The beginning of the end of the beginning

I'm now back in Indiana. I made the decision after one week of very careful and thought provoking consideration. I just wasn't having the amount of fun that I expected. I tried to see too much in too little time. I wasn't traveling for me, but as a typical tourist. As a result, I got burned out. Lesson learned. You win this battle Mr. Brain. Until we meet again...

I'm a slacker

Ok, again, this will be in list form. Since my last post, I have been to Singapore, Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as Dubai, and currently Geneva. Here goes...

Singapore
- enjoyed live music at Wala Wala
- hiked MacRitchie Reservoir
- about 16-18km
- went on the treetop bridge and dealt with protective monkeys
- recovered from jet lag and was lazy
- enjoyed claypot chicken rice
- enjoyed chilli crab, lobster salad, shark fin soup, fried cereal prawn (amazing!)

Melbourne/Adelaide
- saw many boats and jet skis in the ocean
- stayed in St. Kilda in Melbourne
- 4 blocks away from the beach
- took an overnight bus to/from Adelaide
- most stores operate from 9a or 10a thru 6p
- can be a pain, but is probably appreciated by most workers
- visit Rundle Mall
- big outdoors mall where you only walk inside to look at the stores
- Australians enjoy gelati
- climbed Mt. Lofty and saw a beautiful view of Adelaide
- went to Cleland Wildlife Park on the climb back down from Lofty
- the animals are in huge areas so that you can interact with them
- tried kangaroo steak and knagaroo mince meat (for fajitas)
- roo steak doesn't compare to beef steak
- it's a little tough and has a distinct taste
- went to Hugo and Mad Dog wineries and tasted wine
- played at Maslin Beach (non-nude section)
- viewed botanical gardens in Melbourne
- saw the Little Penguin Colony at St. Kilda
- the penguin was white and puffy like a giant cotton ball

Dubai
- saw the world's tallest building
- went to Dubai Mall
- world's largest mall (?)
- saw an amazing fountain/light show set to music
- went dune bashing on quads in the desert
- saw the Dubai World Cup
- it's the richest horse race in the world
- $10 million first prize
- Elton John played afterwards

Geneva
- saw the Jet D'eau
- went inside the St. Pierre Cathedral
- Jardin Botanique
- Le Perle du Lac
- walked around Old Town
- Natural History Museum
- Art History Museum

Hong Kong (cont.) & Singapore

In a few hours I will be heading to the airport for my flight to Melbourne. I will stay there 2 days and then take an overnight train to Adelaide. Then back to Melbourne and a layover of a few days in Singapore until my flight to Dubai. Confused yet? Good.

Below is a summary of the rest of my time in Hong Kong and what I've done while being in Singapore. Singapore doesn't have much, as there were several days where I just took it easy and enjoyed some nice relaxation.

Hong Kong:
-Went to the shopping stalls in Kowloon in order to do a little haggling
-Enjoyed a nice dim sum breakfast with Wai-Chak and his parents
-All sorts of delicious food!
-Walked around the city for a while until we met up with his larger family for a huge dinner!
-Peking Duck
-Scallops
-Whole Shrimp (only ate the part normally seen in the store by tearing everything else off)
-Goose (tasty!)
-Whole fresh fish
-Fried rice
-All in all a delicious meal, but there was even more served than what I listed!
-Sooo much food!
-Walked around Lan Kwai Fong briefly before heading back into the city
-Wai-Chak and I played in a game of pick-up soccer
-Wai-Chak sprained his ankle
-I scored 3 goals and had 2 assists (apparently I haven't lost all my skills)
-Tried boiled pig intestine
-It was bland and chewy (even with the mustard)
-Enjoyed a nice meal at an Indian restaurant
-Lamb and beef curries (medium spice)
-Chicken tandoori tikka
-Roti prata
-Nann
-Very tasty!
-Went to Lion's Rock to climb
-Due to poor weather, we were only able to hike it
-Hiked up into the clouds
-Can't wait to go back, as the climbing routes looked amazing! (at least what we could see of them)
-Took about 45-60 minutes to hike up the mountain
-Well known landmark of Hong Kong

Singapore:
-Upon arrival, and even before getting to Paul's place, we went to the nearby prata shop
-I enjoyed a banana chocolate prata and a pineapple cheese prata
-YUMMY!
-Went to Orchard (main shopping area of Singapore)
-Watched live music at Wala Wala
-Met with Alex, a fellow employee of Nielsen who I interned with last summer and who is studying abroad at NUS this semester
-Hiked MacRitchie Reservoir
-Hiked about 16-18km
-Went on a treetop bridge
-Got within 2 feet of monkeys!
-Several were not as happy to see us as others
-Relaxed and caught up on sleep (an unusual concept for me)


Pictures should be up within the next week or so...

