Christmas in Asia and the rest of Bangkok...

Christmas! Odd, non-traditional xmas in Bangkok. We got a Thai massage, which was amazing. Definitely the best massage I have ever had. We also saw Madagascar 2 at the only IMAX in Thailand. It was a huuuge screen and so much cheaper than seeing a regular movie back in the states. It was also the first time the Burgess family had seen an IMAX movie since apparently they don't have those in Australia yet? Crazy. I take for granted that I live within driving distance of like 5 IMAX screens.

The next day was the start of the real sightseeing. Early start to go to the

Bridge over the rvier Kwai and the Tiger Temple. The cemetary was so sad - all the Commonwealth soldiers and those POWs who died building the Death Railway. The museum was small, but still effective and sad. On the other side of the bridge, we ran into a sad

elephant chained to a tree for tourists to feed. It seemed like it was being kept as a pet by locals. We fed it and it seemed to be happy enough, but sadly this was my only experience with elephants in all of Asia. We just ran out of time and didn't properly plan for it to get done. Oh well, another reason for me to go back someday!

The tiger temple was really cool, though I highly doubt those tigers aren't drugged. No way they're just naturally that sleepy and calm.

The next day we went to the ancient capital of Ayuthaya.

It was interesting to see such ancient ruins mixed right in with the modern city that has grown around it. Angkor Wat was isolated and you felt like you had stepped back in time since nothing modern has encroached upon it except the people. This was very different, right next to the ruins was a modern street and school. There were so many Wats in SE Asia though, I'm kind of over it.

The last day in Bangkok was spent at the floating markets. They're organized chaos, with the rivers filled to the brim with boats of people in transit and people with goods. It was so touristy, but there were also some locals doing their personal shopping so it seemed pretty legitimate. We walked around the markets and tried some great food like spring rolls, chinese

buns, and banana fritters (all of which were made on small boats on the river). I also got a cute purse for only $3 thanks to my honed bargaining skills.

After that, Kelly and I did a lot of shopping in the local mall. So weird to see a real mall just have tables, booths, and stores, all selling obviously counterfeit goods. There are no laws here about that, I guess.

We caught our sleeper train to Koh Samui! It was a different set up than the China/Vietnam ones - no private rooms, chairs that fold out to beds, and food served to you. It wasn't the best first impression, but it ended up being really comfortable. Plus, we were right next to a really cute family w/ 3 young boys who kept things entertaining. They played hide & seek with us and kept calling someone on their phone to try to speak english with us. It was adorable! Definitely helped to pass the time on what ended up being a nearly 24 hour journey to get to Koh Samui and the best New Years Eve party of my life.

Bangkok on my Birthday

The early morning cab ride at 5:30am was made worse by the late night birthday drinking, plus we were still drunk when the ride started and then subsequently hungover for the rest of the journey. It was on the bumpiest road ever, which apparently can't get better because the airlines are preventing and slowing the development as much as possible so people have to fly between Bangkok and Siem Reap so they can make more money. Poipet border town was a dodgy hole and I'm pretty sure we paid to much for our bus to Bangkok, but whatever, we just wanted to get to BK as soon as possible. We got ot the Princess hotel where Kelly's family was staying, and letting me stay there with them, and HOLY COW IT WAS AMAZING. Rooftop pool, spa, bar, and just suck luxury! We checked in them went bowling to celebrate my 22nd birthday. So much fun! We tried to stay up until Kelly's family came in, but between the late night and horrible journey, I passed out too early.

The next day, Kelly's family came and we were all pretty exhausted so we just saw the Grand Palace.

It was amazing and so impressively beautiful. It's incredible how well-maintained they were after so many centuries. They were so different from everything else in Asia, a nice change of pace after all the Chinese temples we'd seen in China, HK, and even Vietnam.

The walls were so ornate, covered in gold, and never the same as another. Kelly's parents weren't hip to dangers of Asia and trying to get ripped off around every corner. It's a good thing Kelly and I had already gone through the trenches (aka Vietnam) so we were more prepared.

Cambodia: Siem Reap

The bus ride was looong but filled with Cambodian movies - pretty interesting mythology based fables. The other 3 tourists on the buss were all American s who were teaching English in Aisa for a few years. They loved it and said they were having the time of their lives exploring Asia and teaching children. Siem Reap is seriously just a town built because of its proximity to Angkor Wat. The city was such a contrast - poor huts on stilts on the river and the resorts for the tourists right next to them. The only thing to do there is Angkor Wat, so we went for the sunset from the ruins. It was beautiful but covered in tourists. They charge $20/day for tourists and have it free for Cambodians, which I think is fair and what they should do, but many locals use this free admission to sell their wares just outside the temples. Kind of annoying to have to deal with people pestering you to buy crap I don't need when I'm just trying to look at the temples. But seeing how tourism is their main source of income, it's necessary.

We woke up early the next day for a day full of temples. Beautiful ancient ruins, so old that massive trees have overtaken them at points. While the temples were beautiful, it was trying to navigate through all the vendors. At one of the temples, a couple kids came over and bombarded us with facts about the US and Australia and gave us bracelets. When we refused to buy anything, they cursed Kelly with "I give you bad luck forever!" After countless temples, we crashed and then go dinner and buckets to celebrate my birthday! Mexican food, 1 bucket of margarita, 2 buckets of Angkor Sunset (and a free shirt!), 2 tequila shots (free birthday shots!), and a cocktail and then it was midnight. The bar played the bi

rthday

song for me and then we had to peace out to get sleep for our long journey the next day. Over all, a great birthday night! And a great time in Cambodia. A beautiful country with such a sad story.

Cambodia: Phnom Penh and the journey there

7 hours on a bus to Phenom Penh - nothing exciting to report on that, just glad to have made it in one piece peacefully after the stories I heard. PP was a lot nicer than I was expecting - clean, put together, and just a cute little town. We only had that day to see the town so we hired a tuk tuk for the day to see S-21 Tou Seng Prison and the Killing Fields. What a depressing day. I had no real knowledge of Cambodia's history before; its just not taught in school like European and US history is. The Poi Pot regime is so recent, so fresh in hisotry too. The museum had so many photos and personal stories of events that happened just 30 years ago. Even outside the museum, there were many people begging for money and it was obvious they were landmine victims or somthing equally as tragic. Then we rushed out to see the Killing Fields. I just can't phatom the horror of the prison and the fields. What those people experiend, its just horrifying to think about. The fields closed and we headed back to town just as the sun was setting. Such a beautiful sight!

