Dallas

I haven't been to Dallas in many many years, not since I was a wee little baby with my just fresh off the boat parents living in good ol' Oklahoma. I visited Houston before just last year, but with Texas being so large I might as well been in another state. Dallas is a fascinatingly designed city, though somewhat predictable, with its huge ass sprawling highway network and sea of cars. Food is an anti-vegetarian delight; the amount of beef I consumed in a 3 day period was the most I've ever done, ever. Dallas does have the most generic Texan things ever like people with the Texan twang accent and cowboy hats (so many cowboy hats!).

The city, as expected, is massively spread out with the most confusing highway system known to man connecting everything together. Getting from one place to another means dealing with rush hour traffic durning non rush hour times and figuring out how the damn highway network is connected to one another. I can't tell you how many times exits are way too close together which confused me into taking the wrong exit. I mean it makes sense for Dallas to be designed this way as gas is cheap down south and Texas is mostly just flat land... and there's unlimited land from whichever direction you look at. There are soooo many cars though and I rarely saw any public transportation systems. It's like Dallas said "fuck the environment" and went with the most auto-friendly design possible.

Beef BBQ is an incredibly great Texas experience. The few highly rated places that I went to in Dallas never failed to meet my expectations. Imagine biting into the most tender and flavorful (but not too overwhelming) piece of beef, that's what it was like eating at every single BBQ joint we went to. And it's not just the traditional Texas style BBQ food that Dallas has, but also the Mexican and the Tex-Mex. I have no idea about the authenticity of those foods, but the food I did have was damn good. We also went to a somewhat fancy steak joint and had a pricey steak and boy do I have to say, Texans do not mess around with beef cooking. 

I wouldn't say Dallas is one of the more diverse cities that I've visited; it was easy to tell which part of the neighborhood we were at or the typical patrons of whatever restaurant we were in. The most diverse we saw was at the Dallas arboretum but I suspect most of them were tourists anyways. However, all the people we interacted were very friendly. The food was great, though it actually made me dearly miss vegetables for once in my life. I would say Dallas is a great weekend trip city; there's enough things to do, see, and eat, but realistically it'd be a big adjustment to make if I ever wanted to move there.

Tokyo

Tokyo is the most amazing city I have ever been to in my entire life. That intro sentence took me months to think of because I wanted some kind of sentence to express fully how I felt about going to Japan. I was lucky enough to visit Tokyo twice in the range of 6 months. One week in the bitter Japanese cold and one week in the sweltering heat. I loved every single moment of it. I had extremely high expectations before my first visit as I expected a very clean, orderly, culturally rich, delicious, and massive city. Tokyo managed to meet all my high expectations and then some.

Seeing Tokyo in the two seasonal extremes allowed me to see the many sides of Tokyo. Every single day, I always found a new glimmering side street to explore, some delicious restaurant frequented by locals, or some other unusual thing that a general description can do it no justice. The city is perfectly designed, so clean that even the supposedly "janky" side streets were meticulously clean and designed. 

I'm not joking when I say that every single meal that I have had in Tokyo was an amazing experience. I actually still remember most of not all of my meals that I've had there; I can't say the same for any other cities. I ate amazing sushi as well as stuffed myself at a countless number of conveyor belt sushi restaurants. Ramen, though, is my most favorite type of the food in the entire known universe. I ate at all the popular chains such as Ichiran and Ippudo, but also random family owned restaurants. I've also ate at an amazing amount of soba and tskumen places; I remember eating at like 5 noodle restaurants in a day because all I wanted to do that day was to eat. Food in Tokyo is surprisingly economical too! Never have I ever eaten for under 8 or 9 bucks per meal in such a large and modern city. Try eating under that price range in a major metropolis in Europe or North America and you'll probably be eating some shitty fast food. On that note, the fast food in Tokyo is actually really freaking amazing. At any time of the hour, I can order a meal for under 5 bucks and be extremely happy. Then there's the street stalls that sell some pretty dynamite snacks. You got all the weeaboo classics such as takoyaki and taiyaki then you have these western and Asian fusions that taste exponentially better than any Korean/western/whatever fusion that I have to pay $20 for here in San Francisco. I love the food in Japan so much and Tokyo allowed me to perfectly eat all the different types of food from around the country. 

Tokyo is amazingly beautiful in the metropolis sense. Every street felt like it had a sense of purpose, be it finding an amazing restaurant or a small temple still beautifully maintained. Somehow on two separate occasions I managed to stumble upon large cultural festivals and I gotta say Tokyo really knows how to throw festivals. Getting around the city is the easiest thing ever once you figure out how the train systems work. I do have to admit I managed to get completely lost a couple of times because the train system can be a little bit intimidating. However, it is the most punctual and efficient system in the entire world. Trains are never late and you can get anywhere purely using the subway/train system. Want to go to the largest Pokemon store in the world? Take a 25 minute train directly to the mall. Want to go to a dope ass onsen, but still be in the city? Take a 40 minute train ride directly there. And on the topic of onsens...

I fucking love onsens and sentos. To me it is the most perfect way to relax and wind down after a long day of eating Japanese ramen and tskumen. In my two trips to Tokyo, I think I've been to maybe 4 or 5 public baths. They range from spending like $5 for an admission fee to spending like $40 for the entire tourist onsen experience. And the awesome thing is that both options are worth it 100%. Though seeing some butt-naked old Japanese guys is a bit frightening. The relaxation experience is 10 out of 10 worth it I promise (well to me it is). 

I could write paragraphs and paragraphs just gushing about Tokyo, but honestly I'm probably going back to Japan really soon and want to add even more to my experiences. The more I write, the more I will have the impulse to quit everything and buy a one way ticket to Japan. 

