Monday, February 23, 2015

Singapore Pictures











Singapore Slingin'

I knew Singapore would be quite luxurious and the port that would be the most America-like. I only had 1 ½ days there, but I loved it and know I need to come back sometime in my life.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

-We were there on the Chinese New Year (the equivalent of New Year's Day) so the majority of shops and businesses were closed

-Singapore is a "melting pot" and has an extremely diverse group of people, especially compared to the previous countries I have been to. It has 4 official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil

-They have crazy laws such as: no selling/chewing gum, no eating or drinking on public transportation, no jaywalking, and I believe you will be sentenced to death if you are caught with drugs!

-Things are very expensive here because so much is imported. I especially found this out when I ordered a mimosa with breakfast without checking the price and it turned out being $25 (sorry Mom)

 

DAY 1

I went off with Caroline and Aishwarya and took a taxi straight to the Ritz Carlton hotel. We knew our room would not be ready, but we asked them to hold our bags. The concierge tried finding us a place open for brunch and made reservations for us at a hotel about a 5 minute walk away. We went there and had an amazing meal, and THEY HAD GLUTEN FREE TOAST! This is even rare in America and they had 2 different types, so I just snarfed it all down plus the eggs, bacon, and hash browns and I was in an instant food coma. Before we got our food though, we heard loud drums coming from the lobby of the hotel. I think only on New Year's Day this occurs, but there was a cool dragon dance happening where the dragon kept chucking candy and oranges at people as it danced to the loud drums. Kids loved it and ran around trying to get the candy, and I was definitely entertained.

After breakfast, we went to a huge mall that I think was called Vivo City. We looked around and found wifi and basically hibernated from the heat. It was at least 90 degrees out and very humid and of course I forgot my sunscreen, so that was not a good combination. We decided to leave after a while and went on top of the mall which led to a park where we could see our ship and the place we heard of called Sentosa. We got monorail tickets and went over to Sentosa which was packed with people. There are so many activities to do here such as go to an aquarium, Universal Studios, go to the beach, race down a luge, indoor skydive, and more, but there were lines everywhere so we decided to find a restaurant on the beach to eat at and just hang out. We all ordered our first ever Singapore Slings (and didn't particularly like it) and I instantly ordered nachos right when I saw it on the menu since I haven't had nachos this entire trip so far and I've missed them! I also miss Chipotle. So much. Anyways…

While at this restaurant, we observed all the action happening because of the Lunar New Year. Probably 95% of the people were Indian men. As you can see in picture #5, I am not exaggerating and many of them would just lean on the railing and watch girls that would go in the water. One guy even came up a few feet away from us and took a picture in our face. Pretty similar to China there. We left and Caroline and I both got airbrush tattoos, and the worker told me there usually is not this many Indian men there and it's only for the New Year because they all get a few days off so they choose Singapore as their vacation spot. I found that rather interesting.

We went back to the hotel and showered, then Bryan and Emily showed up. The view from our hotel room was phenomenal.  From the bathroom window, you could see a giant ferris wheel right outside. From the main window, you could see a huge festival going on at the marina bay and the famous Marina Bay Sands hotel right next door. Some other people showed up to hang out and enjoy the view, then we all left to go out.

Long story short: the majority of us got separated besides Mark & I, and we were at "Fashion Club" at Clark Quay for at least 4 hours. They were celebrating the New Year and I ran into so many SAS'ers and met so many Singaporeans. Singaporeans I found are all SO friendly, but everyone I talked to did not like living in Singapore which I found very interesting.

DAY 2

We all slept in a bit and went to breakfast at McDonalds, and some of our group got KFC right after. Can you tell we're American? We wanted to go to a fish spa but none of them were open! We went back to our hotel and laid out by the pool for a bit, then Mark and I decided we'd had enough sun so we started heading back towards the ship. To get to the subway that leads to the ship, we have to pass right by/under the Marina Bay Sands hotel. We impulsively decided to buy tickets to go up to the observation deck which had an even more phenomenal view than the Ritz Carlton. Some SAS'ers booked a room at this place somehow and thus had unlimited access to the infinity pool. I wanted to get into that infinity pool so bad but I guess that will have to wait until next time. We took the subway back and wandered around the mall that our ship was docked by and then boarded the ship.