Cambodia architecture was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. So different from Vietnam! The people are also so different: so much darker and shorter than the Vietnamese. It was such a striking difference as soon as we crossed the border.

That night in the Phnom Penh may just have been my favorite night of the whole semester. Definitely of SE Asia so far. Had a delicious Indian dinner then went in search of a happy hour. A group of guys invited us to join them for a free drink, so how could we refuse? Tehre's no way to transfer the greatness of that conversation to the page, but it was a great night with a Kiwi, Australian, and a few Americans just shooting the breeze and celebrating the Kiwi's upcoming child. The Kiwi, Stanley, is 60 years old, been in Cambodia since 1988, married to a 28 year old local woman, and just found out his wife is pregnant with their 3rd child. Phil is 40 something and had been living in Cambodia for 4 years. Th was traveling around SE Asia and just never went back to TX. Joseph had been working in Japan for 2 years and is travelling around before going home for the first time in 2 years. All of them had interesting stories to tell. We ended the night all too soon and it was time to move on to Siem Riap.

Vietnam! Ho Chi Minh/Saigon City Redux

Kelly hadn't seen the city so ther was a bit of a repeat in sights, but getting around on our proved a challenge. We decided to dip our toes in slowly by hiring a cylo instead of a motorbike. It was a great ride - slow but in the thick of the action. Allowed us to see the city rather than just zip through it. But, this being Vietnam, it wasn't going to be easy. We just wanted to go to the Cathedral, but we got taken to a pegoda first, then the Cathedral. And because of this detour we didn't ask for, it was more than triple the original agreed upon price. Well, argument ensued but in the end we got a good deal. then getting from the zoo (which wasn't as bad as China's, but still not that good) we hired motorbikes. Such an exhilarating ride! To drive in this environment takes such awareness and just TRUST in the other drivers.

We stopped at the night market to pick up a souvenir shirt & keychain. We ate at Pho 2000, which is where Bill Clinton ate way back when, and stopped at frozen yogurt, which was so out of place but I'm not complaining!

And now, bus to Phnom Penh! Bring on Cambodia!

Vietnam! Cao Dai Temple & Cu Chi Tunnels

After Checking out the bar scene, we decided to call it a night so we'd be awake for our Cu Chi Tunnels tour. The first half of the day was spent at the main Cao Dai Temple. It's a new, purely Vietnamese religion blending Buddhism, Hinduism, Confusionism, and even bits of Western religions. The temple was beautiful - so different to ancient temples that had started to all blend together after spending so much time in Asia. While those are dark, small, andcovered with Buddhas/figures with incese, this was so bright, airy, and new. The worshippers have to wear white and the monks wear colorful robes - which made for great contrast, and overall look of the service.

Next stop was the Cu Chi Tunnels. It's hundreds of miles of underground tunnels that stretch from the Cambodian border to Saigon and further. The intro video was another example of biased hate against the US with such sounds bites like "The American devils" and "hunting the American animals". Oh well, again this video was made too soon after the war. We got to go down into the tunnels, which were small and claustrophobic , and this is even after they've been widened for tourists! Also at the tunnels, they have old weapons (M16, AK47, machine guns) that you can shoot for about $1/bullet. This was the main attraction for me, because where else can I shoot an AK47 for $10/round?! I fired my round, nearly going deaf in the process since they don't have proper headphones, and just missed the prize by 1 bullet. If you hit the target 3 times you get a prize, but my skills are not that good. Yet.

That night Brad had an overnight layover on his way back to HK. We met up and enjoyed the bar scene until he ahd to head to the airport at 4am. The downside of most of the guesthouses in HCM is that they lock up at 11:30 so to get back in afterwards you have to ring the bell and wake up the owner so he'll unlock it. I felt bad disturbing him so late, but it had to be done.

Vietnam! Ho Chi Minh/Saigon City

Vietnam isn't very single-traveller friendly since there are no dorm hostels. Plus, everything you do, you have to watch for the scam, the exorbitant amount they want you to pay just because they think you don't know better. The simplist taskes become ordeals (like laundry and buying band aids). But, despite all this hassle, I love Vietnam. And as long as you're aware and stand firm, you can get through it unscathed. This same advice goes for crossing the motorbike flooded streets.

Day 1: City Tour

Since I was alone this day, and hadn't met anyone since there are no traditional hostels, I went ona US$10 tour of the city. Tours always to to get you to buy stuff but I do enjoy them because I usually get more information about what I'm seeing and therefore appreciate it more.

The tour group was on the whole older than me - a few retired couples, and then the rest were 30 somethings on xmas vacay. Made it a bit hard to relate, but the tour was really nice. It made seeing the city really convenient.

Saw City Hall, the Post Office, and Notre Dame - where they're so french that you forget for a second that you're in Asia. The Reunification Palace was pretty, but nothing really spectacular. We went to a huge market, where it was piles and piles of goods as far as the eye could see. The most memorable sight of the day was the War Remnants Museum. It was depressing and disgusting to see. The Vietnam War was the first to make it into American living rooms thanks to the media, but I'm pretty sure these images never made it to the US news. The most distubing was the section on Agent Orange and other chemical weapons. Graphic photos of the resulting disabled children and deformed fetuses on display were hard to take. Before and after photos of entire regions that were beautiful and lush turned into barren wasteland unable to grown anything for years. Gruesome and chilling, but the museum was also so biased and was basically propaganda against the US that it made me angry. I have family who was in this war and not all soldiers were monsters or responsible for the blanket bombings. Its understand that its so biased though - built in 1975 right after the war, it was too fresh to be built objectively. At least they changed the name since then, it used to be called "The War Crimes of American Imperialism and its Puppet Government of South Vietnam." So it seems like their taking baby steps in the right direction towards being objective.

Vietnam! Ho Chi Minh!

Overall thoughts on Maylasia: interesting mix of Malay, Indian, and Chinese. You could see it by just looking at the streets - different foods, different languages (on signs and spoken) and different architecture. It was so easy to get around and so simple - no fear of being ripped off as I do here in Vietnam.

I loved Vietnam when we were in the north, but it REALLY helped that people had been there to pave the way and make the mistakes that we learned from. I've been here 3 hours and I've had to be on my toes the entire time. From getting to the airport to the right area, looking into deals to get us to Cambodia, and even just to eat. It makes me really glad that I went to Malaysia for those 5 days instead of coming to Vietnam early. I'm sure that would have been fun, but just a lot more difficult.

