Sorry for the long interval between updates people!

After we left Ko Phang Nan, we decided to chance it and go down to Phuket, which is SUPPOSED to be nice this time of year. the Weather was indeed crap, so we flew all the way up north to Chiang Mai. We LOVED Chiang Mai. There was a huge festival on where people were lighting candles and floating them down the river (our version of the Canal), setting off fireworks like crazy, and floating up these huge lanterns everyone asscociates with Asian festivals...followed by a five day party/parade. The people in Chiang Mai were so friendly, accomadating, and the travellers here are not so "drunken/retarded/american".

Our second day in Chian Mai we took a Trekking tour. They picked us up and drove us out into a national park in the north, where we rode Elephants in for about 1.5 hours into the forrest until we hit a big river. then we had to take a zip-line accross the river to the other side for lunch...then we started hiking. It was a very steep/long hike through beautiful/thick jungle to the top of a mountain where there is a well-preserved hill tribe that welcomes vistors. We the group of us (12 people) slept together on the floor after a huge meal with the family/locals. The next morning we hiked down to an awsome waterfall that we used to wake up (FREEZING), and then hiked further down to where many rivers met. There we white water rafted a few km, and then got on some fairly primitive bamboo rafts and floated a few more km to our last meal on the trek.

We got back to Chiang Mai and stuck together for a night of eating/drinking the best offered in Chiang mai at a huge bar with two bands playing in different ends, while we ate dinner on the river. was amazing.

Reebs and I then started making our way north towards Laos (also known as Lao here). We took a bus from Chian Mai to Chiang Rai where our connecting bus was supposed to take us further north to Chiang Khong. Unfortunatly we were 10 min late and missed the bus. So instead we hired a Tuk Tuk to take us 300 km north at 5:30 pm. Reebs and I didn't realize how much further north we were, and 2.5 hours into the 4.0 hour drive we were freezing our asses off as he drove through some very sketchy short cuts almost flipping us many times!

We finally made it to Chiang khong ate/showered/slept, and then took the boat accross to Lao, where we boared a slow boat! The fast boat sounded tempting, twice as fast, but is known to KILL a tourist a week on the Mekong river, so slow boat it was! It took two 8 hour days of hanging out on a boat filled with tourists. It was fun for sure, but we were glad to get off the boat by the end!

Now were' in Laos in Lurang Prubang. It's very cool here...it was once dominated by the French, and with strong Indian influences in the culture. so a typical meal: Green Curry done with potatoes, white-steamed rice and a beguette....with a bottle of BeerLao.

The people here are amazing, and it attracts a lot more tourists than I imagined. Lots of French toursists, who aren't so friendly, but lots of backpackers in our scenario who are all very welcoming.

Today we went up a huge set of Waterfalls with about 100 small tiers and about 4 large pools that were all aqua blue. At the very top of it all was the mother of all waterfalls we obviously had to hike to the top of...then went down, swam and I slept the rest of the afternoon while Reebs went biking around town.

Now you're up to date, and I must eat some more Indian food! TOOO GOOD HERE!

I'm missing home a bit, but the trip is getting better as time goes by. The further north I go the nicer the people. Tommorrow we leave for Veng Vieng, known as "backpacker's paradise" as well as known to be one of the best places to explore caves, or just float down their "lazy river" covered in bars/swings/ropes and pulleys.

I'm out for now, but will do my best to keep you all updated. Sorry if this is poorly written, but proof-reading is for people who are NOT on vacation!

-Jake

So here I sit in an internet cafe in Ko Phang Nan, a fairly quiet island in the gulf of Thailand. We took a 12 hour sleeper train from Bangkok to Surat Tani, 2 hour ferry to Ko Samui. We were there for all of 20 minutes, and decided it was too developed and commercial, and took the ferry to Ko Phang Nan. We immediatly took a taxi to the very north part of the island which was described in our guide book as "quiet but not too quiet". Sounded perfect for us. And it was! Unfortuatly it is the monsoon season here, which doesn't say much accept for high winds. The winds are actually very pleasant, but make the water a little choppy, and because of how fine the sand is, once the water gets stirred up, it stays stirred up. So snorkling/diving was out of the question. But we had a great time met lots of very relaxed people who never plan on going home and just sit around eating amazing food, drinking Thai wiskey and doing NOTHING!

