Trip to Peru Miniseries: Day 4 - Lima

I decided to separate into a post for each day. You can find more post here for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3.

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I had to wake up early (6am) again to catch my flight to my one day trip to Lima, the capital of Peru. Another day, another city. I read up some information about Lima but didn't really plan the exact path for the trip.

The first thing I did in Lima is meeting up with Guillermo near his office. I met Guillermo back in UChicago as we were a student at the InterVarsity group there. We had a great ceviche (spicy seafood salad) for lunch. He also showed me how to use the metro (which is, surprisingly, a bus on a special lane! instead of a train) to get around the city.

The Cathedral, Lima

Trip to Peru Miniseries: Day 3 - Machu Picchu!

I decided to separate into a post for each day. You can find more post here for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 4.

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I woke up at 4.30am to had some breakfast since it will be another long day for me. I left the hostel and get the bus station at around 5am and had to wait for 30 mins for the first bus to leave towns. As I was waiting in line, I saw the same 3 siblings just got to the line and also met the same group of American whom I met in the hostel in Cusco. We exchanged a little bit but didn't really end up stay together in the end. I arrived at the gate for Machu Picchu around 5.45am, but since the gate opened at 6, I had to stand in line for couple minutes. The wait didn't last long and I finally got inside.

5.30am waiting to catch the first bus up to Machu Picchu

Trip to Peru Miniseries: Day 2 - Aguas Calientes

I decided to separate into a post for each day. You can find more post here for Day 1, Day 3, and Day 4.

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The next day started pretty early as I had to take a taxi (again) to the nearby town to catch the train to Machu Picchu. This is a disadvantage for people who travel alone as you have to pay for a taxi by yourself and public transportation is not really an option here. The hostel called the taxi for me and he sent me to the train station about an hour before the departure. I was early. I also managed to talk to the driver to set up the time for him to pick me up on the way back the next day. The train that I took was from PeruRail which is about $150 for a round trip. It is not cheap by any standard, but the cheapest option is to take a van and a bit of hiking (several hours), which I don't really want to do. Most of the seats in the train are in a pair of 4 with the table in the middle. I was alone so I will definitely have to join some groups of people on this journey. Luckily, they were the nicest people that I have ever met during my time of travel. They are the 3 siblings (I think) from Warsaw, Poland. We didn't talk much at the beginning, but because the train took 3 hours to get to Aguas Calientes, which is the town near Machu Picchu, we ended up talking to each other for the last hour of the journey. Having been travel alone for the past few days, having a good conversation with people who shared the same experience was such a great break from being alone.

On the trail near the train track to the Waterfall (Cataratas)

Trip to Peru Miniseries: Day 1 - Cusco

Before I start this post, I had to say that I didn't try to write the whole miniseries about this trip, but as I wrote about the story, there are more and more stories that I wanted to write down as a reminder for myself and share to other, and the post becomes really long for my typical post. So, I decided to separate into a post for each day. You can find more post here for Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4.

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Even though this trip comes from the observation in South America as a starting point, I will not talk about my observation run, as this is my fourth time going to Magellan, and I already talked about it few times in previous posts.

Instead, I will start the story with my first flight from Chile to Peru. I had to stay in the airport from around 9pm to catch the flight at around 5am the next morning. That was 8 hours layover. It wasn't super exciting since everything close around midnight except Starbucks in the terminal. I tried to sleep in the airport, but couldn't really fall sleep as I was worried about my luggage. Unfortunately, this flight was delayed until like 6am, which made my flight landed in Lima, Peru at 8am which is just one hour before my next flight. I had never been to Lima before so I don't really know what to expect at the airport, how the custom works and where I should head too. Once I landed, I had about 45 mins to get to my next flight. I ran to the custom, ran inside the airport, and finally reached my flight in time with about 5 mins to spare. And that was just the beginning of the trip that I travel alone.

Plaza Mayor de Cusco with Cusco Cathedral in the background

Journey to the Total Solar Eclipse 2017

The planning for this trip is very different from any other trips as it was the first time that the focus of the trip is one particular event at a particular time and nothing else. The trip was formed rather quickly as I found one of my physics friend who is also interested in going to see the solar eclipse. We looked up the map and decided where in this solar eclipse path that we can potential go with rather cheap flight tickets and no driving involved. After few hours, we decided that we will fly to Atlanta and will take a bus to a nearby (4 hours drive) town, called Columbia, SC without knowing anything about the town or anyone there. I later learned once I got to the city that it is actually the capitol city of South Carolina. You would not have guess that if you did not visit the state museum there. 