Of all the jungles, in all the world, you had to walk into mine...

One of the main reasons I decided to spend a week in Malaysia was to do a Jungle Trek through Taman Negara, the National Rainforest.

Bright and early, we catch a bus to Kuala Tembeling. 4 hours on the bus, then 3 hours on a boat down the river, and I'm finally in Kuala Tahan, the main entry port of the Rainforest. Because travelling there took so long, there wasn't much time for Rainforest activities. We just had time for dinner and then a brief Night Jungle Trek. Watched a 15 minute film introducing us to the beauty of the rainforest and the many creatures that live there. Then set out with our flashlights and tried to find sleeping animals and various other things. Saw sleeping pheasants, mating stick bugs (they can mate for up to 2 weeks! nonstop!), and bioflorescent mushrooms.

The next day was the big day of activities. Canopy Walk - 45 meters above the ground and the only thing keeping you up is a plank of wood and lots of rope. Awesome, but nervewracking. After that we trekked to the nearest peak. Such hard work in the heat and humidity and then it started pouring buckets of rain, making the trail muddy and slick. By the time we reached the top, I was drenched and about ready to pass out. Thank goodness the trek back was all down hill. The peak provided a good view, but because of the rain a lot of it was covered in mist. Oh well, still great! We reach the bottom for lunch and then we were off again, this time for Rapids Shooting!

Rapids Shooting is like White Water Rafting, but instead of a raft we were in a long, thin motorized boat. We all got drenched and it was so refreshing! At the halfway point we got out to visit the Bahat Nomadic Tribe. They are the only people allowed to live and hunt in the national rainforest and it's never guaranteed they'll be available to visit because they move so often. This was the first village that I've visited that didn't try to sell me stuff and didn't feel kind of manufactured. The villagers didn't speak any English, but our tour guide spoke their language, so he translated. They showed us how they start a fire, make their blow darts for hunting, and I even got to shoot a blow dart! They set up a mini target and a few of us in the group got to try! So after the demonstrations, we got to walk around the village for a bit. Just as we were starting to dry off from the rapids, it starts pouring buckets again and I slip in the mud to boot. I'm soaking wet, covered in mud, and then we realize that in order to get back, we go through the rapids again! SO MUCH FUN. That night, a cold shower never felt so good.

That night at dinner, who do I run into but Jonas and Stephanie from CUHK! What are chances! So we catch up a bit, but then I'm off to a Night Jungle Safari. Road in the back of a heavy duty pick up truck type vehicle through the jungle and see some wild boar, sleeping birds, owls, and even a small jungle cat!

The next day we travel back to KL. That night, went around Times Square, the Petronas Towers, and go to my first Fish Foot Spa. It's where you put your feet in this pond where there are toothless flesh eating fish and they eat all of the calluses and dead skin off your feet. It tickled so much and was so weird. But definitely worth the US$1.25! My feet are soooo smooth right now. Maybe I'll do it again towards the end of my trip when I'll need it most.

Today I visited the Batu Caves, where there's a huge gold figure of a Hindu God and inside the caves are many smaller ones. It was pretty cool, but if you're ever in KL and short on time, you could skip it.

And now I'm off to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Haven't booked a hostel yet, so we'll see how this goes.

I hope you guys all survived finals and are having a great holiday season so far!

This isn't "goodbye" this is "I'll see you around"

Alright guys, I'm so behind that I'm just going to skip over the awesomeness of Vietnam and the frustration of Beijing to the most recent travels. I'll come back to those locales at some point, probably not til I'm back home though. I'll never catch up otherwise.

So my last week in Hong Kong was so much fun, so stressful, and so sad. I made a lot of great friends in the past 4 months, and it's hard to say goodbye knowing that it's very likely I'll never see them again. Sad to say goodbye, but it did lead to a lot of "last" nights out on the town. The best was Last Ladies Night where Kelly and I ended up taking the first morning train back to campus. I saw the sunrise as I was walking back to my room. My official last night in HK was great - typical canteen dinner, cheap drinks at the campus bar, and then off to Causeway Bay and 7-11 drinks on the harbor as we waxed philosophic on anything and everything. However, that means I didn't get back to my room until 5:30am. Did I mention I needed to get up at 7am to catch my flight to Malaysia? Well, I woek up at 9:15 and had to do a mad dash to the airport! Ended u making the final call thanks to a lot of luck and a very skillful cab driver. Never doing that again. Well, I say that now....

So on my flight I ended up talking the whole 3 hours to this guy and his family that I was sitting next to. We exchanged cultural knowledge and he answered a lot of my questions about Malaysia. Made for a pleasant and knowledgable flight.

Exploring Kuala Lumpur was fun but not really anything new. Made friends with a couple of the girls in my hostel and have pretty much spent all of my time here with them. Visited the Pavillion (a shopping center), the Lake Gardens (Orchid & Hibiscus Gardens and National Mosque), Little India (yummmmm), Chinatown (markets markets markets), and the Petronas Towers and the KL Communication Tower. It's interesting to see an area where every building is so different - moorish, chinese, and western architecture stand side by side. You see women walking in shorts and a tank top on the same block as women in burkas and saris.

The Difference is Staggering

Originally, I wasn’t going to go to China at all this trip. Logically, I don’t think I should have. HK$1020 for the Visa plus all the travel expenses…my wallet didn’t want to me to go. But Kelly, Zarina, and Cinja were going to Guilin for the weekend and most of my close friends here would be away over the weekend elsewhere, leaving me with nothing to do. So last minute decision, I went to China. And I’m so glad I did. While Taiwan and the Philippines were amazing fun, I don’t feel like they’ll be the stories I’ll be telling my kids. They were essentially partying in a different country, with traces of culture on the fringe. But China was an entirely new experience.

As soon as you cross the border into China, it’s a whole different world. If you’ve crossed into Mexico to Tijuana, it’s kind of like that. Except there really is no English and the shopping is better. Didn’t spend much time in Shenzhen (the border city) except to grab some food at McDonald’s before our overnight train. Even McDonald’s was different! You sit down and they take your order, there are more spicy food options since it’s close to Sichuan (I guess?) and the chocolate was different. The sleeper train was long, but not too shabby. Arrived in Guilin at 6am and immediately headed out hostel and out sightseeing.

