Hey ya’ll, My roommate Ryan and I just got back from Mexico City as a weekend getaway trip out of boring Atlanta. I value this trip as an eye opening for Mexico; before, I had always looked down on Mexicans (and Mexico), simply because the stereotypical Mexico we’ve learned from the States, such as illegal immigrants and border towns (I have visited Nuevo Laredo prior to Mexico City). Mexico City has proven itself to be a place where culture, different social economic classes and heritage blend together to define a sense of proudness of whom they are and what they are. [View Full Entry]

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Immigration experience After a couple of hours riding a bus from Melaka to Johor Bahru, finally we arrived at the Malaysian/Singapore Immigration border. The immigration/custom process is simple, if you know what you're doing: (1) getting off the bus at the Malaysian side of Johor Bahru to receive the Malaysian exit stamp, (2) getting back on the bus, just to drive less than a mile across the bridge, (3) getting off again, with all of your belongings at the Singapore side to receive the Singaporean entrance stamp. If you don't know how it is done, the drivers will gladly yell it [View Full Entry]

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Our bus ride from Pudu Raya station in KL to Melaka took roughly two hours. As soon as we arrived in Melaka, we hauled a cab to bring us to the center of the action: the history quarter. I’ve always heard about the City of Melaka, where the great Malay culture, which defines Malaysian and part of Indonesian cultures, started. Malay history was famous for its regional exploration and sea navigation achievement, just like Christopher Columbus of SE Asia. Most of the names started with “Hang”, so all these heroes named Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Lekir, and some others [View Full Entry]

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Flying from Bandung, Indonesia to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was an amazing experience. We had a chance seeing a glimpse of Indonesian Archipelago from above, which was promising to be a good trip. As soon as we landed in the KL International, we went through immigration like a breeze, then hopped on the Express Train to Sentral Train station in downtown KL. Our first destination was Petronas Towers, the then-tallest building in the world. To get there, we rode the metro system to the KLCC stop, which leads to the towers. We found out that the skybridge tickets are given for free, [View Full Entry]

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Back in Bandung, Java. After what it seems to be an eternity of Mom knocking on my bedroom door around 4 in the morning, I finally got up and proceeded to wake Beau up at our guest bedroom. In a nearby minaret, Muslim cleric chanting some prayers as a living proof that more than 85% of Indonesia’s population is devoted Islam. This is when I feel to be very spoiled, when you have several full-time maids to do your laundry and to do almost anything you want them to perform, including our long time chauffeur, Pa Enip, who has been serving [View Full Entry]

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Java’s train system is very reliable for a third world country, passing through the remaining of lush green rice paddy field of West Java province of Indonesia. After a 2.5 hours train ride from Jakarta, Beau and I arrived in hectic Bandung train station which was built by the Dutch during Colonial period. It is a modern station now, with some stores and restaurants, including the Hoka Hoka Bento, a franchised Japanese fast-food restaurant which was my favorite restaurant. Growing up, I remember many times my sister and I went to the restaurant to have their teriyaki beef served with sti [View Full Entry]

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Friday, December 31, 2004 - Jakarta, Indonesia New Year’s Eve is on tonight! It was around nine in the evening when Beau and I arrived in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, after roughly eight hour flight from Seoul, South Korea. Mom, Dad, my sister Leona, brother in law Julius and niece Kayla, were meeting us at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport arrival lounge, and we were fortunate enough to experience the notorious Indonesian street ‘riot’ celebrations for New Year’s Eve on our way to my aunt’s house in Kelapa Gading. [View Full Entry]

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Receiving the first stamp in your brand new blank passport is like a christening to become an avid traveler, and for that reason, I’m excited for Beau, my fraternity brother who decided to join me for my South East Asian journey, regardless the US Government’s travel warning for its citizens to Indonesia. He is willing to risk his comfort level to experience something different that the rest of the world can offer; it will be quite a shock for him, coming from the first world into a developing country. For that particular reason, I believe that developed South Korea, which definite [View Full Entry]

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Travel Log 11:50-ish Ames, Iowa 1:45 am Iowa City 2:12 am Rest stop, 30 miles West off Davenport 2:36 am filled up ½ tank of gas ................Gas $18.68 (rate of $1.89/gallon) ................Red Bull, gum, water $ 4.95 ................Total $ 23.63, paid with CC 2:43 am Davenport, Iowa 2:50 am I-80 exit 298 to I-74 E 2:52 am Bettendorf, Iowa 2:54 am cross Mississippi River and enter Moline, Illinois 4:10 am Peoria, Illinois ................Enter I-474 detour of I-74 due to construction 5:24 am Rest area at Farmer City, Illinois 5:46 am Urbana-Champaign, to I-57 S [View Full Entry]

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You can say that there are three things one can do during their college life. One, go Greek. Two, do a study abroad. Three, go on a spring break. I feel fortunate that I've done all three, and I enjoyed every minutes of it. There is something about college life; not just going to class and studying, but also enjoying it through being active in campus activities and many clubs, meeting new people that are in your shoes. Finally I graduated with a landscape architecture degree. As I have to depart from my beloved home in Ames, Iowa for the real [View Full Entry]

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