Have you seen Jackie Chan in person?

6 04 2010

We we haven’t either seen Jackie Chan but we are in his home town – Hong Kong – and saw his wax statue :)

When we arrived in Hong Kong our first impression was that of high organization and that everything seems very efficient and just the way you like it.  The airport is ultra modern and easy to navigate and the public transport system is very effective.  It has busses, trams underground trains and boats and everything works extremely well.  It is obvious from the start that the there is a lot of money in Hong Kong.  Nothing is done half way but without overspending either.

Another thing we noticed when we arrived in town is how many people are in Hong Kong.  This small “country” has over seven million inhabitants and is the fourth densest country on earth after Macau, Monaco and Singapore.  Since I was looking this up I checked how Iceland was doing on the list and we were eighth from the bottom or eight least dense country by population, just after Australia.  Can you guess what country is the least dense?  I’ll put the answer at the bottom of the post :)  Since I was looking at lists I looked where Hong Kong stands according to size.  I was surprised to find that it came in 179th of 233 countries so there are 54 countries that are smaller than Hong Kong – did YOU know that?

Anyway, today we have been exploring the city.  In the morning we went to Victoria Peak, a mountain that offers majestic view of Hong Kong.  Unfortunately there was an overcast so we didn’t get as good a view as we hoped.  That should however not be a problem because here is a photo service at the top that can “fix” the view for you for a few dollar so even if you arrive in dense fog your pictures will be beautiful.  The sights were impressive though and we might shoot back tomorrow if the the sky will be clearer.

After the peak we walked down town and checked out a few shops.  Hong Kong is a shopping heaven – if you have the money – with many shopping districts, big malls, flagship fashion stores, markets and some small alley-ways with some cheaper stuff.  We ended however in familiar territory in H&M.  After picking up a few items in H&M and eating the local specialty – dumplings – we took the boat to the mainland.  The mainland offers a fantastic view of the Hong Kong skyline which is quite impressive with the most amount of skyscrapers compared to any other place on earth (106 buildings above 180 meters).

We’ll only be two whole days in Hong Kong so I’ll have to go back to planning what to do tomorrow.  There is plenty to do and see here se we have to choose wisely…

To answer the question above: the least dense countries of the world are Greenland, then Falkland Islands and third is Mongolia.  There you have that.

The smallest countries of the world are Vatican City, then Monaco and third Pitcaim Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean.  The largest are however, as we all know, Russia, Canada and China or the USA depending on definition.


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Categories : China

Test – posting through email

5 04 2010

I’ve been told that WordPress.com is not accessible in China. Fortunately I discovered that I can post to the blog through email and this post is my first test so if the post is horri ble – be patient.

Right now we are sitting at the airport in Bangkok on our way to Hong Kong. While in Bangkok we noticed a lot of protesters in the streets, all wearing red shirts. They are calling for the end of corruption in Thai politics, which seems ironic since most of them are supporters of the former prim minister Thaksin Shinawatra who him self has been charged with corruption. The protesters in Iceland can learn a lot from their Thai counterparts who are very persistent – with excellent stamina and also know how to have fun!

Last night we went out to a Shabu Shabu and sushi place for Easter dinner. Shabu Shabu is a Japanese style hot pot where you get a thin soup but can add all sorts of stuff to it – just the way you like it. They had meat, herbs, noodles, squid, fish and a lot of other unidentifiable stuff. The sushi was also good and I think we have not eaten as much the whole trip.

Well we have to go to our gate – I hope this post comes out all right through the email interface. I’ll tell you all about Hong Kong in a day or two. I’m sorry about how fragmented this post is – I’ll do better next time :)


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Categories : China

The trip’s income statement so far (losses and gains)

4 04 2010

Now that we are about to leave South East Asia for China I started thinking about what we have gained – and lost – during the trip.  It is difficult to pinpoint exactly since most of the gains are memories and experience and other internal stuff but I gave it my best shot.

