha

On the the to of another temple on top of a hil

Grand Palace: This is the residence of the monarchy

Right inside the Grand Palace

Suam Lum Night Bazzar. This is one of the biggest open air night bazzars in Asia. Located just across the street from Lumphini park. Here you can find about anything if your willing to walk the entire bazzar, which is about 5 city blocsk big. You can find designer shirts, bedding's, furniture, anything and they have it for a very very cheap price. But don't try to find a price tag on any items here, all prices are negotiable and it's up to you to haggle it down as much as you can. Unfortunately for me my "walk away" didn't get me to far before I would cave in and settle for there prices. :(

Suam Lum night bazaar

Ha Long Bay

2009-05-11T04:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, Jules and I are currently in Ha Long Bay, which is located in the North East corner of Vietnam, about a 3 hour ride from Hanoi. This place looks like it was set in a fairy tale where dragons live in the green mountains, and pirates roam the seas. Check out this link from the UNESCO World Heritage Foundation. We hope to post our pics and videos soon.

Muay Thai Fight

2009-05-09T09:35:00.001-07:00

On the evening of our second day in Bangkok, Jules and I attended a Muay Thai fight. Muay Thai is the national martial art, and it involves using a combination of kicks, knees, punches and elbows to try and bloody your opponent.

To get ourselves from our hotel to the arena, we decided to roll in style. Riding in a tuk-tuk (the Thai version of an open air tricycle).

Before entering the arena, we stopped by a street side vendor to munch on some bbq'd chicken and pork at a cost of 7 baht each (that's like 20 cents!)

We had to choice of purchasing 1st class seats (basically ringside where all the tourists sit), 2nd class seats (where all the locals go and where people stand up and get rowdy) or 3rd class seats (nosebleed seats pretty far away from the action). We chose to mix with the locals.

Its interesting to note that the arena has a pricing fixing scam for tourists. Tourists are aggresively led to ticket booths with signs above written in excellent English explaining the price differences between 1st class (2,000 baht, $60USD), 2nd class (1,500 baht, $45 USD) and 3rd class (1,000 baht, $30 USD). Locals never buy tickets from these tourist booths, instead they go to the booths down the line that conveniently do not have prices publicly listed. I wish I woulda figured out this scam earlier.

We saw seven fights in all, but I was disappointed that there was only one knockout.

Nevertheless, it was pretty intense sitting in the hot, sweaty, beer-soaked stadium, feeling the energy of the crowd amplify after seeing a knee drive into the opponent's ribcage, or an uppercut daze the competitor. The Muay Thai fight was definitely overpriced, but it was worth seeing it.

Thai Cooking School

2009-05-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

Jules and I enrolled in a Thai cooking class during our second day in Bangkok. The Silom Thai Cooking School (which I would highly recommend!) was suggested to me by Marianne, a friend I was introduced to in Hong Kong.

The class began with a tour of the market to pick out the proteins and produce to be served that day. Items bought include chicken, beef, chiles of every color, curry powder, ground coconut, kaffir limes and leaves, garlic, a few types of ginger, carrots, tomatoes, pineapples, mangos...the list goes on; our baskets were overflowing.

Our instructor taught us the basics of Thai cooking and how the use of just a few key ingredients like roasted garlic, curry paste, coconut milk, and a selection of veggies and meats stir fried in a wok can make a wide variety of Thai dishes.

We learned how to make coconut milk from scratch. Ground up ripe coconut meat is mixed with a cup of water and then squeezed with your hands out over a strainer. The result is coconut milk. This process is repeated 4-5 more times in order to draw out as much coconut milk as possible from the coconut meat.

We made green curry paste the hella hard way using a mortar and pestle to mash up the ingredients. In the mixture were green chiles, shallots, garlic and lots of other green leaves. To me it smelled a lot like the fresh salsa from Henry's. It took about 15 minutes of continuous grinding before our instructor was happy with the consistency of the curry paste.

In all,we learned how to create five dishes. Sweet and sour veggie stir fry. Cashew chicken with chiles (pictured above). Beef in red peanut curry sauce. Chicken in homemade green curry sauce. And for dessert...

Sweet sticky rice with fresh mangos.

It took a lot of gut power to complete a five course meal, but that was the reward for making every dish. Taking a cooking class is a totally cool way to appreciate another culture.

PS my Thai cooking services are now available for hire.

