Way to wake up

I kinds thought they were lying to me when I checked in last night,
but the view is incredible. The only remaining 7th wonder of the world
is just outside my window.

THREE Months

countries 22

places i stayed 37 

trains 8

flights 16

Skobelj 1

Gelato in the Rain

It has pretty much rained the entire time I have been in Venice. Rain is one thing, but cold rain is another. And flooding makes the whole situation worse. None of that has stopped me from eating incredible gelato until tonight when the places closed early to try to raise their stuff away from the potential harm of the water. The wole situation felt all too familiar to me, but was also so different. The flood here is only because of high tide. The people know exactly how high the water is going to get and at what time it is going to get there. 

This flood is a perfect example of one of the many reasons I don't think Venice is a real city. Everything here is based off of tourism.  The only people that legit live here are the old people. It is  like Disney World, Las Vegas, and a retirement community all rolled into one. There is no movie theatre here. There is nothing that real cities have. I havent even seen a grocery. 

What is does have is some of the most unique and beautiful buildings and settings I have ever seen. Coming here is almsot like looking back in time because this was once a real city. It was once a great city, and looking at what once made it a great city is what makes it so cool to come here now. 

Speaking of going back in time, I went to Montenegro with my mom and Aunt Joanie to find this village where Skobeljs live. Everything in Igalo, the town we went to, was old. It was not a good old though. It was a 60s, 70s, and 80s communist old. The cars were all crap, which was really weird because the terrain was pretty severe. We went to this hotel in the middle of Igalo because we knew that a Cognevich owned it, and his family lived in the same place as the Skobeljs. The guy, George, and his wife were extremly nice, but only his wife spoke English. Luckily our driver was able to translate for us and we could communicate with George some.

George led us up what seemed like the highest mountain around. The road was more like a trail, but the driver was determined to make it up there. Eventually the car over heated leaving us to walk the rest of the way while it cooled down. Once we finally made it to tiny village we were welcomed by some very angry dogs. I ran, but George showed up and calmed the dogs and walked us into the village where we met this large Cognevich guy who wanted us to take shots with him. They told us there was no Skobeljs still living there, but we met or at least saw one lade who they told us was a Skobelj on the way out.

Old town Dubrovnik was also like going back in time, but the views around the city are really what made it so awesome. The coastline with the mountains and blue water was incredible and made Dubrovnik one of my favorite cities. However, I'm too tired to write anymore right now.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Barcelona, and then down to Seville on Thursday.

PICTURES

The weather is terrible in Rome today, so I uploaded pictures to Facebook. There are captions on nearly every picture.

Pictures from Tokyo, Hong Kong, South Africa, London, Paris

Pictures from Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Vienna, Athens, Rome

NYT

the new york times has an article in today's paper about hostels in europe and how they are getting so much better. the 1st one they talk about is the one i liked so much in london. i stayed at the one they talk about in berlin too, and i'm at the one they list for rome.

would have been nice to have this a month ago.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/travel/19hostels.html?8dpc

good & bad, but way more good

Today is day 77 of being away from home. I'm in Rome now, and I think Italy is my 17th country. 

Going to Athens and seeing the Acropolis and Parthenon was a dream come true. Unfortunately, I never really thought about what the rest of Athens would be like. Nor did I bother to think about the fact that Greek Orthodox Easter is a week after Easter for everyone else, so while I did a good job planning ahead for normal Easter, Greek Easter messed up my plans for Greece. Worse things can happen than experiencing Good Friday two weeks in row.

The Acropolis and Parthenon turned out to be the only things I was really interested in in Athens. From the top of the Acropolis, I could see all of the other sights, and there was really no need to walk all around them when I already had such an awesome view. Luckily I stumbled upon a guided tour group and jumped in (at the rather steep price of 15 euro), but the tour guide explained what everything was.

I was hoping to go to a Greek island for two nights, but because of Easter and the mass exodus the Athenians particpate in there were no tickets left on the ferries to Mykonos or Sandorini that worked for me to go. I did go to Aegina, a closer island, for one day. By the fast ferry, it only took 40 minutes to get there. 

What made Athens so awesome though was the hostel I stayed at. There was this intensely social atmosphere that other hostels haven't had. All the hostels have been decently social, but I think this one socially overdrive because Athens was so dead because everything in Athens goes Easter crazy and either closes or does something special (or just becuase the city is so boring). I met so many people that were really awesome. After being alone for so long it was weird to be with so many people. While I was there, I never ate a meal alone. People would just come into the common area before going to eat or do anything really and ask if anyone wanted to join. 

