We had an 11.10 am flight to Xian to catch today so we set the alarm for 7 am. I was wide awake at 6 am so I commenced folding laundry; that’s dirty laundry mind you because it fits better in backpacks when neatly folded!  Steve woke and went a bought a litre of milk (8.90 Yuan, about $1.10 AUD) in the shop downstairs so we could eat our own cereal and we proceeded with our...

We had no great expectations or plans of what we would do in Shanghai.  The first morning we set off to find breakfast.  We ended up catching a ferry to the other side of Shanghai, walked along and came across a ‘City Shop’ supermarket. We bought muffins, juice and yogurt for breakfast and sat outside and enjoyed a very quiet breakfast. 

We found it surprising that we...

I had no idea what to expect when we flew into Shanghai.  I had just recently finished reading ‘Lost on Planet China’ (author?)  and frankly I was a little scared about what ‘real China’ would be like.  I needn’t have worried because the first thing I saw when I walked out of the airport was a large ‘KFC’ sign in front of me and this ‘China’ was no better or worse than...

Patrick has continued to draw the world as he travels through it.  Please read on to see his latest exhibition, inspired by Vietnam and other things of interest to five year old boys.   

A reclining Buddha. 

The Marshal Hotel does a mean buffet breakfast. In our travels so far we haven’t seen anything like it!  Four long sections of tables set up, one with fruits;  one with cereal, toast, juice and milk; one with rice porridge and more fruit and one massive long set up of tables with egg, meats, vegetables, steamed buns and everything that Asian people love for breakfast!  We...

I had read on the Taiwan travel site, www.taiwan.net.tw about Taroko Gorge and the surrounding area and decided that it was worth paying the money to go on an organised tour from Taipei for two days.  Through my research on the website I contacted a travel company called Have Fun Travel www.havefuntravel. tw    Both are fantastic websites and were a great help in the...

One of the premier attractions in Taipei is the National Palace Museum. I was super keen to see it but not everyone was as enthused!  Harris decided that accompanying me with the chance of including a further hunt for Dooodolls was worth a try and the best option for his day.  Steve decided he and Patrick would have a quiet day and catch up on a load of washing at a...

We awoke to a wet wet day and the issue of finding more internet access since our 24 hour pass had expired.  We did have thoughts of going to the Taipei Zoo and the nearby Maokong Gondola but the weather was not suitable, plus we desperately needed to access email to confirm our Taroko Gorge tour booking and to book more accommodation in China.  The hotel we were staying in...

Today we headed off to the Science Centre at the request of the boys. We easily found our way from the hotel to Ximen train station to catch a train to Jiantan station and then caught the Red 30 bus to the centre. When we arrived we bought tickets for ‘Trick Art’ – a special exhibition that was running. It was quite expensive at NT$ 700 for four people whilst the general...