This time, my Auntie Mei joined us to check out the sights. Living in HK, she has done a bit of travelling, but never to the Capital – as was with us. Roll on the big smoke!

…. Another early morning on the MTR out to HK International – this airport was becoming all too familiar

Beijing welcomed us with somewhat overcast weather, and what was soon to be pollution trapped beneath the overcast… it was grey, and hazey.

Central City looked a little like Shanghai, but without the lovely bund, and Pearl Tower… crazy insects, offal, weird and wonderful street food/meat was on show…. we weren’t too brave actually, but it was pretty interesting to watch others chow-on-down!

Our tour was a bit more varied than the Shanghai one – we walked through old emperor gardens, picked some peaches in the village, did some boating, hiked part of the Great Wall and visited Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City and the Olympic Village.

Highlights include the Famous Kung-Fu Show, a rickshaw ride though some outskirt suburb/random area just out of town, the Wall and the searing hot weather!

Along with the usual Beijing sights, we got exposed to the tourist marketing thirsty for our tourist dollars in the trade for silk duvets, clothing, jade, chinese tea and medicine again The food was excellent, albeit with a heap of chillis (Schezuan)….. burn!

Travelling with the tour group, we managed the long days, eating-fest and traffic jams ok – I think it would be a different story visiting there on your own bat, having to negotiate the packed metro-stations, people with limited english and not really knowing where’s up or down? I reckon it would be pretty fun!

Until next time – i’m sure it won’t be recognizable in a few more years – things are moving so quickly there, and it is such a massive city, almost overwhelming when you hear the stories of population explosion over the last few decades.

Photos by Victor Gin, Sep 5, 2010

World Expo – what can we say? Gongshow. Crowded, people, large pavilions, money, world trade, globalization… and long queues… did i mention it was screaming hot that time of year too?

We had a couple of full on days at the expo – visited a lot of the countries pavilions, and really tried to just enjoy the whole affair, rather than being caught up in trying to see everything. We had been on the road for about 3-4 months, and our travel-weary souls were beginning to feel it

We travelled with mum and dad on this 5 day tour package out of Hong Kong…. they are pretty easy to travel with, and we saw some really cool sights, as well as being exposed to some nice sales/measures to help us part with our yuan Jade bracelets, silk duvets, chinese medicine, tea, jade dragons, BBQ Insects to name a few.

yum – Shanghai Dumplings.

The tour was run by Wing on Travel, in Cantonese, so i caught about 20% of what was going on… poor wee Mel, left with a crappy translator – me….. Well organized tho, with great food places, and hotels…. We’d do it again for another city in China for sure!

Photos by Victor Gin, Aug 30, 2010 – Our tour to Shanghai and the World Expo 2010

Mum and Dad, Matt and Ronnie, and Garrett from Vancouver, well Auckland made the trip over…. as well as other relatives.

We had a quick week taking in the usual sights, however – no Disneyland or Ocean Park again… Next time for sure!

Ahhh.. the food, the sights and sounds… the smell too… shopping, walking, MTR, old school trams… some bargining down at the Ladies Market, night markets and food stalls…. catching up with cousins and family… all in all, the time went pretty fast, as it always does.

We did manage to squeeze in a rushed day over in Macau However, i don’t think many of us tried our luck – probably for the best as we still had a few more weeks of vacation to go before hanging up our travelling shoes!

Photos by Victor Gin, Aug 23, 2010

The Spire, the Brazen Head, The Park, Riverdance, Temple Bar, Irish Stew, Guinness Brewery…. and the lush, green countryside…. such a quaint wee place to visit, and we love the Irish of course!

You have to try their icecream – just the plain vanilla stuff from the supermarket. It is soooo creamy and just dreamy!……. and i thought NZ icecream was good….. Ireland is another step up.

It’s the grass i reckon

Photos by Victor Gin, Aug 17, 2010

A big thanks again to Rof and Pod for showing us their neighbourhood, taking us out to see some sights, sample some good hearty food and the beverages on offer

Avebury and Stonehenge were pretty interesting, as was our Pinky and the Brain Wicked Campervan through the tiny village streets of Western Wales. Hill End Campground – check it out.

We finished up our time in UK down in Cambridge with my Sister Ronnie and Matt How fun was the punting down the river eh? We are still in awe of that dinner you cooked us too!

Photos by Victor Gin, Aug 6, 2010

Well, technically we had 3 hours in Stockholm, Sweeden as a stopover from New York, but i guess that doesn’t really count!