There were tons of Americans at the hostel too. It was nice to not be overrun by Canadians. Many Americans studying abroad are on spring break right now, so they are traveling through Europe. These are mostly the people I hung out with. I hung out with 3 of the same people all 3 nights in Athens, but many other were coming and going. It is so weird to become friends with someone for such a short period of time. You do things with them like you do normal friends, but you only know for like 72 hours. Facebook friend requests were flying like crazy in that place.

The island I went to was not the greatest of Greek Islands, but was probbaly so cool becuase I went with someone from the hostel. We ran into eachother on the subway on the way out there, and decided to go together. (Before we went we actually poured some banana juice all over the entrance to the bar where he was scammed 90 euro the night before.) On the island we rented a fourwheeler and rode around. Motorbikes are more common, but I don't think they are nearly as safe. The day before a girl staying at our hostel was in an accident and got all scraped up. We rode the fourwheeler all over part of the island and found a beech. Nick went swimming, and I slept. My last night in Vienna and my nights in in Athens have been catching up to me,  and sleeping during the day has become common. I guess not sleeping at night will do that.

Right after I checked into  my hostel in Rome today, I asked for the information to use the WIFI, and the guy explained to me that it wasn't free. However, the website I used to book the hostel made it sound like it was, so I told him that. He was really mean to me in response. I went to another hostel nearby. It looked cooler and has free WIFI. I checked in there, and went back to the other place to tell the guy offf. Surprisinly, I was nice to him though. He was still pretty mean. He is going to be really pissed when my credit card company stops the payment on the transactions.

I have had two awesome Italian meals already and am looking forward to more to come. But I what I'm really looking forward to is my mom's arrival in Rome on Monday morning. 

airport

I love free wifi at airports. Really I like it anywhere, but it is really nice when it is somewhere that I have to wait for two hours and have nothing else to do. I have been traveling by train lately, so it has been almost a month since I have flown. That isn't really that long, but considering how often I was flying before it kinda seems like a very long time. 

The Vienna airport is very weird. Each gate has its own security checkpoint. People are lined up forever to go through security and bored the plane so I feel like I should too. I hate lines though. I really hate lines that are pointless like this one since we are all going to the same place and nothing is going to happen until everyone gets through anyway. 

Vienna was a cool city to visit, but I'm glad I only had one full day here. None of the museums really interested me, but the city itself is really pretty. There are 3 major palaces here. One is pretty cool. The other two are kinda lackluster. However, after visiting Versailles, no palaces can really compare. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the Acropolis later today. I have wanted to see it since I studied about it with Greek mythology in 6th grade. 

Now, I'm going to get in line with the other ducks.

weird

I actually know where I'm going for the next week or so. 

Vienna tomorrow

Athens Wednesday

Rome Monday

Croatia Wednesday

back to Rome Friday

I haven't had this much planned out in a long time. It is very nice.

Perfect weather in Praha

Today is so beautiful. I could actually be wearing shorts. I'm just
sitting by a park on the river, and to be more eurotrash I do my my
jeans rolled up. The eurotrash even roll up their shorts like one
cuff. It is the kinds stuff you would never see in America. I would
definitely not roll by jeans up at home, but here it is more normal
than odd.

Prague is really beautiful, but people talked it up so much that I got
exactly what I expected. No one really told me how incredible berlin
was going to be before I got there, so I was even more impressed with
it. There isnt really much new stuff in Prague. Everything is old.
That is part of what is pretty, but the things that should be new
aren't new and that is what I don't like here. I knew this wasn't
going to be one of my favorite places when I got to the train station
and it looked like I was stepping back into the soviet union.

In some other language Prague is Praha. Praha isn't chech though, so I
don't know why it is used. Speaking of languages, the waitresses here
have to be some of the smartest I have ever incountered. At lunch
yesterday I heard my waitress speak in 3 different languages: Czech,
English, French, and German. Although she only new how to say
horseradish in 3. She couldn't get the French people to understand
what it was.

I finally decided to go to Munich next. I thought about going to
Vienna and bodapest best in the end I realized I want to be in a more
modern 1st world city.

Summer camp

After I posted the two months stats, I started to think about how as a
kid I couldn't even make it a whole week away at summer camp. I made
my parents come and get me early. It doesn't even seem like I have
been gone that long. I think it is because I just look at everything
in such small time periods. I only really consider one city at a time.
I have some idea where I'm going, but once I start to think about more
than one place at a time it all becomes overwhelming.

