Off to market

Here is a picture of a woman carrying goods to sell. The is a pretty common sight in Vietnam, and there are street vendors at every step. Yesterday I was able to go to a very large indoor market. It was extremely hot, but quite busy.

Vietnam at night

Well, I have made it to Vietnam. On the ride in I could not believe the numbe rof motor scooters I saw, so I snapped a short video. I was told tha there are more than 3 million motor scooters in Ho Chi Minh City, and 9 million people! Today I hope to go to the Ben Thanh Market.

Here is a link to the video on YouTube

A group of school children

This photo is of a group of school students on a filed trip in Kowloon, which is just across the water from Hong Kong. The waterfront is beautiful, with a Hollywood-like walk of the stars featuring the hand prints and signatures of many famous actors. Although I did not recognize many, I did manage to find Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.

Hong Kong at night

I have finally arrived in Hong Kong. It is hard to believe that the trip is now half over. I had dinner by the waterfront and took some nice pictures of the skyline at night. Tomorrow I hope to go to the historic area of the city and see some of the more traditional sights and then take the tram up the mountain near our hotel.

Forbidden City in Beijing

Mainland china was interesting. Unfortunately, I was unable to access my blog while in China due to censorship issues. I took quite a few pictures the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. It snowed while I was in Beijing and the local people said it was very early for snow and this meant good luck. I ate a lot of interesting food including Peking Duck, dumplings and a variety of local friuts. May favorite is dragon fruit.

Yummmm

Borscht in Japan...I have had enough sushi for a while, so I went to eat with some friends at a restaurant called "Belarus Home Cooking Minsk."  I had borsch (which is how they spelled it),a very tasty soup, and beef stroganoff.  I also had some fresh berry juice to drink.

Tokyo Skyline

I went to the Tokyo Tower last night and took some nice pictures.  It was 250 meters off the ground!  The view from the Tower was breathtaking, as you can see.

Tokyo tower

I spent a good bit of the morning walking around the Roppongi area of Tokyo.  It looks a bit like Time Square in New York.  One of the landmarks in the area is Tokyo Tower.  I also managed to find some familiar names among the shops.  One of my favorite things about Tokyo is that there are vending machines everywhere you look!  If you are thirsty, you can find something cold to drink.  My favorite is called "Aquarius" which is a grapefruit flavored water.  You can click on any of the images below to see a larger picture.

Destination Tokyo...next Wednesday

It is hard to believe, but I leave for Tokyo next Wednesday.  I am looking forward to seeing new prospective families in Tokyo and the cities beyond.

2 weeks and counting

TABS Asia is just 2 weeks away!  I will be representing Fork Union Military Academy in 9 cities:

• October 25th - Tokyo
• October 27th - Seoul
• October 30th Shanghai
• November 1st - Beijing
• November 4th - Taipei
• November 7th - Hong Kong
• November 8th - Bangkok
• November 10th - Ho Chi Minh City
• November 14th - New Delhi

If you happen to be in one of the cities listed, please email me at maceks@fuma.org to set up a visit.  Stay tuned to the blog for updates including pictures.

TABS Asia - blog relaunch

This blog has served as an intermittent posting site for me. In the coming weeks, I will be traveling to Asia with TABS and will post pictures, videos and thoughts regarding the trip here.