Brighter Than a Shooting Star

Sparkling, wondrous and full of mysteries. The sight of the stars made me wonder about the unknown that was far beyond. In my opinion, stars represented endless infinity and hope. All the constellations and the stories behind it, such as Orion’s Belt, intrigued me to no end. Boards filled with information surrounded me as I studied each one with curiosity. They each described different aspects of stars: the different constellations, how stars were born and how they died. After I skimmed through all the boards, I strolled outside and enjoyed the calm atmosphere that blanketed the area.

It was chilly outside and the wind whistled gently in my ear. Cheerful murmuring could be heard all around along with soft, gentle footsteps on the grass. Excitedly, I sprinted across the field to join my family and stared up in wonder. Cuzco is near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range which is why this was the perfect place to stargaze at the planetarium. The ancient and magnificent mountains in Cuzco towered over all the houses. Telescopes were set up around us – different views of the stars could be seen with each one.

 

Before we could all settle down and take a proper look at the stars, the director led everyone into a cozy circular room. Slowly but surely, people filled up the benches and I wondered what they had in store for us. After everyone had entered, the director that was in charge of our tour group switched the lights off and what I saw left me star-struck.

Above us were all the different constellations you could possibly find: Aquarius, Cassiopeia, Lyra, Leo and even Pisces. Elated at the sight, I squealed internally and held onto the few remaining minutes I had before they turned the lights back on.

I gushed about how amazing I thought the constellations were to my brother as we headed back out to the field. He yawned and nodded absentmindedly at my incessant talking. Some people laid out picnic blankets to lie down on, some settled down on blunt rocks and some just stood on the grass, gazing upwards. I braced myself for what I was about to see and unknowingly held my breath.

Spectacular.

I exhaled in wonder. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Many different stars were scattered across the night sky, some glowing brighter than the others. The sky was littered with twinkling stars and it was as if someone had sprayed silver glitter all over a midnight-blue piece of paper. I took my time in admiring the sight in front of me and I imagined my eyes taking pictures of everything, storing them away in my memory for me to reminisce over in the future.

I wondered if everyone else was just as amazed as I was and if they shared the same thoughts as me: what was it like out there? Is there a reason that stars could form patterns and constellations? Was it meant to be a sign for something? These all raced through my mind and I was filled with curiosity because of them – they were questions with no answers.

A few minutes had passed and I was still frozen, rooted to my spot in awe. I tuned out everything else around me and focused on the beautiful view I had in front of me. Time seemed to have stopped as my eyes traveled leisurely from star to star, lingering on each and every one. Suddenly, I was snapped back into reality when I felt a hand persistently shaking my shoulder.

“It’s time to go home, Tricia.” My mother told me gently with an amused look on her face.

I sighed in disappointment before replying in a subdued voice, “Alright.”

With one last look over my shoulder, I turned my back and trudged off with my family. The unforgettable view would be forever imprinted in my mind. That night, I fell asleep with the endless variety of stars and constellations on my mind.

Tricia

Lonely Paradise

CRASH! spinning out of control, twirling and gasping for breath I arose to the surface.

Alive.

The adrenaline rush got my heart kicking, the beauty got my head thinking and the food got
my mouth watering. In the most beautiful place on Earth you would expect the place being swarmed with crowds all trying to get a glimpse of what heaven really looks like but rest assured in Ko Tao there wasn't any sight of any tourists what so ever. Floating in the water weightlessly and looking down I was forgetting all of my problems one by one. The crystal clear water levelling my neck was the perfect temperature for me— not to cold and not to warm. 5 kilometres out and I could see the whole island in a perfect beautiful panorama: The lush green tress swaying in the wind; The occasional Kishing boats which sped by; and even the resorts on top of the hills.

2:00, I swam back in somewhat of a hurry realising that the tide may have taken my out if I hadn't looked at the time— I arrived at the sandy beach insight of no one and if I tried screaming no one would have heard even the slightest noise which wasn't very reassuring if I did end up getting carried away by the tide. The rocky beach hurting my feet was a mile long reaching the cove at the end of the beach. I decided do swim out again as the tide was not kicking in—floating above the coral reef, the reef gleamed like the orange yellow sun, and coincidentally just as the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. 

Time was flying and it seemed just like a minute ago when I first swam out. My thoughts wandering off, and of course being paranoid about the dangers of swimming out here alone, but the beauty of this place overwhelmed me and once again all of my problems dissolved from my mind. Lifelessly floating near the shore I awoke from my trance when a small motor boat about the size a room was heading straight to me— it slowed down just when I thought my heart would stop. The boat which was white in colour turned towards me, let the ladder drop. and honked its horn. I couldn't see anyone in the boat but it was dark and I started to swim away slowly at first then kicking and splashing, my heart beat spiking up rapidly.