10/10

Bangkok

My expectations of Bangkok were quite high since they came from the mass amounts of movies, tv shows, and guides that are being constantly output each year. Known around the world for the delicious foods and gorgeous tourist attractions, it's no wonder that millions upon millions descend on the city every year. Bangkok is one of the most traveled destinations in the entire world but to me it feels like a stereotypical international destination if you want to visit Asia for the first time (this is why it's so popular with western travelers). The city does have moments of uniqueness and amazingness, but far too often I'm left finding myself thinking that I could find the many tourist things to do in any other country/city.

The food was surprisingly disappointing for how hyped I was about Thai food. When we asked our local family friend about authentic Thai food and restaurants, he told us that there wasn't really lots of proper Thai food served in restaurants. Many of the "established" (meaning they have a store front, health inspections, and a waiting staff) restaurants in the city served a variety of other styles of food from other countries. Authentic Thai cuisine only existed in kind of janky street-side vendors of which some looked like they were a health inspectors worst nightmare. Don't get me wrong, I love street food as it's cheap and more "home-made."

The throng of street food vendors in Thailand didn't seem to appeal to me as much as street food in other places like China or Europe. I'm definitely haven't spent nearly enough time to fully explore the city and the next time I visit, I'd definitely like to spend more time trying to find the perfect plate of stir fried noodles.

For every native that I saw, I saw easily 2 or 3 tourists. It's not bad that there are so many tourists as this kind of creates an atmosphere of "tourism economy" in all of the natives, but some times it can really detract from a "culture-shock" experience. Sure there's all the typical cool/weird things to do such as the infamous ping-pong shows and night markets/event, but there's also a fair amount of beautiful temples. Taking one of the many boats alongside the river was pretty fun as the buildings and natives whizzed by. The weather was exactly how I imagined it (hot and annoyingly humid) so there was really no surprise there. 

My time in Bangkok was shorter than I wanted, but my time there was a fascinating experience. I guess what surprised me the most was NOT being surprised about Bangkok. My expectations were probably too unrealistic that maybe I'm more disappointed than I should be. However, this experience definitely won't detract me from visiting again in the future. 

Singapore

Singapore confused the shit out of me. On the one hand, you have this very asian city located incredibly close to the likes of other south eastern asian countries. On the other hand, the influences of western cultures and ideals seem so deeply integrated in the city that at certain points during my visit, I questioned whether or not I was actually in Asia.

As a Chinese-American, the city was so perfectly accessible to me. A huge chunk of the population is mainland Chinese, but English is so widely learned/used that by having the duo combination language of Mandarin and English that everything was accessible. Singapore felt incredibly safe, clean, and well-designed; it was nothing like the chaos of the majority of other asian cities that I've visited.

I've actually heard a decent amount about Singaporean food. One of my favorites is Singapore-style noodles, which I heard isn't actually Singaporean. On the news in the recent few years, I have heard about how famous the food-hawker stalls are and how even a couple of them have won Michelin stars. Once here though, I think I realized what Singaporean food was about. Singapore is this amazing hodge-podge of all sorts of popular Chinese and asian style food. Go to any of the many (and I really mean many) hawker food stall centers and you'll find nearly endless amount of dirt-cheap, but delicious cuisines. I've had the pleasure to eat famous dishes like Hainanese chicken rice and curries. It's like each hawker stall sold the most delicious and famous dishes of distinct Chinese provinces and asian countries. There's so much choice!! 

Singapore is a pretty extraordinarily small city. It's an island located south of Malaysia, but seems separate enough that it maintains its own national identity. If I had to find a city similar to this one, I would have to say it's similar to a Osaka or Kobe in Japan. It feels seemingly meticulously well designed, clean, and incredibly safe. The shopping malls all feel luxurious and high end, but there's still a sense of depth to it. Even in malls, the food center is designed similar to the popular and traditional hawker food stalls and some high end stores sell Singaporean-designed products (like their national flower, the orchid).

The Singapore Botanic gardens was one of the best botanical gardens I have ever visited. Seeing the mass amounts of orchids in the national orchid garden was truly a sight to behold (also 10/10 place for taking portraits of people). "Gardens by the bay," a massive billion (supposedly) investment is amazing to visit at night and is situated in a prime tourist location. Sentosa, an island south of Singapore, is basically the tourist island as it hosts a plethora of touristy attractions such as aquariums, beaches, and even a Universal Studios. 

Singapore is a city I wish a lot of other cities in Asia could mimic and evolve into. With a well-designed layout, clean streets, and superb infrastructure, it really feels like a true metropolis of the future. Yet, it is still able to maintain local traditions/customs and keep a strong national identity. If I ever need to take a break from the mundanes life, but also don't want to experience too much culture shock, then I would definitely come back again.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is a beautifully executed fusion of both western and Chinese cultures. This was just my second visit, but definitely won't be my last as flying to Hong Kong is the easiest way for me to get to mainland. It's so fascinating that a city located on mainland can be so different from other major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. I can find amazing, authentic, and cheap Cantonese/Chinese food but also find "western" things to do too. Architecturally wise, the city is the city of skyscrapers. I've never been to a city where everywhere I look, there's a picturesque skyscraper scene.

Hong Kong is impressively tiny and compact. All the buildings are so close to each other that one small quake would just wreck them.

Hong Kong is such a tiny city. Every inch of space is occupied by skyscrapers, water (the bay), or mountains/hills. The roads are filled with tons of cars, but public transportation is pretty clean and efficient. The sheer amount of skyscrapers really are kind of awe-inspiring. On a beautiful summer day (or evening/night), the view at Victoria bay is quite breath-taking. Part of me wants to go back just to purely see that night scene again. There are enough subway lines to get anywhere quickly and enough ferries to cross the bay or get to other islands. If you get tired of the hustle and bustle of the city, it's easy to visit Lantau island for some real "nature-y" things to do. Visiting the famed big Buddha and fishing village allowed me to see another side of Hong Kong that wasn't completely urbanized. 

Where to buy fake and cheap goods.

