Sawasdee 2014!

Happy New Year all!! Wow - where did 2013 go?? It was by far one of the fastest years for me yet! I'm hoping 2014 goes a little slower :)

I reflected back on 2013 and realized I had many "firsts" this year :

1. Got married! (twice! to the same man of course)

2. Took the first step in following one of my passions - photography! by taking my first course!

3. Got my first 2 articles published in a magazine!

4. Got my first job as Features Editor for a magazine!

5. Was Maid of Honor for the first time in Erica's wedding :)

6. Visited an elephant retirement home and learned about all that goes into taking care of them.

7. Blessed by a Bhutanese monk on top of a mountain overlooking the Himalayas.

8. First Christmas away from home EVER! And first one with Alo!

I also decided to make a list of all the countries I've visited so far and I'm at 26 and counting! I have been to more than Alo - oh this steams him! ha!

In 2013 I traveled to America(twice!), Tunisia, Thailand, France, Cambodia, Laos, Bhutan and India.

Hope you enjoy the video below of 2013! I wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! Love and miss you all! xoxo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0_iwdBMJXQ

Happy (belated) Halloweenie!

This year I was so excited to be in Bangkok for Halloween! Last year I exposed my inner Martha Stewart by making chocolate covered pretzels with bright fall colored sprinkles and a darling 'pumpkin' cheese ball. Let's face it - there was no celebrating going on in Tunisia. This year however, we live in a city that - to me -  never sleeps...so I knew I could count on some serious festive parties!

I was certainly not let down! So many top bars and restaurants had dedicated Halloween events and went above and beyond with their decorations and their employees' eerie and  frightful looking costumes! With the vibrant red wounds painted on faces and dark black stitches etched on top - they really didn't skimp on details.

Alo and I went as Mr. & Mrs. Waldo! Alo wasn't oh-so-excited about dressing up but he wasn't stopping me! However after I fell madly in love with a shockingly bright red wig I nicely told him he HAD to be Waldo ; ) Otherwise my outfit might have been quite confusing to onlookers. Little did he know - I picked the most awesome costume idea ever! People were LOVING it! And he really had a blast 'playing the part' - don't try to deny it Alo! 

Oh and the biggest highlight of Halloween...I won a new phone!! I have hated my phone for SO long and have been desperately trying to find a used from from the states to bring over here but never had such luck. Phones in Asia are SO stinkin' expensive it's not even funny. So voila - thanks to Halloween and my mad skills of filling out raffle entries - I won a new phone!! When I received the email that I had won days later - I literally jetted out of the house and ran straight to the bar to retrieve it! I think the man thought I was a bit cray cray ; )

Hope everyone back home ate lots of candy for me!! xoxo

Where's Waldo? 7-11 Thonglor!

Where's Waldo?? Can you find him?

I still had to bake something this year of course...

Oh and one really big thing that also happened right after Halloween - one of my very best friends got ENGAGED!! Congrats Maggie and Neil!! I'll be a dear and start planning your honeymoon ; ) teaser below...

Beers, Brats & Wiener Schnitzels!

It's the most wonderful time of year again - the holidays!! Are you slightly confused by that statement? Well let me explain. I consider fall to start in September, also meaning the holidays kick off. It's a lovely constant stream of holiday after holiday with tons of decor and celebrations. Sadly, this is my 3rd year without the true holidays and wonderful crisp fall weather that is currently happening in many areas back home however last year I did get a slice of the goodness...one word - Oktoberfest!!

One of my best friends from our wee young years, Maggie, came to Europe to meet me for a fast track, crazy intense itinerary, amazingly wild European trip! It was just a complete.and.utter.blast. I will always treasure that trip because it's not everyday you can find someone to travel with and experience so many wonderful new things together - especially in our 'cough cough' old age. Life is just busy for everyone and so I was SO happy when we made this happen! (thanks Alo & Neil!)

Oktoberfest is in Munich, Germany lasting 16 days, from late September to the first weekend in October. I'm still confused why it's not all in October, hints the name Oktoberfest, but I suppose they must have some good reason. Like I mentioned before, we basically wanted to cram everything and anything possible in to our European gallivant so we didn't have too much time in Munich. So we may not have seen all the lovely sites Munich offers, however we certainly experienced Oktoberfest to the fullest! The only thing we probably skipped on were those darn cute German beer wench outfits sold everywhere but they were quite a pretty penny and Maggie and I felt just as happy in our own attire and warm coats.

This Beer Carousel was my favorite!

And the guys wear the cutest outfits! 

From the huge beer gardens, food, rides, games and fun people - this was literally an adults playground! Children also attend but lets face it - the adults really have the fun here. And can't forget, the live music! It's great and very fun in the tents/beer gardens. Maggie and I somehow managed to get right up on stage and make friends with the band - definitely one of the highlights for sure!