 I stopped abruptly when my feet scraped the ocean floor, I wanted more— the adrenaline rush was addicting. My head was spinning and as I replayed the events in my head in chronological order. I felt ashamed of myself. There was nothing to be afraid about and they were probably telling me to get out of the water but I pushed these thoughts away. Gradually making my way to the beach and then the beauty of the ocean really got to me. 

Beni

45˚C in Las Vegas

The plane was closer and closer to the airport. I looked out the window: It was practically a desert with barely any greenery; land was flat all over but it was crowded with tiny little houses; and there were humungous buildings like other cities in the world. Las Vegas is the driest place I ever seen but also, it is very interesting. Scrutinizing the surroundings, I spotted our tour guide who was waiting to drive us to the hotel. The moment I walked into the parking lot a burst of heat went coming onto me-- it was boiling hot, the atmosphere was humid and it was 45C˚ Celsius.

About 30 minutes later we arrived at the hotel. Quickly, my family all hopped off the car except for me. I looked in the distance of the interesting buildings in Las Vegas. A hotel even looked like a pyramid. We all entered the hotel we  were staying in. Mandalay Bay hotel’s lobby was noisy, crowded and busy. It took us half an hour to check in for a family suite. To go to the hotel elevators, you had to go straight pass the casino. I’ve never seen anything like this.

At two o’clock we were ready to check out the restaurants since my sister and I were famished. We came by a restaurant and made my stomach satisfied. It was a Mexican restaurant with many different kinds of tacos. Also there was a strawberry drink that tasted so good and cooled me down very quickly. After lunch, we pretty much stayed in the hotel room for the day.

The next day we woke up at four.

The sky was burning blue and it was far from sunrise but people were still on the streets walking and amount of cars were as much as day. Neon lights were shining so bright—It felt like it was always morning in Las Vegas.

The bus ride to the Grand Canyon took four hours and I slept for the whole ride. After four long hours we finally arrived at the Grand Canyon. The tour guide chose for us to tour the Grand Canyon with a helicopter. Soon he bought the tickets and we waited for a long time.

In the afternoon the officials called out our number on the ticket. This was the first time I’ve ever been on a helicopter. Soon enough the helicopter rose and it was a different experience than from riding an airplane. You could see the atmosphere all around you including beneath you. You could see the extensive river beneath you and all the cliffs of the canyon.

Very quickly we arrived at the downer part of the great canyon where all the water flows. The river was murky, cloudy and very orange. We had to ride a boat in the river to the ticket center. The tour guide was explaining the history of the Grand Canyon but I didn’t hear a thing because the boat’s motor was too loud.

Lunch was quick and we soon left. Half way back to the hotel we stopped at the hoover dam. This part was most interesting. When we arrived at the hoover dam we first had to pass the security. Then, two guards went on the coach checking for explosives in our bags. This took the most time because in their office, they don’t have a proper air conditioning so they wanted to stay on the coach for a longer time. They were also extremely slow when they got off the coach.

Soon the day trip was over but in the night there were more exciting things going on. The tour guide was very thoughtful and bought us tickets for a show in side one of Las Vegas’s most luxurious hotels. The show was called “LERÊVE THE DREAM”. When I was watching it the divers and the actors fascinated me. One of the actors made me laugh my tears out. One “Splash” after another, divers dive from ten, twenty meters from above the water. The stage that was there was so incredible. The stage was a combination of water and concrete, the lights were bright, vivid and full of colours and all the actors were full of talents. It was one of the best shows I’ve seen.

After the show everyone left the theatre going in different directions. The direction we left just happens to go to the Car expedition and I soon bought tickets for it. Red, yellow, white and black cars with sports brands and antique cars were all in one expedition. In the end of the expedition we even received a green screen photo shoot that you could sit in a Ferrari and choose different backgrounds you want to be in.

In Las Vegas the weather is burning all the time. However, there are interesting places to explore, fascinating things to see and exciting things to do in the end of the day.

Hongzhi

First Impressions, Worst Impressions

When I first walked into the hotel I thought it would be just a regular stay. Comfy beds, breakfast buffets and room service. But I was completely wrong. The minute I walked in, my eyes glittered at the sight of colourful chandeliers and decorations. The beautiful aroma of lavender scented candles wafted up my nose. It was a perfect temperature in there, and it felt so good to finally have air conditioning because it was boiling outside. My family and I began to slowly walk towards the lobby desk, still admiring the stunning ornaments that were surrounding us.

