good girls go to heaven, bad girls go to pattaya

Sawatdee ka!

After spending a day in Bangkok, it was off to Pattya. Yesterday the tour group I am a part of, which is Vietnamese and therefore I barely understand what is going on but anyway, visited the King's Palace and Safari World. Okay, Safari World sounds pretty cheesy, but it was so amazing!


Once again, I feel bad for animals kept in captivity, but that's just the PETA in me. I saw herds of zebra, tons of birds that I'm not sure of the name of, and best of all, GIRAFFES! If you didn't know, giraffes are number one in my book, well in addition to dogs and dinosaurs...I held a baby tiger, hung out with some orangutans (I thought they were pretty solitary but these guys were very outgoing! Trained to be...), fed birdies, and BEST OF ALL was when my sister Mary and I raced away from our tour group as we were ready to leave the park and ran to the "Safari Terrace" to feed giraffes. Well we didn't have the right change to buy the food for giraffes, so we just pet them and okay I didn't pet them and now I regret it but I got some awesome photos of me and my new found friends. Ahh, my life is complete.

Then today we woke up super early as to not waste any bit of the day and headed to the beach. Much to our surprise, we walked through a hotel parking ramp and ended up at a strip of sand that was about 3 meters wide and were thinking, really? This is the beach? Then we got on a boat and headed to a floating dock of some sort and then parasailed two times. The first time was awesome, it felt like I was flying and that is definitely the superpower I'd choose if I could. Then the second time was a different sort of experience. You know, the dunk you in the water and drag you from a boat so saltwater rushes up your nose and at your eyes. But it was fun! I also met some cool people from Australia that are around my age on our tour, and basically I am using them to listen to their awesome accents. :)

Then I headed to an orchid garden, a Thai culture show, an elephant circus show (which was cool but sad but really cool) and then to a worldly-culture-caberet-dragshow. After the show, which was pretty awesome, I headed to experience a Thai Massage. Two hours of the craziest shit and the oddest massage I will ever have. But no happy ending.

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Bangkok for a few days before I go back to the big HK. I'm pretty excited to get back to what's going to be my normal, routine life and hang out with the cool cats I chilled with before leaving.

In short, Thailand is amazing.

i left my heart in samui

Samui is absolute bliss.

After being busy in Hong Kong and Vietnam, it was so nice to get away and have a little r&r. I've never been on a vacation where I lay out and chill and I have got to say that I've been missing out.

For my 21st golden birthday, which was the best birthday I could ask for, I woke up and did yoga with my sister Nancy. Then we all (Nathan, Nancy, Mary and I) took a walk along the beach and then dipped into the pool to cool off. Afterwards, we swam in the ocean for a while, before heading to a waterfall. We hiked up pretty high and saw some elephants along the way, they weren't wild or anything but there for tourists to ride up. Elephants are HUGE if you didn't know and so beautiful but I felt bad for them being in chains and having to work instead of roaming the wild.

Anyway, after the waterfall we got back to the hotel and I found roses, a fruit tarte and a birthday card awaiting me (compliments of the hotel). Then I took a milky rose petal bath (from the spa) and relaxed and meditated for about an hour. After that, we all headed to dinner and had awesome Thai food and my first legal drink (by US standards).

I can't get over how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing.

On another note, one of my best friends and I were talking about what heaven was. He said that it was a time, place, event, or any kind of moment that was pure bliss that you lived out eternally.

I think I found my heaven.

a home away from home

For the third time in my life, I've come back to Vietnam.

I always forget how much I love it here and how much I love the familiar faces. I say this mainly because I reconnected with my "godsisters" today as one of them, Tien, got married in Saigon. Her, her sister Ha and her mom are always so glad to see us and so thankful that we're in their lives, which is much of the reason why I am thankful they are in mine.

It's so sad that I just arrived yesterday and now I'm leaving tomorrow as they travel to Bin Dinh to celebrate more wedding fesitivites with the Groom, Huy's side of the family. But I plan to return before I leave Asia, so no sad faces right now.


Vietnamese culture is so interesting to me, even after all of these visits there. They have such a different way of life from housing to eating and everything you could imagine. The traffic still baffles me and probably always will because it's so fast-paced, frogger style...no laws what-so-ever.

Anyway, I'm coming back here.

This much is true.

finally in hong kong

So I am now in Hong Kong and it is 100% awesome. I've met some cool people that are willing to go out and have a good time, much like myself.

My school is cool, my dorm is awesome, my view is even better.

Only problem is is that I'm shipping out to Vietnam tomorrow and then Ko Samui shortly thereafter. The boys are thinking about taking an excursion to these places so I won't be SO left out.

Anyway this is short because it's time for bed but good night!

before i leave

I thought I'd start out my journey by explaining what I feel and think before I embark. That way, I can see if I've changed at all by the end of this and maybe you can too.

Right now I'd say that I like to stick mainly to what is familiar. I have a great family and wonderful friends that I am always near. I've never been away from my family for over two or three weeks, and my friends and I keep in close contact all of the time. I like knowing where I am and what I am doing and since I've lived in Minnesota all of my life, it's easy to accomplish that.

I love to travel. I always have and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to. I like to try new foods, experience whatever the place has in store, live like the locals do (to some extent), and take pictures to capture it all. That's why I am so excited about my trip. I get to travel for six months, take classes so that I can experience a different sort of education system, meet tons of new people and be away so that I can grow and mature even more.

And for that reason, being that I haven't been away and this is my opportunity to, I'm shaking in my boots. I don't want to leave my family. I see them all of the time. I don't want to leave my friends, they're who I spend most of the time with during school. I don't want to leave Minnesota. It's my home.

But alas, I will. And in only 12 days from now I will be en route to Hong Kong to begin a new chapter in my life.

I can't wait to share it with you.