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New York, New York --

#New York #Graduation 2016 #May16

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania --

Cancún, Mexico --

Spring break with the crew.

Reno, Nevada --

Christmas was spent in Reno/Lake Tahoe with the family. My friends from New York came to Reno to celebrate New Years’ at the Snowglobe 2015 music festival, and spend the rest of our time skiing and exploring!

#Reno #Lake Tahoe #Nevada #January16

Mount Tremper, New York --

A bunch of close friends and I decided to take the weekend off and enjoy the beautiful fall weather in the Catskill Mountains north of New York. Breathtaking scenery.

#Mount Tremper #Catskills #New York #October15

Minneapolis, Minnesota --

Visited my best friend and roommate Stephanie in her hometown of Minneapolis before heading back to New York. Can confirm that Minnesotans are disconcertingly nice, the local accent is adorable, and biking everywhere is the best way to explore.

#Minnesota #Minneapolis #August15 #Summer

Reno, NV; Fairfield, CA; Portland, OR; Pasco, WA --

After my internship ended in New York, there was ample time to travel back to the west coast and visit family -- my parents in Reno, my friends in the Bay Area (and a baby shower!), and then a road trip with my brother and mother to visit my aunt in Portland, and grandparents and extended familiy in Washington State.

#Summer #Reno #Fairfield #Oregon #Washington #August15 #California #Nevada

Lisbon, Portugal --

As part of our curriculum, NYU Stern assigns its entire junior class into teams to study an international company in Europe, South America, or southeast Asia for a semester and create recommendations for the firm’s future. My team’s firm was Sonae, a Portuguese retail company. After studying the Portuguese market, Sonae’s position within the retail industry, and modern management and strategy, Stern sent us to Lisbon over spring break to meet the management and see the firm in action.

#Lisbon #Portugal #March15

Honolulu, Hawaii --

It worked out perfectly to leave the Philippines and meet my family on Oahu for a family Christmas. We surfed, hiked, parasailed, jet skied, laid on the beach, and ate everything in sight for 5 days during one of the most fun holidays I can ever remember. Love these people.

#Honolulu #Oahu #Hawaii #December14

Manila and Tagaytay, Philippines

My last stop on this journey was in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. At first glance, Manila is yet another city teeming with people. The traffic is as unbearable as the humidity, and most of the “touristy” things to see are famous cathedrals and spaces resulting from Spanish colonialism, missionary work, and American occupation. But Filipinos have truly carved out a culture of their own, drawing from every nation that has attempted to make Filipino land their own, and from their own Polynesian roots. The food is extraordinary and the nightlife is wildly energetic. Just outside of Manila likes Taal Volcano and a lake within a crater within the volcano. Some new friends from my hostel and I decided to make the trip -- a bus, then a jeepney, then a terrifying tricycle motorbike ride, then a questionably safe boat, and then a horseback riding expedition to the top brought us to a spectacular view and some particularly stinky sulfur deposits. For $3 we paid to borrow a driver and hit a few golf balls into the water below.

#Manila #Tagaytay #Taal Volcano #Philippines #December14

Luang Prabang, Laos --

Many backpackers spend months in Laos, exploring the cities and jungle and rural villages. My 4 days in Luang Prabang was not nearly enough to explore the country, but the time I did get was well spent wandering the city, meeting locals, eating everything in sight, and drunk bowling with my hostel mates. A lovely place with breathtaking views.

#Luang Prabang #Laos #December14

Chiang Mai, Thailand --

#Chiang Mai #Thailand #December14

Chiang Mai, Thailand --

Among the highlights of my entire life thus far are the days I spent volunteering at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. ENP is a sanctuary and rescue center that helps care for elephants rescued from illegal logging work and street begging, injured by land mines and forced breeding, and their families. ENP has also done incredible work in rescuing and rehabilitating hundreds of stray dogs from all over Thailand. It was an absolute joy to bond with these animals, feed them, bathe them, and learn their personalities.

