Singapore!

Marina Bay Sands Top Deck Infinity Pool!
The views were incredible, pictures just don't do it justice!

More Vietnam

Picking vegetables for my Vietnamese cooking class!

First course: Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Second course: Fried Tofu over rice noodles

Third course: Barbecue Chicken salad with Corn

Fourth course: Fried banana nut rolls with coconut sauce! So good

Con Dao Island Fishing boats

After getting on a one way flight to an island with absolutely no one who speaks English without a return ticket, realizing there were no tickets back for the next two weeks, taking an hour bus ride to the disgusting rusted 15-hour overnight ferry-- where there were RATS, human feces, creepy men walking up and down the isles, hammocks, toilets that didn't work, and waves that made us think we were going down any minute-- met a guy named Tri on the ship who called a bus for us to take us to Ho Chi Minh (thank God he saved us) which took another 3 hours and they fit at least 25 people into a 10 person van, all the while the little Vietnamese lady sat on my lap for the full 3 hours, they dropped us off in a dirt lot that they called a bus station and we had to take another 45 minute taxi to bring us back to the boat but WE MADE IT, shooting a AK-47 from the Vietnam War, crawling on my hands and knees through the Cu Chi Tunnels, experiencing War museums from the Vietnamese perspective, crossing streets where the traffic laws for green, yellow, and red lights are all GO, bargaining with locals at the markets for gifts, eating with the locals, riding motorcycles, buying things from people on the streets without arms, standing in the exact place that the Vietnam War ended with Ambassador Twi,  eating dinner with Ambassador Twi and my professor Bob Brigham (and class) who is the smartest man I've ever met, I would say that Vietnam was 100% a trip I will never forget! 

 I want to go back already. I touched into a place of happiness that I haven't experienced in a long time, and I believe each experience, both good and bad, will only make it better!

Con Dao Island

Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam! 

Every single person rides motorcycles 

Con Dao Island, Vietnam

We got stranded on an island that has only 1 flight a day back to the main land, but I wouldn't have wanted to be stranded anywhere else (we are taking a overnight ferry back tonight- the last one before we have to be back to the ship) haha nothing like living on the edge

We ventured around the island and stumbled on this beautiful place

This island is the most beautiful place I've ever been, I can't wait to come back one day!

Made in China

 Chinese Acrobat Show! The craziest show I've ever seen! They put a giant circular cage out at center stage and one by one brought out crazy drivers who rode their motorcycle in. They fit 8 motorcycles at once into this area that looked like it could fit 4 maximum, and they started to zig-zag against each other--if you can imagine that at all it was incredible!

 The Great Wall of China with Hutch!

Sydney and I on the Ski Lift up!

Taylor, Sydney, and I!

This guy popped out of no where and started doing Kung Fu moves on me haha... I was definitely surprised

 

The Forbidden City in Beijing, China!

It didn't open up to the public until 1949

Shanghai, China Sidestreets!

Downtown Shanghai, China!

Hidden Markets in Hong Kong!

    

Some awesome friends we met at the markets who showed all five of us around!

Hutch and I bought matching furry panda jackets.. When in China?

      Nature Reserve Field Lab in Hong Kong!

Hong Kong from the Ship!                                             

China, the country of lost money

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Good things:

Words can not explain the beauty of The Great Wall of China!
     -We went to a part of the wall that was very secluded and not many tourists go to, which was the absolute best way to do it! You could actually enjoy and experience the wall in a less frantic setting. We saw probably 10 or so people up there.
     -Ski lift to the top
     -It was surprising to me that each set of stairs were different! Some were so steep I felt like I was rock climbing, and others were skinny and small. We also walked where humans aren't supposed to which was a little dirt pathway to the very top of our section of the Wall
     -Highlight: We definitely sang Mulan songs while hiking up
     -We had to sit and toboggan down! The longest/fastest slide I've ever been on for sure!

