symbiont's VirtualTourist Home Page

Latest travels have taken me to Suzhou, China. An hour west of Shanghai, this small city (3 million) is a plesant getaway from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

I have had the pleasure of taking in a rugby match during the sevens tournament in Uxbridge outside of London, taking a nap in the Tuillerie gardens in Paris, France, paying a visit to the BMW factory in Munich, Germany, being spoiled rotten in Zurich, Switzerland, attending the furniture fair in Milan, and attending a countryside BBQ feast in Rome, Italy where I was able to sample the local vintage. My favourite is Venice, Italy. I was given a tour of the "suburban" areas at night via a very friendly water taxi driver.

Traveling to Seoul, Busan and Changwon City again this year in late May.

Jeju Island in early August.

I love Korea. Unlike southeast asia, it has 4 solid seasons and has the diversity and beauty of a northern hemispheric city. Seoul itself is huge. Over 12 million people make their lives there and the traffic is as bad as it gets. LA and London don't even compare!

This is an amazing place with a fascinating history of war and occupation. The tension created by the DMZ with North Korea is truly unique in creating the vibe of this nation. The Korean people are extremely friendly if they know you are going to stay for awhile. They are famous above other asian cultures in thier face saving techniques. Pride rules here and women are indeed beautiful!

Singapore is one of the worlds largest shipping ports. It certainly is the largest in Asia. This tiny little country has built itself into an economic powerhouse in just the last 30 years. I lived here for a few year during the financial crisis of the late 90s. Those were some gloomy times.

Singapore is the hub for regional travel. Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia are all accesible from this island city state.

My travel to New York, New York lately consists of confrences, conventions and symposiums. I like to stay in the Times Square area as it is in the middle of everything when I'm there. I love to walk through central park, have a stiff martini on 5th avenue or hop the subway down a few blocks for a downstairs shot or 2. Venturing above 125th street is where the true NY history is, and finding loungy coffee houses on the upper west side is always fun when in NYC. New York is a very "indoor" oriented place. Most things worth doing are inside dark and sometimes clostrophobic spaces. This allows for rubbing with the natives which can bring out the rude beast in you, buts that's ok...

New York is great because it is fashionable to be rude, while at the same time being gracious amoung such rudeness is an distinct challenge. Things are big in NY. The energy is unparalleled and everyone there wants to rule the universe.

Shanghai and Wuxi this summer...

I could move to Hong Kong tomorrow. Its upscale beauty is breathtaking and is a real cultural challenge to explore. The shopping is truely worldclass as all the best apparel comes out of HK before it is exported around the world.

So much new economic activity takes place here and is rapidly becoming one of the worlds hot spots for new product development and manufacturing if not already. Hong Kongers know what they want and they want it now! Only the finest will do.

Minnesota trips this year include a wedding in April and a high school reunion in August.

There is soooo much open space west of the Mississippi river! Driving around aimlessly has been the past time of the retired for nearly 30 years now. It is very common to see huge recreational vehicles trailering small cars and loads of bikes and motorcycles as they cruise through the mountains and plains of the west. I drove my motorcycle from San Franciso to Austin, Texas last summer and had the time of my life! I've driven coast to coast 3 times in my life and can always benefit from another trip across the united states.

Malaysia was my oasis away from busy capitalistic and tedious Singapore where I was living at the time. Having lunch off a banana leaf while trekking through the jungle, lounging on the preistine beach of Rawa or making love under the moon in the south china sea were truely new areas of relaxation that were made possible in Malaysia.

One Friday evening a few of my friends and I drove in a car over to JB and found ourselves in the middle of a wedding reception at the restaurant where we decided to have dinner. The brides father who just happened to be a local politician, came over to our table and invited us to join the party. Later he invited us to follow him to the after party at his nightclub where he treated us like royalty. It was incidents like this that place Malaysian hospitality at the highest measurable levels on earth. Malaysia is truely a paradise of wonderful people!