One of my great regrets about our year in Tianjin was my failure to capture the brilliance and hilarity that is the English language restaurant menu. It is worth going out to eat for that alone, even if the repercussion of said venture includes the digestion of certain unthinkable delicacies. Well, I don’t have those awesome menu…
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Then look no further! Amy, who has been awesome enough to share her completely original Tonga-livin’ experiences here on Tonga Time … you know, things like climbing coconut trees (well, Toni gets credit for that — thanks Toni!) to making fresh coconut cream from scratch, to small, inconsequential tidbits like having a baby in Tonga!!!!…
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… And you can see where our priorities lie! It has been a whirlwind since our move from Tianjin, China to here: Balikpapan, a port city on the east coast of Kalimantan (a/k/a “Borneo”) Indonesia.* Folks here call it “Kal-Tim,” which is short for Kalimantan Timur (timur means east in Bahasa Indonesia). First stop? Pasar…
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Whenever we used to think of China, more often than not, we’d think of Shanghai. And when we thought of Shanghai, images of 1930’s glamour, junk boats, cosmopolitan streets and seedy opium dens straight out of a Clavell novel came to mind. Turns out, Shanghai isn’t at all like that. It’s a modern, bustling city…
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About a 40 minute car ride from the Huangya Pass Great Wall in Ji County (northern China, outside Beijing and north of Tianjin) lies a vast tomb complex called the Eastern Qing Tombs a/k/a “Qing Dongling.” What are the Eastern Qing Tombs (Qing Dongling)? The Eastern Qing Tombs are touted as the most complete and…
Read More![The [Great] Wall Less Traveled ... Hiking the Huangya Pass in Tianjin's Ji County](https://tongatime.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Huangya-Pass-Ji-Country-58.jpg)
If you happen to be visiting the Beijing area, you probably don’t have the Huangya Pass on your to-do list, but you probably do have The Great Wall of China. Of course you do. It’s THE Great Wall! The trouble is, which wall do you see? People don’t talk about that so much. In fact,…
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If I were a Looney Toons character, I would read the above title and promptly respond with, “Succotash!” I would leave out the “Sufferin’” because anything containing “Hong Kong” and “On the Cheap” in one phrase is such a ludicrous combination that it wouldn’t deserve the dignity of those extra syllables. Hong Kong is not…
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Here’s one the first lessons of living in China: Nothing is ever spelled consistently. For instance, Qingdao, a town on China’s eastern coast, about midway between Beijing and Shanghai, is the very same as the formerly spelled Tsingtao, pronounced “Chingdow” (with the the “d” giving a slight “t” sound). It is this same venerable town that…
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Okay, I know this guy’s not Bill Murray. Or … I’m pretty sure. But the thing is, this photo was taken almost ten years ago when Sam and I were living in Germany. We took a road trip to Budapest, Hungary, and while there, I fell completely beguiled by this gorgeous hotel and spa built…
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One of the great things about living in Tianjin is the assortment of places to eat. Eating out in China encompasses every conceivable venue: street food, cafes, restaurants …. But the highlight of dining out here remains the simple, unassuming menu. You know, the English ones. The ones with little pictures accompanying awesome captions that…
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