Still on my merry way!

Hello lovelies,

Once again, it has been a while since I last blogged… Have been to quite some places since I last posted. Writing you from my room in Ubud, Bali! I arrived here at 2AM last night after a 19 hour trip! When I got here there was no one at the guesthouse so we had to look for other accommodation in the middle of the night. Will tell you more about Bali next time as I haven’t seen much of it yet… So, you guys ready for another update?

I went to Chiang Mai after I left Bangkok…that was almost 2 months ago… I went to Chiang Mai. It is the second city of Northern Thailand but it is quieter than never sleeping Bangkok. There are many night markets and weekend markets where you can buy all sorts of local art, clothes and of course, delicious street food! The choice of food is never ending and I think that instead of getting myself bikini ready for Bali I have been doing the opposite…......

Ivy and I went to Chiang mai at the beginning of November to attend two local festivals, Loy Krathong (floating flower pieces) and Yi Peng (Lantern Festival). Thousands of lanterns were released up in the air to make merits and flower pieces were launched in the rivers to honor the water spirits, let go of all the bad things that had happened over the passed year and to ask for forgiveness. Officially, Loy Krathong and Yi Peng are celebrated on the 12th full moon of the lunar calendar but in Chiang Mai the festival lasted for 3 days. The streets of Chiang mai were so crowded as many Thai and foreign visitors attended this incredible event. After the festivals finished, I took Northern Thai Massage courses. I took three courses and actually, it was so much harder than I expected it to be. Learning 120+ positions for the Thai course and another 60 poses for the aroma oil course… I am pretty sure I will have forgotten all of it by the time I am home -__-. Of course it wasn’t all just hard work, I went to some spas myself to enjoy all the great benefits of this great massage style. :). Weekends were spent, eating, visiting temples, driving around town and shopping.

While in Chiang Mai, Ivy and I also visited a small village called Pai. A small mountainous village located about 3 hrs. from Chiang Mai. Getting to Pai was really something…. the trip includes 762 bends and I tried to sleep because I did start to feel a bit motion sick at some point… so unfortunately I didn’t get to see much of the picturesque scenery. I really liked Pai. There is a nice blend of different cultures like, Thai, Chinese, Chinese Muslims, and people from hill tribes etc. It was great to see all those people living together so peacefully especially when I read about all the “drama” that is going on in many other Western countries. Keeps me wondering why it is so hard to just live together in peace and let each other be…. Because seriously, NL, do we really need those annual heated discussions about “Black Pete” (that are absolutely pointless as it seems as if people are all talking but don’t bother to even listen to each other)? Anyway, it was small and cozy… Different from Bangkok and Chiang Mai… with only two long main streets in the center of the village… Just one thing… it was quite cold. Okay, it was around 5 degrees in the evening (nothing like winter in the Netherlands) but we didn’t have coats so we weren’t really prepared for those kinds of temperatures!

Unfortunately, my trip to Chiang Mai and Pai were the end of my 2,5 month adventure in Thailand (for now). Thailand is amazing and I will definitely go back again, perhaps after I finish my working holiday in New Zealand. There are so many places left to visit…but it was time for an exciting reunion! My brother was in Asia for business and we met in Singapore and later again in Tokyo. Ivy and I were in Singapore for 5 days and then we flew to Kuala Lumpur and met my brother again in Tokyo. It was so nice to have spent 10 days with my brother, I hadn’t seen him for months. The only thing with traveling is that you have to miss your family and friends…<3 Other than that, I don’t miss a single thing and am fully content! So about the short city trips: Singapore and KL were great places to do nothing but shop, eat and party. It was lovely for a change but to be honest just the usual big cities in my opinion. Singapore I would love to revisit for a few days, KL probably only to eat. Tokyo however… Wow! It is so high tech (think of heated toilet seats and yes, they are extremely comfy) with a modern way of living but yet it still kept its old-fashioned manners and traditions (old ladies walking around in their kimonos incl. slippers with toe socks). You can visit the Imperial palace down town and walk around in a bamboo garden and turn around and see the skyscrapers in the background… Whatever you expect from Tokyo and what you see on tv it’s really there. The people in Japan are super friendly; I am pretty sure they are the politest people I have ever met and even though there are not that many bins, I have never been to a city that is cleaner than Tokyo, not even Singapore. Tokyo is fascinating; all of the lights, the shrines, the game halls, the busy crossings, the ramen ticket machines and of course the food… How tasty does it get!? Hmmm… thinking of the sashimi, sushi, ramen, sweets, yakitori, tempura etc. still makes my mouth water… There are streets dedicated to certain foods e.g. “Ramen street” or “Yakitori Alley” <3... It was like a race against the clock to sample all of the food! Which I, sadly, lost! Okay, it is starting to sound like a food blog now so I will try to contain myself…. My point is: If you love food, you MUST go there and if you ask me, Japan is really not that expensive. So don’t let that keep you away from Japan. Fair enough, if you’d compare it to Thailand or Malaysia of course, but compared to big cities in Europe, it is probably similar or even cheaper. My short trip to Tokyo was merely a taste of Japan and I am sure that I will be back soon to discover more about this country. Too many things to see, not enough time! 5 days is not enough for such an amazing place…

And on that note I think it is time to end this blog entry… I am still a bit tired of yesterday’s long trip so I am going to get some rest but before I go….

Take care everyone! Sending you a lot of love <3

XOXO