Gained:

  • Like any tourist we have bought a few souvenirs, not too many since we have had to carry them, but a few – and a few presents as well.
  • So far we have gained over 1,300 photos and videos that we didn’t have before.  I’m especially excited about the videos that I plan to edit and post here when back home.
  • We have gained a few items of tailor made clothes.  Suits and shirts and dresses that we hope that will still fit us when we get back.
  • Surely the biggest item that we have gained is experience and the peta bites of memories that we are storing from the trip.  Traveling on our own for three months has been a great experience and hopefully we have matured a bit – wishful thinking but one can always hope :)
  • It is invaluable that we now have more appreciation for the things that we have back home.  Both seeing so many that are not as privileged as us and also just being away from everything that we have have taken for granted has definitely given more appreciation of everything we have back home in Iceland.

Lost

  • We have lost combine 11 kg of body weight.  Without really trying the weight seems to fall off.  I credit this mostly to proper portion sizes since we are eating all food – fried, baked, roasted, candy, ice-cream and everything else.
  • Surely we have lost (or rather invested) a few thousand dollars.  I would say though that the trip hasn’t really been expensive and definitely well worth it.  Maybe we’ll calculate the real cost when we get back home and post it here on the blog.
  • In the annoying bus incident I lost a wallet, gaffer tape, a flash light and one thousand krónur so that must be accounted for.
  • After the bed bugs attack Elínborg threw away her sleeping bag so that one is definitely lost.  She also washed her purse and then left it outside in the sun to dry and someone took it by mistake so the purse can be written on the bed bugs as well.
  • We were quite happy to loose the white/gray skin color that we brought with us.  It has, at least momentarily, been replaced by darker/browner color.  I hope that we can bring some of that color back home but we’ll have to see what China has to say about that.

So if we balance the books I think that we have gained a lot more than the few items that were lost and most of them we were quite happy to get rid of (grayish skin and fat).

Tomorrow we’ll be flying to Hong Kong for a couple of days and then it’s China baby!

Happy Easter everyone!


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Categories : South East Asia

How would YOU catch squid?

3 04 2010

While on Ko Phangan it is difficult not to notice all the fishing boats that are catching squid around the island at night.  First we just saw the lights out at see and started wondering what those would be and as we found out they were squid fishing boats.

Most of the boats are fairly big with a couple of poles with big lights attached to them that can stretch out to either side of the boat.  The boat on the picture below only has one small light pole.  The smallest boats look like circular tee filters with a diameter of maybe 1.5 meters and are made of bamboo but the majority are 10-15 meters sturdy wooden boats

The boats all stay close to the shore during the day but as the sun is setting they start moving to the proper spots.  It seems like most of them like to fish about five hundred meters from the shore and quite close to each other.  After the sun has set they extend their light poles and turn on their huge lights.  From the porch of our favorite restaurant on Ao Mae Haad we could see about ten boats all lined up glowing in the dark.  The lights are to lure the squid to the surface where it is easy to catch.

There is a lot of squid available in Thailand both dried and fresh.  A lot of street vendors are selling dried squid in the streets.  We never tried it but I’m sure it is similar to the dried cod or haddock that we eat back home.

We have however had the fresh squid on numerous occasions and it has never disappointed.  It has been great with fried rice, fantastic fried but like the squid best in a hot Tom Yum soup …I just start drooling when thinking about it.


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Categories : South East Asia

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

2 04 2010

BriefHistoryOfTime1

I have never really been interested in astronomy, cosmology nor physics but I happened to have a copy of this book in audio form so I gave it a try.  I can definitely say that I became fascinated by the book and its contents, listening to it twice in one week.