#Elephant Nature Park #ENP #Chiang Mai #Thailand #December14

Bagan, Mandalay, and Inle Lake, Myanmar --

#Myanmar #December14

Yangon, Myanmar --

Perhaps the most extraordinary country I’ve ever visited. Formerly known as Burma, the country has a fascinating history spanning dozens of empires and foreign invasions. It became a British colony during the 19th century, and then by 1962 was under the control of a military dictatorship that essential closed the country to economic growth, foreign aid, and tourism for decades. Myanmar did not receive more than 1 million tourists annually until 2012, and many parts of the country are still closed to foreigners due to civil war, ethnic strife, and systematic human rights violations committed by the government.

Yangon’s skyline is as colorful as its history. Every building and temple is coated in blindingly bright gold and white hues, and every meal is full of delicious, rare spices, evidence of the nation’s former abundance of wealth and trade. There are signs of British colonialism in every direction, and Yangon truly looks like a city that has not been touched since the British left in 1948. The streets crumble and the gold paint peels, and horse-drawn rickshaws dominate the city streets, but traffic is on the left side of the street and kind locals offer to serve you tea on every corner. The Burmese people are incredibly nice and welcoming, and many had questions for us about where we were from, what we had seen, and what we thought of their country. As tourism grows exponentially, I felt incredibly lucky to have visited at such a fleeting time.

#Yangon #Myanmar #December14

Siem Reap and Phonm Penh, Cambodia --

Ah, Cambodia. Cambodia remains the only country I have ever visited that I truly, honestly disliked. Siem Reap, the home of the ancient Angkor Wat ruins and many other ancient temples, was certainly beautiful. The sheer size and intricacy of the temples’ stonework was breathtaking, and a lack of security meant that we got to explore freely and pretend that we were Lara Croft. Never one to shy from bizarre foods, we tried everything available from grilled snake-on-a-stick to fried tarantula.

Outside of the temples, Cambodia was rampant with crime, poverty, and sick animals that made the ruins difficult to appreciate. We were scammed into a river tour outside Phnom Penh where we were pulled into several tourist traps. We met women of the Padaung tribe, who wear brass rings around their throats to create the appearance of an elongated neck, forced to visit a horrifically maintained crocodile farm, and our tour guide attempted to force us to purchase rice for an orphanage with a markup of over 1000%.

On our second-to-last day in Cambodia I came down with a severe stomach virus that kept me bedridden for the rest of the trip, and the rest of the following week when we returned to Singapore. Naturally, with my luck, this was the week of final exams for NUS -- so I got to study from bed in the fetal position and eat nothing but rice for 8 days! Imagine my joy.

Other friends who have visited Cambodia understood my experience, but have encouraged me to return and visit parts of Cambodia uncorrupted by the major cities. They tell me that more rural villages are full of wonderful people who live life more comfortably.

#Cambodia #Phonm Penh #Siem Reap #Angkor Wat #December14

Bangkok, Thailand --

We spent 4 days in Bangkok, but somehow I have very few pictures! Among the highlights: a ladyboy show (believe it or not, that’s the term they prefer). These women were some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, and so comfortable in their bodies! I actually have a picture with a few of the performers but I’m embarrassed to post it because they’re so much prettier than me. *sigh*

Bangkok leaves a first impression of utter business, overwhelming population density, and tourist traps. But the more time I spent there, the more I saw a young, modern Bangkok -- third wave coffee shops, post-modern architecture, an emphasis on art and technology I had no idea existed just under the surface. Thai people are particularly kind and welcoming. One of our favorite activities in Bangkok was simply sitting down on a 12″ tall plastic stool at any street-side food vendor, looking helplessly at the menu written completely in Thai, and letting the vendor serve us whatever they happened to be cooking at the moment. It would invariably be delicious, filling, and less than $2 -- still no clue what we were eating.

#Bangkok #Thailand #November14

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