Adventures from around the World

So coming back to work after my 6 weeks off was not as bad as I thought it would be.  This could be because I have done very little (in fact that is probably over stating what I have done in school this week…I have been playing Pirates of the Carribean over and over and over), or because I, in some ways, loathed the trip and wished for it to be finished.  Now that isn’t to say it was all bad.  I actually had a pretty good time, I saw so many things that I have wanted to see and so many things that I never knew existed.  The problem really lay in the company…but more about that later.  First let me tell you about the trip itself.

Week 1 (Dec 30 - Jan 5) Hong Kong, Macau, and Bangkok

So the trip began actually late at night on the 29th when I took the Incheon express bus from Mokpo at 2:30 am, which got us to the airport at 7 in the morning.  The trip began on a fantastic note!  We checked in for our flight to Hong Kong, on Cathay Pacific, and they upgraded us to Business Class!  I don’t really know why - they said why but I couldn’t understand the check-in woman…but who cares I was going to fly business class!  
Business class is amazing.  First the seats are huge, probably something like 1.5-2 ecomomy class seats, and the foot room!  I’ll put it this way, I needed to undue my seat belt to reach my bag that was stored under the seat infront of me.  Also once you get on the plane the flight attendant comes around and offers blankets, socks, eyemasks, headphones, orange juice, water, champagne (or sparkling wine I’m not sure), and hot towels.  And this is all before the plane starts moving.  Once you are in the air you get to watch tv/movies/play games on your own tv tucked into your armrest.  Then the flight attendant comes around and puts a table cloth on your tray table (which is tucked into the other armrest) and offers you a larger assortment of alcholic and nonalcoholic beverages, a bowl of nuts, and the menu for your meal.  The coolest part is that she addresses you by your name!  The menu describes your options for the 4 course meal that is about to be served to you.  It begins with a salad, a warm roll (of which there are 4 varieties) or garlic bread, and this thinly cut slamon and olives thing.  Then they bring the main course, I think I had the chicken and vegetables thing, but there were 3 choices to choose from.  I should also mention that these dishes aren’t being served in plastic trays with tiny compartments.  No, these are served on large ceramic plates, and each course is cleared before the next one comes out.  Ok the 3rd course was a selection of cheeses and fruit served with your choice of wine, then there was cake.  They came around offering more beverages and some pralines before they packed away our table cloths and give us another warm towel.  
Its too bad the flight was only 3.5 hours
Unfortunately this luxury would not last.  Our accomodation in Hong Kong was less then desireable.  It was along the Golden Mile in Kowloon in, what I think is the scumiest building in the city! The room itself was ok, there were no windows and it was small, but overall not bad.  The building just housed some really sketchy people, and looked like something out of an infomercial asking you to send money and help the poeple out of squaller.  Anyway, we didn’t stay in the hostel very long.  We took the star ferry across the river to Hong Kong Island and sort of meandered around the central area, checking out all the fancy shops and tall buildings including the bank of china building, which is possibly cooler in person than in pictures.  Just in behind the bank of China building is the entrance to the peak railroad.  There is a train - or possibly a funicular - that takes you up to Victoria peak on Mount Austin, the highest moutain in Hong Kong at 552m.  The train is supposed to be the steepest track in the world, or so said Justin, however this fact would be contradicted later in the trip (and by Wikipedia right now).  Anyway, we get in line, a very long line, and wait.  Eventually we get on the train and ascend the hill.  There are some pretty spectacular views up there, which would become even more spectacular after dinner, when the city lit up.  We ate at Bubba-Gump’s, in one of the many over-priced restaurants in the peak complex.  I had some excellent pasta, something I have a hard time finding in Korea, so it was a very nice change!  After dinner we get into the incredibly long line to descend the mountain.  Having had little to no sleep the night before we head back to the hostel pretty early.
The next day we went to city hall for some authentic dim sum…yum yum.  This restaurant is supposed to be the best dim sum place in the city, and judging by the line that formed before the restaurant opened, I would say it was probably pretty good.  We were seated with a mad rush of locals and tourists at 11am and randomly picked dishes that passed by on carts - not really knowing what was coming.  It was all really good, and considering the amount we had it was pretty cheap as well.  One thing I have learned from this experience was that you need to do Dim Sum with at least 4 people, that way you can get a greater variety of dishes without having to stuff yourself.  After lunch we checked out the crazy high end shopping in the central area.  There was this one mall that was filled with all high-end shops like chanel, louis vuitton, D&G, Tiffany’s, Marc Jacobs, Jimmy Choo, etc….it was amazing, I only wish I was travelling with a girl :(.  Next we walked to Causeway Bay on the other side of the city and checked out some more rustic shopping, including live chickens.  The sights and sounds of this area were incredibly interesting, but besides a lot of junk that I would never want I didn’t see anything particularly cheap.  We head back to Kowloon and grab some authentic Hong Kong noodles - very good.  We then headed to the avenue of the stars to wait for the New Year’s fireworks.  The celebration included a pretty spectacular display of lazers, lights, and fireworks that integrated the entire skyline.  But there was no countdown, how crazy is that.  Getting back from the event was INSANE!  The streets were entirely packed with people, and the previously 5 minute walk became 45 minutes.
HAPPY 2008!
The next day we took the ferry to Macau ~1.5 hours away.  The city is pretty crazy.  There is construction going on everywhere and glitzy hotels and casinos line the coast.  I didn’t really know much about Macau other than that it was previously a Portugese colony, which was returned to China in 1997, just like Hong Kong.  What I didn’t know was that Macau is the only place in China where gamling is legal, and because of all the new money in China it is becoming the Las Vegas of the east, except that it is already making more money than Vegas!  So the construction on the islands is almost entirely new huge hotels and casinos, and the city has recently celebrated the opening of the Wynn, MGM Grand, the Venetian, and Sands.  However, the day we spent in Macau was not in the casinos, except for dinner at the MGM Grand.  We actually wandered around the old colonial district viewing such attrations as Senado Square, the Ruins of St Paul, and the mountain fortress.  This area of the city was really nice, and very different from what I had come to believe was the feel of asia.  In fact, this area had a very European feel - cobblestoned streets, a plethora of chruches and public squares, and short (3 storey) buildings. 
The next day was our flight to Bangkok - officially our first day in SE Asia, and the crazy heat that encompasses the entire region.  We flew airAsia, the up and coming discount airline that is connecting SE asia with a system of operation based on Ryanair and other European discount airlines, though not quite as cheap.  Flights are more like $20 plus tax rather than a penny, and the taxes tend to be higher, but it is still cheap and the fastest and most comfortable way to move around the area.
We arrive in Bangkok in the late afternoon and immediately take the shuttle bus to the guesthouse.  The guesthouse is cozy with a pretty cool atmosphere.  The room itself didn’t have A/C but there was a fan, and it seemed pretty good to me.  Justin on the other hand refused to stay, he is super high maintenance and claimed that he couldn’t possibly stand four nights in such squalor.  I said that I didn’t want to spend a lot of money and that I was quite happy with the guesthouse.  So Justin said that he would pay.  So we spent the evening looking at hotels in the area.  Eventually he decided that the Shangri-la was up to his standards, and decided that this was where we would spend the night.  We checkout of the guest house and use the services of a tuk tuk, who drove down a one way road the wrong way, to move to the Shangri-la.  For those who don’t know this is a tuk-tuk:

