In my last entry, I said I was headed out of Daejeon, but a stomach flu kept me in bed for an entire two days! At first, a doctor even thought it might be swine flu =/ But with my trip effectively shortened to 8 days, I had to really move it to squeeze in all that I wanted to do. I would be in Daejeon for a couple more days before and after my trip to Daegu, and I saw a lot of local sights. Temples, Mountains, and lotus festivals, it was nothing huge compared to some of the sights [View Full Entry]

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After a late night flight and some worries about SK customs (the nice man at customs didn't charge me for bringing too much duty-free alcohol), I arrived in South Korea. Incheon airport is on the very northwest corner of South Korea, and Daejeon is smack-dab in the middle, so it was a 3-hour express bus ride to get to my uncle's place. Daejeon is a medium sized city (1.5 mm pop out of 48mm total, compared to 10.5 mm for Seoul), and it's mostly a residential area. There is a "Techno-valley" that is Korea's equivalent of Silicon Valley, as well as [View Full Entry]

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Our last day in Thailand was spent in absolute comfort. We spent the day relaxing in our great hotel, watching Transformers 2 at the mall, and having lunch and dinner at the Mall's wonderful food courts. Bangkok was a far friendlier experience than Chiang Mai. Taxis are plentiful and dirt cheap ($1-$3 a ride), and the food is more accessible as well. If you are going souvenir shopping in Thailand, we would also recommend you save your shopping for Bangkok. The standard tourist trinkets can be had for far cheaper in the non-bargaining stores in the mall; you really get taken [View Full Entry]

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After a day in KL, we arrived in Chiangmai. We experienced some culture shock. Few people speak good English and most of those who do work in the tourist industry and are trying to get ur money. But soon u get used to the hustle and enjoy the cheap food and bustling street markets. As soon as we arrived at our hotel and dropped off our luggage, we were off to the Wats. They are really beautiful creations and places of worship, but eventually you realize that there is one on each block and they all look the same. So, eventually [View Full Entry]

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Picture/video Update. Underwater pics were taken by my normal digital camera with an underwater case. Enjoy! [View Full Entry]

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First day traveling together! For our last day in Singapore we decided to hit up the zoo. We saw a bunch of monkeys hanging around the trail, and got to see a sea lion show! The elephants kinda sucked, but it was a great day, especially because the monkeys and deer-mice were literally on the trails with us. We saw lots of giant spider webs (more pics to come in a later update). Afterwards, we had an awkward moment at the hostel watching "Waiting" with some random people. A movie with surprise crotch-shots is probably not the best first movie to [View Full Entry]

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I woke up at 7:30 today! Today I went to Kampong Glam (the muslim area), Sim Lim Square (electronics store), and Pulau Ubin (undeveloped island). It was a short, yet intense day. Mag got me a special breakfast today. She got me some Kaya toast (toast with a butter/coconut spread), along with a cup of soft-boiled (almost raw actually) eggs. The toast was so good! The eggs were a little strange, but certain edible. To round out my breakfast, I got some more ice cream from the carts. Kampong Glam is fun to walk around, but I must have missed the [View Full Entry]

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Waking up at 5:30 am (getting better), I was treated to a huge downpour that seems to be a daily feature of Singaporean life. The whole room was emptying out, with a pair of Brits who were teaching primary school, and a city Councilman from the Philippines, both heading towards Kuala Lumpur. They were all awesome, funny people, and hope to meet them again! The people are surprisingly nice, and although I picked hostels because they are the cheapest, they are definitely the number 1 choice for someone traveling alone. With the rain in the background, and aching feet from my [View Full Entry]

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First day in Singapore! Met up with my cousin at the airport and stayed with her for the night. The next day, we got a late start. After running some errands (contact lenses are expensive in singapore!), we went to a hawker market and had some famous chicken and rice. The rice is the best part! Then we went to the river, where we hit up all the touristy places -- Raffles, city hall, Clark Quay, the durian building. After taking one of those river cruises, we went to get dinner at this popular crab restaurant. The crabs are so big, [View Full Entry]

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Alright, well nothing new has transpired since the last entry other than my dinner which is explained through pictures below. However, I'll bullet point a few thoughts before heading off to bed. The de facto form of begging in Singapore seems to be selling tissues. A large portion of beggars are blind Taxis are mostly Blue Hyundais Singapore is by far friendlier (at least at first) than Tokyo. Any first-time non-Japanese visitor to Asia would probably have much more fun in Singapore than Japan. English is the official language, and still manages to retain an "Asian" feel. Gum is [View Full Entry]

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