I wish I would have gotten a picture of the beer ladies carrying 10 of these mugs through the massive crowd of people! Serious talent!

So if you are adding things to your buck list - certainly put this on it! You won't be disappointed!

Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore...but we still have Starbucks and McDonald's

As I sat in Starbucks yesterday morning using their Internet due to our outage at home I started thinking. Gosh, this place is really just so great ( sorry for all you Sbux haters ). Not only is it successful in America, yet they can expand globally in over 60 countries and maintain their wonderful coffees, food, service, and pleasant atmospheres in each store. It's like a little slice of home that's nice to always have with me, as silly as it may sound. Starbucks is also very respective of the local cultures in these 60 some countries and their traditions and client preferences. So if you ask me...Well done Starbucks.

Of course you can't forget one other company who falls under the same category. Am I specifically supporting their food, healthiness, or anything of the sort? No. However, McDonald's is in almost double the amount of countries as Starbucks yet they too remain to have the same ol' greasy goodness Americans are used to all over this world. More often with really large locations with an entire desserts/coffee cafe included in the store. So if or when you need that cheeseburger and french fry fix and are pretty much anywhere in the world (except Tunisia!) head on over to good old McDonald's. 

Siem Reap, Cambodia

This past 4th of July I headed to Siem Reap, Cambodia to celebrate the lovely holiday with none other than 3 fabulous Americans! No cookouts or fireworks, but we did manage to find an American pub playing all the classics on the jukebox and filled with foreigners from all over sporting their tacky American flag gear.

The first word that comes to mind when thinking of my overall trip to Siem Reap is CHEAP! You can take a tuk-tuk pretty much anywhere which run from $1 to $20 (20 is for the whole day of transportation), food is most likely around $3 for a regular meal or like $12 for a "fancy dinner" complete with a bottle of wine, and best of all...beers cost .35 cents up to $1 being the most expensive. Yes .35 cents! Can you believe that? Dangerous eh?

Tuk-tuk driving is exhausting apparently! Love how they get creative in order to fit in their daily naps!

Angkor Wat is the largest first Hindu, now Buddhist temple complex and the largest religious monument in the world. It is probably the top attraction in Cambodia and was certinaly the highlight of the trip, however be prepared for temples after temples after temples while trekking in the scorching heat! (well that is if you go in July like we did!) The first morning we got up early and promptly left the hotel at 4 am sharp. The sunset was beautiful for sure but the amount of tourist who also have the same bright idea slightly hinders the beautiful and peaceful scenery a bit. Well and not to mention the fact I felt like a zombie didn't help. What can I say I'm just not a morning person! Oh and how could I forget - we met Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber as we walked into the temple for sunrise. No not the real live stars, but the hagglers who try to sell you things or want you to visit their coffee shops - they choose the funniest names - I can't help but giggle when they introduce themselves.

Maneuvering our way through the ancient sites with the bright morning sun and slightly lower temperatures was pretty nice. Not only were we climbing up SO many steep steps in most every temple and paying our respects to Buddha while gaining multiple bright orange braided bracelets, we also made a little friend on our trip - Werthers. You are wondering if we named him after the candy - Werthers Original? Well of course we did. It was only fitting seeing as how my friend Bex gave him a piece of my candy and from then on it was like love at first site. He would NOT leave our side. Hopped right up in our tuk-tuk and rode from temple to temple following Bex around and sitting in her lap. Now this might sound cute and wonderful, but I will say I'm not a fan of monkeys and for good reason. Back in the Indonesia days, my first encounter with monkeys lead to two of them attacking my arm due to the obscene amount of bananas I was holding. Yes - bad planning on my part, however I still have witnessed too many shenanigans from monkeys to the point I certainly don't trust them. And of course they are just wild animals so you always have to be careful to a certain point. I will say Werthers did turn out to be quite the sweetie pie and luckily a tourist group decided to feed him all kinds of goodies and he fell in love all over again so we didn't have to bring him back to the hotel!

If you look closely you can see the Werthers he is holding and nibbling on!Bizarre their little teeth can nibble off bites!

One place that is off the beaten path but a must to go see in Siem Reap is Beng Mealea. We rented a car and driver for this one because if you take a tuk-tuk the price is similar and it will take you probably triple the amount of time to get there. It was only about an hour as I remember by car. This temple is made from sandstone like most the others however it is largely unrestored. Huge trees and brush have overtaken the sandstone structures and creates such a unique site to explore and see what all the others would be like had no restoration processes gone on in the past. We climbed through the large sandstone pieces that are now in large piles and pieces from where they've collapsed through the years.

Rock climbing anyone?

