June 2012
1 post
ENTER THE DRAGON!!!!
I have ENTERED THE DRAGON.
My reaction to being able to speak Mandarin everywhere!
I’m not sure where to begin besides saying, “I LOVE BEIJING”; From the ability to speak Mandarin anywhere, to having an amazing host family this is shaping up to be one amazing summer. I’ll start with my arrival, up until preparing for the first day of school.
Getting to my host family’s house...
May 2012
13 posts
SEA Log 13: Adventures in Mandalay
Our motorcycle drivers returned at about 10am and we set off for the three ancient “cities” surrounding Mandalay. The first mostly consisted of a pagoda, which pretty much seemed to be the only thing to see in Burma. What was interesting here was it provided great views of the city. I’d be interested in returning in about 10 years to see how much has changed at least in terms of economic...
SEA Log 12: Why did they turn off the AC?
Today began on a very stressed filled note. Mike and I had swapped out tickets from a 8am bus for a 2am bus to ensure we arrived with time to spare in Bangkok for our flight later in the day. We were told to be out front at 1am so at about 12:45 we strolled into the lobby and checked out much to the surprise of the guy working the front desk. 1am came and went and we began to worrying we were...
SEA Log 11: Hey Mister You want to buy 3 bracelets...
Today began bright and early at four in the morning. We had heard from our friends that you had to experience sunrise at Angkor Wat. I had somehow formed a mental image that this would be like something out of a movie so we eagerly set off at 5 with a tour guide a friend recommended the day before. We arrived about 30 minutes early in order to secure a good spot. Once the sun rose however, we...
SEA Log 10: Would you like a VIP bus?
Today began bright and early at 6am. Our original plan was to try and catch the ferry up river to Siem Reap in order to get a unique view of the country. Unfortunately the river ferry wasn’t running as we were told the water level was too low. I’m honestly not sure if we were brought to the right place because the “ticket Seller” then tried to push some VIP bus option off on us. Feeling...
SEA Log 9: Cambodia’s Holocaust
If you have ever seen the movie The Killing Fields, then you will understand most of the destinations we visited today. For those that haven’t, in a 3 year 8 month span the Khmer Rouge “The Red Khmer” killed 3 million or 3/8’s of their population. Originally this targeted the intelligentsia and former government officials however it soon spread to everyone else. Operating under...
SEA Log 8: Phnom Penh Has Drainage Problems
Today we hoped to catch a 9:30 bus to Phnom Penh since Mike told me there was no way in he could get up early enough for the 7:30 bus. According the bus company’s website, such a bus existed, however I went to the bus stop and discovered their website was wrong so we were stuck with the 12:30 bus. At the time I was a little upset cause I thought we had lost a day in Phnom Penh but...
SEA Log 7: How Much Would you Pay to Bribe a...
Today Mike and I met up with a tour group and headed to Bokor Mountain. We had originally hoped to take motorcycles up to the top but were told that this was not possible (we would find out later that was not true) To explain a little about this area the French basically built two resort areas in Cambodia: Bokor and Sihanoukville when they occupied the country in the early 20th...
SEA Log 7: How Much Would you Pay to Bribe a...
Today Mike and I met up with a tour group and headed to Bokor Mountain. We had originally hoped to take motorcycles up to the top but were told that this was not possible (we would find out later that was not true) To explain a little about this area the French basically built two resort areas in Cambodia: Bokor and Sihanoukville when they occupied the country in the early 20th...
SEA Log 6: The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and...
Today began at midnight with Mike and I boarding a bus for Phnom Penh in Ho Chi Minh. We were initially worried we would have to buy new tickets as the lady in charge of our hostel forgot to give us the tickets we had already paid for. Fortunately, all it took was a quick phone call and she arrived apologizing profusely but with tickets in hand. The next 5 hours were a blur as I slept...