We spent two days there, and then left the beach with a Reiner, a new friend we met, who is a Kite Surfer from Germany. His life is kitesurfing (surfing with a parachute on!), and has travelled the whole world doing it. He took us in his jeep (terrifying...these roads are the worst I've ever been on....2 foot deep ruts running the length of long turns...totally eroded areas) and we went to a place called Ko Ma. This place is very cool and I'd love to see it in the peak season when the water is calmer. It is two long beaches that come to a point, with a very long sand bar and an island poking out at the end. BEAUTIFUL! Reiner taught me how to use the kite a bit in the water which was some of the most fun I've ever had. I was litterally just flying around the over the ocean with no board...occassionally touching down but for the most part jsut skimming my ass accross the water. Later that night Reiner went out really far and lost his board ($2000 EUROS) and had to swim back with his kit ($4000 euros) all by himself, as Rebecca and I had already gone for dinner. We felt terreble to hear his news.

Today the weather is not so hot, so we're going back to mainland. Apparantly on both sides of Thailand the weather is rainy for the next week (says the forecast), so we've accepted that we won't get any diving in and are headed to the far north to Chang Mai & Pai. We then plan to go into Laos and take some lazy river tours and just float around for hours! We were really looking forward to Crabbi and Ko Phi Phi (aka James Bond Island) but the weather is jsut not on our side.

After Laos we are going to see how much time is left and maybe go to Ko Chang, an island in the eastern part of the gulf that is supposed to be a bit nicer this time of year.

We're off to catch the ferry back to mainland!

-jake

Bangkok! This place is awsome.

Last night we took our flight from Taipei (Taiwan) to Bangkok. Getting to the Airport from Kaosiung was a task on it's own. Our bus got rear-ended by an 18 wheeler on the freeway, and added an extra 2 hours to the ride (had to switch buses). It was about time for me to witness an accident in Kaohsiung, as there are more traffic-related deaths there, than anywhere else in the world, and I still hadn't seen one. So it was good to see/be part of a doosie before I left. We're both fine for the record.

Soon as we got on the plane we met our adjacent seated neighbour Steve. Steve is about 65 years old, and still partying like a 20 year old. Dressed in Thai fishermen's pants and tiedie everything (including the cowboy hat), we took his word on whatever he reccomended after he told us he's been to Thailand over 50 times!

When we landed in Bangokok he took us to Kaoh San Road....the backpackers haven of Thailand. Everybody comes here before going somewhere else. It was almost weird/dissapointing to see so many white people. Compared to Taiwan this is a cakewalk. Everybody speaks a bit of english, and there are as many white people as Thai.

Kah San wasn't nearly as nuts as it's reputation preceeds itself. Perhaps we're here in the dead season, but it's very calm compared to the driving of Kaohsiung. There is close to no pollution compared to Taiwan, BUT the biggest difference is that nobody is nearly as nice as the Taiwanese people.

It's weird but I've travelled the whole way to Thailand to realize I'm probably not welcome. The locals are not friendly (but the Taiwanese are VERY), and they are really looking to scam us/rip us off. But it could be Bangkok, but everywhere we go somebody is trying to scam us.

The shopping here is dangerously good...I never thought I'd say this on a vacation. But you name the brand/style of anything: Clothes, Sunglasses, Suits, Furniture, etc, and somebody is making a perfect replica with the logos...and at DECENT quality...not perfect. Some stuff is bad, and some stuff is awsome. WE've come accross some camping stores selling backpacks that would go for about $400 back home and they are selling for about $15 CAD.

In general the prices are very low here, and the food is AMAZING, and even cheaper. It costs about $180 baht (aka $6) for a giant jug of strawberry daiquiri...(what we had tonight). The beer in bars is about $60 BAHT ($2) and it's all 7% and tastse AWSOME! (mom don't worry I've been a good boy. Eating too much coconut pudding to focus on beer).

As of right now I'm totally taken by Bangkok. The royal palace was amazing today, but HOT, and it's a fairly clean/interesting place. I hope Thai people are more welcoming once I get out of the city.

Tommorrow Rebecca and I are waking up at 5:00 am to go to the floating market, where farmers sell their crops directly from their canoe-style boats. Should be cool. Then we are taking a trip out of the city to a local national park to frolic in waterfalls, and then we leave for Ko Samui on Tuesday night. We are taking an overnight train, then boat-ride to this island that is known for it's amazing diving/beaches.

