A quick glimpse at three amazing cities that rounded off my Asia adventures: Hong Kong, Macau and Beijing.

After a series of missed connections, my cousin and I finally made it to Macau, also known as the Vegas of Asia. Although we were only able to spend a few hours on the island, it was such a refreshing experience to walk the rain-slicked streets and shoot random photographs as we saw fit. The casinos may be the main attraction, but it’s safe to say that both of us were much more drawn to the contrasting ways of life, the European influenced architecture and other little quirks that make Macau distinctly different from Hong Kong.

What is a trip to Beijing without a visit to The Bird’s Nest? Over the last 20 days I’ve been continuously surprised with what progress China has made in terms of beautifying cities and catching up to, if not exceeding Western standards. Unfortunately, it’s the drastic difference in mannerisms and social etiquette that mark it as a developing country with quite a ways to go.