Category Archives: Travels

Cayman Islands, Sting Rays, and the Sea Turtle Sanctuary

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This morning we’re stopped at the Cayman Islands, and Pokin and I are both excited to head to the turtle sanctuary.

Pokin’s always had a fascination for sea turtles, and me, I’ve always thought it would be fun to ride a sea turtle except for the fact they are mostly underwater. They have flippers like I have paws. We relate.

First, it was time to see some stingrays at Stingray City. It was pretty crowded. They got in with the sting rays. I hung out on the boat.

Next step to the sanctuary! This is one of the few places you can see turtles in all stages of life from eggs to hatchlings to mature turtles. We even got to pick some up. The turtles and I, we got to have some moments. It was great.

Caribbean Cruising

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Not long after we came back from Cambodia, we started planning our travels again.  Something about my bud wanting to take his mom on vacation, and a cruise being a good vacation option since it took minimal planning.  Taking the mom on the cruise ended up being taking the mom and the sister on the cruise.  So here we are, a cadre of people, a bud and myself.  On a cruise.

Because my bud’s mom has a thing for Jamaica, we ended up doing a Caribbean cruise.  I’d never been to this part of the world so I didn’t mind!

Day one, we get on the cruise, departing from Fort Lauderdale.

We’re posing for our bon voyage photo on the ship deck when I hear a noise.  Peep!  Peep!! Oh no.  Yep, there’s that bunny.  It’s a cadre of people myself and an unwelcome bunny.  I don’t know how he manages to do it. I try to lock him in the safe but he somehow manages to get out and have coffee. I just don’t even….

Last day in Cambodia

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It’s our last day, and while Pokin still isn’t walking, she’s starting to get some serious FOMO from all the awesome temples Nicholas and I have been checking out. While I get that, she then decided to take MY spot being carried on Nicholas’ back. That means I have to catch a ride on HER back, which as you can imagine, I don’t trust, given her inability to walk right now.

Oh well, looks like I don’t have a choice.

We went back to one of the temples Nicholas thought she needed to see, Ta Prohm. This is the temple with the famous gnarly roots growing out from the temple. Apparently this temple was built in the Bayon style of architecture from the last 12th to 13th century., and is actually the temple Tomb Raider was actually filmed in.

As we are running around with Pokin on Nicholas’ back and me on hers, many a comment about Nicholas being a good donkey were shouted.

Well, after a few days of temple diving, I can say it’s severely lacking in ‘bad guys’, ‘flaming arrows’ and ‘cave ins’. Still pretty cool.

The Floating Village

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With Pokin still out of commission, my bud and I decided to go on a real adventure. We told our Tuk Tuk driver we wanted to visit Kompong Phluk, a ‘floating village’ on the largest lake near Siem Reap. It’s a town that consists of stilt houses that are completely under water for part of the year, and boats that float on the lake and avoid many laws.

Our Tuk Tuk driver failed to mention that it was over an hour away, and that was with him putting the petal to the metal on a highway where we would be passed by trucks and cars at full speed. I have to admit, it was a bit nerve wracking. I guess I asked for an adventure!

We drove past the villages, and ended up hopping on a boat to check everything out.

It was a little scary to know that entire generations were living entirely on little boats like these, completely surviving off of fishing for food in the lake. One of the boats is a school, another is a doctor, this is how life is for many people.

On our way back the Tuk Tuk started kicking up a lot of dust, so Nicholas put on a mask. He didn’t bring one for me, so I promptly made him give me his.

Also, there were cows.

The chaos that is Angkor Wat

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The next morning Pokin decided we needed to get sunrise photos of Angkor Wat. Terrible idea, thought I. Who wants to wake up that early and fight crowds of tourists just for a nice photo? Pokin does. And that means we have to as well. Ulgh.

