Total Mileage

(*Drum roll*)....

44,185.31^ rounded down by several hundred miles.

^ Information given by Wayfaring Map service.

Nerd Mecca and Joypolis

Yesterday, I had a full list of temples and the palace. But before this was Akihabara, a district in Tokyo dedicated to computer parts, video games, dvd's, anime, manga, and general nerd paraphernalia. This was another aspect of Tokyo I was not aware of before coming here. I had heard about this from some friends who were decidedly not nerds. So my expectations were low.

Akihabara is nerd mecca. It is a pilgrimage every nerd should make once in their life. I spent three hours walking up and down a giant store dedicated exclusively to all the old toys I used to play with as a kid. Transformers, Power Rangers, Gundam, NES, SNES, Sega, you name it, it was there. It was amazing. Then I left that building, and found a square mile of shops dedicated mostly to the same thing. It was amazing. I found so many amazing things that I could not buy. Mostly cause they cost a fortune now that they are collectors items. I ended up spending the whole day there. It was awesome.

That night two friends and I went to a cool sushi restaurant. The ones where the plates go round a conveyor belt. I stuck to the cheap plates. It was still delicious. As we were walking back, a building with a big Bandai sign caught our eye. Bandai made most of the toys I mentioned in the paragraph before. They, along with Nintendo and a few other companies, are directly responsible for my nerdiness. After a little investigation, we found out that that was indeed Bandai HQ, nestled in the strangest part of Taito, Tokyo. My friends and I started flipping out.

Today we went back there and took pictures. They had a museum of their most succesful toys, which we shamelessly drooled over. Tokyo has been one giant nerd and nostalgia trip. It's been awesome. After this, we decided to take a hike to the harbor district in Tokyo. We had heard about two cool parks. Muscle Park, an offshoot of Ninja Warrior, and Joypolis, and indoor amusement park by Sega. Muscle Park was a huge letdown. I was expecting obstacle courses. Instead I got a little kids playground. Complete with a ball pit. It was sad really.

Joypolis on the other hand was awesome. All the latest video games, but on steroids. My friend, Lloyd and I spent the whole day there going on every ride and video game imaginable. My favorite was the giant oversized Tetris game. It wasn't too complicated either, and would be fairly simple to build. But I think I have enough nerd projects that I haven't finished.

Anyway, tomorrow I change hotels to a Capsule hotel! This is where your bed is literally a hole in the wall. It's a strange Japanese custom, but I'm interested to see how it works. After that, it's off to Honolulu! Back to USA. Now that I have been to a dozen countries all over the world, I can safely say that there is no place like home. Internet there might be expensive, so my next few posts may very well come from good old NJ. If I don't get to post til then, it's been fun everyone, and I'll see you all soon back home!

Real Life Giant Robots... and Baseball

Hello TOKYO! First let me start by saying, Lost in Translation was just terrible. That movie was one of the worst films I've ever seen. It also did not portray Tokyo correctly at all. At least not the side I'm getting to see. The movie portrayed Tokyo as dreary and strange. While I kind of get the strange bit, I don't get the dreary thing at all. I love this city. It's clean. Everyone is friendly. The food is delicious. And there is a ton to do, especially for a nerd like me. I will admit though that everything is really expensive and the subway system makes no sense at all. None. They showed me a map of the subways and trains. It looks like those drawings where a 6 year old just grabs two fists full of crayons and starts drawing.

Anyway, my first few days in Tokyo. The first day I woke up late and chose to do one of my nerd exhibits first. Now if some of you haven't seen my nerdier side, let me explain it. I love video games, giant robots, and giant spaceships. If you have 1 or more of those things, I'm sold. One of my favorite tv series in the giant robots arena is Gundam. It's an old giant robot series from 70's and 80's originating in Japan. I got very lucky on this trip, because the 30th annual Tokyo Gundam Expo was this weekend. I did not plan that at all, I just lucked out. So yesterday I went. They had toys, robot model kits, vintage everything from when the series started in the 80's, promotions for newer Gundam series, and of course Gundam video games. I don't mean like Xbox games, I mean the giant arcade games where you have a giant console full of buttons and get to drive one of the giant robots! I was in nerd heaven. Consequently... I'm a terrible robot driver. These two 6 year old Japanese kids schooled me. But it was still awesome!

