CIQ is short for Custom, Immigrations, and Quarantine Complex After returning to Singapore from Hong Kong, I decided to stay 2 days in Johor Bahru or JB for short. There were three reasons why I decided to make a stop at JB before I head over to more relatives' place: More spacious living arrangements at a very affordable price all to myself Needed to finish some shopping and had extra Malaysian…
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Good to know: We Buy = Converting local currency back to USD, the place is buying back their local currency We Sell = Converting USD to local currency, the place is selling you their local currency Whenever you travel, the first thing you'll have to do is exchange some local currency because there will always be some places that accept cash only. Even in the US, there are restaurants that only…
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There are many forms of transportation that can get you to the places you want to visit. Here are your options especially when you are a budget traveler. Ride-sharing services: Uber vs. Grab Coming from the US, I already had Uber installed on my phone. So it was handy when we didn't like a price quoted by a tuk tuk driver. Lyft is basically non-existent in Southeast Asia so I suggest removing…
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First Stop: Tokyo Tower My friend Honore connected me to her good friend Jeremy. Originally, we weren’t going to meet but he was free that morning so we met up. He waited for me at the train station and then we walked to his apartment and drop my things off before we toured around. He lived near the Tokyo Tower so we took a short stroll there. On the way to the tower, we stopped by this shrine…
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First Stop: Breakfast with Meg So the next day, I woke up early to make sure I was on time to meet up with Meg. She works near Roppongi so she told me to wait near this huge spider statue, which I spotted easily. We walked down to the undergrounds and finally decided to eat brunch at this Yakitori place. Haven’t seen each other for a semester, we updated each other what was going on with our…
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Originally, I planned on not going to the tuna auction since I would have to wake up at 2 am and start lining up for three hours to get in. But since the two friends I met earlier in the hostel planned on going, I decided to tag along. Moreover, the tuna auction is only a 2-minute walk away. After we got on the line, we began talking to the family in front of us. They actually came two days ago…
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I slept quite early yesterday so I woke up around 8:30 am. After washing my face and dressing up, I met two other travelers Alan and Dean who were also living in the hostel. Both of them were recent graduates from the Boston area and they were currently traveling around Asia before they start work. They told me they walked around and went to the Meiji Shrine yesterday; they planned on visiting the…
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Today was the last day I would spend in Beijing before I board a sleeper train back to Shanghai. Once I arrive, I would have to immediately go to class since I decided to take an overnight train back. The last place I planned on going was the Temple of Heaven. First stop: Temple of Heaven The temple was only a ten minutes walk away so I decided to go on the very last day. I checked out early and…
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My feet were still exhausted from the hike on the Great Wall. But I have only one and a half day in Beijing left so I had to grasp onto time. I didn’t plan everything from the start; I added on more things to do based on time. The main things to do today: Tiananmen Square and Forbidden Palace. First stop: Tiananmen Square I left my hotel around 9:30 am and walked to Tiananmen Square since it was…
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After a day of light activities yesterday, I was ready for a day of vigorous hiking today on the Great Wall. I signed up for a small 6-person tour through China Highlights. My guide picked me up at my hotel around 7:30 am and we drove to Sanlitun to pick up the other two hikers. It was going to be a three-person tour group. I chose the 4-hours hike from Jiankou, which is the more broken down…
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For my first day in Beijing, I planned on visiting the Summer Palace and then enjoy a Peking opera performance at Liyuan Theater. First Stop: Summer Palace The weather was extremely perfect today. The skies were actually blue and filled with clouds --- nothing that I expected. When one of my friends went to Beijing, she told me that she couldn’t even see the skies because it was so polluted…
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I didn’t go to Beijing with my friends earlier in April because I wanted to go when the weather was better. But I knew I would go to Beijing eventually --- I can’t go to China without going to Beijing. So I booked everything in advanced: the train tickets, hotel, tour ticket, and performance ticket. I wanted to try out the first-class seat on the high-speed rail so I purchased one on this trip…
