Mike Gil, Ph.D.HK, Singapore, KL
Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur (Fall 2008)
After graduation and a summer of hard work, I, along with my girlfriend and two friends, set out on a backpacking adventure to top all others–3 months in SE Asia and New Zealand. Our first stop was the island of Hong Kong, where we were awed by the amount of sky scrapers that were huddled between dozens of mountain valleys. The most impressive sight, however, was the giant bronze Buddha statue that we visited in the mountains via gondola ride. After Hong Kong, we made our way to Singapore where we were fortunate in our arrival time–in the middle of the Moon Festival. This was a celebration of independence and for us it meant a lot of terrific street decorations and vibrant markets. We also got a great shot of the Singapore cityscape when exploring the artsy waterfront district. After leaving the cultural epicenter of Singapore, we made a brief stop in Malaysia to explore the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, where we visited (and got to ascend) the famous and spectacularly massive Petronas Towers, formerly (and not long ago) the largest building in the world–the Sears Tower extended its antenae shortly after to reclaim the record. It was quite a sight up close!
For a much more detailed description of this trip (including more photos and some videos), check out my old blog.
Mike Gil, Ph.D. 