The Art of the Chinese Sale, also known as The Calculator Game, is actually a lot of fun! I never considered myself much of a bargainer or a haggler – it felt way too pushy – so what happened was a bit surprising. Everyday in Beijing, I went somewhere… Continue reading
The Amazon Riverboat was a fantastic week, and it was definitely the highlight of our trip to Ecuador. Piranhas We went on excursions in the long canoe every day, but we did not go swimming in the piranha lagoon! Everyone was invited to jump off the canoe and swim in… Continue reading
Arrival El Nido Airport The Philippines were gorgeous. We can never forget the amazing colours of the ocean or the sweet people, but something else pops into our heads as soon as someone mentions El Nido, Philippines. The lovely welcome and the not-so-lovely departure from El Nido Airport…. Continue reading
Quidi Vidi Brewery Quidi Vidi – the name alone was intriguing. We had to find out more. On our third day in Newfoundland, we took a taxi ($10 taxi each way) a few miles out of St. John’s to Quidi Vidi Brewery. It’s not that the Quidi Vidi… Continue reading
From Beijing, we travelled inland south to Xian. 2200 years ago, Emperor Quin Shi Huant, one of the most famous emperors in China, was losing a battle with his enemy. He developed an ingenious plan. He asked his soldiers to build an army of clay soldiers exactly like… Continue reading
There were only six guests on the Amazon Riverboat so it was almost like a private cruise, and it was the highlight of our Ecuador trip. We can highly recommend the Manatee Explorer. As we flew high above the clouds from Quito to Coca over the Amazon Jungle , we… Continue reading
Had we gone canoeing here on our own, we would surely have been lost for days. The Parana Delta in Argentina is a maze of tiny waterways through a wetlands jungle forest. It is one of the largest deltas in the world covering over 8000 square feet. The… Continue reading
House sitting sounds easy enough – who can’t look after 3 dogs and 4 chickens on a gorgeous country property? The problem lies in the constant tension created when you are not sure of things. Why is the dog biting himself? Why is that chicken not moving? What… Continue reading
What a surprise! This country’s lush green countryside was as beautiful as Southern France! It was very clean and tidy, with beautiful highways and modern conveniences everywhere. Very warm helpful people too, with a great sense of humour. This country is relaxing, easy, friendly, and has fewer tourists than France,… Continue reading
“Stay where yer to till I come where yer at.” The Newfoundland language is sometimes happily easy to understand, but at other times we were totally lost. At those times, we responded to Newfinese with blank stares, raised eyebrows and an awkward smile, thinking “Huh?” or “How can… Continue reading
Get a load of this! Cars parked inches apart! This is the way parking is all over Europe’s cities. Space is at a premium so no parking spot is too small… In Budapest the view from my friend, E’s, balcony up and down the street in provided… Continue reading
<a href=”http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14946963/?claim=p7xrnf7smrm”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> We all want to go to a beautiful, fascinating, relaxing place, but wouldn’t it be great if that could be one of the cheapest places as well? There are such places – more than you might think. The only reason we can afford… Continue reading
God Forbid if you have to go to the bathroom in Italy train stations. First of all, they are scarce and hard to find. There is usually only one bathroom, and these train stations are huge! Train stations are the size of malls, with many shops and restaurants,… Continue reading
Our plane left Canada late because they had to put air in the tires. Hmph, I chuckled to myself, ‘I thought we were flying, not driving’. As long as we were leaving the frigid cold of a Canadian winter, either mode would be excellent. On our way to… Continue reading
When we moved from Merida to the beach near Telchac Puerto, we had no idea we would have so many visitors, especially these kind. First challenge though, was finding the tiny sand road turnoff to our beach house. It was a bit of a challenge, even in daylight,… Continue reading
[spacer height=”20px”] Walking toward the Chew Jetty, we were excited. We had heard it was a fantastic sight, the highlight of Penang. First of All, What is a Jetty? It’s an odd name, but not odd for the Chinese in Malaysia. Jetty is the name of… Continue reading
The Rooster It was 3 am in Panama: dogs were barking and a rooster was squawking. It wasn’t even a nice cock-a-doodle-doo but a whining half-squawk, over and over and over again. Good grief. We rolled over. The Salamanders At this hotel there were tiny green… Continue reading
The food in Beijing, China was absolutely nothing like any Chinese food I have eaten in North America or anywhere in the world, for that matter. Because they were business dinners, we had fairly formal dinners in the better restaurants. All of the dinners were served on large round… Continue reading
Malaria As many of us have said before, “99% of what we worry about never happens, and the other 1% we can handle.” And so it was with our fears of Malaria, and fears of the side-effects of the drugs to prevent Malaria. It’s a well-known… Continue reading
In The Azores, the terrain consists mostly of rolling green hills with vegetation that was an odd cross between desert cacti and tropical fern – an unusual mixture. But most of all, I was enthralled that my favourite flower, Hydrangea was literally growing everywhere! Hydrangea flowers create… Continue reading