The four of us got up early on Sunday and flew Air Asia to Borneo. One of the reasons Air Asia flights are so cheap is because they don’t have assigned seating. Upon boarding, you grab any available seat on the plane, with a first-come-first-serve basis. Needless to say, people line up early at the gates. Ras and I flew with Air Asia 3 times during the trip and luckily we were able to get exit row seats next to each other for all flights. You can also pay a little more when you book online and and get express boarding (boarding ahead of everyone else).

Air Asia also has $13 USD flights to India! Click on the photo to read the magazine article from the plane.

We landing at the Tawau Airport.

We arrived at Seafest Hotel to the view below, and then immediately headed out for lunch. I had a honey mutton set with two honeydew drinks for $4.40 USD at Mabul Cafe.

For the next three days, Ras, Eddie, and I planned to go diving.  After we made our scuba diving arrangements, there was nothing else to do for the rest of the day.  So, we decided to go to the hotel pool and have a few drinks.  Ras and Eddie brought out their duty free purchases and mixed them with Coke and buckets of ice from the hotel restaurant.

The pool was on the third floor and overlooked the fish market next door.

After a few hours at the pool, we decided to go back to our rooms to shower and change before dinner.  At the designated meeting point and time for dinner, Ras and I only saw Gisela waiting for us.  She told us that Eddie was inebriated from the drinks so she told him to take a nap while she showered.  When it was time for him to shower, he didn’t want to, and went back to sleep.  So, the three of us went to dinner while Eddie slept at the hotel.

The next morning at breakfast, Eddie recounted what happened to him when he finally woke up from his nap.  Hours later, he woke up hungry and ready for dinner.  By this time, Gisela was ready for bed, so he left the hotel to find food himself.  Eddie found a restaurant, ate dinner, and then proceeded to return to the hotel.  The road back to the hotel is poorly lit and at certain points, completley dark.  Not seeing a hole without its grate, he stepped right in it and cut his shin on the cement.  He was bleeding the whole night and obviously wouldn’t be able to dive with Ras and I for the following three days in Semporna.  While we went diving that day, Eddie went to get stitches at the local medical clinic.

More (and bigger) pictures from this day can be seen on my Flickr account.

Our journey began at the Incheon Duty Free shop.  Per Mat’s advice, Ras and Eddie bought a bottle of liquor each because we were heading to a small city in Borneo known only for its diving, and nothing else.  There wouldn’t be anyplace to buy liquor in the small town, plus the bottle of Bacardi 8 Ras bought was only $23 USD.

Off we go!  The guys enjoy free beers on the flight.

I enjoyed the food and ice cream for dessert.

We would stay for one night in Kuala Lumpur, and this was my first meal in Malaysia, which was $1.50 USD.

Eddie and Gisela will also be joining us on this trip.  This is a chart Eddie made at work.  Yeah, he seems to have a lot of free time on his hands.  I edited December 31st, where my name was written.  Otherwise, this is all Eddie’s doing.

I don’t know how much I’ll be blogging, but I’ll definitely be Twittering if I can since it’s so fast and simple.  Follow me here.

(L) On the road in Oregon.  (R) McKenzie enjoys the view

The view on the open road.

 Still in Oregon.

(L) “Oregon thanks you. Come back soon.”  (R) “Welcome to California.”  Why, thank you.

It starts to look dry once we hit California.  I made a point to notice where the landscape stops looking like Oregon, and starts looking like California.  It’s somewhere near Yreka, where there are no more lush trees.

Mt. Shasta had some nice trees, though.

Above are typical snacks to keep me awake.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find ANY Icees.

Tonight we’ll be making the drive to Palm Springs to visit my aunt “Nicole” – one of my mom’s four sisters.  I heard plans of visiting a casino, buffets, and shopping.

I’ve never been pickpocketed in Asia, but from personal experience, watch out for the subways in Athens.  There wasn’t anything in my pocket, but the kid had the audacity to attempt stealing something from the velcro pocket of my board shorts.  VELCRO!  Um, don’t you think I would hear that?  I had to swat his hand away and turned around to ask, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  He sheepishly pretended not to understand what I was saying.  After I turned my back on him, few seconds later he tried AGAIN!”

Looking back upon it, we (me, Ras, and Ian) were targeted by a gang of pickpockets.  The subway wasn’t that full, but five or six guys got in the subway with us, and jostled us around as if it was a packed train.  I didn’t think about it at the time, but they were just trying to get near us to attempt to pickpocket us.

[Elderly ex-Marine pummels alleged pickpock - MSNBC]

While walking around, I found the free cell phone battery charger near “J” section. There were a set of instructions in English, but they weren’t very clear. After a few failed attempts at putting the battery in, I finally saw the yellow charging light come on. There was also a way to lock the battery in the box and come back to get it later.

I also noticed at least four couples with “couple shirts” walking around the airport. This was by far the worst.

I then had a stopover at Narita Airport.

After the stopover, it was a direct flight to Portland. I was pretty happy about that because the Seattle Airport is a terrible airport to go through (due to lack of signage and too many shuttles).

I didn’t use the power outlet under the seat like I had hoped. Instead, I watched: Breach (my rating of “A”), Zodiac (B-), The Namesake (A), and Never Been Kissed (C+).

Almost all English teachers have to do a visa run some point during their stay here. Last week was my fourth visa run to Japan (once to Osaka and three times to Fukuoka). Fukuoka seems to be a popular city for a visa run because it’s usually the cheapest, especially if you take the ferry. Since my school didn’t pay for my trip, this was the route I took.

