Not that anyone reads this thing... but I'm in New York right now...

Hello all,

Haven't posted in a long time. Should I have? Maybe.

Anyway, I'm on a new adventure... to Greenland. Why? I have no answer for you. I just travel places. The trip started off (7/22) in Boston, where we met some good friends from our trip to Egypt. We ate at the oldest restaurant in American ('Murica), which is of course the Union Oyster Markets (duh). Now, I'm not a fan of markets OR oysters (and I feel that unions, in general, are a bit dodgy too) but this place is damn good.

The next day (7/23) in Boston (also our last day) saw us taking a Boston Duck Tour which, despite the rain (which my brand new, expensive camera was not happy about), was very fun. We saw many things, mostly buildings. That night we ate at a little seafood place around the corner from the hotel, Legal Seafood. This place was really good too, not as good as U.O.M. but quality stuff. Topped off the night with Stephen Colbert's All-AmeriCone Dream from Ben and Jerry's and then watched two hours of Chopped.

Day three (7/24), we traveled to New York (the flight was unpleasant). Nothing much went on that night except for the most amazing meal I have ever had. Our friend Yasu of Yasu Sushi Bistro in Phoenix (go and buy food from them, they are incredible) made us reservations at Morimoto, a sushi place here in NY. You may recognize this name. That may be because you have watched the old Iron Chef programs. This restaurant is, in fact, owned by Iron Chef Japanese himself. There is a reason he is an Iron Chef. We sat the the omakase bar. This is the section of bar where you pay money and they serve food to you, which makes it just like the rest of the bar. In this case however, you don't get to order anything, the chef just puts food in front of you until you are done. Sounds slightly unpleasant, especially if you are on the fence about sushi in general. They have excellent judgement. This was a rather expensive meal, but by the end I was full, I was drunk, and I was very happy.

Day 4 (7/25) was Broadway night. In the afternoon, we visited FAO Schwartz which is fantastic. I stared angrily at the underground Apple Store (just because). A walk through part of Central Park was involved as well. Then came... *hushed voice* Broadway... My dad and I went to see "The Book of Mormon". It's a story of two Mormon missionaries who go to Uganda to sell... er I mean tell their religion to the locals. It's quite good.

Day 5 (7/26) was nothing. It was a very relaxing day. We stayed around the hotel for most of it and enjoyed some Pilotwings Resort on my 3DS (which is really good). At around 3pm we went for a walk in search of a hot dog vendor (gods help us) and then went shopping which was... okay. This pretty much brings me to now. We just got back from a nice little Italian restaurant called Teodora. It was excellent. The rest of the night should consist of packing, maybe some drinking on my part. No firm plans though.

Tomorrow:
We get on a plane to Ottawa. I'm not 100% on this, as planes suck, but getting there and OFFICIALLY starting our trip should be fun. We get to meet the nice folks that we will be living with for the next two weeks.

That's it. You're caught up... sorta. I'll get to Mongolia and China later.

Laters!

K

Time away

I apologize to the random people who may still read this blog for my abrupt silence during the rest of my trip to China and the following (in December) trip to Yellowstone. Nothing sinister occurred at either location (other than a criminal lack of free wifi) and I am working hard at hardly working as usual.
I intend for future posts to be more frequent (I.e. not just when I'm on vacation) and contain more art (mostly by me) if possible. I will also start posting about travel in general with helpful tips, new travel equipment reviews and other thoughts. I may also post about my past trips and rant a little on different modes of transportation.
Next trip is Whistler, nothing new there, and then I'm off to Greenland, for reasons beyond my grasp at the moment.

I leave you with an interesting info graphic: http://dailyinfographic.com/hand-jive-infographic

