Morning People

So everyone was all: "You have to see Angor Wat! And you HAVE to see it at sunrise!"

So this night person woke her ass up at 4am, traveled through dark and scary rice paddy fields in a tuk tuk that broke down TWICE, braved the malarial mosquitoes and was at Angor Wat to see the sunrise.

And you know what? It was nothing spectacular. You morning people are CRAZY. Everything's still there at noon. Oh, and at that point I've slept in and don't want to murder the small children trying to sell me postcards.

Halong Bay, Vietnam

This didn't suck.

Hey, Who's That In the Background???

These pics don't suggest I do a very good job at staying out of the shot but...oops.

(Oh, and thanks Aaron for having so little to do at work....) xo

And click on the link to Kyung's story; it's super cool.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/07/japan.divorce.ceremonies/index.html#fbid=xPAvj-KejKZ&wom=false

What 21 Bucks A Night Buys You in Hoi An, Vietnam:

View of pool and back garden (as seen from the restaurant serving up the complimentary breakfast buffet).

Offerings

So Pretty!

Everything here is garnished so extravagantly, whether it's a drink or your afternoon ice cream. Cinnamon ice cream ALWAYS tastes better with a pineapple spear and a kicky pink umbrella...

Hanoi at Night

Guess Who, Bitches?

Good Morning, Vietnam!

I've arrived in Hanoi. And I see no reason to ever leave.

This place is like Paris in the 1920's...or at least it's what I imagine Paris in the 20's felt like. Beautiful architecture, lovely people, plenty of expats, and it's all surrounding the most picturesque lake you'll ever see. It's all ridiculously cheap. And even the garbage bins are pretty.

Scarlett in Kuala Lumpur

Sayonara, Japan!

Amazing waterfalls. Geisha in Gion. Rooftop parties to watch fireworks. And most of all -- reconnecting with old friends. I'll miss Japan. A lot.

You Can Say That Again...

Oh, Japan...

Tokyo, Day and Night

Arigato, California!

And thank you Judge Vaughn Walker!

This random, quirky, delightful Indian sentiment spotted in Goa is apropos, I think. (Sorry about the shitty picture quality.)

Harajuku Girl

Wanna completely appreciate the cleanliness and order of Japan?

Spend a month in India.

(Outfits spotted by moi in Harajuku this weekend. Erika Lynn, I came SO CLOSE to buying you these hotpants. Luckily, sanity prevailed.)

Goa, Goa, Gone

This monsoon makes the dogs cranky and the mosquitoes ravenous.

And Goa -- normally a vacation paradise -- is mostly closed for business.

So that's it for India. For now, anyway.

Good and Bad

The Good: Jumping on the scale and seeing your weight in the double digits. Ok, so it's kilograms, but it's still awesome.

The Bad: In Indian clothing, I'm a size 50.

Know Your Local Cow

I spent about a week in Udaipur, a relatively small but bustling little tourist spot. Everyone in town knows everyone else. As I befriended a local 25-year-old rickshaw driver I began to learn the town's characters, too. The kid whose dad stars in Bollywood movies. The crazy guy people steer clear of (and who happened to be the guy who came to my aid after being bitten by the rabid dog, and who subsequently took me to the world's scariest hospital, a place he was apparently intimately acqainted with). Most interestingly, though, in small Indian towns everyone also knows the local cows. "Oh, that's the pregnant cow." "That's a really stupid cow." "Oh! See that cow? Very, very smart!" "That cow has a huge...When he was younger all the female cows would run from him..."

VH-1 India

VH-1 India plays NOTHING but Enrique Iglesias, 24 hours a day.

It is AWESOME.

Henna

In Which Our Heroine Suffers A Setback...

Sometimes you just have to love a country for its umbrellas.

Sometimes you have to stop shopping so your rickshaw driver can go pick up his daughter at school.

Sometimes you spend a little more on the henna than you really have to ...but the little girl who does it is adorable, and you spend an hour in her house and you want her and her family to have the money.

Sometimes you have pancakes and mango ice cream for breakfast. Sometimes it's lemon crepes and tea.

And sometimes you get bitten by a rabid dog on the streets of Udaipur, necessitating an immediate flight to Delhi, the only city in the whole country that has rabies immunoglobulin. Sometimes you luck out because you're western and (comparatively) wealthy and able to throw money and resources at a problem that kills people here at an alarming rate.

Suck it, rabies.

And This Is Pretty Much How I Spent My Day:

Escape to Jas Vilas!

So my cousin wasn't happy with her volunteer program and, not wanting to strand her in India, I left with her. The bad: I miss the girls I volunteered with and the kiddies. The good: We ended up at a lovely heritage house called Jas Vilas. It's paradise, especially after sleeping with 5 other girls per room, sporadic a/c and a toilet that wouldn't accept toilet paper (don't ask).