That took pretty much all day, so by around 3 I went back to the hostel. Two friends I had made, Sebastian and Heinrick, decided they wanted to go to a Japanese baseball game at the Tokyo Dome and invited me. It sounded cool, and was pretty cheap so we went. They had never been to a baseball game, so I explained all the rules. It was a lot of fun! The Japanese don't really get as rowdy as American fans. Instead they have specific chants for parts of the game or certain players. They chant through the whole game. It's interesting to say the least. It was also the longest game I've ever attended. Seriously, we were there for 4 hours and it was only the bottom of the 6th. We just gave up and left. It was still fun though.

Today I woke up late again. (I'm starting to run low on gas. I'm sleeping a lot more lately.) Today was the day where I went to the big Gundam statue! So according to the tv show, a Gundam robot is around 60 feet tall. A few years back to commemorate the anniversary of Gundam, they built a 1:1 size statue of the robot in Tokyo! Unfortunately they took it down... BUT they recently rebuilt it in a town 3 hours outside of Tokyo by train! Again, I didn't know this until a few weeks before I got here, so I did not plan this at all. So today I took the long train ride out. It was awesome! How often do you get to see one of your favorite tv shows come to life in a big way. (Pun intended) I spent a good two hours walking around taking pictures, and again looking at merchandise and exhibits around the statue. The thing didn't move much, just the head every 30 minutes or so. But it was still awesome!

I finished off the day today going to Subiya, the part of Tokyo with the giant crowds crossing the busy streets and all the shops. It's like 5 square blocks of Time Square like areas, all with nice shops. After that I went to the Pokemon Center!... which was kind of a let down. It's a tiny shop with some Pokemon stuff. Not even a lot of stuff. I took some pictures, but it looks better than it is. You'd think they'd have something better in Tokyo. Whatever. Tomorrow is the electric part of the city, Akihabara. It's a big section with electronics, video games, and general nerd stuff. Until next time!

Anti-climatic End to China and Delta Airlines FAIL

I wish there was some big story to end this on, but there isn't. The last day I packed, researched Japan, and took it easy. I tried to go to the Summer Palace. Even took some pictures and walked around. But it was a rainy day, and I didn't like my pictures very much. Didn't even bother posting them.

I did try to go the Wangfujing street markets. These are the ones where they sell all the cool and gross foods right there on the street. I thought they served fried scorpion and seahorse. I was even excited to try them, and maybe a little scared. I took a few steps into the market, walking toward a vendor with scorpions on a stick. I was ready to go.... and then one of the scorpions moved. NOPE. DONE. I don't have many rules, but one of them is that my food must be dead. D-E-A-D. DEAD. Thanks for playing. See ya next time. After that I went to a Pizza Hut, followed by a Cold Stone Creamery.

Today I woke up at 4am for a flight to Japan. This was by far the worst transit experience I have had so far. Delta Airlines and Beijing Airport, you fail in so many different ways. To start the day off, they confiscated my airline bottles of alcohol. Now it was just two of the little bottles, but they would have helped me sleep through the flight. They made it through 3 seperate inspections. At the gate, two Chinese guards confiscated them saying they weren't allowed on. When I asked why, their English all of a sudden got bad. Really? You're scamming people out of little liquor bottles? Whatever.

The flight was a disaster. I have never had turbulence that bad. At one point we dropped so sharply and suddenly, a woman who wasn't wearing her seat belt actually lifted almost a foot or two out of her seat right in front of me. It just got scary at some point. I buried my head in my book and did my best not to think about it. So now I am in Narita in Tokyo, tired, hungry, and very angry. And my checked bag looks like it went through a meat grinder. It's disgustingly dirty, one strap is completely missing, and my padlock is gone. Not the one closing my baggage, the one I had carefully placed on the outside of my bag. It made it all the way around the world that way, but apparently Delta didn't like the look of it and had broken it off. It wasn't even closing any openings! So in my last bit of complaining here, I'll just say this. DELTA AIRLINES YOU FAIL!

BUT after that experience, I am now a strong proponent of a cure to bad travel. One hot shower, and one hot Big Mac. (Big Mac can be replaced by any unhealthy and warm meal.) This is all it takes to make you feel better. It won't fix any problems, simply bring you the comfort you need and clear your head. But a lot of times that's all you need. Anyway, Tokyo is awesome! There's technology all over the place. My toilet has a computer! More details on the land of the rising sun to come soon. Expect all of them to be nerdy in nature.

