Eating And Traveling
I really enjoyed my five days in the Land of the Rising Sun. And that name really is appropriate due to the fact of the sun appearing in my window at around 3:30 a.m. Kyoto was my favorite visit and these are the visuals from a close proximity.
After visiting the Kinkaku-ji golden temple, which was surprisingly underwhelming, we took to the streets to explore and found an awesome Zen garden. Kyoto, like the rest of Japan is immaculately clean making for a pleasant stroll. The Zen garden was full of functional beauty. It was a peaceful place with an enchanting pine aroma and the sound of running water surrounds.
The walk continues…
I found these amazing temples and a cute street with a cute family where a cute girl was walking a cute dog. Walking remains my favorite way to explore a new city.
These were some of the stones we walked on, and a bad English sign making me wonder if they just mean “Don’t pee on the seat.”
This bowl of seemingly simple noodles was extraordinary. It looked like every other restaurant on the street, but what a dish! The pork was so soft and tasty, the noodles al dente, and plenty of green onion. I was so happy eating this.
So great, look at the sesame seeds and bubbles of tastiness floating there.
The left dish was egg wrapped around rice and drowned in a gelatinous goop (tastes better than my accurate description). The right dish was a pretty good ramen soup, but not nearly as good as that first one.
On the islands of the West coast of Thailand, sunsets are a quiet reminder that time is actually still passing despite the slow pace of your day. There were some really spectacular views over the ocean, as if the sun was bleeding into the water. We got lucky with really good weather, cloudy and sunny with morning or midnight showers. It’s never easy to leave paradise.
Not all the sand was so coarse. Phuket’s beaches were so fine they made a squeak when you walked.
This is one of our favorite sunset pictures together.
Our only beachside hotel was here in Phuket. We swam in the rain and ran home wet in bathing suits receiving stares from the locals in jackets and boots.
And of course, this lovely little cat who followed us all the way up our extremely steep stairs to hang out with us.
This is a magical island. It’s got the cute, friendly cats ready to love on your leg. It’s got plenty of shopping, eating and drinking available. It’s got Scuba and snorkeling in the crystal blue ocean you expect of paradise. The Banana Bar has a rooftop bar with several big screen projectors and a dynamite sound system. Watching Kill Bill with excellent sound made me appreciate Tarantino’s movie soundtrack all over again. Although it’s full of shirtless, tattooed post-grad or gap year douchebros drinking to excess and discussing debauchery in loud voices, you can easily ignore them to fully enjoy this fantasy island. Cosmic (near the party area) is a restaurant with homemade ravioli that made me smile. What a place!
Quiet, lapping waves on our semi-private beach with the little kitty who followed us home and slept every night in our room.
View from 3rd floor of Phi Phi Good View Hotel.
The fire dudes before the daily fire show. They showed us all their fire scars.
Sunset soccer at low tide.
The “main” street is full of snack stalls, bars, and traditional tattoo parlors like this one.
The jasmine heavy in the humid night air, an almost soundless alley covered with potted plants, a group of troubadours singing Beatles’ songs in a bar. It’s a nice place. A moat surrounds the old town. Temples scattered throughout the streets. The first stop in Thailand offered my first rubber bodied Thai massage in years and too much Mexican food. Western food dominates the walking paths where I walked.
They are the largest cat in the world. They are indisputably gorgeous. They are also killing machines capable of taking down elephants. They are now being stroked like an indolent kitty in a sunbeam. What a dream come true.
However, I was worried about how these majestic felines would be contained. I’ve heard the stories of drugging or over-punishment upon them, so research was necessary. Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai has a great system, and the animals seem happy. Some cages are still too small, and judging by their bellies, possibly over-fed for safety. But, unlike the Bangkok tiger sanctuary where the cats are kept on chains, these tigers are free to walk around (as long as it’s not in the direction of a visitor). I paid about 45US$ for the full package of tigers–smallest, small, medium and large. The smallest tigers were only 3 months old!
Such a baby face, full of curiosity. We moved on to the small (5-6 months) and medium next.
This tiger loved me! He showed me his belly and then started stretching his long legs and giant padded paws all over me just like domestic cats. So amazing to interact with these endangered creatures.
This was the big girl. Our trainer said she was aggressive.
My love for cats evinced.
Thank you tigers for making me happy. I hope you are too.
Charter a tuk-tuk or mini van to take you the 40 minutes to this paradisaical locale. First, we hike up the hill, and meet the bears, rather playful and seemingly happy. They are the Asian Bears, sometimes called Sun Bear or Moon Bear, depending on the color stripe on their chest. These guys were climbing and scratching and fun to watch, but that cold water was calling to my sweaty backpacked back.
It’s not long before being greeted with the dream like waterfalls and miraculously colored blue water. I had seen no pictures of this before, so it was all a wonderful surprise.
I dove right in…
Quiet, cold water mixed with that soothing sound of flowing water created an atmosphere of cheek hurting smiles.
After soaking for a while, I took a walk higher into the trees. I met a guy on the trail and we hiked talking about mutual interests such as The Mighty Ducks’ movies. The jungle trees were dense and old.
Because of poor planning, I was only able to spend a much too brief half day here. I could have stayed longer. Such a pleasure even if it went too fast. It was like that 5$ truffle you buy at the mall, you only get one delicious bite, but it’s usually one to remember.
There are over 30 temples in the quaint UNESCO heritage city of Luang Prabang, Laos. Many are small courtyards, some are hidden from plain sight beyond trees or houses, others on distant hillsides, but most are within the city center. I took a walk on a dreary, rainy day and snapped some photos of the many seated Buddhas.
The aptly named Pub Street in downtown Siem Reap glows neon red in the hot jungle air. Street hawkers beseech you with their cries about the food quality and with bargain prices. There are plenty of bars and restaurants in which to eat offering Khmer, Thai, Western and Indian cuisine. Of course I couldn’t resist a place which proclaims to have “The Best Mexican Food in Asia.”
At Viva, they serve pretty authentic Tex-Mex style dishes. I had the chimichanga with green chile sauce and was pleased with the results. Quality meat and cheese fried up with a cool sauce. They also offer 2$ tequila shots and Corona bottles.
There is also a trendy rooftop bar called The Triangle whose lights were too dim for pictures. They offer a very chill atmosphere and a bistro type cuisine. Live music every night here with plenty of balcony seats. The band actually covered The Doors’ version of “Backdoor Man.”
Charlie’s reminds me of Austin, Texas. Cold beer, good food and bar stool seating. I ordered the sliders, which were tasty but under-cooked. When will Asia realize you must cook burgers all the way through (without drying them out)?
E.A.T. 