Bài 1: My Trip to South Korea
I had always wanted to visit South Korea and I recently had the chance to spend a week in this amazing country. Unlike its northern neighbor which is pretty much closed to visitors, South Korea is a welcoming and hospitable country. It is an interesting place with a unique culture and a highly developing economy.
I flew into the capital Seoul. On arrival in the city, it was the marked contrast between modern skyscrapers and high design shopping malls and shanty towns that was immediately striking. Wide streets lined by fancy boutiques lead to a labyrinth of narrow alleyways with tiny traditional shops and eateries and there is a clutch of great tourist attractions.
My tour itinerary began on Seoul’s main boulevard, Sejongro, because I wanted to see the Royal Palace (Gyeongbok), the President’s residence, known as Cheongwadae or the Blue House, and the American Embassy. From here it’s a fairly short walk to Bukchon where there is the city’s largest collection of privately owned traditional wooden houses. It’s a charm with beautiful architecture and small courtyards, with the houses interspersed with quaint cafes and art galleries.
Taking the same route the next day, I took a trip into the mountains that peak behind the President’s House, and climbed the one known as Bugaksan. This affords the opportunity to pass through the Sukjeongmun Gate and through the city’s ancient fortress wall. From here the Seoul Fortress is easily accessible and there are also amazing views of Seoul.
Shopping in the Orient is an amazing experience so I made sure to pay a visit to the Shinsegae downtown department store. This huge emporium sells probably everything you can imagine and is a complete charm in the way the bottom floors sell all the basic staples of daily life - including the ubiquitous kimchee (fermented cabbage) and are frequented by Korean housewives while the upper floors cater to the well-heeled and brand conscious. As fascinating as it is, the new rooftop garden is a welcome respite. But, if you are going to shop in Seoul, it’s a must to visit the street stalls and hawkers of the Namdaemum Market where the wares seem to be spread out in a blanket of never-ending stalls. Be prepared to be seriously jostled by the crowds, but it’s also the chance to feast on the best street food.
One of the most surprising sights and a rue delight is the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Running for just under 4 miles through the city, the stream is remarkably quiet given its location, because it is 15 foot below street level. The serene setting, accentuated by waterfalls and bridge is a favorite strolling spot for romantic couples.
With a flying visit to Itaewon, the popular ex-pat neighborhood near to the main US army base, my time in Seoul came to an end. I was enthralled and captivated and hope I get to return one day.
Bài 2: My Exciting Holiday
My unforgettable holiday was when I visited Jogjakarta. It was about a year ago we had a school holiday.
Firstly, my best friends and I did not know where to spend our holiday. So, we tried to discuss to go some places that made us have some fun. Then, after a long discussion about the place, we all agreed to visit Jogjakarta. So, we prepared all the things that we needed for it, such as; checking our motorcycle and buying some snacks. The following day, in the sunny Sunday morning we started our trip to go to Jogjakarta. It just took about two hours from my hometown, Ngawi, by motorcycle. After two hours long driving, finally we arrived at the first destination, Borobudur temple. We were amazed with this tremendous temple. Also we wondered how come the ancient people could build this gigantic temple without any modern tools.
Then we climbed this temple up to the top. It was really exhausting. But when we reached the top, the scenery was incredibly magnificent. We could see Prambanan temple near Borobudur and other beautiful sceneries. Beside that, we were amazed with its carvings on the wall. My friend said that it represented the wealth of Mataram kingdom, but we could not understand it. Then we took many lovely pictures there. Next, we went to our next destination, that was Parangtritis beach. But on the way, we were lost. We did not arrive at Parangtritis beach but at another beach. We all did not know the name of this beach. We did not know either how come we arrived at this beach. We thought we were in the right direction. After exploring this beach we knew the name was Depok beach, near Parangtritis beach.
Then we decided to spend our holiday there. This beach was so quiet. There were only few tourists that we met. They were all from Australia. So, we agreed to practice our English ability with them. Although we stuttered and stumbled in the conversation, we could still understand the points. They said they loved this beach. This beach was still natural and less pollution.
After that, we were playing on the seashore till we were tired. Then in the evening we went home. At 8.00 p.m. we arrived at home safely. I got so many beautiful experiences there.
Bài 3: My Favorite Holiday in My Country
My favorite holiday in the United States is Christmas. I have many good memories of Christmas when I was a boy growing up in Colorado.
Every Christmas, our family would go to the mountains to find a nice, big evergreen tree and bring it home to decorate in our living room. I liked to sit in the dark and watch the Christmas tree lights twinkle with the snow falling outside. Christmas was a time when our relatives got together and invited friends over for parties. We liked to eat many holiday foods like chocolate fudge, popcorn balls and pumpkin pie.
Sometimes a group of singers would come by our house and sing Christmas songs while we listened. On Christmas morning my family would enjoy exchanging Christmas gifts. It was a happy time for me.
Bài 4: My Trip to the Beach
A long time ago, I went to the beach. Before we left, we loaded all our beach gear into the car. Continuing down the road my sister and two brothers and I sang songs to keep from falling into the depths of boredom.
