http://travelmonkey.today.com Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:55:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en So far, so good. Besides the wet weather we have been enjoying ourselves toodling around the city with an umbrella in hand every evening. Portland really is a very nice town with interesting buildings and interesting shops, but one thing I really find compelling is that the city has virtually everything ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/06/22/going-back-to-hubers/ Which stereotype comes to mind when you think of Macau? A gambler’s paradise in Southeast Asia? That’s what most people think of when they envision Macau, and it was certainly the idea in my head before I went.  Like a more humid version of Vegas, with Chinese people. Actually, ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/06/11/macau-isn%e2%80%99t-just-for-gamblers/ Now is a great time to visit Hawaii. With the downturn in the economy, prices for flights and especially hotels rooms are at a multi-year low. We just recently returned from a trip to the islands and Maui specifically where we discovered a new treasure to explore ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/05/27/the-little-island-of-lanai/ Up until last summer, we have noticed a marked decline the previous 4 or 5 years in the number of fellow campers when we were visiting our usual tenting locations. Less tenters, less RVers, and just less people visiting at all. But, it looks as if that may be changing ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/05/18/camping-makes-a-comeback/ WiFi access in this day and age of ubiquitous notebook computers and iPhones and internet enabled devices of all sorts is simply required. When hotels first started offering WiFi or plugged-in internet access most all of them initially charged for it, anywhere from $10 – $25 dollars per ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/05/12/the-economics-of-hotel-wifi-fees/ On a recent trip to Maui we discovered an interesting new new snorkeling location. We have driven by Olowalu many times, in fact you can't miss it since it is right off Hwy 30 on the way to or from Lahaina. And we've seen lots of people there before but never ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/05/08/olowalu-beach-snorkeling/ Our new Vice President is probably a decent guy. Probably he is well meaning guy. But, he sure seems to step in the muck and then stick his muck covered foot in his mouth on a fairly regular basis. I don’t comment much on politics because I don’t follow ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/05/01/foot-in-mouth-again/ Personally, I just love dogs. I smile at them. They smile at me, mostly. I wave at them and talk to them. Am I weird? I don’t think so. Dogs have become something different I think as we have shifted focus in the US from having 11 ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/04/23/rover-makes-a-reservation/ If you have been to a major airport in the past few years, you have probably seen one of the new whole body search machines that are currently being tested by the TSA. At our airport, I have never seen anybody actually going through the machine or ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/04/14/strip-search-machines/ Being originally from California and accustomed to good ethnic food of all stripes, I have to say that it was quite a disappointment when I first moved to Oregon. Of course, I had originally move to Vancouver where there really was not much in terms of good ... http://travelmonkey.today.com/2009/04/10/chinese-yum/