She Travels The World
Alexa is currently studying on Semester At Sea.
Alexa is currently studying on Semester At Sea.
Class, Class, & Class [April 15-24]: I lived April 20th TWICE because I passed the international date line. I had to move my clock backwards 23 hours. Technically, because this year is a leap year, by the end of this year, I will have lived through 367 days this year! No weekends, for me! In these 11 days, I had 8 days of class and 1 final exam. We were parked in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the 24th, where I had access to my phone for the first time since January 15th. That was bizarre! Unfortunately, we weren’t let off the ship. We were just there to re-fuel.
Kobe, Japan & Kyoto, Japan [April 10-11]: I really loved Japan…The ship docked in Kobe, Japan. It took 3.5 hours to get off the ship and go through immigration, the longest it took in any of the ports we went to. We had to get our pictures and fingerprints taken, but it was all electronic. Ever hear of Kobe beef? Yeah, I didn’t try any…it was probably $100 for a few bites. No thanks. Japan was a lot colder than any of the previous countries. Well, China was colder as well, but not as cold as Japan. =] Japan is home to doors that have buttons that you have to push to open and heated toilet seats that constantly make flushing sounds in the women’s restrooms to hide any “un-ladylike” noises. Japan is also the land of ATMs that do NOT work for foreigners – aka: you’re screwed if you don’t find a Citibank, a post office, or a 7/11. Seriously.
Day 1: I ran around Kobe with a friend, and we ate lunch in this underground restaurant. There were places with just rooms filled with slot machines and dvd stores/book stores filled with anime/manga, pornographic books/dvds, and regular books/dvds. I don’t think I’ve seen so many interesting stores before. We found these in Kobe, but you could also find them in Kyoto and Tokyo. It was cherry blossom season, so we also found cherry blossom trees everywhere. We went to a shrine in Kobe. It was very beautiful – check out the photos, once they’re posted. The shrines are typically orange, and you will find them all over Japan. There are prayer charms that you can buy. There are a certain kind that you can write on and leave hanging at the shrine. There were a bunch of wooden hearts hanging all over the place. For dinner, we found an underground restaurant mall – no, I am no kidding - A MALL OF RESTAURANTS. It was insanely incredible.
Day 2: It was raining, but I went to Kyoto with Liz and Lydia. We took the monorail from the ship and then a train to Kyoto. It took about an hour and a half to reach it there. The train station there was probably one of the biggest I’ve ever been in (maybe because I never went to the central station in Tokyo). From there, we walked to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is the one that was in the film, Memoirs of a Geisha. We didn’t realize how long it would take to walk there, but it was fun. I bought an umbrella and stumbled upon a bunch of temples/shrines along the way. Kyoto is just gorgeous. We got a little lost, so it took us awhile to get to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, but we made it eventually. We stopped at a little grocery store along the way and I bought sesame sticks for lunch, but they were more like peanut sticks. Then I tried to get an iced tea out of the vending machine because they have vending machines outside in all of the little neighborhoods, but I ended up with a can of HOT tea. It nearly burned my hands. I didn’t realize that you can get both hot and cold beverages from the vending machines. The Fushimi Inari Shrine was beautiful, but soon after being there, we returned to Kobe and boarded the ship.
Japan has green tea flavored everything, so I tried to eat green tea flavored everything while I was there. It was mostly just during my first two days in Japan, but all in all, I had tried chocolate with a green tea filling, a green tea waffle, green tea bread filled with red bean paste and jelly, green tea marshmallows, green tea ice cream, and regular green tea.
Yokohama, Japan & Tokyo, Japan [April 13-14]:
Day 1: We docked in Yokohama. I left Yokahama in the morning to meet Lexi in Tokyo. She had guessed that it would take me 30 minutes from the ship, but I left an hour early just in case I needed more time. Once I got to the subway station, I looked at the map and couldn’t find the station that Lexi asked me to meet her at – Akihabara. She mentioned that it would be from Yokohama station. I realized that I was not at Yokohama station, so I took the subway there. Once getting off at Yokohama station, I looked and saw several different maps. I quickly learned that Tokyo and the outskirts of Tokyo have both an underground subway system and a train system (above ground). From Yokohama station, I switched to a train line and went to Akihabara. It took me 1.5 hours, but I made it and miraculously found Lexi (in Tokyo, that’s quite amazing). Sean, Will, & Jess were with her. We all walked around Akihabara, which is the electronics district of Tokyo. I’ve never seen so many electronics in one place on this street – 8 story buildings just filled with computers, ipads, iphones, tvs, cameras, etc. It was crazy. Then we went to Harajuku, where I ended up in a restaurant with conveyer belt sushi, which is extremely easy to find. Unfortunately, I don’t like eating fish or seaweed, so I ate later. I wish I had more money to go shopping there at the time. It’s such a fun place. We spent awhile in a mac store trying to book a hotel. Once we did that, we split up. Jess and I went to an area called Ginza. We searched for what had to have been 2 hours in the pouring rain. We were so lost. After asking many people for help, we finally found the Alice and Wonderland themed restaurant to meet someone for their birthday. By the time we got there, the person we were meeting had already left. We decided to go meet the others at the hotel. We took the subway and ended up at the wrong hotel (same name, but it was a chain!). Then we hopped back on the subway and got lost trying to find the hotel. We weren’t lost for more than 30 minutes, and finally made it to the hotel. It was 12:30am by the time we got there.
