NYC, Trip Wrap-up & Pictures!

Finally home in NYC and settling in to classes. Student life is hectic, but good. Steph found a great job in the Fine Jewelery buying office at Macy’s. Really can’t complain about anything. In case any of you are interested in seeing the complete set of pictures from our Pan-Asian adventure, you can visit online at http://picasaweb.google.com/redmocha. There are nearly 3,000 pictures available, so pace yourself. If you don’t have the fortitude (or interest) to sit through the entire spread, then we’d suggest you just click on the “Best Of Trip” album to watch the best 400 pictures scroll past on a slideshow. We promise, it is a much better use of your time than watching an episode of The Simpsons. Let us know what you think!

Take the A Train
Subways around the world are not all created equal. In Russia, the subway stations are monuments to the stoic Soviet worker - complete with ornate tapestries, marble stone archways and shiny quiet trains that run every three minutes. In China, the subways are even shinier - primarily because they are still in the process of being built - and in Thailand, the subways are above ground, but they run fast and smooth with music videos on flat panel TVs inside every car. In New York the subways are filthy, creaky, expensive and somewhat dangerous - but despite these shortcomings, the NYC subway system is still the most comprehensive and accessible system we’ve found yet. Which do you prefer?
http://picasaweb.google.com/redmocha/Subways

Assorted Trip Statistics
Times around world: 1.18
Miles Traveled: Over 25,000
Countries visited: 9
# of Countries’ McDonald’s Visited: 6 (Malaysia was the best, by far, and the only one with Diet Coke)
Nights on Trains: 10
Nights on Planes: 3
Nights on Buses: 1
Days Hiking: 5
Days Biking: 4
Hours Waiting in Customs Stops: 21 (20 of which without restroom options)
Bears Seen: 3
Circus Trick-Performing Bears Seen: 0
Modes of transport taken: 25 (including plane (A400, 747, other), bus proper, vanbus, bike, train, maglev high-speed transport, hydrofoil, subway/metro, boat, bamboo raft, glass-bottomed speedboat, sampan, psychedelic tunnel ride, taxi, flatbed motorcycle taxi, flatbed truck taxi, motorcycle, private car, rickshaw, elephant, horse, skytram, ski lift, airport people mover)
Times Violently Ill of Food Poisoning: 1
Recurrences of Pink Eye: 3
US Friends Met Abroad: 3
New Foreign Friends Met Abroad: Countless (at least 14 good ones)
Packages Sent

Tom's Restaurant
Seinfeld ate here. Suzanne Vega sang about the help. Now we eat here -- right outside of Columbia's campus.

Home: 5 + postcards
Packages Arrived: 5 + postcards
Cost to Mail Rocks to Salt Lake from Mongolia: $2.15
Cost to Mail Rocks to Salt Lake from San Francisco: $5.50
Cheapest Room: Xi’an (ewww! - $14)
Best Value Lodging: Bali (Green Garden Hotel - $28)
Worst Value Lodging: New York (double ewww! - $129)
Most Expensive City: Shanghai - $137/day for two
Least Expensive City: Chiang Mai village tribes - $4/day for two
Best Meal: Pushkin Café, Moscow, Russia
Street Vendor Suggested Haggling Discounts: China - 50%; Bangkok - 30%; Bali - 40%
Times Refusing Vendors For: T-Shirt (294), Manicure (45), Consumer Survey (39), Taxi (2,712), Beer (0), Hairbrush (76), Dumb Gifts (8,298), Bow & Arrows (17)
Books Read & Discarded: 15 (Best ones: Riding the Iron Rooster, The Good Earth, Leninism, Tea Money)
Most “Polo” stores on a single block: 7 (Bali, Indonesia)
Never Having to Wear those tripclothes again: Priceless!
Random Closing Thought: English speakers can find a job in any country teaching their own language, but no matter how far they run, the similarities across cultures will outweigh the differences.

That’s All! Be sure enjoy the pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/redmocha

Stephandel

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