Wednesday, June 16, 2010

YOU ARE GOING WHERE?

My very close friend "C" has been making annual business trip every May with a group of about ten colleagues for the past five years to various places around the world. She always agonizes herself with the thought of travelling not for pleasure. Who can blame her - always the most junior person in the group (meaning she has to "take care" of her boss) and the only person to fly economy no matter how long the flight is.

Places "C" had travelled to for the previous four years:

2006 - Bariloche, Argentina
50-hour door-to-door travel for her return trip to Taiwan, ouch!

2007 - Kyoto, Japan
Got sick staying up really late to write business report

2008 - Madrid, Spain
Got many chances to practice her Spanish with the taxi drivers - "El recibo, por favor!"

2009 - Bali, Indonisia
Had her very first full-body massage, and very cheap too - 2 hours for US$18, tips included!

I myself have been to Kyoto and Madrid; never been to Bali yet (by choice) or Argentina, which might be "exotic" enough but at least I know someones (else) who have been there. HOWEVER... Are you ready???


Anyone who has been to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, please raise your hand!

For this trip, lots of money already spent before "C" left Taiwan - the single-entry visa to costs NT$9,900 (about US$300), and the economy round-trip plane ticket fare is NT$130K (or US$4,000). Ouch, feels like the Uzbekistan government is trying to discourage visitors... Of course, "C" did not return empty-handed. She brought back some very beautiful artworks:


Until her next trip, Uzbekistan will remain as No. 1 on the list of "You are going WHERE?".