“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
So, I've realized that my trips have to encounter some type of hiccup(s) or confusion at the airport(s). 🙄🤦✈
I get to the airport 3 hours early like a good traveler 🤗, wait in the queue for about 2 hours and wait at the gate with about 1 hour remaining. I look at the gate's message board with flight information to Rome at 14:10 (mind you, my flight's at 14:20.) In my mind, I'm thinking my flight is departing after. *SN: I had very little sleep, and I was tired* The gates open for this flight and they started to board. I recalled my ticket saying that I should be boarding my flight around this time🤔. I pull out my ticket....😑 I was at the wrong gate for 50 minutes. Luckily, my gate was 3 gates down, and I made boarding on time. I'm going to Singapore!👐✈
So my friend, Chelsea, is from Singapore. How did we meet?🤔 Well, about 3 years ago, we studied abroad at the same university in Chile, had 2 classes together, and was placed in the same group in one of our classes. Also, a friend and I planned a trip to Argentina and ran into Chelsea at the same hostel, unplanned. It's crazy how small the 🌏is. Anyways, my week(end) in Singapore caused for a celebration. It was the week of my birthday, and Chelsea completed her CFA exam. It's time to celebrate👐.
After I arrived and got settled in, Chelsea took me to a local spot that Singaporeans love to eat Chinese food. Chelsea said I did very well for trying new foods. After that, she showed me around Little India.
The next day, I went walking around Chinatown collecting too many souvenirs 🤦, and wandered through the streets towards Bugis Junction and Clarke Quay. After that self-tour, I met back up with Chels, and we went to the water park, Adventure Cove. I didn't plan to get my hair wet🙄, but I ended up having a good time. 😝 We took a walk through Sentosa and ended up on the beach enjoying music, food, and good vibes.
June 5😏: A day filled with adventures. So the hotel I stayed at has this wonderful infinity pool that oversees the city with great views. I spent a couple of hours there enjoying the weather. After that, I took it upon myself to explore more of Singapore.
Later that night, Chelsea and her friends took me out to celebrate my birthday 🎶"On a Tuesday!" [No photos available🙃.] I made it back to my room in great condition!🖒
JUNE 6: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME Waking up earlier than expected, I went out to the pool again and had breakfast there. It was so relaxing. I wasn't really in the mood to site see, just relax and take in everything that I was experiencing. I went to the movies to see Wonder Woman, then relaxed by the pier until I reconnected with Chelsea. Final things we enjoyed together were the "Gardens by the Bay" and "Marina Bay Sands" lights show and a dinner with typical Singaporean food.
Overall, I had an amazing time in Singapore. I thank God for allowing me to cross paths and become friends with Chelsea! I look forward to another trip in the future.
I'm just posting to be posting. So, nothing really has been happening since Thailand. I've been trying to catch up on so much sleep. Traveling takes the energy out of you. It's like a full time job. But, I STILL love doing it.
In other news, I did meet up with an old friend. You'd be amazed at the amount of people you come across while traveling and living overseas. One of my friends from university traveled with her sister to Korea. We ended up meeting with one another and hanging out in Seoul. This isn't our first time being international together. We did an internship program with our university in Beijing, China. So many memories we made (I have blogs for those-June 2015). A couple weeks after that weekend with her, I went back to Seoul for another day of tourism.
This trip was something else. To begin with, I had a situation that required me to change my entire holiday plans, and I wanted to cancel my entire trip. My grandmother and LS, in separate conversations, encouraged me to make the best of what I could still do. So, off Thailand I went.
The forever delay to get out of Korea. I was sitting on the plane for 2 hours before our departure to Bangkok. I took short naps during the waiting period. Lord knows I wanted to ask what the problem was, but that would have taken too much energy. I probably would have known if I grabbed the notice letter when we arrived, but I knew it didn't concern me, so I didn't bother. 🙃
Let me rewind back to before I boarded the plane. As I was waiting to board the plane, I kept looking at the destination name, Bangkok- Don Meung. Clearly, I knew I was flying to Bangkok, but the airport name seemed unfamiliar. I googled searched and found out that Bangkok has two international airports, and I made my plans from the wrong airport. 🙄 whoops... The other major international airport had a metro station connected to it, but the one I was flying into didn't. It takes about 30-40 minutes to get downtown from the airport. Mind you, I have a 20:15 flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I arrived 2 hours later than my expected arrival, 16:50. Wouldn't it have been something for me to tell you the story of how I got stranded in Bangkok? 🤗 Lolz. As a traveler, I know better, but apparently, I was up for pushing limits. Fast-forwarding to my arrival in Bangkok. I got on the bus that goes downtown. I felt like I could see a few things in Bangkok. Little did I know that traffic was HORRIFIC there. It took about 1 hour and 8 minutes to get where I got off. That’s what I get for trying to be cheap. While on the bus, I asked the bus attendant my best option, and she said get off and take a taxi. I did what she recommended. So, I'm slinging my suitcase around Bangkok, trying to find a major area so I can catch a taxi. By this time, I had 53 minutes until check-in closed. A 10-minute walk later, I finally caught a taxi. (40 minutes til check-in). I'm checking my phone's clock every 2 minutes, wondering how far away we are, and mentally figuring out what my new plans would be if I get left in Bangkok. But I'm sure you already knew I made it just in time, with 7 minutes to spare! 😉 Since I didn't get to really see Bangkok, I'll have to make a trip back.
