Travel Letters

Dear lovely reader, It’s been a very long time since I’ve made a blog entry. This voyage is past its halfway point. I’m halfway around the world. I’m halfway back home to you. I know that sounded real cheesy. Time flies fast when you’re having the best adventures of your life. I want to dedicate this entire blog entry to recount the stories I have of Burma. You know when you’re coming into a new port, you kind of already have a good sense of what you will see. But with Burma (official name, Myanmar), I had no idea what I would see there. There were rumors that our ship wouldn’t dock into Burma, because we had a hassle with immigration. But I’m relieved that rumor was just a rumor – because Burma is probably the most beautiful country I have ever seen. And without a doubt, Burma has been my favorite port so far. Everyone had plans, either to visit Golden Rock or Bagan. It seemed as if Angela and I were the only ones without any booked day trips, overnight trips, or ho...

Dear lovely reader, Welcome to Singapore, Singapore! We would have two days in port and I knew I had nothing planned for those two days other than a field lab for Professor Johnson’s  Water for the World  course on the first day. But I’ve learned that when you have  no plans, that’s the best plan. I’ll be blogging about the first and most memorable day of Singapore. Day 1 of Singapore: I’ve made it a habit to wake up early to watch the sunrise on the day we dock into a new port. Singapore skies were dark blue at the start, but a few clouds in the sky moved away for the sunlight to shine through. The contrast was absolutely beautiful as you would see more ships in the waters. Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world. It’s no wonder we were porting into this country. I was a little relieved to have a field lab on my first day in Singapore. It would save me the time of figuring out what I wanted to do. But before our bus left for NeWater Faclity, a gro...

Dear lovely reader, Here we are, our fourth and last series blog of Viet Nam. Rather than writing about what I did for my last two days in Saigon in detail, I figured this blog would be perfect to just sum up all my thoughts about this port. But before I do so, I have to splurge about how I got in the back of a motorbike and rode around District 8 of Saigon. Aside from speaking the language, that was the one time I felt what it was like to be a local. I know that sounds a little silly but if you ever get the chance to ride on those motorbikes, it is so much fun. Viet Nam locals are so care free and relaxed. They work hard, eat, talk, sleep, enjoy. Everything is so simple there, no strings attached. What made these last two days in Viet Nam so special to me was that it wasn’t about planning to go here and there. There was nothing in the head, everything was felt through the body and soul. It was so relaxing just to talk inside and munch on the juiciest fruits of my lif...

Dear lovely reader, Welcome to my third series blog of Saigon, Viet Nam. Instead of doing 6 separate blogs for the 6 days I am in port, my goal is do 4 blogs instead – just to keep the writer’s mojo flowing. This blog will be centered around my two days spent in Vung Tau, a city south of Saigon. Day 1 of Vung Tau: The gang woke up around 6am to catch a morning van to Vung Tau, and by gang I mean 12 shiny, happy people in one van. I slept for most of the ride there but no matter. The plan today was to hike it and beach it. We hiked Tao Phung Mountain. And before you think of heavy-gear hiking with boots and macho backpacks, think again. It was a very peaceful site where more locals than tourists powered through the many, many steps of this little mountain. I couldn’t believe my cousins who were wearing long-sleeved cardigans and jeans as we were hiking up the mountain. I was in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, and was sweating bullets just walking up the steps. I think it ...

Dear lovely reader, Welcome to my second blog series of Saigon, Viet Nam. Today was really special because I met my family in Viet Nam for the first time. I think I was one of the two voyagers, out of the entire ship who could say, “I’m going to visit my family in Viet Nam.” The other was my friend, Angela, who has been back home to Viet Nam twice now and has been a really good friend throughout my entire Saigon port experience.  I didn’t know what to expect because I had never seen a picture of my family there before. But I had been emailing my cousin Nhung, who was the best at speaking English over there. She was asking me of what I wanted to do in Viet Nam and if I had any plans, but I honestly couldn’t give her a definite answer. I’ve learned that I love travelling with no plans, but exploring with a full heart and open eyes. I think that’s one of the differences between being a tourist and being an explorer. Being a tourist, you’re almost contained to buying tours, buyin...

Dear lovely reader, At long last, we are finally here in the motherland, Viet Nam. Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, has been the port I have been eagerly waiting for the most. This would be my first time ever setting foot on Saigon, where my mom and dad grew up. I know this is the port that my mom has wanted me to see ever since I became her own. Growing up, I was actually fighting the opportunity to go back home to Saigon. Places like Sydney Australia, and Paris, France seemed to stop my heart more than Saigon, Vietnam. But spending 6 days in Saigon, the most days we would spend in port so far, was one of the most rewarding weeks I have ever experienced. Saying good bye to the young girl who replaced  family  for  school  and finally realizing that you learn so much more about yourself through family than you can ever learn in classes and text. This port has been the most emotional port for me. I really couldn’t tell you how many were going through my hea...

Dear lovely reader, Welcome to Hong Kong!! Hong Kong was just a whirlwind for me seeing that I had just another 2 days to spend. But I especially loved the port where our ship home docked. Day 1 of Hong Kong: We docked in Kowloon, peninsula to the north of Hong Kong Island. We took Star Ferry to the other side of Hong Kong Island to venture further inside. I didn’t know what to expect from Hong Kong. I’ve noticed that Hong Kong is a mixture of many personalities and influences, in contrast to Shanghai, Mainland China. It is very contemporary, being a former British colony. You can see the English influence with having a good number of locals speak both English and Cantonese Chinese. The first thing I saw was tall skyscrapers. We were walking through what it seemed like one business district. But Hong Kong Island is a very industrialized and urbanized country. Transportation in Hong Kong is a lot more orderly than transportation in Shanghai. There’s not as many motorbike gla...