Hong Kong has some of the best Cantonese food in the region. However, unlike mainland China, the restaurants in Hong Kong seem more franchised and "western-like". There are some weird Hong Kong specials such as macaroni soup (which is 100% definitely not Chinese) and beverages. If I want to find other types of Asian or western food, that is incredibly easy too. Just waltz right into the many shopping marts or side streets and I can find whatever I'm looking for.

The famous big Buddha. Gosh darn it was so hot that day. 

In the future I'll have many more chances to visit Hong Kong. I still haven't gotten to fully explore Hong Kong even more, but knowing how packed this city is, I know I'll definitely find a lot of amazing things to do/see/eat.

Raoping, China

I instantly smell the overwhelmingly stench of trash as soon as I get out of the car as the typical Guangdong summer burns every square inch of my body. "Sigh", I think to myself, "another year, another visit." I'm in a small city-like village in Raoping district which is a small part of the Chaozhou district in my home province of Guangdong. The exponential economic growth in the past 20 years of China has helped improve social and economic conditions here, but this place can't even compare to a third-tier Chinese city much less the super-tier 1 cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Safe to say this is definitely not a city you'd visit for vacation or even a weekend trip. This is my seventh (eighth? ninth? I've lost track) visit since the summer of 2006, when I first visited China after immigrating to the United States as a young infant. 

老家 (pronunced lao jia) literally means "old home," but when culturally translated means something along the lines of "place of origin" or "native land." In Chinese culture (well according to how my father's side of the family interprets Chinese culture), your "老家" or "place of origin" is highly important as it helps define who you are as a person. The culture, language, and even the food can be extremely different than even a neighboring district/province just a few miles away. It's more focused on the male side of the family as culturally, the women of the family are married out while males bring brides into the family. The males keep the old family lineage. Most of our entire extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma, grandpa) on my father's side are all still situated here. Thus our visits every summer. 

My father was raised in the village side of the city, the part of the city where most of the houses are still made of solid stone and where all the villagers still work the fields. Grandma (born between 1931-1933, nobody really knows for sure) still lives in the old 2 room stone house that my father and his 5 siblings were raised in. The roads and ponds are littered with garbage as the villagers aren't very well educated in cleanliness. This village is the picture perfect definition of a poor peasant village in the middle of China. In the more "city-like" part of the city, conditions look much better. Houses are usually built two to three stories high with all kinds of shops present on the first floor facing outward towards the street. The roads are jam packed with mopeds and motorcycles weaving in and out of pedestrian and street traffic. Driving without causing accidents requires praying to at least 3 different religions. 

Cantonese is the central language of Guangdong. Without it, you can still get by pretty easily with Mandarin but a little difficult trying to understand the accents. I don't speak a lick of Cantonese (only Mandarin) even though both my parents are technically Cantonese, but the language in Chaozhou is another dialect of Cantonese. What's even worse is that even native Cantonese speakers can't even understand Chaozhou style Cantonese. Gah. Trying to understand is just having the sound go through one ear and out the other. 

Since this place is near the ocean/waterways, there's plenty of seafood such as mussels, clams, and fresh fish. The style is very Cantonese (fresh and lightly seasoned) with a splash of their own style (depending on the dish). There's a wide variety of vegetables and delicious fruits that seem to always be in season (albeit a bit smaller during some months). Tea is incredibly important here (as is most of China) and whenever we visited a family member or a family friend's place we would always be served the native tea (which is incredibly delicious) with a typical Chinese-style tea set. I swear over the course of the day the average person over 40 primarily uses tea as their main form of liquid.

I'm not at all close to my extended family. There are massive cultural and language barriers that prevent me from even having a casual conversation. If it wasn't for my father, I would probably never speak or visit. Visiting them and comparing their conditions to mine is bittersweet. Seeing their lives makes me feel very fortunate for mine. If my father hadn't worked hard and managed to get out of the village, I would have suffered the same fate as many of my cousins, uncles, and aunts. I'm not saying that how they live is terrible, but after seeing more to the world through education and traveling, I'm truthfully glad of my current circumstances. Maybe when I'm a bit older I'll come back to the village to reminisce, but for now all I can do is look forward. 

Solo Travel

Why Traveling Alone Sucks

Solo travel is by definition is literally one of the most loneliest things you can do. Traveling to a new country or even within the states can be difficult if there persists a language or cultural barrier. Having a travel group means experiencing and solving those travel difficulties together, instead of trying to figure it out alone. Many times I have had difficulties trying to figure out how to get to a location or communicate to a local that I desperately need to use the toilet (on a side note if you're trying to eat cheap, don't cheap out on cleanliness). Bonus points if the person in the group has prior experience as there will be less planning on my part and more vacationing. Less stress and more fun!

It's not just having more minds to solve a problem, some days/nights can be incredibly lonely. I find it very comforting to have someone to rely or talk to when things get a bit dull, especially at a new city or location that doesn't have much to do. If I get unlucky, my hostel roommates are either on business or already in a group that they have no need to make new friends. Sometimes, some days I just don't feel like going out of my way to befriend or meet new people (the introverted side of me needs some me time). In times like this, it's reassuring to know that I have someone to share my thoughts with, without having to expend much energy.

Leisure wise it can be sometimes easier to travel in a group than alone. Some restaurants (mostly upscale) and attractions (such as amusement parks, etc) are probably best done in a group setting. Traveling in a group is safe and comfortable but...

 

Why Traveling Alone is Awesome af

Solo travel is one of the most liberating and entertaining things I've ever done. There's just so much room for flexibility and how that you can do whatever the hell you want. Want to spend the entire day eating noodles in Japan? You don't need to ask anyone (make sure you're willing to gain like 2 pounds in a day though). The most important thing, though, about traveling alone is that for a lot of people, their forced out of their comfort zone for a short time in their life. Although this sounds weird, but being forced out of my comfort zone granted me a new perspective on myself and other people. Plus it's super fun.

