Dana's Travel Blog

Final Blog Post - Moved to Facebook

2011-09-26T20:44:00.001-07:00

As a way to simplify things a bit, this will be my last blogger post. Since FB is so ubiquitous now, I'll put the rest of my updates there!

Congrats Alex and Julie!

2011-09-05T19:39:00.000-07:00

Congrats to 2 of my best friends, Alex and Julie. I wish you both the best!

The best cake topper, ever!

Bachelor Party - Vegas!

2011-09-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

3 Epic Nights in Vegas for Alex's Bachelor Party.

Rented out an MGM Signature Penthouse Suite.

Made Alex jump off the side of the Stratosphere while we just got dangled off the side.

6-wheeled limo - I think you could fit 30 people in here?

Hanging out at the lounge in Aria.

Congratulations Susan & Ian!

2011-09-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Congrats to my sister, Susan for a beautiful wedding!

What better way to celebrate a wedding than a big family trip to Disneyland! It's been more than a decade since I've been to Disneyland.

Veg Bacon Delivery!

2011-07-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

I was making a joke the other day about how I was craving some In-N-Out, burritos, and veg bacon. One of my friends bubbled wrapped some veg bacon with a Walgreens cold pack and sent it over to Shenzhen through a coworker! Thanks, Karl!

5 days 4 Nights in Bali!

2011-07-13T05:57:00.000-07:00

This is the beginning of my summer marathon of weddings.

Mid July - Wedding in Bali
End of August - Wedding in Los Angeles
Beginning of September - Wedding in San Francisco (Fremont, actually)
Mid September - Wedding in Shenzhen

Not a bad way to kick off the marathon than with lots of good Indonesian food, Bintang beer, California Wine followed by lying down on the beach and sleeping in! Our Bali trip was a combination of a Zao Tech company trip and a wedding - my boss Scott and his fiance Mei were getting married! Congrats to them both!

Here is a photo from inside the wedding chapel overlooking the beach.

Zao Tech family photo at a rice terrace.

Lunch at the hotel. Note the blue wristbands, which mean free flow of alcohol starting at noon and ending at 2am. It also means unlimited food 24hrs a day!

Lying down under an umbrella on the beach behind the hotel... life is good!

Tongli (同里)

2011-06-10T03:46:00.000-07:00

I was in Suzhou for a business trip last weekend so I got there early and made a day trip to go to Tongli. A very relaxing water town! It's what I imagined Suzhou to be...

Comorants - the same ones they have in Guilin, where the fishermen put a ring around their necks to prevent the birds from swallowing the fish they catch.

Venice in China?

Gengle Hall.

Nanjing!

2011-05-01T10:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I had to go to Nanjing for work, so I was able to spend a day walking around and exploring the city.

I spent the better part of a day exploring the Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum. Lots of walking!

I stayed at a hostel in Fuzimiao - Confucius Temple Qinhuai Scenic Area, which was bustling with shops and food stands.

The Nanjing Massacre Memorial reminded me of the Holocaust Museums I'd gone to previously. Very moving.

Guilin & Yangshuo!

2011-04-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Another eventful weekend! While playing Chinese monopoly last week, a few friends and I decided to go on a last-minute trip to Guilin/Yangshuo over the Qingming holiday. It was COLD, but luckily, it didn't rain too much. Yichen, Tiffany, great trip idea!

Here was our visit to the Reed Flute Cave in Guilin. Really awesome underground karst formations.

The back of the RMB20 bill is this shot of the Li River (maybe at a slightly different angle...). I snapped this picture on our 2hr bamboo raft ride from Guilin to Yangshuo along the Li River.

A picture of Yangshuo's Impressions of Liu San Jie show, directed by Zhang Yi Mou (who also directed the Beijing Olympics, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Impressions of Lijiang, which was awesome).

Here's the view from the top of one of the hostels we stayed at 11 Youth Hostel in Yangshuo near West Street. I wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning!

Lantau!

2011-03-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

I've been to HK a few dozen times over the last two years, and I've never been to Lantau to see the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastary. I guess after feeling settled, you don't do those touristy things.

We took the cable car from Tung Chung.

The Big Buddha is the largest bronze buddha in the world (34m). Yes, to be the largest or tallest of anything, one way to do it is to put as many descriptors/adjectives as possible.

It is a small world! Lora Oehlberg (friend from many ME classes) was traveling through China & HK for a conference. She had a friend who put her in touch with Amy Dinh in HK(who lived across the hall from me my senior year at FroSoCo) and told me about Lora's trip. So we spent the day sightseeing and hanging out in HK.

Guangzhou!

2011-03-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

I've been in Shenzhen for more than two years, and I've only been to Guangzhou twice, both times for factory visits. I figured it was about time to explore the city, so one of my buddies and I decided to hop on a 1-hr train to Guangzhou and spend the day walking around.
Lots of roots and mushrooms for Chinese medicine...
...including lizards on a stick!
Me and Francis getting some Vietnamese food.
A visit to the Canton Tower (108 floors, 600m high). Weather was a bit dreary, but at least it didn't rain!

Cooking Classes!

2011-02-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

Since I love Indian food so much, I figure it'd be a good idea to learn how to make it. This in no way means that I'll start cooking anytime soon, but I'll have these pictures and videos ready for the day that I start to use my kitchen.
Fried Dal
Tomato-Onion Raita
Puris!
My veg lunch thali, which includes dal, aloo gobi, tomato-onion raita, jeera rice, puri, chapati, halva (not pictured), and pakora (already eaten).

That's it for my India trip!

Sightseeing in Udaipur

2011-02-12T21:24:00.000-08:00

Ranakpur - a Jain temple with 1444 uniquely carved pillars.
Kumbhalgarh, a walled fort built ~600yrs ago with a 36km perimeter. It has only been taken once, and even then, it was held only for 2 days.
Having a nice cold Kingfisher at a rooftop restaurant before sunset.
Nightime view of the City Palace.

Typical Day in Udaipur

2011-02-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

Udaipur is my last stop in India, which was a fantastic way to decompress and relax. It's a charming clean city with lakes, small alleys, colorful dresses, and fantastic food.
A stroll through the vegetable market.
An India Mark II deep lift water pump can be found at every corner!
A family from a farm 70km outside of Udaipur on vacation.
The world as seen from 2 cows chillin' in the middle of a busy intersection. They say good milk comes from happy cows and happy cows come from California. I would argue that happy cows come from India, which is why the milk tea tastes so good!

Amritsar!

2011-02-12T21:04:00.000-08:00

I planned a 1-day trip to Amritsar to see the Golden Temple and check out the changing of the guard/dance at the India-Pakistan border. What I didn't plan for was an 8-hr train delay, leaving me with only 5hrs in the city before my train back to New Delhi. While I missed the India-Pakistan border, I did get to catch the Golden Temple before sunset and stay till it got dark.
Golden Temple (A Holy Sikh Temple)
They provide free dinner and free accomodation to all who come. I joined the 40,000 people that eat here each day for a small meal.

Looks like I could easily fit in this cooking pot!

Weddings!

2011-02-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Apparently, now is an auspicious time for weddings, so everyone in India is having their weddings in Jan/Feb. Varun had 3 weddings to attend this weekend, and for each wedding, there were multiple events.
A Pakistani-themed dinner party.
A Jain wedding ceremony.
The wedding hopping crew (left to right: me, Supriya (Varun's wife), Varun, Shruti (Supriya's sister).
One of many meals I had that weekend. Jain weddings serve only vegetarian food! Perfect!

Kolkata with Varun!