Cheers,
Kevin

Gobi Desert has no Internet

Hey everyone. I'm back from the Gobi. There is no internet out there. I'm in Ulaanbaatar now and will be here for the next couple of days so expect a couple more posts here in Mongolia.  The last week has been really busy. Since I last left you all with my "first" two days in UB let me catch you up... Day 1: Gandan Monastery, National History Museum, Fine arts Museum. The Monastary was cool. It's nowhere near as large as the temples or monastaries I've seen in Japan. That being said, this is one of the very few religious centers to survive Stalin and Mother Russia.  There are some incredible sights including a giant statue (I think it's of Buddha). The most interesting thing to me was the number of pigeons around the temple and it's grounds. The monks consider feeding them to be very good karma. Visitors can buy bird seed and are encouraged to feed the little devils. Hence the rats with wings. I would hazard a guess that there were at least two hundred pigeons and other birds (mostly pigeons).  The National History Museum was a museum. It had things behind glass and other displays. Looking back at it I prefer the private collection at the Chenggis Khaan statue but I'll get to that later. The National History Museum had some interesting exhibits on the early Mongolian tribes and their various styles of dress and headwear (very similar to the costume designs of the queen in Star Wars: Episode I). It got more interesting around the Chenggis (Genggiz) Khaan exhibit. They had swords. Frome there we saw evidence of their war with China and then their subsequent fall into the hands of Soviet Russia. The interesting thing about Soviet Mongolia was that they pretty much governed themselves and got on rather well (until someone pissed off the Russians). Then in 1990 Russia basically vanished from Mongolia, cleaning out offices and removing soviet equipment in around three months. This left the Mongols with few options but they've managed to repair a lot of the damage from the resulting expansion of urban centers and they have a promising future in the international market, they just have to be careful that they don't destroy the beauty of their country in the process.  The Art Museum was basically the history museum with some paintings. I wasn't impressed. None the less, the art could hold my interest.  Early 20th Century Mongolian art reminds me of pre-renaissance art in that it shows a complete lack of perspective. However it gives us a good idea of how Mongols from the early 1900's lived.  Many of the paintings were views of cities or large camps. These pictures gave a sort of aerial view of the location while detailing social activities. Other paintings were portraits of different demons (a common theme). The most impressive were the woodblock prints.  I can't imagine carving such rich detail into a a piece of wood, applying ink, then placing it on a piece of paper or silk. Certain prints even had the original woodblock. That was well worth the visit. Day 2: Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve  That morning we listened to a United States Embassy official talk about the political climate between the US and Mongolia. He dodged the questions we had quite well. Then we got in a van and drove to Gun-Galuut.  The amazing thing about this place is that it's not run by the government. Originally a number of local herders wanted to set aside a bunch of space for animals and vegetation. They eventually got funding from the government but the herders are responsible for the safety and protection of the land.  We stayed in a traditional "ger" (a felt-lined yurt) at this amazing camp. I hiked up to the top of a large hill just west (?) of our camp. We even happened upon a tomb. The rest of my day was spent unpacking and sleeping. Day 3: Gun-Galuut I got some excellent sleep in my ger. We had the opportunity to ride horses this day. I was forced to bow out, much to my embarrassment. I was rewarded with the chance to ride a yak instead. I call that a win. The days started to bleed together at this point... Day 4: Drive back to UB  I do remember taking a difficult hike up the side of a mountain looking for Argali sheep. We found some. They ran away. On our way home we stopped to visit a random Mongolian family. It was kind of awkward. At least I felt that way. The family was more than happy to invite about 30 strangers into their home. They fed us fermented mare's milk... I'm grateful they were so generous but I'd rather they'd kept it to themselves. It was an interesting experience to be sure but mare's milk is nasty. Then they gave us vodka. I liked that part. We then got the chance to witness them milking a mare.  After the awkward imposition, we went to a giant stainless steel statue of Chenggis Khaan.  The sheer size is ridiculous. The particular placement of the statue is evidently important to the personal history of our favorite Khaan. When he was a young man he found a whip in that location. This was a sign of his later greatness according to legends. The whip signified his destiny to lead Mongolia. There is a wonderful museum in the base of the statue. It is the best collection of relics from Chenggis' time. Upon returning to UB we were hustled to the Natural History Museum to look at the dinosaur bones. There are quite a few amazing specimens. There is one called "terrible hands" which is straight out of a damn horror movie. They have only ever found the hands. They are massive. This visit was preceded by a brief look at a paleontology lab. The coolest thing there was the pile of unopened boxes of specimens waiting to be cleaned and catalogued. Day 5: Flight to the Gobi We took an hour long plane ride to an airport in the Gobi Desert. We were told it would be warm. I wore clothing for warm weather, as instructed. Turns out it was 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I was a bit cold. We arrived at our new camp in Khongoryn Els around noon and took some time to unwind. Later, we hiked out over the sand dunes to watch the sun set.  Day 6: camels and three camels lodge In the morning we took an hour-long camel ride out to the dunes. They are fantastic animals, though a little difficult to ride. After the camel ride we headed to Three Camels Lodge. Best place to stay by far. Had an easy night. Day 7: Three camels and Yolyn Am We took a hike through vulture canyon (Yolyn Am). The hike was incredible. There are still giant chunks of ice melting in the very back of the canyon. The entire place is the v-shaped product of a glacier. I believe that's all... Day 8: three camels, fossils and weapons We were still at three camels at this point. We took a hot, and ultimately fruitless, trek looking for dinosaur bones. After scrambling around in the desert for about an hour, we went to a different spot to look for carved stone weapons. We didn't find anything.  Later, we went to the Flaming cliffs, where Andrews discovered some amazing dinosaur eggs. It was kind of cool to see where some of the most important paleontological discoveries were made. The tour company en treated us to some food and beverages while we watched the sun set and a dust storm roll in. Day 9 (today): back to UB The city is buzzing with excitement over the Naadam festival. Street vendors and pickpockets are out in forces, and both want your money. We visited the winter palace of the Bogd Khan (king of Mongolia as I understand it) then had lunch. In the evening we walked to a play house (or something) and watched a two hour performance of native music and dancing. It was really good. Upon leaving we were all interviewed by a local tv crew. I might have been on the local tv. I ended up having dinner at a local Irish pub called "the Grand Khaan". I approve.  Tomorrow is the beginning of the festival and should prove to be interesting.  Well, that's all for now... Laters, K out

