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May 28 Ho chi MinhJust arrived in to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) last night. We're staying in town just for a day before flying onto Hoi An this evening. It's hot here, after Beijing and Hong Kong I think we kind of got used to the cooler temperatures. A few bullets and then I gota run:
May 19 Denied entry to Bali, stranded in Hong Kong, now off to beijingWell at 6am on Monday May 15th Dawn and I changed our mind and decided to continue on to Bali (after deciding the prior evening to skip Bali). So we hustle to the airport and go to check-in at Cathay Pacific. Here we learn that because my passport is 2 days under 6 months to expiration, they will not let me into Bali. (seems like we were fated not to go there). We then have to scramble - find a hotel, set-up an appt with the US Consulate to get me a new emergency Passport (thank God they didn't require us to stay here for the normal 10 day passport processing time). By end of day we are ready to go again and could leave for Bali Tuesday morning for a minimal change fee. However, at this point we change out itinerary and book travel to Beijing. This does leave us in Hong Kong for a few more days while we get our China Visas processed. Hong Kong is a great city to be standed; its clean, and has efficient transport, lots of people speak English, there's good restaurants. We end up dealing with Typhoon Chalou again (this time while we were visiting Victoria Peak, and we get drenched on our walk down). Yesterday we went to Ocean Park (this was a great park - no lines, some fun rides and exhibits) and had dinner at Aberdeen on one of the floating restaurants (very cool). Now I am at the Hong Kong airport waiting for our 5pm flight to beijing. We are both excited to be visiting mainland China, and to have our whole Bali and Passport debacle behind us. May 07 Home with Family in ManilaHello -
Updating the blog from my Tita Carmen's house in Quezon City (suburb of Manila). We've been staying with her for the last 8 days and enjoying her wonderful hospitality. Just spent the last 3 days traveling to and from the rice terraces of Banaue, "the 8th Wonder of the World". Dawn and I were there with my Dad, Tito Peping, and my sister Mia. We made the 9 hour drive out to the Banaue Hotel from Manila, then made the trip out to Batad our 2nd day there where we did some hiking in the Rice Terraces and around the Ifagao village - BEAUTIFUL! The rice terraces rise in an amphitheater and surrounded us (check out some of the newly uploaded pictures). It's been great having my dad and his brother and sister around as our local tour guides - they have been very gracious.
Prior to Manila - Dawn and I spend 3 days in Cambodia to visit the ruins of Angkor Wat. It was hot - 43 degrees celcius (around 108 F) - which made visiting the ruins of Angkor Wat challenging. We woke up at 5am and were driven around by tuk-tuk and hiked through the ruins until around 12:30 when we finally gave into the heat. The Ruins are incredible. The scale is HUGE. Angkor Tom (the lost city) is around 3 square km's with many separate temples within the city walls. Angkor Wat has a huge moat and surrounding walls which lead into a courtyard that must be over 100 yards - and then a smaller walled area which contains the famous 5 towers of the inner courtyard. Cambodia is pretty untouched (dirt roads 100 meters out from the airport). We stayed in a guest house outside of Siem Reap and were the only guests - they had a staff of 7 (so we had incredible service - though communciation was a challenge).
Well that's it for now. Tomorrow we are off to visit my Dad's home province of the Batangas (where all the Apacibles live) and the day after that we fly out to the Southern Island of Palawan to visit El Nido.
Hope that everyone is well. April 25 BangkokThought I'd update my space as it's been a while. I threw up some photos from Singapore, South Thailand (Ko Phi Phi, Ko Hong, Ko Lanta and, Chiang Mai (Doi Inthanon National Park), and Bangkok (Grand Palace and some of the bigger temples Wat Arun, Wat Po).
Highlights so far have been our day at Doi Inthanon checking out the waterfalls and doing some light trekking, Relaxing in Ko Lanta, the Songkran Festival Drenching we received, Snorkeling and Touring aound Ko Phi Phi Le in a longtail boat, Watching the elephants play soccer at the Maesa Elephant camp, visiting Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, as well as the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keo in Bangkok. We have also been treating ourselves to a variety of pleasures including many Thai Massages, enjoying the Thai food - Green Curry, Chicken and Rice (dawn's favorite), Fruit shakes and Roti (another Dawn Favorite), and partaking a lot of the local beer - Tiger (Singapore) and SingHa (Thailand). We try to workout when we have hotels with fitness equipment to help offset all the eating and drinking, though we end up doing a lot of swimming and walking as part of our day so hopefully we aren't getting too out of shape.
I did get to see the sex show menus in Patpong Road last night - how many times can both Dawn and I get prompted by some Thai men weather we want to see a Ping Pong Show or a Banana show...unfortunately we didnt' actually go see a show (we went to an Irish Pub and just walked around the area - Dawn was shopping for coach purse knockoffs, while I was checking out all the activity at the clubs).
Well that's all for now. We leave for Cambodia tomorrow where we will be checking out Angkor Wat for 3 days beofre heading off to the Philippnes to stay with my Aunt for a while. I am looking forward to actually staying in a house and also having some familiar faces around as company (my Dad and Sister will be there).
Hope everyone is doing well. We miss you. April 16 Checking in from Karon Beach, Phuket ThailandJust wanted to add something to the blog to let everyone know we are alive and well. We've been traveling for a little over 14 days now throughout Singapore and South of Thailand. The constants have been the heat, the insects - and the changing of hotels.
