Sawatdee!

We arrived at Bangkok at 7pm and headed towards the taxi stand. Amazed at how much more comfortable we are navigating this airport then when we arrived for the first time about a month ago; when we were running around in search for a reputable bus service. We were now seasoned travelers!

The taxi drops us off at the hotel and we check in. We spot our first hotel elevator of the trip and take it to our very nice, for $30 a night, room. Having read about “The Best Burrito” in Bangkok and foolishly mentioning it to Leah, who could eat Mexican 7 days a week; we are in the first cab there. This was amazingly authentic Mexican food, nearly impossible to find in Asia. Leah thought the carne aside “tasted just like places in S. California”. We headed to the Sky train, our main form of transport in Bangkok, reviewed the map for the stop closest to our hotel and headed home.

We woke up early the next morning, had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then looked for a taxi to get us to the river where we would catch a ferry to Bangkok`s famous sights. We spotted a tuk tuk, showed him on the map where we were headed, agreed on the price and we were off. A few minutes later we are dropped off at the wrong pier! The driver must have a deal with this tour boat company who tried to get us to book an overpriced tour. Lesson of the day, take a taxi or train in Bangkok, tuk tuks are not to be trusted. After a short walk we made it to the pier, paid less than a dollar and hopped on a long boat packed with locals and tourist alike.

We hopped off the boat and made our way through a long line hundreds of vendors crowding the sidewalk, selling everything from photos of the King to sushi, on our way to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace, a complex containing temples, throne rooms, towers, statues and royal buildings, was completed in 1785. Wat Phra Kaew was the most impressive, it`s home to the Thailand’s most sacred object the beautiful Emerald Buddha. Apparently, only the Thai King is allowed to touch the statue and he changes the cloak around the statue three times a year, summer, winter and rainy season, to bring good fortune to the country for each season.

We grabbed some fresh pineapple from a vendor and headed to Wat Po, aka Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho is the largest and oldest temple in Bangkok, dating back to the 16th century and is home to the country's largest Buddha: 46m long and 15 m high. The reclining Buddha is made from plaster around a brick core, then covered spectacularly in gold leaf. One of the most impressive sights of the trip!

We finished up our sightseeing at the Jim Thompson House. Jimmy T, as I like to call him, was a Princeton man. He became a successful architect in New York City before joining the National Guard during WWII. Thompson was recruited to serve in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which would be become the CIA. After his first call of duty in North Africa and assignments in Europe he was deployed to Thailand. Though shortly after he arrived in Bangkok, Japan surrendered ending the war. Jimmy T left the OSS in 1946, remaining in Bangkok with the goal of revitalizing the Thai Silk industry. His break came when he designers to used his Thai silk for the Broadway musical, The King and I. He amassed a great number of antiques while in Thailand; needing a place to house these treasures, he NATURALLY bought a huge compound and built a mansion combining 6 separate historical Thai homes! These 19th century homes, were dismantled and moved about 40 miles from Ayutthaya, the old capital, to Bangkok. In 1959 using his architectural background he had them reassembled into the amazing compound that stands today. Soon after completion he opened his home to the public. Here`s where it gets really interesting. In March 1967 Jimmy T went to Malaysia on vacation. After lunch on March 23rd he went for a stroll near the resort. His travel companions began to worry when he was not back by dinner and by 8:30pm they filed a missing persons report. The following day, the biggest hunt in Malaysian history was staged.The police came complete with loud speakers, walkie-talkies, field telephones, pistols and sub-machine guns.They swept the forest with over 100 men without break until late that evening, no sign of Thompson. To this day not one single piece of evidence has been found to hint at what happened to Jim Thompson, not a foot print or article of clothing. Theories ranged from him being captured by rebels to being eaten by a tiger. Or perhaps he was still a CIA agent aware that his cover was blown, took his chance to disappear! What ever the case it adds a great deal of intrigue while exploring the rooms and halls of his amazing Bangkok mansion.

