World Tour
2002
- Trip 2: Jan 09 — from Kawaguchi, Japan and backday-trip (by bus) to Nikko
...a long, difficult trip to see a so-so waterfall.
- Jan 15 — by plane to Sapporo; by bus to Furano
...ski-trip to the mountains of Hokkaido.
- Jan 18 — by bus to Sapporo; by plane to Kawaguchi
- Jan 27 — by plane to Fukuoka
...to visit Kumiko's family and friends.
- Jan 29 — by plane to Kawaguchi
- Feb 04 — by train to Yokohama; by train to Nagoya; by train to Osaka; by train to Kobe
...stopping at five Hard Rock Cafes along the way.
- Feb 05 — by ship to Shanghai, China
...the proverbial "slow-boat to China"; timed our visit to coincide with Spring Festival (the Chinese New Year); I saw (and heard) more fireworks in one night than I've ever experienced in my life.
- Feb 14 — by night-train to Beijing
...to see the Great Wall and Forbidden City... and to fall in love. ;-) Kumiko and I had decided that we just weren't meant for each other and had split up again; she went on to Beijing a couple of days before I did, but I had promised to celebrate her 40th birthday, so I met up with her again the day I arrived; the next day I said goodbye and put her on a train at 3:30, then met Jia-qi at the same station 2 hours later. :p
- Feb 21 — by night-train to Shanghai
...to spend more time with my new girlfriend, Jia-qi.
- Feb 24 — by night-train to He Fei
...I was trying to get to Xi'an, but all flights and trains were booked because of people returning home from Spring Festival.
- Feb 26 — by bus to Nanjing
...still couldn't get a train to Xi'an; backtracked back toward Shanghai; got as far as Nanjing.
- Feb 28 — by train to Shanghai
...more time with Jia-qi.
- Mar 03 — by train to Xi'an
...finally got a train booking; went to see the Terracotta Warriors.
- Mar 07 — by night-train to Shanghai
...by now you know the reason. ;-)
- Mar 19 — by plane to Kunming
...one of my favorite cities in China.
- Mar 23 — by plane to Dali; by bus to Dali
...very touristy; didn't enjoy the boat excursion; Dali had frequent blackouts.
- Mar 25 — by bus to Kunming
...more time in one of my favorite places.
- Mar 29 — by plane to Guilin; by bus to Yangshuo
...this was really a pleasant place to visit; I met and hung out with a group of Chinese university students.
- Apr 02 — by bus to Guilin
...hadn't planned to stop in Guilin, but changed my mind after meeting the university students; they invited me to visit them at their school in Guilin.
- Apr 05 — by night-train to Guangzhou
- Apr 08 — by night-train to Guilin
...didn't like Guangzhou much; applied for a visa extension; when they told me it would take eight days, I decided to go back to Guilin instead of staying in Guangzhou; visited more new friends.
- Apr 14 — by (non-)sleeper bus to Guangzhou, then by (regular) bus to Shenzhen
- Apr 18 — by bus to Guangzhou
...to meet up with Jia-qi (who was there on a business trip).
- Apr 19 — by bus to Wuzhou
...together with Jia-qi to visit some of her friends.
- Apr 22 — by bus to Guangzhou; by bus to Shenzhen
...Jia-qi had to go back to Shanghai from Guangzhou; I stayed a few more days in Shenzhen.
- Apr 25 — by bus to Guangzhou; by night-train to Guilin
...to visit friends yet again before my final visa expired.
- Apr 29 — by night-train to Guangzhou; by bus to Shenzhen; by bus to Zhuhai
...went with another new friend for a couple of days touring Zhuhai.
- May 01 — by bus to Shenzhen; by plane to Shanghai
...yet again. ;-)
- May 11 — by plane to Hong Kong
...forced by an expiring visa to leave mainland China, I made it only as far as Hong Kong (no visa required); I knew of an Internet cafe where I could connect my laptop, so I stayed long enough to update my web site.
- May 23 — by train to Shenzhen
...met up with Jia-qi for an extended weekend.
- May 28 — by train to Hong Kong
- May 31 — by plane to Bangkok, Thailand
...I finally reached escape velocity and left China behind.
- Jun 05 — by bus to Ban Phe; by ferry to Koh Samet
...during the rainy season, this island gets the least rainfall of any in Thailand.
- Jun 11 — by ferry to Ban Phe; by bus to Bangkok
...again, I found an Internet cafe where I could connect my laptop; decided to stay and do more updates to the web site; also started looking for a job in Bangkok (to no avail).
- Jul 05 — by car to Huahin
...a beach on the coast, not far from Bangkok; not the nicest beach in Thailand by any means.
- Jul 07 — by car to Bangkok
...more work on the web site.