I really wish I had more time in Singapore! It's a small country that is so rich and has so much to do and I would love to go back there someday! That's 4 countries down (not counting the USA when we went to Hawaii) and 6 to go (not including England where we end). Tomorrow we arrive in Myanmar, AKA "Burma", and I don't really know what to expect. I know it is quite an untouched society and will be very different, so I am very much looking forward to tomorrow!

 

PICTURES

1-The dragon dance

2-Feeling on top of the world with an amazing view of Sentosa which is where many attractions such as Universal Studios is

3-Aishwarya, Caroline and I at Sentosa having lunch at a beach bar

4-My Singapore Sling

5-Our view from the beach bar. There were many Indian men who I discovered came there for the New Year, and these men would just stare at everyone in the water

6-Getting a tattoo on Sentosa (don't worry mom, it's only airbrush. For now)

7-The amazing view from our suite at the Ritz Carlton

8-Sweet Singaporean girls (originally from India) who I met in the bathroom at Clark Quay

9-The beautiful Marina Bay Sands hotel!

10-The famous infinity pool on top of the Marina Bay Sands (I wanted to sneak in so bad)

11-The view from the observatory on top the Marina Bay Sands

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Vietnam pictures

















Good morning Vietnam!

I had no idea what to expect from Vietnam and didn't know much about it beforehand.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS

-"Tet" is their New Year and it is the exact same time as Chinese New Year this year. There were decorations everywhere

-They accepted $USD every place I went. I also paid my taxi driver one time in Chinese Yuan and that was accepted as well!

-Getting separate checks is not common. People automatically assumed Mitchi and I were together (yes, together as in lesbian) and always put our orders together even after specifying not to

-Motorbikes EVERYWHERE. The driving in this country is the craziest I have ever seen because people fit entire families on these bikes and drive wherever they want on the road. People do not pay attention to lanes and traffic lights are "merely a suggestion"

-Elephant pants EVERYWHERE. The majority of people on this voyage got multiple pairs (I got 5!) and you see them everywhere around Vietnam (see picture of me sitting on my hostel's bed)

-It's easy to find wifi and there are many coffee shops. I saw numerous Coffee Beans

-Vietnamese food is all naturally gluten free. At least the things that I ate. Since the majority of it is made out of rice, I was in a food coma after every meal and it was delicious

 

DAY 1

We arrived quite late to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (AKA "Saigon") and didn't actually get off the ship until about 1:30ish. I buddied up with Kaity and we went off with Emily, Bryan and Esther. There was a shuttle bus from where we docked to the Notre Dame Cathedral that was more into town, so we took that. When we got off, a random man welcomed us and said he would show us around. There were many of these men standing around offering to give people tours of the city, so we told him we wanted to get dresses and suits tailored since that is one of the things Vietnam is known for and they are pretty cheap there. He got us a cab and took us to a place a few minutes away called "Nam Silk". It was a small shop filled with nice fabrics and good wifi, and we started looking up dresses that we would like to have made. You can literally google any dress you want and show them what you want, and they'll do their best to make it. Pro tip: know what dress you want before coming in the shop. I had absolutely no idea and ended up with one purple dress with black flowers that is awkwardly at my knees and I can't tell if it is more a sundress or evening dress (see Vietnam pics post). Another one is a dress that Kaity discovered and got in different colors, and I loved it so much I had to get it. For both of these dresses it cost me $85 which is not too bad!

We were at Nam Silk for a while trying to figure out what we wanted. We left and the man had been waiting outside the entire time. He told us of an amazing market called West Ben Thanh Center and so he got us a taxi and we drove a few minutes to the West Ben Thanh Center. This was an indoor market with mostly women begging you to buy their products. The thing I saw most by far were elephant pants. Now, you can get these amazingly comfortable pants for $4. I did not know this and the first lady I went to offered 2 pairs of elephant pants+1 skirt for 1,200,000 Vietnamese Dong. This equals $56.18 USD. I got it down to 1,000,000 dong which is $50, but the lady was literally begging me to buy it after I said it's too much. I found some excess Hong Kong dollars and gave her $40 plus the Hong Kong dollars which were worth $8. But never again throughout Vietnam did I let anyone rip me off.

So after staying at this overwhelming market for a while and refusing to buy anything else (besides my necessary key chain in every port), that random man got us a taxi to go back to the cathedral. When we got out, we all paid him the equivalent of $5 which in total was $25 which is a great amount for Vietnam. Of course he argued but we stuck to our price. Anyone reading this: remember to always set a price before getting in an (unmetered) taxi or before going on any type of tour around a city. After all of this, we went to Coffee Bean and sipped on iced coffee and utilized the wifi. I went to bed early that night because I had a flight at 6:30am!

