Cosmos, Carl and Meteor Crater

During our motorcycle trip this summer, one stop in particular brought to mind one of my heroes: scientist, author, teacher and advocate for peace Carl Sagan.

Though certainly no substitute for the real thing, we offer this strange homage with a little help from the You Tube Copyright Infringement Special Effects Department.

Our Christmas Eve in Little India

One of the things we've come to count on as we travel is that anything could happen at any time. On Christmas Eve, we sat down at a quiet little sidewalk table, ordered our dinner, and suddenly . . . well, you'll see . . .

Christmas in Penang

A brief lo-fi meditation on small comforts, home-sickness and Christmas cinema.

So Blue (Without You)

Merry Christmas from Malaysia, everyone.

Highlights of the Cameron Highlands

A cool, misty agricultural region blanketing the west-central mountains of peninsular Malaysia, the Cameron Highlands provide the mainstay of Malay tea, as well as any number of other crops that benefit from its year-round tea-growing climate, including strawberries, watercress and flowers. It's also a place where crops you might not associate with "cool" and "misty" seem to thrive: succulents, cacti and even some citrus fruits.

We rarely opt for a guided tour, since they deprive us of the joys and challenges of finding our own (often much cheaper) way to interesting sites and since it sometimes feels akin to being cattle taken to slaughter to board a mini-bus full of other western tourists. Our time was so short in the Highlands, however, we decided to take an organized trip. And we're so glad we did!

For the first half of our visit, the weather offered a persistent drizzle and low-hanging clouds — a welcome change from the heat and humidity of our prior coastal abode, but hardly optimal for sight-seeing. Just as we were about to depart on the tour, however, the clouds lifted...



Video recorded on my first-generation iPhone with Cycorder (thanks, Jay!). Some of the artifacts in the video are known issues with pushing the iPhone beyond the limits of its flux capacitor. Still, a great new tool in our kit!

A month in New Zealand

We're catching up on our video editing and blogging, thanks to some time staying put in Pulau Pangkor, Malaysia with a good internet connection. Hurray for disjointed storytelling!

And now, from our Kiwi Immigration Department, we bring you...



"Business Time" from Flight of the Conchords used with appreciation (and hopes of avoiding litigation).

Curious monkeys

The town of Teluk Nipah is sandwiched between coastal beach and mountainous jungle. Instead of choosing one of the guesthouses along the beach - and the busy street that, after sunset, turns into a raceway for young men on mopeds - and went with a quiet chalet that butts up against the jungle.

This means that our porch is shared with the local macaques. Our porch, our roof, our clothesline . . .

The hornbills of Pulau Pangkor

Let us introduce you to the wild hornbills of Pangkor Island, who are accustomed to a daily feeding. When the owner of the Sunset View Chalet comes out to the street at 6:45 each evening, dozens of the prehistoric-looking birds are already lined up.

Of course, the tourists are waiting, too! Half the fun is watching them fly in from the jungle and begin to congregate along the power lines on either side of the narrow street. It's mesmerizing to watch the agile birds swoop down to nab the bits of banana, bread, and coconut - which explains the fervor with which owner warns "Moto! Moto! Moto!" when it is necessary (which is often).

Making prata in Singapore

This is the first video I made with my spiffy new camera - which I have on me so much more often than my video camera or my laptop. We have in mind to start posting more of these short snippets from our experiences around the globe.

A walk in the jungle

We're enjoying the beaches and island hospitality of Pulau Pangkor, an island just off the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. We've been here nearly a week and have spent most of our time on the beaches and perusing the main drag.

Today, though, we followed experienced hiker, fellow traveler and machete-wielding Johann on a hike into the inland jungle of this island, a place few people travel. He warned us of the possibility of encountering vipers (thankfully, we didn't, although we did see one of the largest spiders I've ever seen), and of the high likelihood of leaving the jungle with leeches attached to us.

"Leeches?!" I thought, skeptical. We weren't planning to ford any rivers, and all the leeches back home catch you in the water. In Malaysia, on the other hand...

What we miss most

On this, the six-month mark of our journey, we reflect on the things we miss most. Game-show style!