http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/sprucemoose/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from sprucemoose en-us Tue, 13 May 2008 08:56:26 BST Tue, 13 May 2008 08:56:26 BST Chapter III What is Really Happening in ShanghaiThis is not a normal city. It is undergoing an ridiculous period of growth wealth and change. It has progressed from a stagnant reminder of flourishing trade to a new modern cutting edge metropolis. However this boom is common knowledge. In fact this knowledge is so well known that it is just common place. Half of the businessrelated newspape http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-209099.html Chapter I IntroductionI loved Shanghai from the moment I arrived. I had just stepped off a train left arm in a sling thanks to my snowboarding mishap in New Zealand. With my obvious disability I was a helpless lamb ready for slaughter to any sneaky taxi driver. China is full of them and instantly I was hounded by four drivers each trying to rip me off. It was one of Shanghai's hottest days in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-198869.html No Ralph Jesus did not have wheelsBut I bet you He has a snowboard. For snowboarding must surely be something done in Heaven.It's amazing how much can happen in just 6 days. What started off as an exciting time merely thinking of going snowboarding in New Zealand peaked when i did some of the coolest snowboarding yet and then rapidly disintegrated into me returning home prematurely battered http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Queenstown/blog-193766.html Yeah so I'm going back to New Zealand this winter. Oh I see. So do you love sheep A stupid comment by a stupid person. Sheep are not the only attraction that New Zealand has. What about the diverse and stunning natural scenery The cool easygoing yet comparitevely less intelligent inhabitants What about all the fun activities that cost heaps of moneyAfter an exciting 2006 my need t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/blog-151845.html So there it is ladies and gentlemen. Thirteen and a half months later i arrived at Perth International Airport on a 42 degree Australia Day. It contrasted well with the 2 degrees and snow i left in London. I had left Perth a young boy at 19 all to return a man at 21. I was disappointed that my fun exchange student and travelling lifestyle was finished for now. But i was looking forward to seeing http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Perth/blog-147401.html SarajevoOne always walks down the cobbled streets of the great Ancient city of Rome imagining how life must have been during those times. You see the Colusseum on the right Palatine Hill on the left Trevi Fountain in front of you. All the grandeur all the glory all the prosperity that was Rome. Whilst walking the streets of Sarajevo in Bosnia I tried to imagine the exact opposite. A bulletri http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina/East/Sarajevo/blog-141807.html I lost count on the times that I have been asked this question. I could almost sense when someone was about to ask it. People asked me Why choose to study in FINLAND so many times that my travelling partner Joel could not help himself but laugh everytime someone asked me that question. It was really absurd.So one would think that after hearing such a question so often that I would have a perfe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Finland/blog-128267.html ViennaNot again. That was one of the many flurrying thoughts quickly running through my mind as my body was running around the streets of Vienna at 1150pm on December 31 2006 New Years Eve. Yes I know this blog is VERY ate but hey I'm VERY lazy. So moving on our moving around aimlessly reminded me of my first 2hrs in Vienna during last summer where I got hopelessly lost for 45min followin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/blog-128266.html No visit to Finland is complete without visiting the part above the Arctic Circle Lapland. Lapland embodies everything that is about Finland unabound stretches of untouched white velvet pine forests gracefully carpeted in snow rolling hills and dotted lakes. And don't forget that it is above the Arctic Circle. It is a fine example of an Arctic wonderland and for a sunbred Australian Lapland http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Finland/Lapland/Levi/blog-117413.html Some people say you know you can't believe Jamaica we have a boblseigh team.We have aone Derice and aone Junior and a...... Sanka.The fastest of the fastest of Jamaican sprinters go to Olympics to fight for Jamaica I and my confident elite and highly trained teammates Annya and Stephen could not help but recite this uplifting chant repeatedly check the video as we eagerly anticipated our http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Latvia/Riga/blog-111875.html KrakowMy time in Krakow was thoroughly enjoyable largely thanks to the awesome hostel I was staying at. I don't know what it is but there is something about the really good hostels that give them a sort of aura or charm that is unforgettable. The Flamingo hostel was one such hostel. It was a relatively small very modern and clean hostel with prime location right off the main square. But what pro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-99411.html What's better than lazing about and drinking beer in an expensive country Lazing about and drinking beer in a cheaper country. So with 2 weeks off from university I decided to implement this rather simple logic by spending my 2 weeks in Poland instead of Finland. Best decision ever along with all my other great decisions as I had a ball. I spent the first week on Poland's northern coast with m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Pomeranian/Gdynia/blog-99410.html Finland is known as the land of a Thousand Lakes. This is quite inaccurate as there are actually 187 888 lakes no joke. Finland is also known as the land of a Thousand Islands 179 584 to be exact... again no joke due to the many islands that litter these lakes and also in the Turku and Aland archipelagos. Finland's real beauty and charm is in its untouched and pristine nature but thanks to t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Finland/Ulvila/blog-92289.html I was stuck in a boring lecture on International Commercial Arbitration on a perfect clear and sunny evening in Turku Finland. After 3.5 months of exciting adventures beautiful places and interesting people this new and old way of life just was not going to stick for too long. I was back into routine study and normal life. Of course I am still happy after all exchange is awesome. But the un http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Stockholm/blog-89714.html LjubljanaIt was love at first sight. What I will remember most about Ljubljana was the heavenly angel in human form who was the receptionist at my hostel. I fell head over heels almost instantly. I lost all composure and levelheadedness. It was as if I had been cast under a spell with my judgement and thinking just completely thrown out the window at the hands of this merciless sorceress with he http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovenia/Ljubljana/blog-85413.html BledLike Alice I had stepped into a fairytale plunged down the rabbit hole into a world of magic and wonder. After yet another sleep in a train station this time Ljubljana I arrived in Bled and what a sight I saw. A deep turqoise lake so clear you can see rocks metres below. The water was almost unbelievably calm and placid as if it had never even been touched by the forces of nature. This la http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovenia/Bled/blog-85144.html GrenobleAfter travelling for almost 14 hrs from Siena I arrived in Grenoble to be warmly welcomed at the train station by Gil. Grenoble is home to three of my good friends from exchange in Turku Gil Helen and Amelie I will henceforth call them the Med Three as they are all doctors it will be quicker this way P. I had a really excellent time here. Meeting up and hanging out with old friends http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Rh-ne-Alpes/Grenoble/blog-83444.html Il Palio di SienaEvery year I watch the Melbourne Cup the Race That Stops A Nation. A day filled with excitement fun and tension and many emotions run high. This year I watched Il Palio di Siena and I just forgot about the Melbourne Cup. I've seen madness before drunken madness at Vappu sportsteam madness at the World Cup music madness at Rock Werchter adrenalinsurvivalmode madness at the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Siena/blog-82538.html Tunis Sousse El Jem and SfaxSo finally we made it to Tunisia My first time in Africa one step closer to my life goal of settting foot on each of the seven continents of the world only Sth America and Antarctica to go. That everevasive ferry ride ended up being quite interesting. We met many of the Tunisians who were pushing in front of us at the ticket window in Trapani and they all happi http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Tunisia/Tataouine/blog-80782.html Since we decided to come to Europe Joel and I have been longing to go to Tunisia and as has Dan. It was a must on itinerary as our future travel plans all depended on us going there Dan even had to get a flight to Tunis to London. But getting a ferry was nowhere near as easy as normal. Instead it was a mammoth quest of titanic journeys constant disappointments nervous waiting and hectic hagg http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Trapani/blog-80760.html