Yeah solo travel can be lonely sometimes, I mean come on it's called "solo" travel. But, meeting and hanging out with new people of all sorts of different backgrounds is extremely fascinating. Spontaneously meeting and hanging out with new people is great because most of the other travelers that I met were also solo travelers. That's the most wonderful thing about hostels, I was kind of forced to talk to the people around me. Because of that, spontaneous hang outs or just grabbing a drink can lead to some interesting conversations.

Going to restaurants alone may seem daunting at first, but once I realized that I could do whatever the hell I wanted, boy was it gratifying. Eating alone, for a lot of young people I guess, is awkward since most of their life has been spent eating together or with a group of friends at school. Turns out once you get into the real world, nobody really gives two shits. There's so much freedom in eating out in traveling alone. No longer do I have to decide amongst friends what to eat or find a restaurant that can fit all of us. Fancy a slice of fresh pizza at some seemingly dodgy pizza joint in the backroads of Rome? Go for it! Afterwards you'll realize it's the best god damn pizza you've ever had in your life and you would've never found about it had you not spontaneously decided to go for it. It's just so convenient eating alone as I can dictate when and what I want to eat. 

Most attractions in the world don't require a group to have fun, even just by myself I can find excitement or tranquility. I can go visit museums, take a nice stroll around the park, go urban exploring, etc on my own time without needing to wait up on someone or plan anything. If I feel lonely, then I can just ask some of the people that I meet in hostels or through apps (Couchsurf and Meetup are great for this) to hang out with me. Sometimes it's just too annoying or too hard to plan everything in advance.

That tingling of nervousness and unexpectedness can be scary, but traveling alone has been a great learning opportunity. If I could I would make everyone travel alone at least once in their life.

Europe 2017

My short one month long backpacking trip Europe ended with visiting just 6 major European cities. Although many would feel my time was very short, I personally though that was definitely enough time to get a good feeling of what Europe had to offer and has to offer for potential future visits. It's amazing in such a seemingly small continent that there can be so much cultural differences between each country.

Although there were tons of different languages in Europe, I never felt like I really struggled with the language barrier. A lot of European languages (like French and Italian) are very similar to English and so it was quite easy to guess what common words meant. German was an exception as German words were so long and unpronounceable that I just gave up. Most Europeans could speak multiple languages and nearly all of them knew conversational English. Paired with a phone and a bit of politeness, interpretation was a breeze.

There were a couple of stores and chains that were common in each city that let me know I was probably in a nice part of town. Pret-a-managers (which are apparently nicer Starbucks? I have no idea still), Starbucks, and Illy are all the popular chain coffee shops. Other than a couple of typical fast food joints (McDonalds...), most of the restaurants and other coffee shops were local joints. It was nice knowing that rampart international consumerism hadn't completely devoured all western cities. 

I love the euro. The pound, on the other hand, was very annoying to deal with. That about sums that up. 

Traveling between cities was efficient. I had the option of taking cheap buses (I'm talking dirt cheap), trains, and flights. I opted to spend most of my traveling on flights as they were the most cost efficient time and cost wise. Buses took an entire day to travel in-between cities and trains were more expensive and took longer too. Flying cost-efficient airlines kinda.... suck. Being jammed in the middle seat for every single flight was terrible but the price I had to pay to save about ten bucks to choose your seat (I try to be cheap). Constant delays and crap customer service was just some things I had to suffer through for incredibly cheap flights.

Hostels were either hit and miss. Some hostels I stayed at had amazing traveler interaction and others were as dead as a graveyard. However one common occurrence was that they were all very clean. I've definitely stayed a nicer hostels for the same price though. 

Taking tours is something I really don't like doing as I like to explore cities at my own pace. However, Sandelman's New Europe Tour (or something like that) is highly recommended. They have tour guides in basically every major European city and the best thing is that they are completely free! The catch is is that at the end of the tour, you can tip your tour guide as much as you think that tour was worth. As a broke backpacker, I've mastered snaking off at the end of each tour.

Europe left a great impression on me. The deeply rich history and ancient cities (well ancient compared to USA cities) are fascinating to learn about. I wish I had visited smaller European cities and other larger countries, but that's definitely on the menu for the next trip. This trip was more of a small appetizer platter (I do like food).

Rome

Rome is one of my most favorite European and probably even world cities that I've ever been to. I heard that the south of Italy during this time of the year was hot, but I didn't realize it was this damn hot. Baking in the Roman summer was truly a local experience as a tour guide told me that Rome was like that 6 months out of the year. I've never seen so much beautifully decorated Roman marble and polished stone that make up the majority of the city. And the food... oh lord Jesus I think I found a new love for authentic Italian food. 

Covered in beautiful white marble, this had to be one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen in my life.

Rome is freaking hot. Did I mention that already? Walking around for just an hour or two and I'm already completely soaked from sweat and sunburnt (I didn't think I could get any darker). However, Rome has this wonderful thing where they have hundreds if not thousands of these little running water fountains that you can use to refill water bottles. They're called nasone and they continuously flow with cold (and surprisingly delicious) underground water. These were like little mini gas stations for me to refuel at after I chug enough water on the hourly to end the drought in California.

The Colosseum in the background with the sea of Roman buildings. 

The architecture in Rome is incredibly impressive and flashy. I visited all the typical tourist areas and all the buildings are very intricately designed with marble, stone, ceiling paintings, and statues. Rome does have a public transport system revolving around busses and the underground but that was of no use for me. I loved just exploring the city on foot as there were always something to see north, east, south, and west of the city. Everything from the bridges, the streets, and buildings just looked so stereotypically Italian. Walking the side streets as well as alongside the water was a very relaxing (albeit freaking hot) experience. 

The Vatican is situated in a tiny area, full of tourists, but was still very beautiful architecturally.