Hong Kong + More

I arrived in Hong Kong yesterday. I got two hours of interrupted sleep on the 10-11 hour overnight plane ride here. Went out all day and did a little climbing. Had some delicious pork bao and dumplings. Here is a recap of the last week:

New Zealand
-The layover in Fiji was beautiful...I really need to spend some time there
-Air Pacific & Air New Zealand served wine with dinner at no additional cost
-I rode a double decker plane and had my own tv screen (both Air Pacific and Air New Zealand)
-Got on a bus to downtown Auckland
-Found a nice nearby hostel (Auckland Central Backpackers)
-There were lots of small Asian restuarants
-My hostel was right next to the main streets of downtown Auckland
-I walked 6-8 blocks to get to the ferry terminal/harbor
-Went on a free tour bus
-Bungy jumped 40m from the Harbour Bridge (got to walk under the bridge)
-I got dunked up to my chest in water during the bungy
-I ate delicious Toblerone gelato
-New Zealand has no ozone layer
-Consequently, it has the highest skin cancer rate in the world
-20% of Auckland residents own a boat (city of 1.6 million)
-Explored Rangitoto volcano/island
-Went through a small lava cave
-Most stores are only open from 8a/9a - 6p
-Found some rock climbing across the city
-Mt. Eden quarry
-It was very slick rock...besalt apparently
-Ok climbs...I mostly bouldered
-Went to Mission Bay for a beach bbq
-"Kiora" = hello
-"Sweet As" = awesome/cool/sweet/etc

Hong Kong (so far):
-Went to Monkey Buttress and Central crag to rock climb
-Monkey Buttress = hard
-Central crag = amazing view!


That's all for now. I will be posting pictures soon...I really will this time.

...aaaannnnd, here they are















View of Hong Kong from Central crag (rock climbing)















Mt. Rangitoto volcano island (NZ)















Bouldering Mt. Eden quarry (NZ)















Toblerone gelato in Devenport, NZ















View from Harbour Bay Bridge (NZ)















Bungy Jumping off Harbour Bay Bridge (NZ)




















Auckland Sky Tower (NZ)

Kiwi-land!

I arrived in Auckland today after many, many hours on a plane. I am staying Auckland Central Backpackers (I believe that's the name). It is right in the middle of the city. I just got settled into a 4 person dorm room. It's $29 NZD per night. Not too bad. Now I'm off to explore and get some food. Maybe even clean myself! More to be updated later after my explorations.

It's final!

So I finally made the big plunge and bought all my tickets this week. It's hard to believe that I'll be on that first leg of the journey in just over two weeks! Below is my planned itinerary.

February 25 - March 4 = Auckland, NZ
March 4 - March 8 = Hong Kong
March 8 - March 15 = Singapore
March 15 - March 23 = Australia (Melbourne/Adelaide)
March 23 - 25 = Singapore
March 25 - March 28 = Dubai
March 28 - June 3 = Europe (Mainland)
March 28 - April 1 = France (land in Geneva and train to Chembery)
-may extend France to a week
-if so, may skip Hungary, Slovakia
-then trip will go Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, etc)
April 1 - April 4 = Switzerland
April 4 - April 7 = Italy
April 7 - April 10 = Austria
April 10 - April 13 = Hungary
April 13 - April 17 = Slovakia
April 17 - April 21 = Czech Republic
April 21 - April 24 = Poland
April 24 - April 28 = Germany
April 28 - May 1 = Denmark
May 1 - May 4 = Norway
May 4 - May 9 = Sweden
May 9 - May 12 = Finland
May 12 - May 16 = Netherlands
May 16 - May 19 = Belgium
May 19 - May 22 = Luxembourg
May 22 - May 24 = Paris/Madrid
May 24 - May 27 = Portugal
May 27 - June 3 = Spain
June 3 - June 9 = Ireland
June 9 - June 21 = Scotland/UK
June 21 - June 24 = Iceland

It is very aggressive, particularly in Europe, but I hope to be able to stick as close to it as possible.

Intro

I started this blog specifically so people could keep track of my adventures during my 16 weeks of travel. My pending departure date is February 25th, with a return to the States on June 24th. The itinerary will be posted as soon as I finalize everything.

I will keep updating this after the travels have ended, and work has begun, so that you can also keep track of my local adventures as well. Just because work begins doesn't mean that life has to stop...and I intend on making sure of that as much as possible.