We walked all through Guilin and it was nothing like I expected. I had heard it was a “small rural town” but in actuality it was a large city. Stopped at Elephant Hill, where we pretty much paid to see a rock with a hole it in and a bunch of elephant statues. You’d think that they had real life elephants there at one point, but it’s all manufactured to bring in tourists and their money for anything. Walked to nearby twin pagodas and opted to not pay to get in but walk along the riverside and soak it in. We came across a market on our way to our next stop and it was quite the experience. Fruit and spices covering every inch of table space, chilies upon chilies, and then came the meat section. Cages filled to the brim of ducks, chickens, quails, and pigeons, tables of pig legs, baskets so full of fish they could barely move. The smell became too much and I had to find refuge among the tea and spices area. Definitely an experience. We continued our walking tour of the city and stopped in at Solid Beauty Peak (an old walled city), Seven Star Park (caves that weren’t there, waterfalls that had dried up, and the saddest zoo I’ve ever seen), and more markets.

Somewhere in the day we tried to get lunch. This was the hardest part of our day as everywhere that had a menu with pictures was out of our price range, and everything that was in our price range had no English, no pictures, and no one to translate anything we said. Luckily, we had just learned some food vocabulary in mandarin that week! After ordering what we hoped was rice, beef, and vegetables, we waited at a small table inside the dingy little room that was an “eatery”. Our food comes and what do you know it’s delicious! And then the bill comes it’s Y6 (a little under US$1) each! Excellent start to our dining experience in China. The whole weekend was filled with amazing dishes, delicious meals, and dirt cheap prices. And here I was worried I’d be living off snack food like Pringles and Oreos the whole time.

That night we checked out Guilin’s night market. They close off half of the main street every night so hundreds of stalls can set up and sell their wares. We all ended up buying a good amount of stuff – I got a “Diesel” purse, a “Boss” wallet, and a belt for under US$12! After this we were pretty exhausted and decided we’d need as much sleep as possible before our 8am pick up for the boat to Yangshou.

Bright and early we’re off. Of course, before we get to our boat we make a pit stop at a souvenir shop, always trying to get your money. Talked with the only other English speakers on our bus and heard some cool stories about their travels in India. Traveling around for 6 months…not sure if I could handle it but it does sound pretty cool. When we finally got on our boat we had a bit of drama with seating and food, but it all worked out in the end. Talked with a Chinese man who had studied/worked in Canada and he helped us communicate with a few of the other locals. I’m sure he was just being nice, but he was impressed with our Chinese! The trip down the river was beautiful and impressive. It’s amazing what nature’s capable of, if we don’t destroy it.

A few hours down the river and we arrived in Yangshou, which is a cute little town, even if it is VERY touristy. We rented a taxi for an hour and drove around to see Moon Hill (another hole in a rock), rice paddies, and a bridge with an awesome view of the mountains and river. Didn’t really see much else of Yangshou because of the rain, though. Saw another night market, where I bought a nice handheld mirror, and then went off to see the Great Light Show. It was choreographed by the same guy who choreographed the opening ceremonies and it was amazing to see 600 people singing and putting on this show together. The show was outside and it started raining pretty badly, but I’m glad we stayed all the way through. It was definitely worth it!

The next day we had another early morning to catch a bus to take us to the Longji Rice Terraces. We stopped in at a couple villages along the way. The Yao Village is the Village of the Long Haired people. The women stop cutting their hair at 18 years old, and wear it a certain way to display their family status. They had a show where they let down their hair, but we weren’t about to waste the money on that. Instead, we explored the villages and got invited in by a local man to see his own home. While it looked sparse and rustic, it had hints of the modern day. They still smoke their vegetables by keeping them in the room above their fire, but they also had really nice Bose speakers and a satellite dish. I wasn’t expecting that. The last stop was the rice terraces and they were really impressive. We get off the bus and walk up to a café about half way up to grab lunch. The rain had followed us here so we were all worried we wouldn’t see anything in the mist. We finish lunch and decide to suck it up and trek to the top anyway just in case you can see something. As we walk the rain starts to let up, the further we climb the more the mist clears. We reached the top and it was just amazing. Rice terraces on every bit of ground available. The rain had brought with it clouds to frame our view. We stood up there soaking it in and taking photos for a while, and then just as we start to head back down the mist rolled in and swallowed everything in white. Lucky timing!

We head back on the bus and soon are back in Guilin, then back to Shenzhen. Zarina and I decided to stay around and shop, since this would be my only chance to do so because of my crappy double entry visa. Ended up spending way too much money on some things I don’t really need. Best purchase was definitely the 16gb flash drive I bought for US$10! Shopping there is hard work because they try to rip you off any way they can. Then headed back to CUHK for a long week ahead of studying and paper-writing before I could escape again, this time to Vietnam.

I’m really glad I decided to go to China. I doubt I will come back here any time soon, especially not to places like Guilin which are pretty unknown. Great trip - a fun weekend, a cultural experience, and some goodies to show for it. I’m looking forward to my next visit into China – Beijing!

Photos: Elephant Hill, chickens at the market, view of the river from a bridge in Yangshou, Cinja with one of the long-haired women, and the view of the rice terraces from the top.

Upcoming posts: Vietnam! Off to Beijing tomorrow, too!

A Weekend in Paradise

If anyone ever gets the chance to go to the Philippines, I highly recommend it. A weekend filled with the most beautiful beach, the cheapest drinks, and the biggest meals.

Thursday night, after classes, we all headed to the airport with a long night ahead of us. The flight was fairly short (2 hours), but uncomfortable since we were in “Fiesta Class” aka Economy and at the back of the plane right by the toilets. This flight I requested the Muslim Meal – best decision ever! I got delicious chicken breast and rice, while the others got some shady fish or pork. I’m definitely requesting the Muslim Meal on every Asian flight from now on.

So we land in Manila around midnight and apparently the Manila airport closes at midnight. We had to sit on some wooden benches outside where it was pretty hot, though comfortable when compared to how hot Hong Kong has been. Manila is notorious for its cab ride extortion. You get in a cab and agree on a price with the cab driver, or agree to go by the meter price, but once you get to an area that isn’t very safe they threaten to drop you off there unless you pay them at least double the price. This happened to every group of exchange students who went before us, so we were apprehensive about how we’d get from the international airport to the domestic airport for our next flight. Luckily, we befriended the airport security guards so they let us know when the next shuttle bus was leaving for our terminal. It was so easy! We get to the other airport, which is open so we can sleep inside, however this was the coldest building I think I’ve ever been inside of in my entire life – colder than the Ice Bar even! After trying and failing to sleep for 3 hours, we finally get on the smallest plane I’ve ever seen. A short hour flight and we’re cruising in for landing on Caticlan. Tuk tuk from the airport to a ferry and then we’re finally on Boracay. Tuk tuk from the ferry to our hostel and then a walk to the shore and we’re in paradise. The 15 hour journey from CUHK to White Sand Beach, Boracay was totally validated upon looking out at this beach. This was the most beautiful mile stretch I have ever seen - the calm clear sea, the whitest sand, and barely a cloud in the sky.