What does seem like it os taking forever is this train to Berlin. I
loved the train rides I had before this because the areas were so
beautiful. Germany is not really that beautiul.

One other thing. I haven't taken a taxi since I was in Cape Town. That
is almost 3 weeks without being in a car.

Amsterdam

It has been so long since I have written a post for real. If you notice on the other ones, the spacing is all messed up becuase I wrote them on my phone, and for some reason, when I send it doesn't get the formatting correct. Right now im at a internet place in Amsterdam. Trust me when I say you don't want to see a picture of it becuase it isn't that special. In fact, I'm fairly certain the CIA should be told about this place becuase it looks like a terrorist training camp. The internet is only 1 euro per hour which is really cheap for here so I'm just accpeting the setting.

The rest of Amsterdam is really incredible. There is daring modern architecture mixed with old. The mixture is what makes everything so interesting. Yesterday, I rented a bike and rode around the city. The weahter was so nice. It was the 1st time I was able to wear a short sleve shirt since leaving Summer behind in South Africa. Well, Winter is back today and it is so cold. I returned the bike a day early and put my sweater and jacket back on.

I got to Amsterdam by train. Surprisingly, I really like the trains so far. The view from the trains are so awesome. I saw some windmills, which were cool, but what was my favorite was passing farms. There were some that had giant fields of yellow flowers. The faster trains are obviously much better, but tomorrow I have a 6 hour train ride to Berlin. I'm thinking about stopping somewhere just to break up the 6 hours of travel time. On the way to Amsterdam from Paris, I spent the day in Brussels. It was nice, but there wasn't really that much to see there. The couple hours I spent there was all I really needed.

I probaly could have seen everything in Amsterdam much faster, but I'm getting tired of moving so much. I want to find somewhere I like and stay there in one place for a week. I haven't stayed in one hotel for more like 3 nights in like 3 weeks. A lot of that just had to do with the way I plan everything, but some of it has to do with the fact that I'm now in cities that don't really have tons of stuff to see.

2 months stats

11 counties
24 different hotels/hostels/places
13 flights
2 high speed trains
2 ferries (which were nothing like the chalmette one)
2 credit card statements

Hostel life

I'm staying a really cool hostel in Paris. See if you can tell what
this is.

I love London

The weather sucks this morning. There is a light rain. It is windy.
And worst of all, it is cold. However, I really like London. After an
adventure at my first hostel I gave them another try. This time I'm
staying at a really cool hostel that is extremely trendy. Best of all
none of my roommatea are homeless like they were at the last one. As
you can probably imagine I didn't respond very well to that. Luckly I
know some people in town from Tulane and they let me sleep at their
hotel. I ditched the crazy homeless man and wished my other roommate
good luck. Poor guy definitely needed it.

The weather and the homeless invading my life are not why I'm enjoying
London so much. I like it here so much because there is so much to do,
it is easy to communicate with everyone, and people ocassionsly think
I'm from here. I live it when people don't think I'm a tourist.
Unfortunately, I don't think i'll be able to pull off not not looking
like a tourist in many more places. My French will get some much
needed practice starting on Sunday though.

I wrote this while having breakfast and avoiding the weather. The
picture is my view of Covent Square and the market there.

Hilton to Hostel

I just moved out of the Hilton where I had a beautiful view of Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey and moved into the first hostel I have stayed in about 5 or weeks. There is a very good reason for the change though. I want to stay in London longer, and this city is very expensive. My five nights at the hostel cost less than one night at the Hilton. By the time I leave London on the 29th, I will have stayed in London for longer than I have stayed in any other city. 

There is so much to do here. The British have awesome museums because they stole stuff from all over the world when the British Empire covered the globe.  There are plays like in New York, but awesome buildings and palaces to look at during the day. 

I also booked my train to Paris today. While that isn't exactly cheap, it is cool to be able to say that I have taken a train through the chunnel. 

AC

Everyone has told me how cheap South Africa is, and that is
true...once you actually get to your hotel. Transport from the airport
to the hotel and back is killing me especially considering that I only
spent one night in Johannesburg. In the end I think the money was
worth it though because I got to go on an amazing tour yesterday. I
originally wanted to come to Johannesburg so that I could go on a
safari, but turns out I'm still not that close to good safaris and
they are crazy expensive. You know that when I think something is
expenisve it really is, so going on a safari will have to remain on
the list of things I want to do in my life. I'm only 22 so I shouldn't
be checking everything off now anyway.

