The Beginning

10962 Meters in the air about the Gulf of Alaska en Route from LA to Tokyo Wednesday May 23^rd, 2012 8:19 PM LA Time

I’ve been spending my time saying goodbyes to Lorien and my parents.  As I sit on this plane, an A380 (as far as I know the largest commercial jet), I’ve already been in for a treat on this journey.  I left the U.S. around 4:30 PM Pacific time on a mission to experience something amazing, and most importantly to create great stories and memories.  As I spent my time earlier today crying as I held my girlfriend I had no idea the flood of emotions that come with ending a relationship.  That was by far one of the most heart-wrenching, terrible things I’ve been through.  It’s by no means easy, and the healing takes time.  On top of this, international travel has not been easy so far.  Upon arriving in LA I found out after waiting in one of the slowest lines ever that my flight to Tokyo, which is connecting to Singapore, was overbooked.  I got what might have been the last ticket.  Hurrying through security I heard the last call for the flight blaring on the speakers.  I sprinted with my bags and my flip flops on my feet just making it to the plane.  At least I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the free drinks and food along with the free movies at my fingertips on this 11 hour flight to Tokyo.  I’ve had 2 red wines, a Singapore Sling, and a Cointreau on the rocks all for free.  Thank you Singapore Airlines.  Free movies will propel me towards Tokyo where hopefully I’ll make it on my flight to Singapore.

Unknown Time (Approximately 9:20 AM Singapore time) Singapore Friday May 25, 2012

Well I made it to Singapore.  After an 11 hour flight from LA to Tokyo and a 6 hour flight from Tokyo to Singapore I’ve arrived.  Singapore’s Changi Airport is one of, if not, the best airports I’ve been in.  It’s extremely large.  There are computers with free internet access available everywhere.  There’s a swimming pool, a butterfly garden, a koi pond, and many upscale shops like Gucci, Prada, etc.  The moving walkways start up when you walk on them and stop when you get off.  It’s been cool having a 6 hour layover here.  Next stop Ho Chi Minh City.

Saturday May 26, 2012 8:47AM Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

The first day here in Vietnam was awesome.  The cars and mopeds don’t stop for crosswalks so I’ve just been crossing slowly with confidence and so far the cars have avoided me.  Just walking around I recognize that this culture is so much different than mine.  When I walked out of the airport I was assaulted by requests to be my cabbie.  I knew that $10 or 208,000 Vietnamese Dong was a reasonable price, and Bo had instructed me to just walk to the last cab and show them the address and make sure the cabbie turned on his meter.  Instead someone came up to me and sad from behind, “$10 to downtown.”  I jumped on the offer, and my cabbie turned out to be just a man with a car.  Clearly he was not associated with any cab company.  He was friendly, and surprisingly he spoke a little English and tried to talk with me the whole way and give me advice as well as tell me some Vietnamese phrases.  While I walked around yesterday once I met up with Bo and Marlowe I managed to see a man peeing in public in the middle of the day on a plant near the central park area.  That surprisingly wasn’t the only time I saw someone peeing in public as later in the night a mother helped her son undo his shorts on the side of the street in front of our chairs on the sidewalk as we were grabbing a beer.  It seems to be that peeing in the street is totally acceptable here, though I’m not gonna risk it.  In my time here so far I’ve already managed to meet a ton of other travelers.  Conversation is started with ease with fellow travelers, and it seems that everyone has something to share.  As Bo, Marlowe, and I walked around the market I decided to purchase some cobra wine (rice wine with a cobra in the bottle).  I think I’ll try it tonight.  I also got some pho from a shop near the central market.  I tried a slice of the peppers that they give with the pho, and my mouth and face became so hot and pained that it felt numbed by my body’s reaction to it.  It felt so numbed that Bo and Marlowe commented on how I wasn’t enunciating well.  After getting some food we walked around, finding a shop that sets up tiny seats on the sidewalk and sells drinks for extremely cheap though no one really strays from the 50 cent beers, even though they are terrible.  At least they’re 450 mL so they’re about 30% bigger than beers in the U.S.  Talk about a good deal, that puts 12 fl. oz. of beer at about 40 cents.  Anyways after being slightly jetlagged from my 36 hours of travel going from Denver to LA to Tokyo to Singapore to Ho Chi Minh and after 5 beers or so I was asking Bo and another traveler we were talking with to slap me to keep me awake.  There’s a lot to do and see so I think this’ll be it for now.  Oh I got to experience my first 8 person dorm last night.  That was fun too.