And so we arrived in Shanghai, killed by the most tormenting train ride ever! we got off our train and found ourselves on a subway metro line! with limited instructions on how to find our accommodation that we booked online we stumbled around in the area we were going to be living for the next week for at least 15 minutes before we found the place, the name eludes me right now but it was meh meh. It’s sign was TINY and that’s why we didn’t find it immediately despite walking past it twice. NOTE TO HOSTEL OWNERS: make your sign big. real big.

Annyway, we were staying in the dorms cos well that’s all they had and we needed a place and besides! dorms are good for making quick friends right? yeah well it didn’t pan out. We were in the dorms but everyone was lame! heh anyway. Once arriving we found ice cream and jumped on a random bus that was pointed out to us by the hostel lady. We wanted a guide book, a book to ALL of Asia! (we found out one existed at our Beijing hostel) so we went to a biiiig bookstore in the middle of some colonial-like looking district. The bus ride there was adventurous enough! we gave the bus driver too much money and he shouted at me for not taking all the change he had saved for me from the other bus patrons. Nice Chinese people indeeed. Long story short here, we found the book store and bought the book that would become our life saving Bible many a time in the future. South East Asia on a Shoestring. Perfect for us cos we’d be touching almost all the countries in the book! Next, was food.

Everyone eats food!

Anywho, after food we went to People’s Square~! and we took loads of pretty pictures! we found a movie cinema too! we wanted to watch a movie later that night. We didn’t.

NEXT! was Shanghai 2010 World Expo!
I’ve decided it was so awesome it gets it’s own post!

So AFTER the Shanghai 2010 World Expo! the day after, we actually did go back to People’s Square we we found like.. these little adventure rides, just imagine the Wipeout from Dreamworld. We went on that, THEN we saw that movie that we wanted to see. PRINCE OF PERSIA. It was alright actually. ^^ later that night however (or another night?), we met up with a friend of Ange’s, a guy called Paul! and he’s an pretty cool guy in my book. We met him at the Pearl Tower and got some good old Japanese food before going to his place for some beers and then eventually heading out into the night, for a night of Shanghai clubbingness.

View from Paul's place!

So the Shanghai clubbing experience you ask? well, for starters I’m not much of a clubber, that’s more Ange’s scene.. but one thing we both didn’t expect to see was some sort of freaky, kinky bondage show! we just got there and there was some black dude in all that leather gear and a ball in his mouth being pranced around by a blonde chick. Not really knowing what was up, we got some drinks and met some of Pauls friends. I don’t remember any of their names. But! cool thing about the drinks was that they were coupon based! you basically, bought a set of coupons for 10 drinks and just use them all night. It’s the best system ever! you pay once, and then just use the coupons! speeds up the entire drink getting process. Annnyways, after about like.. a long time and after dancing, moving, shaking and talking we eventually decided to head off into the night and take a cab home. Ange was nice enough to leave a little surprise in the back before he dropped us off too!

What can I say? I'm decent with a camera.

The next day, we had to move out of where we were staying (for the second time) cos we wanted a more… private room shall we say? (it was our anniversary!) ^^ annnywho.. we booked into a hotel airport (how dodgy) that was waaaay out in the middle of no where, but we didn’t know that when we booked it. Since we booked it in the morning and turned up later that day, we had some trouble with the staff and our room. BASICALLY, they didn’t have our information and were confused how we claiming to have a room that night. Annnyway, after talking to the manager with shitty English for a while we manged to get into our room and it was AWESOME. The best room we had stayed in to that point. We didn’t get much done that day but we came out during the night! found out the our train line.. METRO LINE 2, was retarded and stopped running at like 6pm so we had to take a taxi to another station reeaaaally far away. We went from there to Pearl Tower again and went looking for food. Oh boy did we find it! we found.. PIZZA HUT.

Just looking at it makes me want it!

