...and thank goodness. Regardless of how hectic this city is, it somehow feels like home to me. I think part of it is Tina's great family treating me as if I am their long lost son.
The other part is the amazing food. After travelling to Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, I've concluded that Vietnam has hands-down the best cuisine in Southeast Asia. Laos food has grown on me, Cambodian food is interesting and Thai food is wonderful(and spicy), but none of them have the depth of Vietnamese food.
Oh and the coffee is the best in the world(especially when it comes from the rear-end of a civet).
On August 12th, we'll be back in California and although we've loved this trip, I think we are both ready to get back home. And Tina is ready to be relatively mosquito free.
I want to apologize to everyone who has been checking our page expecting more pictures. The internet in this region of the world has much worse upload rates than I expected. I think I will do one big food post to catch everyone up on what we've been eating. Then, I'll just post a link to our big album once I finish it.
8.10.2008
8.05.2008
Ping Pong Anyone?
By gosh, it's August! We have had such an amazing week! Where do I even start?
Let's just say that our Thailand experiences were everything we hoped they would be and more. After much debate, we decided to go to Railay beach after overcast weather in Phi Phi and found the most breathtaking beach ever (Phra Nang). Railay is an adorable place with cute little resorts and restaurants. It is best known for its fantastic rock climbing. It was so gorgeous it made me wish I could rock climb to the top and just jump into the water below. White, beautiful sand, cute monkeys that eat right out of your hands, and water colors that you've never seen before. We spent 3 days soaking up the sun and the sunsets. I cannot wait to go back!
After a 16 hour bus to Bangkok, we arrived there on my birthday! Can I just say that Bangkok just blows you away? It is a huge city filled with skyscrapers, trendy Thais, and all the comforts of home. We stayed in Siam Square, mega mall mania. These malls are 7-8 stories tall and a shopping fantasy: one level of beauty, one level of home furnishings, one level of electronics, levels and levels of stores, movie theaters and the best damn food courts imaginable. We spent all 4 days in Bangkok celebrating my birthday! Highlights: watching Batman twice- once in Imax and the second in this luxurious theater with reclining leather seats and just plain ridiculous fanciness. Shopping for hours on end, eating the best damn Thai food, and visiting the famous Wats. At Wat Pho, the famous school of Thai massage, we had the most incredible Thai massage ever. Like, when we come back to Bangkok, that's the first thing I would go get done; it was that fabulous. We had drinks at the top of the Banyan Tree Hotel- completely open air rooftop 61 floors up. We also went to the mother of all open markets and shopped til we dropped, and still only saw about 2/3 of it. This market sold everything from food to drinks to knock-offs to soccer kits to puppies.
And, yes, we watched the imfamous ping-pong show and let's just say ping-pongs are the tamest things used by the women. Not really a recommendation we'd make for future travelers ;) To top it all off, we went to a ladyboy show and it was sooooooooo much fun!!!!! I really want a ladyboy for my own, although I can't decide if I want trashy or classy. Vegas really needs to get in the game.
Overall, Thailand was SO great and I really want to make it a priority to come back. Some of the things we found the most charming: university students in their white shirt and black skirts/pants uniforms with binder clips to hold up their belts, Thai "we love the king"polo shirts that everyone seems to own (national t-shirts? so crazy!), and the national anthem sung by kids that's played before the start of a movie. If they ever add levels of apartments to the mega malls, I'm totally moving to Bangkok.
Today we had a "fun"time getting over the border to Cambodia (less of a dangerous ideal, more of a haggling hassle), but it is well worth it as Siem Riep is beautiful and so is our hotel. We'll be spending the next three days seeing the temples of Angkor. Hope everyone is having a great summer!
Let's just say that our Thailand experiences were everything we hoped they would be and more. After much debate, we decided to go to Railay beach after overcast weather in Phi Phi and found the most breathtaking beach ever (Phra Nang). Railay is an adorable place with cute little resorts and restaurants. It is best known for its fantastic rock climbing. It was so gorgeous it made me wish I could rock climb to the top and just jump into the water below. White, beautiful sand, cute monkeys that eat right out of your hands, and water colors that you've never seen before. We spent 3 days soaking up the sun and the sunsets. I cannot wait to go back!
After a 16 hour bus to Bangkok, we arrived there on my birthday! Can I just say that Bangkok just blows you away? It is a huge city filled with skyscrapers, trendy Thais, and all the comforts of home. We stayed in Siam Square, mega mall mania. These malls are 7-8 stories tall and a shopping fantasy: one level of beauty, one level of home furnishings, one level of electronics, levels and levels of stores, movie theaters and the best damn food courts imaginable. We spent all 4 days in Bangkok celebrating my birthday! Highlights: watching Batman twice- once in Imax and the second in this luxurious theater with reclining leather seats and just plain ridiculous fanciness. Shopping for hours on end, eating the best damn Thai food, and visiting the famous Wats. At Wat Pho, the famous school of Thai massage, we had the most incredible Thai massage ever. Like, when we come back to Bangkok, that's the first thing I would go get done; it was that fabulous. We had drinks at the top of the Banyan Tree Hotel- completely open air rooftop 61 floors up. We also went to the mother of all open markets and shopped til we dropped, and still only saw about 2/3 of it. This market sold everything from food to drinks to knock-offs to soccer kits to puppies.
And, yes, we watched the imfamous ping-pong show and let's just say ping-pongs are the tamest things used by the women. Not really a recommendation we'd make for future travelers ;) To top it all off, we went to a ladyboy show and it was sooooooooo much fun!!!!! I really want a ladyboy for my own, although I can't decide if I want trashy or classy. Vegas really needs to get in the game.
Overall, Thailand was SO great and I really want to make it a priority to come back. Some of the things we found the most charming: university students in their white shirt and black skirts/pants uniforms with binder clips to hold up their belts, Thai "we love the king"polo shirts that everyone seems to own (national t-shirts? so crazy!), and the national anthem sung by kids that's played before the start of a movie. If they ever add levels of apartments to the mega malls, I'm totally moving to Bangkok.
Today we had a "fun"time getting over the border to Cambodia (less of a dangerous ideal, more of a haggling hassle), but it is well worth it as Siem Riep is beautiful and so is our hotel. We'll be spending the next three days seeing the temples of Angkor. Hope everyone is having a great summer!
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