Chiang Mai - Mountain Biking

This may have begun as a misguided and ill advised activity, but it turned out to be an unforgettable adventure! bruises, scratches, and a few tears included.

I didn't know it at the time, but we signed up for the intermediate trek. I have never gone mountain biking before but it is much more intense than I was anticipating. Just like how 'less spicy' Thai food is still spicy to me, 'easy trek' Thai mountain biking is not what it seems! Simon of course proved to be a natural at it. After losing count of the number of times I flipped over my bike (so happy for the pads!) I really started to get the hang of it and begin to enjoy the trip. Mountain Biking is such a rush!

Phuket to Koh Phi Phi

Leaving singapore was bittersweet. It is great to finally be traveling South East Asia, but I miss Singapore! I especially miss my friends there - and I just want to say thank you all for coming out for my last night in Singapore!

Phuket - Simon and I stayed at a hostel for 450 baht a night called Kata On Sea. Not bad at all. We took a long walk on the beach there the next morning. I wanted to swim but the 'red flag' was up, which means the water was too rough for frolicking. Oh well, luck of the draw. We took a ferry for 500 baht to Phi Phi, and checked into a hostel or 600 baht a night called Uphill Cottage. And let me just say; they are not joking about the 'uphill' part! Quad workout everytime! The ferry was an experience as well, calm seas to begin the journey, rough waves to end it. At one point I was worried we might capsize! Unfounded paranoia of course, but I haven't been on a boat for some time. Fun trip for most, 'painful puku' trip for others.

After a nice curry dinner, Simon and I watched South Africa beat France in the world cup which was very interesting. There were fire dancers to our left, the game on our right, and cheap Changs all around. All in all, I think I am going to enjoy spending 4 more nights in here before moving on to Chiang Mai.

Can I take it home?

There are a few things in Singapore that I know I will miss and want to take home. Most of these things are of course my friends, but they'll put my suitcase over the 50 lbs. limit. Other things though, I have to ask. In an earlier post I expressed my love for Satay. Satay is still one of my favorite Singaporean foods, but I am afraid it has fallen second to my new number one: Chili Crab. One of the most Singaporean things to do is eat chili crab. I have heard that the places most famous for it are East Coast Park and Boat Quay. I chose Boat Quay. I can't believe I have waited so long to finally try it! It is difficult to be a tourist in the place where you live, even if it is only for one year. In the beginning of my stay here I was a great tourist, but since then I've settled into habits and schedules. What is the best way to break a routine? Play Hostess! When an out of town friend comes to visit, one gets a rare opportunity to enjoy their touristic enthusiasm while still having the luxuries of home. My friend from home happened to come to Singapore through work and I serendipitously discovered his presence here through what else but the uncanny social machine called facebook. With him I revisited Pulau Ubin, Macritchie Reservoir, Ladies Night in Clarke Quay, and of course finally discovered Chili Crab. This photo was taken from Pulau Ubin. Precarious?

How do they make the chili crab sauce? I had to look it up-
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/130/Singapore_chilli_crab

I will do my best at recreating this recipe at home, but I know it can never be the same (unless my mom helps, hint hint**). I will just have to come back to Singapore, oh well!
I'd like to add my vote to the never ending political debate between Chili Crab and Pepper Crab:

Chili Crab kicks Pepper Crabs ass!

A Diver's Pilgrimage

Bali
Why is it that simply saying the word makes me tingle? B a l i. Whew* -> there it goes again.
I left for Bali on a Wednesday, and planned to fly solo until late Thursday night. As a single woman I made sure certain things were in order: a room my first night and a plan for the next day. The plan consisted of beach, and The Torrents of Spring by Hemingway. Interesting choice for Bali, I know, but that was my plan. Did I follow it? No way. I met another traveler on the plane to Bali. I was really happy to have a hotel the first night as the plane was late getting in on an already late night, but realized it was unnecessary. I split a cab to Kuta with a Brit, and two Swedish backpackers. I was happy I had planned ahead in the end. I had a great night's sleep and there was candy in the room. Who can complain when they put candy in the room?The next day I woke up late, and headed for the beach. Oh my way I ran into the Brit I'd met the night before. We went to the beach together and swam for a while. The waves were fun, but what was not fun was coming up from underneath a wave and having a Dorito's bag stuck in your hair. The beach was consumed with trash. I wasn't expecting that. After frolicking in the waves it was time for food. My new found mate and I went local and had a great meal of rice, egg quiche-style casserole, mystery white fish, and curry chicken. All in the same bowl, fabulous. Both meals including drinks cost around 4 USD.
I said goodbye to my friend after dinner, then went to the airport in search of my scuba-diving friends whom I met in Malaysia but are originally from Australia. We hired a van to take us across the island, and good thing we did! Customs took forever and we didn't make it across the island until 2 in the morning. My friends booked a really nice hotel called Tauch-Terminal Resort. I stayed at the hostel down the road for 20 USD a night. It was great. The dive operation at Tauch-Terminal is superior to many I've encountered. Usually shore diving is a hassle, but not here. The USS Liberty Wreck is about 40 yards off the coast from the resort so not only did we have to barely walk there, we had first dibs on the wreck in the morning! The other local operations would pile on the wreck in the afternoons but we had already been in and out before they arrived. The first day we were there we dove in other locations, then dove the wreck at night. I am not ashamed to admit I was spooked. The wreck is unlike any I have ever been to before. To start, it's huge! It looms over you in places, and is so scattered across the coast you never know when you will be face to face with a 1940s rudder or rusty old engine room. It screams haunted, especially at night, but of course it is not. The USS liberty was towed to this beach in the 1940s after it had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. It lay on the beach, stripped of all it's insides, until 1969 when the volcano close by erupted and shook it into its current watery resting place.The next day my friends and I dove it four more times. We couldn't get enough. Each time was different and incredible. To make a long ID list short; here are a few examples of the fish and creatures we saw:
peacock mantis shrimp