But the classiest Pizza Hut in existence, and my friends I tell you now, it was on this date that I discovered.. CHEESE FILLED CRUST on pizzas. I had never tried them, thought it was some evil gimmick but it was amazingly tasty! after dinner we needed to book our train tickets to Hong Kong! well, we went to the place but the queue was amazingly long and our train line stopped soon so we had to abandon ship and head home. Next morning we raced to the train tickets and found that there was only 4 tickets left.. and they were only for first class! so we booked them at astounding prices and spent the rest of the day doooing.. well not much, we went to the Bunt and I was ambushed by some crazy guy that crappily told me all about how i was born in the year of the snake and my mother was born in the year of the blah blah. He bugged me for ages and I kept getting him to talk more.. he told me about the lottery and how he has lots and lots of birds. A very queer fellow indeed. Eventually we escaped when I said we had to catch our train, which was sorta true.

Getting onto our train was a trifle. Firstly, we went to the wrong place.. even though the signs indicated we were supposed to go through there.. then cos we were first class we had to go else where.. and then we had to go through immigration like 10 minutes before our train departed. It was hectic, but when we found our seats.. or rather, should I say ROOM!

Two beds, two chairs, table, toilet and TV!

Ahhh and that was that. We were on our way to Hong Kong! away from Shanghai with all it’s glory and spazzyness. Oh and we went to the Peoples Square park one day and played chess and saw two Chinese guys fight.

So I had to pick up Ange from the airport because I clearly doubted her ability to actually find the hostel. Men know where things are, men know directions. So, without wanting to wait forever to see her, I left early in the morning to get to the airport and be the knight in shining armor that I am. Getting a little side tracked by the desire for food I arrived at the airport just in time for Ange’s flight and she appeared some 30 minutes later through the immigration doors. Me being the extra prepared dude that I am exchanged the remaining yuan I had into USD in case we’d need it. I didn’t want to run into a situation where we had no money like in Tianjin.

Heh! Taiwan arrivals come from the international section eh China?

So, I had picked up Ange and we were hungry for food! my first real meal in China turned out to be Burger King at the airport! yaay, I can see what sort of traveling adventure this is going to be. =P after sampling Chinese burger king and being content with the satisfaction of my stomach we used the Airport Express train instead of getting ripped off like they did by using a taxi last time she was in China with Charlie and Jesse. Hmph! already doing well. We dropped off her bags at the hostel and set off on an adventure to see Beijing! well, not really. It was late and we decided to rest a little and then head off to Snack Street.

Spiders, Scorpions and Starfish! and that's just the S's.

Snack Street is adeptly named, it’s a street full of freaky Chinese snacks. You can find anything from strawberries coated in honey to spiders or scorpions on a stick. We ate some scorpions and they tasted like some chips, original flavour – slightly salted. Next we went to another random place just like Snack Street to have some food for dinner, after finishing said dinner I approached the garbage man to throw away the remains, keeping in mind that the bin was right here and I was going to put it in the garbage man decided it was best if he just threw the rubbish I had under the food stalls that were emptying for the night due to the rain and time. Tee hee do as the Chinese do, obviously not really caring too much for the look of these little food stalls. Needing a drink we retreated to good old maccas for a milkshake! these cheap little things were just the thing we needed, while drinking said milkshakes a random passerby wanted to take a picture with us (Ange in reality though!) and with that done we returned to the hostel for a beer and to play a game of chess because I had bought a really cool looking chess board from some market sometime during the night.

Gotta visit a temple every now and again.

Next morning we set off sorta early and taking advantage of Beijing’s cheap subway service (2 yuan to go anywhere!) we went to a Tibetan Lama Temple in the city’s north. I was told it was better than the Forbidden Temple and it did really look amazing, we spent about 2 hours here before catching a train towards Drum Tower, well we meant to go there but went the wrong way, finally arriving at a train station near Drum Tower we were off to go see it. On the way, we were harrassed by random rickshaw drivers that wanted us to use their services. Apparently it would seem that foreigners aren’t allowed to walk for it is beneath them or they should be taken advantage of from rickshaw drivers and the like.

