Malaysia- Part II

After a good night sleep for me and not so much for Latanya we awoke slowly. Not having a lot on our itinerary we decided to take our time. We had some toast and coffee then headed out. First, we wanted to see the National Mosque which was quite big. We had to put on the garb to go in as well as take off our shoes. It was interesting and the first mosque we have ever been in. After the mosque we continued our walking tour to the Lake Gardens which were really pleasant. The park was huge with beautiful scenery like fountains, grass, and play areas for children. We made our way to the National Monument where they had a few statues representing Malaysian freedom from colonial rule as well as a tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives fighting for freedom.

Other sights we saw were the old train station, city hall, the Colonial district, and Chinatown. We had some great chicken fried rice washed down with a couple of Tiger beers at a little resturant in Chinatown. After Latanya looked through the petaling street of knock offs then went back to the guesthouse to regroup and plan our Indian dinner.

After a little rest we headed back to the streets to explore Little India. Little India was full of Indians, imagine that. There were many fabric stores and stalls. People were walking up and down the alleys trying to find the best deal. Little stalls were set up throughout the area serving up curries. We walked around for awhile then headed back to our area to pick up some parathas and curry to go.

We brought it back to our guest house, had dinner, and played a UNO, where I dominated, of course. Took a shower (there were only two showers and toilets in the hostel: one for the males and one for the females, repacked our bags, and called it a night. We had to wake up at 2am tomorrow morning to make an early flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Angkor Wat here we come!!!

Malaysia- Part I

We left Korea at 11:20pm on a Friday. Boy did it feel good to be on vacation. Latanya and I were giddy with excitement. We flew Air Asia which is a budget carrier. It was truely basic basic. No meal, no drink and not even a bag of peanuts. The flight went by quickly for six hours. When we arrived the imigration line was long but moved frequently. Our immigration officer had his radio on and was singing along to FloRida, Low (shorty got low...low...low) It was sooo funny. Of course I had to start singing along too. As of right now we are on a bus into Kalua Lumpur, KL!!!! We are waiting for the sun to rise. We should be tired but we are too excited to think about sleep right now.

We arrived at our Guest house and were pleased at how easy it was to get there. We couldn't check in yet seeing as it was only seven in the morning. So we settled and dropped off our bags. We ate some toast and asked how to get to the Batu Caves. The manager was really friendly as well as really helpful and informative. We walked out of our place and went to the bus stop. We rode bus 11 for about a half hour and we had arrived.



There were a huge set of stairs leading up to the caves. The cliffs of the surrounding area were absolutely beatiful. So it was then when we began our assent. It wasn't too bad of a climb. The real obstacle for Latanya was the wild monkeys running along the hand rails. Once to the top we were able to take in the beatiful scenery. The caves were magnificent. Many people of the Hindu religion made the journey to give an. offering of some sort. After a short stroll around we headed out and back down. On our way out we picked up some munchies for the road. When we looked for our bus stop we peered into a small resturant filled with locals. Latanya was game and so was I. We both had two different types of Parahta's with some differnt curries to go with. Add a bottle of water to share and we had lunch for one dollar! That's right one dollar for all that. And it was so delicious. With the exception of one of the sauces. After lunch we headed to our place to check in. It's time to take a small rest and head out to see to formally known as the tallest buildings in the world, the Petronas Towers.

Well we saw the towers, pretty impresive. However I thought they would be bigger. Oh well, cool none the less. After the towers we walked around the city for awhile. We really took to KL. We were getting a really good vibe from the people and the atmosphere in general.

We stumbled upon a busy restirant full of locals and the pictures of the food looked appetizing. We ordered some wontons. Latanya thought they were too greasy. I liked them though. We also had some Nasi Goreng, a mix of fried rice, egg, veggies, and shrimp meat. The other dish we had was a noodle dish packed with delicious veggies, shrimp, and meat. All in all it was a good helping of Malaysian food. Tomorrow we want to try some Chinese and Indian food. The Malaysian culture is diverse and has so much to offer as far as local cusine. When we left the restaurant we went to a reggae bar and had a couple of beers. Then back to our guest house to shower and relax for the night. Day one of our trip was such a success. Let's hope we keep it going.

2011

These last few days have been spent reflecting on the changes that I need and want to make in the upcoming year. The last two years have been a roller coaster full of up and downs. I have done things in my life that people only dream of doing and I am beyond grateful to have these experiences. Thank you everyone for supporting Dan and I on this journey. Looking forward 2011 and all the possibilities and opportunities on the horizon. God bless and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

LT

Pocheon, Blah!!!