DAY 2

I woke up at 2:15am. People were just getting back to the ship from going out at this time! I was ready by 3am and Mitchi and I stood outside and a guy called a taxi for us and the many other people that were on early flights. We shared a cab with 3 guys and it was only $2 per person for the 30 minute drive to the airport. I was loving how cheap Vietnam was. We arrived and saw some friends sitting outside the airport who were on earlier flights. The airport did not open until 4am which was so weird! Mitchi and I were one of the first few people in and through security and we still had 2 hours until our flight, so we hung out in the airport for a while. I bought yogurt right by our gate and gave the woman 200,000 dong for a 47,000 dong item, and she gave me 3,000 back as if I gave her 50,000. I caught her because I was 100% sure I used my 200,000 and we argued until she gave me my 153,000 back. I could not believe how even someone working at the airport tried to rip me off!

Our flight to Hanoi took 2 hours, and flying is the exact same as it is in America besides the fact that no snacks or drinks are complimentary. We arrived in Hanoi and saw a young man holding up a sign with my name on it. I arranged for a private car to come pick Mitchi and I up from the airport and bring us to the Hanoi backpacker's hostel we'd be staying at that night. It only cost $23 for an hour long drive to downtown. We drove by many rice fields, cows, and tons of small businesses and made it to downtown which had narrow streets and people walking everywhere as motorbikes maneuvered around them. We arrived at the hostel, the first one I would ever be staying at, and walked into a large room with many bench tables, a bar, a check-in desk, and many people my age. We saw a few SAS'ers, but the majority of the people were backpackers from all around the world (there were many Aussies). We ran into a few friends, including one of my roommates Aishwyra (I just found out today I have been spelling her name wrong. It's AISHWARYA), and we went off with her to explore the city since our room would not be ready for 2 hours.

We first booked a random tour that went to Ha Long Bay the next day. Many of the SAS people were going on a booze cruise to a private island that would be crazy, but Mitchi and I decided to sleep on a boat in Ha Long Bay and had no idea what to expect or who would be on it. After booking, we found an amazing place for lunch and I fell in love. Vietnamese food is so amazing and gluten free and just amazing. I got a meal called something like "bun cha" and it was meatball-like beef, rice noodles, and this amazing soup sauce to dip it in. SO good. We later checked in and got our room. We originally thought we booked a private room with 2 beds. Nope. It was a 10 person room and we had a bed on the bottom bunk that we would have to share. The worker who escorted us there thought we were lesbian and literally said "I no judge".

We showered, wandered around the city more, ate dinner at the same amazing restaurant, then came back around 6:30. Everyone was hanging out in the common area and meeting new people. I met so many people from around the world, and then one of the workers at the hostel led us to a club. It was a fun night dancing with ship friends and new friends! Random fun fact: the Vietnamese love upbeat techno-y music. I didn't get back too late but everyone in my room in the hostel was already asleep, so I never got to meet them.

DAY 3

Mitchi and I woke up around 7 after a surprisingly great night of sleep, and we got ready and waited for our tour bus that was supposed to pick us up anytime between 8-8:30. After lots of confusion trying to figure out which of the many buses driving by were ours and freaking out because the bus was 30 minutes late, a guy came in and called out Mitchi and I's names. We walked to the bus, anxious to know who our travel companions would be. The first people I saw were an older man with a long beard, an African American woman, and a young Asian boy with his dad. We saw the rest of the people when we got on and they all looked a few years older than us. Everyone was asleep for the 4 hour ride from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, and once we got there, we took a speed boat out to an old wooden boat. There were hundreds and hundreds of boats out, and the fact that these boats have bedrooms and house people on them for a day or two at a time has made the hotel industry massively decline in Ha Long Bay.

We saw some SAS'ers on different speed boats going to their own boats, but there were none in our group. We discovered we were the only Americans on our particular boat. We had people from: Indonesia, France, Finland, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada and South Korea. It was awesome! We all got our room keys and opened our door and what do we see? ONE BED. I swear everyone thought Mitchi and I were lesbian! The girls right across the hall had 2 beds and offered to switch and we took them up on that offer faster than a caffeinated road runner (my attempt at trying to be funny. But really though. We agreed right away). We ate a huge meal that even had French fries, then made it to the largest cave in Ha Long Bay. It was very cool but way too many people were in there with other tour groups. I only brought flip flops for shoes and it had recently rained so it was pretty wet and slippery. I definitely took it slow.

