Phuket

June 12, 2016

Our experience in Phuket wasn't as awesome as I had hoped it would be, but that's mostly our fault. We went during rainy season. We just didn't expect there to be so much rain. There were a few moments when the sun peaked through, and it was beautiful.

Upon checking in, we headed for the beach! We were expecting pristine beaches, maybe surfboards for rent, so we were really surprised by what we saw when we got to the beach. There was so much trash -- plastic, glass, rubber, and so many tiny pieces of bright white styrofoam. Oddly, most of it disappeared the second day and never came back the rest of the week. My best guess is that the waves carried it all back out to sea, but it's possible that trash pickers cleaned it up. Either way, it's pretty damn sad, and it's made me much more aware of the enormous amounts of non-biodegradable waste all around me.

On a brighter note, temporarily setting aside frustrations about ocean pollution and our inability to rid the world of it overnight, we signed up for a cooking class! The chef/owner had owned a restaurant on Kata Beach, but now solely runs the cooking school. The menu included a great lineup of Tom Yum Goong, pad thai and green curry with curry paste made from scratch. We thought that her recipes were terrific, and the ingredients were very fresh. I'm not really used to flavors such as lemongrass and Kaffir lime, but I've discovered that I really like them. All of dishes turned out great, and we were quite full and happy and ready for a nap by the end of it!

Another fun excursion we did in Phuket was exploring the sea caves and lagoons of Phang Nga Bay. The coolest part was definitely seeing bio-luminescent plankton for the first time in the waters of a bat cave! Another activity we did that day was assembling our own Katong, a Buddhist offering made of flowers and banana leaves, to release it on the water. Traditionally, this is done to rid away bad energy and spirits, and make a wish for the future. People also pluck a couple of their own hairs and place them on it, which symbolizes a part of them being carried away with it. Hopefully I got lucky and plucked a couple of the grey hairs that I'm starting to have, and hopefully our wish comes true!

Despite all the rain, we accomplished our goal of recharging for the second half of the trip. Can't believe we'll be home in less than a month!

Chiang Mai

June 12, 2016

We only spent a couple of days in Chiang Mai, and if I were to change something about our trip, I think I would have wanted to extend our time there. It has a big city feel without being nearly as crowded and overwhelming as Bangkok, and I didn't realize exactly just how much there is to do and see until we got there.

One of the main highlights of our time there was the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary about an hour and a half outside of the city for elephants that have been rescued from elephant shows, tourist trekking services, and the logging industry. Before coming here, I had a vague idea that the elephant rides you see on posters for Thailand aren't exactly one of the most ethical activities in the world, but I had no idea exactly how much physical and emotional abuse the elephants endure. On the way to the park, we saw a video that showed how baby elephants are drugged and kidnapped from their mothers, and then bound for up to 7 days unable to move, without food or water. This essentially serves to break the elephant's spirit, so that it will become helpless and therefore easier to train or discipline. Seeing images of this practice was absolutely heartbreaking. We also learned that trainers use whips, sticks, and metal hooks to dig into the elephant's skin when teaching them tricks. Elephants are also taken to the cities where they are used to "beg" for money from tourists, and are often blinded by the bright lights from cars, or injured from car accidents. And you know those "paintings" that the elephants do for tourists? Apparently the trainer discreetly pierces the elephant's ear (which is very sensitive) with a nail, so that the elephant paints in the same way that they do during practice.

Learning all of this was hard and uncomfortable, and at times I couldn't watch parts of the video. But it was also really important, and changed the way I view these tourist activities (i.e., I don't think I'll ever take an elephant ride or go to another circus performance featuring elephants - or any other wild animals, for that matter). When we were at the Elephant Nature Park, we saw elephants with broken hips, one that lost part of its leg from stepping on a land mine, and many that were blind in one or both eyes. All day, we had the chance to feed, bathe, and just generally watch and appreciate them. Honestly, after having the chance to interact up with an elephant up close like this, I don't really understand why people would want to ride on its back. Just my two cents.

Taipei

June 07, 2016

Ever since I began thinking about taking time off last year, having Alexandra meet my family in Taiwan and Korea was a top priority. We found out during our month home after South America that, during the time we planned to be in Asia, my cousin Claire was getting married. There was no way we were going to miss her wedding, so we revised our itinerary to fly from Bangkok to Taiwan, then back to Thailand.