While I didn't to go on a safari, I did get to go on a tour of an area
of the city called Soweto. It a township area where the Dutch put all
the Africans during the apartheid regime. About 3.2 million people
still live there and it has one of the worlds highest poverty rates.
There are shanty towns where people live without power or running
water in their homes. They have out houses that basically consist of a
hole in the ground. I used one of these cause I had to pee really
bad. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but I think the guy took me to a
nicer one because the whole place smelled like crap.

I was nervous before going on the tour because this area is one of the
most dangerous in Johannesburg. It is only safe to go with a local
guide, but being alone I didn't fully trust anyone. The hotel offered
a tour that I thought was too expensive. The bellman tried selling me
on an less expensive tour but I didn't think that offered the safety I
wanted. I found a tour agency in the mall next to my hotel that had a
tour that beat both of those prices and the agency seemed to be very
nice. When I booked the tour they told me it would probably be just me
and the guide. I was cool with tyat because I don't like to deal with
other people anyway.

I didn't realize the tour would be in a white Mercedes. The guide was
more like a chauffer who knew a lot about the area. The image of the
white American in the expensive white car going to the poor black area
was not lost on me. However, there was no trouble and the sights were
increaible. It made me feel so fortunate to have been born when and
where I was. Walking down rye streets of the shanty town and talking
to one of the ladies in her house I felt like Anderson Cooper on 60
Minutes. There have been so many moments like that on this trip where
I just think that people aren't supposed to get to do this. It has
been incredible even if getting to and from the airport costs so much.
I'll work that out later.

Leaving Hong Kong

Hong Kong has been really good, but it is time to leave. My flight to Johannesburg starts boarding in about 10 minutes. I'm not on a rush to get on the plane since I will be on it for a solid 13.5 hours. This is the longest flight I have ever had, and I'm not really looking forward to it. I have been at the airport for a while because once I check out of my hotel and get ready to leave a city I feel over doing things in the city' Although, today I did go to the Hong Kong history museum where I learned a lot about that I didn't know. For instance, I had no idea how rough life was here during World War II when the Japanese controlled it. 

While I have been at the airport this evening, I made good use of the free wifi. This is the 1st airport I have been to since New Orleans that has free Wifi. I used the Wifi to use Skype to call American Airlines and change my route a little bit. I'm no longer going to Mauritius. It was going to be insanely expensive to stay there, and it was never a place I was that interested in. Because I'm not going to Mauritius, I get to fly from Dubai to Miami at the end of my trip and then from Miami to New Orleans.

Hong Kong was a pretty good stop in comparison to the other cities I visited in Asia. The city has the most beautiful skyline I have ever seen. Everything is centered around the water because the business center of the city is on a the tiny Hong Kong Island. Behind the beautiful buildings are mountains that rise from the South China Sea. Unfortunately, I never saw the tiniest bit of blue sky while I was here. It rained the 1st two days and the last two, the sky was just gray. I was just happy it wasn't cold like Tokyo.

The weather caused the scariest flight I have ever had on the way here. The flight crew warned that there would be turbulence, but no one expected the kind of turbulence we got. When the airplane shook a lot the 1st time, people scream. I have never had people scream like that on a flight before and hope I never do again.

I'm only supposed to stay in Johannesburg for one night. Then, off to Cape Town. Finally, after Cape Town, I'll be in Europe. I have to say I'm looking forward to Europe the most and I'm glad to be leaving Asia. 

I Wynn

I have traveled halfway around the world, and yet I find myself in the
same place I was when I started. I'm at the Wynn casino in Macau,
China right now. The Wynn in Las Vegas is one of my favorite places
there and this reminds me so much of it as I'm sure then want it to
since pretty much everything about the way the place looks is the
same. The people wear the same uniforms. The carpets and light
fixtures are the same. The buildling even has the same unique shape.

Aside from the physical there are many things that are different.
There are no women running around here that looked like they belong on
the show real housewives of the oc. In fact there are few Americans or
Europeans at all the entire casino looks like the baccarat section of
the Las Vegas one. There are more baccarat tables here than anything
else.

There isnt a party atmosphere like vegas. Everyone seems pretty
serious about the gambaling. There is almost no one drinking, and it
is Saturday night. There are even cocktail waitress. There are people
who bring coffee and food to the tables and help guests with stuff,
but they aren't the same as the low neckline, short skirt cocktail
waitress of vegas.