The Forbidden City 

Pecking Duck Dinner: They carved the duck right in front of us, and it was the best meal I had in all of China

Hidden Markets: There are tons of bargain markets in China, on little backstreets. I got a pair of Nikes for 30USD because I met these French guys in the market! You'll learn if you ever travel in Asia and see someone that looks American you automatically start talking to them. So I was chatting away and they were telling me places to go in France, and then told the owner that I was a friend and so I got a friend discount from the owner of the store (:
            * I met a ridiculous amount of Australians too

Beijing Nightlife... enough said


Not so good things:

The people were loud and pushy (compared to the quiet/helpful Japanese people I encountered)
Driving was an absolute NIGHTMARE, the lines on the streets were more like guidelines to where cars could go!

Taxis
Miles, Hutch, and I get into the back seat of a cab in Beijing, because the driver wouldn't let anyone sit in the front. It was my turn to pay for the taxi and the cab cost was 30 Juan( around 5 USD) and the cab driver gives me 70 Juan, so that I would give him 100 juan. After I give him my money he starts screaming in Mandarin, and the only words the three of us (Miles, Hutch, and I) could make out were FAKE FAKE! I was so flustered, he gave me back the 100 juan and I gave him a different one. He continued to tell me every bill I gave him was fake while screaming at us! At this point I'm really flustered- starting to get frustrated- and I tried to get out of the taxi (you can see the red latches like it is unlocked) but he had LOCKED US IN. Now I'm having an anxiety attack thinking I'm about to get kidnapped again. Then Hutch starts screaming at him to let us out, while he's screaming at us in a different language that our money is fake, and Miles was trying to be level-headed with the guy and grabs my money to explain to him its real. While he does this the cab driver finally listens to my roommate and opens the doors-- still screaming. I jump out and am asking people around to help but no one will. The taxi driver grabs Miles by the shirt and Miles tells him to never touch him and he throws money and him and we get out of there fast.
Throughout the day, no taxis were accepting my money and I was really confused. I went to our hotel and asked them why no one was taking my money and they told me it was fake! I told them that's impossible since I got the money from the ATM in the hotel and they asked if I was in any cabs that day and I told them the story.
Then they proceeded to tell me that sometimes cab drivers will switch the money that you give them for fake money. Meaning, every bill I gave him was real but he would switch it out for fake money and give me the fake money back.

I lost a good 100 USD.

We also missed our train (aka it came/left 10 min early) and they wouldn't refund us
Lost over 100 USD there too.

But you live and you learn eh?

Japan!

 Messing around before port in Japan!

 The Zen Gardens in Kyoto, Japan

Me and a Buddha!

Ryoan-ji (The Rock Garden) Kyoto, Japan

There are 15 stones, but only 14 visible at one time and is carefully tended to by monks!

More of the Gardens! This place was the most peaceful place I have ever been, I was in awe of what was around me. There was a purpose for the placement of everything in these gardens and it was incredibly centering (:

Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Temple) 

A little Japanese boy playing with the bell. Its tradition in Japanese culture to ring these large bells in order to get the attention of the Gods before they pray or practice a ceremony etc.

The incense is supposed to cleanse your soul!

Eating dinner at a traditional Bed and Breakfast in Kyoto-- maybe more of a mat and breakfast haha

I couldn't tell you half of the things I ate either

Annika, Em, & I!

Just Monk-eyin' Around

Streets before the temple

Geishas! 

A graveyard at the bottom of the temples. It's really interesting, they put running water along the walkways because it is supposed to sound like angels crying! 

My overall impression of Japan was surpassed anything that I was expecting! Something noteworthy, is how kind the people are. People would help with directions if we needed it, they would go out of their way to try to speak English to us, they were generally a quiet group of people (they don't talk on transportation systems) and are respectful to your own space. One day, Hutch and I decided to venture off in Kyoto at night and couldn't find our hostel on the way back. We were trying to make dinner( that is a few pictures above) so we were literally sprinting through the backstreets of Kyoto, and we see a man and his wife walking. We stopped frantically and he knew absolutely no English, but realizes we are in a hurry, leaves his wife behind, and runs us at least 7 blocks to our hostel! It's that type of going out of the way that I'm talking about.

Japan was a very comfortable, warm, and inviting place, and I would absolutely love to go back again some day!