We flew Spirit to Atlanta on Saturday afternoon before catching a late evening bus to Columbia. We had to wait for the bus in the middle of the night for an hour. I thought that the station should be indoor with restrooms and restaurants. I was completely wrong. We in fact had to wait on the sidewalk. The bus took about 4 hours to get to Columbia and 3 AM. I was tired (from traveling and probably jetlag from my previous trip). We managed to get to the hotel with a plan that we will visit the state museum the next day for the eclipse glasses. 

SC State Museum with the telescope dome at the top pointing to the sun

A weekend at Acadia National Park

This is one of the most random trip that I have ever organized in awhile. Basically, one of my friends from Chicago is visiting Boston and she wanted to go to Acadia National park. So, she asked me whether I would know enough people to go to Acadia together. The target number for the trip is 5 people as it can fit exactly in one small car. I manage to find other 3 people fairly quickly so that we can start to organize the trip.

This weekend is pretty simple. We start by leaving Boston Friday afternoon so that we can get to Ellsworth (a small town near Acadia) before it is too late (5 hrs driving to get there). We stopped in Portland for some quick dinner before heading to Ellsworth.

Gorham Mountain with Sand Beach in the background

Adventure through the Southern Chile

Even though I went to Chile before, I wasn't really planned to go visit the Patagonia region (southern Chile) any time soon. But that changed as soon as my friend from Caltech asked me whether I want to join them during Christmas. Of course, I would like to go to Patagonia and visit Torres Del Plain. Plus, I have my second observing run in Northern Chile at the beginning of the year, meaning that my flight will be covered from works. Before the trip, I barely know anything about this region, including what are the highlights and why is it a popular tourist destination.

However, because of my last final exam is pretty late this year, I will not have time to visit Bolivia with my friends. Instead, I arrived Santiago, a capital of Chile, two-three days before we meet up to go down to Puerto Natales (a town that we will be staying during my trip in Patagonia). First thing I did was going back to the same empanadas shop (Empanadas Zunino) and getting the same empanada that I had during my first visit. I ate it so fast that I didn't have time to take a photo. Below is a photo from my first trip. 

Original Empanadas at Mercado Central's restaurant (Photo from my summer trip)

Vacation in Orlando: Theme Parks

Visiting theme parks in Orlando is one of the top tourist activities in the US. I didn't get to do it until my 6th year in the US. It was much more fun that I expected even though I was already 24 at that time.

The trip started with me finished my first astronomical conference in a nearby town. In fact, the only reason that I spend 5 days in Orlando is because I was already here for the conference.

The first day is not super exciting as I was waiting for my friend to join from New York City. I simply walked around the hotel and had Popeye for the first time in a place nearby. I also had a chance to plan all of our days in Orlando, which mostly consist of visiting different theme parks each day.

We started our theme park vacation with Aquatica. It was an enormous water park, except it was pretty empty when we were there (probably because it was January 😅). "Ihu’s Breakaway Fall" is one of the most scariest ride I did for the whole trip with four different theme parks. The ride is that the floor will suddenly disappear and you fell immediately down the slide very fast with angle of more than 80 degree. What I realized was that a fun part about visiting a theme park is seeing people walking around the park, but we didn't get to do that at this park. But, it was still a great experience and I really like a water park. At night, we also visit the Disney town near the Disney World. There were so many shops in the town.

Empty water park with an empty ride. It is good that you don't have to wait in line for any rides.

Quick Trip to New York City for New Year Celebration

I would say that I started this trip with so little planning and not many things I wanted to do for the trip. Maybe the only reason that I decide to go to New York City for a couple days is simply an opportunity for me to see my old friends from various groups that I would not see in Cambridge and Boston.

This trip had so little planning that I only got a round-trip bus ticket three days beforehand. I would say the shortest amount of time that I prepared for any trips. I had some idea that I would want to go to New York City for winter break, but I did not know when exactly until there was no time left to me to decide. So I just bought the tickets.

There are two things that I liked about this quick four-day-and-three-night trip to New York City.

What I wanted to do: see old faces in a different city. 
I started this trip, not with finding a place to stay, but with a quick meet up with my Thai friend from Northwestern (Mind). I didn't expect to see him there until I realized that he was in New York City and actually flying back to Chicago on the night that I arrived. So, I purposefully booked the earliest bus ride to New York City in order to see him before his flight. It was nice to get to meet with people from Chicago, where I spent my last four years. I also met his friend who is currently studying law at NYU.