The wynn isn't the only thing that has it's similarities and
differences. There is also a Venetian here that is the largest casino
in the world. It is not nearly as good as the real one in vegas but
the Chinese love it. They can't get enough of the gondolla rides with
the people. Singing and the fake painted sky. However, attached to the
Venetian is the Four Seasons hotel and casino. It is a really small
but definitely the nicest I have ever seen. The Four Seasons wasn't so
bad either.

When I started writing this I was actually at the Wynn. Now I'm on my
one hour ferry ride back to Hong Kong. There was an old couple walking
onto the ferry in front of me that reminded of mawmaw and pawpaw going
to Bay St. Louis to to gamble.

I won 227 Hong Kong dollars playing a slot machine at the Wynn.
Considering it was on a 20 cent machine that is pretty good. It comes
to about $30, and is almost enough to cover my ferry tickets.

Notes from japan

They have the hand dryers that we just got that are so cool everywhere
here and they look old.

Smoking in restaurants is common, but I think it is illegal to smoke
while walking on the streets. There are designated smoking areas
outside on the streets and restaurants are smokefilled. I feel like
because people can't smoke when they are walking around they light up
as soon as they get in a restaurant. It made eating in restaurants
miserable especially since I had a sore throat.

Catching Up

I haven't written a post of any real significance in some time. In Thailand, I didn't write much because I didn't have access to internet the often and because I was too busy enjoying the country. I haven't written much in Tokyo yet because thankfully I haven't been here for long and because I haven't felt so great. 

It is difficult for me to describe how much I liked Thailand and Phuket in particular. While much why I liked it could be because of how cheap it was and the places I stayed, I think more had to do with my desire to see a country that is different from home. Thailand could not be more different from the U.S. Sure there are McDonald's (I don't think I could go anywhere without McDonald's), but even the McDonald's are different. They serve friend chicken and have a delivery service. 

I flew overnight to Tokyo. I got here Tuesday morning, and changed clothes in the airport. Shorts and tshirt weren't going to cut it the 35 degree weather. Flying overnight wasn't so bad. The flight was even a little interesting. Apparently the man two rows behind me hit the woman 1 row behind me. She took it ok for a while until the flight attendants were too passive and weren't even going to reprimand the guy. In the end the woman took things into her own hands. After screaming "I am Thai woman" she started to punch the guy in the face. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen on a flight. The airline had no men working on the flight, and the women who were dealing with the fight seemed totally incapable.

When I wasn't being started by fights or disgusting food that they tried to pass off as breakfast on the flight, I tried to sleep. During the sleep and the transition for the beautiful warm beach to the snowing and raining Tokyo I got a sore throat, which wasn't too pleasant to deal with when I didn't have a hotel room that I could check in to until 3pm. 

My sore throat, arrival time, and temperatures aren't the only things I have against Tokyo. Everything is crazy expensive here. It makes New York look a little like Bangkok. I took the Airport Limousine from the airport to the city. For clarification, the Airport Limousine is a bus, not a limo. I would compare it to taking the RTA from New Orleans International to the city except that the airport would have to be located in Baton Rouge to make the comparison valid. This "limo" cost over $30 and I still needed to get a taxi to get to my hotel. It took me about 2 hours to get from the airport to my hotel. (not that I could even check in then)

At least the hotel was only blocks from an Apple Store. After some time in there and a $4 cup of tea from Starbucks, I headed down the main shopping street in Tokyo to find a long line of people waiting in front of H&M. Because H&M sets its prices internationally and sets them low everywhere, they are especially how in Tokyo. Thus, the line. I have never seen anything like it. Once I went in I quickly realized they were sold out of almost everything good and useful like a scarf.

I spent the rest of the day wondering around high tech areas and other shopping districts. I saw the world's largest pedestrian crossing, but wasn't that impressed because all I really wanted was sleep. I have enjoyed the fastest internet I have ever experienced more than anything else in Tokyo. It is nice to actually have fast internet in my hotel and not have to pay a fortune for it.

The fast internet has given the chance to upload my recent pictures. Below are the links. 

Singapore Pictures

Bangkok Pictures

Phuket Pictures

I also created albums on facebook with good captions. Anyone should be able to see them. Only the best pictures are included in these albums.

Facebook Album 1

Facebook Album 2

I wanted to write more and actually proof read, but I'm crazy tired and have to wake up insanely early to make the trek back to the airport to fly to Hong Kong.

Some Pictures

The Grand Palace in Bangkok

The world's largest recling Budha.

