Places I want to travel to in the future

To be honest, I have never been out of my hometown, California, before. Someday I would love to travel to Asian countries such as Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. After living in California for 21 years, I find nothing pretty interesting here besides a few sightseeings in San Francisco such as the Golden Gate Bridge. Most of the shops close too early around 9 pm everyday compared to stores that open until midnight or later in Asian countries. Also, it gets boring shopping at stores here because every store pretty much sells about the same items.

The country I would love to visit the most is Hong Kong because it’s where they speak Cantonese, my native language. Maybe I can feel at home there with my decent Cantonese-speaking skills. Although I’m an ABC (American-born Chinese) and have grown up to be English-educated in school, Cantonese was actually my first language; it’s by speaking this language that I can feel much more closer to my culture. I’m glad I know how to speak Cantonese because I would not have to worry about the language barrier when I travel to Hong Kong in the future. The best thing about Hong Kong is the night market. If you’re hungry in the middle of the night, then you can just walk out and simply grab a night meal at the night market. There are many people outside walking at night so you wouldn’t feel afraid of running into creepers or strange people. In California, most of the restaurants here close too early at night besides a few with the drive-thrus that open for 24 hours a day. However, you have to drive farther to get food because most restaurants are not within close walking distance. In Hong Kong, shops/restaurants are located near houses so you can just walk to and fro without having to drive your car.

Another country I would love to visit is China because I want to have the chance to see the Emperor’s Palace as well as the famous Great Wall of China. My dad had been to China before during my 5^th grade year; it was a pity that he did not take me along with him. The reason was because he thought I was too little to understand and enjoy the view of the sightseeings. He told me the walk up to the Great of Wall of China was very tiring, long, and endless. I remembered my dad coming home with weak and tired feet from the restless journey of climbing the Great Wall. It would probably take the whole month or so to walk through every step of the Great Wall. To make everything faster, you would have to take the helicopter.

Due to my love for Korean dramas, it tempted me to want to travel to Korea. However, many tourists said that Korea wasn’t what they had expected. It looks good in the dramas but in reality, the place wasn’t that pretty. A few interesting places include the street with different kinds of skin care companies such as The Face Shop, Etude House, Nature Republic, etc. I heard there is also a “plastic surgery” street in Korea where people can get cosmetic surgery for a good price. But the best thing about Korea is that you can be able to see pictures of Korean celebrities everywhere you go.

Many people say Japan is a must-go because it’s really pretty there but the con is that mostly everything is expensive there. The most affordable thing there is probably a bowl of ramen. What’s interesting is that everyday in the streets of Tokyo, many people would dress up like an anime character. This is like Halloween there everyday. If you dress like that everyday here in America, people will probably look at you like your crazy unless you’re attending an anime convention.

Finally, I also want to go to Taiwan because it’s my idol, Jay Chou’s hometown. I would love the chance of bumping into him in the streets of Taiwan someday but that chance is pretty rare. Jay has opened many shops/restaurants in Taiwan and I would love to visit all of them especially his Secret-themed resaturant and the Initial D themed Tofu Restaurant. There are also other sightseeings worth visiting such as the place where you can see the sunrise and also be able to go up to Taiwan’s tallest building, the 101. I also possess decent Mandarin speaking skills so I wouldn’t have much trouble trying to survive there.