Out into the darkness we step, our Tuk Tuk driver taking us all the way to the temple entrance. Immediately upon exiting the Tuk Tuk, we hear the sounds of tumbling accompanied by Pokin yelling “ow!”. Serves her right, I think to myself as Nicholas works to get her up. Turns out she’s twisted her ankle something fierce. I may not have wanted to get up this early, but I hope this doesn’t put a damper on my temple adventuring.

Pokin hobbled into the crowds to setup her camera and get some photos. This was what spraining her ankle was for.

The thing they didn’t tell me was that 1/4th the population of Earth was also going to be trying to get sunrise photos. I may be a popular bear, but I’m not a fan of crowds this big. Just look at how ridiculous we all look with all the other tourists.

After the morning photos, Pokin realized her ankle might be in much worse shape than she thought as it started swelling pretty bad. Nicholas took her back to the hotel to rest it off and then the two of us buds headed out to explore more temples on our own.

These places are pretty cool. It does feel right out of a video game.

The thing about Angkor Wat is that it’s just one temple out of many as part of a complex. This is actually one of the largest religious temple sites in the world, and many famous photos are not just of Angkor wat. The namesake of the area is the biggest temple complex, representing classic Khmer architecture. Lots to explore and see!

Cambodia Temple Adventures

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Next stop for us was over to Cambodia.  The idea was that if we were going to test out recording 3d images with our bot, we may as well test it out somewhere interesting.  Like ruined temples.   I liked playing Tomb Raider, so the prospect of checking out temples resonated well with me.

Nothing says ruined temples like the temples around Siem Reap with its overgrown tree roots, so off we went.

We spent the day exploring temples and lakes, and one of my favorite things was having a Tuk Tuk driver take us everywhere. These feel like they shouldn’t be legal. Here’s a video of me enjoying a ride down the road at full Tuk speed.

I was all worn out by the end. Good day!

Back in China

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And we’re back in China.  Nick wanted to meet the factory again to see about a bot.

I’m a little bit curious about China.  My tag says I’m made in China.  (Though, for the record I consider myself a Canadian bear holding a US passport).

Last time we came here we were too busy with the factory so we didn’t get a chance to look around.  This time I decided to pay a bit more attention —

— to the lack of attention placed on some things.

Like the yellow van being fixed in the mechanic shop.  That looks like it wants to fall down on somebody.

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Or this open access construction site along a sidewalk.  Looks like the kind of thing Pokin would just walk by and fall in.

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Here’s where I’m staying.  In Shenzhen.

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Yesterday we were at a market and we saw a big-ass fruit.

“It’s a giant pear!” says Nick

“No it’s not, that’s a pomelo” says Pokin

I don’t care what it is, I just want it, thought I.

So we got it.  And now we’re going to eat it.

“Get in my belly!” I command.

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Ulgh this thing tastes nothing like cocoa.

Lounge

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We’re headed back to Asia again.

And I’m waiting at an airport again.

At least I get to wait in style at the LAX Cathay Pacific lounge.  We got ourselves cocktails.  I checked out the food spread.  I got bored.  I took a nap.  Pokin tried to convince me to use the airport showers.  I ignored her.

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Superbloom!

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Well today is a sunday.  Normally that would mean Super Sumi Sunday.

Instead, it was a day devoid of gaming.

Instead we packed up the car and drove to the middle of the dessert in the middle of nowhere just to check out some flowers.

I can see flowers in my front yard.  I fail to see the appeal.

“Sumi, it’s the superbloom,” Nick tried to explain.

“Trying to add SUPER onto something doesn’t make it super great,” I countered.

Superbloom is a phenomenon that happens in Death Valley roughly whenever we have El Nino.   Then all the wildflower seeds that have been sitting dormant in the valley get doused with enough water to burst out in flowers.  It happens about every decade or so.

So we had an El Nino this winter and somehow “we” decided the resulting bloom was important enough to see.

I don’t know who “we” were.  I’m sure my bud would have voted the same way I would have.

Anyway here we are.

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Check out the flowers.

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Yeah.  That’s the superbloom.