And lastly, the Cambodian kids at this temple are so darn cute and have learned to not haggle but yet sit and look adorable which makes you even more enticed to give them candy or money! This cutie pie already had her own snack :)

Speaking of kids, Cambodia is where Angelina Jolie adopted her first kid, Maddox. The kids are just absolutely darling. I could see instantly fell in love with them. They say she decided to adopt a child from there while filming her move Tomb Raider in 2001. I'm not into those kind of movies so unfortunately haven't seen it but if you've watched it you would have seen the Ta Prohm temple, pictured below from our trip. The trees all around these temples are just incredible. I've never seen such enormous trees protruding from the ground.

The Cambodian gentlemen above was our waiter at one of the last restaurants we went to before we left. He started telling us his story by saying his parents were from Texas after he quickly learned we were all Americans. This lead into his past of how he lost his Mom when he was only around 5 years old when many Cambodians tried to flee the country to the border of Thailand during the Khmer Rouge genocide  from around 1975-1980. US Aid  ( if my memory serves me correct ) or an aid group like them picked up tons of orphan children during this time and this is how he was eventually "adopted" by his American parents. They paid for him to get a higher education in law and have a good life in Cambodia. I realize so many of the people around us in Cambodia were effected directly by the Khmer Rouge regime's killings however meeting a victim directly and hearing their mournful story really makes you think and feel so grateful. He was so humble and thankful for all he had and was so inspiring.

Cambodia - you are a lovely country with so much hope, happiness and simplicity. I hope to see you again!

Mini-moon!

I always hoped Alo and I would do a honeymoon after the wedding and that was the one wedding thing I tasked him with but unfortunately he just never got around to it - busy man! He's been working so hard and knew June would be a hard month due to a big conference here in Bangkok and lots of his colleagues coming to the region. So we settled for a mini-moon! We hope to do a honeymoon (the longer trip!) in September if all goes as planned. Alo made a good point - since we had a tiny wedding(it was a secret at the time ops!) and a big wedding we needed a mini-moon and a honeymoon to balance it out. Smart man! That's why I married him :)

So naturally, we booked the hotel(Nakamanda) and flight all around midnight on Thursday and we left at 6:30am on Friday - he likes to keep me on my toes! Geeez. Mind you I was the one booking in bed and he was snoozing! Nothing like a little last minute planning.

This trip was simple and easy. Quick domestic flight to Krabi, Thailand and a short taxi ride from the airport to our hotel and voila! a little slice of paradise and relaxation together for 4 days. Krabi is located in the South West of Thailand and is just beautiful with all of the limestone rocks jutting out from the Andaman Sea. And don't forget the clear blue water and white sand beaches - Aaaamazing. Not all the beaches are like that in the Krabi Provence, however they are always just a short boat ride away.

Since the point of the mini-moon was to just enjoy our time together and totally veg-out we weren't oh too adventurous for once - which was fine by me! Sometimes you have to stop and smell the roses - or in our case sip your pina coladas and swim all day! We did however of course rent a scooter on Day 1, Alo's favorite thing to do, and take a longtail boat to Hong Island for a day.

Hong Island was great - not too packed with tourists and fanny packs and just stunning! No real snorkeling spots but there were a ton of one fish and they sure loved our snacks I packed.

We did have one small hiccup in the trip. Missed a flight?.... Nope! But did Alo hit his head, crack it open, and have to get 5 stitches? Yes he did. Poor guy!! Oh I felt so bad for him. I also physically felt so bad when it happened because we learned apparently I almost faint/get super queezy at the sight of blood. It was a total freak accident. It started to pour outside so we took cover under a spot near the pool. Alo being the gentleman he is rushed to put down the plastic covers so the rain wouldn't drench our stuff and in the process hit his poor head! At first I thought he was just being a "weenie" and cussing up a storm over a little bump on the head until he asked me to see if it was bleeding and I just about fainted. I pulled myself together to the best of my ability and called SOS (international insurance provider) and asked them what to do. They directed me to the local clinic and off we went. By clinic I mean one little room with 4 hospital beds that were all filled up with other patients. Alo got right in, they took a  quick look at his head, said he needed stitches and out of the room I went. It was the quickest Emergicare experience complete with a bow like bandage he got to sport around the rest of the day! I rewarded him for being such a trooper with a quick trip to McD's on the way to the airport so that helped :)

All in all a great mini-moon as husband and wife! whoop whoop!

In love with the purple water lilies!

Alo's vacation shirt. He wears it EVERY trip we take. Repeatedly says "vacation man!!" while doing a little dance ha

Banana Split - with 2 scoops of fresh coconut ice cream - YUM!

We found some toys to swing on at the beach - my little monkey!

Pretty pretty sunsets every evening!