The weekend was filled with relaxation, tanning, and swimming in the cleanest ocean water I’ve ever encountered. So while it was fun, there isn’t much to say about the beach itself. I tried scuba diving and failed. The training lasted an hour and by the end of it I was too nauseous to continue on to the deep sea dive. The food was varied, delicious, and cheap. A meal would consist of a fruit smoothie, a large entrée (Mexican, Burger, Thai, anything) and dessert/drinks and it would all be less than US$8. The nights we went out we went to Cocomango’s – a club where you had to walk down the coast and through high tide to get to.

On our last night there, we decided it’d be best to go out for a drink and head back at 1am by the latest. Of course, this didn’t happen. One drink turned into three. Then Rachel and Leanne ran into a group of guys they had befriended earlier in the week. They were there for a week long bachelor party. Flaming Sambuca, Tequila Shots, and another trip to Cocomanga’s with their jam jars later and we didn’t end up leaving the club til around 3am. A walk down the beach and a quick swim to cool down and we didn’t end up sleeping til 4am. Did I mention we needed to leave for our flight at 5:30am? Yeah, that was not pleasant. Zarina ended up missing her flight and had to catch the next one. Which meant we had to wait in the FREEZING airport for an extra hour. But once we were all in the same city, we explored Manila. And there wasn’t much to see. Stumbled upon an Aussie Bar & Grill to have lunch in and then it started raining. We were glad to take this opportunity to go back to our hotel and nap and recover from the night before. The return trip home occurred without incident and we arrived back in Hong Kong with enough time to study and prepare for classes on Wednesday.

photos: the beautiful beach that I can't believe I was lucky enough to be on for a few days.

Upcoming blogs: since i'm so behind, i might just skip to my weekend in Guilin, China and ignore the day trips around HK for now, since they're not as culturally interesting.

2 weeks of classes and I’m already visiting another country

So we had a long weekend thanks to the Mid-Autumn Festival. Kelly, Cinja, Logan, Iga, Mark, and I decided to take advantage of this long weekend and go to Taiwan. Mid-Autumn festival is sort of like the Chinese Thanksgiving. It’s a time for families to come together, eat moon cakes, and reflect about their ancestors.

So Thursday, instead of going to class, we all hopped on a flight to Taiwan. The HK airport is the best airport I’ve ever been in. So much to do and everything’s so efficient. The flight was alright, over before I even got bored. We land in Taiwan and it’s sweltering heat just as back in Hong Kong but the air just felt different. Little did we know that was because a typhoon was coming.

We didn’t have much time that first day since we didn’t get settled until early evening, so we decided to just check out a night market and a bar. We thought about Karaoke, but the only ones we found were all you can eat buffet dinners and the karaoke room for 4 hours at time. We would have had to go while famished in order to get our money’s worth. So we just wandered the night market and looked around for a bar to hang out in and relax. Turns out the area we were in was a special school zone so there were no bars and no drinking outside allowed. We were told this right as Logan was drinking a Tall Boy, so he had to chug it right then. We eventually got out of the special district and found a nice “Irish” Pub. It had a dart board and fairly cheap drinks, so a good time was had by all.

Woke up early the next day to get a head start on fitting everything in before the typhoon came. Went to the Chaing Kai Shek Memorial Hall and it was deserted (like almost everything we saw that day), Martyr’s Shrine for the changing of the guard, National Palace Museum, and Taipei 101 for the view.

Chaing Kai Shek Memorial was a wide open courtyard with gardens and a couple large structures – one housing the large memorial statue and the below ground museum. His statue was so happy, not the typical stoic pose that I’ve seen in memorials before. Below the main hall is a museum that houses his old belongings of note - anything from his old Cadalliac cars to his porch seat. His body used to be housed here too, but earlier this year his body was moved to an older town. I think it was moved since the Taiwan feelings towards Chaing Kai Shek have soured a bit since he held power.

Then we headed to the Martyr’s Shrine, and luckily caught the changing of the guard. It was my group of CUHK exchange kids (US, Canada, Australia, Germany) and everyone else there was Japanese. The Martyr’s Shrine was built for all the men who died while fighting for the Republic of China, either against the PRC or against the Japanese invasion that occurred later. For every fallen soldier there is a plaque of wood on the wall. There are at least 2 structures where every inch of wall space was taken up by these plaques. The guards are not to move and guard both the main gate and the gate of the largest building within the field. The changing of the guard ceremony itself took almost 20 minutes. After the main guards were changed, in their walk back to the largest building, they did an impressive gun/drill demonstration. It was really neat, especially since we could be right up next to them. Then they changed the back guards and they did a gun/drill show again! As soon as the changing of the guards ended, all the Japanese tourists headed on to their buses and there were seriously less than 10 people there. It was nice to go to a tourist place and have it be deserted.

We went to the National Palace Museum as the last day trip stop. We had 2 hours from when we got there to when we it was closing, so we had to be really efficient. We ran through there – lots of Chinese porcelain and intricate jade and ivory work. Last stop of the day was Taipei 101 and while it was still a bit rainy, we had an amazing view of the city. Taipei 101 may not be the tallest building in the world anymore, but it still has the fastest elevator in the world! To go up 90 flights took less than 45 seconds!

The rest of the trip wasn’t as eventful as this first day, thanks to the typhoon. A lot of hanging out in the hostel and watching movies and Asian television. At night we would brave out into the weather and spend some time in the bars. A lot of places were either closed or deserted, but we found one that we liked and went to the few nights we were there. The best night was Saturday. Walked there during a lull in the storm to grab dinner and drinks. After eating, we decide we’ll just hang out and drink until another lull so we can walk back. More than 5 hours and NT$10,000 later, we cave and grab a cab back to the hostel. That night was just epic on so many levels.

The typhoon passed in time for us to check out the hot springs on our last day, which was very relaxing and totally worth the US$1.25.

Photos: Guy at a night market burning a candle in his ear, the group (minus me) in front of Chaing Kai Shek Memorial, the changing of the guard, Me in front of the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101. More are on facebook, of course.

