Fun Thai-mes in Thailand

I recently booked a spontaneous trip to Thailand with a few schoolmates. One of our friends is returning to Pattaya, his home for the last seven years, and invited us over for a week of good eating, sun-bathing, boozing, general Thai-themed shenanigans, and a nice place to stay.

While it's been an interesting learning experience as far as traveling with four people you've only known for two-months or less (and who have completely opposite personalities...we've all admitted that we would not likely have become friends under different circumstances. It's like bad reality TV.), the trip has certainly not disappointed as far as the above criteria go. The highlights:

Good Eating
Of course, always a must!

• Soups, always spicy: Lots of duck and pork noodle soups with more chili than I've probably consumed in the last year put together. Best tom yum kung and tom kha kai ever. Thais do such an amazing job combining salty, sweet, spicy, sour. Also firmly believe you can't go wrong with kaffir lime and coconut milk. 

• So much street food (and by street sometimes I mean beach): pad thai, papaya salad, fried taro/tofu/corn, meringue cookies topped with shaved egg yolk, grilled/dried squid, roasted chicken.

 

  

  

 

• Giant black scorpions! 

• Such fresh seafood (there is something so beautiful about eating decadent seafood meals while staring out at the ocean): lemon whole fish, crab, prawns, scallop salads

 

 

• Western food: I'm staying at a Swiss guy's house, so there's also been a fair share of steak and potatoes and tons of cheese plates with Parma ham and this special cured beef found in the mountains of Switzerland.

 

 Sun Bathing

• Spent a night on the island of Koh Samet. Soft white sand. Clear water. Coconut in hand. Bliss.

Boozing

• Not my favorite part of the trip. Although, it consumed such a large part of the itinerary that I felt it deserved its own bullet point.

 

General Thai-Themed Shenanigans

• Rode on traditional motorized Bangkok bike/carriage taxis called "tuk tuks"
• Picked up a backpacker on the boat back from Koh Samet and brought him to our friend's place in Pattaya. Showed him (yes, I quote) "one of the most interesting nights of my life."  
• Women bathing in the middle of a bar. Oh, nightlife in Thailand.
• Ping pong show. Because I have younger siblings with access to this blog, I'll just say there were ping pong balls, needles and balloons involved.
• Purchased my entire spring/summer wardrobe at a traditional market. 6 shirts. 2 dresses. $30USD.
• Tried to play polo, which mainly means riding in very slow circles on a horse while trying not to fall off.

• Got in a motorcycle accident with a goofy-looking, stupid-hat-wearing, angry, Russian man on a four wheeler. Walked away with a small bruise/scar on my neck that looks like a hickey. Lame.

• Dipped my feet in a fish tank to have my dead skin snacked on by Garra Rufa or "Doctor Fish." Fish=full. Feet=soft. Win-win.

Nice Place to Stay

• My friend lives in what is pretty much the Playboy mansion of Thailand (complete with stocked bar, nightclub, stripper poles, cigar room, multiple hot tubs, recording studio, theater, bowling alley, ocean view and nice Thai ladies bringing you fresh towels).
• Such a change of pace from the hostel travel I'd become accustomed to. 
• No complaints.

 

 

I'm a Lost Girl.

My first post as a Lost Girl is up! Check it out here: "What Not to Pack: Five Items to Leave Behind."

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section over there!

Why this Year is Already Better Than Last

I hope the next 50 weeks will be as good as the first two.


1. My Debut as a World Class Pillow Fighter on Taiwanese News.
I spent the first Saturday of the year outside Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall with hundreds of other pillow-wielding, flash-mobbery enthusiasts. Twenty out-of-breath, laughing-'til-your-abs-are-sore, joyfully-chaotic-hysterically-juvenile minutes of pillow fighting until the cops shut us down.

Plus, there were people wearing helmets. I love quirks like this that are "so Taiwan."

Here's the video of the news clip. You'll find me getting bashed in the head by my friend Jim at around 0:13. Sweet revenge comes at around 0:31 though.



2. I Ate Bees...On Purpose.
I went to WuLai over the weekend with some friends, and, among many other exciting adventures, we ate at Taiya Po Po, which was featured on "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" for its authentic aboriginal cuisine. 

