Makoto Shinkai English Fan Forum and Site

Nick · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 12:59 am Post subject: Travelling in 2009

This seemed like the most appropriate place to post this.

I'm planning an overseas trip for the second half of 2009 as part of my "year off" or "gap year" between school and university. Me and my friend (who lives in Sydney) are planning to be away for 4-6 months travelling around Australia, SE Asia, China, Vladivostok and Japan. I'm taking a video camera and we'll hopefully document the whole trip and maybe do a kind of video blog with updates from abroad.

We've been collaborating on a map of the trip in Google Maps. You can see it and comment on it here: http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms...860.000451156559934217066&z=3

After going through the "origins" thread I can't see anyone living in those areas besides Junpei, but regardless I was hoping to get some opinions on the trip, recommendations on where we should visit, or just general talk about travelling.

So I'd love to hear what everyone thinks and maybe get some ideas for detours, sights, etc.

We went to Hong Kong earlier this year (January), so we're gonna go back there and visit my Uncle and Aunt who live there. But yeah we already know a bit about the HK/Macau area so I'll know what you're talking about if you've got a recommendation there.

Also - I was thinking while typing this that maybe we should change the "Where are you from?" section to be more like an "Around the World" section (or something) and have threads on travelling, origins, etc. in there. I've already got some ideas for threads we could do. Thoughts?

Anyway thanks for reading and I look forward to comments (maybe just comment about the map here, rather than on Google Maps).

Thanks again!

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Junpei · Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:01 am Post subject:

You should definitely visit famous landmarks in every country you go to. If not, a nice "natural" scene where you can take photos, or just anyplace where you can find beauty in. It's what I would do.

AT · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:11 am Post subject:

I'm envious. You're cutting through Japan. I hope you do spend some time there haha. And I see that you're coming to Singapore Smile

Drop me a note before you do man, I might be able to bring you around. And check out Couchsurfers if you like - it'll help you save some accommodation $$ and make more friends!
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Nick · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:47 am Post subject:

Yeah dude we're planning on spending a few days in Singapore so I'll let you know. And we'll totally look into Couchsurfing. We've discussed it before as we're planning on doing this as cheap as possible.
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Nick · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:56 am Post subject:

By the way, at the moment we're trying to plan how long we want in each place on the trip, so that we can figure out how long we'll be away for in total, and therefore find out how much money we'll need. So... how long do you recommend we stay in Singapore. Like, when we went to Hong Kong, we stayed for 8 days and I felt like we'd seen pretty much everything. I didn't feel like we missed out on anything. I don't plan on spending 8 days in Singapore, but I guess around 3 or 4. Is that a good amount of time?
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AT · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:00 am Post subject:

Nick · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:33 am Post subject:

Yeah Chinatown and Little India are on the list. I've read a bit about the zoo. We'd look into the touristy things, like in Hong Kong we went to Ocean Park (just a theme park), in Macau we did Fisherman's Warf. But most of our time was spent exploring for ourselves, finding our way around. One of my favorite things was the Big Buddha on Lantau Island. Amazing. Anything like that in Singapore? So same sort of thing, maybe do one or two big touristy things, but our main goal (I think) is to explore and experience new places - the food, people, culture. And party, too - you might notice Jed's note on Singapore airport Razz

My aim with this trip is to learn heaps, experience as much as a can, and come back with a new perspective. I think that best describes the sort of things we wanna do.
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AT · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:48 am Post subject:

Nick · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:56 am Post subject:

Hmm the island sounds interesting. And yeah the Lonely Planet I've got here makes special mention about the high taxes. It works out well, out of only 2 international flights, one of them is into Singapore, which is where we need duty free the most.
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Nick · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:03 am Post subject:

I've noted Kusu Island on the map - you got a mention in there, AT Wink

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