TravelBlog » thecalgarianbarbarian

thecalgarianbarbarian - Jessica Neufeld

My Travels Thus Far

Map Legend: 2%, 7 of 263 Territories

Where I took off

Where I plan to go

I have been here.

This map summarizes where I have been (maroon) where I am from (green) and where I plan to travel (blue).
In China I am based out of Hong Kong, but have travelled (briefly) to the Mainland (Shenzhen). In May 2008 I plan to travel to Beijing to run a half marathon on the Great Wall and to tour.
In Thailand, I travelled through the following cities/towns/islands: Bangkok, Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Dao, Surat Thani, Ko Phangnan.
In the Phillipines: Manila, Subic Bay, as well as a lot of countryside

The plans:
Chengdu - April
Beijing - April
Either Laos or Burma for the exam break??

I am a canadian student on exchange in hong kong for a semester.

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Joined on: January 2nd 2008
Last Login: May 12th 2008

Blog Entries: 37
Photos: 239

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by thecalgarianbarbarian, order by Date newest first.

By thecalgarianbarbarian
May 12th 2008

I was in this city two weeks ago!

Asia » Hong Kong » Kowloon

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7395496.stm Big earthquake near Chengdu! Doesn't sound like anybody got hurt though. I don't think that we felt it here... but maybe I was asleep. I still have like three more days to cover from the Beijing trip and two from Sichuan... I will do it, but right now I have a group paper that the locals have dumped me with (due in 23 hours) an advertising management final on Wednesday and my marketing research final on Thursday. Note for myself: Write about disasterous ad management group and marketing research group. Exeunt. [View Full Entry]

By thecalgarianbarbarian
May 5th 2008

Biking through Beijing

Asia » China » Beijing » Tian'anmen

In Beihai Park with Kristen

We got to a slow start this morning. I stayed in after the race and slept yesterday, and the rest of them went out with the others from our school who are in Beijing (there are about 30 of them...) Kristin and I agreed that we didn't want to tour with the group. I want more than the Beijing 'McExperience'. I don't want to be in a bus and have my hand held as I tour the city. She felt the same way, so after we checked into our downtown hostel Moniek, Kris, and Oliver went to find the group at [View Full Entry]

The Polluted View of the Forbidden City from Beihai

By thecalgarianbarbarian
May 1st 2008

A Marathon on the Great Wall

Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China

The Great Freakin' Wall of China!

'You can't be called a hero if you've never walked the Great Wall' The way my logic goes... Walking the Great Wall = One becomes a Hero Running a (Half) MARATHON on the Great Wall = SuperHERO! / Insane At 6 we woke up to catch our 6:30 bus for the race. We ate bread and peanut butter in the bus and slept. We arrived at 10:30, where the cheerful if somewhat confused race organizer declared 'Ok... so we are a little behind schedule as the run is supposed to start at 11 and now it is 10:35... so you will [View Full Entry]

Me, completely red faced, about 30 minutes into the race

Linus, Moniek, and Kristen @ the Starting Line

By thecalgarianbarbarian
April 30th 2008

The Beginning of the End

Asia » China

Today we left campus for Beijing. The flight is at 9:30 tomorrow out of Shenzhen, so we are staying at an overnight spa called Queen's Spa. You pay about 12 CND to go to the ultimate Disneyland for girls and boys our age - a full service luxury overnight spa with unlimited free fruit and ice cream. You change into jammies they give you and sit in luxurious lazyboys and watch movies in the movie theatre. Then you pay 15CND for them to massage you for 90 minutes, then you go into a 'sleeping pod' and get woken up when you [View Full Entry]

By thecalgarianbarbarian
April 21st 2008

Quick Update

Asia » China » Chengdu

I am in China, and LOVING it! - I don't really have time for the long posts, but I have been keeping notes and should have some interesting entries to post in a week or two to fill you in on this trip. Topics that will be covered: (Just to tease you) TIBET (I was in an area full of Tibetans - not actually in Tibet, but pretty darn near close... very interesting local insights AND I met a journalist and had dinner with her) Being in UNESCO national park that looks like Canada but doesn't Horseback riding with Tibetan villagers [View Full Entry]