Annnnyway, we arrived at Drum Tower with ice cream in hand or at least that’s what we thought! we actually paid for and climbed up the Bell Tower but oh well it’s the same thing the Drum Tower is across the street right? yeah well the Bell was nice enough and they we learnt of a quaint little story involving the casting of the bell. Seeing enough sights we went in search for lunch along a nice little river that goes straight through Beijing, we didn’t find food but a market of sorts that sold everything except for food! Ange bought yet another leather bound diary and seeing as it was becoming late we headed off towards the Forbidden Temple.

I hear those bells / drums!

After consulting the locals about the buses, we jumped onto the right bus paying only 1 yuan each and were whilsted off to the Forbidden Temple – Tiananmen Square area. Weeell, it was kinda late and the Forbidden Temple was on the verge of closing so I didn’t end up going at all! a sad shame but leaves me a reason to go back to Beijing. We sat in Tiananmen Square for a bit and decided which casual looking people were actually spies looking for trouble and shared a joke or two about the guards in the square. Thinking I had yet another day we didn’t stick around for the lowering of the flag. Our final day in Beijing was met with a tour of the Great Wall of China! Ange being my tour guide, we took a train up to the Great Wall at the Badaling section and it was a short walk from the station there. Once on the wall we took waaay too many photos but also managed a few funny skit videos. On the way down we went off the beaten track (aka the Wall) and walked along side the Great Wall of China! we were followed by some other people who obviously thought we knew the way but we had no idea if it’s take us back down. Well it did and after listening in to the complaints of some of the people way behind us that this trail was dangerous we managed to climb back onto the Wall and passed a group of soldiers which Ange took a photo with being the sex magnet that she is. As we got off the wall a school group of Americans started climbing up passed us as it just started to rain. For reasons unknown, we were pleased at this.

You need a picture of the Great Wall!

Upon finding out that the next train out of Badaling was several hours away we caught a bus back into Beijing, after heavy traffic we were dropped off somewhere random and my Android phone with GPS was telling me there was a nearby station that we tried to find. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, it started raining so heavily that we took refuge in a small restaurant and had dinner. The dinner was great but we were absolutely drenched, after we got out and the rain started dieing down a bit we realized that the Google Maps were WRONG and that there wasn’t a train station where it said there was. We found a foreigner who helpfully pointed out the direction of the train station which was basically near where we got off the bus, go figure. Because of that entire fiasco I missed checking out the Forbidden Temple and seeing the flag lowered in Tianamen Square as we had to hurry off to our sleeper train that left that evening. However since we were heading back to the hostel to pick up our bags, we were able to see the outside of the Forbidden Temple fully lit up with Mao’s face which looked kinda cool.

Getting to the Beijing Railway Station with about 20 minutes to spare, we quickly bought some food at maccas and boarded the train. Much to our surprise was the train. It was a complete mess, buying a hard seat although very cheap had been a mistake as for the entire trip it was near impossible to sleep and there were people everywhere. Noisy Chinese people that had no concern for other passengers when they are trying to sleep at 1 in the morning, I swear there was this one guy who was mentally deficient as he kept speaking so loudly on his phone and genuinely looked retarded, not to mention that at the end of the trip I felt like killing the guy to save anyone to put up with his antics on an eventual return journey. But that was that, we were in Shanghai.

So I had to make it over to China to meet up with my beloved Ange as she had a convenient little ticket to Beijing and I didn’t have the money to buy a ticket directly to Beijing. Hence my entire South Korea plan, the basic plan was to get a ferry to South Korea and then another ferry from South Korea to China. Well it worked, I was at the port in Incheon and I paid around 90 dollars for a ticket to Tianjin which just happens to be an hour or so away from Beijing I had heard. So I went through Immigration at the port and I found myself getting on some dodgy bus and then an even dodgier looking ferry (if that was possible) and before long I was sitting in my little bunk sleeper thing with an old lady staring at me with her toothless grin. Yet again I was the only foreigner on the ferry ride and to my dismay there wasn’t much entertainment or alot of hospital service on this ferry ride, but I suppose that can be reflected with the price. But what did I care? my only aim was to get to China without killing my wallet and that’s what I did! I don’t want to talk much about the ferry ride, it wasn’t as great as the first one and it actually made me feel a little terrible! I felt truly alone, no one to talk to or anything like that. My iPod did wonders to cheer me up and I finished one of my books but it seemed like the ferry ride just went on and on! to make matters  worst I had limited won left and there were no English announcements to indicate what times breakfast, lunch or dinner were at!