P'Mind at Grace Street in New York City

My second layover country: Japan

After I had a fairly good time visiting Istanbul for a layover, I am now eager to visit many more countries for layover as I found it was a good way to start getting to know the country, the public transportation and local food. My second destination for a layover is Japan for both Osaka and Tokyo. Instead of flying to the same airport for layover, this time I fly to two different airports at two different cities for a layover.

My first layover for this trip is Osaka. Even though I went to Osaka before during the visit with LESA, this is my first time coming here by myself. Fortunately, I found another Thai friend of friend who study in Osaka. He recommended me to go to Namba for the visit during couple hours that I have and also suggested public transportation from the airport to the city.

Dotonbori, the night life in Osaka

Three days in Ho Chi Minh City

Even though I have only a short time of less than two months at home, I still manage to spend a week and a half at the Planetary Science conference at Quy Nhon, Vietnam. Of course, I will definitely find some time to travel in Vietnam. This time, I decide to visit Ho Chi Minh city for the first time before flying to Quy Nhon for the conference. 

Fortunately, I know a Vietnamese person (Chau) from University of Chicago (a bonus from going to school with lots of international students). She took me around the city for these two days that I spent here. I am so thankful that I had someone to show me around and help me communicate with local people. First thing that surprises me about Saigon (the previous name for Ho Chi Minh City) is how similar it is to Bangkok. The city is similar while the cost of living is also exactly the same. There are more cars in Bangkok while there are more motorcycle in Ho Chi Minh. One explanation that I heard from this difference is that there is a large amount of taxes for buying a car in Vietnam as the government is trying to control the number of cars on the street, leading an increase in the number of motorcycles instead. 

Starlight Bridge, Phu My Hung

The first place that I visited in Ho Chi Minh is Starlight Bridge which is in a neighborhood of Phu My Hung. The bridge is very similar to Banpo Bridge in Seoul, South Korea which I visited two years ago. However, it was much less crowded here as most people here are only local and I did not see any other tourists around. The bridge is a good place for hanging out at night with lots of restaurants and street food around the area. 

Spring Break 2015: New Orleans

After visiting Tuscaloosa, the second city that I visited during my spring break of 2015 is New Orleans, Louisiana.

Instead of just traveling and sightseeing, the main purpose of my visit to New Orleans was for the education trek to learn more about New Orleans Public School system as almost all schools are charter school after Hurricane Katrina. But, there is no way that I will not take this opportunity to walk around the city and attend some museums that is available in the city. So, I planned my trip by arriving the city early in the morning before the trek, so that I will have time to explore the city.

St. Louis Cathedral next to Cafe du Monde

Last Spring Break of College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

I spent my last spring break of college in two cities in two different states: Tuscaloosa, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana.

The first place that I visited was Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I visited this place because one of my friends (Ian Ramdeen) whom I met during my study abroad program in Paris is from Tuscaloosa. I think it will be a great chance for me to visit what called the 'Deep South' of the United States since I might not have this chance again once I graduate from University of Chicago.

Tuscaloosa is a college town about an hour away from Birmingham, the most biggest city in Alabama. It is a home for University of Alabama and its great football team which everyone seems to be really cared about. During my visit, it was a spring break for University of Alabama, so the town itself is really quite for my standard. Not many people were walking on the street even in downtown and there was few cars driving around the city.

In front of Tuscaloosa Amphitheater, Alabama

Summary of where I visited during my two months in Tokyo and nearby location.

Once you have a chance to live in one city for two months, you will have visited so many places around the city that you might not remember them all. I am also one of those people. However, there are at least two of my friends who asked me for the recommendations for places to stay and where to visit in Tokyo once they knew that I lived there for two months. So, I thought it is a good idea to write down a summary for places that I have visited so that other people will be able to follow some of these places that I found as well. I would say that this will easily be the longest post that I have ever written so far on this blog. Feel free to skip around and find only stuffs that you are interested in. Here is the list of places that I like about Tokyo.

Place to Stay
Flaxstayinn Iidabashi: The hotel is very close to the city, and it was where I lived while I had my two-month internship in Japan. The location is good too since it’s in the middle of Tokyo and lots of subway lines went through there.

Flexstayinn Higashijujo: Here is the place where my mom live when she visited Tokyo since Flaxstayinn IIdabashi was full.

Place to go
Shinjuku: The biggest subway station in Tokyo with lots of malls and business area. Great place to get food and shopping.
      - Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building: You can go on top of this tall building for free to get the good view of Tokyo. On the nice day, you should be able to see Fuji Mountain as well.

View looking at Tokyo Tower from the top of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which you can go for free.

      - MK buffet: Thai famous hotpot restaurant that also has a branch in Tokyo. Good place for me since I haven’t been back to Bangkok for awhile.