2011-02-12T20:46:00.000-08:00

Luckily, I was fully recovered from the bad momos in Darjeeling, just in time for a full weekend of eating/partying. That weekend was full of events: multiple weddings, multiple receptions, multiple parties, a prayer for a new house, and company dinner - this doesn't even include any of the sightseeing, scheduled brunches/dinners, and afternoon teas. Varun had quite the social calendar! Thanks for letting me tag along for part of it!

One hour after I arrived at the train station in Kolkata, Varun took me to a prayer for the contruction of their new family home. It's a once in a lifetime experience for anyone to see this - it's not every day that someone builds a new home.
Victoria Memorial, which was finished 20years after Queen Victoria's death.
The Chinatown in India is in Kolkata. There isn't much to see, but it was an interesting read finding out how Chinese people ended up in India. Wikipedia Link
Princep Ghat: In its early years, it was a major embarkation/disembarkation for the British in India.

Darjeeling!

2011-02-07T03:41:00.000-08:00

Darjeeling was a nice hillside town, but I think 1 day day there was probably just about enough time.

Spotted the toy train on the way up, and it took us about 5 seconds to wiz right past it.
I made the mistake of eating some momos (dumplings) on the ride up. BAD idea! Spent the evening in bed with a bucket and bottle of water. Luckily, I was pretty much recovered 2 days later when I arrived in Kolkata! The Darjeeling tea was nice though!
I was told that most of January was pretty cloudy, so I lucked out with the clear weather! Here's Kangchenjunga in left and Darjeeling on the right.
Unfortunately, Darjeeling, like all places in India, is not impervious to litter!

Darjeeling - Tiger Hill

2011-02-07T03:28:00.000-08:00

Made a short trip to Darjeeling, a small hilside town in northeast India near the Himalayas.

I woke up really early to join the crowds for the sunrise, and with clear weather, the view was fantastic!

Here's Kanchenjunga in Nepal, the world's 3rd highest.
Here's the peak of Mt. Everest. Since it's so far away, it's actually the second tallest white peak in this picture, not the tallest one.

Taj Mahal!

2011-02-07T03:11:00.000-08:00

I made a day trip from New Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Pictures don't do the mausoleum justice!

All the marble was inlaid with semi-precious stones, and the craftsmanship was amazing. Here is a picture of some inlay on the outside of the building, which is nice, but the work inside is amazing (unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside).

Food!

2011-02-07T02:59:00.000-08:00

Food here is fantastic, especially for vegetarians. I was sitting around a dinner table the other day, and it came to light that I was vegetarian. I then found out that the other 11/12 people at the table were also vegetarian. What's even more funny were the questions everyone at the table asked the non vegetarian: "how do you stand the smell of meat?" "what do you eat?" "why aren't you a vegetarian?" Usually, the vegetarian is under the spotlight!

Anything that is vegetarian has a green dot or is in green packaging, and if it isn't vegetarian, it's cooked separately, packaged in red, and clearly marked "NON-VEG."

I think my favorite kind of Indian food is Chaat - likely because a lot of it is fried!
More Chaat!
The McAloo Tikki (Aloo is Potato)... and it's Vegetarian! This needs to go International.
Ironically, KFC also has Veg food - here's their Veg Zinger!

Then there's the grilled panners, curries, daals, puris, rotis, chapatis, dosas, idlys, utapams, etc... Look out for a 200lb version of me when I'm done eating my way through India.

New Delhi!

2011-02-07T02:39:00.000-08:00

I've been in India for a week, and it's been fantastic. What's great about this trip is it has a mix of sightseeing and visiting friends whom I haven't seen in a while.
Here's my trip itinerary:

New Delhi (flying from HK), visiting Adi and Anu, seeing Old Delhi
Agra, seeing the Taj Mahal
Darjeeling, going to Tiger Hill, Riding the Toy Train
Kolkata, visiting Varun
Amritsar, seeing the Golden Temple, Going to the India/Pakistan Border for their "changing of the guard"
Udaipur, visiting the Lake Palace and Jain Temples
New Delhi (flying back to HK)

Here are some pictures from my first stop in New Delhi, my travel hub while I'm in India.
I got to meet up with Anu, whom I knew from ME masters, was also in town for a few weeks.
I've known Adi since freshman year, so it was definitely good catching up. Here's a picture of us at his place, where he's introduced me to black salt/black pepper/lemon grilled corn on the cob. Way better than just butter!
Here is the Qutb Minar, the world's tallest brick minaret from, contruction started in 1193 (wikipedia link).
Lotus Temple at night (wikipedia link). Inside the temple is probably the quietest spot in Delhi.

In New Delhi!

2011-01-29T23:30:00.001-08:00

Today is my first day in New Delhi, and after all the hype about India being crazy, loud, dangerous, dirty, etc... it seems perfectly fine! It actually reminds me a lot of Myanmar, and I love Myanmar!

I'm heading out to a feast with a friend soon - let the games begin!

1/1/11 - Ringing in the New Year!

2011-01-02T00:42:00.000-08:00

Time flies fast and it's already another year! Hello 2011! It's hard to beat the view from my buddy Chris's place, so I rang in the new year in HK.

Before going over to Chris's place, I walked around the Avenue of the Stars, where people were camping out. Lots of people playing with their iPhone 4s (everyone in HK seems to have one...) and playing Uno! I got out before the crowds got crazy.
What's awesome is being able to walk around in the middle of the streets because the close off most of the roads near the waterfront. Safety and efficientcy... very HK!
Fireworks!
A few friends and a view of the IFC tower from the apartment...

Great company, awesome view, fantastic year. I'm excited about 2011! Happy New Year everyone!

Next Adventure... India!

2010-12-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

So I lied. This will be my last post for this year. I just bought plane tickets to go to New Delhi, India for the first two weeks of February for Chinese New Year. What am I doing there? What will I see? I have no idea yet. Time to pick up a travel book, get a Visa, book some hostels... Talk about an impulse buy!

Let the travel planning begin!

Housewarming! Last Post of 2010...

2010-12-18T19:59:00.000-08:00

So after a few months of settling in (and procrastinating), I finally threw an official housewarming (Christmas themed with a white elephant gift exchange). My place comfortably fit 18 people!

What happened this year?

I traveled to Singapore, Malaysia, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Jiuzhaigou.
I hit up Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego during my stint in the States for Susan's and Sirena's graduations!
I bought, tore down, and remodeled my apartment in the city.

It's been another fantastic year. I've learned a ton (with many many mistakes), traveled to some cool places, and met lots of amazing people. Who knows what will happen in 2011!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dinner at Naples!

2010-12-13T06:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't actually go to Naples, but it felt like it! My friends Constantino from Madrid and Paola from Naples had me over for a nice homemade dinner... Spinach and Cheese Rustic Pizza, Eggplant Parmesean, vegetables...

Like my red slippers?

Layers of eggplant... yum!

It's the holidays and I won't be going home. What will I be doing? Not sure quite yet. 3 big holidays are coming up (Christmas, New Year, and Chinese New Year) and this is what I'm thinking:

For Christmas, I'll be throwing a Housewarming/White Elephant Gift Exchange/Christmas Party. On actual Christmas day... don't know quite yet.
I'll be ringing in the New Year with by buddy Chris in HK, just like last year.
For Chinese New Year, I'm still trying to figure it out. Harbin is the current favorite. Thoughts? Anyone want to go on a trip?

I think the next time I'll be back in the States will be August? So... come visit!