The neon lights say it all!

I found myself often wandering up to the ships deck and watching the mist surround the boat during the early hours of morning or at night. Either that or just sleeping constantly. ^^ When we were finally due to arrive we stumbled across the biggest port I had ever seen. The port of Tianjin could be said to be the port of Beijing for all intensive purposes, but once we arrived I was in for a rude awakening. There was no ATM of any sort at the Immigration port area! meaning of course that I couldn’t withdraw any of the local currency and was left wondering how the hell I was supposed to get anywhere and do anything at such a late time during the night. To top things off the people were telling me that I couldn’t catch a train to Beijing that night and I would have to stay the night in Tianjin. Well thank god for foreigner stubbornness, I insisted on the immigration official that they write me a note explaining to a taxi driver that they were to take me to a ATM and then to a train station. Success! I was able to withdraw money after meeting a taxi driver that could say the basic hello etc etc and knew very little English but enough for me to work with.

This little boat literally pushed the ferry sideways into it's little docking port. Twas awesome.

After talking to the taxi driver I decided to take the risk and try and get to Beijing despite what the immigration official said to me. Telling the taxi driver train station and Beijing and repeating it a few times making sure that he knew I was to take a train to get to Beijing I was satisfied that I was getting somewhere, until of course 20 minutes passed by in the taxi and it looked as if there was nothing in the  surrounding area. I began to worry that this guy was going to actually take me all the way to Beijing by taxi! lucky for me he eventually stopped at Tianjin station which turned out to be over 50kms away from the ferry port and cost me almost 30 dollars. Buuuut thankfully this was the right train station as I was able to catch an express, a short bullet like train that took only 30 minutes and went over 300kms an hour to get to Beijing! It was actually at Tianjin station as I was trying to work out how to buy a ticket off a Chinese person that in fact a Japanese traveler came upon me, to my annoyance it was the very same person I thought had that look of loniness on the same ferry I came to China on! if only we had talked a bit we could of had a better time. All the same, we talked at Tianjin station and on the bullet train and eventually because he didn’t have a hotel reservation or anything (neither did I) he asked if I would show him to where I was staying at. Lucky for us, Kazu as his name was, Kazu and I were able to check into the hostel that I was supposed to be staying at with Ange when she arrived the very next day. Kazu and I shared a twin bed room and he left early the next morning to go to a Japanese hostel.

He woke me up just for this photo! and I'm glad. ^^

Little did I know that this wasn’t the last time I’d see Kazu. But yes, I went to bed that night knowing that I was where I was supposed to be and that I would be picking up Ange from the airport the next morning.

Right from the get go after arriving in Seoul I had little time to get myself into a bed for sleep. I arrived after taking the KTX – Korean Train Express service at some time around 10pm, from this point I had to make my way from the middle of somewhere I didn’t know to another place where I didn’t know but knew I might be able to get a room for the night. Using a recommendation given to me by my friend Jace I made my way over to a hostel called the Bong House a few stops away from the centre of Seoul. Getting to the right train station was the easy part, following the instructions that I took a picture of the earlier in the day was the hard part. I got lost twice but eventually, with effort, found the place and with extreme luck was able to secure the last bed. After talking to some of the people still awake about some hiking in Hong Kong I had a quick shower and went to bed as I had to be up early the next day for the DMZ Tour.

DMZ time!

The Demilitarized Zone Tour, or DMZ Tour for short. This is something I had been wanting to do ever since I decided that I would be going to South Korea. So getting up at 6am, I had another shower (I’m special like that) and headed off to City Hall train station to meet with the tour guide at a certain exit which escapes me now to jump onto the tour bus. Well I made it, paid the 46,000 won and sat myself next to a bunch of engineers from the Netherlands. After exchanging life stories and talking a bit about the Korean writing system we picked up a few more people until we were a full tour bus and headed off towards the first destination which turned out to be some weird theme park looking place where we switched into a special shuttle bus that was allowed into the military zone. In truth the first destination was just before Freedom bridge (or was it Reunification bridge? =P) and was designed to be a meeting place for families that were separated with the split of Korea into two Koreas.