I wrote about how Parisian drivers are crazy. I was wrong. You see in Rome there's this terrible combination of cars, pedestrians, and scooters. Crossing the damn street was a near nightmare is it seems like cars and scooters don't give a crap about pedestrian walking lights and right of way. I swear I was almost hit by a car/scooter at least 5 or 6 times (they came within 1 foot of me). However, the one difference I did notice was that it seems like Roman drivers are very capable. They all seem to be able to expertly navigate the traffic shitshow of Rome without you know any fatalities. How do I know this? There really isn't that much honking going on. In other cities, I can hear them constantly, but in Rome there's far less honking than usual leaving me to believe that they know what they're doing. Note, this method of explanation is probably the complete opposite of a scientific experiment.

The ruins, sadly, were kind of underwhelming. Much of the ancient buildings have all been destroyed.

I could probably write an entire blog post dedicated to just detailing what I ate but I'm a stickler to order so I refuse to do that. Italian food may be one of the greatest foods on Earth. I'm not even kidding. You see I love eating food. That's partly the reason I like traveling as I like going to new places and trying out their native foods. Eating in Rome is a most fantastic experience. I didn't even have set eating times while I was there, I just walked around (did the typically touristy things) and ate whenever I had the chance or if I saw something good. I ate all the typical Italian fares such as gelato, pizza, panini, and pasta but everything was so freaking delicious. I had the best pizza I've ever had in my entire life. It simply consisted of homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, anchoives (try them on pizza it's perfect), fresh basil, olive oil, and the most wonderful bread.  Just imagine eating this fresh pizza and drinking an ice cold beverage on a beautiful Roman summer evening. It was so delicious that I went back and ate there three times. I also went to this pasta place that served the most perfect (al dente) pasta with homemade sauce that I've ever had. Unlike any other city, the food in Rome is the perfect combination of price and quality. If I had this food anywhere else in the world it could cost at least two or three dollar signs on Yelp, but every single meal (every. single. one.) I had there was the price of fast food in America (right?? that's crazy). The next time I come to Rome, which is definitely going to happen now, I'm just going to purely do the food tour. 

Rome was full of side streets like this one... and was so easy to find good pizza.

Rome was my last stop for my European tour in 2017 and it easily became my most favorite city. Sure other cities have amazing history and others have great food, but no other city have I gone to has been a perfect combination of both. Rome has a crazy fascinating history (dating more than two thousand years old) and 10 out of 10 food (see above) that I can see why so many tourists come here for vacation. Every single day that I was in Rome was a fascinating exploration of food and culture. I'm definitely going to go back (well maybe when its not like 100 freaking degrees every day). 

Berlin

Berlin was like no other big western European city I've been to. Berlin was very non-touristy and very hard to navigate around if you don't know any German. With my luck I managed to get the 4 days of the week where the weather was rainy and cold. What I thought was the middle of summer, felt like the beginning of winter. Though the weather sucked, I think I found the uniqueness of Berlin's charm to be fascinating and entertaining.

The famous Brandenburg Gate located very close to the hostel that I was staying at. 

I hit all of the major tourist attractions as everything was pretty much in one area of the city. The one that stood out the most was the Holocaust memorial. Seeing the giant stone slabs and trying to figure out their representation was pretty mesmerizing. All the Holocaust memorials (such as the Topography of Terror) were free of charge and very well maintained. Seeing the remnants of the Berlin wall was really fascinating as well. I could see how relatively young Berlin felt as many parts of town were under severe construction. The ancient history of the city coexists with the rebirth of a young urban metropolis. 

Part of the Berlin Wall, the museum nearby was done very well.

Public transportation is available everywhere from underground trains, overground trains, and buses. At first, it was very difficult to navigate as most of the signs and names were in these very large German words. However, once I figured out how to pronounce some of the long-ass names, traveling around in public transport was a breeze. Unlike other cities, Berlin uses a ticket/validation system meaning you don't really need a ticket to get on the train but if you get caught you'd probably get fined. For me, I purchased one ticket and kept it on me at all times just in case as I'm a cheapskate. If I did get caught (the ticket only lasts like 2 hours), I would just play the dumb tourist card. Easy peasy.  

Some church with an observation tower in the background. When we were there, some wedding was going on at the church entrance.

German food seems to consist primarily of a combination of bread or potatoes and meat. And I fucking love it. I think I tried all the famous (cheap) German dishes such as schnitzel, bratwurst, currywurst, and the famous Berlin breakfast (I don't know if that's actually a thing). I got to say, schnitzel is easily my most favorite European dish so far. I went to this one restaurant two nights in a row because their schnitzel and potatoes was too amazing. Every single day I was in Berlin I had at least one meal of just the typical meat and potatoes. On the streets it was easy to get a cheap bratwurst, currywurst, and beer to munch on your way to the next tourist attraction. What's even better is that German beer is quite fucking good and Berlin's public drinking laws are so lax.

There's this one long ass wall in Berlin that has the best grafitti/wall art I've ever seen. Highly recommended.

Sadly I wasn't able to hit the infamous Berlin night scene. From what I heard from other tourists that I've talked to, Berlin's night scene is crazy. They have raves that last from Thursday night to Monday morning with no closures in-between.

I don't think I was able to fully appreciate my time in Berlin in my time here. The poor weather sometimes gave me limited mobility and seeing the dark cloudy skies didn't really create a positive mood. Yet, the intense history of the city and its peoples was incredibly interesting (also very much enjoyed constant carbs and protein). Berlin didn't feel like a hugely historical city like Amsterdam or Paris; it's like this weird anomaly trying to figure itself out. 

Paris

I've read a decent amount of negative stories surrounding vacationing in Paris. The relentless pick-pocketers, aggressive gypsies, tourist scams, and this story were all the major ones that I've read about. To be quite frank, I had really low expectations coming to Paris. On my first day, I realized how much of a tourist city Paris is. I've never seen so many tourists anywhere else before; I recalled seeing about 6 Chinese tourist groups as well as enough selfie sticks to rebuild another Eiffel tower in about an hour of being in Paris. However, my first impressions of the city was actually really positive because the architecture in Paris was beautiful.

