Sony DSC-HX1

One of the items almost every traveler takes on a trip is a camera. Capturing images of the people you meet and the places you visit is of utmost importance.
Since all we had was a 5 year old Sony and a 7 year old Minolta (both compact cameras) it was clear that we needed something new. Something better.

Our first thought was to get a DSLR, the Canon 500D. It is a great camera and equipped with a 18-200mm lens it would have suited our needs perfectly. Unfortunately, the camera together with that lens weighs over 1 kg. Too much for the trip we planned. Moreover, due to its size the camera would not have been easy to store in our backpacks and carrying it around our neck all the time was not an option either.

We soon agreed, that we would have to get something lighter, something we could preferably carry in a case attached to our belt. A bridge camera would have all that. After reading hundreds of reviews on the internet we finally made our choice in a photo shop store in Lucerne.

The Sony HX1 (pics below) was what we wanted. It has a great 20x optical zoom, allows us to take sweep panoramic pictures and record movies in HD quality, shoots 10 frames per second ...
After a few days of testing, we definitely don't regret buying this Sony camera. Now we just need to find a case for it :)

UPDATE: case found and bought =)

Another small companion :-)

We have been searching for a daypack for quite a while now. We did not want to take another 3rd backpack along, but still wanted something that we can take on a walk around a city. It had to be big enough to carry a water bottle, some extra clothes and maybe some snacks. But it had to be small enough so we can pack it without loosing any precious room in our big backpacks.

Fortunately, this year, Sea To Summit came out with a the Ultra-Sil Day Pack Ultralight. This seems like the perfect solution for us. It's so tiny and so light, it's absolutely perfect. Hopefully it will also be comfortable to wear around town... we will see ;-) For now, we are happy :-)


To see more pictures, check out this page.

A special date and new disappointments

Today's date:

01022010  =)

Nothing special happened today. Although, we almost booked a hostel in Hong Kong. The Hop Inn. Great location, great rooms, great reviews...until I wanted to pay... took out the credit card...and right then, somebody booked the last room.
Oh well. It wasn't meant to be. It's not the first disappointment, and it will surely not be the last one.

And the trip hasn't even started yet ... =)

Internationaler Führerausweis

Für Australien wird ein Internationaler Führerausweis empfohlen. Das ist lediglich ein kleines Büchlein im A6-Format, aus billigem Papier. Das Foto wird dabei nur mit zwei Bostichs festgemacht.
Gültig ist er für 3 Jahre, aber nur zusammen mit dem normalen Führerausweis. 

Preis in Luxembourg: 8 Euros (ungefähr 12 Franken)

Preis in der Schweiz....Ach wenn man das so einfach zusammenfassen könnte. Einmal mehr erhebt da jeder Kanton unterschiedliche Gebühren.

Kanton Zürich: 15 Franken
Kanton Aargau: 25 Franken
Kanton St. Gallen: 30 Franken
Kanton Schaffhausen/Thurgau/Basel: 40 Franken

... die Liste ist wohl hier noch beliebig zu verlängern... bevor dann hier am Schluss ein Kanton seine Bewohner richtig ausnimmt...

Kanton Luzern: 50 Franken !!!

Und da ich leider noch immer im Kanton Luzern wohnhaft bin...hab ich wohl einfach Pech gehabt :-(

vietnam...here we come :-)

I'm seriously impressed that it only took them 1 day to issue my single entry one month visa!!!

Let's hope the vietnamese embassy in belgium works as efficiently ;-)


















UPDATE:
The belgians tried...but of course...they couldn't keep up with the swiss. It took them a little over a week. But at least they got it done within the two weeks that they promised.

The important thing is...we both are now ready for vietnam!!! yay :-D

frozen katzensee

unfortunately it was not cold enough to ice skate on it :-(

Katzensee 2010

our little companions

they really ARE the same size... ;-)

i blame penny too. baaaaaaad penny !

No. 8

Dwayne Wade ... although he was beaten by Dirk ... still made No 8 in Spiegels Fotostrecke about the best NBA Players of the last decade...

amazing!!!

and what makes it even better...a surprising No 1 I did not expect :)

Google It!

World Clock - Codes to change timezones

Central Europe: "CET"
Vietnam: "GMT0700"
Australia - New South Wales: "AEDT"
Australia -  Queensland: "AEST"
Australia - Northern Territory: "ACST"
Chile: "CLST"
Peru: "GMT-0500"
Brazil: "BRST"

;-)

Pictures at Flickr

these are our only current pictures
Our Pictures with Flickr

What this is all about ...

whoaaamm ...