So close yet so far away!

Next stop was Dorasan train station, the station that will reunite North and South Korean by train. This train station was built in preparation for the day where the two countries become one again. We were able to buy a ticket and go down to the platform and poke around, it was all very interesting and it turned out that even former President Bush ventured out here once and made a speech. After Dorasan train station we went to Dora Observatory where we were able to actually get a glimpse of North Korea, yes yes I’m proud to be able to say I’ve seen North Korea! the entire thing was kinda funny to say the least, they wouldn’t let you photograph North Korea and actually made a line where you can take photos which didn’t actually let you see anything. But me being me was able to convertly take a few photos of North Korea, being said they don’t look like much. When these DMZ agreements were being hammered out, they said that they’d allow one village to be in the DMZ. The funny thing about the North Korean side is that their village is completely empty and mostly fake and there is one black tower that is just taller than the South’s tower to show superiority.

A guard on duty at Dora Observatory.

Our final stop was the 3rd Tunnel part of the tour where we were able to go into the 3rd Infiltration tunnel dug out by the North Koreans in a plot to invade Seoul. Although the North Koreans deny they were digging an invasion tunnel and that they were looking for coal (something they tried to support by painting the walls black as they retreated) evidence stands for the contrary. Again we weren’t supposed to take photos down here but me being the cool lad that I am, I was able to get a few shots although nothing special.

Maccas was supposed to be behind these trees but it wasn't! *cry*

And that was basically the end of the Tour, they took us to some amethyst gem shop afterwards but it was hardly of importance or interest to anyone and as I had to be at the port in Incheon to catch my ferry to Tianjin I had to get going. After what seemed like an age on what I can only think of as a local train and having to endure a public rant by a guy with one leg I finally made it to Incheon train station and then onto ferry terminal, a whole 3 hours early. To spend my time I went off in search of food and found a McDonalds sign only to find on the other side of the sign was no maccas, feeling disheartened I asked a group of political supporters and they were able to point me in the right direction. I imagined what a sight I was, the poor old white gaijin looking for the only food in the world I eat, a Big Mac but alas I found it and I did enjoy a certain burger that doesn’t end in Mac. Before long I was on my ferry to Tianjin, but that’s another story.

So I arrived in Busan around midmorning and had wondered what exactly I was to do next, Jinmi helped solve this problem as he decided to be my Korean guide. Originally he planned to go to the bus centre and catch a bus that would take him all the way home in eastern South Korea but he decided I was good company perhaps. ^^ Either way, after explaining that I had no Korean money and had to exchange my yen he said he’d take me to a bank.

A small part of the bay of Busan

Turns out he didn’t need to as there was an exchange counter just outside of port immigration which I might add gave me a very nice stamp in my passport (I’m somewhat of a collector now. xD) anywho, I was able to exchange my money quick smart and grab a tourist brochure. Going through the brochure I decided I’d really like to go to Busan Tower and sample the views of Busan, Jinmi although already going to said Tower obliged me and came along. We sat up the top of the tower and I was able to snap the photos seen above. After talking to him some more and Jinmi consulting the cafe staff on what to do next, we decided we’d go to the largest fish market in South Korea (and the second largest in the world – I think) and have some fresh seafood.

He's too nice for his own good!