One weekend Latanya and I finally got the courage to visit our good friend Adam. We met Adam in our first GEPIK orientation almost two years ago. We did not see Adam that often since our first meeting. The main reason for that was the fact that he lives so far away. But quite recently we have been making more of an effort to hang out with him.
Anyways since he normally meets us at our place about 2 hours each way, we decided to meet him, in the lovely area of Pocheon. He made sure to let us know before hand that his Dong (Korean for town) is nothing special. He even went as far to say that as soon as we got off the bus we would probably throw up.
We began our journey at midday on a Saturday. We knew it was going to take awhile to get there, at least 2 hours. We took two different trains and one long bus ride. After about 2 hours and fifteen minutes we finally arrived. We got off the bus and we did........not throw up, luckily. But we could see that his Dong was in fact pretty dismal. The perks however I think far exceeded the lack of other amenities though. For instance he had a brand new E-Mart!!! And he had a McDonald's complete with a drive-thru!!! You don't see too many of those in Korea. The rest of the area was very rural.
We walked a little ways from the bus stop and Adam met up with us. He showed us around the main area which took all but 2 minutes. Then he took us to his apartment. He lives on the first floor and outside of his building are some really noisy dogs. He made sure to tell us how they do not stop barking and how he despises them. He was busy cooking when we got settled in. He was cooking up a delicious batch of Étouffée. It was amazing.
After some good conversation and some wine we headed to the new E-Mart and picked up some more drinks and snacks. When we got back we had dinner and watched a little TV and then Adam and I played some Madden. Once the Madden marathon started Latanya decided to fall asleep. Perhaps because we were intensely playing the video game and left her to be the lone spectator. We played 9 games that night and it went to the wee hours. It had been so long since I played. But it sure was fun, even though he out matched me 5 games to 4. I blame the fact that it was a PlayStation and not an XBOX.

Anyways the next morning we all got up and headed to the other main attraction in Pocheon, the McDonald's. We had McDonald's breakfast for the first time in a real long time. It was so good. We just kept talking and before we realized it the lunch menu came around. We must have been sitting in there for at least a couple of hours. After our brunch we went back to Adam's place and chatted some more and then we decided to head back home. It was a great little visit and we sure always have a fun time with him.

Nami Island

Myung and her family invited Dan and I to Nami Island to get away from the city. Nami Island is a Korean island located about an hour an half from Seoul. A popular island amongst Koreans plays background to many Korean dramas where couples profusely confess their love for each other. We headed over to Myung's house at 11 and waited for her to get the kids dressed. We then packed up the SUV and were on our way. Waiting for the river of vehicles to wind its way ever so slowly onward we stopped at the "piano waterfall". A man made waterfall made famous for an enormous piano bathroom with steps leading up to the second floor bathrooms that played "chopsticks" with every step you took. After stretching our legs for a while we headed back into the sea of cars. We traveled along the country roads passing towns and villages with gorgeous views of rivers, forests, and vast amount of rice paddies fields protected by scarecrows. 3 hours later from our departure Nami island appeared on the horizon. We caught a 5 minute ferry ride to the island surrounded with nature we walked along the main strip of chest-nut, birch, ginko, and maples trees. We found a picnic area Myung prepared snacks for the day and spent the afternoon relaxing, talking, watching the kids play in the grass, and walking around the beautiful scenery. It was a nice little getaway. It was really nice of Myung and her family to take us.

Shanghai - Day 5

We checked out of our hostel in Xi'an and then went to the airport bus stop. The hostel staff gave us really easy directions. It was quite easy to find. We passed the bell tower and looked around the surrounding area as we walked to the stop. Xi'an seemed to have a lot to offer in historical sites however because of the horrible weather it was not doable.
We just missed the bus to the airport but did not have to wait long for the next one. We got on and headed to the airport. We got off at the wrong terminal but the other terminal was not too far of a walk away. The plan ride was not to long. We arrived back in Shanghai and made our way back to the first hostel we stayed in when were in Shanghai before.
We walked around the city some more just explore with no real destination. We got many more stares from people as well as some bad smells of the city. Shanghai was our least favorite destination ever. With the exception of the World Expo we would not really recommend it. We eventually made it to the other side of the river and had dinner at the same restaurant we ate at in the mall before. We filled up on some really good Chinese food again. After dinner we went back to our hostel and got our usual happy our beers. The next morning we woke up early and went to the airport to go back to Korea.
The highlights of this trip were by far the Expo and the Terracotta Warriors. All in all the rest of our time was not that pleasant on the streets. On the other hand our accommodations were quite wonderful for the price and we would be happy to recommend them. So for now back to Korea to await our next adventure.