What's the Capital of Thailand....Bangkok

2009-05-08T04:11:00.000-07:00

One person short, Paolo and I continued on to Thailand. We arrived Wednesday, mid-afternoon on May 6th, 2009, about 14 days into our trip, halfway through. We get off the Bangkok airport and were automatically scanned by infrared cameras, checking our body temperature, making sure we don't bring in any unwanted flu's into the country. Then once out of the airport we were greeted by a 95 degree heat, humidity and several taxi drivers aggressively soliciting their services, fortunately Paolo pre-arranged with our hotel for a driver to pick us up. Mr. Phan, also known as "Mr Happy" , was a very accommodating driver. He was so accommodating, he not only offered to take us to our hotel but also bring us all the best "lady-girl shows; lady-boy shows, boy-boy shows, soapy massage parlors, happy endings, live sex shows" and even presented us with a nifty little pamphlet....what a great guy. We politely declined and informed him that taking us to the right hotel will do just fine.

The hotel we're staying is in the neighborhood of Banlamphu, a couple blocks from the infamous Khao San Road. As the lonely planet likes to put it, Banglamphu is "an enclave of bohemian artists, students and back packers". Imagine the AVE but a hundred times more crowded with people, restaurants, alcohol, music and shops, all spilling into the streets. Our first night out we familiarize ourselves with the neighborhood by walking around all the different streets. You can turn a corner to an alley or random street and find amazing restaurants and shops every single time. I would definitely advise anyone that travels to Bangkok to allocate extra time to just wander the streets, there always something new waiting around the corner. Here's a link to our hotel, the Thai Diamond House, check it out. http://www.thaidiamondhouse.com/

The streets at night are bustling with people, beggars, cars, tuk tuks, food stalls, street performers,and musicians. And the air is filled with the aroma of food.. and...... diesel fumes and a hint of urine.

After walking now for hours, buying a couple shirts, and inhaling probably a pound of smog, we stopped by a local Thai restaurant that we just happened to stumble upon in a small little alley way. We ordered Jasmine fried rice, Thai chili beef, and an appetizer, some sort of beef on a biscuit, all very delicious. With all the walking there's nothing more refreshing than a cold Thai ice tea, Paolo and I downed 3 each of that stuff. During dinner we met a Canadian guy from Vancouver who wanted us to visit his tattoo shop right off Khao San (this trip is still early, but my life long dream of a tattoo of a dolphin jumping over my nipples might come true).

Arriving in the Airport. Luckily my sun burn wasn't mistaken as a fever while going through the infared camera's.

All over the streets of Bangkok are food vendors that can fill you up for less than 30 Baht, that's about a $1.00. At this food stand I was grabbing some BBQ pork and chicken skewers

Though there's more to blog about I don't really have much time before dinner. So stay tuned for our upcoming posts about an awesome five course Thai cooking class, going to a Muay Thai fight's, night bazaars, and visiting Buddhist temples......... and ping pong .

Thanks to everyone leaving comments on the blog. Were constantly checking it.

An update and some bad news...

2009-05-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

So I've been talking to a few of you via chat and email and I just wanted to put this up here.

Since arriving in Boracay, I've been developing an allergy to the blood pressure medication that I've been taking. I've been tired for most of my stay there, and I've been absent for a lot of the clubbing, ATVing, and eating. In reality, I was in the hotel room fighting off anaphylactic shock. Needless to say, waking up with swollen lips, racing heart, skyrocketing blood pressure, and a lack of appetite calls for a trip home back to the USA. I'm actually pretty lucky considering my throat didn't swell up while far away from a hospital, and after talking to my dad, going home is the best option at this time.

So Da Jeepney Diaries ends for me here. I have to skip out on the trip to Thailand and Vietnam so Jules and Paolo will be finishing the trip without me. I'll still be blogging when I can and I'll have my dad's laptop for my trip home. God knows I'll need it with the 8 hour layover in Taipei...

I'll be coming home on Friday the 8th. I'm really bummed that I have to go, but excited to see you all.

Hong Kong Freestyle Walkers

2009-05-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Video was taped about a week ago while walking through the streets of Hong Kong.

Boracay Recap

2009-05-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

A trip to the Philippines isn't complete without a a few days in Boracay (a white beach playground with activities ranging from jet skiing, snorkeling, atv, parasailing, loungin', shopping and all night boozin'). Boracay is an incredible place. It has one of the longest stretches of white beach sand, which never gets hot in the mid-day sun, and the finely ground coral is like walking on pillows! The greens and blues of the water shimmer christmas lights, and the sunsets there look like they're computer generated perfection. I've been there three times and there' always something new and exciting to experience.

The sunsets in Boracay are indescribably beautiful. You have to come out here to experience it yourself.

Jules and I rented ATV's one afternoon. The one hour ride, at a cost of about $15/person was enjoyable. Our guide took us to two secluded beaches, and we got to get dirty and grimey buzzing through puddles and dirt roads.