The > Wall of Some Big Asian Country

Finally on the third day the weather was clear! I was going to go to the Great Wall of China! This was an easy 2nd for the top tourist sites I wanted to see on this trip, just behind the Pyramids. There are a bunch of different sites you can go see near Beijing, and originally I wanted to do this big hike between the Simatai section and another one. But in July they started more work on the Simatai section, so it won't be open for a while. Lame. BUT... I was also running low on money, so I went to the only part of the wall accessible by public bus alone, Badaling!

Of course this is the closest section, and so the most crowded. But I knew a few tricks for avoiding that. For starters, when you get off the bus (I was the only non-Chinese person on that bus FYI) they will try to lure you onto the chair lift. THIS IS A MISTAKE! At the top of that lift is a river of people all the way back to the main entrance. Don't do it! Instead walk to the main entrance and take a left, away from the river of people. You will immediately be met by several sections of wall that feel like a straight vertical climb... because they pretty much are. But keep going! Because after your 3rd heart attack, is a part of the wall with only 12 to 24 people. And it's big, and flat, and there are guard towers where cool breezes move through the stone and cool you off quickly. But the best part is the view. You can see the wall snake around for miles in either direction. You cannot see this view from any other part of the Badaling wall. It is worth every bit of the horrible pain you will go through to attain it.

If Badaling, the most overcrowded and touristy part of the wall, was that amazing, I can't even imagine how the other parts are. If I had hated the rest of my trip to China (which wasn't even close to true), the Great Wall alone would pull me back. I'm gonna have to come back at some point, I just have to. It was that much fun. Anyway, I put up lots of pictures on facebook. Sorry I haven't been able to put them on the blog. If I had known Blogger's pictures upload was this bad from abroad, I would have done something else. But it's too late now. Oh well, on to the last days in China!

Rainy Day in Beijing

Day two was a full on let down. It was raining so I couldn't get to the Great Wall just yet. So I tried to go to the Military Museum, but it and most other museums in Beijing are closed on Mondays. Fantastic. So I spent most of the day hiking to the CCTV and Olympics buildings to take some pretty awful pictures. I also went to the Silk and Pearl markets, but more on them in a second. First I want to give you guys my impressions on China and the Chinese, which I was pretty surprised by.

Most of them are pretty obvious and expected. There are a lot of people. They are all shorter than me, and thus walk slower than me. The one thing I didn't expect is the level of commercialism. Not globalism, commercialism. In the sense that China has brought commercialization to it's own population. Instead of stores like GAP or Burger King, you have Chinese companies and stores doing the same thing. You will see the same clothing store chains, all Chinese. That's not to say their parent or partner corporations are not the same as the GAP, but it seems more like China is moving into that phase of a economic super power. The one where it begins to create it's own monsters of the commercial world, the same as the US and Europe has done. That was just my impression anyway.

Back to the markets, which still retain some of that haggling and deal finding spirit that China is so famous for. I went in looking for sunglasses, and came out with every but. Actually I came out with sunglasses. Fake Oakleys, that I haggled the guy down to $15 from $25. I still got ripped off though, because 24 hours later they broke. And not even when I was wearing them! I put them down in one piece on the desk, woke up from a nap, and there were 3 big cracks in the plastic. Meh, what was I really expecting? Anyway, I also got a 4gb flash drive for about $12 down from $40! I don't know who this girl thought she was selling to, cause I was never paying $40 for a flash drive. I can't imagine she knew I was a CS major, but still.

The markets are fun, but you gotta be careful, and can't be afraid to be firm with the vendors. One girl selling purses grabbed my wrist at one point and started to scream and pull me into their booth. In the middle of a big crowd of people, none of whom thought it was out of the ordinary. They also didn't think it was strange when I ripped my hand away and not so politely told the girl to get lost. In the end it was all fun, and you can find some pretty crazy stuff there.

Forbidden Palace, City, and Starbucks

Wow, two weeks with restricted internet access make Greg go... something.. something. Not to say that China and Vietnam weren't fun to travel in, but censorship gets to me. Especially on that large a scale. Anyway, I'm back in a country that promotes a more liberal freedom of speech, and also has a ridiculously fast internet connection. So here come the stories and pictures!