Day 2: The front desk called their room a few times, but there was no answer. I figured they were still out. We waited and waited but didn’t see Lexi, Sean, or Will come in. Then I figured they were sleeping and would be up early to see the fish market. We waited in the lobby for 4 hours – until 4:30am. Thank god the staff let us sit in their lobby. It was pouring rain and the subway/train system had closed. They hadn’t woken up yet, so we left and got on the subway when it opened at 5am. I was wearing leggings, a dress, sandals, and a blazer and was definitely not ready for the cold weather. It was probably a good thing that I didn’t spend the day in Tokyo. I got back to the ship in Yokahama by 6:30am and went to sleep. I slept for a few hours and woke up to rain and wind. I definitely regretted not bringing a single jacket on the trip. I went out into Yokahama by myself in the rain. It was freezing, so I just went to the mall and walked around. I didn’t buy anything because it was killer expensive, but the clothes were really cute. It was weird leaving Japan and getting back on the ship, knowing that it would be our last foreign port.
Shanghai is HUGE. There are so many skyscrapers and so many people. The metro/subway system in Shanghai was even bigger than in Hong Kong.
Day 1: I left with a bunch of people. It took us awhile, but eventually we made it to the Shanghai Zoo. The zoo was huge. I liked seeing some of the animals, but some of the animals or exhibits were not taken care of. It was kind of sad. I got separated from the group and ended up off on my own at the Shanghai Zoo. I was a bit bummed, but I finished checking out the zoo and then made my way back to the ship. I went out with some friends later in hopes of finding a theater that was playing the Hunger Games or Titanic in 3D, but we ended up not finding that and just walking around for a bit.
Day 2: I went to the science museum with a bunch of people. Unfortunately, my camera broke…so I’ve been getting photos from people since then. Then we all went shopping in this awesome marketing, but people weren’t so fond of us trying to bargain. They screamed at some of the students. That, I was surprised by. I may have also gotten Rosetta Stone for Arabic and Spanish. =]
Day 3: I went to Zhujiajiao with a friend, which is a water village on the outskirts of Shanghai. I really wanted to get out of the city, after being in so many huge cities lately. It was crazy getting there because nobody could speak English and we weren’t exactly sure where it was, how to get there, or how far away it was. This was our last day in China, so we definitely didn’t want to miss the ship. The line for the bus was extremely long, so we ended up taking a taxi. We got stopped in traffic on the highway, and our driver didn’t speak any English. I was fine at first, but after awhile, I started feeling a little panicky. Where were we? How far away were we? How long would it take to get there and get back? How much would it cost us? The driver did not understand any of my charades…or maybe she did and I did not understand any of her charades. I couldn’t remember the last time I had this much trouble communicating with people. It was very difficult in China. Eventually, we made it to Zhujiajiao. I was looking for a peaceful village but kind of ended up in what looked like the Chinese version of Venice with the same amount of people you would find at Disneyland. It was PACKED. I think it was only this busy because it was a Saturday and it’s a place that Chinese tourists visit. The smells of the Zhujiajiao village were some of the worst smells I have ever smelled in my life. I can’t even explain them. It was this food that everyone was cooking and eating, but it smelled like rotten flesh. I had to physically cover my nose to be able to walk through some parts of the village without feeling nauseous. The smell was so pungent and disgusting that it would make you feel physically sick. Liz and I didn’t have much time, but we ate lunch between two buildings, right next to a canal. We took the bus and metro back and made it back to the ship on time.
Hong Kong, China [April 1-2]: For the most part, I really liked Hong Kong. It’s a fun city to explore. I remember having two reactions in the city. Within the first couple of hours of being out and about in the city, I was just so excited to see what I was seeing. I had never been to Asia before and didn’t think I’d be in China so soon. By my first afternoon in Hong Kong, I just remember thinking, “I don’t think I’d last a week here. There are SO many people.” I’ve definitely learned that, personally, I don’t like huge populated cities. They’re fun to visit, but I can’t see myself living there.
Day 1: The metro system was pretty cool. Some friends and I went to different metro stops all over the city. Some of the underground stations kind of looked like airports because they were so huge. I saw a procession of people walking with palm leaves for Palm Sunday. For some reason, I just didn’t expect to see that. I went to the Wong Tai Sin Temple, which was a temple of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism (or Taoism). It was cool to watch how everyone prayed and smell the massive amount of burning incense. There were a lot of elements of Chinese astrology. I saw statues of different animals in the Chinese zodiac. Nearby, I had my palm read. She basically read me my career, health, and love lines. For those of you that are curious…I’ll let you know in 30 years if any of it comes true, haha. Then we went to Sha Tin and then Causeway Bay. I ate ramen noodles for lunch at the smallest table with the smallest stools in the smallest restaurant I’ve probably ever seen. It was kind of adorable and kind of obnoxious, all at the same time. In Times Square (of Hong Kong), I met with someone named Lexi, one of my brother’s friends that goes to NAU. She has an internship in Hong Kong. We had coffee with her and friend. It was nice finding someone from Arizona and hearing about how different it is to live in Hong Kong. Later, we ended up in another part of the city – central. We wanted to take the tram, but the line for it was insane, so we just walked around instead. We got back to the ship (which was on the other island) by ferry. Then I saw this crazyyyyyyy Japanese film at the International Film Festival in Hong Kong. It had English subtitles, but it was just….a little too much for me, haha.
