Should have got myself a camera phone while I was here. This blog would have been much more epic and updated frequently.

Random ass night in HK. Bumped into several other exchange students on the way to sushi in TST and decided to eat together. Sushi wasn't that great. Not sure if it was the food or because eight of us were cramped into a four person booth. Headed over to CWB to check out a new arcade. It wasn't bad at all, fairly big and everything looked brand new. They had some pretty interesting games, unfortunately I didn't get a chance to try any of them since we got there at closing time. Afterwards, we wandered the streets of CWB in hopes of finding a cheap bar to chill at. That didn't work out as we went into the worse bar I've ever been to. The place was actually pretty nice, but all the unnecessary fees they charged us here were just ridiculous to me. I couldn't fathom how they had to charge us 15 hkd just to play cards. Those things should be complimentary! Interesting experience seeing as I ended up getting my white russian served to me in a dixie cup because we wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Just one of those nights.

And I heard there's nothing new except for someone new

Thailand was an amazing trip. Such a beautiful country with great people. I was only there for five days but it literally felt like we were there for two weeks. We traveled to so many different places and did so many things; I was completely exhausted every single night. We landed in Bangkok Friday night and met up with one of our friends friend who was a local. She showed us around and took us to the Songkran water festival in Bangkok and it was a blast. I was not expecting it to be so much fun. Its literally a water fight/ club packed with hundreds of people dumping buckets of water on each other. Definitely something you have to be there for to be able to understand the magnitude of this event. Thailand people really know how to party. We even lost our friend Hubert in the middle of the crowd.

We spent our first full day in Bangkok traveling around the city visiting various temples and knocking the scenic shit out of the way. One thing that I noticed while in Thailand were that they were extremely religious people. They have little statues of Buddha's scattered all over the city and every time we pass one whether we were on a bus or walking past, people would give a quick prayer. We actually came during the perfect time because there was this really beautiful temple that was only open around this time of the year, so we were able to go inside and pay respects to the Buddha. Unfortunately they didn't allow pictures in that particular temple. :( I cant remember the name of the temple, but it was a huge room with a big Buddha perched on top of a golden castle. It was a really calming experience. I spent a little extra time in there just because it was such a beautiful room.

Afterwards we went to eat and take a nap before heading out to check out the nightlife in Bangkok. The club we went to was nothing special. Mostly filled with old white guys and ladyboys.... hahahaha. We ended up just getting wasted and hanging out. The real party was waiting in Phuket.

Second day, we headed to the zoo. I was really looking forward to this place because I desperately wanted to pet some tigers and ride some elephants. Unfortunately the place we ended up was crap. :/ Later I found out that we would have had to travel to Northern Thailand for those types of activities. Nonetheless, we managed to have a good time at the zoo, and I still managed to take a picture with a tiger. :)

On the third day we booked a flight from Bangkok to Phuket which was an island about an hour and a half south of Bangkok. We checked into our hostel around three in the afternoon and headed to Patong beach right away. Before I go on, the cars and buses in Thailand are nothing like Hong Kong. They're basically old and breaking down lol. And if you've never seen a tuk-tuk I suggest you google it, because its basically a pimped out lawn mower with seats in the back.

The buses are no different, they're literally trucks with metal cages. Anyways, while we sat on the back of the "bus" chatting it up with these two guys from England; this little old Thai lady hops onto the back with a carton of food. At this point, all three of us are pretty hungry, so we ask whats in the box. Turns out, she's selling what turns out to be the BEST chicken and rice I have ever tasted in my life. (Unfortunately I wasnt able to retrieve the picture I took of the chicken from the corrupted memory card) So there we are, all three of us enjoying our chicken hitching a ride on the back of a flatbed to Patong beach. When we finally arrived at Patong, I was a little disappointed because I was expecting a white sandy beach. Instead, it was filled with people and there were plastic bottles, bottle caps, and trash everywhere. Extremely dirty. It took me a while to get over the dirtiness of it all, but I finally gave in and ran into the ocean. Came back from the waters just in time to catch this beautiful sunset.

Afterwards, we went to get a Thai massage across the street ;) jk no happy ending. After the massage we went looking for a nice place to eat cuz it was my boy Glen's early birthday dinner. We ate at this fancy little outdoor buffet with a band playing in the background. Super laid back. After dinner we walked around to find a bar to chill at and have a couple drinks. Our initial plan was to just grab a couple drinks and head back to the hostel because we had an early day the next day. But after a couple Jager bombs and hanging out with the locals; we just couldn't leave. My favorite memory of Thailand will probably be playing Connect Four with the bartenders for shots...and these girls were good.

Woke up the next morning with a huge hangover and not remembering half the events of the night before. We had to wake up extra early that morning because we decided to buy a one day tour package that would take us to Phi Phi Island. Took a quick cab ride to the pier and after a quick introduction by the tour guide, we boarding our jet boat and headed off to Phi Phi. The tour took us to several spots all around the islands. The first was the swallow cave. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of the really pricey birds nest soup. This is where it comes from. From there we headed to this really really tiny beach. Spent about half an hour there before heading off to the next destination. It was pretty much going from one location to the next and spending about half an hour to an hour at every place. Our last stop was probably the highlight of the day. The water was crystal clear and it just felt like paradise. It was my first time snorkeling so I spent the entire time with my head under water. Got back to the hostel late afternoon and took a nap before we met up with our friends in Bangkok. They took us out to this amazing Thai restaurant. Had my pad thai, pineapple fried rice, papaya salad, and a bunch of other dishes. We really wanted to try and catch a Muy Thai fight at the boxing arena across the street but unfortunately they were closed that night. So instead we decided to get some drinks and call it a night.