Pre Housewarming

2010-11-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

My roommate Greg Witmer ('09) just moved in so it was about time to have a mini-housewarming. It's not quite a full house warming yet, since I wasn't sure how many people I could comfortably fit in the apartment. 9 fit quite comfortably on the couch and window sill, so I'm thinking if people hung out in the dining room and the bedrooms, we could maybe fit 20+? We'll see how big the next one will be, or maybe I'll just have housewarmings in a few batches...

Other Apartment Pix

2010-09-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

Dining Room

Hallway looking out from my room.

Office/Study Room

Tiny Bedroom

View from my bedroom window

Apartment floorplan.

Moved In, Finally!

2010-09-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

I'm finally moved in and settled in! Feels great to finally be done.

Living Room. Almost exactly a year ago, I went to Painter's Village with some friends to look for paintings for my rented apartment - here's my blog post: http://danaung.blogspot.com/2009/08/painters-village.html. I said, "If I ever bought a house in Shenzhen, I'd come here to decorate it!" Well, I guess it's about time I make a trip over! Hey, notice the 4 paintings I bought a while back... I guess I liked them so much, I decided to buy a house to put them in!

Entrance and Kitchen

Hallway (2 bedrooms on the right, on bath on the left, master bedroom + bath at the end).

The master bedroom (mine!)...

What's missing... a housewarming! I'm thinking of having it on Sept 24, so pictures from that coming soon.

New Apartment in Shenzhen!

2010-08-19T18:17:00.000-07:00

So, why have I been so busy over the last few months? In the middle of all the traveling, I've been thinking about things like, "What color tiles do I like?"

I am rennovating my new place in Shenzhen, which is extremely close to the Shenzhen/HK border, hence the HK metro map.
How much rennovating am I doing... check out the floors and the tiles!

Plans are to move into a fresh new place in 3 weeks! Stay tuned!

Suzhou!

2010-07-25T07:50:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a chance to ride the Maglev yet (581km/hr = 361mph), but going 284km/hr (176mph) isn't too bad either.

Walking around Shangtang street. Looks like Venice in China!

The Zhuo Zheng Garden, one of Suzhou's many gardens.

Shanghai - World Expo!

2010-07-25T01:54:00.000-07:00

Our main reason for stopping through Shanghai was to go to the World Expo. China spent more money on the World Expo than they did on the Beijing Olympics in 2008!

This picture of the Macau Pavilion is for Sirena!

There were lots of people! Crowds + 35C+ temperatures... fun fun!

The US Pavilion!

Here is Haibao, the official mascot of the World Expo, whom you could see EVERYWHERE!

Krispy Kreme!

2010-07-25T01:45:00.000-07:00

There is only ONE Krispy Kreme in all of China and I found it in Shanghai! They have the whole doughnut conveyor belt inside too! My taste buds tell me the doughnuts taste just as good (though slightly different...).

Shanghai - The Bund!

2010-07-25T01:43:00.000-07:00

Some pix of the Shanghai skyline and the Bund.

Chinese Fajitas!

2010-07-25T01:40:00.000-07:00

What happens when you're deprived of Mexican food in China? You find a way to cope, like this! At a really awesome restaurant in Hangzhou, Grandmother's Kitchen (外婆家), I ordered 2 of my favorite dishes: teppanyaki tea tree mushrooms and roti prata. Who says you can't have fajitas in China?

Hangzhou!

2010-07-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

In Hangzhou, we visited the Gong Chen Bridge, which is one of the more well-known bridges that span the Grand Canal (a canal whose sections were combined around 1500 years ago to connect the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers).
We took a short boat ride to the middle of West Lake.
Here a view of the area around the lake at night. Reminds me a bit of the Acropolis.
To end the day, we watched the musical water fountain show - not as grand as the Bellagio one, but still really good!

Chinese Restaurant!

2010-07-25T01:25:00.000-07:00

Look! I found a Chinese restaurant in China (in Hangzhou actually)!

Beijing!

2010-07-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

I went to Beijing (again...) where I took my mom and sister to the Forbidden City, Great Wall, Olympic Stadium... etc. Since I've already posted pix from these places when i took my dad, I'll post some other interesting pix.

The Wangfujing food street - very crowded!

What's for lunch? BBQ scorpions? These guys are roasted while they're alive! I'm going to add this to my long list of reasons for being a vegetarian...

Suzhou street at the Summer Palace (yes, it was raining...)

The marble boat at the Summer Palace.

Shopping in Dongmen (东门)

2010-07-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

When Susan came to visit, she told me she wanted to buy some bags and wallets... so I took her to Dongmen!

LV purses...
99 cent store, eat your heart out. Here's the rmb9.9 store (usd1.50) where you can pick up stuff like Gucci wallets, thermoses, clocks, watches...

Padres vs Mariners

2010-07-24T09:32:00.000-07:00

My dad works for Petco, so he scored us some box seats for the Padres vs Mariners Game on June 12, 2010 (yes, the post is a bit late...).

Final score... Padres 7, Mariners 1. Sweet!

Seattle!

2010-07-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

It's right about time for me to catch up on my blog posts. My last post was from Chicago, about 2 months ago when I started my 2 months of "traveling."

Chicago -> Seattle -> San Francisco -> San Diego -> HK/Shenzhen -> Macau -> Beijing -> Hangzhou -> Suzhou -> Shanghai

In Seattle, I got to meet up with Mike and Solina, whom I haven't seen in a long time. Since it was the 4th of July weekend, Alex and Julie decided to fly up and hang out with us!

Here is me, Alex, and Julie out clubbing with Mike's med school classmates.

Hanging out with the Fremont Troll!

Some pleasant walk at a nice park. I forget where, but I do remember that the weather was beautiful, and the strawberrys Solina bought were really sweet!

Alex decides to show us some "stupid" iPhone app called the "Impossible Game." We all spend the next hour trying to beat it. 2 med students, 2 facebook developers, and 1 mechancal engineer vs 1 "stupid" iPhone app = lots of "stupid" fun!

Chicago: Susan's Graduation and Family Trip

2010-05-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend, my older sister, Susan just graduated, Summa Cum Laude, from optometry school at ICO, so the whole family and a few of her friends flew over for her commencement. We did lots of touristy things like going up the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), walk the Mag Mile, visit Wrigley Field, and walk around Navy Pier. I love Chicago!

We stayed at a condo near Millennium Park, so we took pictures at the Bean before going to her commencement.

Family Pic!

I wonder what it'd feel like standing in a glass box 103 stories above ground...

We definitely ate our way through Chicago: Molly's cupcakes, Garrett's popcorn, and some awesome Giordano's Stuffed Crust Pizza.

Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou

2010-05-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

After Chengdu, we spent a day at Huanglong and a day at Jiuzhaigou. Seems like this year will involve lots of revisiting places!

The last time I was here, it was snowing and cold, but since it was fall, the trees were shades of red/orange. This time, Huanglong was warmer and had beautiful blue skies.

Jiuzhaigou - always breathtaking!

We had a Tibetan banquet (with lots of BBQ yak that I didn't eat). During the course of the dinner, I ate, drank, and got married to this girl!

Chengdu!

2010-05-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

For our annual company trip in mid May, we spent a few days in Sichuan, with our first stop in Chengdu.

I got to see the Pandas at the Chengdu Panda research center again. I could watch them all day!

We went to see a Sichuan Opera, which involved some sword throwing, with yours truly!

The coolest part of the show was the Sichuan Face Changing performance (Wikipedia Link). Performers changed faces in less than a second. One walked up to one of my coworkers for a handshake and POOF, new face!

More traveling!

