Greetings from "The Future"

Family, friends, and general consumers of the inter webs, I have been woefully inadequate in the blogging department during the month of September. In an attempt to curry favor with those of you who find my musings entertaining, I will take the easy way out and do so via pictures of my adventures the past two months....

Thailand (mid to late August)

Before we get to the pictures, let me just say that Thailand should be at the top of anyone's vacation list if they are in the SE Asia region. Scenic beaches and mountains, great food, and friendly people are just general overarching themes that were on display throughout my 7 days there.....

Kari and I spent 7 days in Thailand, beginning with the Phi Phi Islands. Pretty phenomenal trip, as these pictures will illustrate.

This is the view of our resort at high tide heading in from the ocean.

That's pineapple fried rice in a pineapple. As most of my immediate family members can attest, I've never been a big pineapple fan, but then again, I've never tried pineapple this good!

And the view from the pool. This alone was worth the price of admission...

One of about 49 rocks I took pictures of in the Indian Ocean. For reference, that is a boat in the lower right-hand corner. This picture was taken on the way to Maya Bay, where "The Beach" was filmed...
Coconut tree grove at the resort on Ko Phi Phi. Highly recommend Phi Phi Island Village Resort for anyone interested in a Thailand trip.

Not much of a transition here, but the second half of our Thailand trip was spent in Chiang Mai, the source of my last post on "trunk riding". The picture above is Wat Chedi Luang, a very impressive structure that was built back in the 14th century (that's 600+ years ago for you math majors...)

Patara Elephant farm is a gorgeous place, and the day we spent with the elephants was awesome.
My elephant, Maecome, could not have cared less about any of my voice commands or where I was interested in going. She had a one track mind, and that mind was focused on bamboo, and eating every last scrap she could get her trunk on.
Yeah, I'm 32, but that doesn't preclude me from behaving like a 14 year old. Sue me...

Speaking of childish behavior, this little guy was hell on wheels. I can't exactly remember how old he was (maybe 4-6 months), but he was the highlight of the day. Always getting into trouble and making mischief. Highly entertaining!

China

I spent two weeks in China in September for work, and was able to check out a few sites and little known places in and around Beijing and Shanghai.

This is the Oriental Pearl TV tower on The Bund in Shanghai. Really cool at night...

The above dish is jelly fish prepared in some form or fashion. I tried it; I won't be trying it again...
No trip to Beijing would be complete without a hike on the Great Wall. Several of my Dell friends and I hiked the Great Wall. We started out in a remote village outside Beijing.
You can see the Great Wall in the background. (Yes, my camera is not an SLR.)

A little bit better picture of the Wall from a higher vantage point on the hike up the mountain.

After hiking for an hour, we came to the first watch tower in an un-restored section of the wall. The name of this section is Jiankou.

After about 1.5 hours of hiking, it was time for a beer. Luckily, some locals just happened to have some cold Tsing Tao's in the second watchtower on the wall!

Cool little stairwell into a watchtower. Obviously still part of the un-restored section.

Here's a shot of the section that has been restored in just the last couple of years. Big difference, and at this point in our 5 mile hike, my legs were ready for a break.

Lunch after the hike was at a joint that had some Red Bull, Chinese edition.

The day after the hike, we explored some of the sites in Beijing. This is the Temple of Heaven.

Tienanmen Square.

Entrance to the Forbidden City. Yes, I have a big head. Completely unintentional that I covered up Chairman Mao's portrait.

Meanwhile, back in Shanghai... I took this picture at 7:30am on the way to work. The "Donut King"is closed. Seriously?!?

We had a chance to do some community service in Shanghai, and this is a picture of a 5th grade classroom at an elementary school on the outskirts of Shanghai. Very cool experience.
The day before I was to leave Shanghai, I ran into a grad school friend from Virginia, at my hotel in Shanghai! How cool/crazy/unbelievable is that? Pete and I proceeded to have quite the adventure that night. Probably blog worthy on another post....

Taiwan

The last couple weeks in Taipei have been fairly uneventful, but I did manage to hit up an incredible sushi joint with my buddy Matt.

Seared salmon belly; without a doubt the best sushi I've ever put in my mouth. Incredible...

And finally, I had the pleasure of doing some community service last week at a local orphanage and children's home.

Yes, I actually did something other than ride the seahorse at the school. The white concrete wall in the background wasn't so white before we showed up and painted it....

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Its obviously been a pretty eventful couple of months over here in Asia for me, and I've enjoyed every minute of my experience thus far.

I'll do my best to avoid month long stints between blog posts in the future, but sometimes creating the memories takes priority over documenting said memories.

Tomorrow I hop on a plane for my first trip back to Texas since I arrived in Taipei in May. For those of you in Austin, I'll be there Oct 3rd - 14th. Hit me up on email, the blog, or FB, and let's hang out.

Hook 'em!