Xi'an - Day 4

After a good night rest, surprisingly, we arrived in Xi'an. The train station in Xi'an was really overwhelming. There were people everywhere. Once we exited the station we noticed the weather was still crumby and much colder than Shanghai. The area outside of the station was unwelcoming and full of sketchy people. We had printed out directions to the hostel but we were turned around a bit. We walked to the bus stop area but could not find our bus number anywhere. We finally asked someone were our bus was and they pointed us in the right direction around the corner. The bus stop for our bus was so crowded. It was not only congested with people but also lots of traffic. They were doing quite a bit of construction around the train station and thus created a madhouse of people and vehicles. After waiting five to ten minutes our bus arrived. It was really difficult to get on. Imagine a heard of cattle trying to go through a small opening in a fence. On the bright side the bus fare was only 15 cents.
Anyways, we got on and then began to start counting the stops. We only needed to go five stops and then follow the rest of the directions. We got off at our stop and then attempted to make our way to the hostel. We got a little turned around again but eventually found the street we needed to. The area did not seem that nice, and this was in the day time. The reviews we read had warned us about that so we were ready for it anyways. The hostel itself was practically brand new so it made up for the surrounding area.
We checked in and laid our stuff down. The hostel had it's own restaurant so we ordered some breakfast and got acquainted with the city by looking at a local map. After a great breakfast we asked how to get to the Terracotta Army. They gave really easy directions and seeing that we needed to go back the way we just came we knew we could do it easily.
We hoped on the same bus we took to get to the hostel and headed back to the train station. The traffic was really congested at this point, even more so than earlier. We actually got off the bus prior to our stop because we were not going anywhere. We found the bus we needed to take to see the Army. At first we were a little confused because we did not know were to buy the bus ticket. The man on the bus just gestured to hop on and then I made the correct assumption that they would collect once we started our journey. We waited for about ten minutes for the bus to fill up. The bus ride was not bad. It was like a public bus so not that nice. We knew we had to take it to the last stop so no need to count stops this time. After about a little over an hour or so driving in the rain we made it to our destination.

We walked to the ticket both and bought two tickets to see the Terracotta Army. The walk to the entrance was quite long. It felt like we were walking forever. Once we went through the gate we had to walk even more to see the pits. There are three major excavation pits where they excavated several hundred Terracotta Warriors. The warriors were made for the first emperor's tomb to follow him into his afterlife. No two warriors looked alike and were all life size. We headed to the largest pit and I was speechless. I remember in sixth grade first learning about this excavation and was just flabbergasted. I knew I would see them one day, and here we were in the humongous covered pit looking at history straight in the eye. It just does not any better than this. This site blew me away and made the entire trip. We walked around the entire area and read all the plaques of information. After we walked the whole way around and took plenty of pictures we went to the next two pits.



The other pits were smaller but equally interesting. We also went to another building which housed the museum. In one pit we were able to see some warriors that were excavated and put on display for people to see up close. It was just so fascinating to see the warriors. I mean these warriors date back over 2000 years. This was the beginning of a united China. You could just feel the history. I was on a complete high of excitement. Latanya was very happy for me to be able to experience this.

After strolling around a little while longer we headed back out the front gate. We had a little lunch and then got on a bus back to Xi'an. The bus we got on this time was much nicer than the one we took out here. We arrived back in Xi'an and made our way back to the hostel. We had pretty much the same experience getting on the same bus once again. It was still raining and cold. We were not too eager to see much of the rest of the city. We already saw the city wall at the train station. The next day we were going to pass the bell tower.
When we got back to the hostel we showered up and then went down to the lobby. We watched a couple of movies, met some nice people, Latanya made dumplings with the staff and other guests and we had dinner. It was a great evening altogether. The next day we were on our way back to Shanghai, this time we were flying.

