Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts

Monday, April 29, 2013

Literally The Longest Day in My Life - Beijing to New York

The 24th of April, 2013 was been the longest day of my life. It wasn't 24 hours as most of the days I've been here but rather 36 hours. My 14 hour flight from Beijing moved the clock forward in just two hours. Jet lagged? Naahhh... Enjoy the pictures below
At Beijing airport - I'm guessing it's an ad to Chinese opera but it's totally freaky.

At JFK airport, New York, an ad for Chengdu, China.

JFK airport

JFK airport, in case you're not sure which country you've landed in. I personally don't remember visiting any other country which had such a big flag in the airport.

Sunrises over the horizon as seen from the plane.

Either our pilot was drunk or it's because JFK airport is a busy one. The good side is we got a nice aerial view all around NYC.

Following an amazing reunion, we're glad to see fresh veggies. Go vegan! :)

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Making the Inevitable Joyous - Surfing in Bangkok and Macau - CatchingUp pt12

Time to close this "catching up" series. This post is about the few days in Bangkok and then Macau at the end of February. In Macau I started the catching up, about a month ago. So here the catching up stops.

Both Bangkok and Macau had something in common: I didn't really want to spend any time in them. However, as transportation routes go, we're sucked into specific places, whether we like it or not. Bangkok is really such a place and it's extremely hard to avoid it when moving around Thailand. As I've personally grown to dislike Bangkok but had booked my flight from there, I decided that instead of trying to spend as little time there as possible and risk missing my flight, I should make it fun.

How fun? CouchSurfing fun! So I looked up hosts hoping to avoid the Kaho San area and its density. Seems my CS karma is doing well as I keep getting positive replies from the first person I send to and I meet really good people I enjoy spending time with.
Beer towers - how groups of people enjoy alcohol induced happiness together

Wine and beer tasting with my cool host in Bangkok

Smoking bubbles - yeah!
I was Alison's first guest and she's been a fantastic host, trying to always make sure I'm comfortable. We did end up in Kaho San road one evening. Guess you can't run away from fate :p

Another evening in Bangkok I was walking around an area with vile sewage smell and more mosquitoes and cockroaches than I ever witnessed in an urban area. So yes, I still dislike staying in Bangkok but any place can be fun as long as you're spending it with people whose company you enjoy.



Bye bye Bangkok



And now.... Macau. Nowadays famous for its casinos, Macau is a lovely one or two day trip for people passing by who don't desire losing all their money gambling. For me, it's been really good because of the cool Indonesian host I had, Intan. With an Israeli passport, I still cannot visit Indonesia so I'll have to know only the traveling ones. With Intan I've seen a different and very relaxed side of Macau and was very happy for that.
Rikshaw is a tourist form of transportation

Cool bus and I can do a V

Dogs in Macau know how to read

Chinese New Year boobs-for-nose figure

"Be tolerant towards others - mutual respect means a happier life" says the caption. I say: be nice to others or these guys will kick your ass!

The Chinese New Year is long gone but maybe they'll keep the decorations till next year

Chinese vegetarian restaurants have a habit of making dishes that look like meat and have meaty names. Suspicion...



Romantic Macau all lit up for you to gamble your money away
The romance does appeal to some

Am I the only person thinking this creature who's a part of the Chinese new year's decorations has a nose that look like boobs? Something's fishy here and it's not bcz we're near the sea

Rocking the boat and off to Hong Kong

Classical music in the shopping mall. Hong Kong is all about contrasts.
OK. Too much text here. Can't believe you read all the way through. There was a little girl dancing at some point near this trio. Everybody loves little girls dancing. No musical sense whatsoever but kids are so cute. So why don't grown ups go out and dance whenever they feel like it? Well, I do!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Hong Kong, Israel, Jordan, Thailand

This blog hasn't been updated in a while. Maybe not such a long while but we've managed to change our plans drastically. The trip to Hong Kong was supposed to be a visa run from Yangshuo, China. It's such a lovely place with marvelous scenery and nice nightlife that even the hordes of tourists visiting it cannot completely spoil. We've decided to stay there for a few months after getting a new visa in Hong Kong. Yes, Hong Kong belongs to China. Yes, you can get a Chinese visa in Hong Kong. Something about a SAR (Special Administrative Region)...

Anyway, we've left a bag full of stuff in Yangshuo and then, about a week into our Hong Kong time, being too lazy to visit the embassy and get a new visa, we've decided to fly to Israel for a visit. There have been many good personal reasons for that visit. We took the risk of never seeing the bag we left ever again but luckily, a day before our flight we got it from a nice Israeli guy who just came from Yangshuo to visit Hong Kong.
A few hours on a plane and it's a different world...

Desert totem in Israel. If you know where it is, you've had a great time there ;)

Yes, I went to the naked festival again. Thinking about making a tattoo that says "Tattoo" in Hebrew. Long story...

Desert sunset in the south of Israel

Delicious middle eastern vegan food in a steak restaurant in Israel.

Frognector went to TechAviv to hear some more encouragements to the Israeli hi-tech industry.

Tel Aviv sunset at yet another "Goodbye party". I kinda like these parties

While in Israel, I realized I should get out of the country soon. There were many options for a mew destination but Thailand came through as a very comfortable place to stay for a bit while focusing on Colnect. We got tickets from Amman to Bangkok and set off to meet cool friends in Jordan for two days. It's been really great and I expect more short Jordan visits in the future.

Falafel, Hummus, Foul in Amman, Jordan

A branch in the dead sea, this time from the Jordanian side of this sea.



Falafel in Amman - when the Jordanian Tourist Police asked me why I am going to stay in Amman my reply was "to compare falafels". I was only half-joking ;)
There have been many new cool stories on the way but this blog is largely being ignored but people who actually care about what I do so it'll keep being a picture blog with a few comments. Now in Pai, Thailand and a new post is coming up.


Friday, August 24, 2012

Great Firewall of China Post from Hong Kong

For those of you who read Hebrew or enjoy auto-translation and might have missed my latest post on the our firewall experiences of China, you're welcome to read it and perhaps check other posts of mine on NewsGeek.

Here are a few pictures from Hong Kong for everyone to enjoy. These were taken on Wednesday, which is the free entrance to museums day (they're not really expensive anyway), meaning we checked out 4 of them and had a lot of fun exploring.

You think you're better coz u got two humps?

No more war!

Posing next to the first Chinese astronauts in space

Frognector missing home...

Monday, August 20, 2012

On Top of Hong Kong

Slightly held back by the Internet censorship in China that blocks Blogger, I haven't written any updates here. Yes, the great firewall of China is a lame excuse, I'm aware of it. Anyway, now in Hong Kong and thought I'd throw you a picture or two so you'll know I'm still alive and well.

Frognector in Hong Kong

Preparing to party on the top of the ICC - 480m up in the air

Over-crowded food expo
Oh, in case yo haven't noticed, I shaved my head and left a single braid. Being the 4th time I take my long hair and shave it off, I decided on something slightly different. I thought that Chinese people would find it weird but acceptable as foreigners are often weird. To my surprise many of them said it's really cool. Others have mentioned it looks slightly similar to haircuts they do for young children in China, leaving a lock of hair and shaving the rest of the head. Oh well. For me it's somewhat amusing.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

TechCrunch vs. India Mess

You're most welcome to read about this quite awkward experience if you haven't already seen my comments on Facebook. Read about it on Colnect's blog: TechCrunch vs. India Mess