Dear Mom,
I lost a bet to Jules and I was forced to get a tatoo. At least I was able to convince Jules to let me get the Philippine flag on my arm instead of a butterfly on my lower back. I hope you're willing to pay for laser removal surgery.
Love, Paolo

For dinner one night, we visited the d'talipapa (i really like saying that word) which is a wet market filled with seafood and meat caught fresh that day. We bought ourselves a feast consisting of lobsters, prawns, squid and chicken. We then took these raw ingredients to a row of restuarants situated across from the d'talipapa, and had them prepare our food in a variety of different ways; lobster in lemon butter sauce, bbq'd chicken, and pictured above prawns in sweet chili sauce.

During our last night in Boracay we made friends at a club, bonding over rounds of Red Horse beers. The girls, from left to right, Honey, Tessa and Andrelynn all work at the Ritz Carlton in Singapore (Seriously, I'm coming to visit and I want the president's suite!) PJ is a developer working in Makati. Good times.

The Amazing Race to Boracay

2009-05-04T05:18:00.000-07:00

Friday April 30, 2009

6:30am Woke up at our hotel in Puerta Princessa
7:00am Got a text from my cousin Ana saying she can't see our 1:45pm flight to Boracay online. We informed her that we have our etickets and our flight doesn't leave until 1:45pm.
7:45am While eating breakfast we checked our airline's website and found out our scheduled flight wasn't posted, only another flight flying out at 9:30am. That's when we checked our emails and the airline sent us a notice three days before we were supposed to fly out informing us that our flight had been canceled and rescheduled to May 8, 2009 (a week out).
8:00am Ran to the room, got all our bags and booked it out of the hotel and went straight to the airport. Luckily the airport was only a two minute tricycle ride. When we got there "Seair", our airline company we booked through, wasn't open.
8:30am Still waiting in the airport.
8:50am STILL no staff from Seair. We finally find a phone number for their head office in Manila and gave them a call. Speaking to one their staff I find out that not only did our flights get canceled but all Seair flights from Puerta Princessa that day did. The earliest flight out from them was May 8, 2009, the time were supposed to be in Thailand. We yell at them to find us a way to get to Manila but with no avail. Since Seair is the only airline that fly's from Puerta Princessa to Boracay we have to now divert our plans and schedule a flight to Manila and from Manila to Boracay. Since there's more options to Boracay from Manila our main concern was just to get out of Puerta Princessa. Unfortunately there was only three flights from three different airlines that leave that day and they all leave within the hour.
9:00am We scramble to the three other airlines in the small ass airport to try and find another flight out. Unfortunately there's also hundreds of people in line and the flights out that day are leaving in 45 minutes. If we don't catch a flight we could get stuck in Puerta for another week. Jeff and I spread out and race to see who can book a flight first. Unfortunately we find out all the flights are fully booked.
9:10am We were able to put our names on a standby list and they said our odds were good we would get in.
9:15am But they also said if I get the flight we have to pay for the tickets in cash. Unfortunately since there's no atm's or banks in or near the airport we have to book it out of there and take a tricycle back to town and withdraw 15,000 pesos= $312 for the two tickets.
9:40am After two banks and one tricycle ride, we are back to the airport 30 minutes from when we left and go through security check again only to find out that our stand by flight was fully booked/confirmed.
9:45 am 15 minutes before the last flight of the three airlines leave, we scramble to another register and see if they have any openings. I check "Philippine Airlines" and find out they're fully book and confirmed, my last chance is "Cebu Airlines". As I stand in one of two lines to the booking counter, there's also a couple in the adjacent line on standby trying to book the same flight out of Puerta Princessa to Manila. It was a race to which line would go faster. I've never had so much anxiety in my life, again if we miss this flight we would have to forego our trips to Boracay, Thailand, and Vietnam due to time restraints.............
9:58am To my relief we get the booking register first to take the last two standby open seats. After printing our tickets we run to our plane and enter from an open air concourse with 2 minutes to spare before the flight takes off.
10am We get a text from my relatives, Eman and Ana who are already in Boracay, saying that they were able to confirm a Seair Airline flight to Boracay from Manila at 3:20pm for us.
11:30am Arrive in Manila. The connecting flight on Seair airlines is unfortunately in a different airport and have to take a shuttle bus across town to it. Since there's actually four different airports in Manila, we have to find out which one Seair flies out of.
12:00pm Airport information personal tells us that we can take a shuttle van that circulates through the four different airports. We ask this ass hole shuttle driver to take us the the airport Seair Airlines flies from (I should really do a separate post for this ass hole but I bet a I'm already losing a lot of you). Long story short he tried to charge us 170 pesos each when the huge sign directly behind him clearly says, in english, 20 pesos for the shuttle.
12:45pm After being stuck in traffic we finally arrive. But the ass hole driver drops us off at the wrong airport. The security guard at the airport asks where were going and informs us were in the international airport and Seair airlines is in the domestic airport.
12:55pm We hop back into that asshole's shuttle van and tell him specifically what airport to go. Luckily there was a Filipino/ Australian girl helping us out.
1:45 pm Arrive at the right airport and finally get some down time before our 3:20pm flight out
3:30pm Find out that our flight has been delayed by 20 minutes
4:40pm After an hour and half were still waiting for our flight
5:00pm We finally board the airplane only to find out that it's not your usual twin turbine engine plane but a twin propeller plane that only seats about 17 people.
5:30pm Though I was exhausted and tired, sleeping was the last thing I could do when the propeller blades were only about 3ft from my face and only an inch of glass blocking me, while a mile up in the air through turbulance.
6:00pm We land in Caticlan (the city across the water from Boracay) and grab our backpacks from the tarmac and take a shuttle ride to the ferry terminal.
6:15pm We hop into a wooden outrigger boat to take us across the water to Boracay
6:45pm Land in Boracay and take a 15minute tricycle ride across the island to our hotel.
7pm Finally arrive in the hotel after 12.5 hours of traveling.
7:30pm After freshening up we meet with relatives and friends and eat at a restaurant right on the beach. The dinner it self was well worth the trip. All the ingredients were fresh and could be hand picked before they start grilling it up for you. We had prawns, sword fish, bbq pork belly, rice and my favorite, a nice cold Red Horse (it's their beer equivalent to a Fat tire).
10pm After dinner we went to a live concert on the beach MTV was promoting. From here the night get's kinda hazy.
11pm-ish Met some local celebrities
12pm-ish Started taking shots of something a girl offered me
1am-ish Watched an awesome Filipino reggae band, " Tropical Depression"
2am-ish Did the worm
3am-ish Started dancing on the table with a group of girls and took more shots
4am-ish Went to Andoks (Their equivalent to a fast food joint) and ate some chicken
5am-ish Went to bed............