After the cave, we went to a dock and got into kayaks! Mitchi and I were in awe of the beauty of the place. I played music on my phone and started with "Paradise" by Coldplay and it was just such an amazing, mystical moment I will always remember. It was still quite foggy and I felt like I was dreaming or was in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. After kayaking for 45 minutes, we showered and ate dinner. The food was great and there was tons of it! I've been a bit more adventurous with food in these countries, so I decided to try some squid. I didn't care for it and the tentacles freaked Mitchi and I out, but at least I can say I've eaten squid now. We were told when we signed up for the tour that there would be karaoke, but that didn't happen. We all just sat around after dinner talking and comparing our cultures, and weren't directed to do anything so we all just went to sleep by 9pm. I slept like a baby that night, besides waking up in the middle of the night to fluttering and squeaking. THERE WAS A BAT IN THE WALL SOMEWHERE. It was terrifying and Mitchi somehow did not wake up, but I somehow fell back to sleep after it calmed down.

DAY 4

It was Valentine's Day. All we did was get off our bat-infested wooden boat, get a ride to the Hanoi airport, wait around for our flight that got delayed due to rain, and eat Hagan-Daaz (you HAVE to eat ice cream on Valentine's Day, especially if you're single). We made it back to the ship and had a great night of sleep.

DAY 5

I picked up my 2 dresses around noon. It was just Mitchi and I again today! We are definitely the best travel buddies. We wanted to head to the Mekong Delta, but by the time we had gotten the dresses, shopped a bit, and eaten, it was a bit too late to make the 2 hour drive. Most people do tours of it that leave in the morning though, and we wouldn't want to get a taxi to go all the way there. So we hung around Saigon all day, went back to the market and walked around and observed all the action because the New Year was coming up in a few days. Later that night, I went downtown with many people to the backpacker's area of Saigon on Bui Vien Street. We checked out a famous club called "Apocalypse Now" and had a great night!

DAY 6

I had my first field program on this day. It was called "IMPACT: Dieu Giac Pagoda & Orphanage". Many of my friends were on this field program and I was really excited to play with kids! We got there and instantly started interacting with the kids. I brought mustache stickers and sparkly sea life stickers, and the kids loved it and kept sticking it on my face and giggling. Many of the children were quite shy and we had to actively seek out children to interact with. A huge group of young Vietnamese middle-school aged volunteers then showed up to distribute lunch. We were supposed to do that but for some reason, this other group was there too. Those kids were all so sweet, but it was definitely hard to tell which ones were volunteers and which ones actually lived at that place. I absolutely loved these kids and even though there was a language barrier, we were able to communicate with stickers, smiles, and charades.

 

UPCOMING

I had an amazing time in Vietnam and definitely see myself going back there someday! In Hawaii, Japan, China and Vietnam, I traveled independently. I decided to travel independently because I wanted to try independent travel and these Asian countries were the safest ones that I could do that in. Now starting with our next port of Burma, it won't be as safe to travel independently so I will be traveling with trips organized by Semester at Sea. I have only had one of my course field labs for Consumer Behavior, and only one field program so far at the orphanage in Vietnam. In these upcoming countries of Burma, India, Mauritius, South Africa and Namibia, I have the rest of my field labs for my courses, and I also am traveling through a more structured program with Semester at Sea. There will be more orphanage visits, visits to townships, seeing holy ceremonies, and riding elephants, just to name a few.

Lastly, I haven't really talked about my course assignments in these countries. For my consumer behavior class, I have to pick 2 countries and go and interview retailers and consumers about gift giving. I already talked to people in Vietnam, and the next country I picked is Burma so I will be talking to people there. I also need to pick a product and find advertisements from 3 different countries and compare them. I picked watches and have found Singapore ads and will be on the lookout in 2 other countries. My International Marketing class I have to type up reports about advertisements and products and compare it to America. I have to do this for 5 countries of my choosing. Evolutionary Psychology and Social Media and Global Change I also have to make observations in each port and type up reports. It's been fun assignments that I've really enjoyed, and all of them make sure you compare each culture and see what's unique to each one.