SEA Log 5: Tunnel Rat-ing
Today consisted of exploring the Cu Chi, pronounced like Gucci, tunnel system. Before coming to Vietnam I must admit I never really understood why people who went to Vietnam came back so emotionally traumatized. After today’s visit though, it became much more clear the damage the Vietnam War had done to everyone involved. Our tour of the tunnels began with a propaganda film from 1967....
SEA Log 4: So is it Ho Chi Minh or Saigon?
Today began on a low note. I woke up to my computer not turning on. Assuming it was a minor problem I just turned it off and hoped it would work later. When we arrived at the airport it still did not work so I began to worry. It soon became apparent that something was seriously wrong with my computer. Having little time to do anything about it until before our flight I shoved it in my...
SEA Log 3: Chillin with Uncle Ho
Today started off a visit to the lovely Hanoi Hilton
For those not up to date on your Vietnamese History, this is actually Hoa Lo prison built by the French to house Vietnamese separatists. The building itself is just a third of its original size and a new apartment block was deemed more important than preserving the other 2/3’s of the prison. What you are left with is a testament to the many...
SEA Log 1 and 2
SEA Log Day 1.
Last night Michael and I arrived into Hanoi, Vietnam. Our biggest initial problem was they did not want to exchange HKD, and the ATM had “run out of money”; how that happens at the airport was beyond me. When we arrived at our hotel however, HSBC was right across the street so there wasn’t a money problem after all. After dropping our stuff off, we headed to a lake that I’m just...
February 2012
1 post
Resurrecting the Blog
Wow it’s been 7 months since I last wrote one of these. It’s funny reading my last post where I basically stated I was going to blog more frequently and how that didn’t happen. So in case you have wondered what I’ve been up to, I’ll try to give a quick run down. Following those last posts I had the joy of traveling China with my friends, Cory and Thea, for 2 weeks visiting Cheng Du to see the...
August 2011
1 post
The Month of July Part 1
So I finally have time to update everyone on what I’ve been up to. I apologize it takes me some long to write these, but with my schedule there just seems to be no time. However I’m going to describe a couple of adventures that I hope you will enjoy reading about and I should have pictures this time. This will be the first post of probably two this week.
First...
July 2011
2 posts
Small Update
My Flickr name is jaytomsig. You should be able to search for me and see my photos.
The Result of Me Finding the Time to Chronicle My...
It’s been almost two weeks since I last posted, so I have a lot of things to talk about. Before I get into that, I’m going to share my contact details, if you want to skype/email/snail mail me a card, package or whatever. Also if you would like me to talk to a class or organization about what it’s like living abroad, I will see what I can do. Anyway, my local address for now is
Jason Sigmon
C/O...
June 2011
4 posts
The Return of 欢迎光临
So I think its time to start attempting to shorten these blog posts, starting with this one. On Wednesday, I had to deal with one of the hardest Chinese tests I’ve ever taken. As I thought, I did really poorly partially cause of a really weird grading system. For example, one section worth 40 % of the entire test was particularly messed up. If you missed 4 out of 10 questions, you got 40%...
Museum Monday's #1
So today my friend Sheimaliz and I decided on starting a new tradition called Museum Mondays. Since every other day of the week, we are either too tired or want to do something else, Mondays are the opportune time to explore Hong Kong’s cultural venues. Upon arriving here, it’s very evident from both billboards and MTR ads, that Hong Kong is riddled with Museums in every size and scope. We...
卡！卡！我的卡。。。找不到了！
Writing late at night is always an interesting experience, but while most of the group is out somewhere or recovering from various illnesses I’m going to try and provide a couple of updates. Now if you translated this post’s title NO I didn’t lose my credit card. However various uses of this passage became thematic in Chinese class this week. Speaking of Chinese class, I finally determined what...
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single...
So here we go, finally starting this blog for what i’m sure is gonna be one of the most interesting years of my life. I’m going to say in advance I’m going to do my best to proofread this, but if there are mistakes I apologize. Now on to the fun stuff.
If you don’t know me that well, and sort of stumbled/tumbled upon this blog, my name is Jason Sigmon and...