My earliest memories of traveling are from a trip to Taiwan with my dad when I was a kid, so it's always been a special place to me. I think it was the first time I flew on a plane. I met my 'sisters' and other family for the first time, and wondered why there were so many Chinese people everywhere. It was very different from Vacaville.

Every morning, my dad took me to the same street stall to pick up a bag of xiaolongbao (also known as Shanghai soup dumplings, but I'm not so sure they actually originate solely from Shanghai). Smells of onion and ginger filled the steamy air, and the boss lady shouted orders. Everything was so frantic and busy. It was all quite new and alarming, but I got more and more comfortable each time we went back, and started looking forward to it every morning. They were so good... Waiting for them to cool wasn't an option -- burning my mouth a little was worth it for the perfect bite.

Looking back, that trip influenced me a lot as a kid. It was the first time my eyes (and belly) were truly opened to the rest of the world. I had such a great time hanging out with my sisters, and I remember being sad to leave.

This time was no different. I felt so happy and comfortable being back in Taiwan. It was wonderful to reconnect with family and particularly my sisters, and I'm so grateful that Alexandra was able to meet my family there.

On our first night, my aunt generously treated us to dinner at her Korean restaurant, which she's owned for more than 30 years. We had come from several days of pretty filling Thai meals and breakfast buffets, so I was thinking a couple soups would be perfect with banchan. Somehow, my aunt generously talked us into 4 dishes: spicy stir-fried squid, spicy tofu soup and two types of BBQ beef. It was all super delicious. Afterwards, feeling some I-just-ate-way-too-much guilt, we walked around the neighborhood as my uncle made his way to the restaurant. We bought some excellent fruit at a street stand and caught up a bit with my aunt and uncle after closing hours.

The next day was wedding day! Held at the super nice Grand Hyatt, the venue was decked out with an elevated stage, sparkling decorations, and strobe lights when food service began! Claire and her husband, Mice, were a great looking couple. The slideshows were awesome, and the food was absolutely incredible. Abalone, sea cucumber, huge prawns, fresh fish, etc... I think it was the first meal I've ever had where there was a dessert course for the appetizers, before any of the (TEN!) main courses were served.

My aunt and uncle from Korea (who I hadn't seen in more than 20 years), an aunt living in Taiwan (who I hadn't seen in at least a decade), and an uncle from the States all attended. It was a great day, and everyone needed a nap afterwards. A picstitch of the wedding:

The next day, after all the eating we did on the wedding day, my uncle treated everyone to a buffet of course! It had everything, and we all pigged out again. Beyond the food though, it was the first time we were able to hang out with my sisters and Mice. It was a great day: lots of ice cream, the new X-Men movie, capped with street food snacks at the Shilin night market.

We spent the next afternoon at the National Palace Museum, which houses nearly 700,000 artifacts encompassing over 10,000 years of Chinese history that Chiang Kai-shek evacuated from mainland China. The museum was pretty awesome... The jade artifacts and the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" painting were particularly impressive.

That night, my sisters treated us to an epic all-you-can-eat spicy "ma-la" hot pot dinner with different cuts of beef from the US and New Zealand, all types of seafood, and HD ice cream!:

The next morning we visited Longshan Temple, where we lit some incense to pay our respects to our grandparents, then walked through the Botanical Gardens to get to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, which is way bigger and grander than I remembered. That night, we had a nice farewell dinner with family at my aunt's restaurant.

It was such a great, memorable time hanging out with everyone, celebrating Claire and Mice's wedding, experiencing Taiwan's incredible food scene, and sightseeing around the city. Hopefully, it won't take me another 20 years to go back next time!

