From Hong Kong to Chicago

It's been about a week since my previous blog post, so I think it's only fair that I wrap things up.  The trip is over and I'm home now.  Since my travels are finished, this will be my last post for the blog (*tear*).  I'm condensing about 4 days of activity here, so I'll try to make this as short as possible.

Hong Kong Photo Album - click here

Hong Kong
The first thing you need to know about Hong Kong is regarding the weather - it's hot.  AND VERY HUMID.  When i stepped out of the airport, I felt like I just landed in a tropical jungle.  If you have ever been to Florida then you know what humidity feels like.  As someone who's been to Florida more times than I can count...the humidity in HK is far worse than anything I've ever experienced.

I stayed in a neighborhood called Wan Chai, which is supposedly the "real & gritty" district of Hong Kong.  There you can find lots of ethnic restaurants, little dingy shops, flashing neon electric signs and high-rise tenement buildings - just what one would picture when you think of authentic Hong Kong.  As I made my way to the hotel, I immediately noticed some other things.  Double decker buses and tram cars, British pubs, jockey clubs, and a huge horse racing track near my hotel - it was like Britain had a baby with China...which they did, in a way.  Here is the view from my room:

I immediately decided to do a couple well-known tourist stops in Hong Kong - the Star Ferry from HK Island to Kowloon, and the Victoria Peak.  Hong Kong has a really weird setup - people like to think of it as an island, but it really is many islands along with a sprawling mainland area.  The Star Ferry connects the main "Hong Kong Island" to "Kowloon" which is the mainland section of the city.  This ride only cost me about 30 cents, and it was quite enjoyable.  Here's a picture I took while on the boat:

I hiked my way to famous Victoria Peak cable car afterwards.  This car takes you up to a high point on the island with fantastic views.  It's a short ride, and a steep 45 degree climb up the hill.  You can pay a little extra money to enter a "Sky Terrace," which is totally worth it.  Check out a picture:

While up there, another American guy and I got to talking.  His name was Ardi - he was another solo traveler just like myself.  He was staying in a hostel and suggested that I meet up for beers later that night with some of his friends in the hostel.  At first I was a little hesitant, but I took a chance and decided I would meet him.  I'm really glad I did - I ended up making friends with a whole group of really fun people from all over the world.  As we were hanging out in the hostel lounge, more people kept coming in and introducing themselves...before I knew it, we had a group of around 10 people that was ready to go to the bars.  Here is some of us at a bar called Carnegie's in the Wan Chai district (Ardi is the guy on the right).  Note that I'm wearing my dress shirt from Korea.

We had an absolute blast, and probably stayed out way later than is considered healthy.  We ended up in a district called Lan Kwai Fong, which is apparently the big nightclub district.  This place was totally overrun when we got there - check out all the people in the street:

The hostel group and I ended up going out the next night as well, and we ended up in Lan Kwai Fong yet again.  Two nights in a row of going out took quite a toll on this 28 year-old blogger.  Let's just say that my age is slowly catching up with me.  I'm still recovering from a sinus infection that began towards the end of my trip in HK....the partying may have been slightly responsible for this.

I visited some more touristy locations while here in Hong Kong.  There is a well known attraction called the Man Mo Temple, which was beautiful to see.  I could smell the burning incense down the street as I approached, and the air was thick with smoke when I walked inside.  Here is a picture:

I also visited Macau, which is a separate "Special Administrative Region" (SAR) of China.  This place is a lot like Las Vegas - there are casinos and expensive jewelry stores everywhere.  You have to take a jet ferry to get there, which is about a one hour ride, and then go through customs and everything.  Americans can visit without any special visa requirements.  This place was very strange - there is a huge Portuguese influence, since it used to be a colony of Portugal.  People still speak the language there as well.  The casinos were a big letdown for me, however.  I was hoping to play some craps for a couple hours, only to find out they don't have any craps tables in Macau.  The only games they seem to play are Baccarat and Sic Bo, neither of which I understand.

While boarding the jet ferry back to Hong Kong, I ran into a girl named Anna from the hostel group.  She is also a consultant from Chicago - what a small world!  We decided to meet up the next day and check out some sights.  We visited an art museum, the Hong Kong walk of stars, and a seedy marketplace called Chungking Mansions.  Here is a picture of the famous Bruce Lee statue in Kowloon:

While this post was long, I'll say it was a very watered down version of my experience in Hong Kong.  It was a fantastic city that is truly difficult to describe.  If it weren't for the brutal weather, I could easily see myself living in HK someday.