Istanbul: The Unexpected Trip from Layover

This is a kind of trip that I have never thought of until a chance comes around. Basically, I got an internship in Tokyo, Japan, so I have to buy a flight to go there from Chicago. After looking up online, I realized that two cheapest airlines at that time to fly to Tokyo is Turkish Airways and Air Canada. Of course, when I saw an opportunity to visit a new country even just for a little bit, I grab that chance immediately. I picked Turkish Airways just because I can go to Istanbul without a visa during my layover. This trip is my first layover trip to a different country where I don't know the language or anything else about it. But it was a pretty fun trip overall, and I would love to do something like this again in the future.

The first thing that I encountered during the trip to Istanbul is turkish dessert. I have no idea what it is or what it tastes like. Just because I saw lots of people were eating it, I decided to try it as well. I later learned that it is call 'Churro' which is a sweet crispy donut-like dessert. I love it from the first bite. I still wish that I have a chance to eat it again some day. Sounds like it will be a good start for my journey here in Istanbul. I forget to tell that I have to struggle at the train station for a while to figure out the best way to come to the city. It is fairly easy just to take a train to the center of the city, but the token system got me confused. Basically, you need a new token for each train that you take. No free-transfer.

Turkish sweet Churros: Great Dessert

Firework Festival in Tokyo during Summer

This post will simply be mostly photos on two (maybe three if you count the one that I didn't wait to see the actual firework) firework festivals in Tokyo that I attended during my internship in Tokyo with the UTRIP program. There are festivals basically every weekend for the whole month of July and maybe couple more in August. I recommended everyone who has a chance to visit Tokyo during this time to attend one of the festivals. The enormous size of the events will surprise you even though they hold the events every weekend.

Sumidagawa Fireworks Festival 2014, near Tokyo Skytree

Big Reunion After Ten Years for SG in Tokyo

This is the first post from Tokyo, Japan. But it is not an usual post from the new city since this post is not about what new things I found in the city, but what old things I have forgotten during the last ten years when I left Saint Gabriel's College. 

Tanabata Festival on the 7/7, near Asakusa

It was a quick notice but four of us meet together at Asakusa for the Tanabata festival which is a festival about the story of two young people who can meet each other once a year during the 7th of the 7th month because of the separation from the Milky Way. The festival itself is interesting with all strange stuffs scattering around the festival such as Tamagoyaki (Japanese Sweet Egg Omelet) for 100 yen which was surprisingly good and people dressing in Yukata. But the main point of this post is not the festival, but about the reunion after ten years and thousands of miles away from where we met each other before.

Last post for Paris: Why do I love Paris?

I thought 10 weeks in Paris will be a long time, but in fact it was not that long for me. I feel like I just got to know the city. I just started to know what the city is like, what the people are like, what the language sounds like and where to go when one has free time. I experienced this feeling for the first time yesterday after my last final exam here in Paris, but it was also the last day that I can experience it. 

But time never stopped running, and now another chapter of my life is slowly coming to an end while the next chapter is coming soon.

When I got here, I don't think I will ever say this, but I do want to say it now. "I love Paris." There are more than just touristy places that everyone seems to post online to share when they come to Paris. Here are things I like about this city and the time that I am here.

Public transportation
It seems like everyone love this fact about how efficient public transportation is in Paris, how little time they have to wait at the metro station to catch a train home, how fast it is to get from one place to the other and how easy it is to find metro stations since there are everywhere. If you walked in the city and started to feel that you got lost, the next metro station will be right in front of you and you can just catch the next train home without much thinking to do. And I really like public transportation here for these same reasons as well and it just makes it is much easier to get to know the city like I could not have done anywhere else.

Musée des Arts et Métiers Metro stop

Also, there are many little details in the metro station that are worth looking at. And perhaps because of this, that I never hesitate to get the next train and go to different places that I have never been before. 

Disneyland Paris: Time Machine and Consumerism

This is my first time visiting any Disneyland. At first, I thought I will be too old for this type of amusement park when you get excited by seeing Mickey Mouse walking around the park, but my friends kept saying that no one is too old for such a thing. So, I decided to give a Disneyland a try.

Disneyland Paris: the entrance

Four surprising things I found in Florence

Even though I consider Florence as the least well-known city that we visited in Italy when you compare it with Rome and Venice, I found many more interesting things about Florence than other places. It may also be that I did not know much about the city, so everything is surprising to me. And I would recommend anyone to visit Florence if you have a chance to come to Italy. 
1. Lots of places about Galileo 

Museo Galileo, Florence, Italy