-JC

After a long day of sight-seeing and working up a strong appetite, we went in search for a restaurant that is noted in having, "Thailand's Best Fried Chicken." Successfully, we found the restaurant and the fried chicken was delicious. The chicken was accompanied with TONS and I mean TONS of sauteed garlic, and myself being a die-hard garlic lover I could tell you this was too much garlic. But nonetheless, the chicken, papaya salad (one of Jeremy's favorites), and sticky rice made for a inexpensive and very tasty lunch.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed. For dinner, we wanted to do something special,so we decided to go to an upscale Thai restaurant that was recommended in our travel book. This was more than a dinner, it was an experience. 4 hours and six-courses later, we were stuffed and broke (literally). We underestimated the ridiculous taxing in Thailand, and had JUST enough for our fancy meal, leaving us nothing to get back to our hotel. We can laugh at it now, but we (or maybe better I) wasn't too thrilled. We found a really nice taxi driver and explained the situation. He drove us to our hotel and I ran up to the room, got money from the safe box and we paid him. Don't worry...we didn't live up to our blog name, DINE AND DASH :) This was enough exciting for the night and we went to bed.

The next morning, we went took a Thai cooking course! We met our instructor (who I may add was hilarious) and the other students at the market near our hotel to buy all the ingredients for our meals. During our one day cooking course we made: Tom Yum Soup (spicy shrimp & vegetable soup), Pad Thai, Green Curry w/ Chicken, Chicken Salad, and Banana and Coconut syrup for dessert. It was surprising to see how easy it is to make Pad Thai and Tom Yum Soup! Green Curry on the other hand.....is no easy feat. It takes about 30 minutes or so pounding the spices in a mortar which leaves your arm feeling exhausted. What's best about the cooking school experience, is we received a cook book of all the recipes we had just made! If you want a copy, all you gotta do is ask.

For our second to last day in Bangkok, I thought it was well deserved and would be fun to spend one night in a 5 star hotel, so we did. We came along way from our swimming pool hotel room in Cambodia and for our last night in Bangkok, it seems only "right" to have a nice room. And the room was nice. We were on the 54th floor with a balcony looking out to the view of Bangkok. We were in the "Dome" section of the hotel and unknown to me before making a reservation, I happened to reserve the VIP area for us. We had a special elevator to get to our room and we had access to exclusive cafes where we had an delicious complimentary lunch. That evening we went to the Sky Bar at the hotel, and the name says it all. The bar is located on the 64th floor and looks out to the view of Bangkok, we had only one drink, they were quite pricey. And for the prices, me & Jeremy thought we have our own "Sky Bar" on the 54th floor in our room with drinks for half the costs. It was an amazing hotel 5 stars wasn't an overstatement! And all this for the price of a below average hotel in Tokyo!

The next day (last day) in Bangkok, was actually A LOT OF FUN! Our flight did leave until 10:40pm so Jeremy & I went to a market for some shopping. It`s the biggest market in Bangkok and it`s only open on Saturday and Sunday, so it gets REALLY crowded with tourists and locals alike. In this market, you can buy ANYTHING! Clothes, jewelry, accessories, shoes, furniture, food, and even puppies! Yes, there is are stalls selling animals! It may be a good thing, we came to this market on our last day because I could go crazy shopping here. After buying more than we should have, we ate some lunch, went to a Thailand grocery store (this might not sound amusing, but it was fun to compare a Thailand grocery store to a Japan one) surprisingly this Thailand grocery had a lot of things you cannot get in Japan. Jeremy & I were a little bitter about this. After the grocery store tour, we got a foot and shoulder massage and then our hotel let us use the fitness facilities to take a shower and get changed before our flight back to Japan.

Now, it was time to get into the taxi to head back to Japan. Goodbye SE Asia....the food, the people, the experiences, the sights, you all will be greatly missed but it's not forever. We WILL be back again one day.

Life’s a Beach

Before going to Bangkok, we made a short stop in the beach resort city of Phuket. I was pretty pumped, being I have ALWAYS dreamed of going here sometime in my life. However, I was quite surprised with how much it was “meh” to me. Don’t get me wrong, Phuket is nice if you don’t go during peak season. We happened to be traveling during peak season and the beach was absolutely PACKED. One day, we were lucky to find a beach chair which I may add you have to pay to use.

