Port Douglas, Australia Wrap Up

Hello 100% English speaking country.  It is very nice to see you.  Your food: pretty similar to what you find in America.  The most exciting thing ever—nope.  What we were in the mood for—absolutely.

No more wondering if a soup was a main course or appetizer.  No more menus in complete Japanese.  Much less asking each other “do you know what this is?” and hearing back “nope, but it is good.”

Don’t get me wrong, we loved Asia, but it was great to be someplace that was familiar…Well, mostly familiar.  We are not on a vacation, but a holiday.  You don’t watch your step, you mind your step.  You don’t get in line, but queue up.  After a thank you, it is not you’re welcome or no problem, but no worries (I’ve even been told no drama)…And of course, you drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right.

Continue reading

Sydney In Pictures

Usually, I try to post the wrap up and pictures before I move on to a new destination, but I am getting behind on typing the wrap ups…So here are the Sydney pictures; the Port Douglas wrap up will hopefully be up before too long.

I was able to break out the tripod more in Sydney.  It is a little dorky, but it let me get some great night shots – as well as pictures of us together.  It also let me do some cool stuff that I may be able to post later.

Here is the link to all the pictures in full size.  Some are below:

http://justinandalyce.smugmug.com/Other/Sydney-Australia/28028532_HwSx8B#!i=2367077295&k=XT4k2NL

DSC_3321 DSC_3151

Continue reading

Retro Review: British Virgin Islands

We’re tight on time right now, but I had typed up reviews of our trips in the past.  So this can serve as some interim entertainment

British Virgin Islands – June 2009 (Honeymoon)

We went to the British Virgin Islands for 15 nights on our honeymoon.  We stayed on two different islands (for a week each), in addition to a night spent on St. Thomas the day we arrived.

 

5413_786055047455_2553291_n

On the whole, we loved the BVI’s.  We always felt safe on the islands.  They were not overly touristy.  Plus there were plenty of things to do when you actually are looking for something to do.

Continue reading

Singapore Wrap Up

Singapore was a very quick stop for us.  We were there for 3 nights, and one of our two full days was raining.  That said, we liked what we experienced of Singapore.

Singapore culture is a blend of many different cultures.  Per Wikipedia, the majority of the country is of Chinese ancestry with “significant minorities” of Indian and Malay people.  We definitely noticed the Indian population; the Malaysians were probably pretty difficult to distinguish from the Chinese.

As a result of all the different backgrounds, Singapore has four official languages – English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.  English is the most common with roughly 80% of the country literate in English.  Also, all official government business is conducted in English.

Continue reading

Singapore In Pictures

Here are our pictures from Singapore…It may seem like a lot of zoo pictures, but that was mostly what we did in Singapore: our first day was the zoo and the second day it rained.

Also, I just wanted to remind y’all that our Smugmug site serves two pruposes:  The first is to show our pictures to everyone.  The second is to act as a backup for us should some sort of computer disaster happen during the trip.  So, if the pictures seem repetitive, that is the reason.

Anyway, I think they came out alright.  Here are some; the rest are at the link.

 

http://justinandalyce.smugmug.com/Other/Singapore/27927966_hqCNqb

DSC_2403

Continue reading

Thailand Wrap Up

“Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”…This was our reaction stepping off the plane in to the Bangkok airport.  We left quiet, orderly Japan and arrived in louder, unorganized Bangkok.

Although we and Thailand got off to a rocky start, we’ve grown to love it.  The activities have been so much fun, and extremely reasonably priced.  The food has been delicious and dirt cheap.  Plus, not having to get dressed up for dinner every night was just what the doctor ordered.

The Thai people have been extremely friendly and are just as trustworthy as the other Asian countries we have visited.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect because I had read some things about Bangkok and tourist scams that made me have my guard up (though I am sure the scams/pickpockets even in Bangkok pale in comparison to Europe).

Continue reading

Koh Lanta, Thailand In Pictures…aka: Sunsets and Diving

I apologize for the excess of sunset pictures (again)…It was just the photographic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel with the beautiful sunsets everyday.  The rest of the pictures are from Scuba diving.  Some have much better color than others; the shallower depth the picture was taken at the better it could be corrected by adjusting the white balance.  Deeper pictures (past 40′ without strong sun light) tend to look greenish blue either way.

Some pictures are below.  All of them are on the Smugmug site in full size:

http://justinandalyce.smugmug.com/Other/Koh-Lanta-Thailand/27842153_dQtMQS#!i=2348549074&k=dS5QCwF

DSC_2262

Continue reading