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