We'll then go to Ko Phang Nan for the full moon party later next week...this is aparantly a party with 30,000 people on a huge beach...should be interesting. Thank god I brought a tent. Finding a room will be impossible.

Anyways, no pictures on the computer yet. We don't have too many just yet, but when we get some you'll get them. I'll keep you all posted on how much weight I'm gaining as I over-indulge in Thai food...it really is amazing and way too cheap.

-Jaques

Here are just a few pictures from my diving excursion on Green Island. The pictures really don't do the diving justice. The colours were alot more vibrant, and the visibility is not nearly is good in the pictures. My reccomendation is to
save up all your bread, and fly trans-love airways to Green Island for a warm San Fransiscan night.

So it’s been almost a week since my last update:

Monday and Tuesday, I played it a little mellow, not really able to find much to do in the city (Rebecca has already shown me most of it). Kaohsiung is a very industrial city, so the sites are very limited. I was planning on leaving for Green Island on Wednesday, but at the very last minute Rebecca’s roommate (Kellen), who speaks Taiwanese and Chinese, called the ferry office for me, to find out that my train going to Taitung (the ferry port) was coming in, AFTER the ferry left. So I quickly changed my mind and packed my bag in about 5 minutes, and Rebecca drove me to the train station at 9:00 at night. I took a train to Taitung, ($9 Canadian...went about the distance from Ottawa to Montreal) and arrived in the station around 12:25 am….with nowhere to go. When I got to the station I assumed it was like other train stations (open 24 hours a day), so I found a quiet little spot, put up my feet and rested. A security guard asked me what I was doing, and hauled out my Mandarin – English dictionary, and pointed to the phrase “I’m waiting here for my wife” and then made the “6” cymbal with my hands…attempting to imply I’d be here until 6:00 am…he then nodded, said “yes” and walked away. I was relieved! I had a place to sleep for the night, until my arranged car picked me up at 6:00 am to take me to the Harbour for my ferry….but then I was so rudely awoken at 1:00 am, by a different security guard in what was now a dark train station EMPTY! They were closing! So they kicked me out of the train station…but by this time all the cabs had left, and I was stranded in the middle of an industrial park with nobody/nothing in site but some factories and whatnot….oh and lots of angry/territorial stray dogs! So I tried to walk around a bit, trying to find somewhere to keep out of site from anyone who spotted the “white kid walking with a huge backpack”, so I wouldn’t get mugged or mauled by these dogs (who were fighting each other ALLL night). Finally I found a public bathroom (Mom please stop reading at this point…continue when you see “*” marking the next paragraph), where there appeared to be a businessman in the exact same position as me passed out on a bench with his briefcase so cleverly hidden under one single page of a newspaper…(he sure fooled me!). So I did what any one else would do and found the nicest bathroom stall I could…then realizing many other people were sleeping in these stalls! So this is quite a routine here. Me figuring this out, I decided to sleep in a place a little more away from here, cause if this is a “routine” I figured there is probably a routine of people coming to mug these people around 4:00 am or something…so I retired to the wonderfully safe/sound handicap stall! Quite roomy, clean, and concrete walls straight to the ceiling! There I sat on the toilet seat (pants up) from 1:30 until 6:00. Occasionally dozing off while listening to some music. When I finally awoke and went outside (after I got the circulation back into my ass and legs) I went outside to see this picture:

*(Mom please start reading here!)

It was a site for sore thighs…and ass and back. I met a Taiwanese business man who spoke very good English who called my driving service (they didn’t show up!) for me and he informed me of all the great spots to see on Green Island (he had just returned from there). The driving service showed up, and took me to the harbour (BEAUTIFUL DRIVE through Taitung…misty mountains randomly jutting out everywhere). Got to the harbour, went for a walk around waiting for the ferry…and this is when I really started to notice a difference in the people. Now I was in where all the Taiwanese natives were. Much darker skinned, and much more outgoing. Mostly fishermen were around, and as I would walk past any of them they were very welcoming and friendly. When I was on long stints of roads, they’d stop and pick me up and dive me to the end (somewhat defeating the purpose of the exercise, but so FRIENDLY!). The whole harbour was surrounding with a 40 foot wall that seemed to be there to keep rough water out/protect the harbour:

Finally I got on the ferry…the water was ROUGH, but I managed to keep my stomach under control (unlike many other people I could hear painting the bathrooms with dry heaves).