I was just checking in at the front desk with my family when all of a sudden four beautifully dressed ladies carrying trays with little cups on them appeared next to us. They said “Welcome to Langkawi” in about five or six different languages before finally saying it in English, then they handed each of us a little cup. The drink was absolutely delicious. It tasted like pomegranate juice but with a little kick to it. Later, I found out, it was simply called welcome tea. I was so excited to try everything else Malaysia had to offer.

After finishing our drinks we went up to the hotel room. I flopped down onto the bed, which I sunk right into. I jumped up and opened the curtains nice and wide. The view was magnificent. The beautiful ocean waves were lightly splashing onto the shore as delighted little kids ran around. I couldn’t wait to get down there and take a dip into the ocean. The best thing about this place was that there was nobody smoking in your face. Nobody peeing on the street. And best of all, nobody spitting enormous amounts of spit onto the sidewalk.

This wasn’t China.

Obviously the first thing I wanted to do was go to the beach. There were no beautiful beaches like this in Shanghai. First we went down to the hotel restaurant and ordered the ‘chefs choice’. We were pretty excited to see what was coming. We discussed our plan for the rest of the day before our food got to the table. Exactly three minutes after we ordered, a large plate of Mee Goreng (Malaysian Fried Noodles) was brought to us. We cleared the plate in precisely six minutes.

Finally the moment I’d been waiting for arrived. We were going to the beach. I rushed everyone upstairs quickly and we changed into our swimsuits. I was the first one ready and I was waiting at the door with four towels in my hand. I felt like the elevator ride down was taking forever even though it was only three floors. To my luck, we had to stop at each floor and by the time we got down I thought I would die of claustrophobia.

Luckily, the beach was right outside the back entrance of the hotel lobby so we didn’t have to tire ourselves out by walking in the sun before we got there. There were three steps leading down in front of a glass door. The only problem was, I didn’t see the glass door as I began sprinting towards the stairs. I hit my face against the door at full speed and fell backwards into a pool of blood that was formed by my nose erupting. As I said before, this wasn’t China and somebody from the hotel lobby came to help me up and stop my nose bleeding. I decided I needed to calm down, I was a little too excited.

I stepped a foot onto the warm sand and I was delighted about how soft it was. I was barely outside for a minute and I was already feeling a little hot. I walked towards the ocean and stepped into the cool and refreshing water. Then I saw something. Actually two things. I was stood near a Chinese man and his son adjusting my goggles in the water when I felt something warm touching the top of my leg. I looked down and there was something that looked green and murky next to where the boy was. He was looking down into the water. I connected the dots and realised that the murky green liquid was obviously pee and I started to move away. Then the old Chinese man began to cough and he spit into the beautiful clean water.

I couldn’t take it. I began to run. I ran as fast and as far as I could. On the way back to the front entrance of the lobby, I saw a bunch of drunk men lighting cigarettes. This place was turning into hell. 

Preet

The Standstill Beauty of Europe and Asia

I gazed out the window, fixated, as the blur of historic foundations whirred by at the speed of light. It felt as if I had been transported into the past- the days of black and white where laughter was never far. Maneuvering up the steep cobblestone road, the vintage car slowed to a stop; the engine was softly humming. I ambled out, almost stumbling over the suitcases. Apart from those familiar belongings, I was sure I was in an alternate and peaceful world.

This was Istanbul.

The rumors of sultans and luxury were a complete understatement. I stood hopelessly- mesmerized. In a trance, I stared at the crystal blue skies, a perfect depiction of paradise. Turkey. My first trip to the jewel of Europe and Asia was undoubtedly no disappointment. Since 1923, the city of Istanbul (once Constantinople) has shined like a gem only heard of in one’s imagination. Towering over me, the capital glowed brighter than its night sky: spirals of century-old buildings; religious mosques and musical streets. Standing in the distance was the infamous Bosphorus Bridge. Silently, I glimpsed over at the incredible construction, overlooking two continents on opposite sides. Vehicles whizzed past with flying colours of gold and red. Meandering to the doorstep, I was awoken by the gentle purring of a wild kitten. With resemblance of a tabby cat, its stripes ran for miles with the ferocity of a tiger’s. Shortly after its graceful arrival, it scampered back down towards the side alley after realization that the pockets of my worn denim shirt did not contain any food. Exhausted, weathered and overwhelmed, I grasped the fact of how tired the long journey had made me. Time for some well deserved sleep…

