Hong Kong with a little Macau Mixed In

Chinese New Year was quickly approaching, and there seemed to be no better place to celebrate than in Hong Kong. So I jumped on a plane to Hong Kong to meet up with Trent, as the rest of my travel partners would be arriving the next day. Well upon arriving at the Hong Kong airport, I realized I didn't have my debit card.... Uh ohhh... Well I withdrew the last HK$500 I had left in my Chinese account and hopped for the best. I got on a train and headed to the hostel to meet up with Trent, realizing again that for some reason our phones don't work in HK, odd. Well it worked out and the next day we set off to go sight seeing. Here is the spectacular view of the HK skyline... well where it should be anyways. Later we checked out the famous bar area of Lan Kwai Fong, basically and expats bar haven.

The next day was the CNY parade, good thing our hostel was located on the same street as the parade route. We headed downstairs with a few beers to quench our thirst w

hile we try to hold our spot. Honestly, the parade wasn't all that great. We did get to see the San Diego Charger girls, a random place to get a little feel of back home. Well we headed to Lan Kwai Fong again to celebrate CNY and meet up with the rest of our MAIS group who were in HK as well.

The last day me and Trent headed out to Macau to see what all the hype was about.Macau hailed as the Vegas of the East, we were excited to experience what it had to

offer. To be honest, not all that much. Definitely not like vegas at all...The casinos were ok at best, mostly small rooms with a few slot machines and card tables. Nothing much to write home about, much less on this blog. So instead I've added a picture of what the old town looks like, a resemblance of the Portuguese colonial history.

And that was the end of what was an unforgettable blitzkrieg vacation through SE Asia, HK and Macau. I can't wait for what next year's spring festival vacation will have in store for me. Who knows, maybe a little Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, Laos??... maybe all of the above.

On to กรุงเทพมหานคร (Bangkok)

So after leaving our last stop in paradise we started our journey to the congestionthat is Bangkok. It only took a 3 hour ferry ride, a bus ride, and a 10 hour overnight train ride to get there. The overnight train was.... well interesting to say the least. When morning comes, the beds fold up and at every stop vendors get on and off of the train selling breakfast items, mystery fruit with spicy sugar and other knicknacks. The first day we spent just wandering around the city, seeing what Bangkok was all about. Ate some delicious food at hole in the wall restaurants, enjoyed the fantastic street food and tried to find out what all this talk about Bangkok was all about. We took the river taxi, which was amazingly efficient, I wish Shanghai took greater advantage of such an efficient form of transportation running through the city. It was interesting to see the monks waiting for the ferry in a separate line, as they can't be touched by women. There was even aspecial area for them to stand on the ferry with a "Reserved for Monks" sign. I guess only in Thailand...

The next day we decided it was imperative that we go to a Thai Boxing match,after all not seeing a Thai Boxing in match in Thailand would be like going to China and not seeing the Great Wall of China. So we got our tickets for around 1500 Baht, the premium seating and got ready to see 10 matches of face busting action. It was definitely an experience to remember.

My last day in Bangkok I hit up the famous market street of Khaosan, bought a few souvenir T-Shirts and tried one last time to absorb everything that was Thailand. The last stop on this whirlwind vacation is back in China... well technically anyway. Here I come Hong Kong and Macau.

Koh Phangan

The next stop on our South East Asia tour was the small island of Koh Phanagn off of the east coast of Thailand. After a long-tail boat ride from Railay we hopped onto a bus to cross from the west to the east coast of Thailand, then we took a 3 hour ferry ride, then jumped into a pickup truck taxi to finally make it to our hostel in the island of Koh Phangan, known around for the world for their infamous 'Full Moon Parties.' We got in late in the afternoon andwent on a mission to figure out how to get to Bangkok...After figuring out that 'minor' detail we decided to check out the 'full moon party' even though it wasn't a full moon.It turned out to be a pretty spectacular event, if your into a party on the beach that includes: fire spinners, fire spinners on stilts,a flaming jump rope, sand pails of liquor, cheapbeer, o and thefact that we were in Thailand? Well yea, If you like that sort of thing then you could say it was a spectacular party... or as one my fellow travelers always said ("it was the cat's meow"). And yes, if you were wondering. I DID do the flaming jump rope... more once, o and the flaming hoop jump (not pictured). Both were pretty darn exhilarating.