The The Grand Palace in Bangkok

1 month down

6 countries

10 flights

13 different places i slept plus spent 2 nights on airplanes

742 pictures

Europe in Asia

I haven't updated in a while. That is probably because I have been enjoying Thailand so much. I was in Bangkok for six nights. I have been in Phuket, the beach area of Thailand where the Tsunami hit a couple years back, for two nights and will probably stay four more.

Phuket is overrun with Europeans. This is their Florida during the cold months. The main difference is that Phuket is cheap. You can get an hour massage on the beach for about $1.25. Although, you would definitely want to close your eyes and hope you don't catch anything because the masseuse is definitely a little rough looking.

The large number of Europeans has an impact on many things. The most visible and shocking is what people wear or don't wear on the beach. Many women are topless. I say women and not girls because there appears to be no shame once someone arrives in Thailand. These women range in age from 20 up to 75. I have some great National Geographic looking pictures. Speedos are also insanely popular here. I think half of the guys on the beach wear speedos. One old couple looked like they were wearing the same bathing suit. That bathing suit was a thong. It is very different from Florida.

I was here for Mardi Gras day. I told someone it was Mardi Gras and he had no idea what I was talking about. However, here everyday is a little like Mardi Gras. There is one main street lined with bars. One of the bars even had girls dressed in school girl outfits dancing on a balcony. It felt very much like Bourbon Street except that all of the flashing happens inside and that prostitutes were much more blatant.

Bangkok

This could be the best city I have been too. I really think it is going to be difficult for any city to beat Bangkok. Traffic is crazy and so are the taxi drivers, but the taxis are so cheap. Taxi rides to pretty much anywhere only cost a couple dollars. Today I was in a taxi for about 45 minutes and it only cost $2.

I had the most incredible Thai massage just now. It was a whopping $13 for one hour. It is supposedly some tradition passed down from the Buddhist monks. The other famous Thai massage is from prostitutes. I'm staying away from them.

Last night I was standing on the edge of the sidewalk sending a text and I saw this large gray thing out of the corner of my eye, but just kept texting anyway. When it got in front of me I realized it was an elephant and freaked out.

While at the pool today I had an awesome conversation with an American and his Thai "girlfriend". I use quotes because he didn't hide the fact that he was paying for her. He told me all the best places to go to get Italian food and find working girls. What a combination.

That is just a couple of the crazy things that happed. I'll have more later. I hope everyone is enjoying Mardi Gras. I'm sad I'm missing it, but Bangkok is kinda like Mardi Gras everday.

Please Mind Your Step

There are even computers with free Internet at the gates in Singapore. My flight boards in about five minutes, but I just noticed something and wanted to write about it. I have been noticing that a lot of bathroom stall doors across Singapore have had a sign of them saying "Please Mind Your Step." Well, I just avoid anything that could cause confusion like that, especially when it is in the bathroom. In the airport, the sign is more specific and reads "Please Mind Your Step Squatting Pan and Water Hose In Use."

I wasn't brave enough to open the door.

Singapore Sling

The Singapore Sling is really famous rum drink here in Singapore. While I do like rum, I prefer cheap coconut rum (Malibu) to drinks that cost nearly as much as my stay at the hostel. Singapore is expensive by Asian standards, but a decent deal for Americans. It is an island city state at the tip of Malaysia. The island is barely long enough to run a marathon from end to end. 

There are many effects of its location and its small footprint. Singapore is one of the world's largest ports. The island is too small to make anything, and there are no real natural resources, so all of the nation's wealth comes from the port. They import everything here - even tap water. Land and therefore housing are scarce, so the government controls housing for 85% of the people. Only the a absolute richest have their own homes. There are huge high rise malls catering to the rich all over. I saw four Gucci stores yesterday. I was in one mall standing next to a Gucci store looking out a window across the street to another Gucci store. The number of high end stores makes Las Vegas look like New Orleans. These malls must cater to tourists because it doesn't seem like the people who live here would have the money to support them.

Government control is what leads this place to run so smoothly. The government controls everything and has fines for everything. Chewing gum has only recently become legal in Singapore, but it is only allowed to help people quit smoking. They are building the first casino here. Visitors will be able to go there for free, but there will be a $100 entrance fee for citizens of Singapore to discourage them from gambling. I don't think New Orleans would ever do that. Cars are taxed heavily, so only the rich have cars. This means the cars are extremely nice. Most of the cars are really nice since rich people drive them. I haven't seen a single old car on the road, so I feel like there is probably some law against that. Singapore also has the most incredible subway system I have ever experienced. It is called the MRT for mass rapid transit, and nearly everyone that lives here uses it. The tunnel for the elevators at one of the stations was completely surrounded my LED screens and white glass the give the effect of going up through a field of flowers. That was when I knew I was in Asia.