I've become used to adapting to each new environment that I have been thrown in to, and the travel bug has hit hard. Going on Semester at Sea has got to be the best decision I have ever made and I thank everyone who has made this possible. 45 days down, 67 to go! NEXT STOP: Burma in 3 days.

 

PICTURES

1-the streets of Saigon AKA Ho Chi Minh City. Motorbikes everywhere!

2-in Hanoi in food heaven eating the amazing "bun cha" thing

3-our hostel room/bed!

4-what the boats looked like in Ha Long Bay that people slept on

5-Mitchi and I's room on the boat

6-the mysterious view of Ha Long Bay from the island that had the cave

7-Mitchi and I excited to kayak

8-Mitchi and I excited kayaking

9-all the diverse people in our tour group on our boat!

10-signs I saw in every bathroom that I found hilarious. Because some people are used to squat toilets (the holes in the ground seen in China), some people I guess would stand up on normal toilet seats and squat!

11-the awkward purple-black dress I got made

12-the dress Kaity found that I absolutely love

13-spring rolls and my first time trying pho. So scrumptious

14-one of the volunteers at the orphanage who was such a sweetie

15-an orphan girl holding a baby. Many had their heads half-shaven and I never found out why

16-a girl who liked slapping me and putting stickers on me. She was a fun one

17-the cutest girl who I kept trying to befriend but I guess I'm too scary? Haha.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

China pictures!













Gettin' down to business in China

JAPAN PICTURES DESCRIPTION (look at previous post)

1-A few minutes after we arrived in our first stop outside of America in Yokohama, Japan with Carly, Kaity, Mitchi and Aishwyra

2-Having the first of many sushi dinners with Mitchi in Tokyo

3-The fish market tuna auction at 6am

4-About to cross Shibuya crossing, the busiest crosswalk in the world (mostly at night)

5-Mitchi & I at Meiji Shrine after a long day walking through the whole Shibuya district

6-Kaity, Mitchi and I at Tokyo DisneySea with our Disney masks we bought there

7-Mitchi & I and the rest of our group in the back on our first bullet train ride from Tokyo-Kyoto

8-The beautiful Yasaka-Jinja shrine in Kyoto by our ryokan

9-Our room in the ryokan

10-Eating an amazing traditional Japanese dinner in robes with Mitchi and Aishwyra

11-At the Golden Pavilion on a rainy day with Emily, Mitchi, Aishwyra and Dani

12-The bamboo forest

13-Trying Kobe beef for the first time on my field lab for my Consumer Behavior class. IT WAS AMAZING

14-A Kobe beef cow saying "hi"

 

CHINA

I used to think Japan and China were pretty much the exact same country with the same type of culture, but reading previous SAS'ers blogs prepared me for what I would experience. China is SO different than Japan.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

-I was expecting everyone to be wearing masks due to pollution, but I rarely saw anyone wearing one! Masks were worn all around Japan though, but they wear masks for a different reason: for when they're sick

-The Chinese will spit when they feel like it. And when I say spit, I mean they really hack a loogie and SPIT. Loudly.

-People stare at you all the time and occasionally ask to take pictures with you

-China is insanely crowded and people have become accustomed to pushing and trying to cut in line

-The majority of places have all squat toilets (literally holes in the floor) and one "American" toilet.

-Facebook, snapchat, google, youtube, and Instagram are all blocked. Although I definitely got away with posting on Instagram, but it got blocked shortly after (they watch you)

-"Family Mart" is everywhere here and in Japan. It's basically the same as a 7-11

-My tour guide told me that Chinese women think pale skin is beautiful and put lots of makeup on to make their skin lighter. Funny because American's are the complete opposite!

-We were there right before Chinese New Year so everything was decorative. It's the year of the sheep or goat and there were statues everywhere, they still had Christmas lights up, and Christmas music was playing everywhere I went!

 

DAY 1

I got off the ship with Mitchi and Sydney and we didn't have any real game plan but just wanted to explore. We made our way to "The Bund" which was an area along the water that had some stuff. We found a Subway and discovered that it also had wifi, so obviously we stayed there and ate. For well over an hour. After we were satisfied, we bought tickets for 50 yuan (about $8) to go through "the bund sightseeing tunnel" which was our transport to get to the other side of the river to the area with the famous Shanghai landmark, the pearl tower. The tunnel goes under the water and has a random light and sound show that doesn't make any sense, but it was still quite cool. We got to the other side and thought about going up the pearl tower that apparently has glass floors (SCARY), but it costs money so we wandered over to a huge mall we spotted. We just hung out at the mall and had a really chill day, then headed back to the ship by 6pm. I had a quick small dinner, and then met up with my group I'd be traveling with in China. I basically gathered up a group of 7 people, some who didn't know each other, and told them about this independent travel tour company called The China Guide that I heard had good Beijing tours. It was a 2 day 2 night Beijing tour for about $280 per person and it was amazing! But we will get to that later…

