My last week in Japan was… a whirlwind. From cleaning my apartment, packing up everything I owned, sending boxes and bags home to saying good-bye to my coworkers, students, friends and favorite place I wasn't looking forward to my trip so much as I was looking forward to just sleeping.
Tons of tears and hugs later I was on a plane to Vietnam, stop 1. I mostly relaxed and lounged around in Vietnam. We took a 5-6hour bus ride to the beach, saw the sand dunes at Mui Ne, ate pho :) and went to the War Remnants museum.
One of the most interesting things about Vietnam was crossing the street. In a place where drivers don't necessarily abide by the traffic signals and the sea of motorbikes stretches as far as the eye can see crossing the street seems like a dangerous feat. However, thanks to a video tutorial a friend sent me I was able to make it from one side of the street to the other without being harmed. Don't get me wrong, there were some close calls but I was never actually hit.
The trick? Just step into the street and don't stop moving. Watch the oncoming traffic and slowly keep walking and they'll go around you. At least, that's what the videos suggested and that's what worked for me.
The beach at our resort
Sand Dunes near our resort
Mui Ne Resort
Dasani's new look? It actually looks like Ilohas water in Japan.
Pho!!!!!! Bill Clinton ate at this restaurant!
Ho Chi Minh
Yummy Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk!
Next stop: Cambodia. We went to Siem Reap so that we could see Angkor Wat and other temples. We got a guide for the day and he was so enthusiastic about each location. We matched his enthusiasm through the tour of Angkor Wat. After that, the heat started to get… unbearable. Since our guide was used to the temperature, he kept marching on, spewing endless amounts of details and fun facts. A lot of it went in one ear and out the other. He jokingly asked why I'd be so energetic earlier but was now panting and red faced. It was HOT.
So we took a break for lunch and got some coconuts to rehydrate. I have to say, I don't know if I've had anything more hydrating that a chilled young coconut brimming with coconut water.
Angkor Wat
Lunch with Curry and Coconuts
A dinosaur? o.O
Loc Lac
We had to go back to Phuket, of course! It was just as amazing as we remembered but since it was my second time there… no pictures. Just relaxing :).
Carli and I split up after Phuket. I went to Korea and she went to China. I visited my friend, Kristen, again and we went to Namsan Tower, Nami Island and did some shopping. Oh! And we went to the Big Bang concert! :).
:) :) :).
Concert Venuuuuuuuuue :)
Weird tomato/apple tree on Nami Island
Namsan Tower
The weather was a bit gloomy but still a nice view
I went to Beijing and was supposed to meet Carli at the airport. Our hostel was going to pick us up outside of "Terminal 2" however in their email they made it sound like the international terminal and terminal 2 were two different places. But they said they would pick us up outside of the terminal I arrived at. My flight got in late and no one was there to meet me so I assumed that I was in the wrong terminal. Their signs were not very clear. (Note: we tried to find a map of the airport online but it was impossible to find one! so we were just winging it. Not the easiest thing to do alone in a foreign country…) So I hopped on the shuttle to the International terminal. Aaaaand no one was there. By now it is a half an hour past the time the hostel was supposed to pick us up. Carli and I had decided that if we missed each other at the airport we would meet at the hostel… so I drag all of my stuff to the information desk and tell them I want to go to my hostel and I give them my confirmation paper. I thought they would point me in the direction of the taxis but they called the hostel for me. Wonderful!
"They want to talk to you," the super duper helpful information desk attendant says to me.
"Hello?" I say, taking the phone.
"Jessica? Where ARE you?" a slightly frantic hostel worker asks.
"Um…. terminal 1?" I scan the signage and confirm that I am in fact in the international terminal which is terminal 1.
"Ok, Carli is with the driver. Stay there! Do not move!"
"Should I wait on the first floor?"
"Yes, just stay where you are." Click.
But… the first floor where the cars pick people up is the floor below where I am now… do I stay where I am or go downstairs?
I went downstairs and waited for 15 minutes but no one showed. So I went back up to the information desk and YAY. Carli and the driver. So… almost 2 hours after our poor, poor driver was supposed to pick us up we head to the hostel.
Apparently the hostel had meant that they would pick us up at the international EXIT of terminal 2 not the "international" terminal. Carli had gotten in on time and had taken the shuttle to the international terminal and also called the hostel. She was informed that the driver was in terminal 2 so as I was headed to the international terminal she was headed to terminal 2.
Anyway, we reunited checked into our hostel… which was pretty gross. There was pungent mold/mildew in the drains and you had to turn on the water heater to get hot water.
We went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. What was interesting is that there were a lot of Chinese tourists in Beijing. Usually when you visit other places there are a lot of foreign tourists but in Beijing we hardly saw any. Blonde Carli stuck out like a sore thumb…
Forbidden City
Tiananmen Square
Dumplings! We accidentally ordered 30....
The Great Wall!
These are Shanghai style dumplings
Chicken Wings
After Bejing we hopped on over to Shanghai to visit Carli's friend. We saw the Bund, did some shopping and walked around some street markets. Lots of fish guts in the street…
The Bund
Lamien (Not sure if that's how you spell it but it was good. Kind of reminded me of pho hehe)
Almost done with the adventure!
On to Singapore! Carli's dad has more Business Associates there so one of them, Nelson, took us out for chili crab and then drinks on top of the Marina Bay Sands… the world's nicest hotel! That might not be the official title but … it's a super nice hotel. We also went to the zoo which was really nice. The animals were really close and active that day.
 |
| Chili Crab! Yum! |
 |
| Riverside, ha! |
 |
| Marina Bay Sands |
 |
| Merlion |
 |
| View from the roof of the Marina Bay Sands |
Tired yet? I was…. exhausted.
Last stop: Australia. Sydney first. We went up to the top of the Sydney Eye, saw the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Also, went to Manly Beach. It was strange being in a place where everyone spoke English… I guess it was a good transition. Later I hopped on a Greyhound bus to Canberra to visit the sister! We saw kangaroos and hung out with her college pals. She was quite the popular gal, if you know what I mean!
 |
| View from the Sydney Eye |
 |
| I think Rebecca has a similar photo... |
 |
| Koko Black hot chocolate. Beck took me! |
 |
| Where they kangaroos were. Wasn't fast enough to snap a pic.... |
A few days I was on a plane bound for LA. The nice thing was there were hardly any people on the flight so I got to move seats and had the whole center row to myself! Still a long flight but definitely more bearable.
And now I'm back in America!
