Day 5 Our day of rest. Before leaving Kruger and Mpumalanga for a more urban experience in Pretoria, we stopped to indulge in a true national treasure...Wimpy's! Basically the equivalent of a Steak n' Shake back home, these little diner-esque eateries serve delicious, frothy, milk coffee and are praised by seemingly everyone. I'd say the food was about what you'd expect: tasty but by no means gourmet, and in under an hour we were back on the road to Pretoria. Day 6 We were extremely fortunate that our hosts were able to arrange for us to visit an AIDS center right [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 Finally! For the first time ever, I was greeted by a man with a sign at the airport...how exciting!?! I arrived early Thursday morning in Johannesburg and after changing my Dollars to Rands, I set off with my chatty driver (he gave me a thorough introduction to South Africa) towards Pretoria where I would be staying with friends. My first impression of Africa was of the landscape. Now is the tail end of their winter/dry season so the earth is a dusty red-orange color and the sky was vast and bright, crisp, blue. The contrast was gorgeous and I [View Full Entry]

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Day 4 The circular fountain was centered in the plaza that lay at the end of a cobblestone street, lined on both sides by colorful buildings that once housed various Portugese businesses but today are occupied by shops like Haagen Dazs and the Body Shop. Macau has a distinctly old world, European feel at its core and for the day, I felt like I'd left Asia and could have been roaming the streets of 18th century Lisbon. We tried to spend our time seeing the old town rather than the glitz of the casinos and Gucci windows that greet you when [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 A perfect girls' weekend in Hong Kong was exactly what I needed to break up the monotony of the blah spring we'd been having back in Korea. As any girl would do, I painted my nails to match all three of the dresses I'd packed for the weekend which were, of course, color coordinated with my friend's outfits. I stuffed my backpack full of all the necessities, cut out of work early, grabbed a Starbucks icy drink for energy and headed with Kathryn to the airport for our evening flight to Hong Kong. We arrived late, around 10:30p.m. but [View Full Entry]

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Day 7 With two days left in China, I was in no mood to waste time. Even more determined to see Mao's mausuleum, I woke up early on Saturday morning to avoid the crowds. Today was the first time I was going to venture out in Beijing completely alone...I contemplated this over breakfast and my enthusiasm didn't diminish. I took a taxi to Tienanmen Sq., walked through the security checkpoint for the thousandth time, and made my way over to the Mao memorial. I was confused as to why, despite reading the sign that clearly stated that the memorial was opened, [View Full Entry]

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Day 4 I'm not going to sugar-coat it. Today was definitely the low point of our trip. When you have three travelers, all with different agendas, things are bound to come to a head at some time. Today was that time. We spent the day sorting out of flight info, not seeing Mao's tomb in Tienanmen Square, grabbing lunch in the food court at one of the fanciest malls in Beijing (oooh...,) and then we boarded a plane for our hour-long flight to Xi'an in the Shaanxi province. Not a terribly fascinating day, but I'm trying to look on the bright [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 & 2 Traveling to China during Chinese New Year meant participating in the biggest annual human migration on the planet...and I couldn't wait! Of course, this also means that since we've been here almost nothing has gone according to plan. Trying to find train tickets to Xi'an was hopeless and so when we arrived Sunday evening we quickly scoured the net for flights. Several failed attempts later and we were finally booked to Xi'an and decided to book our return flight at the airport. We've also had a man down for the last few days thanks to a bout [View Full Entry]

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After all the bustle and oddities we uncovered in Bangkok, it was finally time to head to the "relaxation" portion of the trip. The days were a bit lazier and the sun was bit hotter but it was while visiting the islands and meeting the people in Southern Thailand that I understood why they call their country "The land of smiles." Day 5 I was sad when I woke up because I knew it was time to leave Bangkok and although it might be the most polluted place I've ever been, there is more than enough to make up for it. [View Full Entry]

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To say that Thailand is amazing, is like saying the pyramids are big. Thailand is a spectacularly warm, beautiful country with an abundance of culture and natural beauty. It is unfortunate, though, that the tourist areas can overshadow its natural charm. I won't pretend I completely avoided the tourist spots, what would a trip to Bangkok be without the Grand Palace and the Floating Markets? All in all, however, I think I was able to find a happy balance between the "must-see" tourist sites and sampling the local flavor. Our trip began one night in Bangkok... Day 1 (Christmas Day) My [View Full Entry]

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It's been about 3 1/2 months since I moved to South Korea and I think it's safe to say that I've gotten over the "oooh-ing and ahhh-ing" phase. As winter approaches (there were actually about 5 miniscule snowflakes blowing around on Friday and it caused quite a commotion as all the kids were drawn to the windows) things have finally settled down a bit. I hope this entry serves as a sort of snapshot of my life in Busan. Halloween was an interesting occasion because Koreans, of course, don't celebrate (though the kids wish they did!) A few friends and I [View Full Entry]

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