It's weird to be home now...the fantasy is over and I have to readjust to normal life.  I'm no longer the only white guy walking down the street, and everybody here speaks perfect English.  No more crazy hand gestures to describe what I'm trying to say.  No more mental currency conversions to figure out what something costs in US Dollars.  No more living out of a backpack.  Thanks for reading the blog...maybe I've inspired you to take an adventure like this yourself.  Hopefully I've proved that traveling solo is not only possible, it can still be an awesome time.  Please let me know if you're planning a trip to this part of the world...I'd love to help in any way I can.

Thanks,
Ted

South Korea - Part Two

Today I successfully made it to Hong Kong, and now I'm just sitting in my bed updating the blog.  I'm excited to start exploring this city.  From what I've seen already, it's really weird (but in a cool way).  The unique blend of Chinese and British cultures here is hard to describe.

One other random thing: the blog has now totaled over 1000 page views, which I thought was pretty cool.  Thanks to everyone that has taken an interest in following my trip.

South Korea album is updated - click here

South Korea - Part Two
I decided to explore another famous palace in Seoul - Changdeokgung Palace.  Finding this place was moderately difficult, since there are no signs telling if you if you're walking the right way down the street.  A Malaysian man and his family approached me and asked for help finding it - luckily I guessed correctly and we all found it.  He asked if I was in Seoul by myself, and after I confirmed that I was, he just laughed and shook his head in disbelief.

Changdeokgung was originally built as an auxiliary palace to Gyeongbokgung (the one I saw on Monday) but it became the main palace over time.  Sadly, there are few original structures left due to the repeated destruction from invading neighboring countries.  It's still undergoing restoration even today, but what was there was really cool to see.

Later that night I met up with a local contact - she's an American born girl of Korean descent, currently living in Seoul.  My dad works with her aunt...they helped me link up with her so I could have a local to show me around.  She gave me quite a tour.  We met up outside the famous Gangnam subway station and checked out some of the "young and happening" districts in Seoul.  We went to a well known coffee shop in a neighborhood called Sincheon, where young people go and hang out all day in hopes of seeing a celebrity walk in.  Later, she brought me to an amazing Korean BBQ restaurant, where we ate beef & pork ribs and drank authentic Korean rice wine.  She had all sorts of amazing insight into the Korean culture...the type of knowledge you can't find in a brochure.

My local contact confirmed a number of things that I already had suspected.  Korean culture is becoming increasingly obsessed with money, good looks and superficiality...classic American stereotypes, really.  She also confirmed that Koreans view plastic surgery as acceptable and normal...it's seen as a "rite of passage" for girls graduating from school.  (Clinics even offer discounts if you bring in a recent diploma, or a report card with good grades)  But don't let these negative images cloud your view of Koreans as a whole.  Like every culture, there are pros and cons.  You can expect any society to have growing pains after ascending to prominence so quickly on the world economic stage.

The next day I went to the famous Namdaemon street market.  This is the largest traditional street market in Korea, and it's been running every day since the year 1414.  It was exactly what I expected it to be - massive and crazy.  Frommer's gave this place a 3-star rating (the highest rating) and I was not disappointed.  The saying is that if you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere...after seeing it, I think it's probably true.

I also tried to find Namsan Park, which supposedly has a cable car ride you can take to the top floor of Seoul Tower.  Sticking with the theme of my time in South Korea, I could not find this cable car ride, even after hiking around for close to an hour.  Add another failure to my list.

Later that night I grabbed dinner at a place called "Mad For Garlic" inside the Times Square Mall.  The meal was tastefully done and not overpowering with garlic flavor.  Chicken rice pilaf, with mozz cheese and roasted garlic:

Then I decided to see a movie.  I watched the new Star Trek film, which I believe just released in South Korea.  Even though I bought my ticket an hour before the showtime, there were only about 5 seats left in the whole theater.  (yikes)  The movie was in English with Korean subtitles...I didn't even notice them after a few minutes.  (This theater at the Times Square mall claims to have the largest movie theater screen in the world.  They were showing a Korean film on that screen so I didn't get to see it)

So what did I learn about South Korea?