Paris is a sprawling mass of buildings. Quite picturesque when seeing the city from an overlook.

Public transportation is a bit of a confusing nightmare if you don't know any French. But I was grateful of how extensive it was, allowing me to hit every single top tourist attraction with minimal walking. The museums and tourist attractions were amazing. The Louvre museum was massive and I gave up after 5 hours not because I ran out of things to see but because I got too tired. The other attractions were just as beautiful, such as the majestic Eiffel tower, the Arc de Triomphe, Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame, Basilica, etc. The only thing that slightly irritated me was the mass amounts of tourists for each destination (it was not fun waiting an hour in the rain for museums). I was supposed to visit Versailles but due to a combination of being closed on Tuesdays and terrible rainy weather, I wasn't able to make it.

The infamous Louvre pyramid. There were about 10 trillion tourists and way too many Chinese international tourists taking wedding photos here.

Walking the streets of Paris, it was fascinating seeing so many Chinese people; they were either French-Chinese, mainland Chinese tourists, or weird Chinese-whatever hybrids like me. I don't know if it's just me, but it was incredibly fascinating seeing the French-Chinese population exist in Paris. There were a ton of Chinese restaurants/shops and lots of things written in English, French, and Chinese. That was really unexpected. I was particularly interested in how growing up in France was like for them, but sadly I never got the chance to meet any.

When they said how small the Mona Lisa is, they were not joking. Shit's a tiny painting.

Countless TV shows, books, and articles have all exclaimed that the best food in Europe and possibly the best food in the world is French food. Sadly, in my short time there, I wasn't able to rightfully try true French cuisine. Due to monetary and time constraints, I ate most of my meals very cheaply (food from supermarkets) and conveniently (cheap hostel food). If it means anything, the cheap food that I had in Paris was very good. I promised myself that the next time I come to Paris, I'm going to set aside a big budget just to go out to eat authentic French cuisine.

Wow look at all the happy couples. Kind of ironic that some of the locks are combination locks right?

One massive thing I would like to note is that drivers in Paris are a bit insane. I've been to China. I've seen the chaos of the roads and how aggressive drivers can be. I never thought I'd see that same mentality in a western European country. Due to the combination of small streets, pedestrians, roundabouts (roundabouts are amazing for cars but complete shit for pedestrians), cyclists (both motorcycles and bicycles), sketchy people, and a confusing traffic light system, walking the streets of Paris is a bit frightening. Getting from point A to point B requires 110% concentration or you're either gonna get mugged, hit by a car, or even worse, lost. 

Generic Eiffel tower photo.

I'm glad I came to Paris to see what the entire fuss was about. Paris feels like a city designed for tourism. I did go to a CouchSurf meet up to talk and hang out with the locals, but that wasn't really enough time to get to know them well. Just exploring the city during the day, I would consistently see restaurants and gift shops on every or every other street I passed by. I guess if you were traveling in a group or with your family, that this would be kind of nice to see as there'd always be something to do. As a solo traveler trying to get a real feel of the city though, this kind of made me a bit sad. I don't think Paris would be a city I would revisit if I planned another trip to Europe. The big touristy city type isn't for me. 

Brussels

Brussels small town charm helps overshadow the fact that it's the capital of a small country of Belgium as well as the capital of Europe. In my short time in Brussels, I was able to see much of it as this city is easily walkable. Brussels is what I kind of imagined a typical European city would be like. Walking around the city, I saw plenty of locals and tourists munching on the infamous waffles and fries sitting at very quaint coffee shops. The city is extremely well designed in the sense that the main city center is blocked off completely for pedestrians. Even the train station that I came from was a 5 minute walk to my hotel.

Easily the most photographed building in Brussels. You could see it from any vantage point in the city. Gotta admit, it's cheating taking photos of it because it always looks good.

One thing to note was that the infamous Grand Place, the main square where are all the beautiful buildings are at, is amazing at every time of the day. I lived 5 minutes away and every morning and night I would always go check out the bustling square. The town hall (I think is the tallest building in Brussels) was amazing to see at every angle. It was a little sad how few parks Brussels has and even then, the parks were disappointingly boring. 

All of Brussels prettiest buildings lay in one tiny square.

Oh man do Belgians love their waffles, fries, and chocolate. It was kind of funny seeing the stores on the street, "oh a fries shop, waffles shop, sweets shop, another fries shop, another sweets shop..." However, the fries that I had in Brussels were probably the best fries I had in my life (I think I ate fries for like 4 meals/snacks). They were perfectly cut, double fried in beef fat, and served with all kinds of delicious sauces that make me never want to go back to boring ass ketchup ever again. Authentic Belgian waffles were a bit hard as most of the stores sold crappy and cheap waffles that were aimed at tourists. The real waffles that I did have were also easily the best waffles I've ever had. I've never realized there could be such complicated textures and aromas from such a simple pastry. As you can see, I didn't really get to eat my daily intake of vegetables and fruits (well any vegetables for that matter). That's gonna be regretful later. 

This city looked so generically European.

Although I stayed in Brussels for a short time (4 days), I realized that this was plenty of enough time to explore the city. I would even go to say that some parts of the day I got kind of bored. I enjoyed the food and walking around the city, but I guess it was a little too dull for me. However, it was a nice reprieve from big city life.

Amsterdam

Welcome to Amsterdam, the bicycle capital of the world (bikes outnumber people and bike lanes were the same size as the car lanes) and where I nearly died at least 4 times because of them. It was actually kind of funny seeing the infamous "prostitution windows" right in front of the oldest church in Amsterdam while also being right next to a kindergarten. I guess Amsterdam really does want to advertise itself as an extremely liberal city. 

It was impossible to take a good photo with everyone swarming the letters...