I don't know why, but I was a little surprised when our plate of fried bees arrived at the table. I felt like, "Hmm...wow...those really look like bees. I'm about to eat a bug." Anyway, the dish was really tasty. A little too oily, but the crunch of the bees complimented the greens and the refreshing spice from the red chili peppers.


Highlights from the trip also included wild mountain boar sausage, bamboo tube rice, wild mountain yam soup, fermented pork, sesame oil betel nut salad, sugar cane juice, preserved eggs. We also rode a cable care through the air up a mountain and saw the highest water fall in Taiwan.

More photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelittletourist/sets/72157623189269842/.

3. Diving Right In
I'm already one step closer to my New Year's resolution of learning to scuba dive with my dear friend Julie. Tickets purchased for the Philippines Feb. 17-26.

4. It's A Good Time To Make Babies...Or Die. 

I recently purchased a tiny scroll of paper from a fortune telling machine for $10NT. I had to have my Chinese teacher translate it for me, but apparently my near future is looking very peaceful and calm. The fam is happy and healthy.

If I become a fisherman, I will make money. If I become a farmer, I will not make money. If I become a businesswoman, I will make money.

It's a good time to make babies. If I get pregnant, I will have a boy.

It's a good time to die. If I die, I will have a nice burial.

5. Come Ride with Me!
I have visitors lined up to come starting next month, every month, all the way until summer! Hooray! Reserve your spot soon if you'd like a room at "旅館 愛鈴" or "lǚ​guǎn​ ài​ líng​" or "hotel ashley."

Resolve in the New Year

It's still New Year's Day back in the States, so I feel like I'm not quite too late to be posting New Year's resolutions. 2009 was a big year for me, so I have high hopes for 2010. A few goals (not necessarily in chronological order):

1. Speak Mandarin.
2. Buy a bike.
3. Learn to bike.
4. Ride my bike across Taiwan.
5. Practice > 365 hours of yoga.
6. Pay more attention (to my surroundings, my loved ones and the environment).
7. Never stop surprising myself.
8. Travel to India.
9. Climb up things (like rocks). Dive into things (like oceans). Walk up things (like mountains and 101-floored skyscrapers).
10. Make someone else's life better.

I've had a lot of time to reflect on this past year, and I realize that it was a huge opportunity for personal growth. I think 2008 me would barely recognize 2009 me. These past 12 months I focused a lot on myself and tried to figure out what I needed to be happy, which I think is important. However, this also meant it was a year of selfishness and narcissism. Since I'm still in my "early twenties," I think that's OK.

But now that I'm quickly approaching "mid twenties," I think I should change that. If I fail at all of my resolutions over the next year, I hope that I will at least keep in mind the last.

Yoga Competition...?

Yoga and competition are not two words that I usually find in the same sentence. Somehow I've found myself standing at the corner of this exact intersection, anxiously awaiting for each to collide come January 15.

Let me explain.

Yesterday my favorite yoga instructor informed me, with much enthusiasm, about an upcoming public demonstration and performance.  A number of the teachers are assembling "teams" of students to compete for about $20,000 NT. He has one spot left on his team and needs me to join, so I can top their pyramid.

I'm a former cheerleader (don't make fun...I'm from Texas), have experience (however limited) in "acroyoga," and am under five feet tall...so I'm actually a pretty good candidate for the position of yoga pyramid topper.

However, the idea of competing in yoga goes completely against why I love it so much. My new studio is quite commercial. There are mirrors everywhere. Fit Taiwanese ladies in matchy matchy workout clothes. Shiny, posh lounges for sipping tea. Sales consultants. Two-year contracts. But I personally practice yoga for pretty crunchy, hippie reasons, as it:

1. Helps me meditate and feel centered daily.
2. Brought me the faith in possibility necessary for the life I created this past year.
3. Let's me refocus as when things aren't feeling right-side up, it helps to see things from upside down for a bit.
4. Reminds me to be always grateful for everything, everyone and everyday.

Apparently I'm a very quick sellout though as I agreed to join the team and start "training" next week.
 Oy.