This is the view Sam and I encounter every day, after walking or riding up a side road from our house for about one third of a mile. Our road ends here, at Vuna, which is the main road going along the coast of Nuku’alofa, Tonga’s capital city. Not too shabby! The island you see…
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Thanksgiving is a big holiday for most Americans, but when you’re an American in Tonga, it gets even bigger. For starters, that over-priced frozen turkey you speculate over at your local grocery store? Well, it’s a sacred acquisition here. If you’re lucky enough to spot one in Tonga, you abscond with it immediately, regardless of…
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View Hong Kong Island in a larger map (Note: blue markers indicate locations, pink lines/markers indicate transport routes) Hotel and “Airport Shuttle”: We left Cambodia with a little trepidation; Hong Kong is expensive, everyone says it, and since we were on a tight budget, we weren’t sure how wise it was for us to have…
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Our last free full day in Cambodia (Sunday) was spent seeing some of the sights beyond the main Angkor park attractions. We had planned on heading out on Saturday, but Sam got hit with some kind of ninja bug Friday afternoon, and by that evening, he was in full-blown chills, sore throat, runny nose and…
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I have wanted to visit Angkor Wat since I was a teenager. Growing up in Indonesia and Malaysia, I had the opportunity once to visit the Borobudur and Prambanan at a time when people didn’t recognize those names, thanks to my dad who took my older brother and me. The Borobudur is magnificent: the largest Buddhist temple in…
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Siem Reap is a city in the Northwestern area of Cambodia, and is most well known for being the gateway to the famed Angkor Wat and the other magnificent temples comprising the Angkor Archaeological Park (more on that later). The town itself has some highlights — it is very international in terms of cuisine — but it also…
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Traditional Tongan brooms are extremely efficient. They double as a rake and are perfect for sweeping away the piles of inexplicable insect and flora debris that collect on my porch on a daily basis. Plus, if you happen to be a witch, you’d be hard pressed to find a more suitable mode of transport. My…
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Last month, my husband had a layover in Kowloon, Hong Kong while en route to a business conference in Cambodia. Siem Reap Cambodia, that is, the gateway to one of the places I’ve always wanted to visit: Angkor Wat! What to do when faced with an adventure opportunity beyond the scope of one’s income?…
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When one lives on an island of approximately 60 miles in circumference, where the Sabbath reigns so supreme that shops are closed by law, restaurants are, for the most part, closed as well, and leisure activities such as jogging or swimming are forbidden, Sundays can get a little redundant. Snorkeling (at resorts only, mind you), kayaking and…
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I hate getting pushed around by boobs. Literally. Enormous, springy ones at that. This might sound like two cycles from Nirvana for some, but for me, not so much. Especially when I’m innocently standing in line at Molisi, soggy from shoes up thanks to the rain gushing outside, and a lady (not the one featured…
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