Adventure of the month

The Pyramids artificial reef Japanese "sculpture" normally used to grow seaweed The depth gauge gauging . Remains of a MidPacifics airplane Sunken ship known only as YO-257 the sunken San Pedro Couldn't ask for a nicer day. Diamond Head volcano as seen from the boat This past Thursday, my flight out of Honolulu did not leave until 3pm, so I had an afternoon and I had a mission. My mission was to do something new in Hawaii, something I had not already done. This simple criteria quickly ruled out climbing Diamond Head (already ruled out my pitiful lack of stamina), visiting Chinatown (already ruled out by my recent bok choy over-saturation), shopping for loud floral wear (already ruled by what I like to consider a semblance of sartorial taste) and trolling the island in search of 99 cent Mai Tais (already ruled out by a hangover from the previous night’s Mai Tai binge). These exclusions and the short time frame available left both myself and th

A stupendous idea . Kimchee refrigerator at Yonggungsa Temple Traditional kimchee storage containers As I have mentioned before, the ongoing game of Count the Countries has some hard and fast rules. One of the rules most commonly flaunted by my friends and acquaintances is the one that requires a person to leave airport property in order for the country to count. Merely having a stopover while changing flights is not going to net you a new country. Unless you cheat (you know who you are)... or, in an exciting new development, you happen to fly through Seoul's Incheon Airport. Some S. Korean mastermind has come up with a venture called " Transit Tours ". What they do is provide tours ranging from one to eight hours for people that are, well, in transit. This means that you not only get to leave the airport, thus making the country legitimately count in the grand total, but you get to kill time by sightseeing instead of just sitting in an airport lounge

Cruising Suzhou"s Grand Canal Inside the Master of the Net's Garden And just like that, it was our last day in China. It's amazing how quickly the time went, like a "travel week" is an alternate unit of time playing out at a noticeably higher rpm than real time. On this, our final day, we heeded a lesson learned at the start of this trip...that not all "optional tours" are to be mocked, avoided and summarily dismissed. We already knew we had a great guide and an easy-going, enjoyable group, so we saw no reason to follow through on the original plan of venturing out on our own. Instead we signed up for the last tour and joined Michael, Mr. Bell/ Bill and all the rest on an excursion to Suzhou , a 2,500 year old city, saddled with the predictable moniker "the Venice of the East". The nickname comes from the city's abundance of canals and bridges, but truthfully, I was reminded more of Bangkok's klong district than Venic

View from the Bund China's "Chinatown" Huxingting Teahouse Resident of Yu Yuan Gardens The Shanghai Museum Bronze arrowhead from the Museum's collection Bronze neckrest Bronze Ox-shaped wine vessel (early 6th century-476 B.C.) Nan Jing Pedestrian street Rush-hour commute It may look like I have gone a little over the top while posting Day 7 photos, and I probably have, but this was a really busy (and photogenic) day. Plus it was warm (in the 50's and possibly even low 60's). And I had found a cough syrup wonder drug, Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa (which I have since found in both NY and Philly's Chinatowns) so I was no longer hacking like a 5 pack-a-day smoker. It was glorious. We started the day with a group visit to The Bund , the landmark waterfront area along the Huangpu River. If you have ever seen a postcard from Shanghai, you have seen the Bund. As we drove along the main road, our local guide Mr. Bell (or maybe B