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Today was Brittany’s turn to plan our day. She planned on bringing us to the beach near Fisherman’s Wharf. Fisherman’s Wharf was very beautiful especially with the glowing blue skies in the background. It would have been an even better sight in the evening when the sun sets. First Stop: Fisherman's Wharf The beach was a huge disappointment because it was mainly polluted. One of the men residing…
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First Stop: Jiufen Old Street Today was my day to plan! Being a little more adventurous, I decided on traveling all the way to Jiufen and then from there end our day at Keelung. Instead of taking the taxi, which is too costly, I led the group to take the train to Ruo and from there take a cab at a fixed rate to Jiufen. I was nervous the entire day because I was afraid we would miss the train or…
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Instead of eating breakfast at the hostel, we walked around and finally found a café open at 10 am in the morning. I loved the tuna sandwich breakfast platter I got that I would definitely go back one more time. First Stop: Taipei 101 Today’s itinerary is much more relaxing. The first place we visited was the world-renowned Taipei 101. We weren’t even up at the top yet, but the gift shops…
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The hostel served free breakfast starting at 8:30 am. We woke up before 8 am for the free breakfast and we realized the food was mostly gone after half an hour. We met a new friend; her name is Ashley and she has been backpacking across Asia. First Stop: Elephant Mountain Today is Catey’s day to plan and since she loves hiking, our day was packed with hiking adventures. We took the subway to our…
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Our day started at 5:30 am since our flight was at 8:30 am. With traffic, security check, and custom, we gave enough time for ourselves so we wouldn’t miss our flight. The flight was around 3 hours so we arrived around 12:30 pm. We left our luggage at the hostel since we couldn’t check in until 2:30 pm. We walked around the Shilin Night Market area and found a place to eat. After we checked in…
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First stop: Lamma Island We also had breakfast at the hotel in the morning. After breakfast, we were in for a day of hiking at Lamma Island. Due to miscommunication, I didn’t wear a swimsuit inside my hiking clothes, so I didn’t go for a swim. I didn’t really care since we would be heading to the hot springs in two days. We stopped for a swim first while others sat under the trees. After days…
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First stop: Dim Sum It’s not worth going to Hong Kong if we don't eat dimsum. It was nice to gather together and enjoy dimsum early in the morning but I wished we went to a restaurant where we can see workers pushing carts of dimsum around; that would have been a much more legitimate experience; luckily, I’ve been to one three years ago. Next stop: Ladies' Market at Mongkok There was originally…
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First stop: Tencent Company Visit It was our last time eating breakfast at this hotel since we would be checking out today. After breakfast, we boarded the bus to our corporation visit at Tencent. It finally rained after days of humid weather. It was exciting to be able to learn about the company but what I really wanted to see was the office and the team dynamics. As mentioned before, I hate…
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We got a wake-up call around 7:30 am so we would be able to allot time to eat breakfast downstairs at the hotel. The plans for today were hiking on Wutong Hill and a tour at Dafen Oil Painting Village. After finishing breakfast, everyone boarded the bus to Wutong Hill. I felt embarrassed since I was literally the last one to board the bus since I was a few minutes late but I don’t remember the…
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Since this year our program has a large number of students, the program had to arrange two coach buses to drive us to Hongqiao airport. While on our way to the airport, one student forgot his passport so he had to take a taxi back to the dorm. Luckily, he made it on time. After arriving to the airport on a two-hour flight, our tour guides picked up and we were driven to a restaurant for group…
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First stop: Nanjing Massacre Memorial We woke up a bit earlier today since we would be leaving in the afternoon. When we arrived at the metro stop, we saw a line that has already started curving around; there were also many tour groups on the line. We quickly jumped into the line, which moved quite fast, so we walked past security in five minutes. Once we stepped inside, I realized the whole…
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Our last day in Guilin was mainly a free day for everyone. We get to choose where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. Maddie and I still wanted to explore so we both decided to visit the Ancient Town of Daxu. As promised, we went back to 明桂米粉 one more time for the delicious rice noodles. After breakfast, Maddie and I headed out; we took a cycle rickshaw out to the city and the driver…
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My friend Brittany and I took the metro to Shanghai Railway Station first and then decided to take the metro to Hongqiao Railway Station after realizing that we would have to wait close to 2 hours for the high-speed rail. So we took the train from Hongqiao for about an hour before we arrived at Nanjing. Since we arrived around 9 pm, we took the metro to our hostel since it hasn’t closed yet. It…