By thecalgarianbarbarian
April 18th 2008

Horse Trekking in Songpan - and Tibetan and Middle Eastern Debate

Asia » China » Sichuan » Songpan

Me and 'Emma'

I left campus at about 4:45pm on Thursday. 7 Hours later I was in Chengdu singing a Chinese song to the employees of the KFC in the Chengdu airport as I waited for Walid's flight to get in. This was my first encounter with a persistent dilemma in China - no one speaks any English. I was prepared for this before I left, anf looking forward to it very much. Pretty much everywhere I have travelled, I have managed to get by with English. Especially in Cambodia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Phillipines... the tourist industry is very clear cut and English [View Full Entry]

One of the Guides and the View from the Top

By thecalgarianbarbarian
April 15th 2008

A Hong Kong Weekend

Asia » Hong Kong » Kowloon

St Honore and my sweet marketing group

Last weekend I did some cool Hong Kong things. On Friday night I went to an asian film called 三國之見龍卸甲 or 'Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon'. Basically this dude named Andy Lau is the shit over here, like Brad Pitt or Will Smith. In true Asian style, he is not only a movie star, but also a canto-pop star who has released a lot of successful albums. Anyway, he has a reputation for playing the 'Heroic Gangster' and only accepts cool good guy roles, which is what he had here. He plays this soldier who came from modest beginnings but [View Full Entry]

By thecalgarianbarbarian
April 9th 2008

Observations inspired by Arabic class

Asia » Hong Kong » Kowloon

Main Plaza
OoooOooOOo shrouded in MIST! Read: My hair is always huge.

In my Arabic class we go around the room taking turns sounding out Arabic words. I noticed today that some asian students count what number their turn will be and while others are sounding out their words, they work on theirs. This way, when it is their turn, their pronounciation is pretty good. I, on the other hand, listen to the rest of the class struggle through their words and then when my turn comes, stall with the professor as I try and figure out which word I am supposed to read, then sound it out on a process that sounds [View Full Entry]

By thecalgarianbarbarian
April 5th 2008

The Day I was Adopted by a Cambodian Orphanage

Asia » Cambodia » Phnom Penh

Me and the kids

Overall, I give it 5.5 out 5 Chuck Norris Judo Kicks worth of gut busting awesome On my last day I managed to take it easy and enjoy Phomn Penh at a more leisurely pace. I went to an awesome cafe off the main strip - still catered to tourists, but I feel like in Cambodia, a majority of places that are safe for foreigners to eat in have to be that way. There was a used bookstore next door, so I had picked up a novel to read and enjoyed the morning. I took a tuk tuk to the [View Full Entry]

By thecalgarianbarbarian
March 26th 2008

I really like this city - More Cambodia

Asia » Cambodia » Phnom Penh

One of the torture rooms

Last night was a complete gong show. Amaury and I were supposed to stay overnight here and the rest of the gang planned to head to Saigon before nightfall... but of course this is Asia and the cab took two hours to show up at the guesthouse and then the driver refused to take the boys to the border because it was likely to be closed before they could get there. Of course, most of them lost it. I don't really blame them. They were sitting in the cab, telling the driver to just put the pedal to the metal, the [View Full Entry]

TravelBlog » thecalgarianbarbarian

thecalgarianbarbarian | Jessica Neufeld | Travel Blog

thecalgarianbarbarian - Jessica Neufeld

My Travels Thus Far

Blogs & Travel Journals

I was in this city two weeks ago!

Biking through Beijing

A Marathon on the Great Wall

The Beginning of the End

Quick Update

Horse Trekking in Songpan - and Tibetan and Middle Eastern Debate

A Hong Kong Weekend

Observations inspired by Arabic class

The Day I was Adopted by a Cambodian Orphanage

I really like this city - More Cambodia