If I could describe this country in two words, it would be "America East."  Walking around Seoul was like walking around Chicago in many ways...except everyone is Asian, and there are ancient temples randomly scattered throughout town.  I didn't realize how "western" South Korea truly is, until I went there and saw for myself.  If you are an American ex-pat living in Seoul, you can carry on with your lifestyle without having to change a thing.  You can eat your favorite foods, buy your favorite clothes, see new American movie releases, etc.  I will admit that I only saw the two largest cities in the country, so this statement is probably not true if you live rural.  South Korea was great, and I already miss it...I can see why so many Americans choose to live abroad in this country.

Oh yeah...as promised, here is me wearing my Korean style dress shirt.  (Note: looking like a d-bag is considered fashionable in Seoul, so I had to make a full effort to capture the style)

I'll try to post a Hong Kong update in a couple days.  Stay tuned.

South Korea - Part One

The past few days have gone by really fast, and I just realized I need to make another blog update before I forget everything that's happened.  It's already pretty late here (close to midnight) so I'll try to stick to the highlights.

South Korea photo album - click here

Busan
I boarded the 10:30 AM JR Beetle ferry from Fukuoka to Busan Harbor.  This was a surprisingly smooth trip...it only took about two and a half hours to get from Japan to South Korea, and I was able to sleep for almost the whole trip.  While on the Beetle, I met a couple fellow backpackers from America.  They were doing a 3-month Asia tour...sort of makes my 3-week tour seem tame by comparison.

After arriving in Busan, I learned my first hard lesson about South Korea - getting around is extremely difficult if you can't speak or read Korean.  I knew I had to board the 5-1 bus, and then get dropped off after 14 stops at a bus stop with a name spelled out in Korean characters.  THAT was my plan to get to the hotel.  Of course this plan failed miserably and I ended up hailing a cab to take me the rest of the way to my hotel.  But even that was almost a failure - he drove me around for 15 minutes and could not figure out where my hotel was.  Finally I found the Korean characters for my hotel name (the address wasn't good enough) and he was able to find it.  

(According to Frommer's: Korean addresses are based on the year when a building was constructed, not based on its geographic location.  So even if you have an address printed out, a taxi driver may be helpless to get you there)

Busan was a great time.  My hotel was in a big shopping area called Seomyeon...this was a really happening part of town.  After the sun went down, this place looked like the Las Vegas strip.  Neon lights flashing everywhere, with bars and restaurants on every corner.  On Friday night, there just happened to be a hip-hop concert in the street, which drew a crowd of at least a couple thousand people.  I checked it out for awhile and soaked in some Korean style hip-hop music.

The next day I walked around Chinatown in Busan.  Just my luck - there was a China Culture Festival taking place when I showed up, complete with marching bands and traditional Chinese dancers.  While walking around, I saw a white guy strumming on a banjo.  He yelled to me "Where ya from?" so I walked over to him.  His name was Alan (a native Brit) and he's homeless...he said he's been living that way for decades while traveling the world.  Apparently he's managed to travel the globe and live in almost every country in the world, just from living on charitable donations he collects in the street.  He recommended that I read Psalm 23 and Psalm 91, which I did later that night.  Here's Alan and his banjo:

I also visited the Haeundae Beach in Busan, which was awesome.  It was packed full of people, even late at night.  Street performers were playing & singing music, people were setting off fireworks, and the weather was beautiful.  

Seoul

Boarding the KTX Korail train to Seoul was one of the only easy things I've done while travelling around here in South Korea.  The trip took about 3 hours, and interestingly enough, nobody even bothered to check my ticket on the entire trip.  The ride was comfortable and smooth.  

After pulling into Seoul Station, I couldn't help but feel like I was in an American train station.  The restaurants I saw include: KFC, Burger King, Bennigans, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Coldstone, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins and more.  I slowly began to realize just how "Americanized" this culture really is.  