Well after taking some snapshots of the surrounding area we finally found the fishmarket (or part of it) in a seagull shaped building. Upon entering this mammoth of a building Jinmi was immediately engaged in conversation with who I can only assume is a fish monger. Sure enough, these two Koreans talk at insane speeds and the fisher guy starts putting one fish and then two fish and then some weird thing with a oceanic-origin-appearance into a basket and then Jinmi turns to me and tells me that we’ll be eating this for lunch today. When I ask him how much it’ll cost he casually tells me 50,000 won which is around 50 bucks. I tell him this is too expensive and he shrugs it off telling me I’m his new friend and it’s his treat. This coming from the guy who I have had straining conversation with over the course of the last 18 hours. Man, what a guy. So we’re taken upstairs to a fancy restaurant where we sit down with a view and immediately all these little dishes are placed on the table; condiments, spices and certain leaf like vegies. Before long, our comes the first fish (raw) beautifully presented. Jinmi starts showing me how I’m supposed to eat this little assortment of food and surely enough I’m eating and talking to this guy I hardly know. He gets us a bottle of Korean rice wine (like osake) and we drink it with the food while talking about stuff like the North Korea and his time in Japan. I found his view on the reunification of the two Koreas interesting because he was absolutely positively sure of himself when he said that the two Koreas will eventually reunify because they are the same country with the same history, culture and language. When he laid it down on the table like that I had to agree with him. I asked because of my interest in wanting to go to the shared border between North and South the next day.

Couldn't resist!

After finishing up our meal, Jinmi tells me I have to see Korean beaches despite me coming from Australia and more specifically the Gold Coast area which has the best beaches in the world. Sure enough we go and I’m slightly disappointed yet happy that Australia still wins in beaches worldwide, we head over to some Apec house but find that we’re almost out of time. After voicing my want to secure a booking for this DMZ tour Jinmi decides to help me by looking up some websites at a internet cafe we go to, after finding some sites and a excruciatingly quick convo with Ange over msn we find a payphone and me being short on change find myself accepting a few coins off him to make the call. Reservation made we head over to the train station in delight, until it’s worked out we’re heading in different directions. With a shake of the hand and a pat on the back we exchange contact details and go our separate ways, Jinmi has been a great friend and provided me with the info I need to catch the KTX to Seoul.

Looky looky!

I slow my pace and take a few pictures of the major station Busan Station and get in to find that the next train inbound for Seoul is in 5 minutes. I buy my ticket using the automated machine and then become aware of the fact that I have no idea where the heck I’m supposed to go, feeling that strain of panic flooding my head I start rushing around flashing my ticket to whoever I meet. Lucky for me the first guy I show it to points past a few columns and says with a resolutely confident voice “Go!” so I start my run down showing my ticket to another person once I get to the platforms. Kanji reading skills not helping at all here in Korea and make a guess and go down a platform where I find some attendants, showing my ticket to them they just wave me onto a train where and I jump in and sit down, feeling relieved. Then of course it bubbles up inside of me that maybe that person wasn’t really paying attention because it didn’t really seem like they were! and that they could have put me on some train that goes into the ocean for all I know! ^^ so out I go and consult them again this time repeating the words Seoul to them, they nod impatiently and a minute later the train rockets off to Seoul!

The mix of feelings that flew around me in those last few desperate moments leaves me mentally exhausted and I just sit back and enjoy the ride, not really thinking of what awaits me when I have to disembark the train. Bye bye Busan, it was great.

I had to wake early on the day I left Japan after my 9 month exchange, there seemed like so much to do even though I had already spent the last 2 days preparing. Packing boxes for home to organising the repair of my laptop to researching what exactly I was to do when I finally left and arrived in Busan, there was just too much. Yet the day came (and went), the day where I left Japan for what I think will be a few years at least. Like I said, I woke early and packed my stuff and organized giving my suitcase to Jace so he could fly it home with him. Australia doesn’t allow packages as big as my suitcase so he really saved me there. I took my two fat boxes down to the post office and tried to send them, I say try because Charlie called me while I was sending the boxes and they heard it ring in the box, so I had to unpack it all to find it because you’re not allowed to send phones in the post.. thanks Charlie. =)

Osaka to Busan!

Eventually I was ready to leave and was downstairs saying my good byes to the people I’ve spent the majority of my time here in Japan with. You know who you are, I miss you all know and will continue to remember the good times we’ve had  together and then I’ll miss you some more. Ange escorted me to Cosmo Square where the ferry port was located nearby, I was going with PanStar and I have to admit now that I’ve done it, it was really great. With my student ID, I was able to get to Osaka to Busan for around 13000 yen which is really cheap in comparison to a plane ticket and the ferry ride in itself was a treat!