The 1^st meal in Phuket was eaten at a seafood restaurant located down a dark narrow alley. The BBQ fish was excellent! So were the vegetables that accompanied it. We spent the day at Patong Beach (the busiest beach in Phuket), and exploring the beach town. The sun will take a lot out of you and it did, so we went to bed early that night.

The next day, I wanted to find a more relaxing, calm beach so let the adventure begin! We rented a scooter and drove about 1hr south to a beach that was said to be less busy and quieter. The drive was pretty terrifying! Jeremy couldn’t see out of the scooter rear-view mirrors, so I dueled as passenger and rear-view mirror lady. I’d slightly turn around see if there was room and then would tell Jeremy what direction was safe. Meanwhile, I should add in Phuket traffic, like most of SE Asia, ridiculous! People going the wrong way down the highway, trucks running scooters nearly off the road, it’s every driver for them self. Yikes! But safely, we arrived at the beach and just as the travel book said the beach was quieter and had less people. We stayed here all day before returning to our hotel before dark (did not want to drive that scary scooter at night!) ate dinner, explored a bit of the crazy party district, caught a NFL playoff game and called it a night. The next day we were headed to Bangkok, knowing the next time in Phuket we need to book a day trip to a quieter island.

SINGAPORE

As the plane touched down into Singapore, we experienced our first run-in with bad weather. Until Singapore (which currently is in rainy season) our weather had been amazing, but we weren’t going to let the weather pull us down too much. I should first add, Singapore’s official language is English, so it was the first time in a long time that we could be understood speaking normal English. Singapore is two words: CLEAN and EXPENSIVE. The roads, sidewalks, parks, restaurants, subways, and just about anything else you can think of in Singapore is extremely clean. This is partly due to the ridiculously expensive fines placed on everything from littering $2000 to eating on the subway $500. On a random note: last year Singapore was the fastest growing economy in the world and once you step foot there, you can completely understand, in every direction you look there is a new skyscraper being built. The cost-of-living in Singapore is extremely high and EVERYTHING, I mean everything, is expensive. For example, one beer in Singapore is about $10. A nice dinner for two? You can expect to pay somewhere around $200 easily.

Wanting to do our SE Asia trip in a budget friendly manner, one could say Singapore wasn’t the best choice but we shed our costs were we could. One place we shed them was our accommodation. We stayed at a backpacker’s hostel. This was a first hostel experience for the both of us. Although it felt a bit like you were back in a college dormitory, we couldn’t complain. The hostel was clean, reception was helpful, it was conveniently located near Little India and most important we saved a load of money. Another area where we saved was eating at food stalls, which in Singapore they call “hawker centers.” Like I said above, Singapore is a clean city so all restaurants, including food stalls get inspected for health regulations. So although you’re eating from a food vendor you know it’s safe!

Singapore is divided into neighborhoods. Little India, Chinatown, and Robertson Quay (riverfront) just to name a few. To get out of the pouring rain, we went to a restaurant called, “The Banana Leaf.” Just as the name suggests, all the food is served on a banana leaf (rather than a plate). Here we ordered lunch and had fish head curry. Oh my goodness, the deliciousness of this fish head curry there are no words for it! It IS the best curry dish I have ever eaten. And it didn’t break the bank either. After lunch, we headed back to the hostel to get out of the rain and just relaxed.

The next day, the weather cleared up and we explored Chinatown as well as the famous Orchard Rd. This is where all the high-priced designer shopping takes place. For lunch, we met up with a friend who is currently living in Singapore named Laura. Just my luck, we went to a Mexican restaurant (yes!) where me & Jeremy both had a delicious kitchen sink burrito. Although, I was happy I got my Mexican we still haven’t got what we came to Singapore for. What’s that you may ask? Answer: Singapore Chili Crab. The wish was granted. For dinner, Laura and her husband Bill took us out to a restaurant that is known for the best Singapore Chili Crab. We were not disappointed. Very messy, but amazingly delicious. A sweet and spicy sauce covering succulent crab. Good food, great company, and nice weather! Finally this was a great day in Singapore.

Our last day in Singapore was a relaxed one. Thanks to Laura & Bill’s hospitality after checking out of the hostel, they let us hang out at their place until it was time for the airport. Bon Voyage Singapore, next on the agenda Thailand.