A Brief History of Time – From the Big Bang to Black Holes by Stephen Hawking tells a story of how us humans have thought the universe to look like through the ages.  Hawking starts his tale when the common believe was that the earth was flat and carried by a tortoise and goes through the evolution of science and physics up until our times.  Along the way Hawking explains the theories as they are developed, theories like Copernicus’ theory of the earth orbiting the sun, the contributions of Galileo Galilei to astronomy, Newton’s laws of gravity, Einstein’s theory of relativity and finally newer theories in cosmology and quantum physics.  Hawking also speculates on what role a divine creator or god can have in the creation of the universe and in its workings there after.  This role changes drastically as science advances

Not only is Hawking one of the most brilliant minds of our era and a leading scientist in theoretical physics, he also has a fantastic ability to explain extremely complex theories in a simple manner – so simple that I got some them (I had to listen twice though :) – and this is one of the strengths of the book.  Hawking also has a good sense of humor in a nerdy kind of way, which fits the book perfectly. 

I’m not going to pretend that I understood everything in the book but I think that I got a good deal.  The theories get more complex after Einstein’s theory of relativity but I felt that I could follow all along while listening even though I’m not sure I could explain any of it to another person ;)

When reading a paper book one can always read slowly, re-read hectic lines and pause to digest the content as is necessary when reading about as complex matters as in this book.  This is not so easy when listening to an audio book and that is one of the faults of this form.  While listening to this book I had to stop often, rewind and listen again and still I didn’t feel like I got it all and therefore I listened to the book again a few days later.  I’m sure that I’ll read the book again later in a paper form and enjoying the pictures will be a big plus!

The only fault with the (audio) book in my opinion was the reading – by no other than Michael Jackson – though probably not THE late Michael Jackson that first comes to mind.  It felt at times like Jackson was reading the book for the first time.  This part should definitely have been done better.

All in all the book was fantastic and I’m sure that I’ll be looking for other books  by Mr. Hawking in the future.  I would recommend it to anyone curious about the world we live in, how it came about, how it evolved and how it will end.

Previous book reviews can be found here.


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Robbed on the bus from Bangkok!

31 03 2010

Last time we met, we were on our way from Chang Mai in Northern Thailand and all the way down to Ao Mae Haad on Ko Phangan in Southern Thailand.  In 48 hours we spent 30 on a bus and two in a boat but it was all worth it when we came to Mae Haad.  This is not the first time we’ve been here, we came here near the beginning of our trip as can be seen in previous posts: Island hopping, Little piece of heaven and From one island to the next.

The journey wasn’t without its incidents as we discovered when we arrived in Mae Haad.  When we opened our bags it was obvious that someone had gone through the bags in search for something.  After a closer inspection we were only missing a flashlight, a watch, a wallet with 1,000 ISK and one roll of gaffer tape.  Since the Icelandic króna is practically worthless these days it wasn’t such a big loss :) maybe the biggest loss was in my watch but I’m sure I’ll make up for that in China!

We have been warned on several occasions not to leave any valuables in our big back pack and fortunately we have our ears open once in a while.  We had all our valuables with us – it was unlucky that the watch was there but I had bought a nice fake watch in Chang Mai.  Of course I won’t tell anyone which kind because I want you to think that I have the real thing ;)

The life for the past five days here in Mae Haad has been wonderfully simple.  We wake up around nine and go to the beach – eat lunch when we get hungry and then head for the beach again until about sunset – then its time to clean up before dinner – eat dinner and go to sleep.  The beach here is beautiful and great snorkeling.  There is plenty of people during the day but most come here by bike and go back before dinner so the evenings are quiet.

Once a month there is a big Full Moon party here on Ko Phangan with up to 30,000 visitors.  On the day of the Full Moon Party we rented a motor bike and drove around the island.  We tried to drive to Bottle Beach, supposedly one of the most beautiful beaches around, but the road was so horrible that we turned around when we could almost see the beach.  There is possible to get there by boat so we might try that before we leave.  After Bottle Beach we went to Haad Rin where the party takes place.  We thought that we would be able to catch the beginning of the party before heading home but it started very slowly unlike an Icelandic “Verslunarmannahelgi” and we kind of missed it :(  The roads here are not that great that we wanted to be driving in the dark on the busiest night of the month. 


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