The Small Size

My girlfriend says that I have an addiction.

It isn't any ordinary addiction. It's not detrimental to my health. It doesn't require huge chunks of my day. It's not burning a hole in my wallet. Well, in a way it does.

I have an "addiction" to shopping online and later returning most, if not all, the items I decided to purchase. Sometimes I am returning pieces of technology such as mice and keyboards (for legit reasons), but most of my returns are clothing articles. I don't enjoy spending my time buying five shirts online just to return them, but who can blame me if I'm swimming in cotton once I try it on.

The problem is that sizes across different stores differ so much. Sure, I could go by their sizing chart, which usually indicates that I should buy the "small" size. But I'm six feet tall, so wearing a small usually means I have to worry about looking like a teenage girl or a belly dancer.

If it's not sizing issues, it's because stores require to hit a subtotal threshold before they offer free shipping. What can I say? I'm a slickdealer. If shipping isn't free, it's a non-starter.

New cuisines in a foreign place

Before I had arrived in Australia, it had been consistently raining for two weeks. Thankfully, I only dealt with two days of rain. Although it caused some difficulties my prepared plans, I spent these rainy days becoming familiar with downtown Sydney by visiting popular resturants and attractions.

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My hotel was located in the Chinatown district of Sydney, where there were a plethora of Asian restaurants and shops. Growing up, I didn't have many chances to try Asian foods. During my first two years at UC San Diego, my friends successfully pushed me to try different cuisines. In the first few days in Sydney, I experienced Malaysian cuisine and Chinese Emperor's puffs, and enjoyed favorites like Vietnamese pho and Japanese ramen. Although it was a bit discouraging to walk into what was often a hole in the wall kind of restaurant and not speaking the language, I was always greeted with a friendly smile and an excellent dish.

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Delicious Emperor's puffs - an egg custard filled pastry. So fresh I burned my mouth biting into one. 

A land down under

On June 24, 2013 at 11:30pm, the wheels of a Delta 777 separated from the tarmac at LAX. The flight's destination - Sydney, Australia. It was my first time traveling to the Asia Pacific region, and I was anxious to find out what experiences the next two and half months had in store. My plan is to spend my summer along the east coast of Australia, traveling to attractions around Sydney, Brisbane, and Cairns while working to help pay some of the expenses. The exciting part of this journey, and the part I am most nervous about, is that I am traveling by myself. Although it seemed a bit daunting at first, I welcome the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone.

Throughout the trip, I will take photos and upload them to Flickr. I will also try to keep this blog updated with any exciting adventures that I will have :)