Deciding where to stop for dinner was a real challenge. Everyone wanted to eat at a different restaurant. Finally Dad stopped at Cracker Barrel. I chose green beans, potatoes, and steak for my dinner. We all drank hot cocoa and whipped cream for dessert. Initially we had hoped to reach our destination, Pensacola, before midnight, but it seemed impossible. Just after we crossed the Georgia/Florida border my dad stopped at a hotel. Keeping quiet not to wake the others staying at the hotel, we tiptoed out at 6:00 A.M. Later the next morning, we arrived at the house in Pensacola. My mom’s friend and her family were staying with us. Never is there a dull moment when we are all together. Of course we were very tired from our trip, so we rested all day. Plenty of fun in the sun was in store for us the next day. Ready to get out on the beach I had forgotten something very important. Quite sunburned was I by the end of that day. Sunscreen had not been applied!
Too sunburned was I to go out and have fun. Unmovable, I lay on the couch, watching television. Very unhappy about this terrible mishap I whined and complained. While I rested, I dreamed of the fun I was missing. Extremely bored, with only one day left until we went home, I prayed I would get better. Yet I was already healed. Zooming off of the couch, I hopped into my suit and enjoyed my last day on the beach.
Bài 5: My trip to New York City
The summer before my junior year in high school, my family and I took a trip to a completely new world. Being from a small town, I had never really been exposed to the elements of a large city such as New York City. My trip there was like discovering an entirely new way of life that I had only heard stories of previously.
For about the tenth time the morning of the flight, I checked my room to make sure I didn’t leave anything essential behind. My stomach was doing flips as we arrived at the airport and made our way to the gate. It didn’t get much better than this: I watched through the window as the runway zoomed by and the buildings and houses became smaller and smaller as the plane gained altitude. An exhilarating feeling overcame me as I realized that I would soon be in one of the most amazing cities of the United States.
As we stood waiting for a taxi outside of the airport, it was immediately apparent to me that New York City was not the same as New Caney, Texas. It seemed like everyone there was in a hurry to get to another place. The loud and constant sound of cars honking was heard throughout the entire trip. As soon as a car seemed to be going slower than the person behind him liked, he would hear the horn of that car to let him know that he was apparently holding everybody else up! When we found our hotel in Times Square, I noticed that it wasn’t just the cars that were in a hurry. Everyone in the streets was walking at a brisk pace that indicated a rush to be somewhere. The transportation of the city was also far different than anything that I had ever been exposed to. In my little town, a bike, a car, or even walking was perfectly suitable for getting around town, but in this foreign land, there were many more ways for one to get to another destination. Everywhere you looked, there were people hailing taxis, waiting on buses, rushing underground to the subway stations, walking frantically, or desperately trying to maneuver their own cars through the busy streets. Just standing and watching the many people rushing their own separate ways was an interesting observation.
In addition to the people and transportation, the buildings were also an incredible sight. Each street was crammed with buildings that were built side by side with no room in between them, and a number of skyscrapers were present throughout the city as well. I was awestruck again as we went inside some of these buildings such as the Empire State Building and made our way towards the top. Standing outside of one of the top stories of the Empire State Building was awesome. I could hold the entire city in my hand from this view. I could even see Ellis Island a distance away from there. The stores were also large compared to the ones of my little town. A small retail store in New Caney would be a huge store that took up an entire building in New York. This would make it seem logical that the prices of everything in New York were almost triple those back home. It was as if the little peaceful neighborhood where I lived was magnified by 100 to make up the wonder city of New York.
My visit to New York City was a life changing experience. For the first time in my life, I was exposed to a little taste of what the real world is like. The incredible modes of transportation, the huge skyscrapers, and all of the thousands of people made me anxious to grow up and perhaps move to an incredible city such as this one. Either way, my first trip to New York was one of the most incredible experiences of my life, one I will always treasure.
Bài 6: My Summer holiday
In my summer holiday, I did not do something special and did not go somewhere special except Chamonix and Venice. Most of my holiday was showing friends of my parents and my grandparents the most important and the most beautiful places of Geneva and its surroundings.
I started the summer holiday before everyone. That was because of my grandparents. Well, it first started off when my grand parents came. We were going by car where my grandmother wouldn't walk and I was walking with my grandfather. Because my grandfather likes walking and my grandmother doesn't. Well they stayed for 1 month and went back to Turkey. The next visitors were my mother's schoolmates. They stayed one month as well. We kind of went to same places, when they were gone that was the fun. We went to Chamonix and Venice.
The best thing there was the Jacuzzi and the pool. In Chamonix, the mountains haven. The highest there was Mont-Blanc and Aiguille du Midi. We climbed with a cable car; it was totally amazing and extremely cold. This point was 3842 meters high. And, of course, I should not forget Venice, it was also a haven but I didn't see much because we had small amount of time. The most amazing thing was the square of San Marco Polo and then the gondolas.
The thing I really liked about my holiday was getting a brand new VW Passat and seeing my grandparents.