The Big Buddha, Phuket, Thailand

Sanaz and I got to leave a little piece of ourselves behind at the Big Buddha in Phuket, Thailand. This marble tile covered statue is under construction and with a donation you can write a message on the back of a tile that will be used to cover him.

Songkran Festival - Thai New Year

The Songkran Festival in Patong Thailand on April 13 was quite a party. This represents Thai New Year where people traditionally sprinkled water on each other for good luck. However, this has now turned into one massive water fight/street party/parade with people soaking each other with water guns and dumping buckets of ice water on each other along with baby powder. It was such a hot day I didn't mind getting soaked!

Southern Thailand

In southern Thailand, my friend Sanaz and I visited Phuket and Koh Phi Phi Island - and now officially this area of the world wins the award of 'most beautiful beaches' through my eyes! They are perfect with white soft sandy beaches, crystal blue waters, and dramatic limestone cliffs.



This is Maya Bay where the movie 'The Beach' with Leonard DiCaprio was filmed.

Malaysian Street Food

Anything and everything on a stick!!

Chicken and beef satay grilled on the street - so good!

Who needs a cup?

Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

What a wonderful little spot of paradise! The Perhentian Islands are not very developed (yet) - meaning no ATMs or shopping, just beach, snorkeling, and food! It was wonderful, beautiful and the people on the island were so kind. There were giant four foot long monitor lizards on the island and I saw giant clams, two black tip sharks, and a sea turtle on a sunrise snorkeling trip.

Ketupat Treats - Malaysia

In the perhentian islands, I fell in love with this little sweet coconut sticky rice treats. Ketupat is a dumpling of sorts because the rice is wrapped in a palm leaf packet before cooking, which forces it to compress as the rice expands. They were almost like candy - dense coconuty sticky finger goodness!

Taman Negara National Park, Malaysia

The rainforest here is 130 million years old, never cultivated with native people only living in the jungle. The park inhabits elephants, tigers, deadly snakes and more ants that I have even seen in my life - there were interstates of ants through the forest. I saw some nice birds, water buffalo, monkeys, lizards, bats (a little too close for comfort on a spelunking trip), bugs and some amazing trees.

A mountain view during trekking

Canopy rope bridge (kind of scary)

Cameroon Highlands, Malaysia

The Cameroon Highlands are beautiful - covered in tea plantations, strawberry fields, giant bugs, butterlies and moss covered rainforest. It has a tropical feel to it, but rarely gets about 75 degrees due to the elevation - quite a nice break from the heat.

Tea Plantations

Melaka Trishaws, Malaysia

Melaka is full of these quirky trishaws for carting around locals and tourists. This is quite some serious dedication to decorating going on here - most even have a sound system with Lady Gaga playing as you ride around town.

Durian Fruit - Malaysia

Oh, the durian fruit....famous for its awful smell. My hotel even had a 'no durian' sign. I've seen people eat this on TV and my description of it won't do any better in getting the taste and smell conveyed than they did. It is green and spiky on the outside but once cracked open there are chambers with a large avacado sized seed covered with a yellowy edible substance. It is creamy and fatty in texture, tastes sweet but strange and smells a bit like old cheese. I think it is one of those things you probably either love or hate - it could grow on me but I couldn't eat more than half of it.

Fish Spa

A popular pedicure option in Kuala Lumpur is a trip to the fish spa. Here you dunk your feet in a tank and fish eat the dead skin - strange, I know. Also, it was extremely tickly - the lady had to hold my feet under until I stopped squirming and got used to it. However, it worked! My feet were nice and soft after 30 minutes of nibbling.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

On to Malaysia! Kuala Lumpur was the first stop - quite a modern metropolis with the petronas towers (picture) and amazing street food everywhere!

Goa, India

Dreadlocks. Bob Marley. Hippies. Everywhere. This is Goa.

I liked my little beach hut.