2010-04-29T00:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't gone on any big adventures in the last few months, which is fine, b/c the next 3 months are going to be CRAZY! Taipei, Chengdu, Jiuzhaigou, Shenzhen, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, HK, Macau, Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai...

A bit of work, family, friends... Life is good!

Victoria Peak

2010-03-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

While I've been to HK more than a dozen times in the last year, this was the first time I had been to Victoria Peak. A few friends and I decided to go for a "hike", which ended up being a nice leisurely stroll around the top of the peak. Weather was a bit overcast, but it was extremely comfortable for a nice stroll!

Back in SZ!

2010-02-27T09:32:00.000-08:00

I'm now back in Shenzhen and I'm about 4 shades darker (I can tell when I look at my sandal tan and farmers tan - I'll spare you all a photo of it :P).

It is good to be back home - I do love my room! Time to get back into the swing of things... I think I'll start with a visit to the Peak in HK tomorrow!

Penang!

2010-02-27T08:47:00.000-08:00

After Singapore, I flew to Penang to hang out with a friend of mine, Wong. Here's a picture of him and his family where we got some awesome Indian food. Who needs plates when you have banana leaves! Very classy!

I stayed in Penang for 7 days where I got to continue doing nothing but eat, sleep, and relax. Check out the view from our balcony! Wong gets this view every day! Talk about having an awesome place. The air is fresh, the view is fantastic. Very refreshing!

My trip through Malaysia and Singapore have confirmed that I love Indian food. Half of my meals during the trip were Indian food! Check out this Poori the size of my head! Fried bread and lots of it. Yum! Add some good naan, curry, dal... I could eat it every day!

Here's a picture I took while watching the sun set Batu Ferringhi (a touristy strip of beaches in the northern part of Penang).

I now get to check off another hotel on my list of famous hotels visited. (I've made this list since I've unintentionally been to most of them!). The Sarkies Brothers founded a bunch of hotels toward the end of the 19th century/ beginning of the 20th century. Here's a Wikipedia link.

In chronological order, the hotels founded by the brothers were:

* 1884: Eastern Hotel, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
* 1885: Oriental Hotel, George Town, Penang, Malaysia
* 1889: Eastern and Oriental merged into Eastern & Oriental Hotel (visited Feb 2010)
* 1887: Raffles Hotel, Singapore (visited Feb 2010)
* 1891: Kartika Wijaya, Batu, Java, Indonesia[1]
* 1901: Strand Hotel, Rangoon (Yangon), Burma (Myanmar) (visited July 2008)
* 1910: Hotel Majapahit (as Hotel Oranje), Surabaya, Indonesia

I guess this means that I need go to to Indonesia!

Here's a picture of the pagoda at the Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple (supposedly the largest in Malaysia). It gets all lit up for the Chinese New Year! What's crazy, is that every lantern and every tile in the temple is "sponsored" by someone. "Sponsored" meaning someone made a donation to the temple to have that lantern hung or tile tiled.

When I see these anodized aluminum bottle openers, I can't help but think about the hours it took me to machine a few of them in the machine shop (you might even own one of these!). Here, you can buy one for less than usd1!

This is a photo of the biggest ant I have ever seen! It's an ANT, and it's HUGE!

I went for a short hike in the Penang National Park to Pantai Kerachut which opens up to a secluded beach! No people, no litter, clean water! Went for a nice swim on a beach all to myself!

Singapore!

2010-02-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

After Melaka, it took me just 4 hrs to hop on a bus and cross over to Singapore. It has been described as the "world's only shopping mall with a seat in the United Nations," which I will agree with. Streets are clean, everything is orderly and thought through. It's awesome.

While I was there, I got to meet up with a few friends from Stanford. Chuen, Kiat, Kevin, it was great hanging out with you guys. Thanks for showing me around.

There were lots of really cool buildings, including the Esplanade, a theater near the bay, also known as "The Durian."

Grabbed dinner and a cold beer next to the Singapore river - reminds me a bit of the Seine when I was in Paris!

Of course I had to take a picture with the Merlion!

Melaka

2010-02-21T07:28:00.000-08:00

After KL, I hopped on a bus to Melaka where I got to roam around the city. Lots of old buildings from its days as a Portuguese, Dutch, then British colony.

My room at the Jalan Jalan hostel in the heart of Chinatown.

Some good Malaysian dessert, cendol: shaved ice, syrup, red bean, gelly. Yum!

A walk down Jonker's street in Chinatown.

More buildings in Chinatown.

KL

2010-02-07T19:09:00.000-08:00

I've only been in KL for 2 days and I really like the city. People are really nice and helpful. It's great when you're in a country and you don't feel like you need to be on guard all the time as a tourist. Everyone is eager to help me find places or make recommendations. Maybe the biggest difference is that people here all smile! No one in China really smiles, so it's great to be back in a smiley place!

I'm staying at the BackHome KL Hostel, and it's fantastic.
http://www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/BackHome-Kuala-Lumpur/Kuala-Lumpur/35901

Went to the skybridge at the Petronas Towers. It was a really nice clear day outside. Though it was a bit warm and humid, it was relatively comfortable.

You bet I ate a lot of Roti Canai. I had 4 of them yesterday, and I'm just getting started!

Went to the Batu Caves, a Hindu cave complex where Indians come to worship.

At the base of the KL tower they had a really small exhibit of lizards, snakes, spiders, monkeys, and other small animals. I think this snake around my neck probably could have eaten me if it hadn't already eaten it's 15 chickens for the month!

CNY Traveling - Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Penang

2010-01-31T09:03:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year is coming up and I get to do a bit of "working from home" since all the factories will be closed! My "working from home" will entail some hosteling in KL, crashing over at a friend's place in Singapore (hanging out with Chuen and a few other friends), and "working" at my coworker's apartment/office in Penang. Hello to good curries, fried bread, and beaches!

I'll be in KL in less than a week, so look out for pictures!

Avatar in IMAX!

2010-01-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

I've been hearing about Avatar for more than a month now and I think everyone has seen it at least twice already. You wouldn't believe how long the lines are to buy tickets here. My buddy Angela figured that if we're watching Avatar, it's gotta be IMAX in 3D. 3 weeks ago, she booked tickets for Avatar in HK for Jan 31, since that was the closest screen and it was sold out for 3 weeks! (Actually there is another IMAX theatre in Dongguan, but HK is a much better place to be.)

After a few weeks of waiting and a day trip to HK, I have to say, it was worth it! So you can add me to the millions of people that really like this movie!

Chinese New Year Traveling!

2010-01-13T07:17:00.001-08:00

Chinese New Year is coming up in a few weeks, and I get some time off! Time to do some traveling! I'll be flying from Shenzhen-> Kuala Lumpur-> Singapore-> Penang-> HK (then taking the bus across the border back to Shenzhen). This trip will go from Feb 06 - Feb 24 (yes, that's a long time). I will be "working from home" the entire time, so I'm not completely being a slacker. I love my job!

New Years in HK

2010-01-03T05:01:00.000-08:00

I got to ring in the New Year with a few friends from HK. Here are some pix from the event!

Happy New Year everyone!

Vegetarian Restaurant in TW - YuShanGe

2010-01-03T04:38:00.000-08:00

I stopped through Taipei a few weeks back on my way home for Thanksgiving and business in the States, and a coworker took me to this vegetarian restaurant. It was a bit pricey, but I think it was one of the fanciest dinners I've ever had. 8 courses, and each course came with a detailed explanation about the nature of the dish and why it was served that way.

I never really had real sushi before I became a vegetarian, but I think I know what raw fish tastes like now! My coworker tells me it takes just like real fish.

