I guess I'd like to start out by thanking everyone who followed along with my trip. I'm looking at my stats and I'm currently at 1,005 hits for my blog which is really amazing. THANK YOU!
Knowing that people were looking at my page and expecting results from me really kept me accountable with blogging on days I was too tired from being out all day.
This really was a lot of fun to do and I'm glad I kept a log of all the awesome stuff we did.
So I wanted to give some overall thoughts good and bad about the cities we went to to kind of sum things up for those who don't have a chance to read through all the posts.
Hong Kong
The only things that bug me are that the city is really small and there are WAY too many people that tend to be pushy and rude.
Macau
I kind of felt like Macau was like Disneyland where you only need to go once and you're fine with it. The day we went, it was jam packed full of people, I don't gamble so most of the activities there don't apply to me and the major area that people visit, I covered on this trip. I don't tend to enjoy going to the most popular tourist attractions because they tend to be expensive and well...full of tourists
Beijing
Beijing is always going to be my second home. I spent an unforgettable 3 months here in '08 and this is the first time I've been back. It was awesome to see how different a lot of things have changed. We spent most of our time visiting sites like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China so lots and LOTS of walking. I'm so glad that we left when we did because if you didn't see the news, there was record smog that cast over the city the day we left. When we came back through Beijing on our way to HK from Seoul, I was surprised how bad it was and I'm thankful the timing of the trip worked out otherwise we wouldn't have been able to even go outside without risking our health.
Shanghai
I don't think we spent more than an hour without cramming some kind of food in our mouths in Shanghai. It was so much fun seeing some of my favorite people and just hanging out with them. I still have dreams about the hot pot restaurant Hai Di Lao and cannot wait to go back. This is my 2nd time in Shanghai and it definitely was better than my last time so I'm looking forward to making another appearance here. It's cleaner than Beijing but to me, it just doesn't have the same Chinese charm or feel because it's so westernized, very similar to Hong Kong.
Seoul
I've said it once and I will continue saying it. EVERYONE is well dressed and good looking. Seriously, by the 3rd day I was tired of looking at everyone's outfits and wishing I had enough money and style to dress as well as them. I think 3 days was enough to spend in Seoul because it was just so expensive. By expensive I mean almost equivalent to paying for anything in the US. Seoul was fun but I'm not all that into shopping and we spent most of the time walking around the big shopping districts. I think I'd like to come back with a group of friends to go check out more of the night scene.
It was somewhat of a shock to me how different the cultures varied from city to city. Hong Kong and Seoul were similar in the sense that people woke up late and stayed out until 12-1am so shops wouldn't open until 11 or noon and you can always find something to eat. Whereas Beijing and Shanghai were more "normal" and restaurants would close at 9 or 10. Also, people got taller in each city we went to, which I thought was funny.
Also, here in the US people are constantly making fun of owners of the Galaxy Note 2 and other large sized smartphones. On the flipside, all I saw in China and Korea were Note 2's and bigger phones which I thought was funny...they must be compensating for something...
Right now I'm already thinking about my next trip around spring or fall of next year and I'm thinking maybe a mix of Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia Indonesia, and/or Thailand?
Again, it was a blast writing this blog and getting some really good feedback from friends and family about it.
Thanks for reading!
-Andrew
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