Upcoming blog posts: Day trips to Big Buddha, Disneyland, Victoria Peak, and Causeway Bay. I’m also leaving for the Philippines on Thursday, so hopefully I don’t get rained out there too and have some good stories to tell.

One Night in Macau

Delayed post, but this week or so has been hectic with getting classes settled and traveling.

Macau…what an interesting experience. Getting there was a chore with our huge group of about 20. A lot of the morning was spent waiting around for others to come. Waiting at the train, waiting at the MTR, waiting at the Ferry stop, waiting…waiting…waiting. I pretty much spent 10am until 1pm (when we got on the ferry) standing around waiting. I don’t think I’ll be traveling with such a large group again, or at least for a while.

So finally we arrive in Macau! Only a 40 minute ferry ride (which cost about US$20) and I’m in another country. New stamp on my passport! The first sight of Macau was just a long bridge connecting the island to the mainland (one of the longest bridges in the world) and large casinos. We reach land, walk around, and it is a hodgepodge of old Portuguese architecture and then the fake casinos and attractions similar to that in Vegas.

A walk through Fisherman’s Wharf found a beautiful koi pond, a temple type building that was actually a casino, a military themed kiddie park, and Portuguese style buildings. The street performers perfectly exemplified the mixture: one group had a mime, 2 flamingo dancers, 2 belly dancers, and a mariachi band.

We walked along the coast and found a statue, but I couldn’t find out the cultural significance because the museum attached was closed on Fridays. Walked by the Wynn, which looked just like Vegas. The only casino that really looked like something new was the Casino Lisboa, which is the oldest casino in Macau. It has a very modest front building, but from the side you can see the Grand Lisboa which is a massive egg-like structure covered in gold sheath in the day and lights up entirely at night. It was the most impressive casino I think I’ve ever seen. Inside the limits were too high and they didn’t really have many shops or attractions so we didn’t see much.

We met up with the whole group at the Ruins of St. Paul. It was once the biggest church in all of Asia but burned down so now all that remains is the front façade and the stone steps leading up to it. It was really neat to see this touch of Europe in a small Asian country.

We found a small hotel room for the night, 6 people to 3 twin beds for US$10/each. Not the best of situations, but it was so worth it for the shower and bed. A quick run through the casinos for dinner and gambling yielded delicious pasta (real Italian pasta! Not just some asian interpretation of it!) and HK$300 in roulette winnings. That $300 pretty much paid for the trip. Love it!

The bars were too expensive for us in the casinos, except for ladies night with free champagne, so we ended up going to club 7-11 and playing 10 fingers in a park. I love that we can just drink in a park here. None of the Canadians, nor the Australian, had ever heard of the game. It was a really fun night where we got to know some dirt about each other.

The next day it was way too hot to do much exploring, but we did manage to find a small little Portuguese place for breakfast and then head to the Penhas Church and the A-Ma Temple. Both are huge buildings dedicated to the two dominate religions still prevalent in the nation. People here, when they win big, they share it with their religion. I saw in the donation bin $1000 Yuan bill, which is about US$150. I have never seen one person put in that much into church donation back home.

After the temple we took a bus back to the ferry terminal. Along the way we got to see more of the real Macau, not just the casinos and monuments. It looked like a fairly poor area. The strangest thing I saw was in front of some random building (could have been a museum or city building, really no clue) there were statues of 4 white people and 2 cows. There was one statue that was of a chubby guy with his ice cream cone. Why someone chose to immortalize this, I’ll never know. Maybe it’s their image of the fat American? Your guess is as good as mine.

Ferry ride back was uneventful and once we got back everyone went their separate ways. Best 2 day visit to another country that I’ve ever had. Well, maybe not as good as Mexico with the Earthquake kids in summer of ’06. But then again, this trip was practically free thanks to roulette.

Pictures: koi pond at Fischerman's Wharf, statue thing discussed earlier, portuguese architecture in the main square, Penhas church. More are on facebook, of course.

Upcoming posts: Typhoon in Taiwan, Day trips to Victoria Peak, Lantau Big Buddha and outlets, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Classes and living at CUHK A.K.A. Boring stuff.

First week of classes just wrapped up and I still don’t know my finalized class schedule. There’s been a whole lot of drama about classes here with all the exchange kids, and I’m no exception. So before coming here, USC Annenberg gave me a list of approved COMM courses for transfer. It was fairly long so it didn’t seem like there’d be any problem with taking 12 units here (which is what I need to take in order to be able to do my film minor and graduate on time). However, once we all get here, CUHK is literally only offering one of the courses on the list. So me and the other 2 USC Annenberg kids have been scrambling to submit alternatives that USC would accept. So far, I only have 6 approved units. If I can’t get one more COMM class, then I will have to drop my minor AND take 20 units in my last semester. Or stick around for a summer or fall course. This is definitely not ideal. If I can get just one more course, then I’ll be able to take 16 COMM units and just have to drop my film minor. I think that’s the best option because I don’t care too much about having the official minor or not. I took classes I enjoyed and that’s really all I need from that.

So yeah, cutting through this red tape has been shit.

Now on to the classes themselves: I’m taking International Communication, Psychology of Interpersonal Communication, and Mandarin 1. That’s 12 units here since each course is 3 units and Mandarin is two courses – one oral, one written. And man, the classes seem like a LOT of work. COMM and Psych each have 10-page research papers and 3 group presentations! In addition to the Midterms and Finals! Mandarin is all exchange kids so it seems a bit more chill, but it still has 6 quizzes and 8 dictations on top of the Oral and Written Midterms and Finals! This is going to be one crazy busy semester between all the work and all the traveling.

Also, it’s really weird how the classes seem so disrespectful. In COMM and Psych, there are only about 5 exchange kids in each and the rest is all locals. While the professor is lecturing and teaching, the kids just keep on talking at their normal voice level as if nothing is going on. Some exchange guys even told me how in one class, people were answering their phones in the middle of lecture and one guy was sitting on his desk with his back towards the professor so he could carry on a conversation with his friends better. I thought the conversation would die down after a while, once the professor got into the swing of things and they had caught up on each other’s summers, but they kept talking throughout the whole 2 hour lecture. And the professors don’t acknowledge it at all. They will just talk louder over the class roar without once asking them to quiet down. I don’t understand it.

That’s it for now. I’m off to Macau tomorrow – the Vegas of the East! – and just booked my flight ticket to Taiwan for next weekend, so this should be an exciting fortnight.

Last Weekend of Summer!