Good Morning Vietnam!

Well, actually, it was more like Good Evening. We arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam around 7pm and took a airport shuttle bus to our hotel (about an hour away) for a whooping price of about $2 per/person. I like Vietnam already. Once arriving to our hotel, oh before I talk about the hotel, I must add the traffic in Vietnam is INSANE! Scooters, taxis, cars, trucks, human beings, all in the street; vehicles honking their horns informing you to move out of the way, human beings walking SLOWLY across the street to avoid being ran over. It’s pretty intense to say the least. Okay, now the hotel. The hotel was really nice, on the small-side, but the man working the front desk was so friendly it made up for it.

Jeremy & I were starving and what else is better than Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup) for your 1st dish in Vietnam. We weren’t sure where to go for our 1st bowl of Pho, so we asked the front desk guy at our hotel. Soon after asking where to eat for a good bowl of Pho Bo (Beef Pho), the man replies “just one moment, I’ll have my brother bring you to a good Pho restaurant down the street.” Ummm….OKAY! This Pho joint was authentic as it gets. The brother had to order for us because the workers spoke no English. On the sidewalk of a busy street, here we sit on tiny plastic stools squatting at a plastic table ready to eat our Pho. The Pho was good, spicy, and infused with cilantro I was a happy girl. After eating and paying only $2 for two bowls of great beef Pho, it’s time to wash it down with a 333 (Vietnam’s beer). This beer may be one of my favorites, it’s a shame they only sell it in Vietnam. It’s light, creamy, and doesn’t leave you feeling stuffed. This 333 brand of beer was only .30 cents. Yes, 30 cents. Next, it was lights out.

The next morning, we woke up pretty early to get the day started. We toured the Ho Chi Minh Masoleum, Ho Chi Minh’s tradition Vietnamese home, Hoan Kiem Lake, and a few temples. 1st on the agenda, was Ho Chi Minh’s Masoleum, were you can see Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body, even though his dying wishes were to be cremated there he lies for all to see.

We worked up an appetite running around Hanoi, so we decided to stop at a Vietnamese restaurant that got some rave reviews according to our travel book. The book was right, it was amazing. The restaurant setting was outdoors but had wooden terrace roof to protect against the rain. The restaurant was sectioned off into cooking stations. A station for Pho, hot pots, spring rolls and grilling, etc. Jeremy ordered Bahn Xeo (Vietnamese Pancake) and I ordered Pho Bo (beef Pho). I should add, my primary diet consisted of Pho while in Vietnam. Both dishes were amazing; to the point we ate here 3 times of our 4 day Vietnam trip. Just as amazing was the price, great food in a very nice setting only cost us about $2 a dish!

Day Two: Day Trip to Halong Bay. We first had to take a 3 hour bus trip to the city of Halong, from there jump onto our Chinese Junk, that’s what these boats are called, but far from being junk we boarded and started our trip with a nice lunch. We toured Halong Bay, in addition to cave exploring and kayaking, for 4 hours. After all this, returning to the harbor for our 3 hour bus trip back to Hanoi. For some brief history: Halong Bay means "Descending Dragon Bay"; and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The bay consists of a dense cluster of over 3,000 limestone monolithic islands (although locals claim there are only 1,969 as this is the year of Ho Chi Minh's death), each topped with thick jungle vegetation, rising spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Words can’t do it justice, but Halong Bay was absolutely stunning. We arrived back at our hotel roughly around 8pm, went to dinner (Pho one more time) and hit the sheets.

Our last day in Hanoi, we met up with our friend Heidi who is currently teaching English in Vietnam. Because we had pretty much seen everything in the first two days, our last day was spent catching up over lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, coffee at a cool café, and finally great pizza and red wine for dinner. It was a nice relaxing day/evening, especially needed since we needed be at the airport at 5am the next day for our flight.

We had 5 hour lay-over in Ho Chi Minh City (Still called Saigon by nearly everyone) before heading to Singapore. We left the airport and did some brief exploring. In Saigon, we explored a busy market that had everything you can imagine: from Durian (stinky fruit) to jewelry and everything in between. Then we ate our last bowl of Pho in Vietnam. Pho 2000’s claim to fame was that it’s Pho fit for a President. Bill Clinton himself dined there in 2000 and they proudly display pictures of him posing with the staff. The Pho was indeed delicious. Here in Southern Vietnam they serve Pho with Hosin sauce just like the Vietnamese restaurants do in MN. I felt right at home and I blissfully enjoyed my last bowl of Pho in Vietnam.