Pan Star "Cruise"!

Okay, so the ferry ride. I boarded the ferry at around 3pm in the afternoon and having bought the cheapest accommodation available I didn’t think I would be getting much but as it turned out I was put in a room with 3 other beds 2 of which were actually occupied. So I shared my room with 2 other people! I met a young Korean called Jinmi who was on a working holiday in Japan because he didn’t study hard enough to become an exchange student (Japanese major) so we were able to have basic conversations which was really nice. Not only for me practicing my Japanese but there was only one other foreigner on the entire ferry and he happened to be a musician that I didn’t quite have the chance to meet. Me and Jinmi hung out and talked about various things that we could talk about with my limited Japanese, we ended the night with a couple of beers watching a magician performance and listening to random people taking up the stage for karaoke. I had a really good time on this little cruise, something I thought would just be a mode of transport actually became an enjoyable trip.

This guy was great.

Would recommend this ferry to anyone trying to escape the country! I found that all the plane tickets to China and Seoul were pretty hefty, and for the same price I was able to catch a nice ferry and a train to Seoul plus do a load of things on the way. Buffets, entertainment and good people made this trip completely awesome for me. Made me a little less lonely in this world where no one spoke any English and I was out of contact with the people I had become to accustomed to having around.

It dawned on me that I had left behind Japan, the comforts I have known for the last two semesters studying at Kansai Gaidai and suddenly the places I was to sleep the next night and the nights after that completely unknown. With my departure of Japan, my adventure had began!

Ok so today started off with Ange literally pulling me out of bed up by the arms, we had a mission today, we had to go to our Professor Scott’s house in Kyoto and seek out traveling advice. This was a great chance for us to get down and dirty with our professor and ask him the questions we couldn’t be bothered to find out for ourselves, and really listen to someone who has been there about their experiences over there.

Where is there? well! turns out ‘there’ is alot of places, let’s give our list a run down. But first, what am I yammin’ on about? after my graduation from Kansai Gaidai, myself and Angie are starting another yet epic adventure with the aims of discovering the world. We are going to spend 2 months traveling around South East Asia and getting into all sorts of cultural troubles but most of all, we’re going to get out there and see as much as possible. How much is as much as possible for us? well let’s see.

First off, I’m going to Korea for a few days and then we both meet in Beijing for the traveling to begin. But first, the list!

1. Korea (both! tho North Korea only for a minute or two)
2. China (Beijing, parts of Tibet, Shanghai, Hong Kong)
3. Vietnam (Hanoi, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon)
4. Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Siem Reap)
5. Laos (Luang Prabang, Vientiane)
6. Thailand (Bangcok, Phuket)
7. Burma (Rangoon, Bagan)
8. Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Brunei)
9. Singapore

So we have a pretty big list of countries here with places to visit and that list is by no means done, just the notable places that we’ll be stopping off at.
Anywho, after hearing Scott recite the adventures he has had throughout the South East, we’ve become even more excited about our upcoming journey into Asia.

By doing so I’ve been thinking more and more about the trip home, for those that don’t know I intend to be home at the beginning of August, making it almost a year from when I left Australia. I’ll be enrolled for the second semester of 2010 so I’ll be skipping 2 weeks of classes at least before I’m back at it again. Thinking of uni and whatnot reminded me to encourage a friend to finally start up his student life again. Annnnnd he just may be joining me this oncoming semester at QUT, yes yes, it’s Mundy the one you know that just doesn’t care enough.

But that’s that, I don’t know what else to say. I’ve been researching these countries alot but Ange has been doing alot more than me, I’ve finally learnt how to say and spell Luang Prabang so I’m moving forward. Just found out it’s gonna cost me about 10,000 yen to send all my luggage back home by sea! yaaay.

Over and out! stressful times are starting now that it’s the final few weeks of my Kansai Gaidai experience but just think! 3 weeks from today and I’ll be in Beijing reunited with Ange. ^^