I'm leaving for Bangkok, Thailand in a couple hours. This is one of the cities I'm most nervous about, so I'm staying at a nice American hotel with hopes that everything there will be much calmer than the rest of the city.

Sing & Pictures

I'm in Singapore and finally staying somewhere with free wireless internet. The place isn't that great' but the internet is awesome. I let pictures upload all night, and now I have them organized. Captions might even come soon.

PICTURES FROM SYDNEY

PICTURES FROM NEW ZEALAND

PICTURES FROM FIJI

Sydneysiders

The more time I spend here the more it reminds me of America. Sydney really seems to be a lot like New York minus about 5 million people. People from Sydney are called Sydneysiders. They are a lot nicer than New Yorkers. I always try to blend in when I'm traveling and tonight I got the ultimate compliment on that front - three people asked me for directions. I felt pretty cool even though I only helped one of them.

The differences between Australia and the States are fairly small. One noticeable one is that McDonald's are much nicer here. I'm using a one's free internet to post this blog right now. Right beside me is a McCafe. It's basically a McDonald's coffee house. The people are the other noticeable. Most of the people in this city are very young. People are also beautiful here. Most people are extremely fit. It is rare to see someone in bad shape, and most of the time those people are tourists. The people here are very trendy, but that could just go along with being in a big city. Jean shorts are really popular for guys. They aren't just any jean shorts though. They are tight jean shorts to match the tight jeans that everyone wears. The shorts kinda look like the bermuda shorts we sell to the girls in Belle Chasse for school uniforms. People also have really crazy haircuts. Some guys have a rat tail or skinny mullet. Some even have that on one side of their head. It is probably the sickest haircut I have ever seen.

Drinking and driving is a huge deal here. When they checked my ID to go into bars, they asked how much I had already had to drink that night. The legal limit is .05 and the lite beer bottles tell you how it compares to a regular alcoholic drink. The beer I have was .8 of a regular drink. There are posters all over trying to explain how much you can drink and how different drinks add up.

Staying in so many different hotels is starting to get to me. I have started to save the room number in my phone so that I know where I'm going. Since I left New Orleans I have stayed in NINE different places.

Sydney

It keeps raining here. I have probably spent more time in the Apple Store than anywhere else, but now that I have finally decided on where to stay my whole time here I won't have to go back there until it is time to work on my plans for Singapore. My indecisiveness proved to be very expensive because all the hotels are packed tomorrow night for valentines day. If I had booked a room earlier, it would have been about half the price. I have been eating a lot of McDonalds to make up for it. I'm not eating McDonalds strictly because of the price...the other food sucks.

I took a bus tour all over Sydney today. At least in the bus I was out of the rain. I'm having trouble uploading my pictures becuase the files are so big. I just uploaded some more, so check Flickr again, but it takes almost a minute a picture.

Also, I just got some great news from LSU. I got a scholarship. It doesn't cover everything, but it covers a lot, so I don't feel as bad about my my hotel room for tomorrow night.

pictures finally up

CIMG0078
Originally uploaded by msims12345

Hopefully this will link you to my flickr account.

NZed

I'm writing this from one of my favorite places in the world, an Apple Store, so it has to be short. New Zealand was pretty cool. I'm glad Dave is living there and I got to stay with him. The 1st day I was there I just walked around the city center and saw stuff on Queen Street. It was pretty cool, but Auckland is a small city by big city standards. The next day Dave took off from work/school and we went to two beaches close by. We took the narrowest and most winding roads I have ever been on, but the drive was worth it because the beaches were so unique. One of the beaches had black sand because of all of the volcanic activity. It also had a really cool waterfall that we hiked too. I know everyone is thinking that I wouldn't hike anywhere. Well, it was a short hike. The other beach a cliff in the middle and we climbed up it. That climb was much more difficult and I have some really cool pictures but no way to get them on here.

I started writing a blog post in the airport this morning, but waiting in airports is quickly becoming my least favorite part of traveling. It is when I become the most homesick. The rest of the time I am busy doing things or trying to figure out what to do or at least I have something on my mind. When I'm waiting in the airport and there is nothing going in, it sucks.

