Jenny and I bracketed our trip to Belize (1, 2) with a couple overnight layovers in the South. As someone who had not explored much of the South (other that than 17h road trip to Atlanta for DECA in HS...), I saw the layovers as a novel way to soak up extra culture rather than a hassle (akin to our crazy layovers in Hawaii!).
In November 2018, I had the pleasure of taking around my Australian case competition buddies around Toronto (aka, home!). It's not often that I get to see Toronto through a tourist's eyes, so I tried to show them all that Canada has to offer. Unfortunately, they just missed the fall colours (which I fully got to appreciate @ Rock Dunder in Kingston for hoco), so I had to figure out a way to make Toronto fun as the weather began to precipitously drop.
You might have noticed that the pace at which I pumped out content on this blog tapered off dramatically in 2018. So much so that when it came time to write this blog post, I realized I might as well combine it with more recent work-related travel to NYC (from 2022, lol). By the time I finished this post, I was about to embark on a summer internship in NYC... so my 2023 perspective on NYC will be even richer. Nevertheless, the text here was written during 2022, mostly about my first visit to NYC as an adult in 2018 (sidebar: I did visit NYC in 2003 as well, with copious adorable pics like this one on the subway with Alana and this one on Wall Street — my parents really started us young!).
Kyoto was my favourite place in Japan, full-stop. It had the best food and the best sights. While probably considered touristy, I enjoyed the well-preserved architecture and natural beauty of the surrounding areas. Growing up, Kyoto also held additional allure: it was the home of Kyoto Animation. This mythical studio was known for its attention to detail and gorgeous stories (my favs included: Clannad After Story, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kanon 2006, Air, and some light-hearted ones like Lucky Star and K-On!). In hindsight, I wish I found a way to pay homage to this old interest of mine; to fully do 12-year-old-Charmaine justice by visiting the studio shop or something similar.
Huge caveat: I am still working through an immense backlog on this blog — at this point in 2022, I have 33 trips I intend to write about (eventually). What's more, I am CURRENTLY TRAVELING for the next month before I depart for my MBA! I've come to terms with the likelihood that I will never write any of these posts on time.
From Ho Chi Minh City, we boarded a plane to Hue. As soon as we landed, we beelined over to a place called "Motorvina," as recommended by our friend and housemate Bonnie. We had big plans to make our way down the Hai Van Pass BY OURSELVES — a highly ambitious undertaking that would take all day (at best). Jenny was at the helm, while I sat behind her to navigate (a wise choice, per Rosey and Tam's take on my driving skills).
Vietnam! Can you say culture shock?! Starting off in Singapore weaned us into this adventure of a lifetime, and yet I still wasn't prepared to jump into the deep end of Vietnam. In Singapore, the first thing that hits you is the oppressive heat. In Vietnam—especially in Ho Chi Minh City, where we landed—it's the sheer volume of activity. There was a cacophony of sound emitting from motorbikes that zigzagged in every direction. There were frogs, alive(?) and skinned, that jumped around on the streets (I was terrified). Vietnam felt like the stereotype of "ASIA!!" come to life... at least, the version people think of when they imagine the Eat Pray Love Southeast Asian backpacking trip of their dreams.
IT'S ASIA GRAD TRIP TIME!! You have no idea how excited I am to finally be writing about the epic, incredible month-long grad trip I took with my housemate Jenny. As alluded to in my 2018 update post, I spent the month of June 2018 visiting Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, and Hawaii with Jenny and a bunch of other friends along the way. Jenny and I spent MONTHS toiling over the itinerary (honestly one of my greatest personal achievements). For reasons unknown (probably a lack of real work), we spent every day researching, booking, and planning our itinerary until the sun rose at 4-5 am. Don't worry, I slept until noon back then, since I didn't have any classes until 2:30 pm. Ahh, those were the days.