At Keelung, our port was within easy walking distance to the city, so we took off to explore on our own. When we stopped on a busy street corner to pull out our map and get our bearings, a very friendly man asked if he could help. This was Jeremy, originally from Keelung, but living…
Continue reading →I have always loved the Japanese sense of design for its well-planned simplicity, serenity, purposefulness, and calm order. This is most evident in their gardens, one of the things I most wanted to see during my visit to the country. I spent an overcast morning touring the small village of Chiran just outside the port…
Continue reading →It is both unfortunate and important that Nagasaki is probably most remembered as a target for the atomic bomb that ended WWII. It is as much a part of the city’s fabric as the charming hilly landscape, winding sidewalks, and welcoming, friendly people. Detonated at 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, Fat Man, the name…
Continue reading →Flashing neon lights on the ceiling and colorful upholstery banners over each seat of our tour bus, embroidered with “Have a Nice Day”, were sure signs that South Korea was a happy place with friendly people. Our charming tour guide pointed out that, unlike China, sculptures and dieties in Korea were always depicted smiling and…
Continue reading →When we originally booked our “around the world” cruise, some of the great perks it included were several complimentary events. Some of those got left behind when almost the entire first half of the trip was cancelled, but we have been hosted to a wonderful evening of cocktails, dinner, and a traditional Thai puppet show…
Continue reading →Magnetic Levitation was first proposed in the mid-20th century by German engineers and is based on the principle that speed increases when there is less friction (think hydroplaning). So a maglev train is designed to maintain a magnetic connection with the rail while levitating just barely above it, thus never making the direct contact that…
Continue reading →If China is a country of contrasts, Shanghai is all that in one fabulous city. And, if the architecture in Singapore is on steroids, Shanghai has overdosed. Home to the world’s second tallest building at 121 floors (first is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai), The Shanghai Tower forms a trio with it’s neighbors, the Shanghai World…
Continue reading →The weather in Xiamen is said to be generally mild year-round, but it was a rainy day when we visited this southeastern coastal city whose name means “gate of China”. It is ranked as a top port in the country and boasts trade as a main industry, along with large factories of foreign companies, and…
Continue reading →Hong Kong has many nicknames…Asia’s World Capital, City of Life, Fragrant Harbour, even The Big Lychee. But it’s most historic and romantic moniker is The Pearl of the Orient, and indeed it is. On an island of just 410 square miles, this vibrant, bustling, modern, densely populated city and former British colony on the South…
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(borrowed, with a nod to Jaina)