Personal site of Henry Tapia - web and digital media designer
This was going to be a happy 2008 post but half way through February makes it a bit late for that, and I’m not going to make it a Valentine’s Day (”You’ll Do” day) themed post. So anyway, what’s news here then?
The significant other and I are still living it large in London-town. We’ve […]
Time sure has flown for me. For the most part, it’s been a spectacular year…
A short list of highlights (and the odd low point):
Travelling through 11 countries spanning four continents (so far)
Scuba diving in Thailand and Vietnam
Like, pretty much all of Mexico
Having my laptop stolen in Peru
Still in Peru, kicking arse on the Inca Trail […]
Having settled in here in London I must admit I miss Mexico. Quite a bit. What an awesome place to visit. Mexico was the culture shock and the push out of our comfort zone that we had been craving toward the end of our time in the States. It was the first place where, by […]
Time goes by, we get a little older. We travel through 4 continents, we move to other countries and get new jobs.
This blog sees another year… yes that’s 3 years of half-arsed blogging.
It’s August again…
(And I *did* get that redesign done!)
Early March saw us say goodbye to my Mum at San Francisco airport and move on to Dallas and Austin, Texas. A visit to the Sixth Floor Museum and a little boozing with the very hospitable Jade and Carter lightened up the otherwise dull city of Dallas before we hit Austin, the jewel in the […]
We spent a month staying with my Mum in the San Francisco Bay Area and travelling in and around California. We did trips to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles. We spent a bit of time in San Francisco getting a bit of a taste of one USA’s more interesting cities.
Day 65 […]
Hong Kong was a busy and colourful city. I was surprised by how modern (and expensive) it was there. Two days is not a long time so I’ll keep this post short (so the story goes…)
Day 63 - 66, Hong Kong, China - a busy, modern metropolis
On January 28, we arrived at Hong Kong International […]
Haven’t written for a bit… having a laptop and plane tickets stolen and the ensuing bureaucratic nightmare will do that to ya… but back with the travel essays, will be trying to catch up over the next couple of weeks at every given opportunity… So, back to Vietnam:
A couple of days was enough to enjoy […]
Da Lat is an inviting mountain city to visit in Vietnam and a motorcycle tour from Da Lat is a great way to see the real Vietnam. We took a three day tour, starting from Da Lat and ending in Nha Trang, a beach city where you can work on your tan and do some […]
On January 9, we took a bus to a small agricultural port on the Mekong River from Phnom Penh and got on a boat and headed towards the Vietnamese border with a small group of travellers headed for Saigon. Pretty early on I realised that Vietnam would be one of the highlights of this holiday.
Day […]
Cambodia is an interesting and thought provoking place. Its recent history of genocide bubbles just under the surface of society. We only saw Siem Reap (and the temples of Angkor) and Phnom Penh, and I know there is much more to Cambodia than those major cities. Cambodia wasn’t the best time I had in Asia, […]
Day 28 - 31, Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand
Wow, what day is it today? I found myself asking myself this question fairly often at this stage of the trip. One day just rolls into the next, and it’s easier to remember to get a boat in 3 days than what day of the week it is… […]
Day 25 - 28, Ko Samui, Thailand
When travelling, timing is everything. This is a lesson we are just starting to learn. We arrived in the tropical island tourist hotspot of Ko Samui in good weather and just in time to enjoy the arrival of monsoonal rains.
However, being in bad weather is infinitely better than […]
Day 23 - 25, Bangkok, Thailand
We got up bright and early (actually it was still dark) on December 13 and drove out to the old Ninoy Aquino International Airport. We said thank you and goodbye to my uncle and cousin who had given so much of their time during our stay in The Philippines. We […]
Day 16 - 23, Philippines
We left Boracay and headed back to Bongabong where we were had a farewell party and then got caught in another typhoon. We eventually made it back to Manila, wrapping up our stay in The Philippines.
Bongabong Despedida
After Boracay we were picked up from the pier by relatives that were again happy […]
Day 12 - 16, Boracay, Philippines
Boracay is a white sand tropical island postcard destination. It’s a beautiful place, what can i say, just look at the pics.
White Beach, Boracay. Photo courtesy of Meg
This is really one of the best, if not the best, beaches I have ever visited. The sand along famous White Beach (on […]
Day 6 - 11, Bongabong, Oriental Mindoro
We drove on down to the pier, paid the fees and drove onto the Ferry. We strolled around the boat and of course Meg took many photos (up soon I tells ya). I decided to go inside and have a rest in the aircon environment. You Got Served was […]
Day 5, Tagaytay then Buan, Batangas
On Saturday (25/11/06), Meg and I got up early and left Manila for Mindoro, the province where my Mum’s side of the family grew up. After the fiasco that was breakfast (we’d mentioned to my Mum’s friend who had put us up that we would leave early - like 5.30am […]
Day 3 - 4, Mandaluyong City and Quezon City, Manila
Here are some more insights into Filipino culture I thought I’d share, from the time Meg and I spent in Manila, prior to arriving in Mindoro, where I am at the moment (more on Mindoro later).