2 Days in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Pehn was an uncomfortable one. I happened to be really lucky and sat behind Yao Ming's 7ft tall sister (fact: she was 7th tall; false: not Yao Ming's sister) who decided she needed to lay her seat back ALL the way for the 4hr bus ride. After losing circulation to my legs, we finally arrived to the "bus station" which ended up being a random street corner. 

The hotel in Phnom Pehn was MUCH nicer than the one in Siem Reap. No swimming pool was included in the price with this room. The hose from the toilet & the air-conditioning worked like a charm. For the first time on our trip we slept under the sheets!


Day One started on a high-note, we met Dennis's cousins Thang and Visa who toured us around on scooters (motos).

Royal Palace, beautiful buildings including the amazing throne room complete with crystal chandeliers and imported Italian tapestries. The Silver Pagoda was the highlight, named after the pure silver tiles that cover the floor of this amazing hall. This room also holds two of Cambodia's greatest treasures: two Buddha's, one carved out of emerald, the other solid gold covered with 2,000 diamonds the largest being 25karats. 

As I said before Cambodia is the Land of Contrast: next was Tuol Sleng Prison Museum. I wish I could just skip past this, but for the same reason this sight was preserved, the same reason we visited- I must write about this: to remember how evil humans can be, in the hopes that we never let this happen again. 30,000 people passed though the former High School; tortured, many times to death, by the Khmer Rouge (KR) before being taken to the Killing Fields. Around 2 millions Cambodians perished during KR 4 years of ruling. Similar to the Nazis in more ways than genocide the KR kept meticulous details of their crimes against humanity. This included photographs of every man, woman, and child that came through Toul Sleng, which are now on display as a reminder that there are faces and lives behind each number on that death toll. 

In no mood for lunch or talking, after an hour of dancing around the topic we discussed some of the most striking images. A young mans smiling face in the mug shot: Did he smile out of habit? Did he not know what was to come? What information was THAT important to gain from them? Why would they imprison this elementary school-aged child? And the mother holding her crying baby? 

When the Vietnamese army came in, only seven people were alive in this prison. As of today, none of the KR have paid for their crimes. And maybe even more unsettling some of the Khmer Rouge are currently members of the Cambodian Government.  

The evening can be described in a lighter tone. Dennis's cousin Thine picked us up and we're off to his aunts house for dinner. D emailed ahead so my prayers of beef kebabs and papaya salad were answered. Along with the amazing dinner, Uncle "Bottoms Up" was entertaining ready to cheers before every sip with every possible pronunciation of "bottoms up"! The night included some great Cambodian Karaoke which me and Leah supplemented with our renditions of Mariah Carey and Usher. (only English music in the house) PS- in a somewhat random house in Cambodia I was amazed to find a picture of myself on the mantle. ( I must note Dennis was also in this photo)

Day two/ New Years Eve was amazing. The morning was spent at the National Museum; we were taken though Khmer history though art. Amazing Bas-Reliefs, gorgeous carvings and intricate jewelry. 

Thine picked us up again this time for dinner and drinks at his house. We spent time with him and his extend family including my favorite 5 year old Brian, who's English is as impressive as his tech savviness. We had delicious Khmer BBQ! The top of the grill is a dome where the meat roasts over the coals, juices dripping down and mixing with the soup and veggies in moat around this dome. We also had spicy chicken wings and tiny grilled squid with tangy dipping sauce. We also sampled traditional wine, which Leah best describes as gasoline. It was of a pinkish hue and was made from rice similar to Japanese Sake. We were entertained by Thine on the guitar, Thang on the drums and a brother-in-laws vocals. Again, me and Leah provided a few English songs (singing over a mix CD we cleverly purchased that morning) After another amazing night and ringing in the New Years we thanked them for their hospitality and said our farewells. Hoping to see all of them again once they get Visa's for the US sooner than later.