Walking around the city was actually one of the most entertaining things to do. Their biggest museum, the Rijksmuseum, was incredibly impressive. There were hundreds of not thousands of priceless paintings that were all based on Dutch history and traditions. Public transportation was available, but in the tiny city of Amsterdam there was no need as I could walk anywhere. The number of canals pretty much matched the amount of land Amsterdam has, so I was always walking right next to canals. The architecture of Amsterdam had to adapt to very narrow (and sometimes tilted strategically) buildings. Centraal station was extremely well located (right in the center of Amsterdam) and my hostel was a 2 minute hostel ferry ride away from the station. The city is beautifully realized in the perfect combination of the canals and unique architecture.

Walking alongside the canals in this beautifully designed city was amazing.

Food wise, I think I tried most of their famous foods such as stroopwafel (two crispy waffles holding a delicious sugary filling), fries, cheese, and pancakes (basically as thin as crepes). One thing I have to lovingly mention was that I got pretty addicted to the cheap and fresh smoothies from their supermarket stores, Albert Heijn. Those were easily my main source of vitamins and fluids on the hot summer days. Sadly, I wasn't able to try the infamous raw herring. Maybe next time when I train my stomach beforehand. 

Since much of Amsterdam consisted of water, I had to take this boat (ran every 5 minutes) every day to and from my hostel.

I could see the true face of modern day Amsterdam at night. After meeting some Australians (very loud and hilarious), a Irish guy (whom the entire group made fun by mixing him up as either Scottish or British), American, Danes, and some other Europeans, we went out to go check out the night life. Walking alongside the canals, I could see travelers stumbling out of "coffee shops" and bars smelling uhm... very Californian. The night was quite entertaining as I learned so much about Australian pride and humor. 

Weed shops. There were so many weed shops, you could smell the dankness from a mile away. And also the prostitutes.

I very much enjoyed my time in Amsterdam. It felt like a city that I wanted to get lost in because around every corner, street, or alley was something fascinating to explore and learn about. I spent most of my time just wandering the streets and seeing the intersection between its very liberal policies and its vital historical sites.

London

I begin my trip in the easy-to-accomodate-for-english-speakers European city of London. The first thing I noticed was the English accents. Every time someone spoke, I couldn't help but smile or laugh because it just doesn't sound right to me. I've been so accustomed to the dull American accent that hearing these people speak is still too entertaining. It wasn't too difficult to move around the city as the tube is really large and extremely efficient. I can get pretty much anywhere within London with very minimal walking.

5 seconds later the dude in the tats yelled at me for taking unsolicited (more like un-tipped) photos.

As for the city itself, I underestimated on how short London is. I really kind of expected tall buildings and skyscrapers (much like big American cities I guess), but that was definitely not the case. London's architecture seems very old-style, quaint, and clean. The closest American city that I can think of that resembles London architecture would maybe be Philadelphia (like the old parts of Philly). 

Dang nabbit that is one beautiful looking bridge.

I visited all the typically tourist places such as London Eye, Big Ben, The British Museum, London Tower, Tower bridge, V&A Museum, National Gallery, etc. I really enjoyed both the London Tower and British Museum very much. Both are historical sites and extremely well preserved and maintained. The tour guides and the set up of things was very well done. The history of the city is just so rich too and this is evident in both going to the museums and just walking around the city. I spent most of my time just tubing to places and walking alongside the Thames river in the surprising summer heat.

This was like the only good photo of Big Ben, literally everything underneath this was under construction.

Food wise... I'm not exactly sure what "English" food is yet. Walking around the streets looking for restaurants, I can see that the only popular food available were either ethnic or Italian. I think I've been disappointed in every single meal. I tried fish and chips, and I honestly believe you could probably find better fish and chips in the USA. British food also includes a lot of "mash" which is basically mashed potatoes. Every. Single. Restaurant. Even if they are supposedly ethnic, they still have mash. Even when I tried to go find authentic British food, they were either closed or you had to make reservations. Maybe I didn't stay long enough (although 6 days is plenty food-wise), but I was highly disappointed.

There were about 5 trillion tourists here.

I visited a London nightclub to celebrate my friends 21st birthday, which by the way the British don't care at all since they've been drinking since 18. I gotta say... I don't know if it was just this one night club, but the music was very specific. I thought the music sounded very European, but it was nothing like the night life music I've heard in SF and other American cities. The dance floor was mostly guys and I swear they used the same damn bass beat for every song. Fascinating.

I don't think I enjoyed London nearly as much as other tourists and travelers. I don't know what it was, but I didn't really click with this city. Nothing really attracted my attention here, which I can't say for other cities like Seatle, NY, HK, Tokyo, and others. The next time I come here will probably only be for business (if somehow as a engineer I need to come to the UK). 

Travel Tech

I would say that I've traveled a decent amount for my age. Between shuttling back and forth across the US due to college and annual trips to China (plus random trips within the US and abroad), I've had enough experience to determine what is the most ideal tech to bring on a trip to stave off boredom (well for me personally). 

Back when I was just a scrub (I mean a kid), the only form of entertainment that I had on flights was my old trusty PSP and GameBoy Advance. Those things had to survive 13 hour flights to China. Now that I'm an adult (oh god I'm an adult now huh), I have more freedom to decide/purchase things for my own entertainment. Over the past couple of years, I've more or less cemented my "must-need" technology for long trips.

Below is a list and a brief description:

iPhone - I hope everyone brings a smartphone on their travels. This tool is extremely necessary especially if I'm in a foreign country and I must use GPS to figure out where to go. This saved my ass many times over in my trip to Japan. Sim cards are so easy to acquire in foreign countries and they are super affordable.

MacBook Pro - Gotta have a laptop. When traveling to a new destination, shit could happen and I might need to get on a computer ASAP to change itineraries. Plus it's nice to have when I'm at the hotel/hostel/AirBnB and can have my social media/internet fix at night. It's also a great tool to research things to do when I'm on vacation (much better than looking at a tiny phone screen). 

