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I’m at the Korean Air Lounge in Seoul on my way back to the states. I had an amazing time during my Jakarta -> Shanghai trip. Unfortunately, my internet connection was funny during my stay in Shanghai so I didn’t upload any photos or information about the trip. I’ve been keeping track of my adventures and will upload them when I get home.

I’m not ready to go back home and have already started trying to find a way to get back to Asia. I think I’ll even miss the Chinese men snorting loudly, spiting anywhere and picking their noses (this seems to be common among men and women in public). Ahh… the little things (and sometimes big).

I just found out from my Indonesian friend, Indah, that the Marriott where I’m staying was hit by a suicide bomber in 2003. 12 people were killed and 150 injured in August 2003 when a car bomb was detonated outside. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Marriott_Hotel_bombing)

When we drove up to the hotel the car was checked for bombs and then we passed 2 gates that had to be lifted. Then we went through metal detectors and had our bags checked while a guy with a large machine gun stood nearby.

All of this may sound grim but it was done in a very pleasant way. The people here have been incredibly friendly and courteous. They all seem to be doing a great job and don’t make you feel uncomfortable. We’re in the new business district which is very nice and feels safe.

My friends Indah and Ika are coming up from Bogor today so we’ll be touring around town. It’s still the fasting month so no eating or drinking during the day for the strict Muslims. I’ll let you know what I learn about the city.

So far the flights have all gone well. It’s about 6:00 AM Monday morning at the Singapore airport (6:00 PM Sunday EST). Here’s what I look like after the 17 hour flight from Los Angeles. The total trip will be 30 hours but well worth it.

This week I did my first non-tandem skydive, and plan on doing many more. After 9 I get to jump completely solo and then work towards my A license. I hope everyone will join me at some point and jump. It’s amazing!

I’m leaving for Indonesia in the morning and then Shanghai the following week. I’ll be posting information and pictures during the trip. Hopefully, at the end, I’ll also be uploading photos from past trips. I have quite a bit of buildup that I need to get on the site.

I gave myself a little belated birthday treat today at Carolina Skydiving in Jonesville, NC. It was an absolutely incredible experience and the group that works there is fantastic. Thanks to everyone for the birthday money - you helped pay for this and my next jumps!

I finally took the time to put together the other video clips that I recorded from Brussels. I took a walk the last day after the event and recorded pieces of it. It’s a bit shaky but I hope you like it. The music is one of the songs I had playing in my iPod shuffle while I was walking around. Keep an ear open for the accordion player.

A few people have been asking what I use to make these videos. I just got a new Canon PowerShot SD800 IS digital camera to take photos/video, bought an additional 2GB memory card and use iMovie on my Mac to put together the video.

I wanted to test out a different way to document what I see using my new digital camera. This is from yesterday after I arrived in Brussels, Belgium. I’m an amateur at this and would love to know what you think.

I’ve learned that they shouldn’t call this town Boca Raton - it should be Coches Costosos (expensive cars). I’ve never seen so many nice cars side-by-side in regular parking lots. And, it’s normal to see valet parking almost everywhere. There are even grocery markets with valet parking. *wow*

A nice little surprise happened to me this evening. I noticed a Panera in the shopping center next to the hotel so I walked over there tonight to grab a quick bite of food. Turns out that they’re in training and officially opening on Monday so no food. However, I walked up at the perfect time as they were handing out all of the baked goods they had made just a while earlier. I grabbed a bag of bagels and it had 3 of my favorites in it.

Then, next door to the Panera was Uncle Tai’s Chinese Restaurant where they were celebrating their 20th anniversary. I didn’t have my camera with me but they had dragon dances, kung fu demonstrations and firecrackers soon after I walked up. Fun stuff.

Now it’s just me and my bagels working in the room. We’ve had a fantastic event here in Boca but I’m looking forward to heading home tomorrow evening after we finish our last day of class.