Friday night one of the student helpers organized a big group to go out to an open bar club in Wan Chai. We head out and Rachel and I are starving since we didn’t eat dinner with the rest of the group. We figure we’ll find out where the club is and then go get food and come back. However, when we get there the bouncer is being really strict about the forms of ID. All us Americans brought our state drivers license because the consulate said not to take your passport out if you don’t have to so we were all in jeopardy of not getting in. Luckily, the guy realized he’d be losing out on HK$150 each person and let us in. But I didn’t want to risk not getting in if I left for food and came back so Rachel and a group of others said they’d bring me back food if they could. Well, long story short, my dinner was smuggled in inside Joel’s pants and then once inside hidden like contraband. I’m sitting in the club, trying to hide my fries and I asked Logan if he wanted any. His response, “What is that? Drugs?!” Yeah, that’s how stealth we had to be with just some cheap fries. Well, got my dinner and then enjoyed the open bar. More CUHK kids ended up showing up later in the night so the club was about half CUHK half other people. By the end of the night we had overrun the dancing stage and it was like 20 of us just dancing our hearts out and trying to push off this creepy guy who kept dancing inappropriate with as many girls as he could. We ended up leaving the club around like 3am and since Jia speaks Cantonese we didn’t get lost this time and even got dropped off right near the dorm! Pretty nice.

The next day, CUHK organized a Hong Kong city tour. The group of us who were out at the club were kind of out of it at first, but we dragged on and eventually got a second wind. We visited Stanley Market, which had rocky beaches and lots of shopping (like most places in Hong Kong so far). Then we went to Victoria Peak, where there’s an AMAZING view of Victoria Harbor, and of course another shopping area. The last time was the Avenue of Stars. It was like a mini-Hollywood Walk of Fame. They had stars and cement hand imprints for some of Hong Kong’s (and China’s?) biggest stars. We found stars for Jet Li, Chow Yung Fat, and Jackie Chan. Bruce Lee didn’t have a star since it was built after his time, but they had a statue of him flexing every muscle in his body at the same time. The Avenue had a fantastic view of the skyline and had this huge hotel that was actually built on the water. The tour bus headed back, but a group of us wanted to stay behind to see the skyline laser light show. At 8pm music started playing on loud speakers all along the water front and a booming voice said stuff in Chinese that I didn’t understand but could only assume was talking about the show that was about to begin. The show lasted a lot longer than I was expecting. It was amazing to see an entire city’s downtown area have its lights choreographed. It reminded me of the Electric Light Orchestra Parade that Disneyland has, except on a much grander scale. The whole 5 minutes of the show, Rachel, Zarina, Leann and I just stood there and gaped in awe.

We then hopped on the Star Ferry and headed into Central to get sushi. I paid less than US$2 for my sushi dinner. CRAZY! It was the kind where the conveyer belt just has the sushi go by and you pick all the plates you want.

Classes have started so the posts will probably more spread out from now on. Hopefully I’ll have a great adventure to write about after next weekend. Tentative plans are to go to Taiwan or the Phillipines since we have Monday off. So we’ll see…

Photos: the view from my dorm window. Stephanie, Zarina, and I at the Wan Chai club (you can’t tell but we’re on the dance stage). The view from Victoria Peak. Logan, Rachel, Zarina, Leann, Etienne, and me at the Avenue of the Stars. Central HK skyline just before the light show. And of course, more photos are on facebook.

I like the nightlife. I like to boogie.

So yesterday marked the beginning of orientation. The day was filled with such boring, tedious lectures and errands that a group of us were dying to get out and see the city that night. So after a lot of telephone tag, knocking on doors, and what not we got a group of about 10 girls together. The guys had already headed down to Central to grab dinner and drinks before the club. After a 40 minute train and MTR ride into the city, we step out in Central Hong Kong and it is…just wow. So many signs and lights and people, even at 11pm there were so many people out. We walk up this hill filled with designer shops and then we’re in Lan Kwai Fong. It’s the bar district with so many bars and clubs and they were all filled as we passed by. We go into this Hotel called HotelLIKE or something like that and it is so swanky and modern. We go into the elevator and go up to the 30th floor and when we step out we’re accosted by just how gorgeous the city skyline is. The guys are still eating and drinking so we all order drinks. And while they weren’t that much cheaper than in the states, this was the best Sex on the Beach that I’ve ever had. One girl got a French Martini and I could drink those like water they’re so delicious.

The guys called ahead to the club and booked a table. We got there and actually ran into a few more CUHK kids, so our group is nearing 20 at this point. Our table is right by the bar and the place is PACKED. It’s predominantly westerners – lots of English and Australian accents could be heard. The guys bought a HUGE bottle of champagne and it comes out with a firework attached. The guys also bought like 2 or 3 bottles of vodka with cranberry and orange juices for mixing. I don’t know about the other people there, but I am definitely not used to this kind of lifestyle at clubs. Whenever I do go to clubs, I just go and dance and maybe get one drink because I’m cheap like that. These kids, they live it up! The club played a great mix of the stuff we hear back home and then some trance and techno. We ended up staying until about 3am. The taxi back got lost and didn’t understand much English but eventually we did get to campus. Although, he dropped us off at the very edge so we had to walk and try and find our way in the dark through the wilderness. Quite an adventure! Ended up getting back to the room at 4am and then talking to a few people back home since it was the middle of the afternoon there.

Today was more of the same boring orientation stuff, but it culminated with a welcome dinner in Tsim Sha Tsui. We had the whole restaurant for the IASP CUHK program. The panoramic windows showed the entire Hong Kong Island skyline and it’s fantastic. The photos do not do it justice. I missed the nightly light show but I’m sure I’ll catch it another time. I debated going out again tonight but since I’m moving into my permanent dorm tomorrow morning I decided against it. There will be plenty of time this semester.

Ps. Uploaded photos to facebook. Highlights here: skyline from the restaurant, champagne fireworks, and a few of the beautiful ladies I went with.

First day out on the town....

I don’t really have jetlag, I think thanks to not sleeping the night before the flight, but I still woke up really early at 7:30am. Decided to just lie around in my room reading until a respectable hour and then met up with Rachel and her roommate Benil (who has an awesome British accent) to take care of registration and ID cards and what not. The campus is beautiful – so green and has a great view of the water. The only problem is that it is massive and built on a hill. Our orientation hostels are on the bottom of the hill so in order to get anywhere to eat or take care of errands, we have to climb up steep hills.