I just arrived in Sydney but so far it is pretty cool. It reminds me of New York, and I really like New York. My goal is to try to find a place to stay for more than two days, so now I have to get to that.

 

Green Zone and Head in the Sand

I feel like I'm staying in Iraq's Green Zone now. The Sheraton Fiji is located on a large tourist Island that is completely isolated from the rest of Nadi. The isolation along with the fact that the Vice President of China is staying at my hotel makes it seem like the Green Zone. Security is intense. Not as much as you might think it would be for a Vice President of such an important country, but there is still a very visible security force everywhere. The section of Nadi is almost like Sandestin if Sandestin had guards and motorcades and if the rest of Destin were like the 9th Ward.

When I arrived at the hotel today the lady at the front desk told me that everything was so busy because the Emporor of China was here. I'm not the biggest history buff, but I had a good feeling that a a community country China no longer had an emporor. A little time on google quickly revealed the truth. He is here on some kind of Kathleen Blanco style trade mission, but this trade mission involves a Chinese warship being docked right outside the harbor. Fortunately I didn't notice the warship. Those kinds of things don't exactly make me feel like relaxing on the beach.

Pretty much all I have been doing is relaxing on the beach. I was on Beachcomber Island for two nights. It wasn't as isolated as I expected. There was even a very limited supply of hot water. The incredible surroundings make the less than pleasant sleeping conditions and food things I could deal with. The first night I had to have like 5 beers before I was willing to get into the bed. Five beers is a lot for me, but considering the very wild party atmosphere there, I have kept my usual lightweight status. Nevertheless, Beachcomber had the clearest water I have ever seen. Snokeling there was incredible because the fish were so exotic and the coral provided an awesome background. There were people on the Island from all over, but I mostly hung out with British people and a couple Americans.

I have started telling people my name is Martin. People don't really understand me when I say Marty, so for traveling it is just easier to go with Martin. I love the way the British people say my name. I really like the way they say almost everything. It was really nice to meet other people who are traveling around the world on their own too. One of those people was a modern day Canadian hippy who pretty much is the reason I no longer want anything to do with hotels. He kept telling me I needed to more fully embrace the backpacker lifestyle. I kept trying to avoid him. When I finally left the island and saw him for the last time, I told him that I'm a tourist not a backpacker.

Right before I left Beachcomber, I got myself into all kinds of trouble becuase I couldn't find my boat ticket to get back to Nadi. I started to frantically search for it. In the process, I forget my wallet on the counter where I was checking out. I didn't realize that my wallet was gone until I had finally respolved the ticket issue. The people that world at the place took my wallet that I left open sitting on the counter and just set it behind the desk. Everything was still there when I finally located it. I got a good scare and will now be keeping a much better eye on it. Luckly the Fijian people are very good people. Most go to church daily and 3 times on Sunday.

After all of my commotion, staying at the Sheraton has been great. It isn't exactly $14 a night, but I never set out on this trip trying to spend as little as possible. This is probably the most beautiful place I have ever stayed, and it has made me realize that I want to stay in nice places as a I'm traveling even if that means I don't get to travel for as long.

I'm off the Auckland, New Zealand tomrrow. Hopefully that goes well.

Fiji First

Today was my 1st day in Fiji. While it wasn't that eventful, it was pretty worked up about it. Leaving home has always been difficult for me, and this time was no different. Luckily this time I was coming to a beautiful (and cheap) place. My bed for tonight cost about $14 and the place is the located on the beach, has a pool, and as a type this is even having some crazy "hava" ceremony that involves everyone singing and drinking some mystery drink from the same cup. Needless to say I wasn't too tempted to particate in that. There are people from all over the world here, but it is mostly English speakers from Australia, the US, and the UK. Nearly everyone is only here for only tonight becasue this is just a stopover place on the mainland of Fiji before going island hopping. 

I'm not here for that long so I'm just going to Beachcomber (http://www.beachcomberfiji.com) for two nights before returning here the night before my flight. I don't expect to have much electricity at Beachcomber, but I think I'm ready for the challence. Of course by ready I mean my iPhone is fully charged.

So far Fiji is a great place. The people are incredible. They are dark skinned and very cheerful. The service here is excellent, and there is NO tipping. Prices are still pretty cheap, but Fiji brand water is still expensive. I have spent more on water than I have on lodging so far.

It isn't always that easy to get online to check email or talk to people, but I have my cell phone with me and incoming text messagages just count as part of my normal plan. So, text me because it doesn't cost me anything extra to receive them.