banded pipefish
black tip reef sharks
leaf-fish (yellow)
scorpion fish

eels

lion fish

baracudas
pygmy sea horses
wild looking sea cucumbers
a colorful assortment of flatworms (my favorite!)
and of course all of the tropical pacific fish which I'll have no chance at IDing any time soon.

On the drive back to Denpasir on our last day in Bali, we stopped at the Monkey Forest in Ubud. At this unique Monkey sanctuary, it is very common for tourists to feed the monkeys. You buy bananas out of curiosity, naively thinking it will be fun to feed the 'seemingly harmless' monkeys. Little do you know, you're in for a surprise. The monkeys climb all over you trying to get first dibs on the bananas. You are barely able to hold out for a more than a few seconds before the largest of the monkeys gets wind of the opportunity. The dominant male starts towards you, and in a flash you've thrown all your bananas every which way in the hopes it will throw him off course. Luckily it works, and once you are empty handed the little thieves leave you alone. Phew. The whole experience can be a bit frazzling. At the end you feel relieved, but also used, and I've got the paw prints all over my clothes to prove it.
Sunset Dinner on Seminyak Beach topped off the perfect trip to Bali. Thank you to Kate and Michael for letting me tag along on their romantic getaway. You two are the best! And thank you for all the photos!
To all those third wheels out there- take on the role with pride. Enjoy your drink and flirt with the waiters.

A trip with the Parents Part II

Angkor Wat

I'll admit it; I should have done more research on Angkor Wat before going. I was completely surprised by the scale of the complex. The Angkor Wat Temples Area is quite a bit bigger than the photos of Angkor Wat imply. There are over a hundred different temples! Way more than one could fathom visiting in a three day trip. To say the least; my flip flops were not cut out for the job.
Buddhist? Hindu? back to Buddhist? It's difficult to grasp how many times the complex changed hands. If I wasn't already lost in the colonnades and Nada balustrades I was certainly lost in the time line. The temples were built over the course of 4 centuries, and by many different artisans. Luckily my parents and I hired an incredibly patient and knowledgeable guide. My advice for those traveling to Angkor Wat - hire a guide, and a tuk tuk driver. As incredible as the main Angkor Wat Temple is, the surrounding areas and temples are just at spell binding.

Cambodian food
Khmer Dishes are less spicy than what you might find in Singapore and Bangkok, but no less flavorsome. With influences from China and France, one can only salivate at the possibilities. Think Le Bec Fin meets Iron Chef; then throw that combo in a wok at a reasonably priced family restaurant. Yum.
I thought going to Honduras with my mother two years ago was a wild ride, but this topped it. Traveling with parents as an adult is wonderful. It sure beats those long road trips to visit the grandparents as a child with two older and terrorizing siblings on either side. 'Squish the lemon?' Try 'make lemonade.'

A trip with the parents, part 1

After a hectic trial and error session of getting out of Philadelphia during what the papers called a ‘snowmagedeon’ my parents made it safely to Singapore. Neither one of my parents had ever been on vacation to Asia before. The plan was simple, 3 days here in Singapore, 3 days in Bangkok, 3 days in Siem Reap. It wasn’t until about halfway through the trip that I realized we were on a tourism marathon which we should have been training for months in advance. In Bangkok, we agreed that Khao San Road lives up to its reputation; it is the center of the backpacker universe. As I was there with my parents I didn’t spend much time mingling with the backpackers, but I could see that they were open and friendly. I did coincidentally run into a girl I met in the 4th grade and we had a very ‘Khao San Road’ style reunion: G&Ts and Singha Beer!
My parents and I were lucky enough to make our way through the busy streets of Khao San Rd to Chinatown in Bangkok on one of the evening of Chinese New Year, year of the Tiger. Imagine a street lined in red lanterns for as far as the eyes can see. The vendors were selling a variety of goods like ‘fish paste wrapped in a coconut leaf,’ baby bunnies in sweaters watches, knives, everything. We topped the night off by going to a Chinese restaurant on an adjacent street and it turned out to be one of the best meals of the trip. An expat-looking patron eating on the stoop-section of the restaurant recommended the lobster, so that’s what we had.

After Bangkok we were off to Cambodia for a lesson in the origins of Buddhism and Hinduism, archeology, and war history.