First up was the Forbidden City. It is actually called a bunch of things, Forbidden City, Imperial City, Forbidden Palace, and Imperial Palace. There's even a Starbucks (Forbidden or Imperial, whichever you prefer) inside somewhere. I couldn't find it though. The place was PACKED when I was there. It was impressive. The actual Palace was gorgeous. You go through like 6 gates before you get to it though, in fact a lot of people walk right past it thinking it's another gate. (Like one very clueless Jersey kid.) There were museums, but they are the kind I hate. The buildings that were designed for something else, but they still pack as many people as they can in there to see the exhibits. I hate that. Instead I just enjoyed walking amongst the streets and gates. It's a breathtaking structure.

Next came the Temple of Heaven. This is what I wish every tourist attraction was like. It is a giant park, with plenty of space for everything. It just happens to have a series of gorgeous temples in the middle of it. You pay to get close to them, but not much, and even then there is plenty of room to walk, view, and take pictures without wanting to kill every person walking around with a parasol in their hands. (Doesn't matter who is holding it, man, woman, child, the parasol thing is annoying. Just wear a hat!) What was really cool were all the people in the park. All of the retired Chinese pretty much just hang out here all day. They play mahjong, practice singing, dancing, yoga, martial arts, and every other park activity you can imagine. There was one old guy whose face showed his age, but he was ripped. He looked like someone had taken an older man's head and placed it on a marine's body. At this point, I was absolutely beat. I went back to the hotel and crashed hard.

Motorbikes and National Parks

So once I got back, I had two more days to kill in Hanoi. I had to plan it that way, to leave myself room to grab the Ha Long bay trip at the right time. Little did I know that Hanoi Backpackers hostel just shuttles people to and from the island. You'd think this would be lame, but they really do a great job. It's cheap, it's fun, and if you are young it is exactly the right crowd. Doing it with other agencies, you often get put with families, etc. Which is fine, but you won't meet as many people your age, which I find to be the most fun in these trips.

Anyway, Andy and I decided we wanted to do a day trip to Cuc Phuong National Park. There are some cool old caves, old trees, and wildlife preserves there, and according to google it was a quick 2 hours away. So we thought we'd rent a bike, and motor on down there. We got a reccomendatino from the hostel as to who to rent from, and thank god we did. The bikes don't go as fast as the cars do, and even with the shortcuts our guide took us down, it was an easy 3 hours to the park. The bikes when pushed can just barely hit 60 mph. You can get the higher cc bikes, but we didn't have the cash. Thankfully one of the guides at the place realized all this, and offered his services at a fairly cheap price. I guess he wasn't going out that day anyway, and this was just a bonus that we came in and needed someone. At first I didn't think we did. Andy seemed pretty confident on the bike, and I figured I could learn when we got out of the city.

I didn't realize that while the city is one kind of madness, the highway is another. Neither is truly safe for bikes. Simply because there are a lot of bikes in Vietnam, does not mean that it is easier for bikes to get around than any other country. It is tough. The trucks own the road, and will not hesitate to run you off it. In the end we got two bikes, one for Andy and one for me and the guide. He asked a few times if I wanted to drive, but by then I was good and scared and didn't want to slow us down. So I just had him drive me around all day. I did, however, get some great videos of Andy braving the roads. For a first timer, he took to it pretty well. We felt every minute of those 6 hours on the road though. The back seat of a scooter is not really the place for a long journey like that. My legs and butt are still in pain.

Anyway, the park! The park was gorgeous. There must be billions of butterflies in that thing. We saw huge swarms of them. Unforuntately each time I tried to get a picture, my camera just turned them into a blur. I think I need a high quality one to really capture them. I took some video of them at one point I think. We also saw caves that had human graves, carbon dated to around 5500 BC. They were huge caves, that went way back into the mountain side. We couldn't see the trees because they were a 2-3 hour hike, and we would have gotten back after the office was closed. But we did get to go see both the monkey and turtle preserves and rehabilitation centers. The monkeys were the coolest because we got to see whole families playing and swinging. The turtles were cuter though. Despite being endangered, locals will still hunt them both for food.