(I have pictures of this whole day and night but can't upload it...check this posting again and hopefully there will be something)

Hong Kong

2009-05-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hong Kong is an amazing city, incredibly vibrant, fast-paced, clean and efficient. English is widely spoken, the mass rapid transit is easily navigable, and the melting pot of nationalities, cultures and foods makes it seem like this city is the standard bearer for all others. I stayed in HK for 4 nights, 5 days, crashing at the flat of my cousin Peanuts.

Peanuts was busy coordinating a trade show, so instead she gave me a map of the subway system and loaded tons of money on her Octopus Card (an electronic card thats used on subways, ferries, trams, buses, etc..)

My first stop was riding a cable car up Victoria Peak to get a survey of the city. I'm probably making this up, but I'm gonna state that Hong Kong has the world record for highest density of skyscrapers. I've been to metropolitan cities like New York and Los Angeles, but it just doesn't compare with how cool it is to walk in a towering forest of steel and glass.

Hong Kong is truly a fusion of the East and West. Pictured above is the "Chinese" style squat toilet. Not pictured but to the right is a "Western" seated toilet you are probably more used to. Now if you were to use the squat toilet, which direction would you face? The wall or the door? My approac...if I was taking a poop, I'd face the door.

Other interesting facts I learned about bathrooms. Owing to it's colonial past, people in Hong Kong call bathroom's "Loos". Peanuts and her friends also call bathrooms "Johns" but I have forgotten their reason for that.

Tired and hungry from walking around the city most of the day, exploring the areas of Central, Hong Kong Park and Admiralty, I hopped on the MRT to Wan Chei. I ducked into a pub recommended by the Lonely Planet guide book, called the Pawn. There I ordered figs wrapped in bacon and washed it down with a draft english beer. Only later would I discover that Wan Chei has a well known red light district, I'll have to save that for next time =)

The next day I explored Lantau Island where Peanuts lives on the island in the city of Tung Chung. The island is the largest and greenest part of Hong Kong. I took a 25 minute cable car ride from the Tung Chung to Ngong Ping to see the Big Buddha; apparently it is one of the largest seated Buddha figures. It is a 200 step trek up steep stairs, but getting to see the figure up close makes it worthwhile.

On the way back I visited the Po Lin Monastery. There I walked around soaking in the serenity and spirituality of the location. I watched a procession of young monks in training goofing around with each other as they ate ice cream. I also lit incense sticks and prayed for a safe journey as we continue this South East Asia adventure. The picture above is one of my favorites. The incense sticks are intricately decorated with dragons and in the background you can see the Big Buddha.

