12 Craziest scooter cargo sightings
- Aperture: f/6.3
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/80 s
- Focal Length: 10mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
You might have heard scooters and motorbikes are a popular form of transportation in Southeast Asia. Wages are small and gasoline is expensive (the equivalent of $1.20 USD per liter in Vietnam, for example), so the majority of families that can afford motorized transportation opt for the two-wheeled variety. In Bangkok, designated moto taxis ferry…
Two tickets on the Roach Express, please
- Aperture: f/2.4
- ISO: 50
- Shutter Speed: 1/3247 s
- Focal Length: 4.28mm
- Camera: iPhone 4S
Our original plan after visiting the temples of Ayutthaya was to take a night train to Chiang Mai. This would have saved us a night in a hotel and gotten us to Chiang Mai early in the morning, refreshed from a night of resting on the train in a first-class sleeper berth, so we could…
Approaching maximum Wat-age
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 4000
- Shutter Speed: 1/20 s
- Focal Length: 10mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
“You got soup? On a train?!” This was my question to Her as she returned to our train car, bowl of curry noodle soup in hand, after searching the Bangkok station for lunch. “It’s better than your rat on a stick!” Her replied, referring to the skewered, grilled meats I had purchased during my own…
Hanging with Buddha and Si Quey in Bangkok
- Aperture: f/13
- ISO: 200
- Shutter Speed: 1/160 s
- Focal Length: 10mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Our first impression of Bangkok was exceptionally positive. This was largely due to the fact that our room at Silom Art Hostel happened to be about eight times the size of our Singapore hostel — and half the price. Plus, it had character: colorful paint flicked haphazardly on the walls, a sewing table modified into…
Singapore Budget Breakdown
Singapore was somewhere between the cheapness of Southeast Asia and the expense of Australia/New Zealand. It is certainly possible to stay in Singapore very cheaply just as it is possible to break the bank there, but we tried to take a middle road. We stayed just 4 nights, and found a double room for about…
New Zealand Budget Breakdown
Our blog continues getting further behind as we keep traveling and struggle to find time to write blog entries, but I will be diligent in keeping our budget posts coming as we complete the blog entries for each country. New Zealand, although not nearly as expensive as Australia, is still not quite a budget traveler’s…
Singapore: Not as sterile as you might expect
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 800
- Shutter Speed: 1/2.5 s
- Focal Length: 10mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
I expected Singapore to be much cleaner. After years of reading about how clean and modern Singapore is, I had expected a city-state that resembled more of a hospital ward than the bubble and pop of a 5-million person melting pot. To be fair, our initial interaction with the city-state was the Changi International Airport,…
“One Hobbit Stamp”
This post is a heartfelt shout-out to Sgt. Sarah Wilson and Ms. Trina Tauvela of the Auckland Airport, my dear Uncle Alan and Aunt Daphne and the honest person who found my wallet: Him and I were standing in the security checkpoint line at the Auckland Airport, chatting about potential occupations (Kitten Wrangler, Professional Sumo…
Rotorua stinks…literally!
- Aperture: f/20
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/250 s
- Focal Length: 10mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
After the wedding, we had a few days at our disposal before catching our exit flight to Singapore. We chose to spend it touring the geothermal wonders of Rotorua. When we explained our plans to Her’s English family members, several of whom had visited Rotorua en route to Auckland, they bristled at the mention of…
The missing link between homo sapiens and fowl?
- Aperture: f/10
- ISO: 400
- Shutter Speed: 1/1000 s
- Focal Length: 300mm
- Camera: Canon EOS 7D
So our new year didn’t exactly start off on a high note, but we spent the next two days — before taking the ferry to Waiheke for the wedding — making up for it by cramming in a colorful garden and exploring a few volcanoes. In the Domain near the Auckland Museum is the splendid…