Beautiful Phi Phi Island

I took the ferry to Phi Phi Island last weekend. It is one of the most beautiful and famous in Thailand. I came to this island six years ago right after the Tsunami, so it was great to return and see that everything has been rebuilt. Because most of the island is a sandbar we walked all the way out to the boats and it never got any deeper. The water was to blue!

Weekend in Krabi

This weekend my classmates and I rented a house in the Krabi province of Thailand. Krabi is a beach area with amazing rock formations outstretched into the ocean. Our house was a traditional Thai style bungalow and we even had some monkeys as our neighbors. Here are some photos of the adventure.....

Rock Climbing in Railey Beach

This weekend I went to Railey Beach in the Southwestern Islands. Rock climbing is the thing to do here and it is some of the world best climbs. Both me and my friends are beginners but we all tried really hard. We were suprised to be able to go up really high with the help of our guide. The view from the top of the climbing was fantastic!

My Place in Bangkok

Some people where asking me where I live in Bangkok. So, I posted a picture of my building, pool and the surrounding streets. You can see all of the traffic in the nearby intersection. I also posted a picture of a tuk-tuk which is a local cab that I take around sometimes. They are really fun and all over the roads.....

Canals of Bangkok

I went with my friend, Justin who was visiting from Australia, on a tour of the canals of Bangkok. You hire a long boat and a driver who will navigate you through the city canals. This is a great chance to see how people live in the waterways outside of the modern parts of the city. Justin and I also took a canal commuter boat for local people commuting to work. You had to jump on and off quickly because they hardly stopped at the piers. It was fun until we realized we were heading the in wrong direction!

Food in Singapore

The culinary scene in Singapore was fantastic. With people from Malasya, Indonesia, China, Thailand and local Singaporing seafood coupled with a lot of Australian wine made for some good eats. My favorite was the pepper crab pictured here. You could go to local food markets, grab a table and try a ton of different things at once. Another favorite was corn ice cream that was really good too. I posted a picture of the unique snack in Singapore - including dried fish which is actually OK. Good thing I walked everywhere this weekend to make up for all the food!

Thai Boxing

I went to a Thai Boxing (Muay Thai) match the other night. It was very interesting. The Thai boxers use kickboxing to crush their opponents. We even saw two knockouts and the boxers were rolled away in wheelchairs. Pretty brutal! Equally as interesting were the local Thai people betting on their favorites and the gritty old stadium with a manual score board.

Singapore Sling

Here are some of my favorite photos from last weekend in Singapore. We visited the Arab neighborhood, Chinatown and Little India. We made our own perfume from the sent bottle shown in the picture. We also went to the historic Raffles hotel which was gorgeous. There were just so many cool photo ops...

Holly Heart Singapore

I went to Singapore this weekend with a few friends. We had a great time in this modern city. It is very clean and westernized and the traffic seemed so normal after Bangkok. The shopping was also really good (sorry Kevin). Here are some pictures of the architecture; including the new three towered casino with a ship on top. It was amazing!

My School in Bangkok

Some people have been asking me what school is like in Thailand at The Sasin School. I am posting some pictures of our building and classrooms, which are really nice and similar to Kellogg. I also posted a picture from one of our school parties and the Sasin band. You can see our homework session out by the pool, which makes studying a bit more fun ;-)

Floating Market in Bangkok

I went with a few of my Kellogg friends to this floating market outside of Bangkok. A floating market is one where you hire a boat and row up to vendors who sell goods from their boats. There are even people making pad thai from their boats. It was great because all of the food vendors gave us samples. So, we got to try a lot of new things. I really enjoyed seeing all of the unique fruits and vegetables. Here are some photos...

Ancient Ruins of Ayutthaya

Our class took a field trip to Ayutthaya, which is 60 miles outside of Bangkok. It was the capital of Thailand for over 400 years and is filled with ancient ruins. There are some amazing temples and statues which are from the 1300's. Here are some pictures of what we saw.....

Insects for Dinner?

Okay, so the food in Thailand is really good. The best food is sold in carts or little stands all around the city street. You can usually eat a meal for around $4. The variety of food is amazing and I often don't know what I am eating.  Here are some pictures of some of my favorites. Please note one is an insect stand - I wasn't adventurous to try it but heard they were like 'crunchy chicken'. Yikes!