We planned on going to the train station and attempting to catch the 7:30pm overnight sleeper train from Shanghai to Beijing, but after taking a while to navigate the public transport system, we would have to take the one at 9pm. We finally made our way to the station and for some reason left unknown, they didn't have a 9pm train on that specific day although they do usually every day. Our tour started the next morning at 8am (it's an 11 hour overnight-sleeper train ride to Beijing) and so I rushed to find wifi at a nearby Starbucks, and had to contact the company saying we were going to catch the next train out, the 7am bullet train that would arrive at noon. There was nothing we could do about it now, so we decided to go back to the ship and get ready to go out! We would have to wake up around 5am the next day so what's really the point of sleeping if we can sleep when on the train? So I went to the Garden Lounge onboard and many people were gathered about to head to a club called Muse, a club that seems to be in every country we've been to so far. The club was packed and poppin' and I'm glad I missed the train because everything in Beijing still worked out, but I also got to experience nightlife in Shanghai.

DAY 2

I slept for probably 2 hours that night, but on Semester at Sea, you aren't supposed to get any sleep when in port. We made our way to the train station by 7 and wanted to catch the 7:20 train, but everything was booked until the 8:25am train that arrived in Beijing at 2:45. That was the best we could do so I asked a nice random Chinese lady to call my tour guide, and I talked to her and everything was all good. We definitely dozed off on the bullet train but it was a very long and not too comfortable ride. We got off and saw a cute lady holding up a sign with my name on it, and she introduced herself as Helen, our tour guide. We right away went to a big van and got straight to the tour since we had to make up for lost time. We headed straight to the Temple of Heaven, this big cool place where the Emperor used to hang out back in the day.

 It was absolutely freezing and windy at the Temple of Heaven and we then headed to the Hutong area to go on a rickshaw ride through this place with many close together small homes. Scout and I got on one and bundled up with the blanket they gave us, then we arrived at a home that we got assigned to for dinner. Helen knocked and this middle-aged couple answered the door and escorted us to a dining room (literally a room-it had a door) and began serving us dish after dish. I couldn't eat the majority of stuff besides rice, veggies and potatoes, so I filled up on that along with Vegetarian Scout and we thanked them and left. Chinese food looks good but so much of it has soy sauce and/or is breaded so it is not gluten free. I guess I will stick to PF Changs back home which has a gluten free menu. We rode the rickshaw back and went through a cute town with many bars and people performing onstage. That was it for day 1, and we all crashed that night since we had to be ready to go by 7:30 the next morning.

DAY 3

Breakfast this morning was complimentary and one of the most amazing breakfast I've ever seen at a hotel. It literally had everything plus traditional Chinese breakfast foods. I particularly loaded up on omelets and dragon fruit. We met up with Helen and the driver took us Tianmmen Square and The Forbidden City. We got out of the car at Tianmmen Square and once we went past it, got led to the Forbidden City which had so many temples everywhere that it got a bit overwhelming. There were so many and they all looked alike, so it was hard to distinguish which one was important or not. It was a 3 hour walk/tour from Tianmmen Square, through the Forbidden City, and up to Jingshan Park which had an amazing view of everything we had just walked through. We walked down from the park to meet the driver and saw many Chinese women doing a graceful dance in a park and a teacher leading it. So we decided to hop in the back and danced for a bit! It was so fun and relaxing and I'd definitely do that style of dancing if they had it in the US. I had Helen get a video of us dancing!

We drove for about an hour north to eat at an amazing restaurant right by the Great Wall. We then went to the wall and took a Cable Car to the top of the Mutianyu section, and were greeted by 2 cute puppies at the top. I was so confused because I saw no owner, but it was definitely a great start to my Great Wall adventures. We walked along the wall and took many pictures and it was an oddly blue-skied and sunny day even though there's usually snow there! I took my phone out and began blasting the Mulan soundtrack and it was just amazing. There weren't many people where we were and I just felt like I was on top of the world. We then found a snack shop on the wall and a girl in my tour group decided to drink a beer, and since I can't have a beer, I got the only alternative offered: a little thing of whiskey. It was absolutely nasty and we cheers-ed to being on the Great Wall but I got rid of it after 1 sip. It was then time to toboggan down the wall! It was so crazy and I have an amazingly awkward GoPro video of it since I stuffed the selfie stick in my shirt to keep it steady, but I will definitely cherish that video forever. I honestly was not expecting the Great Wall to be as amazing as it was but it turned out to be one of those really happy moments in life where you just can't stop smiling.