Each morning brought the pleasant chorus of chirping birds. I could faintly hear the workers and citizens, whose days had commenced hours ago. They were speaking the native Turkish language. How lucky was I to experience a place so different and beautiful? When I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed, I was joyfully surprised to see a steaming cup of tea waiting in the sunshine. Battling the hummingbird from my hibiscus-filled mug, I lowered myself into a prime seat overlooking the city. Istanbul lay in front of me, providing me with a picturesque bird’s eye view. Today would be an entirely new experience. Luckily for me, I had studied my heart out in preparation for the trip to this new country. Thankfully, I had encountered a rustic little stall on the boundaries of the local streets. Equipped with my new souvenir representing the religion of Istanbul, I set out the door in the footsteps of a new adventure. I knew from that moment that this would undoubtedly stick in my memory for the rest of my life.

The reviews on trip advisor could not begin to describe the beauty of this religious monument. No travel book could begin to describe the glory that was the one and only Blue Mosque. I had only ever dreamt of such an enormous, serene and overpowering place! Blue and infinite as the ocean, it stood fully decked in: patterned tiles fit for royalty; domes constructed for the gods and spiraling towers made to be awed. The hours of wait were all worth it. Wow. The minute I stepped inside the spacious mosque, there was no doubt in my mind as to why it was the most popular Muslim mosque. At this moment, thousands of Muslims were preparing for the worship of Allah. Everything was so tranquil; it felt as if I was underwater. Surrounding me was the background noise of murmuring and the silent prayers of thousands of Muslims wearing multicoloured headscarves. They were extremely subtle, as if standing out inside this masterpiece was a sin. A chandelier of one hundred bulbs wound together hung delicately over the center of the stunning mosque. Intertwining with each other, they were constantly reminiscent of the respect and religion that they lay within. The sun shone through the stained glass windows and coloured light shadows danced on the holy, carpeted ground. Everything was quiet and peaceful. Time was insignificant and there was no apparent rush. Life stood still. Stone carvings clung to the never-ending walls for dear life. Suddenly but swiftly, the indistinct call -composed of ancient song lyrics- rung through the building and all of the streets, signaling all Muslims for prayers in the nearest mosque. For the duration of the trip, I vividly remember the prayer call five times a day: at sunrise, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and night. I marveled at its ability to wake only the ones who longed for it, and play softly for those who are of different religions. Devotion to giving and forgiveness was a true quality of the people in Istanbul especially. Culture was a stand out part of my vacation, and undoubtedly taught me knowledge of the beautiful city. With great hesitation, I slowly backed out of the beautiful building as the dark drew nearer.

A short while afterwards, I was once again gazing over the horizon as I watched the sun set. An explosion of colour motioned the end of the day. At night, The Blue Mosque shone like a Christmas tree, and undoubtedly popped among even the brightest of glimmering stars.

Izzy 

Having a Roll in Seoul

Seoul’s amusement parks were the stuff of legends across the globe. If you went to any amusement park lover and asked them “What is your favorite amusement park? And virtually every single one of thing would answer with: the awe-inspiring Everland, the dignified Lotteworld; or maybe even the small but posh Disneyworld. However if there’s one thing that all amusement park lovers can agree on it’s that Six Flags is the king of the roller coasters. If there’s one expression that can describe them it’s most certainly “The Fast and Furious”.

Sitting down in the waiting room was a torture that no man should ever go through. Being forced to wait in anguish while other riders were screaming out of terror and joy. A mean jape I had to suffer often. The one complaint I have to make is that since 6 flags are renowned for it’s roller coasters it’s often chock-full with gawking tourists of every nationality – Trying to navigate it was like trying to walk through a brick wall.

Getting in to the roller coaster was a blessing in a disguise considering the amount of people queued for it. Barely a few seconds after the dark safety bars went down and the ride began the rollercoaster entered a dark tunnel with only a few ominous looking torches to illuminate the way. Walls started to converge on us from all around- not something I expected at all. The tunnel began to tilt upwards so slowly at first I thought it was just a figment of my taunt imagination but I didn’t realize how steep the tunnel was until I noticed the rider in front of me quietly and franticly muttering “Why did I agree to go on this ride, oh god why” – I had a good chuckle about that afterwards but at the moment I was preoccupied with screaming in terror as I whooshed of the tunnel into the daylight like tiger coming out of it’s cave after sleeping. Numerous Twists and turns later I came out feeling nauseous but ready to experience it once more. Alas it was not meant to be, as I was in the ride the queue had grown so large that it figuratively could of wrapped around the world like a anaconda wrapping around its prey.