Well the next day we wandered around the little

island town looking for some more delicious Thai food and seeing what there was to be seen. During the day we saw more of the infamous 'Bucket o' Liquor,' basically a concoction of your liquor of choice, and a mixer conveniently sold in a the form of a bucket, all for the low price of around US$6. Not bad... Well I spent most of the day sitting on the beach, dreading leaving this island paradise, with clean air, blue skies, and my beloved beach.... because the next stop was back to the dirty, smoggy, polluted, crowded city of Bangkok....This was the my last view I had before leaving on tour of what seemed like every possible form of transportation that Thailand has to offer...

Next stop... Paradise

After leaving the party town of Phuket, we hopped on a boat and headed for the isolated beach town of Railay. The only way to get there is by the infamous Long-Tailed boats, which does require you to get a little wet... After a few hour ferry ride, we were in an 'island paradise' (although its more of an isthmus). The next mission was to find a place to stay, as we decided to go here without any idea about where we were going to stay. So after a 2 hour exploration mission, we finally found a place within our budget. After our very tiring journey, I was more than happy to settle down to a nice meal of pad thai, the quintessential mainstay of Thailand. Spending a few days here to relax on the warm white sand beaches was just what I needed after spending a few months in the relentless Shanghai winter. I explored the 'island' encountering monkeys, impromptu rock climbers, caves, and the holly grail of Railay adventure. The climb to the lagoon. Involved me climbing supposed trails nearly straight up... repelling nearly straight down, all in my favorite hiking shoes, Rainbow's. The last day on Railay was spent on a snorkeling trip that ended with a sunset dinner (delicious seafood Thai curry, rice, and potatoes) on a deserted island. What more could you ask for? Oh yea, a Chang...

The Greatest Trip Ever... Continued

Well we caught our Air Asia flight over to Thailand, all of a 10 minute flight when you take in the time change... anyway we arrived to find our hostel was no where to be found... After walking up and down for 30 mins (good thing I bought a fake NorthFace backpack for 15 bucks) we finally found it and were glad to be in Thailand...It was night time, and we were ready to experience Thailand, and Patong Beach for that matter. The magic that greeted us was and endless street of neon signs, bars, clubs, and the infamous "Lady Boys" of Thailand. After a night of exploring we called it quits, and I went to sleep ready for the beach...

From the photo on the right...a Lady boy in action. But hey at least the bars in Thailand aren't trying to lie or anything. "Maybe 20 gorgeous girls, a lot of ugly girls, plus a few fat ones!" They tell it how it is...

The next day was all about relaxing after our two days of traveling to get there. We relaxed under the endless supply of beach chairs and umbrellas, there were conveniently shifted by our attendees to block out the intense southeast asian sun. The water was warm... almost too warm. It felt like i was taking a bath in one ginormous bath tub. Well after a day at the beach we decided to take advantage of the happy hours... well more like happy days (happy hours that last from 10am till 8 pm).

Our next and last day in Patong Beach was to be filled with ATV riding, Elephant Trekking, and a Monkey and Snake show. All were fun, and all felt quintessentially Thai. Next on our makeshift Thailand extravaganza itinerary was Railay, Thailand. A beach town that is only accessible by the famous Thailand long tail boats...

Spring Festival Vacation...

So its been a while since my last post, but this is about my spring festival vacation... AKA the greatest trip of my life. So we started off this trip with a train ride to Hangzhou, China. Followed by a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Next, the crew (Dana, Megan, and Erika - Fellow MAIS students) spent the most of our extended layover (1 Day) exploring the city. This was our first exposure to the southeast asia weather...90 degrees with 90% humidity. Far different than the 40 and rainy winter we left in Shanghai. You can't go to Kuala Lumpur without seeing the Petronas Towers, its like going to China and not seeing a bowl of rice. Well here they are in all of their glory.

We were happy to leave Malaysia after a day, and we were more than ready to experience the highest concentration of best beaches in the world. Off to Thailand!!