Chang Mai was my first stop in Asia. Before Chang Mai, I had no idea what Asia was like. I was originally set to start from Bangkok, but then everyone warned me that I should aim for a softer landing and immediately take a domestic flight to Chang Mai. And they were right, later when […]

After a long absence from Europe, I got to spend a couple of wonderful weeks in Paris and roaming around France. To my delight, I was joined by some of my charming family to head out from the Paris airport east to explore the wonders of Champagne province. From there, we roamed around circling Paris […]

I wasn’t planning anything special for Thanksgiving, but two weeks of -10c average daytime temperatures in Champaign ignited the need to escape to warmer climates and so – way past last minute – I begun looking for cheap tickets and ended up booking a trip to Mexico City. To be completely frank, I had no […]

While based in the US, I went to New York City for Christmas and New Years to visit my sister who was doing an exchange to NYU and meeting my parents who flew in to NYC for a visit. We spent about 10 days in New York, with an AirBnB apartment in Brooklyn next to […]

When most people think about Florida, they imagine tropical beaches and sunshine, but Florida is actually where colonial history of the Americas began and Saint Augustine in Florida prides itself as being the oldest everything in the United States. You’ve got the oldest fort, the oldest street, the oldest church, the oldest house, etc. referring […]

To kickoff my move from Hong Kong to the United States last year, I chose Boston to be my first stop in the USA. With top universities like Harvard and MIT (and many others) and the many years since I visited last as a child, it was long overdue. Boston has exceeded every expectation, academically […]

One of my main travel goals for my research appointment to Florida was to try and get a glimpse of central and south America. It’s a part of the world I’ve never been to but always wanted to explore. Though I failed that mission, I was able to get a little bit closer than before […]

Miami was the last stop in my 6+ months research exchange trip to the United States. I must applaud myself for probably the longest term planning I’ve ever done , booking a ticket that goes to my target city – Tallahassee – through Boston, and returns from Miami, with a few days stop in each. […]

New York City is everything I remembered it to be and much more. Last time I was in NYC as a tourist, it was 2001 just after 9/11 to visit a friend studying in Julliard, and it was a bit depressing, so this was my chance to relive NYC as a tourist and during the […]

Xiamen was a very pleasant surprise. It’s not too crowded, quite tourist friendly, very well developed, and has a special charm which combines the scenic beauty of a coastal city with lots of colonial and regional history.   To summarize my trip to Xiamen, following are the posts I wrote about my short visit to […]