This soup came with its own bonsai tree! No, I didn't get to keep it.

This was the main course - a steak. It's actually made of a "monkey head mushroom," and tasted really good!

Who said vegetarians can't eat raw fish and steak? :P

Other Travel Pix

2009-10-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

I posted the rest of my travel pictures on picasa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/danaung/DadChinaTravel#

There are about 125 of them (out of the 2000 pictures that I took).

I think I'm just about recovered from my traveling (mostly from all the work that piled up).

Upcoming trips: Taiwan in mid November, California near Thanksgiving.

Chengdu (成都)

2009-10-24T02:42:00.000-07:00

The highlight of our Chengdu trip was definitely the Pandas. Rather than add another picture of a market or old street, I'll leave this as the Panda post, because they were REALLY cute.

Huanglong (黄龙)

2009-10-24T02:39:00.000-07:00

A 4-hr bus ride away was Huanglong, where we got to see more limestone deposits and blue water, but at a higher elevation. Since it was so high, it snowed!

Jiuzhaigou (九寨沟)

2009-10-24T02:32:00.000-07:00

Jiuzhaigou was BEAUTIFUL. We got there at 7am and left the park at 7pm. Since it was fall, the leaves were turning red/orange/yellow and the water was an unbelievable shade of blue.

I'm thinking of making a trip during winter to see what it looks like covered in white!

Xi'an (西安)

2009-10-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

We took a 4-hr train from Luoyang to Xi'an where we walked around the city and checked out the Terracotta Soldiers.

Walking around the city walls.

Walking around the Muslim Quarter.

I think I spent as much time being amazed at the # of Chinese tourists as I did being amazed as the number of terracotta soldiers.

Luoyang (洛阳)

2009-10-24T02:17:00.000-07:00

From Beijing, we flew to Luoyang (the plan was initially to take an 8hr train, but tickets were all sold out). Here, we got to visit the Shaolin Temple and the Longmen Caves.

Lots of Wushu and martial arts.

Thousands of caves and Buddha carvings.

Traveling with my Dad: Beijing!

2009-10-24T01:28:00.000-07:00

My dad met with me at Beijing airport on 09.25 where we started a 3-week trip through China.

Beijing -> Luoyang -> Xi'an -> Jiuzhaigou -> Chengdu -> Shenzhen (home) -> Macau -> Hong Kong

We spent 6 days in Beijing right before the National Holiday and got to all the touristy spots. At the same time, we stayed in a buried in the Hutongs, so we got to see other parts of Beijing. I see why everyone loves Beijing: great food everywhere and lots of character!

Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City

Olympic Stadium

The Great Wall (Mu Tian Yu). It was awesome that there was almost no one there!

Weekend in Hengshan (衡山)

2009-09-09T01:40:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, I got to hang out with a few Stanford friends at Hengshan, Hunan. One of them, Daniel, taught English at Henghan for a year through a Stanford program called VIA (Visitors in Asia), so we got to visit the school that he taught at and meet up with some this year's teachers (who were also Stanford grads!). We got off work on Friday, hopped on a train at 10pm and arrived at Hengshan at 6am the following day. To get back, we hopped on the 11pm train on Sunday night and arrived in Shenzhen at 7am so we could get to work on Monday. Fun fun!

We spent the weekend hiking up Hengshan, eating lots of Hunan food (not as spicy as I thought), and hanging out at the school Daniel used to teach at.

Hengshan is one of the 5 Taoist mountains in China. I got to hike Huashan, another Taoist mountain, with my little sister a few months ago. I guess this means I have three more to go!

I got to walk around some markets where you can buy dog meat, fresh frogs, and pig feet.

I think I'll probably take a break from traveling this weekend and next weekend, so I can plan for my big trip with my dad from Sept 25 - Oct 11. We're going from Beijing - Luoyang - Xi'an - Jiuzhaigou. It's going to be awesome!

Emoi - Staples meets Ikea

2009-09-01T01:13:00.000-07:00

I found a really neat store the other day call Emoi (http://www.emoilife.com/en/index.php). Essentially, it's the Chinese version of Muji, which you probably haven't heard of since there's only one store in the US, and it's in NY.

It's pretty exciting. The only problem now is if I buy something, I'm not sure how I'm going to get it back to CA when I move back. Maybe I should worry about that later?

Trip to Jinggangshan (井冈山)

2009-08-30T01:06:00.000-07:00

Jinggangshan is known as the birthplace of the Chinese Red Army, where Mao Ze Dong and the communist armies retreated to consolidate their forces.

I was there for 2 days for a business trip at the end of Aug, so I made sure to wake up really early (5am) so I could get some traveling in before I had to fly out of the airport at 3pm. It was well worth it. I must say, Mao picked a really nice place to retreat to.

Lookout point at one of the bunkers.

Five Dragon Pool, where cable cars will take you down and up. Since I didn't have much time, I hiked down and took the cable cars up.

I love waterfalls! Here, there were a total of 8 falls that each fed into the next.

Trip to Chaozhou (潮州)

2009-08-25T01:22:00.000-07:00

Since my grandparents were born in Chaozhou or somewhere in that area, and since it's so close to here, I decided I should go visit (08.22-08.23)! Chaozhou was supposedly a 6 hr drive (thought I think it took almost 8). I don't have any relatives there, but a family friend still has family close to Chaozhou, so I went to go visit them.

We didn't do much besides eat and drink tea so I don't have a lot of pictures. the pace of living is much slower there - perhaps too slow for me! I think HK is too fast. SZ seems to be just right!

While we didn't do too much sight seeing, I did get to hang around Guangjimen at Chaozhou for a little while, so here are pix from that.

Beach Trip - Xiao Mei Sha (小梅沙)

2009-08-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

I've heard about 2 beaches in Shenzhen, so Kristen and I decided to go check it out. One is the big beach (Da Mei Sha), which is free, and one is the small beach (Xiao Mei Sha), which costs money. I figured that if you have to pay to go, there should be fewer people. There were a TON of people. I'm glad that most Chinese people can't swim and if you make your way into the deeper end, it thins out a lot. :P

Even though there were a lot of people, it didn't feel too crowded. It just felt like the place to hang out on a nice day. The

Look at all the people! The water was pretty warm (maybe 22degC).

I got to do some swimming and go to walk along the rocks. When one thinks of Shenzhen, one doesn't really picture this!

They have camping tents and some BBQ pits too, so a camping trip on the beach doesn't sound like a bad idea at all!

Painter's Village (大芬村）

2009-08-09T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was another fun trip with Sabina and Kristen! (When I say yesterday, I actually mean yesterday. I think I am now all caught up on my blog posts! Sweet!)

Off to the Painter's Village, which was a half hr cab ride away. There are more than 5000 artists here making duplicate or original oil paintings. Want a Monet or Rembrandt? Want to blow up a family painting? Just come to the Painter's Village! I walked away with 2 sets of paintings (for a total of 7 paintings). One set goes in my room, one set will go back to Mountain View - Alex... hope you have more wall space!

I'm blocking the set of 4 paintings I bought to put in my room. It's a set of trees in different colors (blue/green/red/yellow).

If I ever bought a house in Shenzhen, I'd come here to decorate it!

Macau (again!)

2009-08-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

I made another trip to Macu at the end of July, but this time with Sabina and Kristen. My last trip to Macau with Amish, we spent more time in the casinos either walking around, watching shows, or on the casino floor. This time, we spent lots of time eating, checking out the casinos, and exploring the historic area of Macau.