Now to the good part(s)... Chiang Mai, Thailand. I arrived late in the evening, and after I checked into my hostel, I found some energy to look around the city. Anyways, to the next morning... the elephant tour🐘. Oh, what an amazing experience and life lessons I learned. I got to take care of my own elephant for a day. Meet my friend, Don Dee. You wouldn't believe the things he shared with me. Elephants are known for wisdom. ☺
During my time spent with him, he reaffirmed how we need to take things slow in life and not rush. We miss out on things and dismiss valuable time and moments. TRUST. In the beginning when I first fed him, I was distant, literally and mentally. When you don't have trust, you won’t get the full experience with someone or something nor gain value of the time. When I first climbed upon his back, he was patient with me. I was a little nervous, but he guided and assisted me up top. His walk with confidence made me confident in him with no worries. The walk was peaceful. I took in the moments and enjoyed the scenery around. Once we made it to the pond, I gave him a good scrub, cleaning the dirt (he threw upon himself🙄) off him. This was very entertaining. We had lunch and free time after. I enjoyed the other two women that were in my group. It was refreshing to chat about life and traveling. The time with Don Dee came to an end, and I had to say good-bye to him and my trainer. That experience was exactly what I needed.
Once I arrived to my hostel, I cleaned myself and headed out into the "old city" for more adventures. I walked for hours, wandering into different directions, finding temples all around. I took a tuktuk (1. to say I've experienced it and 2. cause I was tired of walking) to the night market. There I found locals selling all types of crafts. If you're ever traveling to Chiang Mai, this is the best place to get souvenirs. Be warned! You'll spend a good amount of money because of the prices. I had to remove myself from the scene. 🤷 Another experience I had was the Thai massage. It was different but much needed.
I wasn't a fan of extremely long layovers until now. I had a 10 hour layover in Malaysia, so you know I had to make my way to the city. 🤗 Malaysia is not what I had expected. It's a little complex, but manageable. The city is amazing and wonderfully constructed. The people were kind and generous. (My opinion is created from the two men I had full conversations with.) So I'm walking trying to find a specific metro station, and I find the "I ❤ ️Kuala Lumpur" sign. As I'm about to take a selfie, a local asked if I would like for him to take a picture. I said sure, I'd appreciate it. After that picture, I enrolled myself into Malaysian History 101. Before he began sharing info, I found out he's a country music player in Malaysia. He has his own band,and they do music covers and perform at events. He wants to travel to Texas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. After our long conversation, he showed me the direction to the metro I needed to go to. I also found out what places I need to visit when I return. My other encounter was with the taxi driver. I was at the twin towers when it started pouring down raining. I was determined to go to the other tower and needed a lift. I asked him how much it would be, and he gave me a price. (Usually, you don't want to be in a taxi where the driver doesn't turn the meter on.) I accepted, and we headed to the tower. In the midst of waiting in all the traffic, he asked me was it urgent for me to get to the tower and was I hungry. I told him not really, that I may eat at the tower's restaurant, but I have a flight to catch soon. He informed me that the tower was closing in 15mins. I insisted that we give it a shot. Once we got to the tower, he said he'd wait for me out front just in case. He had trusted me to leave his taxi and return, because I hadn't paid him. I came back with the expected news of the tower being closed, and he ask where did I need to go now. By this time, I just needed to head back to the airport, so the train station is where I needed to go. He gave me another reasonable offer. I was not in the mood to walk nor be in the rain, so I accept. I'm scrambling through my purse, trying to collect the fee. More than mid-way through the ride, I discovered I was literally "50 Malaysian cents" from exact change. When we arrived at my destination, I told him I was short. He lowered the price by 10RM. I gave him that exactly, and he gave me 10RM back. I was sitting in his taxi confused. He told me to take it and get some food. I declined, but he insisted that I take the money. Nothing but God. Always know that there are good people everywhere in this world!
Until the next adventures.... 🤗
Check out my video with more photos and recordings of my adventures!
These previous weeks have been very interesting. The recent impeachment in South Korea of President Park, to the neighbor up north and his outlandish actions, I've been trying to process everything; but it seems to go over my head. It's not like I don't know what's going on. But when you live and work with people that continue their daily lives and don't allow anything to bother them, you end up doing the same. My students have had a lot to say about it. They're children...they rarely hold back their opinions. From the younger students joking about missiles and bombs blowing up, to my older ones expressing how awful the impeached president was and how "you know who"🙄 has a double chin. I have more to say about this, but I think I'll save it for a more appropriate time.
In other positives news, I had a wonderful and eventual weekend in Seoul. I was able to see and do as much as I planned. I did about 25 miles of walking over the course of two days. Trust me, it wasn't easy.
The moment I had arrived in Korea, I had been wanting to tour Lotte World Tower. At that time, I found out that it wasn't opening for tourism until the beginning of April. I didn't make the grand opening, but I got the right to say, "I've visited Lotte World Tower within the first month of it's opening!" That counts, right? 🤔
Next stop was Namsan Tower. It's another landmark located in Seoul that's significant.
After that, I made my way to the City Hall district; passing by Sungnyemun Gate, Seoul Plaza, and Deoksuggung Palace. *Let me insert that this wasn't an easy trek. * I got lost several times...but that's what makes adventures. 🙃😅 Once I recharged my energy at this pizza shop, I continued towards Gwanghwamun District. This is where day 1 ended and day 2 began. Gyeongbokgun Palace is where I got to see the showing of "The Changing of the Guard."
I walked in other areas, making a few loops through areas of already been through. Though it was tiring and exhausting, I really enjoyed myself!
Until next time, Seoul!
Check out my video with more pictures to see!
(excuse my rushed "work." I'll do better next time)