Day 0: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

I spent most of my "first day" on a series of planes. Those of you who know me will know that is my favorite thing in the world. [insert sarcastism]. Technically I lost a day in transit. I don't like losing entire days. Our first destination was to LAX where we caught a connecting flight to Beijing, China. I didn't see much of Beijing. This isn't because I only had two hours until my connecting flight. Oh no. I've seen less smog in third-world countries. It was terrible to behold. I could feel the cancer wafting through the air. After a small (big) snafu getting to our connecting flight. We made our way to the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. This place looks like a mix Egypt, Mexico and a tribal settlement. It's dirty but in a clean sort of way. Kind of like it's supposed to be dirty. There are obvious signs of Mother Russia's former ownership of this place. Billboards and street signs use Cyrillic and I've seen the hammer and sickle in more than one place. It's crazy. We have no plans for tonight. I am tired from spemding all day on a plane and we have a full day tomorrow. I get to sleep in a Ger. Laters yo! K P.s. it's Chenggis Khaan. Not Ghengiz Khan. I feel so lied to...

On the world map.

I am now officially on my way. I sit in the Air China lounge at LAX. In a couple of hours I will be on a plane to Beijing then to Ulaanbaatar . I might even have wifi on the plane! Should be fun. Next post will likely be from Mongolia. Later, K

We're blasting off again!

Hey everyone! I am currently four hours away from leaving my house for the airport and then I'm on my way to China and then Mongolia.  I may not be able to make posts as often over there but I will do my best. Also  I'm going to try something new this trip: video logs.  I want to make more videos and when I get back I will edit and post them to somewhere.  Probably Youtube or something.  Anyway, I'm off to keep packing. I promise I will take lots of pictures!

Laters,

K

Chance of rain, then snow, then more rain

Weather on Blackcomb was erratic today.  It started out raining. Then it snowed. Then it rained.  Then it got sunny... On and on.  Boarding was harsh today.  I am beat and to make matters worse I'm getting sick.  Just have to hold it together one more day.  Hopefully the weather will be good for tomorrow.

Today's adventures were rather subdued.  I had lunch here at the hotel.  Nothing special.  Dinner was another story.  I convinced my family to go down to the lower village and eat at 'Sushi Village.' Cost there is high for your average traveler but the food is high quality.  I'd suggest it as a big night out maybe.  Food there is pretty good, like I've said.  Quality ingredients and some rather inventive rolls.  Dessert was fantastic (I had some very tasty vanilla ice cream). The only downsides are the popularity and their customer service.  I really didn't feel welcome.  Also, we had a time limit.  I can understand that, especially since we didn't have a reservation.  However, if they wanted us out of there our service should have come a little more readily.  We had to wait forever to even give our orders to the waiter.  I have had great experiences here in the past so I suspect this instance was circumstantial.  I would avoid the time limit and see if you can't get a reservation.

After that we went home and watched a movie.

We are hoping that we can get reservations for fondue tomorrow. Otherwise it's back to Negomi.

I'm off to bed before I pass out.

K out.