I finally landed in the harbour around 8:30, was on a rented scooter by 8:33, and was off! I immediately went to the campsite where I setup (I was the only person there). Then got on the scooter and started driving. I was freaking out…I’d never seen anything like this.

I couldn’t control myself with laughter…it was really amazing. the roads were right on the edge of the ocean with mountains jutting straight up from the road, covered in the thickest vegetation I’d ever seen. It felt a lot like the scenery from the movie Jurassic Park. The island was the result of a series of volcanoes which are all inactive but one that you can see underwater via SCUBA diving (the island’s #1 source of income). All day I took my scooter to all these different areas and walked around on the rocks/though the vegetation…My parents HAVE to go here…I thought about the a lot on this trip, as I really don’t think anyone could enjoy this place more than them (accept the boat ride over for Dad). By the afternoon I had driven around the island a few times (30 square km), had some lunch and went snorkeling…The colours of the reef there are insane. I felt like I was watching the discovery channel. Thousands of different fish of every colour imaginable…and some were HUGE! I even saw some fish indigenous to the island, like their flying fish that skims across the water like a stone, but stints of a 100 m at a time, and at very fast speeds. I saw many different types of coral, most of which was living, and the best part was: I was the only person in site. I went in apparently the off season, so there were only a handful of tourist on the entire island….what an amazing experience...I should also add that it may be the “off season” but, it was still 28 Celsius and not a cloud in the sky.

After a full day of traveling around and snorkeling, I went to the hotsprings. These naturally heated hot springs are one of 3 in the world (others in Japan and Italy). I had multiple pools with different temperatures of salt water ranging from Ice cold to 48 Celsius (they had digital thermometers on them). All around the springs were buttons…I LOVE pushing buttons, and each one started some random jet shooting very high pressure water somewhere…under water or out a sprinkler head. I spend 2 hours running around and pushing the buttons getting messages from these contraptions until I was numb. I then went for a walk to the ocean where there are even more hot springs that flow into the ocean, but as it was night-time I didn’t see them, and fell right in with my bag (containing passport, return train/ferry tickets, money, etc.) A great time indeed! So then I went and eased my pain with more salty massages!

The sun goes down here very early (starts around 5:00 and is pitch black by 6:20). So when I left the hot springs at 8:30 I went straight to bed (much needed after a night of sitting on a toilet!).

I woke up around 5:30 and watched the sun come up, went snorkeling, and then went hiking. I went to a cliff with a bunch of crazy rock formations and well-groomed grass by the goats that roam free on the island (and I’m sure occassionaly make for a meal for the locals!). I can’t get over how the island is composed…it seems very random. There are beaches of volcanic rock, other beaches of sand, rocky cliffs going straight down to the ocean, other areas are smoothed out like a glacier had gone over it, and other areas have cliffs with vedgetation going right to the edge….it feels like a mix of Scotland, Hawaii, Cuba, and even a bit like back home.

I drove to many different trails all morning and hiked around a lot. Then made arrangements to go diving. The diving was the most expensive thing I’ve encountered on the trip…and even that is cheap. I got a private guide, all the equipment, lunch and transportation there for $90 CAD. The diving was beyond what I could expect…I took a whole role of underwater pics that are getting developed now…when I get them scanned you’ll see some…words can’t describe all that I saw so I wont’ try. I was just amazing…visibility was well over 200 feet in places. The water is crystal clear, and the colours of the fish were just amazing. I had no idea how “alive” some coral is too. It really is something that I think every person has to see.

After diving my guide was nice enough to take me to a local restraint (I wasn’t having good luck with food on the island) where she introduced me to the owners (who only spoke Taiwanese…while I’m trying to speak broken Chinese to them…pretty funny). They were too funny, and started giving me random foods to try to see my reaction. I tried just about everything on their menu, and was then force-fed Beatle Nut..the Twaiwanese version of chewing tobacco, which is very popular. It’s a nut that is supposed to make you hyper and clear your breathing…all it did was make my mouth dry. It was funny nonetheless. They then made me try every beer made in Taiwan and sent me on my way (oh and they refused to accept any money, I consumed all of this for free?!?!) I obviously returned back here for lunch the following day. From this point of the trip I had done all I wanted, and decide to just wander, and swim. I found incredible waterfalls and caves I could swim in, and followed local fishermen to their secret spots and watch them catch fish off of rocks that we were about 30 feet high, but were still almost getting swept off of them by the rough sea. I personally held on for dear life.

