Capitalist China

September 29th - October 1st

Hong Kong was by far Milton's most anticipated city to visit and for very good reason. The skyline alone was amazing - day and night (Bank of China Tower = Sick!!!). We unfortunatly didn't schedule enough time to really see everything there is to offer, so we had to pick and choose which sights to see. Kinda like trying to see Manhattan in 2 days... only Manhattan had been moved to China.

We stayed in Kawloon, which is the older and more cultural part of Hong Kong and definitely the place to stay in our opinion. Very cool place and definitely worth a longer visit in the future.

Unfortunately, this marked the last leg of the trip... and it couldn't have been better. 'Till next time Asia... and oh yes, there will be a next time.

For more pictures of Hong Kong go here......

Singapore... A "Fine" City

September 27th - 29th

We returned to Singapore after our week on Tioman, this time to actually spend a few days there. Since the week before, when we had first flown into Singapore, we had been absolutely shocked by the cleanliness of this city. To say you can eat off the streets is not even an exageration. Everything, everywhere is immacualte - so well maintained and so clean.

However, the longer you spend there the more you come to realize the government has OCD. From the signs in all public restrooms explaining how to use the facilities to maintain cleanliness, to chewing gum being illegal, to cars over 15 years old cannot be on the road - the government of Singapore will issue you a fine, if not cain you, for anything that may impede cleanliness and order. Hence the nickname, Singapore: The Fine City. At first you get the impression of an almost perfect society, a new world order. But then you realize it's just freaky.

Aside from the OCD that seams to blanket this city, it is quite beautiful. Amazing architecture, great restaurants, awesome nightlife (from what we were told), and all the shopping you could want. Oh, and it's really clean. Nice place to have visited for a few days, but no real desire/need to return.

Click here to see the rest of our Singapore pictures...

Paradise Lost

September 21st - 27th

Our arrival in Pulau Tioman was, to put it best... uncertain. We were excited to be on this random island in the middle of the South China Sea, but really didn't know what to expect. Our research leading up to this week was limited, as not all that much could be found on this island. For those of you who don't know, we ended up here because of the generous gift from my Aunt and Uncles who gave us 1 week of their timeshare to use for our honeymoon... little did they know we'd choose the farthest place away from Boston, with the least available information. So suffice to say that we weren't really sure what we were in for.

We got off the plane, collected our bags and walked out of the small teak building that was Tioman's only airport/landing strip. We wondered how we would get to our resort, but that question was quickly answered once we walked out and saw the the Magic School Bus that was awaiting us and a few other passengers. It was a school bus painted blue with fish all over it. This immediately gave us reasons to think we were onto something good.

We arrived at the end of the road (about 3 km from the airport) to the the Berjaya Tioman Beach & Golf Resort and Spa. It was a vast sprawl of chalets and villas spread along the ocean. We checked in and were transported to our chalet, which was literelly about 12 steps from door to sand. I bit far if you asked us, but we would manage.

Turned out there was no reason to have been hesitant about Tioman. The place was out of a movie (literally... see Bali Hai). We layed on white sand beaches, swam in crystal blue waters as beautiful fish swam all around us. Ate yummy food, chilled by the pool and drank exotic cocktails at the swim-up bar. We took a boat/snorkeling trip around the island; hiked from the village of Tekek, up and over the mountains, and through the jungle and to the village of Juara... 3 hours later. 2 hours of which were uphill in thick jungle frantically thinking every rustle of leaves could be a King Cobra... yeah you read that right, King Cobra! Milton played golf one day and did his best considering he was teeing off with monkeys running all around him, and had to look for balls in rough that hid 5 foot monitor lizards. Very cool island.

We couldn't have asked for a better destination for a honeymoon and wouldn't have changed it for anything.

Click here to see the rest of our Pulau Tioman pictures...