Later that evening, Peanuts and I met up with her friends in the party district of Lan Kwai Fong. Before starting a long night of drinking, we had an incredible dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Izote. We had cold, refreshingly fruity sangria, light your mouth on fire chorizo, but the best dish was the roasted chicken which they sliced for you tableside. LKF (in the local lingo) is a strip of bars, clubs and restaurant, where hip hop and 80s music explodes from speakers, shots are shared and the party spills out onto the streets. Many bartenders in HK are Filipino, so you're liable to get free shots if they see their fellow countrymen. We didn't get home until 5 in the morning. In a city full of great memories, that night was the highlight of my visit to Hong Kong.

During my last full day in Hong Kong, Marianne (Peanuts friend) was kind enough to take me on a tour of her neighborhood. We visited the Man Mo Temple, where we cam across this beautiful sight. Coils of incense slowly burn and the shafts of light streaming in are quiet beautiful

Many people in Hong Kong are cremated. We visited temples, where you could see rows and rows of boxes, with pictures and dates identifying the deceased. One of the really interesting things I came across was the concept of "Dead Money". During cremation, paper replicas of items are burned along with the body. Here you can see origami of McDonals fries and chicken nuggets, so that the person who has died can fulfill their junk food craving in the afterlife.

During my last night in the city, we walked through the Central neighborhood. These towering skyscrapers are brightly lit up at night. The city never sleeps.

Peanuts and I enjoying one last drink at a club called Tivo in the SoHo neighborhood. I really dug the cool shadow box lighting effect of the bar. Good times.

Seriously, if anyone has a computer job for me in HK, I would move there. Get your couch ready for me Peanuts =)

Night Shots in Boracay

2009-05-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

We've been doing a lot of things here in Boracay and we'll blog about it in more detail later. We just saw some of the coolest Fire Dancing. Paolo and I were just going to a random restaurant and there were random fire dancers just doing practice routines while we were waiting to meet up with Jules. Called the Boracay Phoenix Fire Dancers, they are usually hired by local bars and clubs, but tonight was just exhibition for tips.

El Nido

2009-05-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

There will probably be no other place I can say is more beautiful than El Nido. The long 7 hour trek on a one lane bumpy dirt road , in a 15 person shuttle van, that should ideally hold about 10 people, was a big pain in the ass but I guess you have to travel through hell before you can get to paradise. El Nido is a place you want to describe to people so they can have a glimpse of where you've been but also not tell a soul, so you can keep this place all to yourself. It's a place where getting there will make you never want to travel again and when you arrive will never need to.

Once there we were greeted by the most personable and laid back hotel staff/ waitress I've ever met, Carla, Jocelyn and Beth. The staff here are the kind that if you ever need anything they'll go above and beyond to assist you but could also catch them taking a nap on the couch overlooking the beach or swimming in the water to cool of from the hot weather. The hotel accommodation was a standard room with two single beds, a clothes cabinet, a bathroom (with no defined space of toilet, shower, and sink) and all lighting was fluorescent. The room might of been upgraded since we were one of the few rooms that had air conditioning.

The day usually starts when the power turns off which is daily between 5am- 6am. That's when our air conditioner and fan automatically turn off. We could be sound asleep but the second the the power shuts down the humidity sinks in and your up the rest of the day. Since there's really no infer structure in El Nido, each individual building is runned by it own generators.

In El Nido you can spend the day however you like, whether it would be lounging on a hammock by the beach reading a good book, going on a boat ride to a secret beach, hiking through the forest to a the top of mountain over looking the islands, snorkeling, island hopping, an over night back packing trip to different small islands or you can just get pissed drunk all day on the beach. In this town there's no fixed schedule or itinerary, you're free to make the day however you like.

Here are a few pics of El Nido. Unfortunately I didn't take nearly enough.

Landing on heart island before having lunch on the beach.

The bout tour which is roughly 650 pesos= $ 13 dollars each came with lunch barbecued right on the beach. We had fresh fish, BBQ pork chops, rice, some sort of tomato and zucchini plate and banana's

Docking in one of the islands

Climbing on top of heart island.

Relaxing on the white sand beach's. The beaches here are made up of ground sea shells and corals.

Jeff snorkeling/ drowning

Fist it -jelly fish style. One of our companions on the boat we're from Slovenia and got stung by either a jelly fish or a coral.

Underwater sea cliffs

Hundred Islands

2009-05-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

Even though were already in day 9 I'm gonna back track to day 4, our trip to the hundred islands. Compared to our other travels, the drive was a lot easier to get to these islands, only about 2 hours from the city of Dagupan where the wedding was. But the 8 hour car ride back to Manila was another matter. After going swimming, our change of clothes was in another car, except for a pair of regular shorts, on it's way to Manila. So we were left having to sit in an air conditioned car with a wet shirt and going commando for 8 hours .