Exploring Senado Square in the historic area.

We had dinner on night at a Portuguese place called Alfonso's where we ordered from a handwritten menu that changed every day. The food, wine, and cheese was excellent! Needless to say, we had a few other excellent meals too.

We got some Portuguese egg tarts from a place called Margarets. You know a place is good when there are two lines out the door (one for ordering egg tarts and one for picking up your order). I think everyone there ate an average of 3 tarts a person. We ate 2 each. Yum yum!

Ruins of St. Paul's Church - only the front wall remains.

SZ Botanical Gardens

2009-08-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

A few friends from d.light (Sabina, Kristen, and Jason) and I decided to go check out the Botanical Gardens in Shenzhen one weekend at the end of July, where we found a variety of things. You can find lots of trees, plants, flowers, lakes,...

dinosaurs...

pagodas...

old town houses...

Just another day in Shenzhen!

-dana

Macau!

2009-08-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's great when friends from Stanford have to pass through Shenzhen for work. Amish was here at the beginning of July for work. Hey Chris, when are you coming back? We can when you come!

We decided to make a day trip to Macau, which was a Portuguese colony for almost 500 years. I think it's smaller than San Francisco.

Here's Amish in a Cathedral! Cathedrals in China? Cool!

This is one thing I really liked about Macau: feeling like I was walking through Europe. I found piazzas, water fountains, and cobbled streets in a place that looked like Hong Kong, though much less crowded!

Here's the inside of the Venetian. Yes, it does look just like Vegas.

St. Mark's Square (inside the Venetian).

At the end of the day, we got to see a Cirque du Soleil (Zaia) show for 25usd! I think if you're in Vegas, 25usd will buy you two drinks while you're watching a Cirque du Soleil show.

Visit from Sirena, Trip to Xi'an

2009-08-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

I was really happy when my lil sister, Sirena, came to visit me in Shenzhen with a few of her friends at the end of June. After her friends left to go back home, she and I made a 4-day trip to Xi'an.

Sirena and I biked around the city walls, which I hear is somewhere between 12-14km. I'm pretty sure I did 80% of the work...

We did a day trip to Hua Shan which is 2hrs away from Xi'an by bus. The peaks are at ~2,000m.

Yeah. The views were pretty awesome.

Can't go to Xi'an without making friends with some Terracotta Warriors!

More pix on my Picasa page: http://picasaweb.google.com/danaung/XiAnTrip#

I had a lot of fun. Thanks for visiting, Sirena!

Housewarming!

2009-07-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

After moving in around the beginning of May, I finally had a housewarming about a month ago on 06.13 where I attempted to do a BBQ. I think I bought twice as much food as I needed. Better overprepared, right?

I came to realize that I was spoiled with grilling with nice big propane grills or with nice coals and lighter fluid. Look at this tiny grill! First it took a long time to get the coals started, then it took a long time to grill since my grill was so small. Luckily I had 2 grills.

(left to right) Here's Dorcas and Ned (friends from Stanford) Bertina, Kira, and Kai (friends from the office building).

Yum... Good food, including Mei's corn dip!

(left to right) Mei and Scott (coworkers) Dorcas, Ned, Bertina. Oh, and Daniel in the back (another buddy from Stanford).

Pix from LiJiang

2009-07-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sweet I'm back on Blogger! I just have to say Hotspot Shield is awesome!

Here are some pictures from the company trip to LiJiang in Yunnan, China at at the end of May. Of the 4 days we were there, it rained every day. It was tons of fun though! I think LiJiang is the Asian Swiss Alps (and I loved the Swiss Alps). You do have cable cars that take you up Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (yes, it did have snow, and it was cold!), and everything is so fresh and clean. The water there tastes great and the scenery is beautiful.

Here is a picture of LiJiang, one of China's best preserved Old Towns. I spent 3 days walking through the city and only only the day before I leave did I realize that I had explored less than 1/3 of it.

More beautiful views!

Nothing like having a cold beer while watching the city's nightlife come alive.

At 4680m, you get hail, strong winds, thin air, freezing fingers, and some pretty awesome views! One of my coworkers and I made it to the top (where I bought a well spent 10rmb tea, a very critical handwarmer).

There are way too may pictures, so the rest I've posted on Picasa.

http://picasaweb.google.com/danaung/ZaoTechCompanyTripLijiang#

More pix and stories to come!

Back on Blogger!

2009-07-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

So I finally found a way around the Great Firewall, which is good, since they started to block Facebook too! I now have a lot of updating to do. I'm not sure if I'll be able to post pictures , but we'll see.

Blogspot is blocked by the Great Firewall

2009-06-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in over a month. China has blocked Blogspot because of the Tienanmen Square anniversary. I'm not sure when they'll unblock it. I'm currently blogging from HK (since I've made 3 trips to HK in the last week!).

So what's new with me...

Since the last time I blogged:

I took a company trip to Lijiang in Yunan Province. It was awesome! It reminds me of an Asian version of Switzerland. There's a well-preserved old town, beautiful nature views from the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, lots of great food, etc. I have yet to post pictures, which I will put on Picasa at some point.

My little sister Sirena is in town visiting, so I showed her and her friends around HK and Shenzhen. She's currently in Shanghai and will be back in 10 days or so to hang out.

Also, there seem to be quite a few people passing through Shenzhen at the moment. Besides my sister, Derrick Jue was here, Jon Gaw is here, and Chris Li is here too.

Still learning a ton and having lots of fun! I do love Shenzhen!

Huizhou Tourgroup

2009-05-06T05:59:00.000-07:00

I've always been amused by giant Asian tour groups - you know the ones where the tour guide walks around with a brightly- colored flag. 2 weekends ago, I got to be a part of one! Kai, a friend from Xinjiang, set up a 2 day 1 night tour to Huizhou, a 2 hr drive away from Shenzhen. Food, transportation, and 5-star hotel (actually 3.5-4 stars by American standards) all cost a total of 200rmb (28usd).

I quickly found out you get what you pay for, since we spent most of our time either on the bus, or waiting around. I can't blame them since it rained really hard, and it was so dirt cheap. We got to go to the beach (essentially a body of water, nothing too special), a golf resort (which was decently nice), a park, and hot springs (where we got to spend only 3 hrs).

It was great hanging out with friends though, and it was a lot of fun just being part of a Chinese tour group. However, I think in the future, I'll spring for a nicer trip that costs a bit more than 28usd.

These are the friends I was traveling with. 2 are friends that work in my office building. We spent a lot of time taking funny pictures, playing cards, and drinking beer.

We ended up staying at a golf resort, which was actually really nice. I suspect that the tour group may have worked out a deal with the golf resort so we could stay there for free so we could check out the place. It looked like they were trying to sell property, but it was very subtle - not like those Wyndam timeshare deals where you have to sit through a long presentation and such.

The more parks I go to, the bigger they seem to get. Parks are a huge thing here, and there are always tons of people.

The park had a bunch of little islands and a huge lake. I guess if you want more real estate, you gotta make more land. This is how they do it a few feet at a time!

New Apartment!

2009-05-06T05:07:00.000-07:00

So I realize it's been a while since I've updated my blog, and my last blog entry was hardly an entry. My excuse is that I've been busy looking for a new apartment. I spent this last weekend moving in and buying stuff from Ikea (yes there is an Ikea here, and it is exactly the same as any other Ikea, except with tons of Chinese people). Oh, and it has 1rmb (0.14usd) frozen yogurt cones! Who can't spare 1rmb!

