Asia

Korea -Traffic jams, fastfood chains, large bright bill boards and tall buildings. Seoul is modern and spread out, making transport complex even when using the tube or a car. Good luck finding a anywhere since they don't use street names but land marks (eg near Burger king and hongik University etc...).



As far as nightlife and restaurants there is plenty of choice. Every meal I had has been an education. Aside from rice or the Seaweed soup- somthing they are obessed with and eat at every meal. I have no idea what I am eating!

I can't imagine how people with a less adventurous appettite and difficulty using chopsticks survive aside from Mc Donalds



Korean people are kind, reserved, respectful and very serious. The exception was after they beat Togo in the world cup match :) It was great to see them excited and happier than usual.





Korea is very traditional- women are not seen smoking in public (aside from clubs) and sex before marriage is still taboo, although to circumvent losing face there is a large motel culture.

Busan ( a smaller beach resort city 5-6 hours from the capitol)was a good place to relax for a few days.

Indonesia/Malaysia



Jakarta is a crazy city. It's also a large metropolis and it takes a good 45 min to get anywhere. There are loads of motorcycles making it really noisy. Its also unreal how many babies I saw on motor-cycles.

Every one is tan, relaxed and very freindly. Aside from a few high-rise buildings, posh hotels and modern clubs/bars most areas are rather poor and dirty.

The people however are much more approachable than Korea. Whether you want to converse or just exchange smiles. It's nice to have some interaction. If it wasn't for the mosques ringing every 5 hours it's easy to forget that you are in a Muslim country. Although displaying public affection is still a bit dangerous.

I met some cool locals who took me out in Jakarta and the Satay was great (as was most of the food I tried).



Malaysia culturally and linguistically is very similar to Indonesia aside from having more variety of people (Indians -15% and Chinese- 35%) and loads tourists.



Kuala lumpur (kL) is very green and a smaller city that is walkable and more attractive. I did a lot of shopping in China town .

I went out to the main bar street (near the twin towers) in the heart of the business district. The places looked good but upon entering the "beach club" I realised it was not a normal Bar.




Japanese businessmen and fat/old Americans coming to Asia for young girls come here among other places. The entire club was full of local prostitutes and ex-pats. Not 10 or 20 but several hundred. Was a good laugh.




Next time I will avoid the rainy season . I flew to Penang (north Malay) to meet up with an old friend from varsity and we hopped over to the island of Lang-kowi for the weekend. A Beautiful place when its not raining! Somthing I will have to imagine.

It rained most of the time we were there. Rainy season is from April -June. There are loads of Arabs from the gulf in June and July as well as it's their Peak tourist season. It is a bit funny to see people covered head to toe on the beach (see pics).

It's nice to know money still talks in Asia as the boat was full going back to the mainland, and I did not want to miss work the next morning. Luckily one of the sailors accepted my 50R note as a bribe as I would have been in loads of trouble if I did't get to work .

Vietnam

Flying over Saigon gives you a good view of the landscape. Flat, green and full of meandering rivers. There must be major floods when heavy rain hits......




In Saigon I met some french expats who married locals and showed me where the real people live and eat. It was nice to get off the tourist trail and get inside Saigon. Vietnam is a very difficult place to describe.




The culture and the mentality are so different to the other conutries I have visited in Asia. Except that its also full of motorcycles like most Asian cities (in saigon they have more bikes than people) and no one uses a helmet. I road on a bike with 2 other people which is not somthing I do often. Infact somtimes they are fitting as many as 4 or 5 on a motor bike. Crazy!




Thailand

I didn't care for Bangkok too much. Aside from few nice temples and good bars on the backpacker street(Kao shan). I visited a few markets and the ever so famous red light distict (pat pong).



This place is a site alright. A mix of expats and tourists, a market and loads of brothels, erotics shows, prostitutes and ladyboys. Infact I would not be suprised if the majority were ladyboys. It´s quite a frightning sight.




I spent a week on koh Pangan near samui for holiday. Beautiful sandy beachs with the jungle and mountains in the background. Mostly young scandanavians, english and a few euros .

Was a good place to relax, had some great beach parties. I even got in some volley ball and football. Aside from tan, loads of fruit juice and little sleep not much else to do. Was great!