TravelStream™ news feed for member utexas on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/utexas en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:09:20 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1152970620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1152970620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1152970620/tpod.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:09:20 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Kuala Lumpor, Malaysia

Malaysia Day One

I think this may have been one of the longest days of my life. So we woke up this morning at like 8 because we were suppose to leave for our trip at 840. At 805 we got an announcement from the assistant dean. She said that in the middle of the night something happened with the boat so we would be delayed on our arrival for a little while. Well I got a little nervous but I looked out the window and we were still moving so I figured this was a good sign. We decided since we were still tired we would fall back asleep till we got further notice. At about 11 I woke up on my own. I was like what happened did we not hear anything and started to get nervous we missed our trip to KL (Kuala Lumpur). I headed up to the lunchroom and everyone was up there. We still had not arrived. By this time rumors were starting to fly. I think we have now confirmed was what actually happened was that to make it from Singapore to KL in nine hours we needed to run on all four engines. Well I guess it didn't help that three of them broke in the night. So we were moving really slowly and finally arrived at like 3 pm. So they unloaded us and put us on a bus to KL. I was a little nervous about what they would cut out of our trip but they worked it out. Ok so it was a four hour drive there. It was horrible. The bus was completely full. Our tour guide was really nice and good but she talked the whole four hours over the microphone on the bus speakers. Needless to say by the end we all wanted to KILL HER. But we finally got in the KL pretty late. We were supposed to go see the fireflies that night but since it was so late they switched this to our free night. So the group decided to hit up china town. We all went out and got some dinner first. It was really cool. There was fake everything you can imagine from purses to shows to pins and watches. They had some good fake lacrosse polos. The only purchase I made other then dinner was some bootleg movies. I got cars and the omen. I only got two because since I only paid 2.50 each I figured I could cut a five dolor loss if they didn't work. But they did. The hotel we stayed at was actually really nice. It was called the Swiss Garden hotel and was in the prime area of town. I was a little nervous about what type of hotel they were putting us in but it turned out really nice. That night we were exposed and had to meet for breakfast at 830 so I went right to sleep.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155174540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155174540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155174540/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:50:13 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Osaka, Japan

Japan Day Four
August 9, 2006

My last day on land for a while, It is hard to believe I the trip is over so soon. I will be home sooner then I know. Well today I decided to take it easy and just enjoy these last few hours on land. We went over to Osaka and started with some shopping. Maggie and I then caught lunch right next to the tallest ferries wheel on the boat. We decided to split up for the afternoon because this would be our last alone time for a while. We walked around and I ran into these to Japanese girls. I wanted to get directions to a get some cheep Kobe Beef before I left and the said they were about to go to dinner and I was welcome to join them. It was a really cool and odd experience. They spoke English well and said they loved to have this opportunity to practice there English. We swapped stories and had a great time. Before on ship time, we met some friends for one SAS trip to the bars. Well that's my trip and maybe Ill add some on ship comments because we are going to have a lot of events well we are here.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155088080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155088080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155088080/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:48:53 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Kyoto, Japan

Japan Day three
August 8, 2006

This morning we woke up and had lunch at the hotel. It was very good. The rolls were so amazing and for the first time in a while I had coffee. After this we looked at the temple that surrounded the hotel. Then Maggie and I went to one of the other temples. It was really cool and we stopped for a snack in this coffee shop that was on the second story of this building that overlooked one of the markets. It was cool just to take a minute to sit back and watch the people. Then we went to the train station to do a little shopping and catch a train back to Kobe. Well the train back took about an hour, then Maggie headed back tot the boat and I decided to go to the grocery store and pick up a couple things for our long trip back. After that we went to a baseball game. It was so fun. When I was in town I picked up a jersey for the local team and came prepared to cheer. We weren't sure how to get there so we took a cab. Very bad idea, It was a forty dollar cab ride. Sorry mom I learned my lesson. Well even still it was worth it. We had a blast. The fans reminded me of a high school football game. They brought there instruments and had a makeshift marching band in the crowd. They also had huge flags that they would wave when there team was up to bat. When the home team (the buffalos) would score they would shoot off fire, fireworks, and all the fans would blow up these long balloon type things and then let them go so they would launch up to the top of the stadium. It was a great night. After that we were beat so we crashed. Oh and we took the train back, a lot cheaper choice.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155001560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155001560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1155001560/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:47:22 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Nara, Japan

