Less Traveled Path

Don’t Skimp On The Luggage

jen — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:50:28 +0000

Despite my wanderlust tendencies, I do not have a carry-on suitcase of my own. I used to have a 26″ suitcase until I lost a wheel. Poof! It was gone somewhere between the walk from the Airport Bus stop along Nathan Road in Hong Kong and my cousin’s place. And the ground started shaving off [...]

New Year – 7 in 7

jen — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:31:07 +0000

It’s a new (lunar) year and although a new year shouldn’t be the only time to set goals, I happened to set a new one yesterday. One of the goals I set in 2007 was to visit an international destination at least once a year. That year, I went to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shunde, Vietnam, [...]

All Packed and Nowhere To Go

jen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:26:16 +0000

While in Hong Kong, we had booked a tour to the Guangdong Province with a final destination in Shunde for the weekend. It was perfect timing because we had planned to visit family there afterwards, except that on the morning of our planned departure, a typhoon bound for Hong Kong shut down all transportation by [...]

New Seat Experience to Hong Kong

jen — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:43:48 +0000

I flew to Hong Kong on the Cathay Pacific flight I booked several months earlier on a 747-400 with new seats that were introduced last month, which included individual entertainment screens (no charge) that had plenty of options to keep you preoccupied including video games and seats that reclined in its own shell, plus a [...]

Airport Restrooms

jen — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:59:44 +0000

Not too long ago I flew to Seattle for a short 30 hour trip to visit the University of Washington campus. I noticed that the Seattle Airport (or SeaTac rather), actually had bathroom stalls in the baggage claim area in which the door opened outward (away from the toilet). Finally, someone had the [...]

How I Saved $500+ on Airfare to the Olympics

jen — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:00:04 +0000

Ever since I knew I was going to the Beijing Olympics this August, I have been researching travel options. I had no idea it was going to be such an ordeal for 5.5 months looking into options like side trips and land tours and then deciding against them. In the end, I got [...]

Encounters: The Australian-Cantonese Couple

jen — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:36:53 +0000

We started a Taiwan Tour the day after arriving in Taipei. The van picked us up and two couples at other hotels before we were on our way. After our third stop, our tour guide tried to figure out which language he should use on our journey. One couple was from mainland [...]

The Bright Lights of Taipei

jen — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:54:58 +0000

Taipei, a big city with bright lights as my good friend describes it, reminded me of Hong Kong, but not as busy. Her parents learned that we were going to be in Taipei and offered to show us around. Her father used to be a department chair at a state university in the United States, [...]

Amazing Race to Tomato Beef Knife Cut Noodles

jen — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 22:51:07 +0000

My friend Sandy and her family had raved about a Tomato Beef Knife Cut Noodle Place in Taipei. While wandering the streets of Taipei, a local had recommended this restaurant to them. It’s a hole-in-the-wall type of place and without an exact address, we only had walking directions from the metro station with a link [...]

In Search of Dinner

jen — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 18:54:24 +0000

My trip to Asia began on Thanksgiving night. Opting to grab dinner inside San Francisco International Airport, I was disappointed to discover that both the Firewood Grill and Firewood Cafe inside Terminal A were both closed. Why Firewood almost has a monopoly in the terminal is beyond me. Il Fornaio, the only [...]