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After a horrible encounter with yesterday’s tour group, I kept my expectations low for this second tour. However, unlike the tour to Yangshuo, I had higher hopes for this since I know it is difficult to go to the terraces without a tour group especially to visit the minority people. The tour guide arrived later this time around 8:30 am. This time, we weren’t the only foreigners on the tour so the…
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The tour guide picked us up in front of 明桂米粉. The tour guide was a young woman who only spoke Chinese since everyone in the tour group except for us were Chinese. I ended up attempting to translate the information she said to my friends. Our first stop in the tour is not Yangshuo but a shopping center, which the tour guide honestly told us that she relies on commissions from tourist purchases…
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My friend Oye and I took an earlier flight at 5 pm and arrived before the others. It was the first time both of us are leaving from Shanghai’s airport but luckily we met a middle-aged man who was also heading to Guilin and was going to be on the same flight as us. So he told us to follow him and he helped us check in at the counter. As we waited for our flight, we began having a conversation and…
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My plan initially: Go to the Panmen Scenic Area (since it was only 5 minutes away from the hotel), then walk to the Ancient Grand Canal and take a boat, then walk to the Master of Nets Garden (a mini version of Humble Administrator's Garden), and finally grab my stuff and head to Shantang Street since I remember passing by it on the metro. Here is what I ended up doing: First Stop: Panmen Scenic…
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I planned on going to Suzhou since the start of the week. But after my roommate backed out, I decided not to go. However, when I woke up Saturday morning at around 8:30 am, I told myself, "Well, since I woke up this early, why not go to Suzhou?" So I immediately looked for a hotel and went onto booking Pan-Pacific Suzhou Hotel on Expedia for $109USD/night for one night. For a five-star hotel…
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Purchasing the train ticket Hangzhou is almost an hour away from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station via the high speed rail. You can arrive at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station by taking the Line 10 towards Hongqiao all the way to the terminal stop. After getting off, you have to look for signs that will lead you to the train station. Unlike the Shanghai Railway Station, you go through security…
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We woke up around 9 am and left around 10:30 am in order to not waste any time. Instead of going to the Lingyin Temple like my four other friends are, we decided to go the Pagoda of the Six Harmonies. We took the 308 bus since the bus stop was near our hostel and it took only 40 minutes. First Stop: Pagoda of the Six Harmonies Not knowing how steep the stairs were, we were quite excited as we…
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Traveling to Hangzhou is my first trip out of the city of Shanghai. Since I have friends who will be staying overnight, I've decided to stay one night there as well and enjoy a full day in Hangzhou. My friend and I took the Line 10 metro all the way to the terminal stop Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. From there, we purchased round-trip tickets, planning to leave Suzhou at 8:30 pm. The train…
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Chinese class in the morning from 8:30am to 10:30am - I am in level 401 with four other students. The pace is faster compared to the previous Chinese class I've taken at my school. Around Daxue Road I decided to sit in at the Supply Chain course since I am still not sure what class I want to take yet. He mainly talked about himself the whole lecture and has not yet delved much into the course…
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Third day was a continuation of orientation. The directors talked about their personal experiences and about their background. Afterwards, I had to take the 4 hour long placement test to determine our level in Chinese. For dinner, my American roommate and I wanted to eat with our Chinese roommate but she had plans already. So she introduced us to restaurants on 大学路 (College Road). We wandered…
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I slept very early but woke up early at 6:30 am which means I didn't really get a good night sleep thanks to jet lag. Today orientation began and the directors basically discussed about health, transportation, and living in Shanghai. After the whole orientation, I had the opportunity to hang out with my Chinese roommate. She brought me and my other roommate to stock up on personal products. We…
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I've arrived yesterday at about 12 pm at Pudong International Airport. Realizing that I would have to wait 3 long hours before the program pick-up window, I decided to catch a taxi and move-in a bit earlier. My room is actually quite big with a personal bathroom --- how nice! :) The group met up in the lobby at 6:30 pm and walked to a restaurant about 10 minutes away. The weather was great…
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