Still alive

Weeeeeew. That is how fast the last few weeks have past. Did not even realize that I did not post one single blog entry. Ahhhwell, too busy traveling and absorbing the different countries, cultures and experiences. It was quite a route we travelled and quite a journey with all its ups and downs. But luckily, more ups than downs =) Here our pitstops on the way: Scroll down if you only want to see the "country-route":

Bangkok: see above

--> 12 hour night bus to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand

Chiang Mai: 2 day jungle trekking

--> 8 hour night bus to Chiang Kong on the Laos border

Chang Kong: border crossing to Laos

--> 2 day slow boat to Luang Prabang in Laos

Luang Prabang: more jungle trekking & elephant riding

--> flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia

Siem Reap: magnificent temples of Angkor Wat

--> 8 hour night bus to Sihanoukville in Southern Cambodia

Sihanoukville: first day on the beach =)

--> bus to Kep

Kep: not much to see, so quickly proceed to Vietnam

--> combined Tuk-Tuk and motorbike ride to Ha Tien in Vietnam

Ha Tien: not much to see either

--> bus to Ho Chin Minh City, the "bus" was without our knowledge replaced by a jeep and so we travelled with a Vietnamese family squeezed with 7 people/9 hours to Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City: Cuchi Tunnels and craziness

--> flight to Phuket

Phuket: white powder sand, coconuts, turquoise water, parents

--> boat to Phi Phi islands

Phi Phi Islands: a dream come true

--> boat to Krabi

Krabi: more dreams come true

--> bus/boat combination to Langkawi in Malaysia

Langkawi: more beach, beer and sun

--> boat/bus to Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur: back to civilization

--> bus to Singapore

Singapore: city perfectionism

--> flight to Taipei soon

In short:

Taiwan - Thailand - Laos - Cambodia - Vietnam - Thailand - Malaysia - Singapore - Taiwan

4 flights, 7 long bus rides, 5 boat trips, uncountable tuk-tuks, taxis, motorbikes....

Now it is almost time to go back home, 2 days left in Singapore and then another 2 days in Taipei! Sad to leave but some good times ahead...

Alli

Philippines

The Philippines were adventurous and amazing. Adventurous...well, lets say that roads, busses and ferries are somewhat off your normal expectations (that is, European!). Amazing...it is a beautiful country with a really happy, smily and cool bunch of people.  Funny that we (A+M+D) barely noticed the change into 2010, since we did not sleep the night before but instead were traveling to our destination island (our plane left 1.25am from Taipei). So we were pretty much just sitting in a restaurant, eating, getting drunk and feeling slightly off this world and just managed to stay awake when the clock showed 12. The next days we did what you do in the Philippines (or on holidays in general), relaxing on the beach, driving tricycle, windsurfing, snorkeling and drinking the local brew! Perfect, apart from the obvious coupling between too old white men and too young Philippina women going on in our hotel. Honestly, I was shocked and disgusted by this prostitution at first and felt sorry for the girls, but since it seemed to be the most normal thing to do there, we just ignored it as good as we could.

In short, I have an ambiguous image of the Philippines...the people and nature are the treasures of the country, but it is sad to see the poverty and prostitution.

Pictures will follow soon!

My sister left on wednesday, it was good to have her here :) Here is a pic form the last day after we went to Taipei Zoo:

Now it is exam time and study mode. But not too long fortunately, next Saturday the 16th it is time to say goodbye to Taipei and our trip to SE Asia starts! Can't wait to travel again (honestly, I do not know how I can manage to live a life without traveling at least every second weekend...hehe) For now, we only booked two flights: Taipei --> Bangkok and Singapore --> Taipei...in between those two flights we hope to see Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, but we do not have concrete plans yet! Let's see where our route will take us!

Alli

Killed it

Yeah, marketing exam over. Now I am sitting here in a small cosy coffee place on campus and enjoying a hot cup of Latte to wake me up. Exam went all right, since I finally managed to study for it. I was able to give my smart thoughts to every question, even though it was not perfect, but who is? Later we will have an exiting trip to Taipei harbour with our Supply Chain class to visit the logistics firm DHL. It will be an nice alternative to the normal three hour boredom called lecture. This is definitely a class I won't miss once I start working. However, what I will be missing is these unexpected hours of freedom. Just waste your time and enjoy the moment of doing nothing. Feels incredibly good. But why I actually write, I have some more pictures to share with you. This time from our trip to Tokyo....

Enjoyyyyyy!

Alli

Busy Bee

I am really determined to make this blog happen now...so I will will will will WILL write more frequently. I kind of figured out that I have to do it, else so many things happen and it takes ages to write them up again. Also, with my memory, I forget half of the important details. For example, just a week ago I had this whole description of Taipei in my mind and I wanted to post it here to let everyone know how cool this city is...I just never found the time to write it down. Would be cool if I could just transfer my thoughts here, so I did not have to use my fingers/laptop.
Anyways, I feel I am rather busy here in Taipei. Really, I can't figure out where all the hours go...I only have classes on two days a week, these are Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday is my hardcore day, with lectures from 9 to 9! AM to PM!Followed by ONE lecture on Wednesday. Yeah I know it does not sound too bad and I am quite satisfied with my schedule, since that leaves a lot of room for study ( = travel, sports, relaxing, travel) .However, despite the rather moderate schedule, we actually do have to study a lot, since the professors here are very much into the Harvard Business Style of teaching. Sooo, classes are very interactive and seminar like, involving case studies, group works, presentations and assignment writing. You kind of have to prepare, since class participation is a major part of the grade. On top of that, I also work 10 hours a week. Therefore, I decided to drop the three hour Chinese course...shame on me, I know.

Enough bla bla, time to rave about Taipei. Where to start....the campus . It is perfect. When walking to one of my sporadic classes/meetings I stroll down a 1km long palm tree allée (the famous landmark of National Taiwan University) which ends with the beautiful library. Hidden in numerous side roads, squares etc you can find everything the student needs or does not need. Countless cafés, tea shops, food places, Burger King (yes, that's right and very odd), bike shops and bakeries. The sports facilities are vast and amazing; basketball, tennis, outdoor/indoor swimming, gym, judo, Taekwondo...name it and you are most likely to find it. I love to be a student =)

OK, more of the actual Taipei later, now I am off to bed....looong Tuesday tomorrow!

Alli