Shanghai - Day 3

By day 3 in Shanghai we realized that we had seen all the main sights in the city already. The only other sights we wanted to check out were the People's Square and Fuxing park. Once we got to the park the weather became really bad with the rain coming down hard at moments and then a steady drizzle. The park was nice and would have been much nicer had there not been such a horrible downpour. We decided to walk to the French Concession after the park. This area is supposed to have several French style buildings and cafes. We were struggling to find it exactly, because it is not listed on maps as a specific destination. But once I read the description in the guide book I found out that we were in fact already in the French Concession and had been for quite some time. The buildings did look nice and the streets were tree lined and all but it was nothing spectacular.
After the Concession we headed back towards our hostel with a walk through of People's Square. We saw the National Museum as well as the Municipal Government Headquarters. We had a rather long walk to Fuxing park and back to our hostel but it was not too bad. The rain had stopped at this point. We were just eager to get out of Shanghai. We saw all the main sights in the first two days really.

Before we headed to the train station we had some Carl's Jr. We were so surprised to see the restaurant in China. It was delicious. We eventually made our way to the train station without a hitch. It took us awhile to find our platform though. We had ordered our train tickets online and they were delivered to our hostel without any problems. Once we set our stuff down went back to the Bund area along the river. We found a local microbrewery. I had seen them advertised on our map. We walked in and no one was there. I guess they don't get too much of a lunch crowd. The beer was really good. It had been seven months since we had a micro-brew. The smell in the pub was so good. The aroma of hops was enchanting.

Once we found our platform, Latanya was starting to hyperventilate, do to the massive amount of people. They finally opened the gates to board and we headed to our car. Once we got on the train it seemed to be rather clean and relatively nice. There were not any private compartments. Just cabins divided by two walls. In each open faced cabins that had two sets of bunks three bunks high. Since we were the last to arrive in our cabin, we were dealt with the top two bunks. There was a nice family of four below us. We climbed to the top and tried to get comfortable. With the exception of little head room and the ceiling feeling as if it were right on top of us the space was not too bad. We had room to put our bags on the bunk with us and still had enough leg room. I could tell Latanya was trying to come to grips with the situation.

She was a trooper for sure. This was not her idea of traveling. But I told her it was just for one night only and that we would be flying back to Shanghai. She took a deep breathe and began to relax a little. Once the train got started we new there was no turning back. I was so excited, we were going to see the Terracotta Warriors!!!

Shanghai - Day 2

We woke up rather early and headed straight for the Expo. Once again we realized we did little to zero research for this trip. We had no idea how much tickets are, how long there good for, where we need to go as well as other questions? We tried to answer our questions one at a time and along the way. We made our way via the subway, we asked an employee and pointed to where we wanted to go and they showed us which ticket to get and where to get off.

When we arrived we followed the crowd, the best thing to do in this type of situation. And boy was the crowd flowing. We got to the ticket booths and asked what tickets were available. We chose a day pass and then walked over to the security check point. The security check point was a made house. It was kind of organized but had a lot of people. Instead of standing in a line, with maybe two people wide it was a line of fifteen people wide. We were shoved through the metal barriers like cattle. It was not a pleasant experience and it was Latanya's worst nightmare. But luckily we made it through alive and well.

The next stop was getting on a special subway line that lead to the Expo. This was once again another shove match. So many people not enough space. After the cramped quarters and a rather short ride, only two stops, we finally arrived. Yeah!!!
We got there the weather was overcast but we knew it would start raining soon. The weather was completely different than the day before. Yesterday it was really warm with hardly a cloud in the sky. Today it was about to pour and it was chilly.
We had our map of the Expo and headed toward the USA exhibit. The grounds were huge. It made Disneyland look tiny. As we walked we saw many different countires. Every country had it's own exhibit. Many were made up of large buildings that were specially designed to represent themselves. Small countries were put into large warehouse buildings together. For example the many of the Caribbean countries were put together, and many South American and Latin American countries were put together and so on. The larger ones had huge buildings to themselves and put on a wonderful display. The lines were extremely long for the popular countries. If you think about it, most of the tourists there were Chinese. Many of them would never go to these countries. They had souvenir passports were you could get a stamp from the different exhibits.

