a medley of extemporanea;: February 2009

Elephant Trekking in Khao Lak

Heading Home

Just got back into Bangkok from Siem Reap, Cambodia and will be in Bangkok for less than 8 hours before heading BACK to the airport for home. We were in Siem Reap for two nights and two days. Angkor Wat was cool but I highly suggest not going there in the middle of the day! I was miserably hot and everything was dry and dusty. There's only so many temple ruins I can see in this condition.

Siem Reap was a fun little town. On one street corner, there were 5 foot massage places and on our last day, Autumn and I got our tootsies rubbed for a whopping $4. Here's a fun fact about Siem Reap - they LOVE Angelina Jolie here. Several bars have a special "Angelina" Cocktail and there are some bars that she herself had been to and you can pay extra to sit in the chair she had once sat in!! No, I didn't pay to sit in her old chair!

Maxin' and Relaxin'

Ahhhh...the relaxing part of our vacation! We headed for the beach. Khao Lak, to be exact. Khao Lak is about an hours drive north of Phuket on the Andaman Coast. Chuck and Heather recommended it as there are beautiful beaches but not a tourist trap like Phuket. This area was the hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami and because of this, many Thais considered it to be a town full of ghosts. Most of the area has been rebuilt and the resort was full while we were there. I don't know about ghosts, but this town was definitely full of Germans!

One Night In Bangkok...

Technically we were in Bangkok for two nights but as my luck would have it, my slight cold has turned into the real deal. By the time we arrived to Chuck and Heather's house, I was miserable! So, on our first night in Bangkok, I stayed in and slept! How lame!

The next day, I tried to nut up and not let this cold bring me down. We saw the Wat Pho Temple where the Reclining Buddha is well...reclining. Took a TukTuk around the city as well as a boat on the river. Then what is a trip to Bangkok without eating and shopping? The price of everything here is really cheap but you forget and start haggling over what turns out to be a few dollars! While in Khoa Lak, I was able to save a whopping 40 cents on a pair of sunglasses for Ben.

Ivan, Autumn and Chuck in a TukTuk in front of us

Last day in Taipei

Before heading off for Thailand, we had one last delicious meal at my "Big" Uncle's house. My cousin, Ee-chena and her husband came to visit. I was thrilled because I haven't seen Ee-chena since we were little girls. She's only 3 years younger than me but when I saw her last, I had a good 2 feet on her in height. Now we are pretty much the same size - I really haven't grown an inch since I was 12!

Notice in this pic the boy next to Ben. This is Daniel, Ben's new BFF!

The National Palace Museum

Taipei - Day 5

Trying to fit it all in before we depart is proving to be difficult. Seeing family and trying to see the sites is getting exhausting! I started off the trip with a slight cold and am only now starting to feel better but unfortunately my luck didn't last!

Two nights ago when returning from our outings at the bars, I slammed my finger in between the front and back passenger door of a cab. My finger was stuck and the cab was about to drive off with the tip of my right index finger! I started pounding on the window and the driver realized what happened so my finger was saved. However, I get light headed and faint easily, and once I saw the cuts and blood on my finger, I was a mess. Luckily, Ben, Ivan and Autumn all rallied around me and I didn't faint but I was asked by a passerby if I needed to go to the hospital. Too bad I don't have any gross mangled finger pics to post!

Ben and I at the Grand Palace Hotel

The Grand Palace Hotel

Eating al fresca

Still in Taipei - Day 4

Our gang, the fishy snail munchers!

My mom haggling on the price of who knows what!

Went to Danshui again today but this time with a whole crew of relatives and friends. This was my mom and my aunt's plan to spend the day walking and eating. Which is precisely what we did. We started off with a coil of potato chips which comes on a stick and is one potato cut in a neverending coil. Tastes just like regular potato chips but much more fun to eat! Then we had some Japanese rice candy that is my cousin, Hung Ching's favorite. Proceeded then to have a very tasty bowl of fish ball soup with Sho Bao. Ate a bunch of dried meats and squid and black pickled eggs. The strangest food was our bowl of spicy, cold snails where you suck the "meaty" part out of the small snail shell. Pretty fishy tasting and for all that sucking you don't get much substance!

The snail options.

Taipei - Night Out

It is near impossible to find bars to chill at in Taipei. Tonight after some research in our travel guides, we found an area called the "combat zone" that had a bunch of bars. This "combat zone" is no longer associated with soldiers or GI's but rather an old area where at one point, many could be found drinking with lovely Taiwanese ladies. We checked out three places and were pretty much the only folks in all three bars.

The always refreshing Taiwan Beer!

Taipei - Day 3

Taipei 101 is the tallest building in the world at the moment. There's a building in Dubai that is going to be taller once it's done but until then Taiwan holds the record. Ben and I visited this place last time but didn't go all the way to the top. This time we made sure to do it up right. The bottom 5 floors of Taipei 101 is a designer mall with all sorts of extravagant stores. Of course, that's where I picked up everybody's souvenirs. :P Hope everybody likes Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood fashions.

Also, one of my favorite places to visit in Taipei is the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Strangely enough, while there this time, we were able to see the Andy Warhol exhibit.

The National Theater at Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Autumn and Me at the gate to the Memorial Hall

A squatter toilet - just for you, Jenny!!!

Taipei - Day 2

Today we went to the Longshan Temple in Taipei. It is the oldest temple and was incredibly packed with people paying their respects to their deceased relatives. Walking into the temple, you are hit with smoke from all the burning incense. It drizzled all day today and the umbrellas were a little out of control. At one point, Ben grumpily said that he wished people would get over their fear of a little rain! Spoken like a true Oregonian!

Longsham Temple

Me, Ben, my Mom, and my cousin Daniel

The Modern Toilet restaurant that we walked past.

Modern Toilet!

Taipei - Day 1 Danshui

After our New Year's meal at Shih Chen's house. We hit the MRT (mass rapid transit) and headed to Danshui. Danshui is an old fishing port in Taipei with lots of food stalls and shops. Because of the holiday, the crowds were minimal and we were able to walk without the herds. There was a Longshan Temple here that we checked out and then we did what most Northwesterners would do...we hit Starbucks!