I spent a total of three days (two nights) on the island, and saw every square inch of it (minus the air force base on the very top of it that occupies the highest peak, and apparently a view of the whole island…I only wish).

I didn’t want to leave...and I will be back there again one day…hopefully with my family cause they’d freak out.

Soon as I made it back to Kaosiung (8:30 pm) I was re-packing with Rebecca to leave for Kenting (the beach heaven of Taiwan). We were back on the road by 10:00 pm, heading for a small fishermen village between Kaohsiung and Kenting where we attended a Buddhist ceremony that happens only once every 4 years. All the local monasteries chip in together and build a beautiful boat out of wood and hand-paint it. Then fill it with religious money (of no value to stores), and fireworks and burn it on the beach. This is a way of sacrificing beautiful things to the gods. It really just felt like a giant party on the beach to me! People were lighting fireworks off everywhere, and just going nuts in general. They were sending off lanterns…that were like mini hot air ballons with writing on them. They’d float up very fast and have fireworks shooting out of them. Was very cool. They lanterns would float up until they either disappeared or blew out from the wind.

We waited until 5:00 am for them to bring down the boat (by hand…by hundreds of monks) to the beach where they assembled the rest of the boat (masts, sails) and filled it with the pyrotechnics. And finally ignited it. Were standing about three hundred fee away and could actually feel the heat off it still. Was a very cool site.

We (Rebecca, and her two friends Cindy and Chris) slept on the beach that night and in the morning continued on to Kenting). We got there and sat on a white sandy beach that was very calm (reminding me of vacationing with my parents in the Carribean). The water wasn’t quite as clear as Green Island, but it was much calmer so I could lounge around and frolic with the flounder. That night we went into town and ate at an authentic Thai restraint (another reason Josh should be here) and ate until we almost exploded, and went back and camped on the same beach.

The next morning we drove 40 min to another beach which was a little rougher (upon my request to play in the waves), and we hung out there all day.

Reebs and I got in last night around 6:30 and crashed…ate some Mexican food and watched about 10 minutes of a movie and feel asleep.

Today I’m refreshed to have slept in a bed again, but am already hating the city air. It’s too polluted here (especially after being in those incredible places), and I’m looking forward to figuring out another small trip for this week somewhere.

That’s all for now, and I’ll be sure to keep this updated while I’m in Thailand (leave on FRIDAY!)

Cheers,

-Jakus von Bearcub

2 days and I feel like I'm at home. I'm getting around the city just fine now, and had a great weekend with Reebs doing the tourist stuff.

Saturday morning she took me out to breakfast, we had eggs in pita bread with cheese and ham, with Milk Tea (cold iced tea with alot of milk...my new favorite drink), then piced up fresh mango, pinapple, monk's head (a fruit as well), dragon fruit, and some other crazy fruits, and brought them on our road trip to a huge Buddhist monastary about an hour out of the city. It was an interesting drive through a less-populated area. But even in what was considered "countryside" were still faily dense population with the occassional pinaple plantation adjacent to a concrete mill and a Kareoke bar!

The Monastary was incredible. Amazing craftsmanship throughout, as well as granite and marble EVERYWHERE!!!! In general most places in Taiwan have a touch of stone somewhere, and nice buildings always have alot of granite...something my Dan would appreciate so much. It's almost funny how they use it: There could be a run-down clay brick building with granite window sills!

ANWAYS, back to the monastary: it was huge! and most surprsing, was how quiet it was...I mean yeah a monastary is supposed to be quiet, but there weren't many tourists. We prolly saw a total of 30, and none of them made it the whole way up to the temple (one of the coolest parts!). The pictures will describe better how big this place was (WITH SOOOOOO MAN STAIRS) and literally nobody. It was good to have a break from the city for sure.

In the monastary was a huge shrine of Buddha, surrounded with thousands of little Buddhas, again pictures will illustrate, but couldn't possibly do it justice. All the monks, and staff at the monastary were so hospitable and friendly, we felt at home immediatly. A large chunk of the time you'll find people being very hospitable, and going out of their way to give you a "hello and welcome to Taiwan!" in English. I'll immediatly get excited and start talking back, at which point they mutter the only other English phrase they know which is "do you speak Chinese?" (aka I can't speak English!).