Japan Day two
August 7, 2006

Today we left for Nara. For lunch we stopped at a hotel for what is called Japanese boxed lunch. It was latterly in this wooden like box. It had fried shrimp, sausage, macaroni salad, and chicken. And of course we had a bowl of rice with it. We went to this is one of Japans previous capitols. First we stopped at the oldest wooden structure in the world. It was hard to fathom that here I stood so many years after something had been built and gazed upon the same structure. I was a very impressed with the architecture and how they had braced the building so well against the earthquakes that have hit the area. Next stop was the world's largest wooden structure. I was so impressed with this. It really was massive. Right inside the structure lay a massive Buddha this was one of the activities on the trip I had look forward to. I don't think pictures do justice to the size of this piece. I felt as small as a gazed upon it. There was also a large and beautiful golden Buddha in the structure. After this we drove to Kobe to stay at our traditional Japanese motel. As we arrived there was a shoe man who took our shoes and gave us a pair of slippers to wear. There were four to a room and as we walked in there was a table with four of those chairs that you sit of the floor cross legged on. After we walked in to the room, a small woman in a kimono walked in with hot cloths for us to wash our hands and face. Then she gave us a cup of coffee tea. The sugar that we were to use was little tablets in the shape of Buddha's head. It was so cute. After tea we showered and then the little woman came back and dressed us in our own kimonos that we were supposed to wear down to dinner. As we went down to dinner, it was so weird to see all our friends dressed in traditional Japanese outfits. Dinner was amazing. The brought out a huge dish of raw beef and the one of vegetables. They showed us how to cook the first batch and then we took over from there. I loved it. Maggie of course didn't eat so after we went down town to get her McDonalds and I called Ryan and mom. After that we called it an early night because we had to get up early. When we arrived back at the hotel, they had transformed our room. They took out the table and moved in our futon like beds. Surprisingly, they were the most comfortable thing I had slept on the whole trip. I wouldn't mind having one as my bed at home.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154915100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154915100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154915100/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:46:06 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Kobe, Japan

Japan Day one
August 6, 2006

Today we arrived in Japan. There customs are so intense. We arrived so early and they wouldn't clear us till around noon. So needless to say our day had a late start. Well first we went around Kobe. It was really cool and so busy. I was shocked by the prices though. Stuff here is so expensive. Well we walked around a little and took in the area. It is so crazy how highly developed the country is. Everyone is so trendy. All the woman have cute hair, jewelry, and heels. I was shocked I kind of felt like I was in Dallas. I went to look in a shoe store though to get some of there cute shoes and I couldn't fit because all there feet are ninny sized. Well we found this little like pub restaurant and sat down and have some drinks and lunch. It was like a restaurant but only had like five seats. It reminded me of a hole in the wall that Ryan would like and I am not going to lie it was pretty good. After this we walked around and did a little shopping. Then we decided to get a group of kids together and go our for a nice Kobe Beef dinner in Kobe Japan. Well we all got dressed up and looked so cute. We went to the restaurant that is famous for there Kobe beef. It was so nice and so good. I really think that was the best and most tender beef I have ever had in my whole entire life. Maggie tried her first piece of red meat. It was so funny. It must have taken her like 10 minutes to actually bring it to her mouth. I have it on video and will share when I get home. She said she couldn't decide if she liked it or not because the taste was so different then anything she had ever had. After the stake house we went out on the town. We went to a pool house slash bar called Sally's. Over all it was a very good night.
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Busan, Korea Rep.