We tried to grab lunch on campus – HUGE mistake. Someone ordered a fruit salad and what they got more closely resembled potato salad. So gross. I got a ham and cheese sandwich and it was the most bland thing I’ve ever eaten, but at least it was better than that Fruit Salad.

So we took care of errands, met more people from all over the globe, and then decided we’d been in Hong Kong far too long without going shopping. So we hopped on the train to take us to Mong Kok. That….was an experience. It was hotter and way more crowded there than pretty much anywhere else I’d ever been. And this was in off peak hours! There were outdoor markets that reminded me of the Fashion District a bit, except the venders were a bit more aggressive and a lot more Asian.

Apparently, it is really common for high rise hotels to have the first few floors be a mall. And by the first few, I mean TWELVE STORIES. We went through every floor of the mall and found some interesting shops, really nice restaurants, and even an arcade! I bought some new sandals since my US$3 pair from last summer have seen their last days on the street. I bought some more essentials – towel, shampoo, toothpaste, all these things I forgot to pack. I also bought a new phone to use here and to use once I’m back in the states. It’s pretty sweet. Nokia 5000 or something. White with purple accent. I’m kind of in love with it. And, with the SIM Card minutes and everything, it only cost me US$140. All in all, I’ve spent around HK$2000 in one day. That’s about US$300. After this though, I’ll be all set up, so I shouldn’t be spending that much in one go anymore. So yeah, my number here is 95260031. I don’t know what numbers you have to punch first to call from America though…ask Izzy or google it if you want to call.

Made it back just in time to catch some night owls online. If you’re on at 12am-1am, so far its’ been a good time for me to be online too. Let’s chat!
Tonight was a tour of Sha Tin, which has a huge mall, even bigger than the 12 story one. We walked around, got some good Chinese food, and then ditched the awkward tour guide (he went back to do his laundry) and hung out at this bar called Sky Platform. Not terribly exciting at 8pm at night, but the drinks were pretty good and it gave us all a chance to get to know each other better. Yay for new friends! Exchanged digits (yay for having a phone again) and now I should head to bed. Early day tomorrow since we officially start orientation at 9:30am.

Flying into the Night...

So my last day in the good ole US of A was frantic. Running around doing errands and freaking out about stuff not getting done in time, all made worse by the lack of sleep and lack of food leading up to it. But it was worth it. The farewell bar night and party at City Park were awesome and allowed me to see most people at least once before I left. I didn’t get to fit in everything I wanted to do (like the shooting range and filming some video shorts) but the important stuff got done and I still had time for the Hellogoodbye concert and a good amount of napping. Although, I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the HGB show – he kept forgetting lyrics and just seemed too high to perform well. Oh well, they were bound to be off one time since I’ve seen them so much.

So, last meal at IHOP and some How I Met Your Mother and it was time to go to the airport. I’ve known about going to Hong Kong since February but it didn’t really hit me until KT was driving me to the airport. I’d just said goodbye to everyone I know. The next familiar face I’d see was going to be in December, or maybe not even until I came back to the USC Campus. Well, this was what I asked for. I wanted to be thrown completely from my comfort circle. No going back now and despite the sadness, I am really excited for this semester.

The flight to Canada was pretty nice. I was next to an elderly couple who were amazed about my upcoming journey. They were very chatty and seemed nice but all I wanted to do was sleep at this point. Luckily, they decided to watch a movie so I could finally get some peace. The rest of the 3 hour flight from LA to Vancouver was dream filled bliss.

I passed the time between flights with a couple guys who were on my first flight – one heading to Shanghai and the other to Beijing. It was really nice to talk to people kind of in the same situation I’m in. (And nice to prove to myself I’m not as socially awkward as I picture myself sometimes, haha)

In not so nice news, I tried to use my USC bank card to get a meal in the Vancouver airport….it was declined because I didn’t mention Canada in my travel note. So once I land, I hope I have enough cash on me to get a phone that works and then call the USC Credit Union to fix this. I exchanged US$300 for HK$2050. Man, that seems like so much money. Also, due to the card problem, the guys bought my lunch. So there’s the silver lining to that situation!

The flight to Hong Kong was looooong. 13 hours and we actually arrived early. I spent the first 3 hours of the flight asleep. Rachel, a Canadian CUHK girl on the same flight as me, tried waking me up 3 times – poking, talking, etc – and nothing worked! I finally woke up on my own and found her and Logan (another Canadian CUHK kid) at the back of the plane enjoying the free drinks on transatlantic flights. Logan had had 4 beers, 2 rum & cokes, and glass of wine already. It was then that I knew this was going to be a fun trip. The next 9 hours were spent talking about Canada and how it’s the 51st state, the stupidity of the American South, different reasons on picking CUHK, previous travel experiences, movies and television, and more. It was weird to me when they commented on my accent. They’re the ones with the “oot and aboot” accent! Interspersed with all this was some napping and some pretty terrible airplane food (they served cup of noodles with apple slices as a meal!) They’re both really nice people. They’re both in I-House though, so I’m not sure how much we’ll actually be able to see each other once the semester starts.

Ok that's it for now. This was written on the plane when I had lots of time and nothing to do. I don't think all entries will be this long. I'll update about my first day in HK once it's done...only about half way through and I'm already tiiiired.

3 Days and Counting...

So, I don't have Wacky Asian Adventure stories yet. I haven't even left the country actually. I'm just setting up the blog so it'll be good to go once I'm over there. And I figure I'll give some background on me and the program.

I'm Kristal. I spent most of my life in the San Fernando Valley - it's "The Valley" you hear referred to a lot, where "like" originated to make us always sound a bit more bimbo than we actually are. It was fun times where I spent my weekends either in a mall, movie theater, or with Girl Scouts. Then for college, I moved a whole 45 miles away to USC. From the Valley to Downtown - not a mind shattering experience. I crave that mind shattering experience. And now's my chance - a semester in Hong Kong and then a month (or so) of traveling anywhere my heart and wallet take me in SE Asia.

So why Hong Kong of all places? Most people choose England, France, maybe even Eastern Europe. Well, HK was an easy choice given my requirements - upper division Communication courses, tolerable exchange rate, and not freezing since I'd be there in winter. This limited my options and plus, my roommate Izzy talked up how wonderful HK is since she lives there. She says it's got amazing food, good weather (once the humidity dies down), and the city is always bustling with activity. Soon I'll know for myself!

The hope for this blog is that it'll be a way to keep in touch with people while I'm abroad. Also so I'll have a written record of my travels that'll last and can't easily get misplaced like a paper journal can be. So here's the kick off of the blog, let the fun begin!