Experiments Gone Tasty: A Journey Through South East Asia

This year has been interesting for me. It's definitely a year dedicated to myself and what I want to do with my life. It started out rocky. I had some personal stuff going on compounded with the loathing I had for my job. It took a lot of courage and some split decisions to decide to leave my job in May. I had the support of my friends and family...and another job lined up. The stars just weren't aligning with the job in another state, and so I decided to stay in Southern California, decline the job and am currently a free spirit. I also decided that I needed to go on a trip. I think that was the best decision, aside from quitting my job, I've made this year.

I arbitrarily decided on South East Asia. I had family in Bangkok and I've heard amazing things about Thailand. I started researching and tend to like the places less traveled and decided on a trip that was centered around Cambodia.

My journey started on a Monday. I flew Korean Air. It was a great airline, good food and excellent service. I had a stop over in Japan and then a layover in Korea. I seriously don't understand the deal with going through security after getting off the plane again and again. I got into Bangkok around 12am. My Auntie and Uncle so kindly picked me up and fed me once again. :) So much food! Then I took a shower and headed to bed.

Buddha Worship on the Corner - you could even buy and release sparrows for 400 baht!

I don't feel like the jet lag really hit me. I was out and about the next day, admiring the places of worship and heading to one of the many many malls. There are so many malls in Bangkok. My Auntie said that people from Hong Kong come down to just go shopping. After Uncle came home, we went to see the Reclining Buddha. The Buddha was crazy big. The entire compound was amazing! The golds, the blues and the reds were all spectacular.

I'm in love with color!

Gorgeous!

Hello! Reclining Buddah!

After the Reclining Buddha, we were stuck in Bangkok traffic for 4 hours! Yes, 4 hours!! It was crazy. We only had time for dinner at that point. Uncle and Auntie ordered everything under the sun and I enjoyed it all. There was this great chicken in banana leaves. It was my favorite thing in Thailand. Mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Mmm and all the lovely fruit!

I tried Durian! It was durian from an ancient tree. It was smelly and the flesh was musky. It was a sweet musky taste. It wasn't what I was expecting. I felt like a monkey when I was eating it. I probably would have started acting like a monkey if my family didn't think I was weird. Apparently, you are supposed to eat Durian followed by a "cool" fruit like the mangosteen.