Up the Highest Summit in Maui

We visited tons of snorkeling spots in Maui and in Oahu, but the 10,000 ft ride up the Haleakala National Park gives you the most memorable sunset.

Visited Bangkok Before the Riot

We stayed in the heart of Bangkok for 3 nights (2nd to 5th of April), a week before the riot and the Songkran, which is the Thai New Year. Songkran usually falls in the hottest period of the year. It is also part of the Songkran tradition to throw water at anyone in the street, although not the main activity as it was also a period used to give family members an opportunity to pay their respects to elders and visit temples. Why water? Pouring of water is used as a symbol of washing away the bad. In my case, I was dousing my face with water because of the humid weather while we visited numerous outdoor places like the Grand Palace on the second day of our trip. That night, we visited a really modern and high-end mall, Siam Paragon and a few malls all within a few blocks away. Prices are relatively cheap especially if you're looking for local goods usually exported to North America (ie. dried fruits, exotic handmade house decors).

We went outside of Bangkok the 3rd day to visit one of the two remaining Floating Markets (the other floating market is on the Chao Praya river). The bigger floating market was 2 hour drive away from Bangkok so we had to leave the hotel early. When we got to the place, it was exactly what I had envisioned before visting Bangkok. It was like an Asian version of Venice - but with smaller canals. We visited an elephant sanctuary along the way home to Bangkok where we went for a short elephant trek. We fed the elephants baskets of bananas for 100 baht each. The elephant trek costs 600 baht per elephant which is worth the once in a lifetime experience. We ate curry crabs on our last night in Bangkok at Somboon Seafood.. a must-eat for seafood lovers.

I wish we stayed an extra day or two in Bangkok, although I wouldn't exactly want to visit the city at its hottest period of the year again. I also want to visit the northern part of Thailand - Changmai and maybe Phuket when we visit Asia again next year.

Summer Hot in Asia

We left already spring Vancouver last Saturday and we're now in Asia for a three week vacation from work. We do not have a list of things we want to do, but we do plan to eat, relax in Manila and visit Bangkok for the first time.

Manila (29th March to 17th April)
We just arrived in Manila yesterday. Angeli and I already visited two malls and had foot massage (around 20usd/person for an hour).

As most probably know, summer comes relatively early in Asia.

You would either need to be at home in an air-conditioned room or be somewhere like a mall to be able to stand the 32 to 35C summer heat which starts mid March to end of June every year. The occasional rain shower during the week gives us the much needed break from all the heat.

Bangkok (2nd to 5th of April)
Although I can't wait to visit Bangkok for the first time, I'm also trying to push aside the thought of the heat and humidity when visiting the tradition and architecture rich country. Can't wait to go through the list of things to see and eat (ie. curry crabs!) that a friend gave me. I'll post pictures once we get back from the trip next week.

Hong Kong (17th to 19th April)
Planning to drop by Hong Kong for 2 nights before going back to Vancouver for more food and shopping. Angeli wanted to also visit Macau, but I'm not sure if we can fit this in our hectic schedule.

Also not sure if we'd be visiting any beaches this time, but I don't think we'd need to be anywhere close to the sea to get a tan.

25C at Waikiki

Visiting a beach at this time of the year will probably be in our annual vacation plans. We left a rainy and pre-winter cold Vancouver and travelled over 5000mi to sunny Hawaii for the first time.

The beaches may not be as powder fine as Boracay, but there are more hotels and designer boutiques steps away from the Waikiki beach just like the pictured colonial Westin Moana SurfRider hotel. We spent 4 nights in Honolulu last Veteran's day.

Spent two days at the beach..rented a car for one day to go kayaking at Kailua, Lanakai beaches. Spent another day (by joining a tour) to visit one of the best snorkelling spots- Hanauma Bay.

We walked along the Waikiki coastline to watch the surfers. Also went to the Ala Moana Mall (which is the biggest outdoor mall in the world), where we saw Tony Romas at the foodcourt.

We are now back in Vancouver, a little tanned and ready to welcome winter and X'mas after being sunkissed on last time in 2008.

Almost Went to India

I was supposed to fly to India after a week's stay in Hong Kong for work, but since I wasn't able to get my Indian visa, I'm still here at the Langham Place Hotel in Mongkok again. Can't complain, especially if they let you stay in one of the fanciest 5-star hotel in HK. I heard from my colleagues that their hotel in India is as good. Too bad I missed it, but I'm sure there will be tons of opportunities to visit as we continuously increase working with our offshore team in India.

Hong Kong

Spent two nights in HK at the Langham Place in Mongkok. We walked around Mongkok and visited the Lady's Night Market on our first day. On our second day, we took a bus from the Central station to go to Stanley Market and Repulse Bay to buy souvenir artworks.

Manila Trip

Part of our 12 day trip last February is a visit (yes, again) to Boracay. Not much has changed on this tiny island 300km south of Manila. We stayed in boat station 1, left most side of the 4km stretch of powdery white sand, lined with resorts and restaurants. Boracay is probably one of the most beautiful beaches in the world but still costs less 50% less than a Bora Bora (Tahiti) package. More Boracay pictures posted on my flickr site.

While in Manila, we spent most of our time at Mall of Asia . We also visited different spas every two days for foot & body massages which cost approximately 12CAD including tips.

After our visit to Manila, we went to Hong Kong for two nights before flying back to Vancouver.

Back From Brazil

I made a second trip to Brazil in less than 5 months and made it back a week before Christmas. I knew there was no option to spend X'mas in South America.. even if there are so many reasons to love Curitiba city. The Air Canada flight (view their latest video of the TO airport) alone was the best I've had, those 180 degree flat beds do really help reduce the jet lag. Air Canada dramatically improved their flight facilities, finally offering on-demand movies where you can pause and resume your movie whenever you wake up while in your 11 hour flight from Toronto to Sao Paulo. It softened the harsh one-way flight 24 hour travel time from Vancouver to Curitiba. Curitiba's 25C weather during December sparks envy, especially if you are in Canada enduring rain, wet snow and 5C weather during Christmas. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2008!