Five days in Taipei

Posted on June 13, 2023 by Bryan Keith

I’m trying to remember, but I think this is the first time that I’ve ever managed to extend an airport layover. I’ve had some planned overnight layovers — Berlin, Vancouver, Seoul — but those were due to flight schedules, not my choice. And I’ve had unplanned overnight layers — Atlanta, Paris, and Moscow come to mind. Eva Air had reasonable rates so Ferda and I decided to spend five days in Taipei on our way from Singapore to Los Angeles.

My very first impression as we walked from the metro to our hotel was that the streets sure look a lot like Japan.

IMG_20230213_122959 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Four days in Singapore

Posted on June 3, 2023 by Bryan Keith

Just like Bali, I visited Singapore on my first trip to Asia 29 years ago. The cheap hotel district was centered on Bencoolen Street. The things I remember most were the air conditioning on Orchard Road (we certainly didn’t have a/c in our room!) and visiting the now closed Jurong Bird Park. This time we stayed in a capsule hotel in Chinatown, and the highlight was visiting the Botanic Gardens.

It was the first time for either of us to stay in one of these pods or capsules or whatever you want to call them — certainly smaller than our tiny room in Ljubljana last year. It was comfortable, quiet, and the temperature was perfect.

This "pod" at Galaxy Pods in Chinatown was very comfortable and quiet. There are two sizes of double pods. Our was supposed to be the slightly bigger version. by bryandkeith on flickr

There’s no reason to splurge on anything in Singapore as a lot of money does not go very far.

On our first morning on the way to the Botanic Gardens we came across some street art,

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North Sulawesi: Manado and Tomohon

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Bryan Keith

If I had been paying any attention, I should have known we were arriving in North Sulawesi in the middle of the rainy season. January is the rainiest month, February second (weatherbase). We flew from Sorong to Manado on January 28th. Oops.

Actually we didn’t have a lot of options. Our Indonesian visas were running out, and despite being a popular tourist destination, there are very few places to fly from Sorong (flightconnections.com). The logical choices were really only Jakarta and Manado, and, well, we’d never been to North Sulawesi before.

After six weeks of snorkeling, we still wanted more so our plan was to head to Bunaken. The rain nixed that idea. It also may (or may not) be possible to snorkel with whale sharks in Gorontalo. However, the long trip and the uncertainty… well, we opted for the Minahasa Highlands.

First, two nights in Manado. After six weeks of few fresh fruits and vegetables, we were very excited by Manado’s market.

IMG_20230129_095450 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Raja Ampat: a week at Gibran Homestay, Kri

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Bryan Keith

Our last week in Raja Ampat. Another good one. We stayed at Gibran Homestay on Kri’s south coast. Another beautiful spot. Here’s the bungalow.

IMG_20230122_125238 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Raja Ampat: a week at Black Swiss, Barie, Batanta

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Bryan Keith

The snorkeling at Black Swiss is excellent. If I had to compare it with snorkeling I’ve done everywhere else in the world except Raja Ampat, well, it’d be right up there near the top. However, if I were to redo our six weeks in Raja Ampat, I’d skip Black Swiss and slot in Meos Ambower (also don’t miss (we did) snorkeling at a mangrove reef in the Pam Islands, perhaps Mangrove Reef (?)).

Indo-Pacific Sargeant (Abudefduf vaigiensis) by bryandkeith on flickr
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