South Korea
August 2-4, 2006

Sorry to disappoint everyone but I will only be writing one blog on my time in South Korea. This is due both to the fact that I am overwhelmingly busy and I really was not that impressed with the fact. As I write this I must add in the fact that I am on the back of deck looking at the skyline of Japan because we our currently anchored off the coast waiting for the birth to open up. Well in South Korea, my big trip was a home stay. That morning I got up and walked around the docking area for a while and grabbed some lunch with friends. I then headed back in order to prepare for my stay. I got really cute and made sure I was appropriately dressed for the area. This was later to find that I may have dressed over conservatively for the area, but hey its better to be safe than to be sorry. Well as I got into the car that was to drive us to our home stay I was so nervous. This was unlike anything I had ever done and I really cant believe I was going to go through with it. Well I thought it would be a short ride but it was an hour long drive with a driver that didn't speak English and none of us really knew what was to happen. So of course this didn't do much to calm my nerves. Well we arrived and a lady came and called out me and this other girl, Natalie's, name. She greeted us saying her name was Kim and that she was to be our home stay mom. Like the greater majority of Asians she lived in an apartment. As we walked in I was asked to remove my shoes as is the custom here. I was shocked at how nice the place was. She was on the twentieth story of her apartment building with quite a decent view. It was quite obvious that they were an upper class family. She showed us our room and then discussed the night's plans with us. She spoke English well but it was still quite broken. She explained she had three daughters just like my family. She said the oldest was studying for her exam to become a doctor. She said she had left at eight that morning and she didn't return that night until eleven pm. It is crazy the dedication the show to studies. Her second daughter was going to school in Seoul. She had a younger daughter who was about fourteen and she was at church camp. I was shocked to find that they were Christian, but she said that only about fifty percent of the population is Buddhist. She said that her friend's daughter who attends a college close by is living with her. She told us the girl would be home shortly and that when she arrived we would eat dinner and then her and her friend would show us around town. She told me that they had lived in Dallas for a while well her husband was studying there. What a small world. Her friends daughter arrived and we had dinner. It was amazing. It must have been one of the best meals I have had here in Asia. It was like a lettuce wrap thing. She made meat that I really liked. She also made pickled garlic, pickled onions, and spicy cabbage. We combine them and wrapped them in lettuce and it was wonderful. Of course there was rice as well. I think I have eaten more rice these last months then I have my whole life. After that we had a variety of local fruits. I really liked the kiwi. They were golden Kiwis which I had never had. After that she said she new it was American customs to eat cakes so she had baked us 2 cakes and picked up some local sweet bread. It was so good and I thought it was funny because she thought she had prepared very little and apologized. After that we went with the college girls to the shopping area that was just a short walk away. One of the girls had studied in Vancouver so she spoke very good English. I bought a dress and I really like it. We then went to see their campus. It was so much bigger than I had expected. I was really shocked at the size. She said roughly 20,000 attended the school. We hung out where all the kids were. There were surprising a lot of kids even though it was summer break. After we hung out, we went back to the apartment. It was so great to sleep in a real bed. I slept so well. The next morning she woke us up with the smell of an amazing breakfast. She said she had prepared a traditional Korean breakfast but also had cereal if we wanted that. I had toast, this amazing cheese bread, and some really good fruits. No wonder they are so skinny here. After this she took us to a Buddhist temple. She said although she was Christian she thought it was an important aspect of there culture that would be good to see. It was a great temple. It was tucked up on the side of the mountain and must have had twenty buildings. It was one of the coolest things because I had never really been at a temple during one of there ceremonies. They were chanting and doing there bows as the worshiped. There was also a children's camp going on that was very interesting to look at. After that we drove down and she showed us the beach which was really cool. Then we went to this country club like thing that overlooked the water. We ate lunch here and I let her order for me because the menu was in Korean. After this it was time to head back to the ship. I said my goodbyes and was so happy about my decision to do the trip. That night it was already late so I went to outback with a couple of friends than just hit up one of the bars next to the boat for a little. The next day I woke up and went to an internet café. I checked my email and took care of a couple things. Then I went with my friend Nicole to lunch. I decided to relax at the beach for the rest of the day. Now I am bound for Japan.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154223660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154223660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154223660/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:42:55 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Sea, Korea Rep.