We left the wall and impulsively decided to attend a Chinese acrobat show which I heard was fantastic. So Helen got us seats towards the front and it turns out, everyone on the Beijing field program through Semester at Sea got tickets for that also. I ran into so many people! When in a country, Semester at Sea really takes over that country and you see people in the randomest places. The acrobat show was amazing of course, but the craziest part was the finale with the motorcycle cage. Just google it. You'll probably have a heart attack just watching a video of it, but seeing it in person was absolutely insane.

DAY 4

Our tour was over but we still had all day until our overnight train left to go to a city 1 hour outside of Hong Kong, where our ship had moved to. We walked 15 minutes down the road from our amazing hotel, The Penta Hotel, to the Pearl Market. This was where everyone sets up their stands of stuff and you are supposed to bargain with them for anything and everything. I got literally 6 pairs of Beats headphones for $5 each. There was great wifi in there so I FaceTimed my mom and she made me get them for literally our entire family and kept pointing to things she wanted as if she was there with me! After many hours there and purchasing way too many things I did not need, we grabbed lunch and made our way to the train station and went to our tiny compartment with 2 bunk beds for 4 people. I slept like a baby that night after we all had a laughing fit for like 30 minutes straight (don't ask). Overnight trains are so convenient and we got off the train around 7:30am, 11 hours later.

DAY 5

After getting off the overnight train, we took literally 6 hours to make it to the ship after trains, subways, and having to go through Hong Kong immigration since it's separate from China. It was so nice to see the MV Explorer and be home! Hong Kong was way warmer than China (in the 70s) and I instantly fell in love with the city. I hung out for a while and ate dinner, then went up to deck 7 to view the famous nightly Hong Kong light show. What I saw was basically random green lasers shooting from/to buildings, and I could not hear the music that went to it so it was not too great. It was still cool to see though since the Hong Kong skyline is beautiful.

I ended up talking to some guys I'd never met before on the ship and we all decided to take the ferry over to the island to this place called Lan Kwai Fong which is a huge nightlife district. There were a few streets on hills that were completely packed with bars and clubs, and the streets were packed with people. It was a fun night experiencing the Hong Kong nightlife! I took a taxi with some people back to the ship and hung out in the McDonalds right next to the ship. It was open 24/7 and many people were sleeping in there. I also met a few sweet Hong Kong girls around my age that were flirting with my friend Jordan and we bonded over our love for The Vampire Diaries. 

DAY 6

I woke up early to go to Lantau Island to see the biggest Buddha in the world. Scout and I gathered Peri, Rick, and Carly and we went off to see it. There was a huge line that took over an hour, but we finally made it to the cable car thing that took us up and took 20 minutes to get to the top! The view was beautiful and some people were hiking all the way up these crazy mountains/hills! The Buddha was incredible but since we had to make it back for on-ship time, we were only up there for about 20 minutes and then rushed back to the ship.

I enjoyed every second of both China and Hong Kong. They both are so different than Japan, and even China and Hong Kong had different vibes. I don't think I would want to go back to China though, but I loved emerging into their culture and seeing similarities and differences from America.

 

CHINA PICTURES DESCRIPTION

1-Sydney, Mitchi and I exploring Shanghai with the famous Pearl Tower in the back

2-About to use a squat toilet for the first time

3-The Temple of Heaven

4-A sheep structure for Chinese New Year

5-Tianmmen Square

6-On top of the world at the Great Wall of China

7-Using my selfie stick on the great wall. It was such a beautiful day with not many people there

8-About to toboggan down the wall. It was about a 4 minute ride down!

9-Typical menu in China with a full turtle offered

10-Scout, Patti, Saskia and I in our tiny compartment in the sleeper train from Beijing-Hong Kong

11-Hong Kong city life

12-The beautiful Hong Kong skyline

13-Peri, Scout and I on Lantau Island in front of the world's biggest buddha