Hopping on to the boat to take us to the islands.

I'M ON A BOAT, I'M ON A BOAT

While there we walked around the different islands in the middle of a tropical rainstorm. I've never seen rain fall so hard. And that's saying a lot coming from Seattle. But after some heavy downfall the sun broke through thanks to Pinkie's sun dance.

Cave diving inside one of the islands

The only way out of the cave is to swim out.

Another picture of us swimming in the islands

The Best Hotel Managers

2009-04-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough stay in an amazing hotel but even luckier to meet the best hotel managers.

Traditional Fillipino Breakfast

2009-04-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

The traditional Filipino breakfast consists of plenty of rice, bangus (Milkfish), shrimp (served cold), filipino steak, champorado (hot chocalate), Tomatoes and eggs ( I know there's a name I just don't know it), puto and cheese ( puto is a rice cake)

Jules just grubb'n on the food

Gardens, Weddings and After Parties

2009-04-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

This set of photos was taken between April 25th and May 1.

Close up of the calimansi tree growing in my Tita Aurie's garden. Calimansi is widely used around the Philippines as marinade in fish and meat dishes. It is also used as a flavoring in drinks.

Red palm tree

Lanterns constructed out of sea shells

Bel, Tita Aurie, my mom and Ana dressed up and ready for the wedding

Our cousin Esther married Joseph at St Therese church on April 25. Tiffany (far left) and Jules (far right) were part of the wedding entourage as cord sponsors. The cord is draped on the necks of the bride and groom to symbolize the lifelong bond between the two.

The cousins gathering for a group pic at the wedding reception. Check out Tito Romy in the back, holding up the wedding cake for reasons beyond explanation.

The celebration keeps going, with the wedding after party taking place at our Tito Nonoy's, the father of the bride. We all look suprisingly sober here after finishing off a bottle of tequila.

Introducing the Pinkie Bomb, named after our cousin who made this drink up on the spot: Drop a shot of Jose Cuervo in a San Miguel Light. Guaranteed drunkeness.

Going Through Hell...

2009-04-27T23:22:00.000-07:00

...to get to Paradise

The rigors of travel can be really taxing, and going to El Nido is no different especially with this kind of morning:

5:30 wake up
6:15 leave for Manila International Airport
7:30 arrive and check in
8:30 leave for Puerto Princessa
9:30 land and take a tricycle (motorcycle with car attached) to Fort Wally Van Terminal

So cramped

Once we got to the Van Terminal the hardest part of the trip so far was ahead of us. The cheapest way to get to El Nido from Puerto Princessa is via bus or van. ~280km of unfinished dirt road snakes through the mountains of the island. Narrow bridges, construction delays, pot holes, and jarring terrain combined with a 10 person van packed with 15 people makes you feel every meter of the journey in your ass. Needless to say, the trip got old very fast and I was telling myself "this better be worth it" after the first 20km when the concrete road ran out.

We lost a lot of good men in there

It was totally worth it:

This picture doesn't do justice to how it actually looks here. This is what we wake up to every day. Each morning we are greeted with gentle waves splashing. Each morning beach tables welcome us with a hot Filipino breakfast. Each morning the boats beckon us to charter them to unknown adventures.

Og's Pensionne is one of the places that you only hear of by word of mouth. Carla, who can't be older than 18, seems to be the manager of the joint as she's the only one who can speak english. Talking to her, she was surprised that we were only staying for 3 nights. Many guests take advantage of the P1000/night ($20) rates and stay for months. It's sounding pretty tempting with the view, but that wouldn't be fair to all of you at home.

Our room is sparse with little more than two beds, a fan, and an airconditioning unit, but provides plenty of space for respite from the humidity. The bathroom doesn't have a shower so we just use the bucket and pail for washing and laundry:

Laundry day

Under the rooms on the beach, the attached bar/restaurant serves up beer, cocktails, and glass bottled sodas along with their food. FYI, they have some of the best mango shakes I've ever tasted.

Next door is home to Sea Slug's bar and restaurant. Pretty much the same deal as Og's but with two differences: Sisig and live music.

First the Sisig. Chopped ginger, chilis, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper are mixed with chopped chicken, topped with an egg and served on a rocket hot cast iron plate. The flair of the presentation is matched by the taste. Fresh calamansi (Filipino Lemon) finishes the dish and gives a clean acidic contrast to the rich and fragrant chicken. I'm pretty sure the word Sisig is onomatopoeic and the dish is a perfect accompaniment to the Red Horse beers and live music.

