Hong Kong for me was its own world on its own, this is because the country offered everything you could ever want. One minute you could be in the centre of buzzing lights and thousands of people, and the next you could be by a beach. Or hiking up the peak to watch the sunset disappear behind the skyline.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u00a0remember it like it was yesterday first arriving in Hong Kong for my exchange, starring at Chinese characters and frantically trying to remember back to my Mandarin classes, \u201cThat one line on top of that other line means… her? Or him?\u201d. Then within a couple of weeks I was walking into coffee shops saying \u201cHello, can I have my regular?\u201d. I became accustom to the stylish, fast-paced and glamourous lifestyle.<\/p>\n So when I decided to go to South East Asia you could imagine my (delightful) surprise. Everything seemed slower, less stylish and well, less glamorous. But the beauty within South East Asia was a different kind of beauty offered by Hong Kong, the vibrant colours, no need for objects and barely (if any) sense of hygiene was a change. A breath of fair air if you will.<\/p>\n Out of all the places I visited Laos was probably the one which surprised me the most. The country was so beautiful and seemed so tranquil whilst I was there, even the capital Vientiane. The natural beauty in Laos absolutely stunned me, especially in Vang Veing. I remember floating down a river for two hours around these enormous mountains which were completely made up of limestone, it was like nothing I had ever seen before.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not to mention the pearly blue waters I witnessed whilst I was there. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I always get asked \u201cwhat was your favourite place when you were travelling Asia?\u201d and I hate answering that question because I feel it\u2019s an unfair question. I loved something about everywhere I visited because each country brought something different<\/strong> to the table. But you know… Some people won\u2019t stop asking until they get an answer, so I guess I will choose Japan! I choose Japan because I adored everything about each place I visited there. I went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Itsukushimaand and Osaka.\u00a0Everywhere I turned in Japan I was stunned by the architecture, the vibrancy of the coral coloured leaves, the detail in the temple boarders and the kindness of the people.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Oh and how could I forget to mention the FOOD?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the best things I had ever tasted was the curry oyster bun on Miyajami Island, so if you ever find yourself there, run up to the elderly man with a cart along the side of the sea. You can\u2019t miss him!<\/p>\n One of the places I have to say I didn\u2019t enjoy as much as everywhere else I travelled to was Phnom Pehn in Cambodia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whilst being there I just felt significantly less safe than I did in other parts of Asia I travelled. It didn\u2019t help that all the tuk-tuk drivers told me to put my purse under my skirt to prevent motorbike thieves from stealing my bag. I know this came with the territory when coming to a country which had such a sad history (which was also so recent), but this is just me speaking from my heart. I still think that Phnom Pehn had beauty scattered around the city though I didn\u2019t enjoy the city as much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now, even though Phnom Pehn wasn\u2019t my favorite place, I absolutely ADORED Siem Reap. Incredibly stunning, full of natural beauty and buzzing all day long!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Every cockroach flying into my hair and grasshopper jumping onto my clothes was completely worth every second I spent in Siem Reap.<\/p>\n All in all, my Asia experience was more than anything I ever anticipated. I\u2019ve come home with so many more memories, friends, recipes and survival trips. Throw me in a jungle. I swear I\u2019ll be able to survive now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pack and suitcase and just go. No thinking, no boundaries, all heart. I left a piece of mine in Asia and i\u2019ll return for it someday.<\/p>\n Until next time,<\/p>\n Sara<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the the last year I travelled to 11 countries, and 8 of those were in Asia. I visited Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Asia, […]","protected":false},"author":815,"featured_media":576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[269],"tags":[93,96,94,95,90],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-exchange","tag-asia","tag-backpacking","tag-southeastasia","tag-studyabroad","tag-studying"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-8c","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":414,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/paris-before-hong-kong\/","url_meta":{"origin":508,"position":0},"title":"Paris before Hong Kong","author":"Sara Rahman","date":"August 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"My name is Sara Rahman and I am a student going into my third year of University. Within my third year of university I will be studying Philosophy at City University Hong Kong. I officially leave for Hong Kong in under one week and if I\u2019m honest the last few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/08\/IMG_7767-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/08\/IMG_7767-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/08\/IMG_7767-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/08\/IMG_7767-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/08\/IMG_7767-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/08\/IMG_7767-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":452,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/were-not-in-kowloon-anymore-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":508,"position":1},"title":"We’re not in Kowloon anymore..","author":"Sara Rahman","date":"September 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"So it has been over 3 weeks since I landed in Hong Kong and I\u2019m not even sure where I should begin? My arrival to Hong Kong was pretty surreal as the airport is located on Hong Kong Island and City University Hong Kong is located in Kowloon. The whole\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/09\/DSC_0509-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/09\/DSC_0509-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/09\/DSC_0509-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/09\/DSC_0509-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/09\/DSC_0509-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2015\/09\/DSC_0509-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/the-bright-lights-of-hong-kong\/","url_meta":{"origin":508,"position":2},"title":"The bright lights of Hong Kong","author":"Lara Bridge","date":"August 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"After a 30 hour journey and several flight delays, we finally arrived in Hong Kong. The first shock occurred as we stepped out of the cool air conditioned airport, and into the hot and humid weather. The sweating had begun. Something you have to get used to in China. After\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Summer Programmes"","block_context":{"text":"International Summer Programmes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/summer-programmes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2014\/08\/hk1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1205,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/a-quick-summary-of-7-weeks-in-hong-kong\/","url_meta":{"origin":508,"position":3},"title":"A quick summary of 7 weeks in Hong Kong","author":"Anna Ingram","date":"October 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi everyone,\u00a0my name is Anna and I'm a second year Psychology student currently on a one-semester exchange\u00a0at the University of Hong Kong. I love to travel and see new places, so when the Psych department at Cardiff said this exchange was available, I was sure I wanted to go for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/10\/20160823_075139-450x253.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1304,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/a-seat-with-a-view\/","url_meta":{"origin":508,"position":4},"title":"A Seat with a View","author":"Anna Ingram","date":"October 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi everyone, so I just thought I would do a short post about my favourite places that I like to visit here in Hong Kong, when I am maybe missing home or I just want some peace. As a big lover of impressive skylines, I probably couldn't be living anywhere\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/10\/20160828_185050-450x253.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":497,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/some-advice-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":508,"position":5},"title":"Some advice.","author":"Sara Rahman","date":"February 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"After 4 months of studying abroad, 5 and a half weeks of backpacking, and 4 weeks of settling back into Welsh living, I\u2019m back in Cardiff to tell you about my experience away. I still remember it like it was yesterday, walking through the different coloured zones in City University\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Placements"","block_context":{"text":"International Placements","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/international-exchange\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/IMG_7960.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/IMG_7960.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/IMG_7960.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/IMG_7960.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/IMG_7960.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/IMG_7960.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/thumb_IMG_9621_1024-768x432-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/815"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2458,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions\/2458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hong](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture1-450x300.jpg\")
![\"Shek](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture2.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Laos](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture4-450x403.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\n![\"Laos](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture6.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Laos](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture5.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Kyoto\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture8-450x300.jpg\")
![\"Kyoto](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture9-450x301.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Kyoto\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture10.jpg\")
![\"Hiroshima\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture13.jpg\")
\u00a0\u00a0![\"Miyajima\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture12.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Cambodia](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture1-1-450x300.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Cambodia](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture3-1.jpg\")
\u00a0 \u00a0![\"Cambodia](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture4-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Cambodia](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/Picture1-2-436x450.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n![\"Japan](\"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2016\/02\/thumb_IMG_9621_1024-450x253.jpg\")
<\/p>\n