Thoughts at sea
I didn't really write for the last day of Hong Kong because it was mostly spent traveling. I cant help but think of how sad I am going to be. The majority of these people I will never see again in three weeks.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154223540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154223540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154223540/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:40:49 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Beijing, China

Bejing Day Three

Today was Tiananmen square and our trip to the forbidden city. They are both together. I was surprised to see how many people were at the square including many locals. I really wanted to go into the museum to se Mow ze dongs body but the wait was an hour and a half and I decided I had more to see. As I was there I tried to imagine what it would be like if it was filled with protesters. That must have been a really intense experience. It is so weird that it was so short a time ago that the students were killed. One thing I found very odd was many people came up asking to take pictures with me. Even young girls would ask. I took quite a few but new I needed to move on. We went on to see the candid picture of communism with mow right in the middle. Then we walked through the Forbidden City and I was shocked by the size of the place. I never imagined it to be that big. And surprise surprise thanks to our wonderful globalization there was a starbucks right there in it. After this we had the afternoon off so we hit up the KFC and also went to the silk market. And I did quite a bit of shopping. Yes mom and dad those withdrawals from the ATM are mine. After that we went to an acrobatic show. It was so cool. They did stuff I could never imagine. They did stuff like but 8 girls on one bike and they still continued in circles. There balance is amazing. It was a fun night. After that we went to the old bar street for some drinks.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154137080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154137080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154137080/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:39:04 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Beijing, China

Beijing Day two.

Horary it is great wall day. Well we got up early and loaded on the bus for our two hour drive there. When we arrived we decided to take the chair lift up and then go on the toboggan down. We road up and it was so hazy. I was really upset because there must have been a 50 foot visibility level. We went and walked around. As we walked I found it really hard to believe that this was made before any sort of machinery. How did they do it and was it really possible. We walked along and it seemed to go on forever. When we were walking along we ran into a family from Colorado which was pretty cool. It really makes you think about how small the world really is. As we were ready for our toboggan ride down we headed over only to find that it was closed do to the weather. Well we just went down and we did some shopping. One of my purchases included a shirt that says I climbed the Great Wall of China for one dollar. Needless to say it was worth the trip. After this we went to the temple of heaven. It was really cool and one could really appreciate the architecture here. After this I and some of the girls headed for our American dinner. Then we went out to bar street to celebrate one of our friend's birthdays.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154050560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154050560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/utexas/sas06/1154050560/tpod.html Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:37:52 -0400 I will be spending a semester living on a boat and taking clases while traveling mostly to eastern asia.

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Beijing, China

Beijing day one

OMG what a rough morning. Ok so Maggie was suppose to be upstairs ready to go at 510 Am and at 535 we get a knock on the door telling us they are going to leave her. Needless to say we slept through the alarm. Well after getting her off I had to rush to make my 540 meeting time. We then headed off to the airport half awake and half the bus hung over. It was interesting start. We got to airport and barely made the plane. After the three hour plane ride I was much better rested. We went straight to the summer palace. There was a heavy Fog sitting over the air. I later found that this is a mix of fog and pollution that is very common in china. The summer palace was pretty. We got to go on a boat that was shaped like a dragon which was pretty cool. After the summer palace we went to the famous Peking duck hotel to have their famous dinner. It was really cool. There were so many courses. As we walked down the hall there were many pictures of famous people who had eaten in the restaurant everyone from presidents to foreign kings. When they finally brought out the duck to top off the meal it was so weird. It still had its head on with beak and all. The cook just ripped the head off and began to cut. It was actually really good. That night we knew we had an early night because tomorrow it was to be an early morning to see the great wall. We just hung out in the hotel and watched man on fire.
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