A very funny part of the monastary was this "cave" which was originally built to teach the basic ideas behind Budhism...it felt more like I was in Willy Wonka's Buddhist Cave. weird puppets popped out at me, set off by motion detectors...litteraly scarring the bad Karhma out of me (through the back door...).

After the monastary we went to Lotus Island which was a bizarre combinatinf of temples, beatlenut stands, hookers, kareoke, playing children, shrines, crusty old men who hate white people, food stands and insaine traffic, in an area that is intended to be a relaxing quiet/filled with heritage. I find it hilarious how what we know as "appropriate" or "inappropriate" doesn't exist here...things are just there..there is no analzying the context in which they occur. It's amazing!

Yesterday we went up monkey mountain hiking in areas that were once coral under water...and are now soem of the highest points in our area. After hiking with the monkies we went swimming in the ocean, managing to dodge the jelly fish and creepy locals photographing us (uhhh...awkward).

that's about it for now...all I gotta say is that I miss Josh the most, cause everywhere I look I see things I wish he was here to see!

Hope everyone is doing well and I'll be sure to keep you all up to date!

Last night I landed after 27 hours of flying (my ass is still sore!). Rebecca picked me up at the airport, and got me settled in minutes and we went for a walk through her neighbourhood.

My first impressions: exhaust! it feels like you're in a hot underground parking garage wherever you go! We went around the corner to a "Night Market", which feels alot like a carnival or something...lots of food stands, and people selling knock off clothes & toys, and some games.
Rebecca took me to get some deep-fried sweet potatoe balls and a smoothie unlike anything I've ever had before (GOOOOD!!!!). We walked around for a bit, but she has to work mornings until we leave in November, and I was EXHAUSTED from my flight so we came back and went to bed around 12:30.

Her apartment is amazing! The complex is enclosed with gates/security everwhere (not that you need it, this city is very low in crime), with beautiful stone work everywhere. Similar to flagstone, but every rock is shaped, and they're all different, some limestone, granite, marble basalt, etc. Her pool is awsome, with a huge waterfall I'm gonna go soak under in about 10 minutes!

This morning I went out on my own and was lost within seconds. It's amazing how much I depend on english signs to use as landmarks. Further, most of the architecture of the buildings is very similar (in the commercial areas at least). luckily it's election time, and there are HUGE signs with all the candidates faces on them that I used to navigate back into familiar turf!

My first observations: People don't aknowledge the traffic laws at all! Stop signs means MAYBE slow down, red lights mean do a quick break then go. I decided with how crazy it was on the roads, that I'd walk agains the flow of traffic so I could at least keep an eye on what was coming my way...accept people drive on any side of the road they like with scooters, so I was dodging scooters coming up behind me all the time...I must also add I was the ONLY person I saw walking today. Every other person was in a car, on a scooter, and very few people in bikes. no skateboards, no rollerblades. My FAVORITE thing so far is the pedestrian signals (when there are some...rare), in Canada we have a walk signal, then a don't walk signal. Here they have an animated walking signal with a countdown timer, as it approaches the 10 second mark it speeds up until the little man is sprinting! This is the exact way people think here, don't stop walking, just run accross the street really fast instead! (keep your eyes out for people running a redlight while driving down the sidwalk on the scooter...on the wrong side of the street!).

There are not many garbage cans in the city, and there are food stands EVERYWHERE, and this would usually mean alot of garbage, but there are city employees on bikes driving around picking up garbage all over the place...one of my favorite little "differences" is that the road workers/city workers on the roads don't wear relective vests, but instead they wear traditional Chinese farmers hats painted flourscent colours with relectors on them...to me that was too funny....not sure why. Whatever they are doing is working cause the streets are clean!

Everything is so different, and the language barrier is HUGE. between the traffic and the language I'm sitting here realizing I'm gonna have to re-learn how to walk/talk/communicate/read/observe and NOT GET LOST! My big thing is worrying about getting lost right now...not sure how I'm gonna do it, cause everything really does seems the same.

Anyways! I'm gonna get out of the apartment and explore!

I'll get pictures up here whenever I get some!

-Jake