 The next stop in my route was the artificial skiing resort opposite of 6 flags- the 2 parks were the complete opposite of each: For one thing 6 flags was jam packed with people while the skiing resort had hardly a soul in sight, 6 flags was boiling since the sun relentlessly attacked people under it. The resort in comparison was cool as a cucumber, chill like a hipster and refreshing like a glass of cold lemonade.

My experience there had it’s up and downs. For one thing I had a blast riding down the beginner slopes racing my sibling for bragging rights. Unfortunately I didn’t have that same experience with the steep tight turns of the intermediate turns. In fact I had one of the most hilarious/terrifying moment in my life happen there. It happened the first time I ever went on an intermediate course. I was approaching a particularly steep turn I slipped and crashed in a spectacular fashion on my face kicking up a cloud of white powder. When I tried to get up I realized that one of my boots along with the ski had fallen of my foot and only a sock remained on it. Slowly slipping down I made a grab for the boot but it was a fingernails length to far away. Luckily my father was there to help me and with his help I managed to get it back to its rightful place on my foot. From that day on I have always been wary of intermediate courses.

If there were one word that could of described my experience in Seoul it would most unquestionably be Merry. One day I might go back and have a completely different point of view of Korea but until that day comes this is the finest city I know of.  

Dominic

Disadvantages of Travelling in China (Lunar New Year)

Did you ever go to China to travel during the Lunar New Year holiday? Because if you did, you will know how ‘great’ it is. Not all the places in China are horrifying; this place, Yandang mountain and Tiantai mountain, was beautiful, but not as beautiful as I thought...

After the bus ride, which felt like I was traveling all the way to America, I quickly checked the air pollution. The only good thing about this place was that it had clean air which was way opposite to Shanghai. However, everything else was nightmare. There were street dogs everywhere, Chinese men standing extremely close to the wall and doing their business and there were puddles of spit. The people there were ruthless who only thought about themselves; they were pushing everyone out of the way and they were stepping on my foot.

This was nothing like what I expected.

The first thing I saw was mountains all around this little town and several Chinese shops lined up at street. It wasn’t anything like Shanghai. It was all cloudy and humid which was familiar to me. The mountains were beautiful. In the travel schedule, it said that we were visiting two famous mountains which I wasn’t really excited for. Because this place was far away from the cities, it didn’t have clean facilities nor clean restaurants (This was nightmare for me because I really care about hygiene), so we had to go into this weird Chinese restaurant that made me want to go back Shanghai and I started to think that it was really good idea to bring instant noodles. It was getting little cold and dark and I realized that it was already night which cleared explained to me why I couldn’t see the details of the mountains. My family and my travel companions headed to the hotel, which felt like it was going to collapse in any second. I entered the suspicious hotel, but I still didn’t trust the hotel.

There’s a thing I always do whenever I go to any places; it is to check if there is wifi or not. I turned on my phone and checked the wifi — there was no wifi. In this kind of place without anything to do, wifi was the only way to make me feel like I was enjoying something. It was only hope, but all of sudden, it broke into pieces. I checked again and again, but I couldn’t find any. I sat on the edge of the bed and thought about what I could do. I checked the time again and it was almost midnight, so I decided to sleep. However, there was a thing that I never expected — firework.

In China, the Chinese government decided that any fireworks could be used after midnight, but this place was different. Whenever I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, the fireworks went on and it seemed like it was telling me not to sleep. Therefore, the first night in here felt like I was in a war.

In the morning, it was more peaceful than last night. I walked out of the hotel to breathe in some clean air, but I was wrong. All I could smell was chemicals and small pieces of red paper was lying down everywhere in the street. ‘What was I even expecting...’ I thought in my head and went to the Tiantai mountain and Yandang mountain, which was about 2 hours away from the hotel.

Yandang mountain had precipitous cliff with a narrow road built on the side. When we went up the mountain by the cable cars, I realized that it was pretty high, but luckily I didn’t have acrophobia, so I wasn’t really scared. The road was so narrow that only two people could fit. After few minutes, we finally reached to the bridge which didn’t have anything under or next to it. It was just hanging there. Due to the fact that I was in China, there were lots of people crowded on the bridge trying to take a picture. I didn’t really want to wait because I felt like I was going to fall between the holes. I quickly went between the people and reached to the end of the bridge. And then we directly headed to Tiantai mountain.

Tiantai mountain was more beautiful than Yandang mountain. It had great view. We went all the way to the top of the mountain and went down to the bottom of the mountain through terrible road. It was actually really more fun than I thought because the little pond I saw from the top was actually pretty big when I went down.

The only disadvantage of Lunar New Year holiday is not just traveling in China — it’s fireworks!

By Sunho