Meeting people from different parts of the world

My colleagues asked me:

"Hei, where wil you be going next?"

"How much have all your travels cost?"

Okay, okay, after my trip to Norway, I would like to get some rest to cool myself down.

How much have my travels cost? Well, fortunately i enjoy backpacking ~ budget travel. I don't like to stay in a five-star hotel. I prefer to stay in backpacker hostels and have conversation with those lodgers from different parts of the world.

Last February, I went to Germany to visit my Japanese girlfriend whom I met in Bangkok four years ago. Wasn't it amasing? My Japanese girlfriend and I had yet to meet since we last met in Thailand and four years later we finally met each other again in Germany. We were both in Bangkok the first day. I took a ten-hour journey by train from Hatyai in the border of Thailand and Malaysia. I had to get a double-bed room after having walked around with carrying a back-pack. All single rooms had all taken that particular day. Moreover, Bangkok is a popular tourism spot. When I was finally get a double-bed room after a long wait for the previous tenant to check out, I went out to walk around with curiosity of the new place. Then, I saw a Japanese girl who was carrying two huge back-packs and yet a bag hung in front of her chest. Since I personally overcame the difficulty of getting a room and yet she was carrying so many luggages, I offered her to stay in my room since I had an extra bed. So, that's how our connection had started. It's really amazing! Besides her, I have known two of her Japanese friends who flew from Nagano, Japan to Bangkok to meet her. One of her Japanese friends has become a close friend of mine.

During the Chinese New Year three years ago, I received a couple whom I met in Thailand. The guy was a South Korean and the girl was a Japanese. I brought them around in Malaysia. About one year later, when I visited Japan, the South Korean guy attempted to fly to Tokyo from Busan to meet me and his Japanese girlfriend. Regrettably, he couldn't make it last minute as he was requested to stay in the office. However, I received a surprise morning call from him before my departure from Malaysia to Nagoya, Japan. During my stay in Tokyo, his girlfriend received me with warmness and introduced me to her uncle and aunty. They thanked me for having received her in Malaysia.

I encountered four Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar respectively in Sukuthai, Thailand. They were doing their Masters course in Buddhism Philosophy. Until today, we still remain in regular contact. I have known one more monk from Nepal through their contact.