I had yet another logistical nightmare trying to find my hotel.  With the help of a random nice Korean guy, I boarded the correct subway line and got off at the right station near my hotel.  Beyond that, my plan was to simply walk around and look for a Marriott sign.  After stepping outside I saw a big Marriott sign in the distance...I figured I would try to walk it.  It was 80+ degrees outside and sunny.  I'm also wearing my full backpack (my "ruck" in military terms).  While walking I try hailing several cabs, but the drivers just say "no, sorry" even after seeing my printed out hotel address.  After walking for over an hour, I get to the Marriott building...and it's the wrong Marriott.  [Curse word removed]  They were nice enough to call a cab for me and tell the driver (in Korean) where to take me.  

There is a big shopping mall called Times Square connected to my hotel.  I walked around the mall and got another taste of how consumer-obsessed Korean culture is.  The mall was full of international clothing stores and restaurant chains, and it was packed beyond belief with shoppers.  Another thing I've noticed - Koreans are incredibly fashionable people.  Everyone I see is dressed super sharp with very nice clothes...it makes me feel like a bum half the time.  In an attempt to fit in, I bought a Korean-style short-sleeved dress shirt - you will see a picture of this later : )

Today I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace...it was actually the only major tourist attraction that is open on Mondays.  It was beautiful, and I even got to see a ceremonial march taking place:

While here, I learned just how war-torn South Korea is.  It's been invaded so many times throughout its history (by the Chinese and Japanese) that there aren't many original historic buildings even left.  All of their ancient temples and palaces have been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over the past 1000 years.  Gyeongbokgung was most recently rebuilt in the 20th century, after the Japanese destroyed it during their occupation of South Korea in the early 1900's.  Sadly, only 10% of the original structures remain.

It's really hard to condense everything I've seen...this post ran on for longer than I wanted it to.  More to come later.

Fast Facts About Japan

I've been hanging out in Korea for the past day.  Now that my time in Japan is over, I decided it would be fun to make a blog post with some random things I learned about Japan.  As I see more of Korea, I will try to compare the differences between these two countries.

Fast Facts About Japan

1) The people are extremely friendly, humble, hard-working and honest.  I've never met such a great culture of people before in my life.  You can literally walk up to any person on the street and ask for help.  They may not speak much English, but they will do their best.  Sometimes people will even approach you and offer help randomly.  Not one person ever denied my request for a picture.  (Make sure you learn how to say "Shasin wo totte murae musaka?" = "Will you take my picture?")  Theft is also unheard of in Japan, simply due to the honest nature of these people.

2) Almost nobody speaks English, but everyone knows at least a few words.  Do yourself a favor and PURCHASE A PHRASE BOOK.

3) There are no garbage cans in Japan.  Inexplicably, the streets of Japan are spotless...almost like they are hand scrubbed every morning.  You will not see litter anywhere.  Yet...there are no garbage cans.  If you have trash, you will probably end up carrying it back to your hotel room.  (There are lots of recycling bins for bottles, however)

4) They use a lot of coin money.  Everything under 1000 yen ($10) is in coin form.  As you spend money, you will begin to accumulate a LOT of coins.  If you don't make a specific effort to spend the coins, they will continue to pile up.

5) Public transportation is simply amazing in Japan.  It's clean, modern, and always runs on time - down to the minute.  It puts the Chicago CTA to shame.  You can get basically anywhere by using the train or bus system.  Once you use it a few times, you get the hang of it pretty quickly.

6) The food is delicious and varied - you will not go hungry.  In spite of the miles of walking I did each day, I found myself not losing any weight.  Sigh...

7) Japanese TV makes no sense.  That is all.

8) Ichiro Suzuki (just "Ichiro" in Japan) is a national treasure.  If you don't know who he is, he's a Japanese-born NY Yankees baseball player.  His face can be seen on TV and local advertisements everywhere.

9) The Japanese LOVE all things America.  If someone is wearing a baseball cap, there's a good chance it's an American MLB team.  People can be seen wearing shirts with English words on them...and sometimes the words don't make any sense, but it's still "cool" to them.  This is similar to Americans who get Chinese letter tattoos and don't even know what they mean.  The Japanese love American fashion brands, American fast food chains, American baseball...heck, they just seem to love America.

10) There aren't any non-Asian people in Japan.  Well there are...but very few.  Be prepared for people to stare at you in disbelief as you walk down the street.  Even I found myself doing the same thing when I saw a white or black person in public.  Also, be prepared for groups of Japanese school kids to yell "Hello! How are you?" any time they spot you on the street.  They never miss an opportunity to practice their English skills.