SOOOOO GOOD

And about the live music. Ask any Filipino, and they'll tell you they know at least one person who has real talent in terms of performing arts. Sea Slug's next door showcased some of the local talent Monday night. On a makeshift stage, the local band sound really professional. Funny thing though, this is probably just a hobby and they couldn't be older than 21. Acoustic guitar renditions of Michele Branch, SWV, Alicia Keys and others are a great complement to the night.

The video is pretty dark and the audio is soft, but trust me, they sounded amazing:

Today has been a day to relax, drink, and talk with other foreign nationals. Tomorrow we'll probably take a boat ride and do some snorkeling. Whatever comes, the attitude of the trip can be summed up with something Jules said: "Yeah, I can get used to this."

The 10 Labors of Hercules aka Jeff eats the world.

2009-04-27T05:55:00.000-07:00

Weddings in the Philippines are no different than the states when it comes to feeding people and the one we went to certainly didn't disappoint. There were 10 things on the menu served family style and I was challenged by Jules to make a dent in each one.

Cold Cuts (pork, beef, century eggs, seaweed and others):

Spinach and seafood soup:

Beef Tenderloin Chinese Style:

Chicken and Broccoli:

Steamed Garlic Shrimp:

Steamed Lapu Lapu with Ginger and Scallions:

Birthday Noodles:

Pandan Jelly with Coconut Milk and Cornflakes:

Ube Sesame Ball:

and the 10th course? Rice of course.

Each one was pretty intimidating and I looked like this after each dish:

I'm pretty sure I'm gaining all the weight I've lost. Totally worth it.

Jeepney

2009-04-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

This is another picture of a Jeepney.

Day two

2009-04-27T05:17:00.000-07:00

Driving to Dagupan for the wedding which is about 7 hours north of the capital of Philippines, Manila.

First day

2009-04-27T05:07:00.000-07:00

Fresh of the plane we see a jeepney. Here's a picture of it for all of you that aren't familiar

Jeff's dad picked us up from the airport where we proceeded to the largest mall of Asia. The food court has some crazy food, but we chose Kamay Kainan (roughly translated as Hand Food) and its a place that has some pretty bomb filipino food.

Dagupan

2009-04-26T19:26:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody, I'm currently in Dagupan, Philippines the hometown of my mother. I've been in the motherland for a little over two days now, and it's been packed with activities, like attending a wedding, trying all sorts of new dishes, pretending to remember old uncles and aunties, finishing a bottle of tequila with the cousins, and going island hopping and snorkeling.

Today, Monday, is the first "catch your breath day" I've had. Jules and Jeff, have taken off for El Nido, while I've stayed behind one extra day. I've been put to work running the register at Pinkies, the local bakery/cafe that our family runs. (The pay is lousy, no pay, but I do get to eat whatever I want.) I've taken my lunch break by heading into an internet cafe to enjoy the air conditioning.

Here's a quick review of the new dishes Jeff, Jules, and I have tried
Roasted calf: Awesome! Slow roasted over a charcoal spit, it tasted extremely juicy and tender. Apparently they marinated it by injecting brandy.

Bbq frog legs: It really does taste like chicken.

Century Egg: A chinese dish where the egg is fermented until it turns black, the egg white becomes quiet gelatinous and translucent. It wasn't my fav.

Parad - A preparation of pork that can only be bought in the town of Alaminos. The pig is only fed garlic cloves. When bbq over charcoal, it tastes likes happiness.

I'll be sure to post up pics of our activities as soon as I can find my camera cord.

Next stop: Hong Kong

Stay Tuned...

2009-04-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

10:56pm. Jules and I just arrived back in Manila after a 6 hour drive while Paolo stayed back in Dagupan. We're very tired, but we've been doing so much these past 4 days and have a lot to blog about. We're still alive and have a whole lot to show you guys. Stay tuned...

Cya!

2009-04-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Jules and Jeff have probably landed in the Philippines by now. Shortly, I'll be chasing them across the Pacific. Next time you hear from us, we'll be halfway around the world!

Packing List

2009-04-22T21:20:00.001-07:00

Clothing/Shoes
1 Pants, 2 shorts, 2 swim trunks
2 long Sleeves, 2 short sleeves, 2 v-neck undershirts (keepin it classy)
Rain jacket
Hoodie
5 Underoos
Flip flops
Water proof kicks

Misc
Credit/Debit Cards
Money Belt
Passport
Vietnam Visa
Books
Airline Tickets

Electronics
iPod
DigiCam
Chargers

Bathroom Gear
Face Wash
Sunblock
Mosquito Repellant
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Soap
Immodium
Deodorant

10000km, 12 hours, 2 meals, and a cousin

2009-04-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

Eva Air Flight 25 was definitely better than some other flights that I've had. There were the usual lows (cramped spaces, crappy food, bathroom lines, etc.) but there were plenty of highs that kept the stress down and flight bearable.