Singapore was great. Super clean, beautiful tree lined streets, lots of Hawker stands to sample lots of different foods, well laid out easy to get around. We were lucky enough to meet up with our friends Brian and Eden there for dinner one night as well. The only really noteworthy event was that we did get in a 7 car accident on our way to the Night Safari. Our taxi rear-ended the car in front of us, and then we were crushed by the car behind us - right in the middle of the highway. Fortunately both of us were okay (though we didn't have seatbelts on) and Dawn did go flying up into the back of the front seat and the ceiling. (impact from back was bad enough that I couldn't open the passenger side door). We ended up on the side of the road for like 45 minutes while all the parties invovled exchanged #'s, and then decided to give up on the Night Safari.
Since then we have been in Southern Thailand - lots of beaches and islands. Krabi, where we arranged for a snorkel and kayak trip out to Ko Hong (beautiful limestone formations coming right out of ocean). 4 nights in Phi Phi Island, relaxing at the Cape of God (saw some beautiful sunsets, were attacked by moskito's, did more snorkeling and swimming. Phi Phi island has no roads and all travel around the island is by Long Boat (really cool). We went on to Ko Lanta (really nice here - more lush than Phi Phi (which is a limestone island)). The day we arrivved in Ko lanta was Songkran (Thai New Year and celebration of water). As we drove out to our hotel on the back of a pick-up truck - our driver continually slowed down so that all the people along the side of the raod and in other truckas and cars (locals and tourists) could dump bucket after bucket of water on us. We were defenseless - Dawn was almost in tears. I was laughing - what can you do it's their biggest holiday and a country-wide water fight, I was just sad we couldn't fight back. In Ko Lanta we stayed on the beach in some local bungalos - great views, cute rooms, lots of bugs - bathrooms weren't western. We are now on Karon Beach in Phuket and have just upgraded our accomodations to the Hilton (still under $100 a night) - but a HUGE change from some of the rooms we've had so far - Dawn was close to her limit. I have to admit - it's nice to be in big resort hotel for a few nights. Helps prepare us for some of the places we are yet to go (read moskito's and bad bathrooms).
That's all for now. Looks like I am in 1st place in the bigger dance so far - hopefully I can keep up the mo. March 29 Back from S Africa (for a few days)We're back from South Africa for a few days before heading out to Southeast Asia on Monday. South Africa was amazing and we had a wonderful trip. The entire trip was filled with highlights: from our safari where we saw all sorts of animals and were fortuante to have a a wonderful zulu guide named Pen (short for Tembe Penual), to our stay in the wine country where we stayed at a fabulous bed and breakfast outside of Paarl named Roggleland (http://www.roggeland.co.za/) which had incredible food and wine, to out stay in Cape town which had the highlights of our drive out to Cape Point, a stop in Simons town where we hung out with the Jackass Penguins, and a hike up Lion's Head.
I am posting some pics up to this site which include Dawn and I in them - we've heard complaints that all of our pics on the D&C space are just of animals from our Safari (we personally think the Giraffes, elephants, Rhino, etc. are much more interesting to see than just pics of us).
There are some funny stories to tell including:
Well that's all for now. South Africa was amazing. There is incredible natural beauty to go along with the wildlife and plant life as well as wonderful people. The world Cup will be there in 2010. Maybe we'll be back. We loved it. February 28 Getting close to retirement.....for nowWell after 10 years, I will finally be leaving Microsoft this Friday. I am incredibly excited about taking some time off to travel with my wife and our families and absolutely believe now is the perfect time for us to take this opportunity. Though, I do feel a little sad to be leaving the company that has made up almost my entire professional career. It's crazy how the company you work for becomes part of your identity, it will be weird not to have my carlosap@microsoft.com email address, my work phone #, as well as no office - it will be a little hard to let go...but I am sure I'll be fine...especially with the itinerary Dawn and I have coming up.
I am trying to decide how I should answer the question: "what do you do for a living?". The scene that keeps popping into my head is Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta from Pulp Fiction at the cafe, when Jules is telling Vincent Vega he's giving up the life to "Walk the Earth", and Vincent say "What'cha mean walk the earth?", "With no job, no home, and no legal tender you're a bum, Jules, a f&$#ing bum.". I think I like Vince's answer best.
On to the itinerary:
Eventually it will all end, and I'll have to find gainful employment again. I'll be tired, dirty, jet lagged, mosquito ridden broke and tired of introducing myself, "Hello I am Carlos and I am a f#$%ing bum, nice to meet you."
May 19 Sonics, Soccer, and Long Beach
May 16 Have I lost my enthusiasm to Blog?I have decided to update my space after the weekend with a few random thoughts.
April 29 Spaces...and competitionWell today I visited my friend Dawn Livingston's space. She recently updated her space after I let her know about mine over a few beers at the Dutchess. It's great that she mentioned my space as a benchmark for hers, and its great to know I have that much influence over her. I don't know where her competitive nature comes from, must be her insecurities, but I do appreciate all the additional traffic I am sure that the link from her space wil bring me. April 20 Wedding Prep and House DetailsThe wedding preparations are going great. All credit goes to dawn on that front, she is doing an incredible job of taking care of all the details. To date we have chosen the church (Holy Names), the recpetion site (Harbor Club), picked the priest (Fr Doug), purchased the dress and tuxedo, selected a photographer, DJ, Wedding Cake, Wedding invitations, taking the pre-marital counseling (required by the Catholic Church), and started to take Dance Classes. Dawn has also set up a great wedding website: www.dawnandcarlos.com, be sure to check it out. Lately, the house has been occupying more energy than I would prefer - with work, athletics, and the wedding prep going on. However we had some new tenents (Rats) which I hope we have finally evicted permanently. (We killed one already - it was disgusting).
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