Canada Visit, October 2011: Tree Climbing in TO

I visited home in October, which usually means Montreal. This year, though, I have a brother and a good friend (Montreal transplant) living in Toronto, so I flew in to Toronto to catch some time with those two, and then bused it to Montreal for the rest of my visit. And how did we spend our time in Toronto? Climbing a tree. Also playing a game called "Miniature Tanks", which is a-mazing, where you get down curled up on elbows and knees (on grass, preferably) and then pretend you're a tank and basically play bumper cars.

September Update from Bangkok

If you're on Facebook and you don't see a video here, click: http://youtu.be/IfSud-cSN_8
Rise Up Singing as it continues: http://www.youtube.com/user/matthewvaughan

Accordion Bus in Beijing

A Horse in Xiao Xi Tian (小西天) Beijing (北京）

The Beijing Subway

Beijing Update One

Exploring Phra Khanong

Hey! I am in China. I was in Laos, now I'm in China, and my vacation is going to be over in a few days and I'll be back home in Bangkok. But let's time-travel for a second back to a month ago, just before I left on vacation with my brand-spanking-new camera. This is a video I made around my neighborhood (and others) in Bangkok. En-joy. I'll tell you about China soon.

I Shake my Fist at you, China

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I do HAVE updates, but I'm in China now and Blogger remains blocked, as well as YouTube and Facebook. Also, they've made it impossible for foreigners to use internet cafes, since registration with a Chinese identity card number is now mandatory. Can I just say?: lame. I'm doing this on a very fiddly proxy site at a hostel that let me use their computer. Lllllllllame. But I'll probably figure out how to post you a video soon. That one from back in BAngkok I was talking about. Also, I lost my camera! My new one. Just so you know. These things happen.

Last-Minute Travel Advice

Just news, you know. I'm almost gone, although up next is a video from Bangkok that I took a few days ago. Hopefully, I'll actually be posting it from Laos. Don't get too confused.

I'm leaving for China

I've taken a few new videos with this new camera in the last two days. I'll post them either today or when I get back from the heart of Asia. That's a trivia question. Do you know of a place that claims to be the geographical centre of Asia? I do, but really I have no idea if I'll go there. We'll have to see what I feel like a few weeks into travelling. I only have a month, after all.

(On Facebook, click here for the video)

Chinese Embassy Tout

So, if it's not clear from the circumstances of the video, I've decided I want to make my way to China for vacation. You all have permission to laugh at me, though, if instead of going to China, I end up having to spend the next month at home in Bangkok 4,500 baht poorer and applying for a new passport.
(On Facebook, click for video.)

No Durian Allowed

Everyone loves noting how culturally quirky it is that in Thailand signs like this are required. This one appears (and is standard) in the Bangkok MRT (subway), but on the BTS (skytrain) I don't think I've ever seen one like it. As someone who really likes durian, though, I have ridden the skytrain with plastic bag full of durian, and I definitely saw a lot of sideways glances and uncomfortable shuffling around, whether or not it had been posted as banned. I figured if I didn't make eye contact with anyone, no one would have the gumption to actually say anything, and my theory held. How else is one supposed to get home with one's durian, I'd like to know?