Bangkok

June 07, 2016

The last time I came to Bangkok (on the same trip to Singapore with my aunt and sister), I have to say, I didn't really care for it. From the little I remember, it was very touristy, polluted, and crowded. At 13 years old, the city seemed too big, too overwhelming, and just too much. So when Michael told me he wanted to visit Bangkok on this trip, I was a little hesitant. But now having come here again, I'm grateful to have seen the city through new eyes. Yes, the air and rivers are still polluted, traffic is a nightmare, and there are crowds of people everywhere you go - and I sense that none of that will be changing anytime soon. But Bangkok also has a rich cultural history, beautiful temples, a great food scene, and a vibrant energy I couldn't quite appreciate when I was younger. A couple of the highlights for me were visiting Wat Pho (both in the daytime and at night, which made for very different and yet equally wonderful experiences), seeing the Buddha head intertwined in the roots of a tree at Wat Mahathat, and going on a nighttime tour of the markets, where we got to see the seemingly never-ending flower market (the vendors set up their shops around 11pm, and they stay up all night selling their products to hotels and restaurants. It's humbling to see how hard they work). I also learned that if you forget to bring a sweater or scarf to cover up your shoulders and legs when you go to the temples (such a noob), you can rent outfits for free, like the awesome neon green and purple ensemble you can see below. I only wish I could have brought the outfit back with me...

A quick note: we stayed at the Grand Eastin hotel, and while I never make plugs for specific hotels/restaurants/etc, this place was AMAZING. The hotel itself is gorgeous and incredibly clean, the rooftop bar and pool boasts a beautiful view of the city, the service is wonderful, it's very reasonably priced for everything you get, and the breakfast buffet....I could go on and on about the breakfast buffet. Let's just say that if I could only eat at one place for the rest of my life, I would be very content to eat there. And I can say confidently that Michael and his inner fat kid were very sad to leave.

Bali

June 01, 2016

Bali is just...incredible.

We had heard great things about Bali from a couple of friends who had traveled there a few months ago (as well as a rave reviews from a random guy we met on a tour in Mendoza), so we were really excited about this portion of the trip. But I would say without a doubt that Bali exceeded all of my expectations. Just a few reasons why: the beaches are gorgeous (and in my opinion, Kuta Beach boasts one of the world's most beautiful sunsets, along with Costa Rica and Santorini), the people for the most part are very friendly and respectful, the food is delicious and relatively cheap, and the landscapes are stunning. And no matter what your interests are, there seems to be something for everyone. If you're outdoorsy, there are tons of ways you can be active (rafting, scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing, etc). If you love sightseeing and want to soak up local culture, there are plenty of temples to see and tours you can go on. But if you'd rather do nothing and just relax and be lazy, there are lots of glorious beaches where you can lay back, sunbathe, and watch surfers with a cold beer in hand.

We spent a little over a week in Bali, visiting three areas in the southern part of the island: Kuta, Ubud and Seminyak. Each were really unique in their own way. Kuta is the quintessential beach town (and quite toursity), with lots of cute surf shops, tons of vendors selling handmade goods and offering massages on the beach, and is the perfect place to take surfing lessons and watch the sunset. Ubud is further from the beach, but has a much more chill/less touristy vibe than Kuta. We had a great night there having dinner and watching an amazing live band play in an open-air bar. And Seminyak is close to the beach, but comparatively trendier and a little more upscale (but not in a pretentious way) than Kuta.

Some highlights of our trip:

-Taking surfing lessons at Kuta Beach. We both got up on the board!

-Going to the Monkey Sanctuary in Ubud, where the monkeys roam wild but are accustomed to humans, so they aren't skittish or aggressive. The best part for me was when Michael sat his water bottle down on the ledge of a bridge to take a picture, and a monkey lept right at it Matrix-style and knocked it in the bushes below, then ran away seemingly very pleased with himself. The rest of the day, I teased Michael about how he got punked by a monkey.

-White-water rafting on the Ayung River, and getting the chance to take a quick photo under a waterfall. So fun!

-Drinking luwak coffee, a local specialty. It's made from coffee beans that are eaten by the luwak (kind of a mix between a ferret/cat/monkey), who then - bear with me - poops out the beans. The beans are sanitized and roasted, and the coffee has a rich, earthy flavor. Pretty good!

-Watching a traditional fire and kecak dance at Uluwatu Temple, which is right on the water, with the sun setting in the background. It was stunning, and dare I say it, a little magical.

There is still so much to see of Bali (and Indonesia overall), that I'm sure we'll be back someday!