Around the world in 380 pictures

Friends and family often asked for a slideshow after we returned from our trip. Well, between the two of us, we took over 10,000 pictures over the course of 7 months. I am guessing people’s typical attention span for pictures is about 30-40 pictures, so I can’t really just break out my photo library and start playing 10,000 pictures. After spending 2 1/2 months filtering the library again and again, I came up with an album of 380 pictures that, I think, gives a good representation of our trip, both …

Read More

In San Francisco at last

My cousin in Singapore reminded me that I am still stuck in Zanzibar according to this blog. Alas. There has been so much to do since we came back that it has been hard to keep up with the writing. Aside from the endless tasks associated with finding and setting up a home here in the Bay Area, I have 10,000 pictures to organize, file, fine-tune, rank, and group...

Read More

Westward home

We’ve been here for one week exactly and tonight’s our last night in Israel. We planned our visit according to the Jewish Sabbath when literally everything in Jerusalem takes a rest from Friday sundown until Saturday night. Since we arrived on a Wednesday, we spent two nights in Tel Aviv and then rented a car to spend the weekend in Tiberias. By Sunday when everything was operating like a NYC Monday, we drove down to Jerusalem to spend our last three nights. Tomorrow, we begin our westward-bound segment of our …

Read More

Out of Africa by way of Kenya

As Henry detailed earlier, our flights to Tanzania were pretty exhausting, so there was no reason to believe that leaving there would be any easier. After several days of sun and fun in some of the most beautiful beaches my privileged feet have ever walked on, we left the Zanzibar island and flew back to Arusha in mainland Tanzania...

Read More

Power of $22

Do you know that for $22 USD a month, you can send a child in a poor country to school? Two and a half years ago, while walking home one day in Manhattan, I was approached by a volunteer from an organization called Children International. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to children sponsorship programs...

Read More

Arrived in Tel Aviv today. $100 hostel. Ouch!

After 2 nights in Dubai, we arrived in Tel Aviv this afternoon after a 6-hour layover in Jordan. Tel Aviv is expensive! The only place we could find that does not have reports of bed bugs or strange characters lurking or urinating outside the building is this hostel called Hayarkon 48. Its private rooms without a bathroom cost $90 and rooms with bathroom are $100. Ouch!

Read More

It’s like Planet Earth, only it was live

Pictures are up. Our 8-day Tanzanian safari went by in a blink of an eye. We have not even left Tanzania yet and I am already reminiscing the details of those adventure-packed days. There were so many exhilarating moments, like waking up to a group of giraffes not even 100 feet from our tent...

Read More

King Abdullah II’s Jordan

Please note: We have long left Jordan. We have since gone back to Hong Kong for Christmas and New Year and also visited Japan, India, and Tanzania. As usual, I am behind. This place was a godsend. We left Egypt in a peak state of fatigue, frustration, and defensiveness...

Read More

Fantastic safari, but stuck in Arusha tonight

We finished our 8-day safari today and it is the first time we’ve had access to internet. We were supposed to be in a beautiful resort in Zanzibar tonight, but due to “technical problems” to our plane and that the Zanzibar airport closed at 6PM, all passengers have to spend the night in this town called Arusha. We will try again tomorrow at 7AM.

Read More

Off to Tanzania

We finished India and are now waiting for our connecting flight in Dubai. It will take us a total of 4 flights and 26 hours to get from Kolkata, India to Arusha, Tanzania. From there we embark on a 9-day safari trip, followed by 5 days by the beach in Zanzibar. After Tanzania, we will spend a day in Dubai to see what the fuzz is all about, then 7 days in Israel, 3 days in London, 2 days in New York. And then, it’s the inevitable — home. We arrive …

Read More

Burp!

I love Japan. And with some regret, I have to admit that travelling in Japan was really all about the food and less about its rich culture, history, or religion. In short, my stomach took over and did most of the travelling for me except for maybe the skiing I attempted in Sapporo...

Read More

Indian wedding

We’ve been busy traveling in India and are now in Kolkata. There is a lot to write about India, but that’ll have to be for another time. I just want to post the wedding pictures first as a few people (including my mom) have already nagged me about the delay...

Read More

1st time getting sick. Indian wedding unbeatable.

We are now in Delhi, and finally I got sick for the first time (other than a cold) since we started traveling. Must be something I ate yesterday. Seems to be passing now, but felt like crap all day. The wedding in Surat was fantastic. No other wedding will compare from this point on. I call an Indian wedding a photography ecstasy. Will try to post asap.

Read More

A girl is a girl

Angela tried on some saris yesterday in Mumbai, but she didn’t buy till we got to Surat today. I also bought an Indian outfit...

Read More

Jordan – a gem in the Middle East. Also Jordan pics.

Jordan pics are up. After a dispirited stay in Egypt, we pronounced the country a lost cause and decided to cut our losses and leave earlier than planned. Our stay in Egypt ended up being just 8 days instead of 12-14 that was planned...

Read More