Asian Invasion

Seriously. I've been contemplating how to appropriately blog about the amazingness that is Asia, and haven't been able to sit down to do it yet. So here it is, an attempt.

I absolutely fell in love with Asia.

I've never had the desire to go there... I've had conversations with Mike about all the places that we want to go to one day and I admitted I had no desire to go there because in my mind it was crowded, dirty, and unfriendly. I was so wrong.

Mind you, I'm sure there are places that are out of control. But the places we went to were simply incredible. I loved the amalgamation of cultures that comprise Singapore, yet was relieved to find it westernized enough to not feel completely like a fish out of water. It's clean & vibrant with tropical plants and mismatched sky scrapers. And I enjoyed the monkeys that made their presence known in the mornings over coffee.

We couldn't have had better hosts; the Loscalzos completely opened their home to us and truly made our Singapore vacation with their gracious hospitality, phenomenal dinner choices and "cocktail hours/dance parties." Rella was an incredible woman who cooked the best dishes I've ever had.

And Bangkok was nothing like I imagined. Fun, colorful, so much culture, the people so hospitable. The Buddhist temples were like nothing I've ever seen... absolutely astounding!

Phuket was breathtaking and heartbreaking; it was hard to imagine that so much of the area was destroyed in the terrible tsunami in 2004, and the blatant sex-tourism/prostitution was hard to swallow. But we went on amazing tours of the islands and jungles that have to be on the top of life's best experiences (so far...) And I might have offered to adopt a 1,000 lb, leathery-skinned baby with a trunk and large club-feet.

Needless to say, I'm hooked. In the future I will again brave the 24 hours of traveling to explore the rest of Asia. Maybe Mike can get transferred....

(You can see all pictures here)