Day 2: I went with some friends to Lantau Island and saw the Big Buddha. It took us a long time to get there, but it was really awesome being there. The Buddha was huge! Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance to go into the monastery. Then we went to Hong Kong Disneyland. It was very similar to the one in California, except it had Toy Story Land. I was shocked at how packed it was for a Monday, which was kind of unfortunate for us. It was still fun. I enjoyed running around, and I did a lot of people watching.
I transited on the ship from Hong Kong to Shanghai, but most students traveled on their own or with a group to Beijing and then went to Shanghai. I just didn’t have the money, so I stayed on the ship and caught up on school stuff for a few days.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam [March 25-29]: Vietnam was the port where I had the hardest time on this voyage. I’m not sure why, but I finally just had a few days of feeling bummed out. I guess it was bound to happen. This voyage is very fast paced and you don’t always have the time to process everything going on around you. I’ve seen so much in these past few months. I got so used to being constantly surrounded by friends on the ship and forgot what it was like to just be off on my own (which can be kind of scary in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language).
Day 1: A friend on the ship, ChiChi, is from Vietnam. A bunch of us went to her house. It was wonderful meeting her family and seeing their home. Her mom fed us SO much food. I tried a bunch of different kinds of fruits that I’ve never seen before – jackfruit, rambutan, and milk fruit (that ChiChi called “breast milk,” haha). I went to a spa and got a pedicure. Massages were definitely a port favorite by the SAS students, but I skipped out. We walked around town and saw a bunch of sites in Ho Chi Minh. We also went to a huge market, where people just bargain back and forth for everything.
Day 2: I went to the War Remnants Museum. This was a museum showing photos from the Vietnam/American War. It was really hard to see some of these photos, especially in the Agent Orange section of the museum. During the Vietnam War, the U.S. used herbicides (chemicals) against Vietnam to eat away the plant and foliage so it would be easier to find and kill people. One of these chemicals is called Agent Orange. It doesn’t just affect the soldiers who were exposed to it. Agent Orange messes with genetics and creates deformities in people – abnormally large heads, missing limbs, people who can’t walk, etc. It causes extreme birth defects. The museum was very depressing but also one of those things you need to see. It reminds you how absolutely horrific war truly is and why we need to try to prevent it in future generations. It also reminded me of something my step-grandmother once said to me. She’s from Germany and once said that most Americans probably don’t know what war is because they haven’t experienced it firsthand – they haven’t lived through it. Whether you agree with this or not, nearly all of the wars the U.S. has fought have not been on American soil. So I think it’s important for generations who have never experienced war firsthand (people like myself) to visit museums such as this one to remember the past and protect the future. In the afternoon, I walked around by myself. That evening, I went up the Bitexco Financial Tower, which is probably in the top ten for being one of the highest buildings in the world. Then I had yummy thai food and hung out at a café.
Day 3: I went to a bunch of tailors in the morning and had 2 dresses made at 2 different tailors – oops! I ended up selling one to a friend and keeping the other that I’m in love with. We took motorcycle taxis to get around. Plans kept not working out with people, so I ended up by myself again in the afternoon. I was bummed out but ran into a friend on the ship and ended up going out with her to an art museum and a café.
Day 4: I tried sleeping off my yucky mood and ended up at another café with a friend in the afternoon. In the evening, I went to a water puppet show, which was actually really entertaining.
Day 5: I went out on my own and went to the tailor to pick up my dress. I ended up sitting with some of the ladies who work there. I talked with Thuy and Vy for a few hours. They are so sweet. They even bought lunch for me. I ran into some friends and spent the rest of the afternoon with them. We got into a taxi that drove us around and around and around, pretending to know exactly where we were going, but he was really just wracking up the meter. We eventually just demanded to get out of the car and left without paying the full price since we knew we were being ripped off. Thank god he didn’t lock us in the car.
I bought seasons 1-4 of True Blood. You can get copies of almost any dvd for pretty cheap. Side note: a lot of people got scammed and robbed, so I tried to be really careful about which taxis I used, for example. A lot of people got (child) locked in taxis and forced to give up money to be able to get out or were forced to take money out at atms without any people around. There was also a student who got into a motorcycle accident and broke his femur. Rumors went around the ship about whether he was driving it himself or not, but I never found out the truth, not that it matters. So! When traveling in Vietnam, take extra care of these things. :)