I moved 4 buildings over within the same complex, because the garden and the location of this complex is awesome, so I still have the same garden from my old place, and it's still only a 15 minute walk door to door from home to the office.

The place has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, nice big living room, storage closet, and excellent balcony. Somehow, I got the master bedroom! My other two roommates are Xian Wu (Stanford MSME 2007, and Paul Yoo one of Xian's friends from NY). At some point soon, we will have a housewarming, and you'll get to see pictures of them.

Check out the wood floors!

Here's our dining room.

Here is my bedroom. It faces in and has an awesome view of the garden. Usually, I wake up to lots of sun and birds (or my alarm).

Here's a better view of the garden.

In case you're curious, this is the layout of the place.

Boxed in red is my 2nd floor apartment. That's actually my room your looking at.

There are lots of other things to be done, like set up Internet and buy some shelves. However, for the most part, I'm settled in and it feels great!

Another reason to love China...

2009-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just bought this from my favorite DVD lady right outside the apartment for 70 cents. I don't know where she got it... it's definitely a DVD rip and it's not supposed to be released anywhere for another 2 weeks!

While I should be doing other things, I'm going to watch this instead. I love China!

Requested by Karla & Brian

2009-03-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

So, Brian said I should post more often, and Karla said I'm not allowed to talk about food without pictures (as she demonstrates with her extremely cool blog - http://munchums.blogspot.com/)

So, here I go...

This is a picture of my 10rmb (1.5usd) dinner, which I have decided to order delivery again (I've actually ordered quite often since I discovered them). Bitter melon fried with egg and rice. A simple, yet very tasty dish.

On the topic of food, for a snack, I usually just pick up this fried vegetable wrap from the local supermarket for 0.35usd each. Susan, Sirena... think of the hours saved from working in the backyard and in the kitchen making these "turtle-vegetable-cakes" from scratch (Chao Zhou joke - no, there are no turtles in it :P)!

Ever wonder what McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/) would be like if it were a physical building? There's an area Hua Qiang Lu, 3 metro stops away from my apartment, that is just that. You could walk around with a circuit you wanted to build or with materials shopping list and buy whatever you want. Here's a picture of one section of one floor of a bunch of buildings that are just as crowded. That's not even counting people on the street trying to sell printer inks or other random things.

I took this picture a while back while Chris and I were walking around. I decided to post it since I liked the happy kid and the KFC delivery bikes.

$1.50 dinner, free delivery!

2009-03-15T04:38:00.000-07:00

So I was lazy for dinner today and decided to try out this delivery thing. Looked at a menu I picked up while walking around the other day, called the number, and half an hr later, I was greeted by a cheerful fellow with my rice and stir-fried vegetables. This simple 10rmb (1.5usd) dinner tasted better than some of my 30rmb dinners, and I didn't even have to leave my chair (until I answered the door)!

I could get used to this!

ate pig today...

2009-03-04T03:31:00.000-08:00

This was what I had for lunch today, and it was definitely picture worthy!

(I have to say, the iPhone has been great with indoor pictures... I'm impressed).

Just another nice day - TGIF

2009-02-27T01:22:00.000-08:00

I took a break from working in front of my computer and snapped some pictures of the city and the golf course from the balcony.

Nice breeze, nice humidity, nice temperature (today was a solid 25C, or 77F)... overall a very very nice Friday indeed! Ready for the weekend!

Hong Kong (Part 2)

2009-02-22T07:15:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of other little things I saw in HK.

View of Hong Kong Island.

Dad, look what I found. There are a bunch of plaques on the ground along the ferry pier and about half of them have handprints. Look at how dirty Jackie Chan's plaque is. I guess everyone want's to see how they measure up to the man, hehe.

Some very confortable and cheap public transportation! Also a great tour bus.

Dad, look at the store I found. I think the cheapest shirt I saw in there was 100usd. I see why you like your shirts so much now...

More friends - Hong Kong!

2009-02-22T07:08:00.000-08:00

What's better than 2 friend's visiting you? 3 friends visiting! Corina decided that we were having too much fun without her and decided to join the party. This time, Chris, David, Corina and I spent the weekend in Hong Kong. We did some sightseeing, shopping, and lots of eating.

We're making our way up the longest set of escalators in the world. Here's Chris and Corina (and David).

We're really gaining some altitude. Apparently people use these escalators to commute to work every day. In the morning the escalators go down. In the evening, the escalators go up.

Some crazy crowds over near the Mong Kok station. I think HK might be a bit crowded for me.

Got to meet up with Xian (an ME friend from Stanford) and Nancy for lunch and a bit of walking around.

Visits from friends - Splendid China

2009-02-22T06:53:00.000-08:00

So what's awesome about this post, is I get to talk about Chris Li (one of my favorite roommates) and David Yao also. Chris and David had to come to Shenzhen to do some work, so we got to hang out - practically every day of the week! One weekend, since our plans to go to Macau fell through, we decided to go to Splendid China instead. Splendid China is right next to Window of the World and has the same concept. Let's miniaturize some monuments and put them in an amusement park. In this case, this was a mini China!

Emperor's Qin's Terracotta Army

The Great Wall (with buildings and such behind it...)

Me and Chris!

Somewhere cool-looking. I forget.

Taipei

2009-02-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

I spent a few days in Taipei with a coworker during Chinese New Year. I didn't seem to take that many pictures though... However, I spent my time eating, and sightseeing and I have a picture of each.

This was my lunch from a Taiwanese vegetarian buffet. All I can say is the Taiwanese know how to do good vegetarian food. Susan, Sirena... who's jealous of food now, eh? :P

This is the view from the top of the Taipei 101! I'm on top of the world!

Chinese New Year in Shenzhen!

2009-02-22T06:34:00.000-08:00

[This is the beginning of a few catchup blog posts...hehe]

I spent New Years Eve packing for my trip to Taiwan. When midnight struck heard lots of firecrackers, so I ran outside to my balcony with my camera and just sat for half an hour listening to fireworks and taking pictures. It was pretty awesome!

Cool views from the Apartment

2009-01-09T02:19:00.000-08:00

One of my roommates took some cool pictures around our apartment complex and I just had to post a few of them.

Here, you can see the garden and a group of women doing Tai Chi in the morning.

The apartment building I'm living in is in a cluster of identical buildings.

In Shenzhen!

2009-01-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

As you know, I've accepted a manufacturing consulting position in Shenzhen, and moved here at the beginning of this year. I hopped on an airplane on Dec 30th in San Diego and arrived in Shenzhen on Dec 31st just in time to ring in the New Year. What was awesome was that Chris (being the big baller frequent flyer he is) got my economy seat upgraded to business class from my 12 hr flight from SFO to HKG. I thought about taking pictures, but then I'd just look funny taking pictures. Instead, I just enjoyed it. I had a few drinks, watched 4 movies, and slept in their recliner/bed. It was great.

At the moment, I’m staying in an apartment with a few friends. Here are pictures of the place.

It’s on the 22nd floor, which gives me a pretty nice view of the city (until they finish construction on this building right next to us).

You’d be amazed how much stuff you can pack into 2 50lb boxes. I think I have most of what I want here.

Work is great - I’m working on some pretty cool projects. I really like the guys I’m working with and I’m learning a ton from them. There is a lot that I have to learn – lots of manufacturing processes, lots of everyday Chinese, and lots of manufacturing Chinese.

So that’s what happening with me now. I think realistically, I’ll maybe post something once or twice a month – since I’m lazy like that.
Hope all is well with you guys.

oh, i'm back...