Vienna is one of the worlds most livable cities, along with our beloved Vancouver. We had a quick look around the central city after negotiating the trains from the airport…. we love the metro systems

We had a really nice couple of days with Mel’s friends Julia and Florian – They took us around the place and sights: Tiergarten and the Zoo, Dinner overlooking the Danube, Melk Monastery to name a few.

Enjoy the photos!

This was my first visit to the place where dreams are made – Mel had visited previously, so we had a wee bit of knowledge on board this time round.

We managed to navigate our way from La Guardia International by bus and train into Midtown where we were based for the 3 days…. a little touch and go on some of the connections with our big bags!

New York – So much city… so many buildings, that you just really can’t get away from it all – well, we managed some green time with a few morning runs through into Central Park, not before negotiating 5th Avenue, Madison Ave and all the big name shops.

Time Square is a crazy place in the evenings – so many crowds, and the sidewalks are just like sardines, with a bit of an edge in the atmosphere…. It was a pretty warm time of the year to be visiting, and super humid as well – ducking into shops was pretty common to avoid passing showers, and suck in some cool A/C.

As our vacation was really in it’s infancy, we didn’t push ourselves too hard to see and do every single thing possible. We took in the sights through Midtown, Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho (oh, wish we had more space in our luggage for STUFF!), Broadway, WTC Site and the Financial District. We braved the heat of the day, and took a walk over the old Brooklyn Bridge, with fabulous views over the Bay Area and Downtown. We even rolled into some live Shakespere – Much ado about Nothing!

We also managed to get up the Empire State Building at night and took in some wonderful views over Manhattan Island. The whole ordeal took about 2.5 hours, man that was a crazy queue and elevator system they had going there

There was so much to see, and so much more to see – it really was overwhelming the amount of city, restaurants, shops, places, activities and stuff on offer. We could easily have churned up a few weeks there, doing tourist activities, strolling around, chilling out, eating out.. you name it.

… but, we had a plane to catch –

Actually – our flight out of NYC was to be the 4th flight of 20 en route to our Final Destination! Roll on the photos!

East Coast Canada to the East Coast United States of America.

Chicago – a pretty nice city….. we stayed just off the Magnificent Mile – famous for shopping, department stores and the like – smack downtown on the River North – newer side of town?

Our few days in Chicago were spent walking the streets, Millennium Park, Lakefront by night, Chinatown District, Lake Michigan ….. and generally dodging the sun!… yeah, it was SCORCHING hot, and humid! – even the shade from the trees was not enough to stem the body thermostat!

We took in a show down in the cultural district – Billy Elliot – a very well choreographed version of a pretty good movie….. a good night out, and money well spent

Of course, we ate pretty well too – in-between bottles of Gatorade, and a tiny bit of fast food……. We had a nice meal out in one of our favourite genres – Sushi

We managed to make it out to O’hare International on the morning of a massive thunderstorm the night before – train lines were partially closed, surface flooding over town, and a bit of fun strolling through the rain getting there It was touch and go!

Albeit such a short stay – 3 nights – we really enjoyed our time in Chicago. Downtown buildings were pretty amazing, the River North Area is what you would expect for a large American City and also pretty clean too!

Quebec City – French Canadian City –

We trained our way into Quebec City from Montreal – it was a bit like arriving into a European city, albeit rather touristy and spiffy

After getting over the fact it was a busy/touristy place, we actually felt really happy strolling around the old streets, poking our head into wee souvenir shops, and historical places of interest! We walked the famous boardwalk infront of the much-photographed Chateau Frontenac . Night time strolling the old city was pretty cool with all the people around the place, spilling out from restaurants and cafes.

We made a visit to the Historical Citadelle (Fortification) on the hill – (yay, i’ve seen both Citadelles in Canada, the other being in Halifax, Nova Scotia), and took in some time on the Plains of Abraham…. the historical battleground where the Battle of Quebec took place – British rolled over the French – and, well…. a pretty big deal at the time, and it shaped the Country we now know as Canada.

Anyway – i digress…. enjoy the 163 photos! We really enjoyed our time there…… albeit only 3 action-packed days….

We ate some fabulous food too… this vacation was starting out on the right foot

Roll on the next city

Some selected photos from our visit to Montreal – we took it pretty easy, checking out some of the sights around the Old Montreal, Waterfront, downtown and Latin Quarter

Yummy french onion soup, Poutine, Schwartz Smoked Meat Sandwiches…. roll on the eating vacation!