So how to describe the PI? AMAZING? BEAUTIFUL? MIND BLOWING? I started off my trip in Cebu City where I was really surprised to find out that the 2nd largest city in the Philippines is a big slum with a few huge shopping malls - a place to seek refuge from the ghetto, nothing more. I met up with a friend of a friend who showed me around town and then the next day we headed out to the west coast of Cebu Island to a place called MoalBoal. Not a bad spot - Went snorkeling, tanning, and just relaxing! I [View Full Entry]

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Huangshan or the Yellow Mountains as they are called in English are named after an emperor who was called Huangdi (shan means mountain). Jingjing and I found a clean and small hotel at the bottom of the mountain in a town called Tengkou. We rose early and started our climb up the eastern flanks of the mountain around 7am, and after a harsh 3 hours of non stop climb to an elevation of 1800 meters we reached the plateau of the mountain chain which obviously led to more peaks and even more climbs! In total we hiked roughly 30K"m in a [View Full Entry]

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While we were in England for Joel's barmitzvah (mom, dad, and I) we went on a crazy road trip to the western tip of England which included Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. This was an amazing trip in which we made it to fabulous little towns, bays, and ports, having to drive through narrow hedges which would only permit one car at a time - thus speeding up a hedge at 50mph with a tractor headed your way is a NO GO! We made it to the ruins of Tintagel which are also names Arthur's Castle - a 7th century castle built [View Full Entry]

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I flew from Kota Kinabalu half stiff, and sore from climbing Mt. Kinabalu to the beautiful little island of Bali. This little paradise as discribed by many, is in fact a PARADISE! Karen and I started at Kuta which is the heart of Bali, well the modern party-beach-crazy find whatever you like town. We lazed around on the beach for a couple of days, went out to some bars and clubs, and did some fashion shopping for dirt cheap! From here we took a day trip to the southern tip of Bali to the most important and holy site for the [View Full Entry]

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Sorry for taking half a year to post this blog.. This blog is a description of my expedition to the summit of the 20th tallest summit in the world! My trip to Mt. Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in Malaysia, and 4th tallest in South East Asia at 4095 meters was one hell of an adventure, during which at times I thought I was going to die! This is an email I sent out from Kota Kinabalu a day after I returned from my 2 day trip from the national park: I just got back from Mt. Kinabalu... It was the most [View Full Entry]

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Where to begin?! Stats: Yunnan borders Burma to the west, Vietnam to the South, Guangxi to the east and Tibet and Sichuan to the north. Constant elevation - above 9000 feet. I flew with Karen (the taller) and my best friend in China- Ivy for a 10 day trip to Yunnan Province not knowing really what to expect. But boy oh boy... This is by far my favorite location in China (thus far - I intend on returning within 2 years). The whole duration we were at an elevation of no less that 9000 feet, surrounded by mountains with snow covered [View Full Entry]

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After a long pause I thought I owe you readers some fresh literature. Well maybe I won't go as far as calling it literature but just some thoughts and interesting things from the past couple of months. I spent May Labour Day weekend in Hong Kong which happened to coincide with The Olympic Torch Relay. Lucky enough I happened to be, by mere coincidence, exactly in a mall that had a bridge over a main road where one of the runners was going to pass. Stood waiting for a while but eventually low and behold the runner did turn up. Not [View Full Entry]

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Sorry for taking such a long break from writing to you. Do not think that I have neglected you. Nor have I fallen of the face of the Earth. I am still alive and kicking! Since my return from my winter vacation trip I have become slightly lazy when it comes to work. Nonetheless you need not worry! I still show up to work and show off my white face to the crowds in order to make it the well established second most expensive private liberal arts college in China - United "International" College, where the students can interact with and [View Full Entry]

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So this almost 4 week trip has been absolutely amazing! I started off in Bangkok Thailand flying in from Macau and spent there 4 days. the first half of the trip I was with 3 of the other TA's; Ali, Jackie and Megan. We stayed on Ko San Road which is the main backpackers destination... Its sleazy, full of tourists and entertainment and pimps and ladyboys.. Nonetheless dirt cheap accomodation makes it worth it! After 4 days of checking out Bangkok and what it had to offer (The Royal Palace, Reclining Buddha, cruise on the river, floating market, and the sleazy [View Full Entry]

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Hi everyone!! Hope you are all well and in good health!!! So I will work through the events in a systematic format:) Shenzhen Firstly I went to Shenzhen for the weekend a little while ago... I took the bus there with my good friend Ivy and met up there with Max... So not much to tell about Shenzhen except that it is super clean and new... sky scrapers everywhere and the streets are almost shining! They even have a WalMart there... hahah! I spent one night at some Canadians couch and the next night at an all inclusive spa. Again super [View Full Entry]

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