Manila is busy, hot and stinky with air pollution. As a […]
Day 1 - 2, Mandaluyong City, Manila
Well we’re finally up and out of Sydney. Thanks to all our friends and family for helping see Meg and I off. Several going away get-togethers and the little matter of packing up our home (and lives) in between made the last week ridiculously hectic, but we had a […]
Well it was my last day at the old Glass Onion. Lots of positive wishes from everyone for Meg’s and my imminent travels. I do admit being a little sentimental about moving on from the place that was pretty much home for me over the past four years, where I’ve learned so much. I hope […]
The new site is up and in time for the Nov 1 Reboot!
I’m still ironing out the odd issue here and there, but it’s pretty much all there so have a squiz about the place…
A few features:
Much more customised Wordpress implementation, different page templates rather than the usual Wordpress one size-fits-all approach
Liquid/elastic layout. The layout […]
Our itinerary is pretty much completely sorted now - 2 hours with Tim from Flightcentre took care of that. We’ve adjusted some of the dates and added some pretty cool stops (like Cambodia and Guatemala) so go and revisit the itinerary.
Nathan has pointed us to TNT Magazine’s guide to relocating to the UK which will […]
Okay, so from here on for a fair while this blog will contain more and more posts about travel in the lead up to, and obviously during, Meg’s and my big ’round the world trip in November. I’ll still be adding the odd geek article wherever I can, and if I manage to get to […]
Congratulations Glass Onion, for the inaugural McFarlane Prize 2nd place “Highly Commended” award for a great team effort on the ACPE website.
It’s great that the McFarlane Prize is giving recognition to developers not only for good design but for all round well built solutions. Building to web standards and best practices is seldomly valued or […]
Okay, the word is now officially out - the lovely Megan and I are embarking on an extended around the world trip, spanning five continents stopping at London for an extended period where we will work and continue the European leg of our trip. We plan to be away from Sydney for about 18-24 months.
Prior […]
Its been a long time since a live show has affected me on as deep a level as the show I went along to on Saturday night. But Chromeo live at The Basement (presented by Modular Monthly) has done just that. Chromeo is what you would loosely call a Synth Pop duo, from Montreal. Cheesy […]
So I turn 30 tomorrow. I guess you can call that some kind of milestone. Time to sit back and take stock of one’s life? Or stop and reflect on where one’s been and where one is going?
Nah… time for celebration, drinking up with friends and enjoying the present. Just another birthday really, but one […]
Just about every other day, I get a request for freelance web design work. I’m not personally taking on any at the moment, full-time work plus the odd side-project is really quite enough… but I do get asked if I know anyone else interested. Most of my good buddies that I used to pass work […]
We are all familiar with one of the major issues of today, facing the city of Sydney and many other places. Yet it is one that is given little media coverage and therefore minimal public debate. I’m speaking of home invasion, invasions that happen every day. They happen at night, in our sleep, and the […]
I’ve just returned from a 10 day holiday at peaceful Safety Beach, where I got plenty of sun, good food, wine and sleep. I also enjoyed my first bee sting. At least I think it was a bee, the little bastard.
I want to talk about branding and good customer experience, and the good experience I […]
Been a bit quiet around these parts of late, been busy with work - we just recently launched KFC Australia’s new site. Plus I’ve had a major obsession with World of Warcraft for the last 6 months but that’s another post…
But never fear I have lots of new stuff coming soon. Some minor redesign, […]
Been quiet around here of late.. maybe because I’ve been playing with some new toys and watching lots of recorded TV and stuff.
Fortune would have it that some money came my way after a long financial drought. Enough to pay off all debts (including the car!), put a decent amount away and the bit […]
I’ve had enough of verbal phone spam from Bangalore. Here’s the typical scenario for me:
Just coming out of a snooze after eating Portuguese BBQ chicken and potato salad
Phone rings. Decide whether to answer. Note to self: if I hesitate and think twice, trust instincts and don’t answer - there’s always voicemail or other more civilized […]
Am back now from a refreshing trip to Vic. Two huge weekends in Melbourne and Daylesford with a relaxing detox week in quiet Paynesville in between. Back to the rat-race…
Well I’m off work and pissing off down to Melbourne for a bit to catch up with friends, family and gatecrash the odd wedding. Back in a week, maybe with some happy snaps…
I’ve just added in a new section “Work” to the site in the last few days. Just a small showcase of what I’ve been up to for the past couple of years in terms of paid work. A mini-portfolio, if you will. Had to brush up with my JS/DOM scripting to make the image changer […]
I just made my work buddy’s day. She’s laughing like I’ve never seen before.
I’m sitting here choking on my lunch because I didn’t know that you’re supposed to peel the skin bit off the salami when you slice it, and it was getting stuck in my throat.
Well you learn something new everyday.
I’ve been doing Yoga classes for some weeks now. It’s a great way to get fitter and more flexible. I also find it a good way to relieve stress and develop focus. Practicing in a class environment is good for me, as there is no option of slacking off. As it’s all paid for up […]
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