Malaysia Markets

While in Kuala Limpur, I went to some of the markets in Chinatown. There was a lot of typical stuff: pirated DVD's of every new movie, fake watches, fake purses, etc. Sometimes I am actually amazed at how good the fake stuff actually looks! More interesting is the food and watching the local people by there items. I also like to watch the food stalls make their products. My favorite here was a nutty pancake. They can do everything from the street and the food is really good!

Kuala Limpur, Malaysia

I made my way to Kuala Limpur this weekend, my second trip to Malaysia. KL as it is known, is a really cosmopolitan city. There is a lot of unique architecture; especially the old mosques surrounded by new sky scrapers. The second picture features the Tower of Malaysia, which was the tallest building in the world for a while. Really they just put a very large antenna on the top and called it the tallest! Here are my favorite buildings.....

Ice Cream Flavors

The gourmet ice cream flavor trend has hit Asia. Either that, or they already had some really unique flavors. So far, I have tried many unique and yummy ones. Sweet Corn, Salt, Cheese, Sesame Seed, Red Bean, Durian (a fruit that tastes like rotten pork), Red Bull Sorbet, Rose, Avocado, Coca-Cola, and event Tobacco. Yes, really. Let me know what your favorite are!

The Most Beautiful Beach in the World

I heard that White Beach in the Philippines has been consistently voted the best beach in the world. I decided I had to see what the hype was about. So, I took two planes, a boat, a cab and a tricycle (yup) to get here. The beach didn't disappoint! Here are some photos!!

Sailing and Kite Boarding

Today I took a kite boarding class. Um. Kite boarding is really hard. I was motivated because the beach was filled with kite boarders and it looked easy. I was wrong again. I spent the whole morning trying to learn how to move the kite around. It crashed into the beach and almost took out a person. I won't be kite boarding again soon.

More successfully, I took a parah (local sailboat) trip with a bunch of Kellogg friends. We had a blast as it scooted over the water while we were suspended in nets. Check it out!

Transportation in The Philippines

There are so many cute modes of transit here that I had to make a post about it. The first is the jeepney which is an old converted army jeep. They have been decked out in retro styling and each one is different. They are all of the place in Manila and make the streets fun to watch. The second is call a Tricycle, which is a scooter or motorcycle with a side car. They are all over here in Boracay and I have seen over nine people ride in one. People are packed in all the time. It is just great! The last mode of transit is old wooden sail boats which dot the sea and are beautiful to watch.

Food and Cooking in The Philippines

I have to continue with my theme of eating all of the local foods while I travel. And, I have also been taking cooking classes in each of the countries that I visit. Here in The Philippines, there is a ton of great seafood which I love! I also took a great cooking class and made some local favorites. We made a sauce out of fresh cut ginger, soy sauce, fresh chopped sauteed garlic (caramelized), a small amount of chili pepper and salt/pepper. You can simmer meat or seafood in this sauce for about an hour and it was amazing. Here are the photos....

Beautiful Islands!

This week I am on Boracay Island in the Philppines. It is a resort island with some beautiful beaches. The weather has been really nice and the water is amazingly blue. Most of the other tourists are Philipino so I am also going to try some unique foods. Here are some photos of the island so far.....

Manila, Philippines

Today I headed to the Philippines. My first time in this beautiful island country. I spent the past two days in Manila before I head to the islands. Here are some pictures of the capital city which has a lot of spanish colonial architecture. Beautiful!

Heavy Loads

I am so impressed with how strong the people in Nepal are! And, I thought I lifted weights a lot. People here carry loads of everything imaginable on their head. Many women and men are employed to carry loads strapped to their heads up mountains. Talk about being in good shape and some really hard work.

Nepalise Cooking Class

I took this cooking class in Kathmandu yesterday. It was great to learn the local cooking style and we made some tasty dishes. My favorise was a potato curry which was just spicy enough for me. Our chief was fantastic and fun to work with....

Trekking in Nepal

One of the most amazing things about trekking in Nepal is the local villages which you hike through. It was amazing to see the people who live and work there. Plus, the views during the trek are always changing because you are in different elevations. I just had to post some more pictures because I took so many good ones.

Mountain Views

Okay. So, we attempted to do a six day hike to the top of a mountain in four days. It rained, hailed, stormed, snowed and was basically freezing. One of the days I hiked for 12 hours. My legs are still sore now but the views were amazing. Here are some of my favorite photos....