Overall, Thailand was a blast. There are so many beautiful places in Thailand and I cant wait to go again. I'd like to thank the friends we met along the way for showing us a good time. Our trip definitely wouldn't have been any where near as fun without you guys.

Taiwan was incredible. The food was awesome, the people are friendly, and the countryside was simply amazing. At times Taiwan and Hong Kong can seem very similar but its the little things in Taiwan that make it such an amazing place. For instance, the way people treat each other in Taiwan is so much more friendlier. This never occurred to me until my friend pointed out how rough this old couple were talking to each other on the bus right after we came back. It was kind of funny actually. There were plenty of times where we were completely lost in Taiwan, and we were only able to find our way with the help of random strangers coming up to us. I dont think I've ever had a random stranger come up and help me find directions in Hong Kong. Dont get me wrong, I love Hong Kong. If I had to choose where to live for the rest of my life between the two, it would definitely be HK. Maybe its the fast paced life style that people are accustomed to in HK that make them so cold. >.< One other thing that I prefer over in Taiwan is the way store employees react to customers. They greet you and mind their business and only come to help you when you ask. That's the way it should be IMO. In HK, the moment you step into a store you will be suffocated by at least two associates pestering you the entire time. I understand they're just doing their job and all that, but trust me, it gets really annoying. Listen, I dont need you to tell me these pink skinny jeans look good on me, I already know that. /rant.

There's so many beautiful areas of Taiwan I'm kind of disappointed we didn't spend more time sight seeing. However, the one place that we did end up going to was amazing. We had to wake up at 5 a.m in order to catch a two hour train ride to Hua Lien which is on the outskirts of Taiwan. From there we attempted to rent scooters - which should have been very simple because everyone else seems to be able to rent them w/o any licenses or anything - but for some strange reason she wouldn't let us. I was extremely disappointed because I was looking forward to riding the scooters the entire time. We ended up settling for this mini tour around the countryside which ended up being a great idea. It was a short drive to Taroko National Park which is where most of the pictures come from. The first area we stopped at which was the Shakadang trail was probably the most impressive. We hiked for a little over an hour and as you can see from the pictures its a narrow trail that takes you along the ledge of the river. We got a little adventurous and decided to hop over the rail and climb down to the river to take pictures. That was probably the highlight of the trip.

If you look closely at the middle of this picture, there is a face of an Indian guy. The moss is his tribal hat.

We stopped at several other areas inside the park and walked around but nothing too special. The driver took us to this beautiful beach at the end of the day. It was a much needed rest for all of us as we just sat there and watched the waves crash onto the shore.  

It was a great trip. Although we didnt get to go to as many places as I wanted to, we were able to do a little bit of everything and get a taste of Taiwanese culture. It really is an amazing place with great people and even greater food.

Things have been kinda slow lately so I havent had much to blog about. :/ But I've got a lot of fun stuff to look forward to. The weather is finally starting to get better, which means... MOAR LAWN PARTIES \o/ \o/ \o/.
Went on a little hiking adventure a couple days ago. It was totally spontaneous and we ended up having a great time. Also ran into some unexpected guests.

 

Normal people cross the bridge between the two railings; where the blue sign is. Being the stupid kids we are, we decided to walk on top of it. :)

 

Only the beginning

Love this picture.

The dorms are just to the right of my head.

MONKEYS

This one almost attacked me when I tried to get closer >.<

I wasnt able to get too many good pictures. The lens on my camera doesnt have any range at all...so all of the pictures of the city and sunset suck :( 

Heres a sneak peak at my next update ;) 

Never had my fortune told before so I thought I'd give a try while I was here. One of our local friends took us to Temple street where all the fortune tellers set up shop and brought us to a "legit" palm reader. I'm not one to believe in all of this palm reading stuff too much, but I do find it really interesting and I was pretty excited to find out what he had to say. There were actually some things he mentioned that were really on point. For starters, he said that I can be very ambitious but I have trouble staying motivated. Something that I've known for a while. Its horrible I know >.< but I feel like last semester really changed a lot of things for me. I worked my ass off the entire semester in order to get here - which I just realized was probably not necessary since they didn't even check my GPA like they said they would. That's probably not the way I should be looking at it anyways. Working hard in school is something that I should be doing regardless of the situation.

Back on topic, Master Joseph, lol, also said that I will have a stable career at 25, and be married by 28. He then squeezed my palms under my thumb area and said I will make a lot of money (which I'm sure he tells everyone; who wants to hear that they are gonna be poor for the rest of their life lol) Another thing that he mentioned was that I have to be careful of my finances, especially in the future. He said I never say no to lending friends money - which I think is pretty true - and that could get me in trouble. He then advised me to get a ring and put it on my middle finger in order to stop the money from leaving my hands. Not gonna lie, I'm kind of considering it. He also mentioned that I need to work on my philanthropy. Something that I will definitely work on regardless of how much thought I give into this fortune reading stuff.

Overall it was a really interesting night. Had some really good food. It was actually our first time having an authentic Hong Kong dinner; with the whole sitting down and eating outside in the street type atmosphere.