We arrived at the USA exhibit and the line was extremely long. We did not wait too long though, about an hour. When we went inside they filled a large room with about 300 people. There were large screens that showed a short film and introduction to the exhibit. We were then moved to an adjacent room with benches and watched another film about the future of the USA in respect to innovative thinking in relationship with our youth. It was cute. We were then moved to another room for another film and then one more after that. The concept was future planning and making a better community. While doing this help mold our children to help brainstorm and eventually help lead the cause. It was a great concept but a little bit of a let down as far as entertaining. The last room at the end was filled with merchandise of course with all of the corporate sponsors. Very American. It was great to see home even for a little bit.
Next we began to head to other exhibits. The short list of countries we saw were, Cuba, North Korea, Cambodia, Caribbean Nations and the African Nations. We could have spent several days there and checked out them all but that was not going to happen. The place was too big. We spent most of our time just walking around. It took forever to walk from one end of the grounds to the other. We did see a lot of golf carts that drove around like buses on a bus route. We opted out of this because we wanted to stop as we pleased when we saw an interesting area.



The highlight for Latanya was of course the Guyana booth. She felt proud of her heritage. She was also very interested in the displays. She took me on a tour and taught me a lot. She felt closer to home when we saw the booth.
After several hours of walking and by now the rain was really coming down and our feet were really hurting, we decided to leave and head to the downtown financial center. We got to the ultra modern high rises and the rain had subsided. We walked around a mall for awhile and then found a delicious restaurant. We stuffed ourselves with fried rice, dumplings and wantons, mmm.
After dinner we walked along the river bank. We stopped at a Paulaner brew house. Apparently they have a lot of them in Shanghai. It was nice to have a good beer on draft, something hard to find in Korea,unless you want to travel a long ways. After our happy hour beer we headed back to the hostel to get a happy hour beer at our hostel bar. All in all it was a full day. We did lots on foot. The next day we had no more sights on our list in Shanghai, so it was really all up in the air. One important event on our schedule was to catch a train tomorrow evening, an overnight train to Xi'an.

For more pics here is the link just highlight the web address and put into your web browser Enjoy!:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=75203&id=1654712300&l=fa8a9b3006

Shanghai - Day 1

After our trip to Hong Kong and Bali we had about back at school before we headed back to China. This trip was anticipated more by me than Latanya. On the to do list was to visit Shanghai a modern metropolis and Xi'an the beginning of a unified China.
We left in the morning from Korea. We arrived by midday. It was really easy to find our way to the subway that led to the city. We quickly found out that we did not do too much research this time around on our itinerary. We decided that we would take our time see the top sites and go from there. The subway was nice and efficient. We started to notice a little more stares than we were used to. In Hong Kong we were never stared at. It makes sense seeing as it is only recently removed from British rule. In Beijing the stares were only in the touristy areas where there were more Chinese tourist from elsewhere in the country than locals. But here in Shanghai we had literally just stepped on the subway in the station at the airport, completely unexpected. We would later find this the theme of our trip.
After a couple of transfers we finally arrived at our stop. We made our way to our hostel. Because I am amazing at finding my way anywhere, it was rather easy making it to our place. The hostel is situated down a smallish street that smelled really bad. I think there is a fish market right next store. We would also discover there was a weird smell that was present wherever we were in the city. Back to the hostel. It was just fine. Big enough rooms. The cleanliness was almost up to Latanya's standards but not quite. There was also a restaurant and bar on our floor. WiFi was free and what more do you need.




After we got settled we headed out to see a little of the city. We knew that today would be the best day to get out and see the city seeing as it was going to be the best weather of the week. Rain was on the way. We walked down to an older renovated part of the city. The architecture was nice, the people not so much. The stares were continuing. It really gave us a bad vibe from the start. In Beijing the stares felt almost celebrity but here in Shanghai it's like we are zoo animals. We walked along the Bund which sits along the river. We were able to see the picturesque downtown skyline. At this point the weather was quite warm and the sun was really draining.

From the Bund we decided to go inside and checkout a museum. Shanghai is well known for its museum and one on my list was the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. The center is several stories of urban planning. I was in heaven. I really enjoy urban planning a lot. I am interested in how huge cities are developed and the future of their development. On the top floor they had a model of the entire city of Shanghai in a room that took up huge amount of space. It was great just to walk around and read about all their displays.

After the museum we tried to find some local food but unfortunately did not see anything appetizing. I think the smell of the city prevented us from find anything that we would want to eat. Sometimes we forget that we eat with all our senses. Smell is a big factor. So we decided to have some Subway and then head back to the hostel. After a few happy hour beers at the bar we called it a night. The next day was going to be a marathon. We were going to the World Expo 2010!