When we got back to Hanoi, we were covered in soot and sand from the roads. And unfortunately our hostel had no power. Fantastic. One very very cold shower later, I went to ask the staff about the power. At first they blew me off, saying 1 hour. But then I heard one of the head staff screaming at the power guys. Apparently they had said 3 hours at 2pm, and it was now 7pm. So they were clearly working until it was fixed. We headed out to a restaurant that was recommended by Lonely Planet, but it had lost power as well. On the way we saw a bustling local place, and decided to do as the locals did. They immediately served us two beers and peanuts. We also became the night's entertainment as we attempted to read the all Vietnamese menu. Finally a nice group of guys next to us told us in broken english two local dishes that were good, and chicken wings. When we got them, we were underwhelmed by one, but the other was amazing. When we got back we learned that it was bitter melon with dried shrimps. It was delicious. The chicken wings were amazing too. The meat tasted so good and healthy. It was all amazing. We had a feast for a little under $10.

Today I am taking it easy, reading up on Beijing, updating blogs, pictures, etc. And skyping with my girlfriend who I miss so much. For the next few days I will be in country with very different computer laws than America. So I may refrain from blogging until I reach Japan, and may even be out of email contact. If anyone needs to reach me, please contact my parents (or little brother) who have my phone info which will still work fine.

Wakeboarding, Hangovers, and Traveler's Sickness

They woke us up at 7:30 like some cruel joke. With only 4 hours of sleep, I was moving a little slowly. The two boats split up, taking the 2 day people back to harbor, and taking us 3 day people to the hostel's private island deep in the mountainous islands of Ha Long bay. The ride there was mostly hungover people sleeping wherever they could. It was lightly raining, so a bunch of us stowed our stuff below decks and fell asleep on the top deck, letting the rain cool us off. There isn't very much wind in the bay, besides that caused by the boat moving.

Finally we arrived on the hostel's private island. It was actually very nice. Showers, working toilets, a nice kitchen and bar. We stayed under thatch roof, wall-less huts. Each had 5-6 mattresses with mosquito nets above them. Considering how hot it got, this was a very good setup. Once we got there the rain stopped, and I found a shady tree with a hammock and took a nap. Once I woke up, we had lunch and started the volleyball games. The whole time groups were going out for wakeboarding, which I had never tried but was excited to do. After 2 wins and a loss, my turn for the wakeboarding was up.

According to the guides, getting up is the hardest part. In fact, about 50% of the people trying the first time that day, didn't get up. Another 25% only got up once. I got up on the second try. And then had no trouble getting up after that. I think it was because I waited and watched both experienced and first timers, trying to gather as much tips as possible and learn from their mistakes. Also, the position you get yourself in as you get up, is very similar to one you use in rock climbing. Once I figured that out, it became a breeze. It was SOOO much fun! I think I have found a new hobby. And it's a big workout. Muscles I didn't know I had were hurting for days afterward. Abs, arms, back, and legs all felt the burn.

That night they served us a feast, which was good, cause I needed it. And of course, everyone went back to drinking heavily, as if they had no memory of the hangover this morning. I took part as well, trying to live up my youth. But one of my friends, Andy, didn't feel like drinking as heavily as everyone else. About 5 of us all felt the same way, and escaped to another part of the beach to drink, talk, and watch the stars. You can tell that on a clear night, you could probably see clear to the other side of the galaxy. I really tried to stay awake, but after the 5th time of my head dipping while talking to someone, I decided I was being rude and should just crash.

So I did, but it wasn't a restful sleep. The beds were fine, but at around 2pm, a british man started calling my phone. After the 5th call, I picked it up and in a not so polite way, told him that he was calling a phone in Vietnam, and it was costing him a fortune. He stopped after that. The next time I woke up, it was because a monsoon was coming down outside, and some thunder literally shook my hut. After that, a leak started right above my face. I used my windbreaker to cover it above the mosquito net, which worked fine. After that I only slept til 7. Couldn't get back to sleep. Meh.

The ride back was uneventful, with one exception. The lunch that day. I don't know what it was, because I was very careful in choosing my food. Only well cooked meats, breads, and fried foods. But something got me sick. Just travelers diahrea. It didn't hit me until that night. I went to dinner with Andy and another friend Leo. We got back and were joking around, and planning a day trip the next day. All of a sudden it hit me, I said goodnight, and spent the rest of the night in my room. Thank god for medicine. It took about 3-4 hours to work, but the perscription stuff WORKS. I haven't had even a rumble since I started the stuff. Meh, I watched Finding Nemo on my computer then fell asleep.

