Stephenie Harrison

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Steph26

How Do You Like Them Apples?

I'm sure by now our astute readers have cottoned on to the fact that our time in China was filled with plenty of ups and downs. Truth be told, it probably featured a lot more downs than ups. And no one is more disappointed about this than we are....
China
Steph40

Reaching Thirty

When I was fifteen, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt my life would end at thirty. I didn’t have a death wish — at least not one any greater than your average teenager prone to fits of melodrama — but at that time in my life, the...
Musings
Steph25

Tea Scammed (?) in Guilin!

Not 10 minutes after stepping out of our hostel in Guilin, he was upon us. Like a shadow—albeit, an extremely charming and talkative one—he kept pace with us, smiling and asking us about ourselves and our interests. It’s a sad thing to admit, but the very fact that a...
China
Steph10

And Now for Some Culture…

On this trip, Tony & I have been walking the delicate tightrope that balances visiting the well-known tourist attractions with trying to uncover the sides to the countries and cities that often get overlooked. As much as we love a UNESCO world heritage site (or most of them, at...
China
Steph18

What We Ate (Even if We Shouldn’t Have) in Xi’an

In my last post, I said that although we loved Xi'an, it was hard for me to identify precisely why that was.
China
Steph14

Fourth Time’s a Charm in Xi’an

It's true that in travel, just as in life, there is no accounting for taste. Though some travelers have tumbled head over heels for China, our time in China started off about as rocky as we could imagine. Though there had been a few bright spots during our 10...
China
Steph16

How to Solve a Problem Like Pingyao

Playwright Christopher Marlowe lived by the motto "That which nourishes me destroys me." Given that he was killed in a bar brawl, it's likely he died by those same words too.
China
Steph15

A Pricey Plate of Pancakes

We tried the best we could to enjoy our time in Beijing, but in the end, we had to admit that it was not a place we liked really at all, and we anxiously looked forward to our departure. Given that this was the case, you would think that...
China
Steph13

The Best Thing We Ate in Beijing

This is the time when I would normally run down all the things we ate while in Beijing. Faithful readers know Tony & I love nothing more than posting gratuitous food photos to get you salivating. Heck, these posts often get ME drooling and feeling more than a...
ChinaFood
Steph12

Grappling with Greatness at the Great Wall

After four days in Beijing, we were ready to get the hell out of the city and head for the hills. So on the morning of our fifth day in China, we did precisely that and set out to visit one of the new seven wonders of the world,...
AdventuresChina
Steph2

A Musical Interlude at the Temple of Heaven

It is fairly safe to say that as far as first impressions go, the ones Tony & I formed of Beijing were about as abysmal as they come. We both vowed we would try our best to keep an open mind, but it would be dishonest of me to...
China
Steph11

How Much It Costs to Travel in HONG KONG (& Other Handy Advice)

After spending a heavily scheduled month in rule-oriented Japan, bursting into the teeming, chaotic streets of Hong Kong was a breath of fresh air. We were invigorated by the vague sense of lawlessness that infused the city (a sense certainly heightened by our previous destination – we have never...
BudgetingHong KongTips & Tricks
Steph19

What We Ate: Hong Kong Mega Gluttony Edition

You may have noticed that pretty much every post we have written about Hong Kong to date has mentioned food. This was not an accident. We visited Hong Kong with the goal of eating as much as humanly possible, and although other elements of the city charmed us, the...
FoodHong Kong
Steph4

A Beginner’s Guide to Shopping in Hong Kong

I firmly believe that a trip to Hong Kong that revolves solely around eating as much food as possible is not only entirely acceptable, but wholly desirable as well! However, not everyone is so singularly minded as Tony & I are, and it would be wrong for us to...
Hong Kong
Steph12

Cruising Victoria Harbour

It would seem that one necessary evil when traveling is the inevitable encounter with a Traveler. A Traveler has a world-weary "seen there, done that" air about them and is constantly engaging in games of "one-upsmanship" (anything you've seen or done, they've seen or done something better or cooler).
Hong Kong