I have spent the last week in a little slice of heaven – Boracay. It’s known as one of the best beaches in the world and has earned that reputation for a reason. Perfect sun, perfect warm breeze, perfect sand and perfect water temperature. Combine that with $1 beers and $3 margaritas, and it’s hard to get much better. Combine that with the friendliest service (although I’m not sure if it is by nature or by the desire for tips, I don’t really care either), and you don’t get better. Needless to say, I’ve had a great week. I’m glad I opted for a relaxed trip for the spring festival break and not an intense trek exploring several different places in a limited amount of time. In 3 weeks’ time, when I’m done in Shanghai, I’m ... read more

Up until this point I have neglected to mention where I live in Shanghai - I am right in the thick of things, a couple blocks north of People's Square and Nanjing Pedestrian Walk, right on Xizang Lu. This means that what most tourists flock to see in Shanghai, I see every day as I leave and come home. It's a prime location, and I sometimes take it for granted. I decided the other day that it was time to really enjoy my neigbourhood, so I set out camera in hand to document what I see every day. The hustle and bustle of people, the lights of Nanjing, the contrast within the park which is so quiet and peaceful. So this is my neighbourhood - hope you like it!... read more

Yesterday was a picture perfect day - blue skies with a hint of white cloud, unseasonably warm weather made even warmer by the bright sunlight. It was the perfect day to do some Shanghai exploring. A friend and I headed over to Jing'an Temple and it was the best choice we could have made. Jing'an Temple is a Buddhist monastary that was built almost 800 years ago. It now sits in the centre of Shanghai, on West Nanjing Road. It is surround by skyscrapers, traffic, and some of Shanghai's most expensive shopping. But as soon as you enter it, you forget that you are in the city. It's almost as if the temple is under a dome of quiet - within its walls the noises from the city fade away and you are completely focused on ... read more

CEIBS offered all of the exchange students the opportunity to take a free beginner Mandarin course. Obviously, I jumped at the opportunity - not only would it be very useful, but it was free. I was all excited for the first lesson yesterday thinking that they would provide some magic trick for communicating with basics in this language. I could not have been more wrong. We spent the entire first class on the phonetics. This makes sense, as it is a very different language than Western languages and it involves both new noises, as well as tones. What I didn't expect was to discover that I was tone deaf. And that my mouth cannot make certain sounds, no matter how hard I try (I blame my pudgy cheeks as I was repeatedly told they were somehow ... read more

I've just arrived in Shanghai for the beginning of my 6 month adventure in Asia. It's been a hectic few weeks preparing for the trip and now that I'm here I still don't believe I won't be back home until July. My trip is going to consist of three parts: 1) 2 months in Shanghai (finishing my MBA on exchange at CEIBS) 2) 2 months backpacking across China and Southeast Asia 3) 2 months working at the Sepilok Orang-utan Conservatory in Borneo (3 words: mandatory cuddle time) This should prove to be a pretty amazing trip. I'm going to do my best to blog it as I go and post a ridiculous number of pictures. But I make no promises - if I fall off the face of the planet it probably means I'm having a ... read more