Hanoi and Day 1 of Ha Long Bay

Sorry guys, the internet I was stealing got taken down, so I had to wait a day to continue posting. I have had some jet lag before. But man this one kicked me square in the face. I got to Hanoi, and was thoroughly unimpressed by the airport. That's ok, because the people were very friendly, but not the pushy friendly I was used to from Greece, Egypt, and Turkey. Just polite and friendly. To avoid the taxi scams, I approached the official airport tourist desk and requested an organized taxi to the hostel, and also reserved one to the airport for my travel to Beijing on Saturday.

I got to my hostel no problems. It was down what we would call an alley, although in Vietnam it's a full street. A big street in Vietnam is one that can fit cars, not just bikes. It's a big hostel too, with three buildings and a ton of people. Good hostel though, with airconditioning in all rooms, extra fans everywhere to help even more, and resonably hot showers. Althought it has the feeling of a really well run frat house. Almost everyone (including a lot of the staff) seem perpetually drunk or hungover.

I immediately reserved a slot on the 3 day, 2 night tour to Ha Long bay, which was the real desination for this leg of the trip. Ha Long bay is a beautiful bay in the northeastern section of Vietnam, bordering Chinese waters. It's a World Heritage site and definately the coolest part of the Top Gear Vietnam tour. We left early Monday morning, took a 3 hour bus ride to Ha Long bay, and then jumped on our Junk, a vietnamese cruise vessel. Because they over booked us, we ended up with nicer rooms than expected, complete with air conditioning. The boat took us out into the islands, which look like little mountains sticking out of the water. Then the two boats (one for 2 day-ers, one for us 3 day-ers) stopped and let us swim for a while. The boats were 3-4 stories out of the water, so we all jumped from the tops of the boats. One of the boats had an extra high roof we weren't supposed to be on, but a bunch of us, including me, jumped off it anyway before they yelled at us to stop. If any of you know about my fear of falling, you know how big a step that was for me. Totally worth it though. Tons of fun.

Afterward we did some kayaking, hiking up some of the islands, and then ended at a little floating fishing village. These little villages (essentially bamboo houses floating on the water) are everywhere in Ha Long Bay. Supposedly there are some villagers who will live a full life having never touched land, although that could just be an old legend. Some of the houses were just extra large row boats, one of which had a flat panel tv, which was wierd. Anyway, that night the boat exploded with a giant party. Most of the backpackers on this trip were 20-26, and clearly the boats are used to this, cause they had packed plenty of alcohol to go around. I tried to stay awake for as much of it as I could, made some friends with a few of the British and Irish. Finally jet lag caught up with me and I crashed hard.

Goodbye Europe, Hello Asia!

Sorry I haven't been blogging as much. It's been a very busy few days. Last we left off in Istanbul. The last day in Istanbul we stopped by the Military Museum which was really cool. They had weapons all the way back from the days of the huns. My favorite was the gun swords and daggers. Mom wanted the gun dagger. There were also gun canes which were pretty cool. After that we took a little walk down some shopping streets. Mom and I "climbed" a tower and got a cool view of the city. It wasn't much of a climb, there was a stupid elevator. Then we just kind of took it easy the rest of the day. We had dinner at our favorite Turkish restaurant. It was the same place we ate the first night. We couldn't resist, the food was just too good.

The next day we headed to the airport. We checked in the parents, I said goodbye and they went through security. They are heading for Budapest where they meet up with my Uncle Mitchell and Aunt Vicki for a cruise along the Danube. It sounds like a blast. I saw the boat online, it's kinda funny lookin. Anyway, I had to wait another hour or so, then I checked in to my flight. I flew from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi. All via Malaysian airlines, which by the way is an awesome airline. The plane was the nicest I have seen the whole time, had on demand movies, big comfy seats, and cologne in the bathroom, which was wierd in a good way. This was just in economy. I was just about to fall asleep when one of the kids behind me got sick. I got up and tried to help the parents and stewardesses. The father was kind of a jerk, he barely did anything to help. The mom practically lept over the seats to get to her kid when it happened. Anyway, that pretty much ensured I wasn't sleeping. So instead I watched Toy Story 1 and both Iron Man movies, all on the Malaysian Airlines video thing. The Kuala Lumpur airport was pretty nice too. Not a bad place to be stuck for 5 hours. Got some breakfast and watched Bottle Shock on some Samsung thing. Got some sleep on the flight to Hanoi. Which we will hear more about in the next post....