tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57635952009-02-23T00:04:20.669-05:00Shula and Patrick's Trip Around The World Honeymoon! We started on September 23, 2003 in Amsterdam and will be traveling overland to Asia and beyond. Please post comment as you like by clicking on the "comments" at the end of each post. Or you can write comments in the guestbook at the left. And keep in personal touch by emailing us; we love to hear from our friends and family who are so far away!Shulanoreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1099886468066535492004-11-07T22:57:00.000-05:002004-12-05T23:58:18.123-05:00

Thanks to everyone who continues to check out our website! I am starting a new one to chronicle our mundane lives in Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A. http://patrickandshulalife.blogspot.com/ Please visit our virtual and real home anytime you wish! Shula

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079589829883581022004-03-18T01:03:00.000-05:002004-08-23T11:08:18.630-04:00

Just a fun fact that I found on the http://www.pansea.com/gecko/index.html website. Looks like a nice place too! How Geckos still to ceilings: Geckos scamper across the smoothest surfaces and hang upside down from ceilings. Scientists, lumbering ponderously in pursuit, have spent decades trying to unstick the adhesive magic of these little lizards. They have not caught up, but have now come the

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1089656755818122382004-07-12T14:22:00.000-04:002004-07-12T14:25:55.816-04:00

Quick update, since it's been more than a month now..... Patrick and I are moving up to Eugene, Oregon on July 15th to start our new lives there. Yes, he accepted the job with Molecular Probes, yeay! I have been busy scanning in all the pictures from the trip and will be posting them by the end of the summer. So check back to see where we were this past year. We are also hoping to change this

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1086325089162864212004-06-04T00:46:00.000-04:002004-06-04T00:58:09.163-04:00

Our week in Portland after Patrick's interview was glorious! We visited with many of our friends and spent time seeing all the new, hip locations around town. However, the travel bug has bit in a small way again and we are now on the east coast traipsing around. Actually, we really needed to consolidate all our stuff, which seems to be spread out across the country in places such as Rhode Island,

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1085170169231881852004-05-21T15:04:00.000-04:002004-05-21T16:24:49.040-04:00

We have been back in the USA for a little over a week now, but nothing has slowed down. It doesn't even seem like our trip is over just yet, probably because we are still traveling around without a long term stop in the near future. On May 11th, we arrived back in Oakland after a very long flight (17 hours from Singapore via Hong Kong). It was great leaving Singapore at 6:30am (ok, not great

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083996927356011152004-05-08T02:15:00.000-04:002004-05-08T02:18:42.076-04:00

As a follow up to my previous post, we visited 2 more breweries last night in the Auckland area. The most celebrated brewery in NZ, Galbraiths, was a bit of a disapointment. They had 3 bitters on tap and 2 out of the 3 were virtually identical. They were both very drinkable beers, but unmemorable. Unfortunately, they were out of the trappist ale, which we have heard is great. One of the memorable

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083994598390757662004-05-08T01:36:00.000-04:002004-05-08T01:52:19.403-04:00

Seems as if our time in NZ, and on this journey, is coming to a quick close. There are so many stories left to tell from this trip, perhaps Patrick and I can continue to add to our blog in the coming weeks. For the past 2 and a half days we have sat at a "backpackers car lot" in Auckland trying to sell Eden, our little NZ car. She has served us well here and taken us all over both islands without

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083293312217071022004-05-02T18:49:00.000-04:002004-05-03T02:46:56.560-04:00

One of the biggest joys of being in New Zealand for us is the fine beer, wine and food. The wineries are well established and produce very good vino. It took us quite a while to realize that the white wines truely shine here, while the red wine's (primarly Pinot Noir) are just starting to get good. So far we have tasted several excellent oaked Chardonnay. There are so many wineries here that

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083537274798241092004-05-02T18:34:00.000-04:002004-05-02T18:37:43.950-04:00

Although the North Island is not as dramatic as the South Island, we are still having plenty of good fun up here! It was really hard to leave the South Island because our last stop was at such a great place. Hopewell is probably one of the best backpacker retreats anywhere in the world! It is located at the very end of a long peninsula in Marlborough Sound, which is only accessable by either a

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1083038203768925152004-04-26T23:56:00.000-04:002004-04-26T23:59:46.873-04:00

We are on our way to the North Island tonight, taking a ferry from Picton to Wellington at 5pm. Word on the street is that the North Island is not as interesting as the South Island. However, I am looking forward to being able to visit more Maori towns - a little more diversity. Before we run off, though, I thought that I might do a little to catch the blog up on what we have been up to! After we

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1082279581686059412004-04-18T05:13:00.000-04:002004-04-18T05:30:26.796-04:00

There has been some recent news that will change our trip, but I will keep you waiting until later in the blog for that! The last few days have been spent on the Banks Peninsula, East of Christchurch getting back into a good mood about traveling. It could be because the weather has turned up, or that the place we were staying was absolutely terrific, or that we met some interesting people, or

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1082080652771280572004-04-15T21:57:00.000-04:002004-04-15T22:00:25.530-04:00

Because the weather was so bad at the southern tip of New Zealand, we completely bypassed Stewart Island - the island off the southern coast where Kiwi's (the bird) are seen during the day. It was a shame to miss this island, which is mostly national park, but we found quite an interesting coast between Invercargill and Dunedin! Our one night in Invercargill was spent stocking up on food and wine

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081655288368027362004-04-10T23:48:00.000-04:002004-04-10T23:50:55.733-04:00

Here we are on another blustery day in Southland. Spent the day slowly driving our way to Invercargill after bypassing many muddy camping spots. Hadn't planned to be here until a day or two later, but here we are none the less. Looking for inside activities, we stumbled upon another internet cafe and thought we could waste some time typing. Just thought I would write down a few odds and ends.