The accomodations were pretty nice for a coach seat.

Blankets and pillows were soft and clean, and to keep you comfortable they even provided some slippers to use while you kicked your shoes off:

Best of all, the individualized entertainment system was pretty cool:

That's me checking out the nifty controller. One side was a phone while the other side had a controller that could be used to control the screen in front of the passenger. Each station could broadcast movies, games, tv, and info as the user requested so I definitely took advantage of it. YesMan was pretty good as was Role Models. Benjamin Button was better in the theaters, but it did help me get back to sleep.

The lows were pretty standard. Food was mediocre at best. Take for instance the breakfast below:

Pros for fruit and yogurt, but the actual food was pretty bad. Sausage, eggs, and a soggy hashbrown. Jenny's care package got us through it all.

Other than the food though, I don't know how a coach ticket could get much better.

Fact Finding

2009-04-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

A tip to all travelers- Before you go somewhere, a good traveler does extensive research to there bound destination, a fact finding mission some might call it. In my case, my travels across asia would mean I would have to get acquainted and immerse myself with the asian culture. That's why the night before our trip I took a little trip to Golden City, for those that don't know it's (the best) run down chinese dive bar in Ballard. Here are some picture's of what I learned.

Though this guy had great stories of his fishing days, he provided me with absolutely nothing that could help me with my travels, besides if I ever wanted to go to Scandinavia. In that case I should make sure never mistake Scandi's to Norwigians. We learned that the hard way after a friend asked him if he was Norwigian and his mood changed drastically from friendly -

to very angry and confused

If I learned anything from my fact finding mission is that if the long island ice tea's in Golden City are any way close to what they'll serve on my trip, it'll be a great vacation!

The Weigh-In

2009-04-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

Jules and I are going to be making a huge dent in southeast asia's beer and pork supply so we decided to see how much of it we were going to be bringing back.

Jeff: 189.4lbs
Jules: 183.4lbs

Both of us have been working out like crazy over the past couple months just for this exact trip. We'll be sure to do a weigh in when we get back. Stay tuned.

Itinerary

2009-04-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

Some of you have requested a schedule of where we'll be. Here are the dates below:

04/24 Manila-Dagupan
04/25-26 Dagupan
04/27 Manila - Puerta Princessa
04/27-29 El Nido
04/30-5/1 Puerta Princessa
05/1-06 Boracay
05/05 Manila
05/6-9 Bangkok
05/09-11 Hanoi/Halong Bay
05/13 Bangkok
05/14-17 Manila
05/17 USA

Can't Miss List

2009-04-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

Friends and family have been asking me what activities I plan on doing. Here's my can't miss list.

Hong Kong, China - Walking all over the city sampling street food

Boracay, Philippines - Massages & drinking beer by the beach

Bangkok, Thailand - Muay Thai Fight

Hanoi, Vietnam - Riding a Scooter (Hopefully all three of us won't have to cram)

Ha Long Bay, Vietnam - Kayaking

Treatment worse than the disease

2009-04-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

Ran into Virginia Mason for shots and to get a prescription for malaria meds today. One of the pills (Mefloquine) has multiple psychotic side effects including suicide ideation, permanent central nervous system damage, unusual dreams, and hallucinations. Now I like ruining my senses as much as the next guy, so I opted for the less intese Malarone. Makes me wonder though, how much could I get if I hocked those other meds off to some ex-pat. Any takers?

Gettin' Shit Done

2009-04-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

The three of us are getting our lodging figured out. The places in Bangkok Paolo sent us are looking pretty good, but there's a little detail that we just happened to overlook:

APPARENTLY THERE IS CIVIL UNREST GOING ON IN THAILAND

Now there are a few obvious downsides to this situation (getting caught in a riot, dying, etc.), but there is a huge upside. The Baht has fallen a bunch so this trip just got a whole lot cheaper. On top of that, hotels have been slashing prices. Boring? No. Dangerous? Yes. Affordable? Fuck yeah.

Here are some pics of our "productive" work party

Me studying up on Vietnam:

Paolo trying to find a tranny hooker once we land:

Jules still trying to figure things out:

Where We'll Be

2009-04-09T23:06:00.001-07:00

Click on a Blue Pin to get more details about the location

View SouthEast Asia in a larger map

Who We Are

2009-04-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

We are three Posadas' (two brothers, one cousin) about to set off on a three week adventure through South East Asia. Stamps we'll be adding to our passports include the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam. Come along for the ride by visiting this blog often.

From left to right, Jeff, Paolo and Jules.