It is basically a motorbike suped up with a carriage.  The term “tuk tuk” is reference to the sound that they make.  This type of transport is extremely prolific in Bangkok, and also exists in the rest of the region as I would learn later.
So the next 3 days were spent checking out the sights of Bangkok.  Some, like the palace, were unfortunately closed because of the death of the king’s sister and an official 10 days of mourning.  But we did get to see a lot of stuff including:
Wat Arun - the temple of the dawn
Wat Pho - the temple of the reclining buddha
Wat Phra Kaew - Temple of the emerald buddha, which is actually jade - and rediculously small.
The National Museum - learned about Thai history and the royal lineage.  As well as the real Anna Leonowens (The King and I)
Chatachuk Market - gigantic weekend market with over 15000 stalls selling everything you would ever and never need all at incredible prices that are bargained even lower.
We tried to go to the Oriental Hotel for cocktails one night, an event recomended by Justin’s professor.  But when we arrived Justin was not allowed in, as he was wearing shorts.  And since he refused to change it never ended up hapenning.
I also got to eat so much amazing Thai food, which is incredibly delicious and cheap…though it is served in far too small a portion.  Phat Thai, Green Curry, Satay, stirfries, rice dishes, noodle dishes, and fruit in abundant quantities :)  It was all spicy (and not the bad spicy, like Korean food, but tasty spicy) and delicious.

Well that is the end of the week….next time to Sukhothai and back to Bangkok.
Photos
1 - appetizer on the plane

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Hong Kong
2 - Hong Kong skyline 3 - Bank of China building 4 - Peak tram 5 - city from the peak 6 - Dim Sum 7 - Fancy mall 8 - Live chickens in Causeway Bay 9 - ghetto hostel building 10 - skyline at night 11 - crowds after new years
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Macau
12 - Senado Square 13 - Church 14 - Ruins of St Paul 15 - from the mount fortress 16 - MGM Grand
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Bangkok
17 - Ronald McDonald 18 - Buddha and a Wat 19 - Crazy steep steps up Wat Arun 20 - Reclining Buddha head 21 - Reclining Buddha body 22 - A lot of Wats 23 - Entrance to Wat Phra Kaew 24 - Me and a Guardian 25 - mm Phat Thai 26 - Wat Arun 27 - Satay 28 - Chatachuk market
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