- Aug 01 — by plane to Shanghai, China
...decided to leave Bangkok and start making my way down to Australia; but I wanted to visit Jia-qi in Shanghai once more before I got too far away from China; I rented an apartment for one month.
- Sep 04 — by night-train to Beijing
...Jia-qi joined me for some sightseeing over the weekend, and I did more photos with one of my favorite models. ;-)
- Sep 12 — by plane to Seoul, South Korea
...met many locals and got invited to a Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving) party.
- Sep 16 — by train to Suwon; by train to Andong
- Sep 18 — by train to Seoul
...back to Seoul for the Chusok party.
- Sep 27 — by train to Naejangsan
...visited Naejangsan National Park.
- Sep 29 — by train to Mokpo
- Sep 30 — by ferry to Jeju-do
...an island off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula.
- Oct 03 — by night-ferry to Busan; by train to Daegu
- Oct 04 — day-trip (by bus) to Haein-ri and back
...to see Haeinsa Temple, where the 81,000+ wooden tablets of the Tripitaka Koreana are stored.
- Oct 05 — by bus to Gyeongju
- Oct 06 — by train to Seoul
...stayed another few days to get together with, and say goodbye to, some of the many Korean friends I made during my visit; got interviewed by a TV reporter.
- Oct 11 — by bus to Seongnam
...one last weekend getaway with one of my Korean friends. ;-)
- Oct 13 — by bus to Seoul; by plane to Manila, Philippines
...a popular honeymoon destination for young Korean couples; they can be identified easily because they always wear matching shirts; in the queue at passport control in Manila, I counted no less than twenty newlywed couples.
- Oct 21 — by bus to Naga City
- Oct 23 — by bus to Legaspi
...to swim with whale-sharks at nearby Donsol; but, as it turned out, it was the wrong season.
- Oct 24 — by plane to Cebu City
...the plane was a small turbo-prop and flew at "see" level.
- Oct 28 — by bus to Panagsama
...during the trip, locals got on and off the bus carrying everything from huge sacks of produce to live chickens.
- Nov 04 — by van to Cebu City
...anywhere you go on Cebu Island, you have to do so via Cebu City; all bus routes radiate from there like spokes of a wheel; and it's nearly impossible to get to where you're going in one day.
- Nov 05 — by bus to Daanbantayan; by ferry to Malapascua
...this turned out to be one my favorite destinations during my visit to the Philippines.
- Nov 11 — by ferry to Daanbantayan; by bus to Medellin; by ferry to Bantayan Island
...in stark contrast to Malapascua, this is the least enjoyable place I visited in the Philippines.
- Nov 13 — by ferry to Medellin; by bus to Cebu City
...again, in transit from point A to point B, requiring a stop-over in Cebu.
- Nov 14 — by high-speed ferry to Tagbilaran; by car to Alona Beach
...another beautiful place to visit; marred only slightly by a recent fire that destroyed three resorts and two dive shops right on the beach-front.
- Nov 18 — by bus to Tagbilaran; by high-speed ferry to Cebu City
- Nov 21 — by plane to Caticlan; by ferry to Boracay
...a rather over-developed, touristy place; I couldn't wait to leave.
- Nov 22 — by ferry to Caticlan; by plane to Cebu City
...by this time, Cebu was starting to feel like home.
- Nov 26 — by plane to Manila
...it was my birthday and I wanted to spend it with one of my new friends in Manila.
- Nov 29 — by bus to Angeles City
...after everyone told me I just *had* to visit Angeles City (at least all the males I met said so), well I just *had* to see for myself; it turned out to have more "eye-candy" in one place than I had seen anywhere in the world; a great place for bar-hopping.
- Dec 01 — by bus to Manila; by plane (overnight) to Melbourne, Australia; by plane to Adelaide
- Dec 03 — by chartered bus to Ceduna
...to see a solar eclipse on the 4th.
- Dec 05 — by chartered bus to Adelaide
- Dec 09 — by caravan to Ceduna
...with stops along the way in Ceduna (again!?!), Cocklebiddy (what a name), Kalgoorlie, and Merredin.
- Dec 10 — by caravan to Cocklebiddy
- Dec 11 — by caravan to Kalgoorlie
- Dec 12 — by caravan to Merredin
- Dec 13 — by caravan to Perth
- Dec 18 — by tour bus to Margaret Row
- Dec 20 — by tour bus to Albany
- Dec 22 — by tour bus to Perth
- Dec 25 — by plane to Melbourne
...yes, I was traveling on Christmas Day, thinking that it would be less crowded and hectic - which it was; but, at the same time, I was surprised to see a full plane when I boarded.
- Dec 26 — by ferry to Devonport, Tasmania; by bus to Launceston; by bus to Hobart
...stopped off in Launceston long enough for a stroll through scenic Cataract Gorge.