Kindle PaperWhite - This was a recent purchase of mine, but boy has this changed traveling for me. I haven't read a lot for fun in college, but this Kindle has really made me pick up reading again. I have a ton of books recommended to me by friends and books that I've always wanted to read loaded up. I've been reading a lot on planes and it makes the time go by so quickly.

Playstation Vita - This was... more of an impulse purchase. I used to own the original PSP and wanted to purchase the newest model so I could play all the old games that I used to play. I have a PS Plus membership, so I get free games every month. So far, I haven't been utilizing it to the fullest potential as lately I would rather read than play games (oh shit I really am getting old). 

Earphones - This is a must. Personally, I cannot stand the sound of other people talking and the sound of vehicles/planes. By drowning out those sounds, I can keep sane and calm. I used to have really crappy $10 - $20 earphones that I would break or lose in the span of a few months. I decided to splurge for expensive ones as I can easily spend hours a day listening to music. Boy do expensive ones sound so much better than the cheaper ones.

Camera - Does this count? Actually whatever this is my blog, I'll make it count. Taking photos is relaxing and fun for me. Traveling to a new place and see something cool? Snap a photo. I only get a great photo every once in a while and I can increase my chances by continuously snapping away (yes I know framing and designing the shot is important too). 

Power Bank - This is incredibly vital for me. I utilize my phone a ton to search for food and attractions and so if my phone ever ran out of power I'd definitely be screwed. Having a good power bank means I can charge my phone like 8 or 10 times which allows me to never worry about needing to find a quick charge.

Can my vacation just start already

I've flown United for a solid 8 or 9 years now and have accumulated more than 100k miles. Never once had I ever had a super negative experience as most of my experiences were either average or just bad (which is normal). But this past 24 hours has been purely infuriating.

My first flight was delayed a solid 2 hours which guaranteed me that I was going to miss my connection to London. However, the kind desk agent told me that the pilot wanted to leave early and that I could make my connection in time. I get onboard and we somehow get delayed on the tarmac for a solid 45 minutes. This means I completely miss the last flight that night out to London. The next flight would be at 9 in the morning the next day. Great. 9 hours in the airport and I need to go to customer service to ask for accommodations and food vouchers. 

I get to Newark airpot (my layover to London) and rush directly to United customer service front desk. Just my luck! The agent tells me that an earlier flight to London has been delayed all the way to then and that she could add me on to the flight. Perfect, I thought, I was gonna make it to London that night with no hiccups. A minute later (as soon as I get my new ticket from the agent), they announced that the flight will be delayed for 4 hours and will be leaving at around 4 morning. That's not too bad, I can just chill at the airport for a few hours and get some reading/eating done.

As I was sitting down looking at the menu at some crappy airport bar/restaurant (only place opened) for dinner, I get a text. "Your flight to London is canceled due to aircraft maintenance." Are. You. Shitting. Me. As I grabbed my bags and barreled out of the overpriced restaurant (seriously I saw a $30 burger), I muttered many expletives under my breath as I knew the customer service desk was going to be completely swamped. I quickly started calling United customer service to get my flight changed while in line. 30 minutes later, as I was still in line, the United representative on the phone tells me the earliest flight (the 9 am one the next day) was fully booked and that the next earliest one would be 6 pm. Oh boy. After another hour and a half in line, I finally get my accommodations and food vouchers from the front desk agent. 

It's like 2 in the morning and I rush to the airport shuttle because I just want to sleep. I arrive at the hotel with no issues. I get a good nights rest and now I feel much more energetic to take on United. After eating a $20 burger (courtesy of United) I'm hoping that the rest of the day is smooth sailing. They even gave me $200 credit for a future United flight! Wow thanks United!

I think over the course of last 24 hours, I had my ticket changed like 6 or 7 times due to seat and flight changes. What an unlucky day.

Travel Plans

The main purpose of this blog is to document my travels through Europe and Asia. I'm primarily solo traveling alone, with the exception of meeting my family in Asia, and so I have a ton of freedom of what to do and where to go. Currently my itinerary is extremely flexible as the only thing that I have cemented is my first flight to London. This feels a bit worrying as I'm starting to panick a bit, but whatever I'm young enough to be flexible. However I do have some sort of soft plan of locations that I definitely want to visit. 

Cities:

• London, England
• Paris, France
• Zurich, Switzerland
• Berlin, Germany
• Vienna, Austria
• Rome, Italy
• Vatican City (if I can get in)
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Brussels, Belgium (maybe)
• Nice, France (maybe)
• Monaco (maybe)

I will be adding cities to the list once I get to Europe after hearing suggestions from hostel staff and other travelers. After that, I need to get to Hong Kong somehow from one of the European cities. Probably Berlin or Rome because of their large international airports.

1 day left. Oh god.

Introduction

Writing really isn't something I've done much of in the past couple of years in college. Whenever I could, I would avoid taking any form of reading and writing comprehension classes. Analytical and creative writing really weren't my thing. To be brutally frank, I didn't really care. However, after finally finishing the rigors of college (well more like not being stressed out anymore), I definitely feel like I have more time to read interesting books/novels and possibly begin new hobbies like this one. My writing is definitely very beginner level, but hopefully as I write more, my writing can become a bit more bearable to read.

For me, writing is a great way of saving precious memories that I may forget in the future. By writing down these memories I want to be able to look back at what I've seen and done. By looking at my past I can be a bit more efficient about my future in terms of revisiting past places and experiences. Besides writing for memories, I guess writing is a great way to express myself in a more creative medium. Though for now I'll just stick to writing a simple blog about my travels for the summer. This writing is primarily for me, but by showcasing my writing to the public it forces me to write more properly and actually try to improve.

Now that I've graduated, I'm both excited and nervous about my future. Maybe this whole writing thing is to cover my anxiety about finally having to go in the real world. Maybe I actually want to write. Who knows.