My experience with the Hindu religious festival began the night before I went to the Batu Caves. My new Danish friend and I were walking through the rain in Kuala Lumpur, discussing how much both our countries are hated by most of the world at this point in time when we noticed that a large number of Hindu people walking in the same direction as if they were caught up in the tide of a stream. Naturally, at 1am with nothing much to do but wander, we followed the stream and found a river of Hindus on a Pilgrimage of sorts, [View Full Entry]

---

---

What I was expecting from Singapore was very much different than the Singapore I encountered. To begin, I suppose I have an overly romanticized vision of many of the places I am to visit on this trip which is something that I am attempting to rectify. The more you ideas and expectations you bring into any given situation, the more apt you are to be disappointed when any aspect of your hopes doesn’t come to fruition. This is particularly the case in having seen Singapore this past week. To begin, my vision of Singapore is one who’s city is dominated vastly [View Full Entry]

---

---

As has been the case lately, the lack of planning has stung particularly hard whenever needed the most. Simple things like checking into hostels have been of no real problem or importance due to the abundance of housing opportunities within any given town. Trains, busses and cars however, we’ve been definitely been paying a premium because we’ve not booked passage more than 2 hours prior to departure. A visa, a completely overlooked aspect of the trip until this point would become the newest thorn in my side. The girl at the Qantas check in counter was kind enough to offer us [View Full Entry]

---

---

I spend the summer prior to my senior year and the summer following graduation from Penn State working for my brother’s surf film company. (Shameless plug: Check out the website www.mutiny-media.com ) During which time, I was privy to a lot of films containing amazing footage from all over the world. There are some places that are enticing for their tropical regions, some for their proximity to foreign cities, most for the cleanliness of their waves. I was particularly impressed with some of the footage I saw coming from Australia. Beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, perfect sets rol [View Full Entry]

---

---

It’s not easy to leave a close friend whose been living in such a remote part of the world as Western Australia. Nor is it easy to leave an entire crew of expatriates with whom I’ve had such a good time with. But one can only stay in the WA when the land of Oz’s big two cities awaited. It was probably not a good sign, landing in the middle of a lightning storm, and then having to wait out the storm to recover your bags because even the grounds crew wouldn’t be caught dead outside. But the only lingering negative [View Full Entry]

---

---

The World doesn’t care about Australia. Australia doesn’t care about Perth. This is great! No one cares what happens out here! Anything goes! - James E. Lynch, Jr. Had my cousin, James the Wise, not been living in Fremantle for the past 5 months, there’s little to no chance that I’d have landed in Western Australia at any point in my life. But then again, I’ve learned that there is a glimmer of method to Jamie's madness, as the trip to WA has been much more than I expected. The entire trip to WA had been rather suspect due to the [View Full Entry]

---

---

Fraser Island is the 4th largest island off Australia and the only island comprised entirely of sand. Its amazing to see all the wildlife that has grown and lives on Fraser Island, but there it is, dingoes and all! Our group, Team 2 renamed Team Heavy because of the truck's license plate, was part of a larger caravan of 5 total trucks containing 50+ adventure seekers. Team Heavy was made up of 5 British, 2 Americans, 2 Koreans, and one weird 45 year old spring breaking Canadian. The crew was good because, aside from the Koreans, which we all believed were [View Full Entry]

---

---

The mad traveling has officially begun. After an early morning wake-up call in AUckland to catch a 7am flight to Brisbane, there was no other option but an 18 hour busride up north to the Whitsunday Islands. I boarded the bus at noon and arrived at 6am just in time to watch the Airle Beach McDonalds open business for the day. I would have thought that after such brutal travel, a day on the beach would be totall necessary, but being that it was technically my first day in Australia, I was eager to book passage on the first boat leaving [View Full Entry]

---

---

Being that this will be my last post from New Zealand I will dispense random thoughts regarding our latest journey into the Abel Tasman National park as well as the Kiwi culture with primary focus on the south island. To begin, I was extremely disappointed with myself and my inability to write about any intriguing observations I noticed in Queenstown. The reason for this is that I really hadn't let it all sink in at the point when I posted the last blog. In fact I hadn't even left Queenstown before I was trying to sum it all up. My apologies [View Full Entry]

---

---

Even as an english major, I'm at a loss for words when it comes to describing the natural beauty of Queenstown. I've started this blog nearly 5 times now and can't seem to do these pictures any justice. All in all, my stay here has been eventful to say the least. Wine tasting, Bungy Jumping, Whitewater Rafting, Jet Boating, Hiking, & just a little bit of Partying... [View Full Entry]

---

---