First of all, I booked a round trip ferry ticket from Pusan to Fukuoka through Kangsan Travel. Email them, or better yet, call them at +82 (051) 747-0031. Ask for Alice because she speaks English and can book you a ticket immediately. Obviously, book as early as you can because it’s pretty busy on the weekends. It cost me 190,000 won ($202 USD) for a round-trip ticket. Kangsan Travel can also include a one night stay at a hotel (usually Central Hotel) for 230,00~240,000 (depending on availability and day). I was going over a weekend, so all their partner hotels were full, so I opted just for the ticket.
This is their policy on canceling tickets:

*CANCEL/CHANGING DATE CHARGE
3DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE : 30 % PENALTY
AFTER DEPARTURE : 50% PENALTY
You can’t cancel your schedule 3 days in advance of your departure day.

Office:

207-Ho, A-Dong, Sejong World Plaza B/D, 1479-3
Jwa-Dong, Haeundae-Gu, Busan, Korea
(Jangsan Subway Station, line #2, stop #201, exit #3)

Upon arriving at the Pusan Ferry Terminal, take the escalator upstairs, confirm your ticket at “Kobee” and they’ll assign you a seat. There will be an additional 11,600 won ferry tax that needs to be paid before you can get your seat assignment. (Click on any of the pictures for a larger version on my Flickr account.)

If you’ll be arriving in Japan after 2:00 pm, make sure you exchange money at the port in Pusan because the money exchange office in the Fukuoka terminal closes at 2:00 pm. They open every day from 7:30 am – 2:00 pm. So, if you need to exchange money on a Sunday in Fukuoka, take a bus back to the ferry terminal and do it there. I did. By the way, the exchange rate in Japan is not THAT much different than in Korea. Save yourself the hassle and just do it all in Korea.

(left: leaving Pusan port. right: the “Beetle”)
Upon arriving in Japan, exchange money at Shinhan Bank, if you haven’t done so already. Before you leave, pick up a map from Tourist Information. If you didn’t book a hotel beforehand, ask the woman there to make calls for you. They’re VERY helpful.

Once you leave the ferry terminal, look to your left and you’ll see the bus stop that leaves for Tenjin and Hakata Station.

The fare is 180 yen to Tenjin. Take bus 55, 61, 151, 152, or 80. The fare to Hakata Station is 220 yen. Take bus 11, 19, or 50. Wherever you end up, remember that the last stop on bus 80′s route is the Fukuoka Ferry Terminal. Before you go anywhere, you’ll need to know a little about the bus system in Japan.

Everyone enters the bus in the middle. For those with a pre-paid card, they’ll insert it in the gray box. Pre-paid cards can be purchased from the bus driver (when the bus isn’t moving). If you’re using change, take a ticket from the orange box. It’ll have a number on it. At the front of the bus, above the driver, is an electronic board with numbers. For example, if your ticket stub says “3,” look at the board for the number 3. At any time, it will display the cost of your fare. When you’re ready to get off, exit and pay at the front with exact change. There’s a change machine at the front of the bus. If you STILL don’t have exact change… well, you’re SOL.

The rest of the directions are to the Korean consulate. Get on a bus for Tenjin (180 yen). It’ll take about 15 minutes to get there. You know you’re close when you pass over a canal. Plus, once at Tenjin, the bus will make an announcement in Japanese, English, and Korean. When you step off the bus, you’ll be in the north end of Tenjin. The following is a poor quality map, but I think it’ll help get your bearings.

The blue car is supposed to represent the bus. The red dots are bus stops. The bus stop on the right is where you’ll get off. The picture below is the bus stop, and across the street, you’ll see a Family Mart and McDonald’s. The stop is roughly in front of Shopper’s Specialty Store. (As a side note, that store has a great grocery store in the basement.)

Cross the street to the bus stop directly across the street. The buses on the other side go towards the Korean consulate. On that side, bus # 44, 151, 152, 200, 201, 204, and 305 go to the Korean consulate. The closest landmark is the Fukuoka Dome, so you can just ask somebody, “Fukuoka Dome-mae?” just to make sure. This should be another 15 minute ride and 220 yen. Five minutes into the ride, you’ll go over this bridge:

Once off this bridge, you’ll be about 5-7 minutes from the consulate. On the right-hand side, you’ll pass 5 beige and blue apartment complexes, a store called “Gourmet City,” and 6 more brown apartment complexes labeled A-F on the side. Immediately after this, you’ll see a canal, in which case you should ring the bell. The next stop after the canal is where you’ll get off. Listen for “Yahoo Dome.”

Once you step off the bus, you’ll see this shopping center across the street:

And this in front of you:

Walk straight ahead until you reach the intersection. It’ll be pretty obvious from there. Which building looks out of place?

The rest is up to you – I’ve held your hand this far. Bring ONE photo, passport, visa issuance number (HSBO 07000XXX), and 5,400 yen in CASH. There’s a passport photo machine inside the consulate that costs 600 yen ($5 USD) for 4 or 6 photos. There’s also a copy machine there. There are lockers across the street in the shopping mall, next to Nike.

To get back, go to the bus stop directly across the street from where you got dropped off. Remember, bus #80 goes back to the ferry terminal, but you’ll have to go back to Tenjin first and transfer.

Please leave a comment if you have any additional advice or if any information is incorrect.

In the next week or two, I’ll have a review of places to stay in Fukuoka, including: a Siesta Capsule Hotel (3900 yen), SB Hotel (4725 yen), and Khaosan Fukuoka Hostel (2000 yen for a dorm bed).

View this in the original size on Flickr.