I’ve been to a lot of coffee shops in lots of different places in the USA as well as other countries, but I must admit I was a bit surprised by the small Espresso shops in Washington state, especially those with the scantily clad bikini girls. Each of the shops[…]
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I’m sure that there is some think tank type committee that meets in a secret bunker sipping wine while making major decisions for the airlines which affect millions of travelers every year. Perhaps they hire genius level experts who clean house on Jeopardy or can beat Deep Blue in a[…]
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The first day I arrived in Hong Kong the outside temperature was around 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius) which was a major change from Malaysia where daily temperatures hovered in the mid 80s. To combat the temperature change, I bundled up in my winter coat and swapped shorts and[…]
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I find the name both amusing and fun at the same time. Ding Ding-ah is what locals in Hong Kong call the trolley tram that runs down the middle of the street. I’m told the name comes from the sound it makes. Each trolley has a bell that it rings[…]
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Most of the domestic help in Hong Kong homes is supplied by women from the Philippines (and Indonesia) who are paid a fixed rate salary of $3,800 HK each month for six days work (about $450) plus housing and medical care. What I found most interesting is what these domestic[…]
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In November of 2012 I bought a one way ticket from Los Angeles to Taipei, Taiwan with China Airlines which at the time was offering the best rates between the two locations. I expected the typical airline experience of seats sized for 12 year old kids, small bags of peanuts,[…]
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I’ll admit up front that the sound of a Chinese Opera is similar to finger nails on a chalk board and makes me want to run screaming out of the room. However, I would recommend attending the Chinese Opera to anyone in Asia. So the bigger question is why; what[…]
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I’ve seen quite a few fireworks shows over the years for both the 4th of July as well as new years. I’ve also been fortunate enough to work with a good friend who is a pyrotechnic professional where I learned to make shells for fire works (four and six inch[…]
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After surviving the destruction of the earth as the Myan calendar ended on December 21st, I spent my 2012 xmas in Hong Kong. I’m not sure what I expected, but I think somehow xmas would be celebrated in some small way here in Hong Kong. However, I was in for[…]
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I could smell the stinky fruit from half a football field away. The three of us had just finished dinner and were headed toward the night market in Singapore. I thought to myself, “What is that smell?” As I turned to look at our local guide for the evening, she[…]
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It is a competitive business trying to get tourists to take a ride in your trishaw in Malaka, Malaysia. In order to convince tourists to pay 40 rinkets an hour (about $13 USA), owners of the trishaws have gone to great lengths to decorate their rides with colorful plastic flowers,[…]
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I’ve heard some border crossings are more difficult than others and I’m certain that many are far more challenging than going from Singapore to Malaysia. But, I’ve crossed borders into 14 countries now and none has taken much more than 30 or 40 minutes. Maybe I was lucky or perhaps[…]
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