2008-12-06T02:48:00.000-08:00

So I've been back in the Bay Area for 3 weeks now and have been so caught up with seeing people and relaxing and being a bum, that I forgot I had a blog!

I've sifted through my 4000+ pictures and have posted 300 of my favorites to highlight parts of the trip. You can find them on facebook/picasa.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=201493
Picasa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/danaung/200807RTWTripEuropeCondensed
http://picasaweb.google.com/danaung/200807RTWTripSEAsiaCondensed#

The current plan is to fly to San Diego on Dec 15th and to leave the country to start work in Shen Zhen on Dec 30th.

When I get settled in, I will probably post pictures of my place in Shen Zhen... but that's it for my travels for now!

Thanks for the comments guys! They were fun surprises during my trip!

blogger blocked from burma, chillin in bangkok

2008-10-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

i'm hopping on an airplane to yangon in 10 hrs, so if i don't update my blog it can be for one of 2 reasons:

1. i've become extra extra lazy
2. blogger is censored in burma and i can't find a proxy site that will get me around it

i do have tons of really cool pictures from vietnam and cambodia that i need to post.

oh, and earlier today while i was walking around bangkok i ran into some protests. i took a picture and proceeded to walk in the opposite direction right into a movie theater where i watched max payne (not so great, but i was entertained for 90 minutes, and i was far enough way from large mobs).

so i spent the better part of the last 2 days in bangkok being a mallrat - i watched 3 movies, ate lots of food, and spent a lot of time in bookstores (bangkok has 5 major shopping centers on the same street and they're connected by a skybridge, so you can walk from one right into another). julie, i bought some books, and i might actually read them! maybe by the time you finish 100 books, i'll finish this one that i just bought.

that's kinda it for now. glad that i'm pretty much done with moving hostels/hotels every other day. i'm excited about going back to burma and then excited about going home after!

the current eta in SFO is Nov 17th.

in cambodia & job in shen zhen!

2008-10-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

my dad and i took a bus from saigon to phnomh penh and arrived 2 days ago. we're having lots of fun. it's great that my dad speaks khmer, though it's been about 30 yrs since he's used it. the most fun comes when they speak to each other in khmer under the assumption that we don't understand (my dad has fun translating it to me afterward).

we'll probably head over to siem reap in a day or so. then i have plans to fly back to burma to do some more work with IDE (international development enterprises) before returning home around nov 17th.

for reasons of time, i've cut out laos from my traveling now, and will save it for a trip later on - probably a nice overland trip from shen zhen.

oh, and i've accepted a job in shen zhen for the next 2 years and will be starting in jan 2009. time for me to brush up on my mandarin (especially for ordering food from menus!). if you're looking for an excuse to go to china, this is it!

halong bay and ninh binh!

2008-10-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

So a few days ago, I spent a night on a boat in the middle of Halong Bay, notable for 3000+ limestone "islands." It was amazing! I think I've determined that I like Vietnam the most when I'm away from the big cities. The landscapes are beautiful and peaceful, while the cities are noisy and in your face. I went kayaking and swimming in Halong Bay (the water is really warm!).

So these last 4 pictures are actually from Ninh Binh, which is the inland version of Halong Bay, and I like it much more (probably because it is much less commercialized (for now). There are limestone islands shooting out of rice paddies rather than water. So on the left, was Tam Coc, where we sat on a little boat and got rowed around for 2 hrs - awesome. It was also the second time in Vietnam where a mother has offered to marry off her daughter (since I look Vietnamese enough, and presumably have money - yes, she was pretty!). For the day, i sat on a motorcycle (and it was really safe - i wore a helmet, the driver drove slowly, and there was very little traffic). It was great just looking around at the views!

After climbing a bunch of steps (~500 steps) here was the view at the top - breathtaking!

Now, i'm really excited about meeting up with my dad in Hanoi tomorrow. I'll take him to Halong Bay again, and we'll start working our way south! Then off to Cambodia where he grew up! Lots to be excited about!

pictures in the blog!

2008-09-25T03:33:00.001-07:00

so i'm going to try to be better about putting pictures in my blog... better late than never!

in Sapa!

2008-09-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

At the moment, I'm in Sapa in Northwest Vietnam. The terraced hills and the green montains are amazing! The one thing I have noticed about Vietnam is that people are really aggressive and in your face. I've only now started noticing how calm vendors in Thailand and Burma are. They will follow you for a few blocks and grab your arms at times!

Also... here is the view from my corner room at $5 a person.

What I have noticed however, is that I can look Vietnamese, Thai, or Burmese as long as I keep my mouth shut. Usually my attempts to blend in fail because I have a big backpack, i start talking, or i stand around with a map/ distintive lonely planet book.

Later tonight, I hop on a train from Sapa back to Hanoi in hopes of getting out before the typhoon headed this way brings landslides and floods the traintracks. I've heard that the last time this happened, people got stuck for 10 days. This time the Sapa government has made all hotel owners tell their tourists to get out ASAP (so everyone is leaving at the latest, tonight).

Sapa is really relaxing (minus the vendors and the oncoming typhoon).

in shenzhen!

2008-09-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

i've been having a blast interviewing with zaotech and walking around shenzhen. these guys are pretty amazing. there's a lot for me to think about both short term and long term, and i need to figure out what i want...

i've visited Xian a few times here and if i end up working here, we'll be room mates (put the tallest with the shortest!).

besides interviewing in shenzhen, i went to windows of the world, an amusement park with scaled and full-size replicas of some of the world's major monuments. what's wrong with this picture?

and... my room is pretty awesome. i'm staying at the marco polo hotel (a 5 star hotel), very different from some of the rooms i've stayed in over the last 2 months (i.e. my $7 khaosan rd room which only had a bed, and rickety fan).

i'm planning the rest of my SE asia trip (or i'm supposed to). In 3 days, i'm flying to vietnam. what's awesome is after a week in northern vietnam, my dad is flying in and we're going to explore central and southern vietnam for a week before exploring cambodia for a week. it's going to be awesome!

that's all for now!

more on Burma

2008-09-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

So, it looks like i can get onto blogspot in shenzhen! Before an update on shenzhen, here's a little more about my three weeks in burma:

Each time im in Burma, it gets harder and harder to leave. I guess i've made some really cool friends there and i enjoy the work that i do. Not sure if i could live and work there like one of my friends, david klaus, but i dont think that it's not a possibility.

An update on the deep lift pump - we finished our test platform on the roof o the workshop (50ft above ground), and have been testing pump designs. We have been able to pump water to the top at a reasonable rate, but there is still lots of design changes to make to the pump, especially after having a chance to go tube well drilling. 1.5" tube wells are drilled 70 to 100 ft below ground by hand for household and farm use.

It's pretty amazing to see how resilient people hit by the cyclone are. While purchasing power is almost gone and debt is high, people are good spirited and optimistic. They are grateful for the aid that is getting to them (i've seen lots of tarps, backpacks, and watertanks provided by foriegn aid as well as fertilizer, rice seed, and tillers provided by IDE), and are optimistic about their recovery (even though for many, it may take 8+ years to recover to pre-cyclone days).

Other little things:
* I found a favorite little burmese restaurant that i've gone to for lunch almost every day i was working on the deep lift pump in the industrial zone
* Last sunday, i went to an 11 match burmese boxing event. Burmese boxing is a lot like muai thai, but i'm not sure what the differences are. However, sitting in the third row does give you a lot of sound effects (lots of fists to face and knees to torso sounds as well as the annoying delayed "pow" and "bam" shouts into the microphone from the guy at ringside).

Who knows when I'll head back to burma... hopefully sometime soon (in the next year?)