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081493004068556072004-04-09T02:43:00.000-04:002004-04-09T02:46:09.560-04:00

We finally had a chance to cruise a real fjord! Today we drove out from Te Anau to Milford and took an early morning cruise into Milford sound. The weather gods blessed us with clear blue skies in an area that is known for rain and the sound was absolutely beautiful. Couldn't have asked for a better day for a boat ride. This country is crazy with tourists! Ever since we left Wanaka we have been

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081234010970650792004-04-06T02:46:00.000-04:002004-04-06T02:49:33.216-04:00

Finally uploaded the pictures I took while diving in Koh Tao. I was just learning, folks, so some are not so great, but they can give you an idea of what we were seeing! http://www.clubphoto.com/reward.php?id=2052576&mid=members17_shula758061&pwd=

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080801799847479482004-04-01T01:43:00.000-05:002004-04-06T02:34:03.810-04:00

I suppose, since it is the 1st of April, that I should spin some long yarn about some crazy thing that happened to us in the past few days. But my internet time is precious in these here parts (NZ$5 per hour, to be exact) so I feel too much pressure to type quickly so I can't give you a good April Fools. Oh well. Auckland was a fine city, although we didn't really spend more than about 5 hours

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081233063286019292004-04-06T02:31:00.000-04:002004-04-06T02:33:45.750-04:00

We are still in Wanaka and still having a great time! Wanaka is a high alpine town situated at the edge of a beautiful lake and surrounded by high snowy peaks. It is just to the east of the Southern Alps, and an hour north of Queenstown. Since we are at the start of autumn here, a big storm bringing snow has been predicted since we arrived. Every evening we have gone to bed expecting stormy

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1081054756831986042004-04-03T23:59:00.000-05:002004-04-04T00:01:56.793-05:00

We just bought a new digital camera in Singapore, and have uploaded our first album of photos to club photo. Nothing too spectacular, but you can see what we have been up to! http://www.clubphoto.com/reward.php?id=2185652&mid=members17_shula758061&pwd= Will write up another post in the next few days!

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080969858152081832004-04-03T00:24:00.000-05:002004-04-03T00:26:57.640-05:00

Let me say that my first, second and third impression of the South NZ island is that it is extremely beautiful. Not so high alpine lakes crested with craggy snow dusted mountains are the norm. It reminds me of an amalgamation of Montana (Glacier NP) and Iceland (with people and trees), with a touch of Vietnam's jungle thrown in for good measure. It must have driven the Maori crazy when they

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080022193699787262004-03-25T02:25:00.000-05:002004-03-25T02:25:03.233-05:00

Our last tourist stop in Myanmar before heading back to the streets of Yangon was Bagan. Bagan is known for its large number of ancient pagodas, similar in historical significance to Angkor. But Bagan is completely different from its Cambodian relative. And we found it much more enchanting, if on a very different scale. The bus dropped us at the first hotel along the road and we managed to

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1080197236713812332004-03-25T01:47:00.000-05:002004-03-25T01:49:47.110-05:00

We had a long flight from Bangkok to Auckland via Singapore. It was twelve hours in all and some of the worst jetlag since the Iceland days. I guess I shouldn't have watched Master and Commander AND The Last Samurai on the plane. Combine this with all of the great FREE wine on the plane and you may imagine how I feel right now. One of the first things we wanted to do in NZ was drink good wine

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079851240994519812004-03-21T01:40:00.000-05:002004-03-21T01:43:07.483-05:00

Along with white sand beaches, coral reefs under crystal clear water, hill tribes and inexpensive food and hotels, Thailand is famous for its massages. Not 'those' kind of massages, but real traditional Thai massage for everyone. Where else can you get a one-hour full-body massage for $4 USD? Crazy. In a one hour Thai massage session, you can have your muscles pulled, stretched, pounded, and

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079351207686578442004-03-15T04:57:00.000-05:002004-03-15T06:49:08.310-05:00

Myanmar has some interesting food. The restaurant food is extremely cheap, about 0.70-1.00 usd per person. This buys you curry, rice, soup, 4 bowls of misc. items (beans, fermented tea leaves, bean paste, shrimp paste), a platter of raw vegetables, palm sugar candies and tea. Talk about a cheap good meal! The mild curry is usually pork, chicken, beef or mutton, but may also be duck, liver,

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1079350679885177802004-03-15T06:37:00.000-05:002004-03-15T06:40:20.606-05:00

Back in Mandalay for two days and it felt like we hardly did anything. Actually, the first day was spent recouperating from the tiring journey of the previous week and trying to locate some good food. We quickly realized that all the terrific meals we had been having in Myanmar were 100% the result of hiring a food concious guide. Although sometimes we felt that John was nothing more than another

Shulanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5763595.post-1078491418731411662004-03-05T07:56:00.000-05:002004-03-15T05:41:19.093-05:00

Myitkina, Myanmar 01 March 2004 Myanmar is the most exotic country that we have seen so far. The men wear skirts (longyi) and both sexes wear an off-white makeup on their faces. The vast majority of the men smoke a type of cigar called a Cheroot which fills the air with a pungent odor similar to cannibus. The men also chew betel nut and leaf together. I tasted a little of the leaf and it

Patrickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977200672828745108noreply@blogger.com